Veiled Sun
Tomorrow's Edge #2
by Brett Armstrong
YA Sci-fi/Dystopian
January 21st 2020
Clean Reads
AD 2040: Every day the world slips further into lies. Seventeen-year-old Elliott knows that better than most. Project Alexandria is rewriting history, shaping the world according to sinister goals. To stop it, Elliott must assemble the "Veiled Sun", a secret program written by his grandfather. The only people he can count on are siegers—outlaws who use their coding skills for purposes almost as nefarious as Project Alexandria. Overcoming the schemes and betrayals all around him, he's the world's best hope to save reality, if he doesn't lose hold of it himself.
Day Moon
Tomorrow's Edge #1
In A.D. 2039, a prodigious seventeen year old, Elliott, is assigned to work on a global soft-ware initiative his deceased grandfather helped found. Project Alexandria is intended to provide the entire world secure and equal access to all accumulated human knowledge. All forms of print are destroyed in good faith, to ensure everyone has equal footing, and Elliott knows he must soon part with his final treasure: a book of Shakespeare’s complete works gifted him by his grandfather. Before it is destroyed, Elliott notices something is amiss with the book, or rather Project Alexandria. The two do not match, including an extra sonnet titled “Day Moon”. When Elliott investigates, he uncovers far more than he bargained for. There are sinister forces backing Project Alexandria who have no intention of using it for its public purpose. Elliott soon finds himself on the run from federal authorities and facing betrayals and deceit from those closest to him. Following clues left by his grandfather, with agents close at hand, Elliott desperately hopes to find a way to stop Project Alexandria. All of history past and yet to be depend on it.
And here he is...
Brett Armstrong has been exploring other worlds as a writer since age nine. Years later, he still writes, but now invites others along on his excursions. He’s shown readers hauntingly sorrowful historical fiction (Destitutio Quod Remissio), scary-real dystopian sci-fi (Day Moon and Veiled Sun), and dark, sweeping epic fantasy (Quest of Fire). Where he heads next is as much a discovery for him as readers. Through dark, despair, light, joy, and everything in between, the end is always meant to leave his fellow literary explorers with wonder and hope.
GIVEAWAY!!!
Veiled
Sun Excerpt
There was a sharp sound
of metal on metal and a shudder ran through the shelf beside him. Elliott
staggered back from it. Had she shot at him? He hadn’t heard any shots fired.
Elliott grimaced. There
was one explanation for the phenomena. A miniaturized railgun. They were rare
and the latest in arms tech. Another shudder ran through the shelf and this
time he could see the projectile the gun launched stuck fast in the shelf
inches from him. From all he knew about such weapons, she was using low power
settings. The electromagnetic launcher could’ve shredded the shelf, him, and
had enough left to create a crater in the wall.
Of
course, Kendra would have something like that.
There was no other choice
but to go along with her for now. With his hands raised, Elliott emerged,
feeling like he was in a hostage scene from films. It was ridiculous, but he
found himself blurting out, “Amar told me to get the book.” He hooked his thumb
at his backpack.
Kendra pursed her lips,
colored a deep maroon, in a pout. “Sorry. Agent Amar isn’t in charge of Project
Alexandria.”
Again, Elliott wanted to
protest, but what could he say? This isn’t fair, a liar lied to me!
Or did he? Kendra hadn’t
said Amar lied, only that Amar couldn’t make the call. Something else caught
his eye. The faint hint of a scar across one brow, marring her otherwise
flawless skin. A leftover from months earlier when last she’d held Elliott at
gunpoint. His cousin John had used a shovel to knock her out. Her inability to
mask it must have been galling her.
Working moisture to his
mouth, sure now that he had something over nothing, he fixed his eyes on the
scar. He waited a moment before speaking, making certain to catalogue her
realization that he was staring at her “flaw”. “I guess this means you’re still
working for Director Ohlmstadt then?”
“Mm, you might say that.”
There was an amused note to her words Elliott didn’t want to inquire after. But
there was tightening around her eyes. His stare was bothering her. The gun
lowered a fraction from level.
A little more on her mind
and he might have a shot. “What about Terr-Terr? How does the Director feel
about him?”
The
sea of her eyes thawed from the sudden heat behind them. Terrence had betrayed
her for Elliott. Or perhaps more accurately for his own ends. They had been
lovers, or as much as either of them seemed capable of being. “Oh, please, that
worthless waste of air? I couldn’t care less if he—”
Elliott
lunged for the gun. The move took her by surprise, but it took him equally. It
had been too impulsive, spontaneous. The leap was meant to terminate in a
shoulder charge to her sternum, but he hadn’t gotten everything into it.
Kendra
reeled from the glancing blow and the gun hit the floor, but so did Elliott.
Scrambling to his feet he reached for the gun. She grabbed his arm.
Elliott
felt Kendra’s nails tearing into the flesh of his arms. “Yarrgh!” He flinched
reflexively and received a fumbling kick to his abdomen.
Struggling
to grab her before she got the gun, he caught a fistful of her dress. The slick
fabric slipped through his fingers. Before he could yank her back, a better
placed kick caught his shoulder and sent him back to the floor. There was a
searing pain where the kick landed. Those heels were pointed all right.
He
had to act fast. The sound of the gun being scraped off the floor tortured his
ears.
Too late.
And here he is...
Brett Armstrong has been exploring other worlds as a writer since age nine. Years later, he still writes, but now invites others along on his excursions. He’s shown readers hauntingly sorrowful historical fiction (Destitutio Quod Remissio), scary-real dystopian sci-fi (Day Moon and Veiled Sun), and dark, sweeping epic fantasy (Quest of Fire). Where he heads next is as much a discovery for him as readers. Through dark, despair, light, joy, and everything in between, the end is always meant to leave his fellow literary explorers with wonder and hope.
Social Media Links:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brettarmstrongwv Instagram: https://instagram.com/brettarmstrongauthor
GIVEAWAY!!!
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