Heaven will fall graviti.., p.24
Heaven Will Fall (Gravitium Book 1),
p.24
Anselm furrowed his brow as the pack emerged from the surrounding rocks. She’d asked a good question. One he should have asked himself.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
“Going up to the sky cities. Can’t fucking believe it.” Curtis shook his head and crossed his arms.
He acted tough, but she knew a big old softy hid behind that dirty blond hair and thick beard. He only wanted to know his family would be safe, no matter where they went.
“She won’t be up there long,” Anselm assured him. “I won’t let her out of my sight the whole time.”
The shuttle hovered above them as the engines warmed up. Anselm knew better than to climb into a shuttle without checking it, which meant Clare had to inspect it first. She climbed onboard and checked for the problems that had plagued them before.
It would be stupid for someone to try to kill them with the same tricks they’d used before. Stupider for them to die because of a trick used twice.
She’d had her doubts about Aldonado, but after a few days in his custody, the embed had been only too willing to give up the comms rig she’d stolen from the safehouse.
It allowed them to call another shuttle down. This time, they didn’t bother hiding. Clare had Curtis and three pack members there to back her up. She ran the checks she knew to look for and a few she’d read up on the night before.
“It looks safe to me,” she declared, and Anselm sighed in relief. For him, that might as well have been breaking out in a happy dance.
“Thank goodness,” he mumbled.
“One thing before you go.” Curtis laid a hand on Anselm’s shoulder.
She stepped forward when she saw Anselm’s right hand slip into his coat. His left came up to stop her from interfering.
“You want me to keep an eye on your sister,” the adjudicator assumed.
“I don’t know what you need Clare for, bub.” Curtis’s voice was terrifying when he wanted it to be. For an outsider, anyway. “Remember, I’m holding you responsible for her safety.”
“Noted.” Anselm stared at the were’s hand until he lifted it from his shoulder. “What about the trouble she gets me into?”
Curtis grinned. “Hell, you’re an adjudicator. You’ve been around long enough to know what you’re getting into.”
“Hey!” Clare punched Curtis in the stomach hard enough to knock the breath from his lungs. “It’s not like I attract trouble.”
“Yeah, you do,” Martine, one of the other weres present, cackled.
She rolled her eyes. “Fine. I don’t start the fights, though. I only finish them.”
“Yet you’re always the catalyst,” Curtis answered with a playful nudge.
Clare raised her eyebrows and worked her mouth for a few seconds until the words came out properly. “Firstly, I’m surprised you know what that term means. Secondly, it’s not logical for you to be right, so I’ll eventually come up with a reason why you’re wrong.”
“You work on that.” Curtis smirked and wrapped her in a warm embrace. “I’ll be waiting for you to come back down, little sis.”
She leaned into the hug for a second before pushing him back and collecting her luggage. “All right, all right. Don’t make me zap you to keep this from getting mushy.”
“You might want to hold off on that. Remember that time a couple of years ago?”
“You stepped in the water on purpose.”
“You can’t prove that. It stopped my heart.”
“Yeah, well, I’ll do it again.” She stood on her tiptoes to place a light kiss on his cheek. “I’ll be back soon. Don’t have a litter without me.”
“I’ve got to find a mate before a litter is possible.” Curtis laughed. “Don’t even think about setting me up.”
“Come on. I saw a couple of girls eyeing you.”
“They wouldn’t get their hands dirty. You know my type.”
Clare patted his shoulder. “I do. And I’m horrified. Later.” She pushed him out the shuttle door and yanked it shut.
“They love you,” Anselm pointed out as the shuttle commenced its pre-flight checks.
“Yeah, they can be clingy. It’s why I need my space when I’m with them. I wasn’t kidding about a litter.” Clare shook her head. She wished she had been kidding.
Anselm tightly gripped his harness when the shuttle moved.
Clare sat across from him. “You’re afraid of flying, aren’t you?”
Anselm scowled at her. “Flying, I have no problem with. It’s falling I have a rational fear of.”
“Right.”
The flight went smoother than their last one. Still, Anselm didn’t unclench until he noticed they were at the high point and moving across the sky.
Clare pressed against the window as Summerland City appeared in the distance. The champagne was cool, but she didn’t want to miss seeing a sky city for the first time.
She spotted the gravitium engines at the bottom first. They looked odd as they emitted blue radiation into the air and shuddered against reality.
Clare had always wanted to see one of those in person, but her eyes were drawn away to the city as it appeared.
Skyscrapers stabbed into the sky, matching each other in design and building quality. They glittered, polished and gleaming, promising everything with their graceful lines and breathtaking designs.
She’d never seen anything like it on the ground. Astoria paled in comparison, and she knew they’d be more breathtaking when she got to see them up close.
They pulled up to what was obviously a port. She saw the shuttle that went down three times a day docked in the area.
They didn’t park near it. Their shuttle effortlessly slotted into a VIP section.
“Oh, sweet love of my life. I’m going to geek out about the tech in the city,” Clare gushed. “Thought you should be warned.”
“I figured you would, but thanks. We need to get through security.”
Clare nodded and stepped out of the vehicle. A young man in a pale gray uniform already waited for them next to a small scanner.
“Good morning,” he called with a smile. “Welcome back to Summerland City. I’ll need you to put your weapons through this scanner, and you can be on your way.”
Anselm smirked. “I’ll see you on the other side.”
“What?” Clare growled. “You don’t need to give up your weapons?”
“I’m an adjudicator.”
He proclaimed it like that was an answer, then moved past the security guard without a second glance.
She removed her weapons and laid them out to be scanned. Her particle gun, her blaster, her pistol, and her boot coils, which required more work.
“All right!” The man smiled after she stepped through the scanner as well. “Here are your things. I hope you have a pleasant stay.”
“Wait.” Clare took the weapons in her outstretched arms. “Why are you giving these back?”
“Pardon?”
Pardon. Such a sky city thing to say.
“Do you need me to repeat the question?”
He smiled again. “Of course not. You have an adjudicator vouching for you, and you are a human. Why would I keep your things?”
Clare looked at Anselm, who smirked.
“Welcome to Summerland City.”
THE STORY CONTINUES
The story continues with books two, With Skies Asunder, available at Amazon.
Claim your copy today!
AUTHOR NOTES
MARCH 22, 2023
Thank you for not only reading this story but these author notes as well!
Embarrassing to admit at my age.
This evening, as I write these author notes, I'd like to take you on a little trip down Memory Lane and reveal a childhood secret.
As a kid, I used to daydream about being that person who had the extra powers or the unique knowledge to save the day. You know, the kind of person others might have ridiculed, but when push came to shove, they had to come to me for help.
Yeah, that person.
Now, you might think that at my age (I'm 50+, if you must know), those childhood fantasies shouldn't play a role in the stories I'm creating today. But, I must confess, those long-ago dreams might have had a teensy-tiny influence on my writing.
It's embarrassing to admit that, but hey, we're all human, right?
As authors, we often draw from our own experiences and emotions when crafting our stories, and sometimes those old dreams and desires find their way into our work. It's not always intentional, but it does make for a more personal connection between the author and the story.
And who knows? Maybe some of you can relate to my childhood fantasies of being the hero or the one with the answers.
So, as you read my stories, you might catch a glimpse of that young dreamer who still lives within me, weaving tales of extraordinary powers and unique abilities that have the potential to change the world.
I hope you take a chance to read more of my stories as you are (hopefully!) waiting for Gravitium Book 02 to come out.
As an aside, I love it when technology and magic are mashed together, similar to what we did in Witch of the Federation but without all of the massive space battles. I always want to play with tech and magic, and that is another reason I wanted to create Gravitium. Oh, and a riff on Elysium.
Thank you for sharing this journey with me, and I'll see you in the next book!
Ad Aeternitatem,
Michael Anderle
P.S.
MORE STORIES with Michael newsletter HERE: https://michael.beehiiv.com/
CONNECT WITH THE AUTHOR
Connect with Michael Anderle
Website: http://lmbpn.com
Email List: https://michael.beehiiv.com/
https://www.facebook.com/LMBPNPublishing
https://twitter.com/MichaelAnderle
https://www.instagram.com/lmbpn_publishing/
https://www.bookbub.com/authors/michael-anderle
BOOKS BY MICHAEL ANDERLE
Sign up for the LMBPN email list to be notified of new releases and special deals!
https://lmbpn.com/email/
For a complete list of books by Michael Anderle, please visit:
www.lmbpn.com/ma-books/
Michael Anderle, Heaven Will Fall (Gravitium Book 1)
