Emergence: Threshold Series Book I Read online

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Emergence

  Threshold Series Book 1

  By: Finley Morrow

  Copyright © 2018 by FINLEY MORROW

  ASIN: B07GY5WJWM

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the author, except where permitted by law. This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Reader,

  A thrilling adventure awaits you. I had so much fun writing Emergence. If you enjoy this book, I would love to hear about it. Leaving a review is the absolute best thing you can do to help others find this book and assist me in writing quality stories. It is also extremely helpful for me to know which parts of the book you loved, and what you would like to see more of.

  If you want to know more about my books or have a question you can’t get out of your head, send me an email at [email protected] or check out my website www.finleymorrowbooks.com. If you want to stay up to date so you never miss one of my upcoming books you can sign up for my newsletter here. You can also find me on Facebook @finleymorrowbooks.

  Happy Reading,

  Finley Morrow

  Emergence

  Chapter 1

  “We are at a Threshold that our civilizations have failed to account for. Unless we act quickly we will see more and more of these catastrophic events. Life as we have come to know it will cease to exist.”

  The man’s voice boomed from the speakers on either side of the large screen, and Chancellor Marcia Cray stood watching from the podium on the stage. The footage was old, a speech that last President of the United States had given before the Alliance gained control of nAM. After the image of President Greshon, faded from the screen, Chancellor Cray cleared her throat. The nervous whispers among the sea of students made it clear that she had left an impression. Cray was a tall, willowy woman in her early 40s with long brown hair that was already graying--from stress most likely--though she always kept her face neutral and serene in public appearances.

  “Graduates of the first Accelerated Academy for the Threshold Sciences, today I remind you of the words of the former President Greshon.” She paused, waiting for the chatter to die down. It was a controversial statement, to say the least. Chancellor Cray was no fan of Former President Greshon, her one-time political opponent, but I knew she was only getting started.

  “On this day of your graduation, you join the forces of men and women, brothers and sisters in peace, who fight to rebuild the world that we remember after the events of the last era.”

  The faces of the elite filled the arena, the brightest students in the Alliance, or so it’s said. More likely, we were the lucky ones in the right place at the right time. Did they all believe that that’s what we were doing, rebuilding the world? I often had to remind myself that I was only here because the Alliance had seen something in me worth salvaging. A voice in my head cried that it was a big mistake.

  “Each of you has been trained with a special skill set, to ensure that human progress will continue even amidst the evolution of our natural environment. You see, President Greshon was correct; we do need to act quickly, but that is where our similarities end. Unlike our predecessors, foolish and distracted men, our action must be aimed at the cultivation of human excellence. We are no more victims to the fantasy of the Threshold than we are victors, and to act as if that is all we are... well, that is simply folly. It is our right-- no, our duty, to see the beauty in the purely human ways of progress, to overcome our environment and attain prosperity for all.”

  Her stare was piercing, and she made large motions with her slender hands to accentuate her point. Huge cameras followed her every move.

  It was always the same speech, recycled over and over - human progress this, prosperity that. The earth is ours for the taking because that is what humans do. And the Threshold events? Well, that’s just a temporary problem, nothing that can’t be fixed with a little human ingenuity. It was almost easy to believe, sitting here under clear skies in the gleaming amphitheater that had been built just for this day.

  We all knew better. The Threshold Events had been destroying cities for years, tearing families and homes apart.

  I hadn’t truly grasped the seriousness of the Threshold Crisis until I was here in the foremost Institution of the Alliance itself, studying the interweaving systems of the planet. BioSystems Analysis is printed on my diploma, which Marcia Cray herself handed to me only moments ago. Her speech was like all the others, shining words that reflected hardly any substance underneath except the thin veneer of propaganda. She said we were not victims, but tell that to the millions of people who had lost their homes, their livelihoods, even their lives. Who was supposed to be the victor in all of this? I could never speak these thoughts, of course; it had to remain inside.

  “And here we are, on this very day, providing an example of the human will to thrive.” She slowed on every word, allowing her words to saturate the air. “Congratulations to the first-ever graduates of the Global Peace Alliance’s Accelerated Academy of the Threshold Sciences.” She began clapping, gesturing towards us with her outstretched arms. Around me, other graduates began to clap, slowly at first until we all joined in. We were expected to give a good show to the audiences at home, at least those who still had access to television or radio. For all I knew, they really did believe it.

  Chapter 2

  “What will you do now?” My advisor, Professor Matthews, was looking at me with a grin. “I suppose you will revolutionize the field of Bioanalytics.” His tone was equal parts teasing and encouraging.

  “Oh… I don’t know.” I breathed out an involuntary sigh as he considered me.

  “You don’t seem as excited as you should be,” I said nothing at first, not even sure what I was feeling. “Why aren’t you excited?” He asked.

  I was still wearing my graduation uniform, the fabric of the blue jumpsuit hanging loose on my shoulders.

  “I guess it was all a bit anticlimactic.” He raised his eyebrows at me.

  “You just graduated with an Alliance Diploma. You should be proud of that.” He was serious now. “You are one of the brightest students I’ve ever had.” I felt my face grow warm from his flattery. He had always been kind to me.

  “Yeah, I know, it’s just - ” I hesitated, not wanting to seem ungrateful. “What am I going to do now? I guess I’ll apply for a job at some Wildlife Management Operation or… really anything besides the Bureau of Disaster Management. I don’t know.” I trailed off.

  “That’s actually why I asked you to come to see me. I know you’ve probably got a graduation party to go to this evening, but I may have an opportunity for you.”

  “Oh, really?” I studied him suspiciously. It sounded too good to be true. Besides, he knew that I had no place to be. Who was going to throw a party for me? Not my mother, that’s for sure. She hadn’t even shown up to my graduation. After my thesis had gotten published in the National Biotechnology Jou
rnal, I didn’t have too many friends in the department either. The competition was really tough in this program, and some people couldn’t handle it. After the Threshold hit nAM and the storms started hammering the coasts, the government started sponsoring scholarships for “the bright young minds of the future.” Those of us that qualified were fast-tracked through the Alliance Academies before taking up the few skilled positions that were left. We were really the only ones that were able to get an education these days. There just wasn’t enough money to go around. Even for us, jobs were scarce. Except in Disaster Relief, but those weren’t the kind of jobs anyone really wanted. The Bureau of Disaster Management traded in desperation, hiring those who had nowhere else to go and paying them little to nothing.

  “Well, it’s a bit unusual.” He shifted uncomfortably. It must be really low paying, whatever it is.

  “Alright. Let’s hear it.”

  “Well, I can’t explain it exactly, but there is someone here who will be able to tell you more about it.”

  “Oh, this ought to be good.” I bit back a groan. He had brought in some kind of recruiter and apparently already had him waiting to talk to me. That would be very unusual for any of the standard entry-level Wildlife Management positions I was looking at. It must be something in Disaster Management after all. That’s what all the jobs were these days.

  As if on cue, a man walked into the office. He was tall, straight-backed, and wearing a dark blue military uniform. There were pins and patches that I couldn’t interpret, but it looked very official. Professor Matthews stood up as the man entered the room. Was I supposed to do the same? So far I didn’t have any good reason to try to impress this man. I stayed sitting.

  “Ms. Everly.” He walked behind Professor Matthews’ desk. “May I have a brief word with you?” My advisor left the room, before the Commander--or whoever he was-- could even ask. The patch on his starched shirt read, “IPA”. Why would the military be trying to recruit a BioAnalyst? The IPA, or International Peace Army, was stationed everywhere these days. What on earth would they want with me? It didn’t seem like they would really care about the overpopulation of white-tailed deer in urban disaster zones, which was my particular specialty.

  It was all very ominous, and as Dr. Matthews shut the heavy office door, I felt a tension in the air. The man was sharply dressed. He took off his hat and sat down. He had a close shaved buzzcut that formed a stark line across his forehead.

  “I’m Commander Marshall.” He did not offer a handshake. Straight to the point. I could deal with that.

  “Lane Everly,” I replied.

  “We’ve been following your work for the past few years, Ms. Everly.” The words carried no inflection. It was hard to tell what he was getting at.

  “Who is ‘we’?”

  “My team and I. We are working on a special project and we want you to join us.” I could see he wasn’t going to be generous with his answers.

  “You are going to have to give me more than that, Commander.”

  “We run a special operation within an undisclosed sector, much of which is classified. So if you are interested, you’ll have to get a security clearance.”

  “You’re offering me a job?” He hadn’t even asked me any questions yet. “What is it that you want me to do for your team exactly?”

  “Indeed. We think that your particular skill set could be of use to us.” He had to be joking.

  “I’m a Biosystems Analyst. I analyze wildlife statistics and look for biodiversity in animal populations.”

  “We know.” It seemed he really wasn’t going to tell me more, but then he paused. “You wrote a paper that interested us. I haven’t read it myself, but my team was intrigued.”

  “You’re talking about the white-tailed deer study?” I clarified.

  “No,” He looked lost, “It was a different paper, about birds.” That was an understatement, to say the least. He obviously wasn’t well versed in the field.

  “Oh.” It took me by surprise. I had only ever published one other paper. It had never been cited, and I had no reason to believe it had ever been read by anyone. It was about swarming patterns in Starlings. I had abandoned the research when it didn’t produce any interest. It was before the Threshold hit my hometown, so none of it mattered now. However, he definitely had my attention.

  “Does this have something to do with Avian Migration Patterns?” I asked, feeling skeptical.

  “I need you to accept the position before I can give you any more detail Ms. Everly.”

  I hesitated, before asking, “Can you at least tell me how I would be compensated?”

  “You would have room and board for the period of the contract, a minimum 6 months, and we would be prepared to offer you a regular 10,000 credit stipend for your efforts.”

  That wasn’t terrible for Half a year. More money than I’ve ever made that’s certain. The way things in the world were going, there weren’t that many chances for well-paying jobs. Most jobs paid half that. The majority of people were contracted by Threshold Relief crews, but that was terrible backbreaking work. The Natural Disasters were coming faster than the crews could keep up with. The funding would run out soon, and then it was only a matter of time before things went south.

  “That’s a pretty good offer.” I hedged, still not sure if I should take it.

  “We think a 10,000 monthly credit allowance is more than generous compensation for your research.”

  A month? It took me a moment to figure out if he was joking or not, but Commander Marshall didn’t seem like the joking type. As I did the math, I realized he was offering me more money than I or anyone I knew had ever seen. That was excessive, nobody had that much money anymore. I wouldn’t really be able to do anything with money like that in the middle of who-knows-where anyway, but It made me wonder what kind of job he wanted me to do for this “project.”

  “Well, you’re offering me a crazy amount of money for a job that I don’t even know anything about, and you’re making this offer based on one research study that nobody read.” The words came out harsher than I intended, but I continued. “I’ll take it, I guess if you’re stupid enough to offer it to me.” I flinched as that last part hung in the air. I had probably just screwed it up, whatever it was.

  “You made the right choice, Ms. Everly. You have until tomorrow at 6 am to get your things together and say your goodbyes, then we’re heading out. You will meet a Security Specialist at this address.” He handed me a small card, like a business card, but it was blank. I turned it over a few times. Nothing. I looked up at him, but he only smiled.

  I looked at the white card once more, and a line of text appeared before my eyes. The script was small and precise, in all caps. It read 1100 SOUTH BUREAU #3869. Was this some type of security feature perhaps?

  “Do I need to bring anything with me?”

  “After you are cleared, we will depart immediately to the project site. You may bring one packed bag with any personal items you wish to take with you, and you should bring a passport and birth certificate and any other valid documents of identification that you may have.”

  “Just one bag?” It wasn’t like I had that much stuff, but if I was going to be gone for at least 6 months that didn’t seem like it would be enough.

  “You will be provided with weather appropriate civilian clothes and all toiletries.”

  They must not want me to know what sort of climate I would be going to. It was probably in the middle of a desert or some barren tundra. I tried to think of anything I heard on the news recently about the military. They were stationed in every country that had experienced the disasters. They were mostly keeping order and distributing humanitarian aid, but maybe there was more to it than that. They had been in the deserts of dME and nAS, even before everything started going wrong. I began to wish I had kept up with the news better.

  “Would you like a car to pick you up in the morning Ms. Everly?” The idea made me feel a little queasy. I looked at my watch,
touching the screen to turn it on. It was nearly 5 pm already. I had walked across the stage to receive my diploma just a few hours ago, but I had just 12 hours before I would be taking up some top secret project with the Military. Had Professor Mattews had something to do with this?

  “No thank you, Sir.” I supposed that I had better not say any more rude things to this guy. He was probably my boss. I was utterly unfamiliar with the military. After the disasters had begun, Congress had voted to place detachments in every city that had been affected. At this point, that was pretty much all cities, but it’s not like they could do much to stop it from happening. The disasters came anyway. We had already had 10 tornadoes this year in the Southern Bureau, and it was only May.