The van crawled to a steady three miles per hour.
Jamie looked over his shoulder and squinted at the windshield. Its darkened, limousine effect prevented him from seeing the driver. The reflection of the trees from the cemetery were the only thing visible on the surface of the windshield.
He resumed his journey to school.
The van did the same.
Jamie knew the van was following him.
“Ugh, no,” Jamie looked at the cemetery gates and grew anxious. He could jump the railings and run across the grounds to safety.
The van slammed on its brakes, startling the boy.
He stopped dead in his tracks.
The side door slid open and revealed a person in a black balaclava. She grabbed the lip of the door and held her head out, “Jamie Anderson?”
He kept his mouth shut and chose not to interact with the stranger.
“Ugh, don’t mess me around, you little turd,” the person said. A feminine voice, to be sure. Judging by her voice and svelte frame she couldn’t have been very old, “Are you Jamie Anderson?”
“Who’s asking?”
“It’s him,” yelled a masked man from behind the door. Jamie scrunched his face at the woman.
She produced a gun and lay it across her lap, “Jamie?”
“P-Please leave me alone.”
“Jamie Anderson?”
“My mom told me never to speak to strangers.”
The woman wasn’t interested in his excuses. She lifted the gun and traced her finger along the barrel, “I know it’s you, but I need to be sure. What’s your date of birth?”
He hoped she wouldn’t point the gun at him, “March tenth, twenty-one-twelve.”
“Yes, it’s you all right,” she said.
Jamie blinked, frozen on the spot. He didn’t dare move a muscle, “What do you want?”
The woman shifted her behind across the seat the van and patted the vacant space next to her, “Get in.”
From the author - Andrew Mackay
Author notes from Star Cat 3: War Mage (exclusive to the e-book version of this title)
Hey, gang!
I’ll admit, I struggled a bit with Star Cat 3. It wasn’t because I didn’t have any ideas, but because I know how expansive the story is getting - and is going to be. Keeping a tally of the sheer numbers of characters involved and places and events, and when they happened requires its own encyclopedia (if you’re under the age of thirty, an encyclopedia was like a big book with the history of everything in it. They took all the info and put it where you go to do your last-minute homework; Wikipedia.) I’m sure reading the series is exhausting. Try carrying it around in your head! And we’re only half way there lol
I mentioned in the author notes for Pink Symphony that the series is inspired by the sci fi movies I saw in the 80s when I was growing up. Some of the more seasoned film fanatics among you may well have clocked the Alien, Aliens, Robocop, The Thing, 2001: A Space Odyssey references. These are all deliberate. It’s clear to me now that we’re up to book 3 that Star Cat is playing out like a greatest hits mix tape of all the sci-fi I love. Especially the titles that affected me when growing up. The real test of the series will be whether or not I can juggle everything that is happening in space and back on Earth.
I think there will be six books in this series unless it’s a super sell-out mega blockbuster. In which case, I’ll explore the idea even further. Time will tell, but I have three more books in mind after War Mage.
War Mage is somewhat beyond sci-fi in my eyes. I mentioned last time that, in my view, good sci-fi raises more questions than it answers. In addition to this I’ve decided sci-fi needs to be way, way more than just fiction regarding science. Sure, all the Poz and Neg Bass / Death Drone / Individimedia / Decapidisc technology is fun, but it’s the characters where we find ourselves really hooked.
This time, for War Mage, the theme was really about identity and conformity. Jelly is the equivalent of a full-grown woman by the end of War Mage. It was an area of drama I really wanted to explore; specifically, the aspect of an animal trying its utmost to conform to the expectations of her crew, and failing in most cases. I refer exclusively to the part where Wool trains Jelly to not do something - knock the cups off the desk. It’s a part that foreshadows Bonnie’s death. Jelly technically murdered Bonnie Whitaker - but, if you think about it, did she really? She was only playing to her instincts. At that point, being little more than a jumped-up adolescent, it’s hardly fair to say Jelly murdered her. Therein lies the quandary.
This idea of cats acting on instinct came about from a conversation I had with my mum about twenty years ago when I still lived at home. We had a number of cats over the years. Usually two at a time, swearing blind that once they’d passed away, that would be the end of it. The heartbreak when the inevitable rolled round was too much to bear. Anyway, I asked my mum what would happen if Sooty (our black cat at the time) were to outgrow us. Could he be trusted? My mum said she didn’t think so. I am sure we all like to think our pets wouldn’t turn on us if they were to outgrow us in size. But in our heart of hearts, I think we all know they would. Hell, even if they were being friendly and slapping us around for the lolz, they could do irreparable - even fatal - damage.
I wasn’t especially conscious of the conversation while I wrote War Mage. By the time I got to the part where Jelly awakens from hyper-sleep at a whopping seven feet in height, and tells Jaycee to bow down, it all came flooding back. I don’t know about you, but I find that stuff fascinating. I find people and their behaviour in certain situations fascinating. I guess that’s part and parcel of having been a screenwriter and a teacher for most of my adult life - before turning to writing novels. I hope, further, that you as a reader have found the areas I’m exploring just as fascinating.
Incidentally, I’d like to say sorry to all of you who loved Bonnie, Tor, Baldron, Manuel, and Wool. War Mage was a bit of a bloodbath. But, when my characters die, they stay dead, I’m afraid. There’s no point hiding the fact that people, and animals, die. I think it’s a part of the reason why we get pets in the first place. They’re cute and cuddly and great, but the very end does set in stone a principal - especially for children - that all things come to an end. Some of the best works of fiction deal with loss in an appropriate way. We all need to be reminded to not take what we have for granted once in a while.
At the very crux of it all, War Mage has taken us on a journey a billion miles from the starting point. Remember when Jelly Anderson was just a little kitty with her friend, Jamie? Whoa, look at her now… also, before you ask, I am well aware of the things that have not been explained. Perhaps I should tell you now that everything you’ve read in all three books so far has been important. But I would never, ever presume to spell things out for you - and certainly not in this genre. If you’re still wondering how Jelly got pregnant then I’m afraid you’re asking the wrong question. Think along the lines of why and you’ll reach the answer a lot quicker. For those of you who “get it” - then I am glad. I’ve received a lot of communication since Pink Symphony’s release thanking me for not treating them like idiots. It’s been my pleasure.
Now, we move on to Star Cat 4: Killer Instinct. If you thought War Mage was rough… prepare yourselves. It’ll still be Harry Potter / PG-13 levels of violence. But by now you know I’m ruthless. So adjust your expectations accordingly, boys and girls. Don’t worry, there’ll be many OMG and fist pumping moments. Every book needs to up the ante. Killer Instinct will blow your cotton socks off.
Just as the next move as been unpredictable (in most cases, anyway) from one book to the next - so, too, will Killer Instinct. It’ll be a completely different departure. I can only write - and you can only read - a bridge connection exploding between two spaceships so many times, and people unmasking themselves as villains and/or good guys before I start to belabor the point. The title may give the direction away, but I can assure you that the themes will be fresher than a recentl
y-picked dandelion. Also, the events on Earth (if you haven’t figure it out yet with War Mage’s ending lol) is really starting to ramp up. I’m sure the more astute reader may see where all that stuff is heading. I cannot resist satire. If you’ve read any of my other works, then you’ll know this. But, you know what they say - it’s not the being there, but the getting there that’s the most fun.
My family can eat and wear shoes because readers such as yourself are good enough to buy my books and provide me with a living. I must entertain you, and provide you with compelling stories. I will continue to not let you down. If anything, the opposite. Because Star Cat is enjoying considerable success, it’s forcing me to write faster and better. As you’ve seen up until this point I’m trying to cover a number of bases and give you something you haven’t seen before. Sure, it’s silly sci fi nonsense - but is it, really? If you Google “Saturn Moon as All the Ingredients for Life” you’ll find a new story dated June 28th that suggests NASA has found evidence that Enceladus could contain life. I wrote Star Cat: Infinity Claws two months before this story broke. How strange is that?
Sometimes our crazy and daft predictions can come true. If we think back to the technology of 1918, just after WWI, what did we have then? The telephone? And even then it was a plastic piece of crap that had dials and so on. Look what we have today. Televisions, cars, planes, video games, smart phones… where will we be in 2118? Or even 2122, as it is now in the Star Cat series? It’s a fascinating question - and a damn shame we’ll never live to see the answer. Maybe one day cats will compete - for something. Maybe not to go into space. Or maybe? I dunno.
My hope is that one day a hundred years from now, someone digs up the Star Cat series and reads it (because I am really famous and clever, like Shakespeare’s novels and Dickens’s plays and stuff) and says “Oh, you know that Mackay guy? He got some stuff right. And there are still no flying cars.”
See you at the end of book 4!
Andrew Mackay,
Hampshire, UK
(June 28, 2018)
***
Star Cat 4: Killer Instinct
Unleash the beast… available at Amazon.
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‘Star Cat: War Mage (Book Three)’
Copyright © 2018 Chrome Valley Books
Written by Andrew Mackay
Edited by Ashley Rose Miller
Cover design by Kveather
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead (or somewhere in between), events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Acknowledgments:
For K
Also to:
My immediate family.
All the CVB Gang Members / ARC Street Team.
Jolene Huber, Jennifer Long, Adele Embrey, and Barrie, as always!
The members and admins of 20BooksTo50K.
Up next: Star Cat 4: Killer Instinct
Beyond the stars.
Beyond your wildest imagination.
Discover how it all began…
Star Cat: Origins
Young Jamie Anderson’s world is turned upside down by tragedy.
But a new character is about to enter his life and change it forever.
A little cat named Jelly.
USARIC are preparing a mission that will change history.
And perhaps even the future.
There’s a contest coming … to find the first cat in space.
Wonder, beauty, and something fantastic are about to enter Jamie’s life.
Star Cat: Origins is the prequel to the groundbreaking sci-fi series.
It all started here…
https://www.subscribepage.com/y5c5i8
The Last Trilogy has landed. It all ends here.
Click here to get your paws on your copy now.
Available at Amazon and on Kindle Unlimited.
Star Cat: Killer Instinct
Unleash the Beast.
Chapter 1
Chrome Valley
United Kingdom
(Nine Years Ago)
No one knew the old man’s name.
No one cared to know it.
He seldom left his house, but today he had to. A goal had to be achieved - and quickly.
He clutched a cardboard box in his arms as he crossed the main freeway that separated Chrome Valley’s east and west side.
Crossing all six lanes was a perilous endeavor.
Still, he managed to do it, narrowly avoiding the speeding cars and the two MagStrips - flat, magnetic paths that ran on either side of the ‘slow lanes’ in each direction for Magnetic Levitation Cycles to travel on.
He put one foot in front of the other slowly, seeming to care little about whether he was struck by the traffic or not.
An oncoming driver had to swerve into the middle lane. Thank God no one occupied it or else the two vehicles might have collided.
This very thought flew through the man’s head.
It made him smile, and then peek inside the cardboard box.
The traffic drowned out the squeals and meows coming from under the flap. A lot of the commotion inside the four walls escaped through three pricks at the top of the box.
“Shh,” the man said.
He lifted his head, closed his eyes and stepped right into the traffic.
Several car horns blared around him in the light breeze as he continued forward.
The driver of a white SUV slammed his brakes and horn at the same time. The man expected the bumper to crush his legs, after which one of two things might happen.
One, the rest of his body would follow and crumple to the ground. The blunt force trauma would crush every bone in his body and kill him instantly - trampled to death under its wheels, or…
Two, the hood of the SUV would launch him into the air. Perhaps his right elbow and arm would shatter, but at least it would cause the requisite amount of damage.
As it happened, neither of these eventualities occurred.
The car skidded to a halt to within an inch of the man’s knees. The driver rolled his window down and screamed a colorful array of obscenities as the man moved through the final lane to Chrome Valley’s east side, near the cemetery.
“Oi, mate,” the driver yelled. “What the hell do you think you’re—”
He stopped speaking when the man opened his eyes and stared him out.
A wave of anxiety fell across the driver’s face, “Jesus Christ, mate. Are you okay?”
No response.
The man staring at the driver was withered and old. No wonder he was slow to walk. He could barely hold the cardboard box held in his arms.
The box shuffled as the two men stared at each other for a response.
Finally, the driver got the creeps so bad he decided to back his SUV into the angry traffic jam that had formed behind him.
“Okay, okay. Never mind.”
The old man walked over the MagStrip, his heels clunking against the shiny metal, before traversing the verge that led to Waddling Gate Cemetery.
> But he didn’t make it that far. That wasn’t the point of having left the house.
As the cars whizzed in all directions at ridiculous speeds, the man surveyed the area and took in a lungful of fresh, Chrome Valley air.
“I had no choice,” he whispered in his withered, old voice, “Please forgive me.”
He crouched to his knees and set the cardboard box on the verge, a few inches from the MagStrip.
SCHWIP. SCHWIP.
The man lifted the flaps of the box out and, for a brief moment, avoided having to look inside. He turned his head around and clocked the tiny conker tree at the corner of the cemetery, hoping above hope that he himself would end up in those grounds sooner rather than later.
Three tiny kittens clawed at the side of the opened box in an attempt to jump out.
The box was too big for that, though. For them.
“Miew.”
A brown kitten squealed at the top of her tiny lungs. Her orange eyes grew at the towering man looking away from her.
Attention, damn it. Attention.
“Miew.”
The man caved in and looked inside the cardboard box. He stared at the brown-orange kitten and suppressed the urge to cry.
Star Cat The Complete Series Page 70