by Geoff Palmer
A ragged, tearing, crackle reached their ears like the sound of a lightning strike slowed ten thousand times. Then the deep rumble of a shock wave travelled through the ground beneath their feet.
They stood, stunned and silent, shielding their faces as the sound subsided and the rumbling ceased. The fierce white glow faded to an angry yellow then sank into the very earth itself, leaving behind a hotly glowing crater. The trees and shrubs around its perimeter had been flattened, those further out swayed and smouldered, some had caught alight. But in the centre there was nothing but blasted earth.
‘No!’ Alkemy gasped weakly, making to run towards it.
Ludokrus reached out and caught her by the shoulder, his face an ashen mask.
‘Our ship ... our ship ...!’ she cried, but he drew her to him, closing his arms around her as if trying to shield her from the knowledge that they’d just seen it blown to atoms.
A shocked stillness settled over the landscape. Nothing moved. Nothing stirred. Even the birds were silent. Just a few lazy tendrils of smoke uncoiled in the still air, briefly blotting out the setting sun and the early evening stars.
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About the Author
Geoff Palmer is an award-winning novelist and technical writer
based in Wellington, New Zealand.
You’ll find him online at
www.geoffpalmer.co.nz
On Facebook:
facebook.com/geoffpalmerNZ
On Twitter:
twitter.com/geoffpalmer
Also by Geoff Palmer
Telling Stories (a novel)
Payback
The Bluebelle Investigations series:
Private Viewing
Private Lives
The Forty Million Minutes series:
Too Many Zeros
Lair of the Sentinels
The Man with the Missing Jaw
Non-fiction:
Reasons for NOT Writing & How to Overcome Them
Podsnap Publishing Ltd., 17 Moir Street, Mt Victoria,
Wellington 6011, New Zealand.
First published by Puffin Books, 2011
This edition published by Podsnap Publishing Ltd., 2016
Copyright © Geoff Palmer 2011
The author’s moral right has been asserted.
Apart from fair dealing for the purposes of study, research, criticism or review, no part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted by any person or entity (including Google, Amazon or similar organisations), in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, scanning or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.
All rights reserved.
This novel is a work of fiction. Names and characters are the product of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
ISBN:
978-0-473-33264-8 (paperback)
978-0-473-33265-5 (ePub)
Cover design by David Owen
www.davidowen.co.nz
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Did you love Too Many Zeros? Then you should read Lair of the Sentinels by Geoff Palmer!
Things are getting desperate for Tim, Coral and their friends trapped on Earth after the destruction of their spaceship. Now the slimy, slug-like, mind-reading Sentinels have formulated a fiendish plan to exterminate them all, one by one.
Deep within their secret base, they plot and plan, reckoning without the courage and ingenuity of the Earthlings. But word is getting out about strange happenings around Rata. A nosy camera crew arrive, the army are called in, someone goes missing, and someone talks ...
Desperate to keep to keep a lid on things, Tim and Coral struggle against overwhelming odds and find themselves caught up in a spectacular battle that could destroy them all.
Picking up from where Too Many Zeros left off, Lair of the Sentinels continues the adrenaline-filled excitement and heart-stopping action.
"A rollicking good read for pre-teenage children and their parents. It's funny, fast-paced and captivating. A real page-turner."
Maggie Rainey-Smith
This exciting and highly imaginative adventure/science fiction novel is the second book in the Forty Million Minutes series.
Read more at Geoff Palmer’s site.