I stand and take the boy from them, ordering them to leave with a thought.
The boy stirs.
His eyes open.
My heart breaks.
It’s been five years and three months since I looked into Kailyn’s eyes, but I have no trouble seeing her in his eyes, in his cheeks, his nose.
Who are you? he asks, and I nearly sob at the sound of his voice.
The voice that no one else heard.
A familiar tickle fills my head. Instead of resisting, I open my mind. I let him see enough to understand.
When he starts to squirm, I put him down. He steps away from us, but then stops. His frightened face calms. Jacob has a hand on his arm, soothing his worries.
The boy looks down at Jacob’s hand, and then into Jacob’s not-quite-human eyes. “Brother.”
Jacob smiles and nods.
The boy turns to Wini. “Grandmother.”
Wini wipes away tears and hiccups a “Yes.”
When Nathaniel looks into my eyes and says, “F-father?” I can’t hold back my tears.
I’m incapable of speaking. Any sound that comes from my mouth will be a sob. So I speak the language every parent and child instinctually knows from the moment of birth—I hold out my arms.
There’s a moment of hesitation, and then my son, who should be dead, steps into my embrace and says, one mind to another, thank you for finding me.
A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR
I need to start this by apologizing to the Mormon church. I know, I know, I accused you of building secret bunkers in SecondWorld (you are…ahem) and made Nephi a really bad dude in The Last Hunter series (Nephil is the singular form of Nephilim). And yes, I had a kaiju fall atop the Mormon Temple, and identified the angel atop it as the aforementioned Nephi rather than Moroni (because I think they’re the same – look it up – not an invitation for debate ). Despite all that, I had zero intention of including any Mormon-related elements in this story. Here’s how it went down.
This whole story began where Delgado’s investigation leads early on: the 37th parallel. I decided that the story’s course would follow this line and when it was time for them to travel west, I followed the parallel, looking for towns through which it passed. Colorado City was the first I found, and pretty much exactly where I wanted to go.
So I researched the town and found…polygamist Mormon cults. My first thought was, “No way. I can’t do this.” For each of the offenses listed in the first paragraph, I received a good amount of angry correspondence and I’m not looking forward to more. I was looking for ways out of this conundrum when I came across information about how young boys were expelled from those cults and never seen again. Mentally cursing, I really had no choice at this point. Truth and fiction aligned.
Do I really think Joseph Smith made a deal with cryptoterrestrial ‘aliens?’ Of course not. They were Nephilim. Okay! Okay! Put the pitchforks away. I’m kidding!
Maybe.
As for the Cryptoterrestrial theory on UFOs and alien visitations, I had also not intended on going in that direction when I started writing. But as I dug into the evidence (in the story), I was led in that direction with the help of a book titled The Cryptoterrestrials: A Meditation on Indigenous Humanoids and the Aliens Among Us by Mac Tonnies, pretty much the only text I could find on the subject. In the end, I find the theory as plausible, if not more so, than aliens from the stars or visitors from the future or another dimension. It was also unique (as far as I know) in the genre of UFO fiction, and I like unique. I apologize to any E.T.s this may offend, but you know, you are abducting and probing people, so I think a good ribbing is probably in order.
If you’re not Mormon (or maybe a Mormon with a sense of humor), nor an alien (or maybe an alien with a sense of humor, like Alf) and weren’t offended by The Others or this author’s note, shoot on over to Amazon, or Audible, or Goodreads and post a review. Every single one helps a ton, and since I really love writing these crazy books, I’d really appreciate it.
Thanks for reading!
—Jeremy Robinson
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Special thanks to Frank Robinson, my father, who helped instill a love of science fiction and fear of Grays in me. From tales of his own sightings, to visits with UFOlogist and family friend, Raymond Fowler, my father’s influence shines through in The Others. We recently talked about our personal theories on the subject and it turns out that we’re on the same page, and that if my father wrote this book, it might have been similar, but with less foul language. And now if people think I’m a freak for writing this book, they know who’s really to blame.
Thanks to Kane Gilmour, my editor supreme. Thanks to Dan Delgado (the real one) and Sally Ross, for all the UFO-related reading material. And big thanks to the team of proofreaders, Roger Brodeur, Lyn Askew, Julie Cummings Carter, Liz Cooper, Dan Delgado, Dustin Dreyling, Dee Haddrill, Becki Laurent, Rian Martin, Sharon Ruffy, Jeff Sexton, and Kelly Tyler, for making my writing look cleaner than it is.
As always, thanks to my family for inspiring me and for putting up with my weird theories…even when they give the kids nightmares. Blame papa! Love you guys.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jeremy Robinson is the international bestselling author of sixty novels and novellas, including Apocalypse Machine, Island 731, and SecondWorld, as well as the Jack Sigler thriller series and Project Nemesis, the highest selling, original (non-licensed) kaiju novel of all time. He’s known for mixing elements of science, history and mythology, which has earned him the #1 spot in Science Fiction and Action-Adventure, and secured him as the top creature feature author. Many of his novels have been adapted into comic books, optioned for film and TV, and translated into thirteen languages. He lives in New Hampshire with his wife and three children. Visit him at www.bewareofmonsters.com.
ALSO by JEREMY ROBINSON
Standalone Novels
The Didymus Contingency
Raising The Past
Beneath
Antarktos Rising
Kronos
Refuge
Xom-B
Flood Rising
MirrorWorld
Apocalypse Machine
Unity
The Distance
Infinite
Forbidden Island
The Divide
The Others
Nemesis Saga Novels
Island 731
Project Nemesis
Project Maigo
Project 731
Project Hyperion
Project Legion
SecondWorld Novels
SecondWorld
Nazi Hunter: Atlantis
(aka: I Am Cowboy)
The Antarktos Saga
The Last Hunter – Descent
The Last Hunter – Pursuit
The Last Hunter – Ascent
The Last Hunter – Lament
The Last Hunter – Onslaught
The Last Hunter – Collected Edition
The Last Valkyrie
The Jack Sigler/Chess Team Thrillers
Prime
Pulse
Instinct
Threshold
Ragnarok
Omega
Savage
Cannibal
Empire
Jack Sigler Continuum Novels
Guardian
Patriot
Centurion
Cerberus Group Novels
Herculean
Helios
Chesspocalypse Novellas
Callsign: King
Callsign: Queen
Callsign: Rook
Callsign: King 2 – Underworld
Callsign: Bishop
Callsign: Knight
Callsign: Deep Blue
Callsign: King 3 – Blackout
Chesspocalypse Novella Collected Editions
Callsign: King – The Brainstorm Trilogy
Callsign – Tripleshot
Cal
lsign – Doubleshot
Horror Novels
(written as Jeremy Bishop)
Torment
The Sentinel
The Raven
Post-Apocalyptic Sci-Fi Novels
Hunger
Feast
Viking Tomorrow
Comics & Graphic Novels
Project Nemesis
Godzilla: Rage Across Time
Island 731
Copyright ©2018 by Jeremy Robinson.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission of the author.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information address Jeremy Robinson at
[email protected].
Cover design copyright ©2018 by Jeremy Robinson
Visit Jeremy Robinson on the World Wide Web at:
www.bewareofmonsters.com
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