by Maxey, Phil
Contents
Title page
Copyright
Disclaimer
Book One Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Book Two Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Book Three Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Book Four Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Book Five Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Book Six Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Thank you
Extinction Gene: The Complete Series
Books 1 - 6
by
Phil Maxey
Copyright © 2021 by Philip Maxey
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
First Printing, 2021.
https://www.philmaxeyauthor.com
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales, is purely coincidental.
BOOK ONE
CHAPTER ONE
4: 34 p.m, December 14th.
Denver. Keller’s apartment building.
Day 1.
“And as I speak the Demeter mission that has spent the last year orbiting Venus collecting data from those mysterious clouds, is re-entering earth’s upper orbit. More on that story after the weather, which for those in the city of Denver is going to be a blustery, wet night…”
The blurry, distorted view out of Jessica Keller’s windshield reflected her mood, and the chocolates her friend gave her weren’t helping. She turned off her car’s radio, and sat in the dim light of the underground parking garage. She needed a minute before going upstairs to the apartment and the chaos of family life. The meeting with the head of HR that took just five minutes to end her career as a microbiologist, was still reverberating through her thoughts and she needed a moment to process.
Words such as ‘legal action’, ‘confidentiality agreement’ and ‘endangering the lives of her colleagues’ had been swimming through her mind on the drive home, as well as the angry face of her senior manager.
She looked at Joshua’s present for his tenth birthday. The latest and most expensive of the computer tablets available, one which if she had known what she knew now, she wouldn’t have bought. Or maybe she would, she wasn’t sure. Just like she wasn’t sure what the future would hold.
Samantha had been given the same just a month earlier, and her younger brother wouldn’t stop mentioning it, so soon he would have his own.
She wondered how she was going to break the news to Landon. A shiny tablet wasn’t the only thing they had spent money on recently. There was also the small matter of the house they had just purchased, in the foothills outside Rocky Pine, where Landon had been accepted as detective. The first installment being due by the end of the week. She had always supported his job, but even his recent bump in salary wasn’t going to be enough to carry them.
“Lots of companies need a microbiologist… I’ll find something…” she whispered to herself, hoping saying it out loud would make it real. But her blood pressure wasn’t believing it. Would the accusations follow her? She hadn’t done anything they had accused her of. She had got the job with Biochron straight out of university, and would have been celebrating a decade with the compan
y at the end of the year. It was her home from home.
She looked in the rear mirror. Her eyes were red and a flicker of brown was smeared across her chin. Taking her sleeve, she rubbed it off while straightening a whisper of brown hair that had become loose from the tie she used. She was certain she looked older than her thirty-four years. That her once youthful features had become lined by age. The last few years had been hard, but rewarding. She had worked her way up through the company, completing a number of studies on various theories of microbial life, that had allowed Biochron to win several patents, and had managed with Landon’s help to give Josh and Sam a good life, at least better than they had. But the earlier meeting had hit the reset button.
She opened the door, placing the bag of chocolates in her backpack. The odor of fast food escaped, and she quickly zipped it up. Grabbing the white branded bag as well, she quickly closed the door, the beeping becoming annoying. Walking away, she almost forgot to lock it, then turned and clicked the key fob to slide the locks into place and made her way across the confined space with the low ceiling to the elevator. She hoped she wouldn’t bump into old Mr. Harris the building’s janitor or Hannah. The last thing she wanted to hear was how well her husband was doing in his hedge fund. The elevator door slid closed, and she mentally prepared what she was going to say to her husband. She still didn’t understand why she was now one of the unemployed. Maybe she could sue them? But then she didn’t particularly fancy going up against Biochron’s team of formidable lawyers.
The metal box rapidly ascended the five floors to her level, and the door slid open to a twenty something blonde haired woman, wearing a short skirt and a purple lycra top.
“Jess!” Hannah’s face became one of confusion as Jessica tried to shuffle past.
“Sorry, I’m home early to give Josh his present. Can’t talk!”
“Oh, that’s today?”
Jess smiled then fumbled for her keys, while backing towards her front door, which then opened.
“I thought I heard you,” said Landon. “You’re home early?” Her six-foot-two husband with short cropped dark hair, also looked confused. He briefly glanced at the younger woman standing near the elevator. “Hi, Hannah.”
“Is mom home?” came a boy’s voice from inside the apartment.
Jess flicked her head towards her neighbor. “Bye,” while walking forward into her apartment, Landon moving the opposite way, still looking for an answer as to why his wife was home an hour early.
She closed the door behind her. “Yes… Um, there’s…”
“Mom?” Josh appeared around the corner, his face immediately becoming one of joy on seeing the small white bag his mother was holding. “You got it!” he exclaimed, running forward.
She smiled. “I did. Happy birthday. Here you go.” She handed him the bag, while Landon smiled at his son, putting aside his concerns as to his wife’s early arrival.
The door at the far end of the hallway opened. A somewhat lanky teenage girl appeared, with headphones on, which she pulled from her brown straggly hair. “Why you home early?”
Josh whirled around. “I got one too!” he said to Sam.
“Good! Now you can leave mine alone!”
The young boy moved into the living room, busily pulling the white packaging apart.
“Wait for me to set it up!” shouted Landon after his son, but his daughter was still looking inquisitively at her mother.
“Oh, Ethan let me out early,” said Jess. “With it being Josh’s birthday.”
“Cool. That mean we can have some cake now?”
“Umm, sure.” She opened her pack, quickly putting the chocolates on the hallway table.
Sam placed her headphones back on and followed her brother.
“What really happened?” said Landon as soon as his daughter was out of sight.
Jess sighed. “Can we talk about it later? I just want to enjoy his birthday…” she noticed Landon’s not-so-subtle flash of frustration. “Look, I’m fine. But I just want to enjoy—”
He hugged her, and for a moment the pain and confusion of the previous hour almost overwhelmed her efforts to keep it at bay. “We can talk about it later,” he said. He pulled back with a smile. “Time for a sugar rush!”
*****
5: 58 p.m.
Jess stared out the window at the apartments across the way. In one, only the screen of a computer monitor could be seen, and on it someone was busily typing. Another contained flashing Christmas lights, others mostly shadows, but one displayed a couple arguing. She wondered what the object of disagreement was. Maybe she too had lost her job.
A ping came from a cell phone behind her.
“Sam, you know the rule. No cell phones at dinner,” she said, still being lost to the events of earlier. She was standing in the kitchen area, which was separated by a counter from the long dining table where they all ate, more or less at the same time each day, 6. p.m.
Sam frowned, tapping her phone a few more times, then slipped it into her green pant’s pocket.
“Same goes for you Josh, you will have years to play with that thing until I have to buy you a new one.”
There was a brief flurry of bells and whistles from Josh’s present, before he caught his father’s nod and put his newly acquired device down then sat on the chair at the dinner table.
The Keller’s home was modern, but housed in a turn of the century former textile factory. Bare brick lined the walls with renovated exposed pipes emerging from points across the ceiling. One of a number of historic buildings that had been converted during the property boom in the eighties of downtown Denver.
Jessica brought a large pot to the table. A glance moved between the three seated occupants. “And here’s my mother’s famous mountain stew!”
“Thank you, mom…” said Josh, not sounding completely enthusiastic.
She pulled the lid off flamboyantly to reveal a mound of hamburgers and fries.
“Fried garlic and herb cheeseburgers!” shouted Josh. “My favorite!”
“Well, it was your birthday, so rather than subject you to my cooking, I thought you’d rather have these. There are shakes in the refrigerator.”
Josh sprang up, racing to the fridge.
“I want strawberry!,” said Sam.
Landon slung his hand around his wife’s waist. “You’re a great cook… the whole thing with the salmon salad last week, we don’t need to talk about.”
Sam smiled, taking her cold milky drink from her brother then reached for a wrapped bun, but a distant explosion made her pause. Before anyone had a chance to ask if they had heard it, the floor beneath them shook, making Landon throw his hands out to each of his children’s shoulders, while Jess held onto the counter.
The tremor was over before each had fully realized it had begun. A chorus of car alarms played out from below the apartment’s windows.
Landon whipped around to his wife. “Are you okay?” She nodded.
“Was that an earthquake?” said Sam.
Both parents made their way to the drapes, pulling them back. “I don’t know,” said Landon. They looked down to people spilling onto the street. Jess noticed the couple across from them were equally curious.
As Landon looked up at the ceiling, then walls, making sure to see there were no cracks, Josh moved off his seat and walked across the living room, bumping into the table somewhat. Sam noticed where he was heading and followed him until both were looking to the southwest, at the only gap in the nearby buildings allowing them to see beyond the city’s edges. A yellow glow hung on the horizon.
“What you looking at?” said Jess, walking behind them as a knock came at the door.
Landon moved out into the hallway.
“What is it?” said Josh to his mother, still observing the distant light.
She shook her head. “I don’t know. Maybe a factory is on fire?”
Footsteps preceded a middle-aged man, with teeth and hair that belonged in a shaving commercial, app
earing at the entrance to the hallway. “Everyone alright?” said Karl, husband to their neighbor Hannah. He and Landon walked into the living room.
Josh immediately turned and grabbed his tablet, holding it up to the visitor. “Look what I got for my birthday!”
“Hey, that’s—”
Ping sounds rang out around the room, making everyone reach for their phone.
Landon was first to his. “Some kind of an emergency message from the authorities. It says—”
Karl interrupted. “Something crashed outside the city. Says here, it’s a threat to local people, and everyone is to keep away from the scene. Stay inside and make sure their windows and doors are closed.”
Jess noticed the shock on her son’s face and placed her hand around his shoulder. “I’m sure it’s just a precaution.” She looked at Karl. “Where’s Hannah?”
He frowned. “In the shower. She probably doesn’t even know something’s happened. She’ll be in there for another hour.”
“I’m calling the station,” said Landon, moving away to the hallway. “See if I’m needed in.”
The remaining four looked back out to the yellow light, which was now a smear, hanging above a silhouette of hills.
Suddenly the windows rattled, making Jess grab her two children closer, while Karl grabbed the back of the sofa. A thundering roar accompanied points of flashing light, soaring overhead, sliding in the direction of the mysterious glow.
“Look,” said Josh, still paying attention to the window. “Helicopters.”
Landon reappeared. “They said I should wait on standby. Being a space probe—”
“Space probe?” said Jess.
“Yeah, it looks like one was due to land somewhere in the Pacific.”
“Yes, the Demeter probe.”
“Somehow it missed the exit and crashed outside the city. It’s a circus out there. Homeland, military, FEMA. Everyone is heading for the scene.”
Karl looked confused. “Seems a bit much for some bit of space junk?”
“It’s more than a piece of junk,” said Jess. Considering the importance of what the probe had been sent to do in the Venetian clouds, she had been closely following its progress and had been more than a little excited at the prospect of its results. Karl shrugged.