Revelations Read online

  REV: Revelations

  The REV Warriors Series Part 2. Book 1

  T.R. Harris

  THC

  Tom Harris Creations

  Copyright 2020

  by Tom Harris Creations, LLC

  All rights reserved.*

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  Novels by T.R. Harris

  The Adam Cain Saga

  The Dead Worlds

  Empires

  Battle Plan

  Galactic Vortex

  Dark Energy

  Universal Law

  The Formation Code

  The Quantum Enigma

  Children of the Aris (coming Dec. 2020)

  The Human Chronicles

  The Fringe Worlds

  Alien Assassin

  The War of Pawns

  The Tactics of Revenge

  The Legend of Earth

  Cain’s Crusaders

  The Apex Predator

  A Galaxy to Conquer

  The Masters of War

  Prelude to War

  The Unreachable Stars

  When Earth Reigned Supreme

  A Clash of Aliens

  Battlelines

  The Copernicus Deception

  Scorched Earth

  Alien Games

  The Cain Legacy

  The Andromeda Mission

  Last Species Standing

  Invasion Force

  Force of Gravity

  Mission Critical

  The Lost Universe

  The Immortal War

  Destroyer of Worlds

  Phantoms

  Terminus Rising

  The Last Aris

  The Human Chronicles Box Set Series

  Box Set #1 – Books 1-5 in the series

  Box Set #2 – Books 6-10 in the series

  Box Set #3 – Books 11-15 in the series

  Box Set #4 – Books 16-20 in the series

  Box Set #5—Books 21-25 in the series

  REV Warriors Series

  Rev

  REV: Renegades

  REV: Rebirth

  REV: Revolution

  REV: Retribution

  Part 2 - Beyond the Grid

  REV: Revelations

  REV: Resolve (coming early 2021)

  REV Warriors Box Set #1 – Books 1-3 in the series

  Jason King – Agent to the Stars Series

  The Enclaves of Sylox

  Treasure of the Galactic Lights

  The Drone Wars Series

  Day of the Drone

  In collaboration with Co-Author George Wier…

  The Liberation Series

  Captains Malicious

  Available exclusively on Amazon.com and FREE to members of Kindle Unlimited.

  Contents

  Part I

  Tommy

  Prologue

  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

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Coming Next

  Author Notes

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  Novels by T.R. Harris

  Part 1

  Tommy

  by Rudyard Kipling

  I went into a public 'ouse to get a pint o' beer,

  The publican 'e up an' sez, " We serve no red-coats here."

  The girls be'ind the bar they laughed an' giggled fit to die,

  I outs into the street again an' to myself sez I:

  O it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' " Tommy, go away " ; But it's " Thank you, Mister Atkins," when the band begins to play The band begins to play, my boys, the band begins to play,

  O it's " Thank you, Mister Atkins," when the band begins to play.

  I went into a theatre as sober as could be,

  They gave a drunk civilian room, but 'adn't none for me;

  They sent me to the gallery or round the music-'alls,

  But when it comes to fightin', Lord! they'll shove me in the stalls!

  For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' " Tommy, wait outside "; But it's " Special train for Atkins " when the trooper's on the tide The troopship's on the tide, my boys, the troopship's on the tide, O it's " Special train for Atkins " when the trooper's on the tide.

  Yes, makin' mock o' uniforms that guard you while you sleep

  Is cheaper than them uniforms, an' they're starvation cheap.

  An' hustlin' drunken soldiers when they're goin' large a bit

  Is five times better business than paradin' in full kit.

  Then it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an` Tommy, 'ow's yer soul? "

  But it's " Thin red line of 'eroes " when the drums begin to roll The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,

  O it's " Thin red line of 'eroes, " when the drums begin to roll.

  We aren't no thin red 'eroes, nor we aren't no blackguards too, But single men in barricks, most remarkable like you;

  An' if sometimes our conduct isn't all your fancy paints,

  Why, single men in barricks don't grow into plaster saints;

  While it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an` Tommy, fall be'ind,"

  But it's " Please to walk in front, sir," when there's trouble in the wind There's trouble in the wind, my boys, there's trouble in the wind, O it's " Please to walk in front, sir," when there's trouble in the wind.

  You talk o' better food for us, an' schools, an' fires, an' all: We'll wait for extry rations if you treat us rational.

  Don't mess about the cook-room slops, but prove it to our face The Widow's Uniform is not the soldier-man's disgrace.

  For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an` Chuck him out, the brute! "

  But it's " Saviour of 'is country " when the guns begin to shoot; An' it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' anything you please;

  An 'Tommy ain't a bloomin' fool - you bet that Tommy sees!

  Poem courtesy of

  Lionel B. Dyck

  Prologue

  Zac Murphy was cascading. But being the kind of REV he was, he could control it—if he wanted to.

  The performance-enhancing drug being produced naturally in his body gave him incredible strength and steel-like durability. And for an unskilled REV, reaching this emotional state would mean full activation and an out of control rage lethal to anyone within range. But Zac pulled it back, making sure he didn’t break the man’s neck while ultimately making his point.

  Dr. David Cross dangled from Zac’s outstretched right arm, pinned against the wall, his hands grasping at Zac’s, trying to free himself. It was pointless. Either Zac would release him on his own, or else Cross would die.

  “Listen to that, you asshole! They’re dying in there!” Zac yelled at the doctor, his face red, as were his eyes. The eye color was the signature of an activated REV, at least normal REVs. Everyone knew that. If the eyes were red … run. Zac wasn’t a normal REV, but he was activated to a point that the capillaries in his eyes ruptured. “You have to do something—now!”

  Angus Price—the other Delta-class REV in the room—stood back, refusing to intervene on Cross’s behalf. His girlfriend, Ashley Hunter, was in the same condition as Joanie Hollis. Both women were in an adjoining operating room, screaming and writhing in pain as the monsters within
their bloated bellies ripped them apart.

  “I … I will,” Cross managed to say as his windpipe slowly collapsed. “Team … standby!”

  Zac blinked his red eyes, grasping the meaning. He released the doctor, who slumped against the wall, rubbing his neck, his face a brilliant chartreuse.

  “I have a team. They’ve been here for a week, waiting for the word.”

  “Why didn’t you tell us?”

  Cross snorted, struggling to swallow. “You didn’t give me a chance, now did you?”

  Angus stepped up to the doctor. “You’re going to end the pregnancies; it’s about bloody time!”

  “We knew something like this might happen,” Cross said in his defense. “REV’s mating—at least at your level—was an unknown. It was impossible to predict what the fetuses would be like; their rate of growth, hormonal demand, and more.”

  “Well, now you know!” Zac yelled. “But this has been your endgame all along. You should have had some idea.”

  “Just possibilities.”

  “And here you were so ecstatic when Joanie and Ashley became pregnant,” Zac said sarcastically. “Just another chapter in your sad, sick experiments.”

  “If I recall, the two of you were pretty excited, as well,” Cross pointed out.

  “We didn’t know the babies would grow so fast … and so big. They’re about to rip the women apart.”

  “Yes, that was unexpected,” Cross acknowledged. “Even so, I was hoping the mother’s REV-enhanced bodies would help them survive. Now I know that’s not possible. We have to terminate the pregnancies.”

  “What about the babies?” Angus asked.

  Cross recoiled, shaking his head. “It’s only been four months. They’re not viable. Besides that, in their present state, the extraction process will kill them.” He studied the sullen faces of the men, watching as they slowly returned to normal, or what was normal for Delta REVs. “We don’t have a choice. The babies will continue to grow, and as they do, Joanie and Ashley will die. And the fetuses can’t survive outside the womb. Whatever we do, the babies will die. We only have one option.”

  Zac could hear the distant agony of the women in the room next door. It was torture. “Do it, then. Just fucking do it.”

  Cross didn’t hesitate. He rushed into the O.R., with a team of nervous-looking surgeons close behind. Emergency procedures were in place. These wouldn’t be typical C-sections. It was now a race to save the lives of the mothers.

  Zac Murphy put another log on the fire as it crackled and popped within a rustic hearth, prompting a shower of yellow embers, some of which arched into the cabin’s small interior. They quickly faded, causing no damage. Zac stood for a moment, staring into the dancing flames, letting the hypnotic motion distract him. He’d been having more of these short lapses in concentration recently, letting his face and mind go blank. They were brief respites from the thoughts that clouded his mind. But as time passed, he found he was dwelling less on the past … or the pain. He frowned as an alien thought crept in.

  What pain? he asked. Was it still there? If so, where was it hiding? At the moment, all he felt was numb.

  That was when his REV-enhanced hearing picked up an odd sound outside the cabin. The forest was full of noise, both day and night, the rustling of branches, the chattering of woodland creatures, the distant clap of thunder over the Olympic Rainforest of western Washington. He was intimate with each sound, accepting the normalcy as security.

  Now, he realized it wasn’t a sound he heard, but the lack of it. The constant background buzzing of crickets and beetles had fallen silent, a defense mechanism against an invader to their homes, and Zac’s, as well.

  He wasn’t afraid; REVs didn’t feel fear like normal people. Instinctively, his body released a little natural NT-4 into his system, boosting his strength, durability and senses. Zac would be ready for whatever happened.

  “Yo, Zac!” said a familiar voice with a slight English tinge to it. “You in there? It’s Angus. I know you heard me coming.”

  Zac should have felt, well, something, that his best friend, Angus Price, was outside the cabin. But he didn’t. He felt nothing. Instead, he was in the moment, accepting reality for what it was: something out of his control.

  He went to the door and opened it.

  The big Englishman was standing at the base of the covered porch, grinning through a set of perfect white teeth, framed by the square jaw and handsome features that were common to all REVs. Zac had seen pictures of a young Angus. He wasn’t always this perfect. For that matter, neither had Zac. NT-4 had that effect on the Human body, sculpting it into the ideal version of a classic Greek god. That benefit of the drug featured prominently in the recruitment brochures back in the day.

  Angus held up a six-pack in each hand. “I come bearing gifts. Brought some Guinness.”

  “It wasn’t necessary; I have my own.”

  Angus looked around at the late afternoon light filtering through the pines. “I couldn’t count on that. You’re stuck out here miles from nowhere. Who knows the last time you made a beer run?”

  After a quick tour of the one-room cabin—a very quick tour—the men pulled up hand-made rocking chairs and sat on the porch, watching as the veil of night descended over the forest. Sensing that all was back to normal, the woods were alive again with sound, and a hint of humidity spoke of a coming rainstorm, a common occurrence in the region and a trademark of the Olympic Peninsula.

  The batteries were fully charged from the day’s sunlight, and now a solitary fluorescent light hung from a hook in the wooden awning, casting the friends in a soft yellow glow as they downed the first bottles of brew and opened the next. It took a lot to get a REV drunk. What they had on hand wouldn’t even come close.

  Zac didn’t ask Angus why he’d traveled out to the West Coast of the American Sector and then hiked in six miles from Port Angeles to find Zac’s secluded hideaway. He knew why.

  “Any word from Ashley?” he asked.

  Angus pursed his lips. “Not a peep. But you know her; once a deep-cover spy, always a deep-cover spy. After the procedure, she healed up pretty quickly and then went back to work. Nary a word of goodbye.”

  “That sucks.”

  “Yeah, well, we all kinda went our separate ways, didn’t we, mate? Ashley went out into the Grid, Cross to who knows where, me to South Carolina to see my parents, and you out here, in the middle of nowhere.”

  Zac raised his eyebrows. “You saw your parents? How did that go?”

  “About as bloody-well as expected,” Angus answered. “You know, someone once said you can’t go home again, and by god, he was right.”

  “You can’t blame them; their son became a REV. It’s better just to move on after that.”

  Angus shrugged. “You’re right, of course. They wrote me off years ago, which was the smart thing to do. We weren’t expected to live as long as we have.” He laughed. “Or turn out the way we did! Who could have seen that coming?”

  Zac shrugged.

  Angus offered up the neck of his Guinness. Zac tapped it with his. “Here’s to one-of-a-kind mutants, freaks, whatever you want to call us.” Angus took a healthy swig of the lager. “There’s no way my folks could have known that I wouldn’t turn up as just another a statistic, another dead REV. Anyway, it was awkward and tense, like we didn’t even know each other. Besides, they’d heard the rumors. I think I scared the shite out of them. You’re the lucky one, my friend. No ties, no one—”

  Angus caught himself, but the damage was done.

  “I’m sorry, mate.”

  “It’s okay, Angus,” Zac said through a forced smile. “Don’t sweat it. In fact, I’ve been thinking about how little I feel about, well, everything. It’s almost as if I’m back to being a traditional REV, living day to day, without considering a future.”

  “Still, I know Joanie meant a lot to you.”

  “As did Ashley to you.”

  “Yeah, but Ashley’s still out there som
ewhere—oh, damn, there I go again!”

  “It’s okay, Angus, honestly. Joanie’s dead; I know that. It’s no big deal. If you hadn’t noticed, death is our profession. It’s been a part of us since we were twenty. And remember, my claim to fame is that I’ve killed more aliens than any Human alive. And you can’t be that far behind. And think about the other REVs we’ve known, along with the Marines and sailors. Although we weren’t allowed to have real friends, we knew those people. Most of them died, too. We didn’t give a damn then, and now I’m reverting to that same feeling. I just don’t give a shit anymore. It was a mistake to think we could live normal lives. We ain’t normal, buddy. Not by a long shot.”

  Angus stared out into the gloom of the night. “But we were given a second chance. Except for the fact that we’re so bloody famous, we could walk down any street on Earth and no one could tell what we are. I bet you never thought that would happen. And Zac, you have to accept that we are different, but not in the way we were expecting. We’re the last two Delta REVs alive.”

  Zac laughed. “There were only thirteen of us to begin with, so that’s not saying much.”

  “But we survived. And contrary to what those snot-nosed AC-3s say, we’re still the baddest bloody warriors the Human race has ever produced. The two of us, sitting here, having beers … we’re fucking Supermen.”