Title: Edge of Truth
Author: Natasha Hanova
Author: Natasha Hanova
Publication date: June 6th 2013
Publisher: Sapphire Star Publishing
Genre: Young Adult, Dystopia
Synopsis:
Citizens who report to work on time, obey the Overlord’s laws, and stay off the Synbot’s radar, live long lives. Long, dull, monotonous lives.
It’s not a bad plan for someone with a hidden, emotion-based ability to trigger earthquakes. In a world pitted against her, sixteen-year-old Rena Moon strives for a life beyond working herself to death at the factory. Seeing an alternative, she risks selling relics from the forbidden lands at Market. It becomes the worst decision she ever made. Someone kidnaps her best friend in exchange for the one thing that would end her oppression.
Driven by loyalty, Rena and seventeen-year-old Nevan Jelani, soulful composer, green thumb extraordinaire, and the secret love of her life, plot to rescue her friend and reclaim her salvage. Still, the thought lingers whether Nevan is a true hero or another thief waiting for his chance at her loot. Events spin wildly, deepening Rena’s suspicions and pushing her limit of control. With more than her chance for freedom at stake, she must decide if she’s willing to kill to protect what’s precious to her. For once, the Overlord isn’t holding all the power, but can Rena live with being reduced to what she’s trying so hard to escape?
It’s not a bad plan for someone with a hidden, emotion-based ability to trigger earthquakes. In a world pitted against her, sixteen-year-old Rena Moon strives for a life beyond working herself to death at the factory. Seeing an alternative, she risks selling relics from the forbidden lands at Market. It becomes the worst decision she ever made. Someone kidnaps her best friend in exchange for the one thing that would end her oppression.
Driven by loyalty, Rena and seventeen-year-old Nevan Jelani, soulful composer, green thumb extraordinaire, and the secret love of her life, plot to rescue her friend and reclaim her salvage. Still, the thought lingers whether Nevan is a true hero or another thief waiting for his chance at her loot. Events spin wildly, deepening Rena’s suspicions and pushing her limit of control. With more than her chance for freedom at stake, she must decide if she’s willing to kill to protect what’s precious to her. For once, the Overlord isn’t holding all the power, but can Rena live with being reduced to what she’s trying so hard to escape?
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Excerpt
The sweeping red glow
across the sidewalk sent shards of panic through Rena. Fear glued her feet to
the ground even though the Syn would round the building any second.
“Rena,” Nevan whispered.
“Can’t get to the ladder without you. Otherwise, I’d grab your stubborn butt
and haul you up there myself.”
“We should hide under
something, not on top, out in the open.”
He let out a quick breath.
“Don’t you feel the heat coming off this building? It’ll disguise our body
signatures. Trust me.”
Those two words carried so
much weight. Now wasn’t the time to debate options. She placed her palm on his
shoulder and a foot in his hand.
He straightened, his other
hand clasped around her ankle. “Now, step on my shoulders and reach up to the
ladder.”
Breathing through an open
mouth, she followed his directions, stretching as high as she could. “I can’t
reach. Not even close.”
“We don’t have much time.”
The red beam skittered
across the sidewalk and grass a few yards away, edging ever closer to the
building. Grotesque images of human experimentation flashed through her mind.
“Lil’ Mama, d’you hear me?
Step on my hands. I’ll boost you up.”
His fingers crackled under
her weight; the unpleasant sensation made her cringe. She almost lost her
balance. His arms trembled as he grunted and boosted her straight up. She
glided her hand along the control house wall for support. The concrete felt
warm and the rough texture scraped her palms. When she reached the bottom rung,
she put all her weight into pulling it down. The metal screeched in protest as
the ladder released. The base of it hit the ground with a loud thump. Rena
glanced over her shoulder in time to see a set of Syns round the building.
“Climb!” The urgency in his
voice spiked her with adrenaline, propelling her to shift her full weight to
the ladder.
Below her, Nevan’s foot hit
the bottom rung, but it was too late.
“Halt!” said one of the
Syns.
Rena scurried down the
ladder between Nevan’s arms and ducked under them to jump off. “Hide around the
building,” she whispered to him.
She didn’t wait to see if
he complied. With her head tilted down to hide her face and her ID ring behind
her back, she walked toward the machines. She wanted to tackle them, but had to
maintain the appearance of someone experiencing remorse or else they might stun
her. She followed the pound of their footsteps through the ground and allowed
the fear of getting caught to roil through her. Her soles tingled for a moment,
then her calves clenched so hard, she stumbled and fell. The pain moved into
her legs and across her back as she hunched on the ground. She whimpered, but
refused to release her power.
The Syns stopped in front
of her.
Rena risked rolling forward
on the other side of them and forced them to turn their back to the control
house. Still crouched, she spun to face them.
“Citizen, please stand and
identify yourself.”
“Identify this!” Rena
reached out, one hand on each Syn, and imagined every ounce of her fear jolting
from her hands and into them. She envisioned billions of tiny tremors ripping
apart their internal circuitry. After a loud pop, sparks rained down on her and
she jumped to her feet. The backpack caused her to lose her balance and she
stumbled. The Syns twitched as tendrils of smoke curled from their nostrils.
Rena covered her nose against the stench of burning plastic.
“Rena,” Nevan said. “We
gotta hide.”
She peered at him between
the Syns. Somehow, he’d snuck close enough for her to see the shock on his
face. She slipped between the machines. “We should run.”
He grabbed her hand and
pulled her toward the white building, once again. “Nowhere else to go. No time
to argue.”
When they reached the
control house, she climbed the ladder. Her limbs felt weak from exertion. Every
thud of Nevan’s feet against the rungs thundered through the metal as he
followed. The ladder folded up after he reached the fire escape landing. They
dashed up three, four stairs at a time.
At the top flat, Nevan
covered Rena’s mouth. He pinned her against the building with his body while
pointing down through the vertical slats of the steel railing at another set of
Syns below. She gasped. Thankfully, his hand muffled the sound. The Syns approached
the ones Rena had short-circuited. Her breaths came in shallow pants. What
if they figured out what had happened?
Seven feet stood between
them and the rooftop. No ladder in sight and her powers depleted. Moisture
blurred Rena’s vision. Nevan put one finger to his lips in a silent “shh” as he
removed the other hand from her mouth. He pointed up to the roof then tapped
his shoulders. She nodded, not arguing this time.
He turned around, and with
his feet shoulder-width apart twisted, as if to see her face. In quick
succession, he tapped his right thigh, left thigh, right shoulder, left
shoulder. She nodded and he placed his hands on his knees to brace himself,
ready for her to climb up his back. She glanced at the new Syns. With their
back to the control house, they opened the skulls of the fried ones. She knew
they planned to run some sort of diagnostics and prayed there was nothing left
for them to trace.
With her hands on Nevan’s
shoulders, Rena stepped onto his right thigh and then left. Sweat dampened the
back of her shirt and slicked her palms. She wiped them on her pants before she
grabbed Nevan’s lifted hands for balance and stepped onto his shoulders. He let
out a quiet breath as he pushed to a standing position and pressed her shins
against the back of his head. From the vantage point, Rena saw another set of
Syns approach. How long until they scanned the control house?
Nevan angled toward the
building. She hooked her hand over the ledge and hauled herself up, using his
hands for extra support. The concrete scraped her chest and stomach as she
crawled over the top and rolled onto the roof. In a split second, she was on
her feet and reaching for him.
He was too far away.
Author Bio
Natasha Hanova is an award-winning author of young adult and adult dark fantasy/paranormal fiction. Her short stories are published in Undead Tales 2, October Nightmares and Dreams, and Once Upon a Christmas. She is a member of Novel Clique, YALitChat, and an Affiliate member of the Oklahoma Writer’s Federation, Inc. She lives in Kansas with her wonderful husband, twin boys, and daughter.
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