Part-Time God

Diplomacy by the payload. In the near future, combat drones exact America’s foreign policy. Sleek and deadly, the drones require pilots with equally quick reflexes, a trait in short supply among the military. They need pilots weaned on video games. They need teenagers.But in this game there are no respawns.A science fiction short story."A compelling and well-paced story that made me eager for the next volume." "I was hooked from the start and can't wait until the next installment. I hope the author is a fast writer." Javin Cox was dead . . . or at least he should be. The last thing he remembered was touching off a Suitcase Nuke strapped to his back, hoping to take out an enemy compound of “Toads” who’d invaded earth and decimated all her cities. His Special Operations team had survived the initial invasion and were fighting a guerrilla war -- a last ditch effort to buy earth time to regroup. Javin had hit the ‘det’ switch, felt the blast, saw nothing but white . . . everywhere. And then he heard voices, talking about him as if he weren’t there. Until he’s swallowed up in a dark tunnel and realizes he’s moving incredibly fast. Javin awakens on a jungle planet, naked, no memory of who he is or where he came from, and facing a giant green lizard who wants him for dinner. From one scrape to the next, Javin crosses this odd landscape finding he can speak the language like a native and knows things; things about science and technology, that are far beyond this planet or its people. But that’s not all. The natives seem to know him too. You see, they think he’s Mulda’ fi, a Promised One, who has been sent to save their world from evil domination. There are pictures, legends, even statues of him all around . . . and Javin is sure he’s never been here before! It also turns out he has an enemy, who looks just like him, with powers he can’t even begin to imagine. Or maybe he can, if he can just get his “lucky marble” – which turns out to be much more than it seems – to work. Javin's special ancestry makes him the ‘One’ (or maybe One of Two) who can save all the races in the galaxy from being snuffed out. The problem is he knows nothing about it. And the Guardians, who are supposed to watch over things, can’t tell him anything because they’ve got problems of their own.