So don’t delay, jump over there and throw in your two cents for a book that would cost you well over ten dollars. Not a bad deal, eh?

Dictionary.com first definition of religion is:

a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.

So logically, to say you reject religion while holding onto a faith in Christ, is the same as saying, “I believe in a relationship with Christ, but I don’t actually want to have one.” Because religion is, by definition, the structure and practices and beliefs by which you have that relationship. Without it, you cannot have a relationship.

Just as faith without works is dead, a relationship with God minus a religion is called an annulment.

“No, no! You don’t understand,” I can hear some people saying, “I’m talking about organized religions.”

We still have a big problem. Because what you are saying is you don’t like how the organized religions do it, so you’d rather ditch them and create your own thing out of thin air, or in some sort of pick and choose religion buffet. Because the question isn’t whether you’ll have a religion or not, but what religion one will have. One established by Christ, by a person like Zwingli, or by your own created religion?

“Oh, but what I’m doing is based on the biblical model of the early church.” Oh, really? I think there are some big assumptions going on there. For some reason, there is a common picture that the early Christians ditched Judiaism and completely started over. That they sat around a big circle, sang a few popular songs someone had written shortly after Christ ascended, and then passed around the bread and wine, freestyled the words based what was on their hearts. That all the rituals and structure came later when Christianity became a legal religion.

But where in the Scriptures do you ever find Jesus preaching to the disciples to ditch Judaism? You don’t. Indeed, you have Him teaching for his followers to “Do what they say, but not what they do.” Because he railed against their hypocrisy and drove out their money changers from the temple. But He also taught them how to really be Jews. He came to fulfill the religion, not eject it. He not only taught them to follow it, He followed it himself except where it deviated from His original intent, like a lot of the Sabbath laws created to define what “work” was that could not be done.

So naturally when He ascended, the disciples continued worshiping not only on the Sabbath (Saturday), but on the “Lord’s Day,” the “New Passover,” or also known as the “Eighth day of creation.” And if you even today go to a Jewish synagogue and then a church that practices the oldest form of Christian worship, you’ll see many similarities. This is because the early Biblical church didn’t create a religion out of nothing. It took what it knew in Judaism and modified it according to how Christ fulfilled it.

You see this clearly in the first council of Acts, where it was obvious that the early church was very Jewish in its beliefs and culture and worship. Because their arose a debate over whether the Gentile converts coming in had to become Jews. And the decision was they didn’t. But you would not have had that discussion if Judaism was rejected by Christ and the Apostles. Their worship would naturally reflect the rituals of a Jewish nature, modified to Christ’s fulfillment of it, because that’s what He said he came to do, just as the Jewish council modified what of the Jewish laws the Gentiles would have to follow.

So if we’re going to use the early church model in the Bible, we would have deacons, bishops, and rituals, and unity of faith as they did in the early church. Bishops? Yes. It is generally translated as “overseer” or “elder” but that is the same Greek word bishop was derived from. And this is the religion that God established. First with the Jews, where God specified all sorts of religious rituals and practices they had to follow. Then with Christ who fulfilled and thus brought to an end, and established some new rituals, like the Lord’s Supper, which was really a modification of the Passover itself, and why it was called then (and still in some communions) the “New Passover.” And why Christ is described as the Passover Lamb, slain for the salvation of the world.

“Yeah, but, I’ve experienced a lot of legalism, hypocrisy, and people just going through the motions. That’s why I’m ditching religion. It just isn’t working.”

So, since well over 50% of most marriages experience infidelity and divorce, we should just ditch the concept of marriage? Make up our own concept of marriage? I guess there are some in secular society that do think that way. But most of us don’t see it as a problem of being married, but a problem of abusing and misusing the institution of marriage. Likewise, because some abuse or fail to take advantage of the religion doesn’t invalidate that religion. It is a statement about the individual’s lack of commitment to investing themselves into a relationship with God, or seeing the religion as the end goal instead of a tool to foster a deeper relationship with God. The solution then isn’t to ditch the religion, but use it the correct way.

When it comes down to it, it isn’t religion vs. real faith and relationship with God. It is embracing religion to have a real faith and relationship with God, vs. doing your own thing without accountability and hoping you get it right.

Be like Jesus. Embrace religion as the path to a relationship with God, not as a hindrance.

1. Objective Validation or Does My Story Have Value?

Certainly there is some validation for an author in getting traditionally published. It means some editor and sales staff, a group of people who make their living taking risk, have allocated one of their few publishing slots to your book, and are willing to invest thousands of dollars because they believe your book has potential. No doubt about that at all, and many authors have sought after that validation.

But if that book doesn’t do well, all that validation goes to pot. Why? Because it is the reader’s validation that really matters most. It is when you see sales rising, people buying and enjoying your labor of love, that you’ll find real validation. Why is that?

One, when it all comes down to it, the success of a book is based on how the readers respond to it. It is the reader that will ultimately validate the book, who will pay the editors and staff salaries at the publishing company as well as the author’s royalities. And if they don’t see that validation from the readers, the publisher is much less likely to validate your next book, no matter how well written.

Two, the questions that an editor and staff ask when they consider a book are different from the ones a reader asks. An editor asks, “Will this sell?” “Will this make my publisher a profit?” And based on that answer, the staff will base their decision to acquire it or not. It can be beautifully written, it can shine like the sun in all its glory, but if the editor doesn’t think they can sell it, it will be rejected.

The reader, however, ask the question, “Do I like this?” “Is the book enjoyable?” While often the quality of the story and whether it will sell or not sync, sometimes they do not. Which is why more times than not, the book an editor takes a risk in publishing ends up not earning out the author’s advance.

By by-passing the publisher, the self-publisher gets right to those who wield the ultimate validation for a book, the reader. Authors can get feedback sooner rather than later. So one reason an author may want to self-publish is to get validation for their work from those who it really matters rather than seeing the publisher’s validation is that important in the grand scheme of things.

2. Editing and Design or Control Over the Final Product

One of the often touted benefits of going through a traditional publisher is they will have a team of editors who will go over your manuscript and make suggested or necessary changes for both an improved story and a hopefully typo, spelling, and grammar error free reading experience. And while there are examples where books come out not in very good shape at times from traditional publishers, those are generally a small minority. And even the worst of those don’t rival some of the typo-laden self-published books put out there.

But someone who self-publishes will have more control over the quality of their final product. They can hire an editor as easily as a publishing house. They can hire a good cover artist and designer. They can often get input from their fans on a cover if they are unsure themselves which is the best route. A self-published author has the ability to produce just as high a quality book as a traditional publisher these days. Yes, some self-published authors don’t take full advantage of that, and throw out books with little to no editing beyond a quick pass-through. They will not sell many that way and only hurt themselves. But a self-published author can get the same input a traditional publisher can provide to produce a high-quality book.

But the big advantage for the self-published author is control. A traditionally published author often has little to no say in what cover gets put on their book. I’ve seen more than one traditionally published author complain about the horrible cover they were stuck with from their publisher.  And when they got the rights back for the book and could publish it themselves with a better cover, the book sold well. A book swims or sinks based on how much effort you put into it. You have control. Many people like that aspect of it, and not have to pray they have a good editor and cover artist/design team at the publisher, and will put out a book with care instead of just another cover to churn out.

3. Expanding Your Readership or Finding New Readers

One area that traditional publishing does have over self-publishing is getting a print book onto a physical bookstore’s shelves. Not impossible to do as a self-publisher, but a lot of work and hard to obtain the reach that a traditional publisher has in that regard. Consequently, there is a big market, despite the rise of ebooks, that a self-published author will never reach without the help of a traditional publisher.

But when it comes to self-publishing, this is also true. There are readers the traditional publisher isn’t likely to reach short of an author self-publishing. Why? Because there is no way a traditional publisher, with all its overhead, can hope to compete price-wise with an indie publisher. And there are a group of readers, growing by leaps and bounds, that may only purchase two or three physical books a year, if that, but will purchase several low-cost ebooks through the year. The chance you’ll reach those readers by self-publishing and selling your book in the $2.99-$4.99 range is much greater than through a traditional publisher where your ebook will be selling for $12.00 and up. So for that reason, an author may want to self-publish because it does reach a different audience than the traditional route in many cases.

4. Mainstream Media or Social Networking

One area a traditional publisher can often succeed where a self-published author would have trouble breaking in, is in mainstream media. Not impossible, but unlikely that a self-published author will get a slot on a nationally syndicated talk show. And truth be told, there are only a limited number of traditionally published authors who will get that kind of media attention as well. Only the hot sellers for the most part. Likewise, a self-published author would have to really be burning the barn doors down to attract media attention.

That said, most traditional publishers are going to require the author to do the bulk of social networking. Publishers may offer leads and links to aid the author, but it is the author that has to develop the branding. And this will be true of either type. So the self-published author thinks, “If I’m going to have to do this marketing myself for the most part anyway, why not get the monetary rewards for it myself?”

If an author believes they are unlikely to get that hot media interview for their book through traditional publishing, they may opt to keep more of the profit for themselves for the marketing work they will have to do anyway.

5 Partnership and Expertise or Crowdsourcing

Generally, if someone does something for a living, like edit books, publish books, etc., they could be expected to know what they are doing. They have some experience behind them that an author can rely upon their judgments. Generally. There are those times when such doesn’t end up being true. When an editor ends up making the story worse, not better. But generally, they will improve a story and help get an attractive product out. And they can offer support and advice when needed.

A self-published author will tend to rely more upon fellow writers and fans. Sometimes a critique group with knowledgeable people in it will help get a manuscript into sellable shape. Fellow writers can line edit each others work as a trade off, as opposed to hiring someone. An author may get the opinions of fans on a cover design, or seek out a mentor’s opinion on what will work best. And often one advantage of this over the traditional publisher’s editor is you’ll get a wider overview of opinions and thoughts on an issue or edit whereas you may only get one or two from a publishing house.

6. Emotional Payoff or “They Like It!”

This really relates to #1, objective validation. And the same reasons apply here. What I’ve found is common among authors is to see getting published as the goal. At least, it is often treated as the goal to be a successful author. Once you are published, you’ve arrived.

But this is not true for the self-published author. It is a milestone, no doubt. But the self-published author hasn’t gone through years of rejections by agents and/or publishers, hasn’t rewritten to agent and editor demands multiple times only to have them give up on it. And then, finally, find an editor who 1) likes your book, 2) has a publishing slot available for it, 3) they think is a good risk over similar manuscripts they have looked at, and finally decide after marketing and the boss have signed off on it, to offer you a contract. That can be a grueling process, and it would be very natural and earned to feel you had accomplished something very few do, get a traditional publishing contract.

Because a self-published author hasn’t gone through that, getting published doesn’t hold as high of a meaning in the grand scheme of publishing a book. And it is not seen as the goal to being a writer. It is an important one, but the self-published writer doesn’t have as much emotional energy invested in getting a book published. Rather, the self-published author’s primary goal is to sell books and have the emotional validation from the readers that they, overall, like the book.

And truth be told, that is the traditionally published author’s ultimate goal as well. For who cares if you’ve invested years of work to finally get published, only to have your book sell a few thousand, not earn out your advance, sit on shelves for three months and then the party is over. Readers didn’t scoop it up in droves and make it a hot seller that you always dreamed it would be. Getting a book published is only one step and in no way guarantees big sales whether you self-publish or traditionally publish. But the reader, not the publishing house, will be the final emotional pay off, when they like it and buy it. When you get that review about how the book touched their lives, that is the emotional payoff.

Indeed, it could be said, because how hard it is to get that traditional publisher contract, it can make the event of being published appear like the main goal and the success of being an author, when really it is not. In some ways, having that as the goal is similar to someone saying, “You’ll enjoy a much richer emotional payoff when you get your medicine to heal from that disease, if you first let it fester for a year or two, allow the pain to rise to unbearable levels. Then you’ll feel much better about taking that medicine.” Getting published is a necessary goal to getting the validation and emotional payoff of people liking your story. There seems little point in unnecessarily making that step harder than it  has to be just so you’ll feel even better about accomplishing it.

What are the reasons you are seeking to be traditionally published or self-published?

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And this is not to suggest that we shouldn’t show people who are doing the right thing as well. Indeed, there are such people in the world and the only reason some people consider them unrealistic is because they hang out with the wrong crowd and so have never met them. Or they tend to project their own sins upon everyone else in hopes of not feeling so bad about themselves.

But the truth is, no one is perfect, save one. And none of us are Him. And even those that are portrayed as doing the right thing will have their faults and failings, whether we show them or not. Because we live in a fallen world, even the most spiritual among us will fall at points, be hypocritical at points, and flat out sin, and be in need of God’s grace and forgiveness. It is why Jesus told Peter when Peter didn’t want Him to wash his feet, that if He didn’t wash Peter’s feet, Peter would have no part with Him. Feet get dirty even among the cleanest of us.

But I would suggest that these perfect Christians that are so often portrayed in Christian literature in times past, are a symptom of our current Christian culture that is fueling a movement more and more away from the Christian ideal that started with Jesus’ disciples. If you go back into early Christian literature, one of the most important aspects of the Church was to preserve its unity, to preserve the union of the Body of Christ in all ways, including physically meeting together as one church. But in the last few hundred years, it has instead become more and more splintered until now there are so many groups labeled as Christian who don’t associate with each other that it has grown into the thousands.

And while this movement started some time ago, it is now gaining steam as Mike Duran talks about in his blog post, Is the Church Really to Blame for the “Nones”? That was actually the first time I’d heard of the term, but it describes all those who under religious affiliation select “None of the above.” They believe in God, but for whatever reason have given up on any kind of organized religion in favor of a denomination of one.

I was wondering why this might be the case. After all, we are commanded not to forsake the gathering of ourselves together. Why has the move to go back to the early church’s paradigms fractured Christianity instead of uniting it? If Jesus prayed that we all be one as He and the Father were one, and I would find it hard to think of the two existing in separate churches, was His prayer a pipe dream or a reality to attain?

We could talk about secularism here as a reason. And there would be some reality to that charge. We all grow up with a secular philosophy, a secular view of how the world works, even many Christians see it that way. So it is no wonder that we tend to think everyone just getting along, being relativistic in their beliefs and such is what is really important. What I think is what is important, not what some theologian said hundreds of years ago. Because I’m more modern and have a better understanding of things. Which may be true in a scientific sense, but maybe not so true in a revelational sense. The closer one is in time to the revelation, the more you understand its cultural and worldview underpinnings, meanings that to them were obvious, but to us are a mystery because we are so far removed from that language and culture and its idioms. We tend to overlay our own cultural assumptions on it and come up with different interpretations of the revelations, which is a large part of why as time moved on from the revelation, that interpretations have tended to fracture when not checked by the whole.

But really I think this goes back to two things. One is pride that refuses to submit to authority, to acknowledge that if my interpretation disagrees with the bulk of understanding throughout Church history, guess who is likely to be wrong? Humility, so praised in the Scriptures, comes about through obedience and submission. Both things we see as slavery, being taken advantage of, of trampling upon my rights. And the last thing we want to do is to submit to a church authority that could be just as sinful as we are. So pride tells the individual that they have it right, and everyone else has it wrong, or is okay for them, but not for me. And we like to believe, have often put on the front at church that we are perfect in our Christian walk. And we only want to associate with Christians we see as perfect. And when someone says something we disagree with, who isn’t living as they should by our definition, we shun them.

I actually have a couple of scenes in my next book that plays upon that reality, in a town called “Paradise” where everyone believes they are perfect and kills anyone who they don’t perceive is. It is contrasted with the real Paradise. It will come out this summer, in the final book of The Reality Chronicles, Reality’s Glory.

But this ideal we have set up in our Christian literature of the perfect Christian not only reflects the above pride we have, but sets us up for what we are experiencing. We should, like Christ, expect to find sinners and adulterers and hypocrites in any group of people. Jesus’ answer to the hypocrisy of the Pharisees wasn’t to dump Judaism. He claimed to fulfill the Old Testament “official” religion, not get rid of it. He obeyed the rituals, said to obey the Pharisees, just don’t do what they do, only what they say. All the while He was bringing religion back to its roots and where God had intended for it to go, it was the religious leaders who left Jesus because they didn’t recognize him as the Son of God. The few that did, like Nicodemus, followed Christ.

But He never said, “My Father had a good idea with all these ritual things and the temple. But it just didn’t turn out like we thought it would. So let’s ditch that and start over.” Yet, nearly every “reformation” of religion has sought to reform by leaving rather than working within to unite. Because when they didn’t agree with our interpretation, which they knew had to be right, they ditched their authorities and started their own group. And that has continued until finally, disillusioned at finding a group that believes exactly as I do, they go it alone, refusing to associate, like Jesus did with sinners, with those hypocrites.

But here’s the reality. No one person will have the whole truth. That is a given in relativistic thinking. Because my truth is not your truth, so they say, not believing in any absolute truths, even if they believe in a God, often of their own making. But no matter who you are, how much you have studied, what degrees you have behind your name, no one but Jesus Christ would ever have it all right. I’m sure I hold beliefs and underlying views that are wrong. I’m sure there are actions I’ve committed which go against my beliefs and morals. Why? Because I’m finite, human, and unlike God, I’m not infallible. All of us are hypocrites because none of us have followed perfectly our own moral code and beliefs.

And because of that reality, no one in any church group will be either. And that is why Jesus said He was called to the sick, not the healthy. If you think you have it all together, are correct in all you believe, and that everyone else is in error, Jesus did not come for you. You’re on your own. No, God’s prescription for those who are called by His name are that they are humbled before God and man, seek His face, and admit they are sinners. Even, as St. Paul said, the chief of sinners. Then will He hear you, forgiven you, heal you, and call you one of His.

Now, what’s more important? To feed your pride and think you have it all nailed down so well that you can ditch all the other Christians in the world and not associate with them or submit to anyone? Or to be called by God as one of His chosen people? Are we willing to accept the position of door keeper for the joy of being in God’s house over the exalted position of our own making? Are we ready to admit that we too are sick and need Christ as much as that hypocrite over there? And if so, are we called to minister to them, or not associate with them? Read the Scriptures, see what Jesus did, and if you have an open mind, the answer will be obvious.

When we give up on us being right all the time, and accept that the Church, the Body of Christ, is full of flawed sinners and morally corrupted people who desperately need Christ, the very people He commanded to go into the highways and byways to find, but that our salvation is inherent in submitting to it, then we can start to get back to the early Church’s reality and life as a body of Christ living on this Earth. The perfection our literature tends to idolize should not become the measure of our own Christianity, or we will have none of the above, including Christ.

But the post caused me to think as people chimed in with their various points of view. So I thought it a good idea to dive in a little further and discuss in what ways a message drives fiction.

First, understand the purpose of the type of writing, and work within that. A romance story has a particular purpose, as does a science fiction story, as does a sermon. A sermon’s purpose is to get a distinct message across in a manner that impacts the listener with “truth.” A non-fiction book’s purpose is to convey information that is perspective enlightening and beneficial for the reader to get, hopefully in an engaging manner, that will better their lives. Both of these types of writing make judicious use of illustrations, often in story format, that highlight and serve the truth and/or information being conveyed. When a reader picks up a book of sermons or a non-fiction book, it is generally because they believe the information presented there will help them. They read the book for the message, and expect the author of the book to speak directly to them.

In general, fiction’s primary aim is to entertain. When your general fiction reader wants a novel, they are little concerned with whether it has a specific message. What they want is a great story that they can get lost in and will be satisfying to them as a reader. Note, this does not mean every fiction reader feels that way. There are those who feel entertainment is a waste of time, so if they don’t feel they are getting a message out of their fiction, they will feel they’ve wasted time. It is one of the reasons that non-fiction sells so much better than fiction. The fiction reader that likes fiction with an overt message generally view entertainment as a secondary function of any book. In other words, they read fiction like they would non-fiction.

But that group is a small subset of the fiction readers. Most fiction readers, if they feel the author is pushing a “message” or to put it in more negative terms, “an agenda,” will put the book down and walk away. Why? Because if they had wanted that, they would have bought a non-fiction book. And yet, does this mean fiction shouldn’t have a message? Not if you listen to many writing books. And when it comes to Christian fiction, most will tend to have a message of some kind. So what makes the difference between an engaging story that delivers a theme and message that resonates with the reader as opposed to the reader feeling the message is an agenda hitting them over the head?

In fiction, the term most often used as to what the author is trying to create is the “suspension of disbelief.” That is, we want the reader to become absorbed into the story, to get lost in the characters, to “live” in the world the author has created. But when the reader runs into something that doesn’t make sense or pulls them back to the reality, they are reading a story and not living it. The effect breaks the suspension of disbelief in the same way it would if in a movie you saw a camera boom momentarily dip into the top of the screen. It reminds you that you are watching actors on a set, and it breaks you out of the story.

One of the ways an author can do this is when their message turns into an agenda. That is, instead of the message serving the primary purpose of entertaining the reader, it becomes a non-fiction book by the story becoming a giant illustration for the message. Like non-fiction, the reader feels the author is speaking directly to them, rather than the characters. When the message breaks into the story in an artificial, shoehorned feeling, breaking character motivations or circumstances or reality way, then it destroys the suspension of disbelief for the readers, and they are no longer in the story. At the point that happens, the message becomes an agenda.

When does that happen? Two ways. The least used anymore but most famous is the author interruption that used to be so common in stories, especially morality stories. So after telling the story, the narrator would say, “And so, the moral of this story is…” and then proceed to spell out what the reader should have come to believe or see from the story. The other way is doing the same thing, but through either the character (instead of a narrator) or through an obvious circumstance, like the “bad” guy getting his due.

For an example, allow me to use an old flash fiction I did a long time ago (currently in my Ethereal Worlds anthology). In the story, I had the main character come to the realization that what they were doing was killing the “unborn” children of an alien race, after a few scenes of attempting to defeat these aliens from taking what they had. In the future world I had created, abortion had long since been abandoned and was looked up by them as we currently look at slavery now. So I felt it natural at that point for the protagonist to realize he was doing something that went against his morals, and gave him motivation to stop fighting them and let them take back their children.

Well, I sent that into one magazine, and the basic message that came back was that they felt I had hit them over the head with a big anti-abortion message, and that the whole story was written to come to that point. Actually, it hadn’t. I didn’t know where the story was going to end when I started it, and when I got to that spot, that seemed his natural conclusion and thought. But what they were telling me is that it felt like I had intruded into the story and used the story not to entertain people, but to attempt to convince people that abortion was wrong. I was in effect, giving a sermon illustration, not telling a fiction story.

So before sending it to the next magazine, I simply took out the character’s realization of that fact, and made him not want to kill them once he realized why they were so adamant in getting back their children, unborn though they be. The only real difference was that I no longer directly had the character bring out the specific conclusion. Yet the dots were still there that these unborn alien children were worth saving and not killing. But it would be easy for the “pro-choice” reader to interpret it differently at that point, as being respectful of the wishes of the aliens who felt it was important, and maybe those babies weren’t the same as ours, since the babies obviously were not residing in a mother’s womb specifically, but in a cloud of cosmic dust.

It is also true that the more controversial the topic, the more this will happen. If I had been talking about slavery, I doubt my more overt message would have raised as many hairs. If I had my character realize the were killing a sentient being, like some cosmic pet the aliens were protectors of, I doubt the editors would have felt they’d been hit over the head with an agenda. It wouldn’t have taken them out of the story, they wouldn’t feel that if the character had thought that, it would feel I was using the story to make a point. The more people who disagree with your character’s thoughts on something, the more it will feel to them like the author is attempting to knock you out and drag you to their side of the argument.

It is for that reason the biggest topics that create a sense of agenda in a story are religion, politics, and culture/morals. Anytime those become overt as the underlying message in a story, that’s when it will feel like an agenda to anyone who doesn’t agree with it. It is one of the reasons why Pullman’s “His Dark Materials” trilogy bombed as the books went along. The first book, The Golden Compass, was a big hit. Pullman’s atheistic beliefs, however were subtle in that volume and didn’t rise to the level of being an agenda. But as the series went on, it became more and more overt, as the whole story was about the death of God. By the last book, it was clear that Pullman’s ideology had become the reason for the story. The whole trilogy was a huge illustration about how God was irrelevant and not worth believing in, and a statement where society would one day be: godless.

So a theme or message transforms into an agenda once the reader picks up that the author’s primary purpose is to convey a message to him or her. And once that happens, suspension of disbelief is destroyed. Then you’ll either have an amen corner from the choir that likes the message, or a closing of the book from those who do not. And even a closing of the book from those who might agree, but didn’t buy your book to hear you preach a message. The message and theme must remain inherent to the story. It must serve the story rather than the story serving it. Once that gets reversed, then you no longer have a novel, but a non-fiction book. Once the reader senses, “This author wants me to believe X because of this story,” then it subverts the primary purpose for fiction: to entertain.

The answers can be there, but it has to be the reader that comes to drink from that well and sees them, rather than a fire hose spraying it over the pages.

At what point does a message evolve into an agenda for you?

Book 2 of the Virtual Chronicles – Being virtual superheroes gives Jeremy, Mickey, and Bridget all of the glory with none of the danger. Using Zori’s virtual engine, the trio can become any number of superheroes to right the wrongs on Earth. But Jeremy hadn’t counted on Lorian arriving in the Solar System, the brother of the alien Jeremy helped kill to save Zori. With revenge on Lorian’s mind and the invasion of Earth in his plans, the super trio find the odds stacked against them. Earth’s armies are defenseless before a virtual fleet they can’t kill. The three superheroes are all that stand in the way of Lorian enslaving Earth before retaking Zori. It will take more than super powers to save Earth and Zori again.

The print version will be available in the future. I’ll announce it here and on Facebook when it is ready. But it may be a month or so, depending on how sales of the ebook go.

You can buy it on Kindle, Nook, or from Smashwords in any format your reader needs. Go to my published page to get the links.

Be sure to read the first book, Mind Game, if you’ve not read that one yet. It is an exciting space opera adventure, and leads into this story. If these two books do well, I’ll be prompted to write more in this series, as the possibilities are endless.

Alice in Wonderland, in reverse, is what this story reminds me of. Not as crazy as Alice in Wonderland, though it has its moments, and not as humorous or satirical, though it zings a few here and there, but the flavor reminds me of that story. Not only for the very other-worldly setting, but also the interesting characters the protagonist meets.

Eunice embarks on a journey few would enjoy: a trip through her own mother’s tortured soul. She traverses a surreal landscape and is guided by a man who was the only part of the picture that remained mysterious. I’m guessing he was an angel of some sort, but who knows? But this stranger helps her through the strange world, seeking to save her mother’s soul, and in the end, face her own demons.

This isn’t a high action book, more of an allegorical trip through one’s life and soul. A vision of what monsters and characters we face within our own psyche. Some crazy, some scary, some devious, some dangerous. As you journey with Eunice, you may even learn something of your own journey as well.

The writing is good. There are spots I saw where it could be tightened or strengthened, but those were few and far between. The reader is not likely to notice them or be that concerned about them if they do. The story flows well, the pacing is good, easy to follow, and the formatting is well done (I read it on a Kindle). I spotted one typo through the whole novella, so the grammar and spelling are clean. There is no hint of the stereotypical “self-published” novel. The cover appears professional and the writing is as well.

While the ending wasn’t “mind blowing,” it was very interesting and good. It is a journey worth taking and enjoying. There was enough mystery and wondering what would happen next to keep a person reading and wanting to see what the next chapter would hold. I enjoyed the story and the trip. If you are the kind of reader who likes “dark fairy tales,” this is a good one to grab and settle in with. You won’t be disappointed.

If there was one trouble I had with it, it was the strange setting of the world. It took a while for me to get my bearings and felt too abstract, despite the author’s descriptions. As I went on, this feeling lessened, and the world came more alive.

I think this is a common problem with alternate universes, simply because the reader doesn’t have a good idea of the rules of such a world. Even more true when you get into worlds that are not grounded so much in our world, like traveling through a soul. Most stories have a whole novel to get the reader adjusted to the new world and learn it. That Mr. Duran was able to do that within the short space of a novella would actually be a plus to his skill. But the reader does need to be aware that it may take a little getting used to the world they find themselves in with Eunice.

If you’re looking for high action, face-paced adventure, this may not be the story for you. If you are wanting a more allegorical romp through someone’s mind, in search for answers to questions we all face, then I’d recommend you grab a copy of this one and enjoy the challenging world that Eunice explores to save her mother. A definite recommend from me.

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Many thanks!

“BJ, do you think we’ll see Santa from here?” Bridget turned to watch Jeremy’s eyes.

He barely cracked a smile. That would certainly get his mind off all the events of the past year. “No, Sis, I seriously doubt it.” Jeremy met her eyes. Her short, brown hair brushed her shoulders. “Santa operates under the radar.”

She huffed. “You make him sound like a bad guy.”

“He does break into people’s houses.”

She slapped his arm. “To give stuff, not take it.”

Jeremy felt his gut sink. “Christmas took my life from me. It took our parents from us.” A year ago, he had parents, a normal life. All gone now. All because he had received that stupid helmet for Christmas, had put it on, had become involved with another world’s battle, had saved them, then had become the hero who saved Earth from the revenge of the Similarians, but only after they killed his parents. A year later, his life turned upside down, the world moved on as if nothing had happened. He played virtual superheroes instead of living a normal life. Another Christmas came, but without the Mind Game this time. But he still had the hero game going.

She slumped in her seat. “I was trying not to think about that.”

“Hey, Bucko.”

Jeremy swung around to see Mickey stepping up behind him. “Hey, Mick. What took you?”

“Family returned late from a Christmas Eve service. Said I wanted to go to bed right away, like I couldn’t wait until tomorrow.” He smiled. “But I don’t have to.”

Jeremy raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean, you don’t have to wait?”

Mickey slapped Jeremy on the back. “Because I have Astro Man right here. Just use that xray beam of yours and I’ll know what they are tonight!”

Jeremy shook his head. “Mick, you’re crazy.”

“Oh, come on. I’m hoping they snagged the latest game–”

Jeremy jumped out of his seat. “What? Another game? Are you crazy?”

Mickey grimaced. “Bucko, what’s the deal. It’s just a video game.”

Jeremy rubbed his forehead. “That’s what we thought last year. Just a game. A game that stole my life from me.”

Mickey’s eyes grew wide. “Ah, of course. Christmas would be triggery for you. I’m sorry.”

Jeremy sucked in a deep breath. “Forget it, Mick. It’s all I can think about right now.”

“What you need is some action. Anything on the vids tonight?”

Jeremy shook his head. “Christmas Eve is pretty quite all over the world it seems.”

“Santa,” Bridget’s voice rang out.

Jeremy spun around to Bridget. “What?”

She pointed at a video screen. “There’s Santa. And he’s breaking into a house.”

Mickey slapped his hands together. “There’s our action. Let’s take down Santa.”

Jeremy held up a hand. “Mick, this is suspicious. Think about it. How would a live camera crew know about a break-in to a home as it happens and be there to record it?”

Mickey shrugged. “Happened to be in the right place at the right time? They’ve probably called the cops, but are filming it for the drama.”

“Maybe.” Jeremy stared at it a bit longer. “Aren’t there movie plots about Santa stealing things?” Micky stared at him. Jeremy called out, “Computer, find movies where Santa steals.” A screen went blank and then a list of titles appeared. The highest rated link read, “The Adventure of the Wrong Santa Claus“ in 1914. Related links followed it.

Mickey read the results. “Are you saying the Zorians are behind this? Else I’m not following you. Santa thieves have been around forever.”

“Yes…I mean, no. I doubt it is a Zorian. But it still makes me suspicious.”

“Okay, so maybe it’s a trap. Maybe it’s not. And if it’s not, guess who loses?”

Jeremy ran his fingers through his hair. “Yes, you’re right. But stay together. My gut is saying something is wrong here.”

“Agreed,” Mickey responded.

Bridget jumped from the chair. “Sure, but we’ll be virtual. We can’t get hurt.”

Jeremy stood. “Then as you say, Mick, let’s do this.”

Mickey grinned. “This will be good for you. You’ll see.”

Jeremy entered the coordinates. “Suit, appear as Astro Man.”

The room faded and a breeze blew across his chin sticking out from below his helmet. The half-moon cast a dim glow over the residential neighborhood. A street light flickered a few yards to the right. Activity buzzed to his left where a camera crew recorded the house, waiting for the thief to exit. A siren blared in the distance, indicating the police were indeed on their way. Mickey was probably right. They would save someone’s Christmas from being stolen and make some kids happy, at least.

Mickey appeared beside him as Blue Nova. Jeremy could barely make out the blue-green suit, blue briefs, and dark blue cape in the moonlight.

Bridget materialized as Rainbow Girl to his left. Her sparkly mask flaring at the end reflected the meager light.

Jeremy caught her eye. “Rainbow Girl?”

She smiled. “You catch ‘em. I’m make ‘em cooperative.”

Jeremy nodded. “Sounds like a plan. You stay out here. Blue Nova and I will grab this guy.” He turned toward Mickey. “I’ll use my blinding flash on my gun, and while the crew is blinded, race in there and grab him, bring him to Rainbow Girl, and she’ll make him giddy with cooperation.”

Mickey saluted. “Sir, yes, sir!”

“Mick!”

“Lighten up, Bucko. Have a little fun with this. You’re way too wound up.”

Jeremy pulled his gun out and set it for the light blast. “You should never let your guard down. Assume nothing.”

“It’s just a lone Santa thief. What could go wrong?”

“I hope your right.” Jeremy pointed the gun toward the camera crew. “Hide your eyes. On three. One, two, three!” Jeremy squeezed the trigger and a blast of light lit up the area. The camera crew rubbed their eyes and swore in the quiet neighborhood. Within a second, Mickey flashed back with a squirming man in his arms. Mickey dropped him on the ground.

“What the–” The man stayed on the ground.

Bridget extended her arms and flow of rainbow colors enveloped the man.

Santa’s eyes blinked and a grin spread across his face. “So much for my Christmas. But that’s okay. I’m happy anyway.”

Jeremy pointed to the street. “Go sit on the curb and wait for the police. Give yourself up when they arrive.”

“Oh gladly I will. I was so bad to try and steal…you.”

Jeremy’s eyes widened. “What did you say?”

The back of the news van flung open. A line of soldiers carrying automatic rifles streamed out the door. Jeremy raised his gun to set it for shields, but before he could, a rain of bullets spread over them. He could feel the bullets hitting him. He would have called out to exit the suit, but dying in the virtual body would accomplish the same thing. This did appear to be a trap, but what trap? They would wake up and come back again. Apparently they didn’t know much about how virtual bodies worked. But why did the army set this trap?

As life ebbed from the virtual body, he saw Mickey drop out of nova speed and fall to the ground. He hadn’t reacted fast enough, despite his super speed. He felt himself falling onto the grass as blackness swept over him.

Jeremy jerked his eyes open. He tried to focus, but the ceiling he saw was not the stucco of his uncle’s house at the top of a Montana mountain. Instead, polished metal greeted his eyes. He pushed himself up.

Thick hands wrapped around his arms and another pulled the cowl off his face. “Commander, Operation Christmas Gift has been completed, sir.”

Jeremy groaned inwardly. Their bodies had been captured while they were virtual. Two men on either side of him kept a firm grip on his arms, another two stood toward the foot of his bed, rifles aimed at the floor, ready to use. No doubt another two stood behind him.

A higher ranking solider beside his bed examined the cowl. “Very interesting. I’m sure our scientist will have a field day with this.”

Jeremy noticed the American flag attached to their uniforms. US military. “Earth’s best scientist couldn’t figure out how the helmets operated. What makes you think this will be easier?”

A smug smile creased his lips. “We’ve actually made progress in figuring out some of the Mind Game helmets. But we’re missing a point of reference.”

Jeremy squinted at him. “What?”

“Point of reference. The helmets, as you know, don’t work. And even when they did, the destination was in another galaxy. But with these in hand and the destination being in the same room, they’ll be able to trace the energy field being created, and hopefully come up with the remaining pieces of the puzzle.”

Jeremy let himself fall back to the cot. The soldier’s hands loosened but remained firm. “No one can use the mask but me. Same with the other mask Mickey and Bridget have. They are programmed to respond only to our voices.”

The man shot a stare at Jeremy. “You’ll forgive me if I don’t trust you.”

“Be my guest.” Jeremy turned to meet his eyes. “But how did you find us?”

He waved his hand. “Simple deduction. When the superhero appearances began to be reported all over the world, and you’re friend and sister’s personas helped in defending Earth, it became obvious that the same virtual reality of the Mind Game was at work. From there you were the most logical culprits. We tracked down your locations and set the trap to grab you.”

Jeremy stared at the wall. He should have foreseen this possibility. “Why, though? Why revert to kidnapping us?”

The soldier stuffed the cowl into his pocket. “Control, Jeremy Goodhue. The Army likes to have control over situations. And I didn’t suspect you’d approve of us gaining that control. But if we can duplicate this technology, our forces would be invincible. We can fight wars on the ground without losing a life. With a legion of virtual Blue Novas to speed in and hit the enemy before they even blink, we could maintain control for decades. Centuries even. Can you imagine the progress? Can you see the peace we could uphold?”

Jeremy knew he didn’t want to tell the man anything else. Let him think he could succeed. As soon as the Zorians caught wind of it, they’d shut off the virtual energy going through the wormhole and that would be that. No more superhero days for himself, Mickey, and Bridget. But then again, that didn’t sound so bad. He wouldn’t mind putting the whole thing behind him, and salvage what he could of his life.

“Peace?” Jeremy breathed deep. “By killing?”

He smiled. “Youthful idealism. I’m afraid the world is a dangerous place. Some people only understand one thing. Brut force.”

Jeremy grumbled under his breath, “That’s what all bullies think.”

“What?” The Commander stared at him for a couple of seconds. Then turned and headed for the door. He paused as he opened it. “By the way. Merry Christmas, Jeremy.” He left and shut the door behind him.

Jeremy groaned. “We may have killed Rillian, but his spirit lives on.”

___________

The Commander returned to the room after an hour had passed. His face grim, he faced Jeremy lying on the cot. “You were right. We have to use you to get the mask to operate. Come with me.” He turned on his heels and headed to the door.

Arms pulled Jeremy off the cot. He stumbled along beside the soldiers as they exited the room and marched down the hall. The Commander stopped in front of a door and pointed at the window.

Jeremy moved to look in, keeping his eyes fixed on the Commander’s stoic gaze. He peered in and saw Uncle George sitting on a cot, coveralls and hat as if they’d snatched him while he milked the cows.

“Just want to ensure your cooperation. If you resist or try anything foolish, it won’t go well for your uncle, sister, or friend.”

Jeremy met his gaze. “We’re United States citizens. What about our constitutional rights to due process? You can’t threaten us like this.”

A smile cracked on his lips. “To the government, the Congress, and the Constitution, we don’t exist. You’ll have a hard time suing an organization that doesn’t exist.”

“How do I know you have my sister and friend?”

The Commander nodded down the hall. They stopped at the next two cell doors. Bridget sat on the cot rocking her feet under it. Mickey circled his cot as if deep in thought. “Satisfied?”

Jeremy nodded, and followed the soldiers down the hall, a right turn into another hall, a left, and a few doors on the right, they entered a room. Waist-high tables lined the walls. Chairs sat scattered in front of them, and soldiers worked on different projects. Centrifuges, Bunsen burners, test tubes, microscopes, and various other lab equipment littered the table-tops.

But in the center of the room stood a dentist-like chair fastened with heart monitors, IVs, and a foil ring that swiveled off the top of the chair’s back, as if it would fit on someone’s head. A moveable light hoovered over the chair. Jeremy guessed the light wasn’t to get a better view of one’s mouth.

The soldiers jumped to their feet as the Commander strolled to the center of the room. He patted the chair. “Lay down here.”

Jeremy didn’t see he had any other option. So he crawled into the chair and laid his head against the back. Jeremy watched as the Commander reached onto the table where one soldier stood at attention, and picked up his cowl. He saw Bridget’s and Mickey’s masks laying beside it.

The Commander held the mask in front of Jeremy. “You will put this on, then appear in this room as one of your characters. If you do not appear here, I will order the termination of one of those we are holding.”

Jeremy’s jaw dropped. “Murder?” He had to be bluffing.

“Oh, it would be an accident. Your Uncle falls off the mountain. Your sister drowns in a lake. Your friend shows up in an automobile accident while walking home. All after we terminate them and plant the evidence. We could even implicate you in their deaths if we wished. Now you don’t want their blood on your hands, do you?”

“Investigators would know they didn’t die that way.” Jeremy gritted his teeth. “You couldn’t get away with such things!”

The Commander stared into Jeremy’s eyes. “We have, we are, and we will again. Now are we clear?”

Jeremy bore into the Commander’s eyes. If the man was bluffing, he couldn’t tell. Nor could he take the chance he wasn’t. “You’re clear. I’ll cooperate.”

“Good.” He handed Jeremy the cowl.

Jeremy slipped it over his head and leaned back. The ring was snuggled down upon his head. He whispered in hopes they wouldn’t pick up they words, but the mask would. “Suit, appear here as Astro Man.”

The room dimmed, then reappeared, except he now stood to the side of the chair watching his body breathing in front of him. Feet scurried behind him. “Hand’s up!”

Jeremy raised his hands. He saw fingers wrap around his gun and then yank it from its holster. The soldier held the ray gun in his hand. A slight smile spread over the man’s lips.

Jeremy nodded at the gun. “Careful with that, dude. Whatever you do, don’t pull the trigger.”

The Commander jumped to the soldier and pulled it from his hands. He turned it over as he examined it. “Why? What would happen.”

Jeremy forced a grin to stay hidden. “Trust me. The last thing you want to do is pull that trigger.”

The Commander continued to scan the gun. “Sargent, start the energy trace from the body to the virtual body.”

“Sir, yes, sir.” Several of the men turned back to their work.

The Commander lifted the gun’s barrel and rested it over his extended left arm. He pointed it at the far wall where stood a two-feet thick titanium three by three foot wall. A blackened area covered the center of the metal wall as if lasers had hit it countless times.

“Sir, do you think that is a good idea? We should interrogate the prisoner first to know what it does.”

The Commander turned and stared at the officer for a long five seconds before responding. “You’re out of line, soldier. This is a ray gun. This dial on top sets the strength. Anyone can see that.”

The soldier shrank back to this table. Another officer called out, “Yes, sir. But I saw–”

The Commander ignored the officer and pulled the trigger. The last setting Jeremy had used being the light blast with the camera crew, the room filled with a blinding light. Rifles clattered to the floor as everyone hid from the light.

Jeremy, protected by his helmet’s visor, dove to his ray gun falling from the Commander’s hand, caught it in midair, spun around, and landed on his back. He flipped the gun to the stun ray before anyone could regain their sight or respond, and spun himself around on the floor, dropping everyone in the room with a series of thuds and clanks.

“Suit, appear here as Inviso Dude.” The room darkened and returned with the bluish glow of the invisibility field. He leaped to his feet and grabbed Bridget and Mickey’s mask from the table, then scooped up his own body lying in the chair and flopped it over his shoulder. “Man, I’ve got to lose some weight.”

Jeremy stopped by the Commanders unconscious body. “I told you, you didn’t want to pull that trigger.” He wondered if the Commander had ever read the story of Briar Rabbit. And he thanked God that the Commander was numbered among the men who didn’t think they needed to read the instructions.

With the invisibility field cloaking both his virtual and real body, he stepped through the door, down the hallway, and into Mickey’s cell. He pulled Mickey’s mask from his pocket and threw it onto the cot.

Mickey stopped his pacing and jumped. “What the…” His eyes widened. “Bucko?”

“Put it on, Mick, grab your body once you’ve gone virtual, and then hold onto me. I’ll extend the invisibility shield around you so we can walk through the door.”

Mickey flopped onto his cot and yanked the mask on. “Suit, appear here as Blue Nova.” Blue Nova materialized beside the cot. He pulled his body onto his shoulder, grabbed hold of Jeremy’s arm, and became invisible. Jeremy headed for the wall and they stepped into Bridget’s cell.

“Sis, put this on.” He threw her mask onto the cot. She smiled and jumped up clapping. She put on the mask and became Comet Girl. Jeremy knelt down and pulled Bridget’s limp body onto his other shoulder. “Hold onto me everyone. We have one more person to get. They walked through the next wall and into Uncle George’s cell. Uncle George latched onto the chain of people. Jeremy could feel the energy drain on him. “Quick, though this door. I can’t hold the field much longer.”

Jeremy kept his focus on the energizing the field as they entered the hallway. They released Jeremy, causing Bridget, Uncle George, and Mickey holding his body to become visible again. Jeremy breathed easier.

Mickey glanced down each hallway. “Now how do we get out of here? Wherever here is.”

The sound of footsteps sounded down the hallway. Jeremy frowned though no one could see it. “I think they’ve discovered my breakout. Mickey, give me your body and do a quick recon. Knock out the soldiers coming, and find out where the way out is.”

“You’re wish is my command.” He slipped his body to Jeremy, who piled it on top of his own. Jeremy thanked Holbreth for giving Inviso Dude super human strength.

Mickey sped away into a blur. Jeremy motioned to the rest. “Follow me this way. Comet Girl, scatter some knockout comet dust behind us. Mickey won’t be affected by it because he’s going too fast.”

She nodded. “One dose of sleeping dust, coming up.” As Jeremy led Uncle George down the hall away from the coming boots, Bridget extended her hand and scattered dust into the air as she walked backwards.

Sounds of grunts and guns clattering to the floor echoed down the hall. Jeremy doubted they ever saw Blue Nova hit them. Uncle George glanced back. “Is he all right?”

“He’s fine. Don’t worry about him.” Jeremy rounded a corner to find four soldiers pointing rifles at them. Before Bridget could follow him, Jeremy yelled, “Back!” Bullets whizzed harmlessly through him. “Comet Girl, send dust this way.”

Bridget stuck her hands around the corner and showered the men with dust. They collapsed onto the floor. Jeremy said, “It’s clear.” The pair followed him again.

A steel door loomed in front of them. A blue streak stopped in front of Jeremy and Blue Nova appeared. “It must be this way. I checked a few hundred bunk rooms, eating rooms, bathrooms, rec rooms, laboratories, cells, etc., and they were all dead ends.”

“Very well.” Jeremy stepped through the door and examined the area beyond it. A hanger greeted him dotted with jets. Multiple soldiers worked on the aircraft and guarded the area. A big door that Jeremy bet led outside stood on one side of the massive walls.

Jeremy stepped back into the hallway. “This is certainly the way out. But there are a lot of soldiers on the other side of this door. I’ll step you through, Blue Nova, then you can take out as many as possible while I break a hole through this door and we can escape.”

Mickey nodded. “Let’s do this.”

Jeremy held onto Mickey’s shoulder until he was through the door, then released him. He watched a moment as Mickey zoomed from person to person, knocking them out with a hit to the head. Jeremy pulled back into the hallway.

“Suit, appear here as Astro Man.” The hallway faded to black immediately returned, but seen through the visor of his helmet. “Now I’ll use my gravity ray to blow a hole in this door. Stand back, you two.” He reached for his gun.

“Halt!” the Commander’s voice rang out.

Jeremy jerked his head around. His gut twisted at the sight. The Commander stood, arms crossed, surrounded by ten soldiers pointing rifles at Bridget, himself, and Uncle George.

“Deactivate your virtual personas now, or I’ll fire on your uncle.” The Commander’s eyes bore down upon Jeremy, daring him to disobey.

Jeremy glanced at Uncle George. Uncle George stared at the rifles with wide eyes and backed up against the wall. Jeremy checked on Bridget. She’d closed her eyes and bowed her head as if admitting defeat. He knew there was no way he could pull his gun fast enough to initiate the force field or take any action before they pulled the trigger. And Blue Nova, trapped on the other side of the door, couldn’t help either.

“Now, Jeremy!” The Commander lifted his hand to give the order.

Jeremy held up a hand. “Okay, you win.” He breathed deep. “Suit–”

A blast of light filled the small hallway. A force knocked Jeremy off his feet. His helmet’s visor protected him from the light, but he flew through the air, slammed against the wall and crumbled to the floor. The helmet had protected his head from serious injury, but his body felt like it had been hit with a giant hammer. The force rebounding off the door smashed into Jeremy’s body and shoved him ten feet across the hall. Every bone in his body ached, and he could barely move.

“BJ, I mean, Astro Man, are you all right?”

Jeremy felt a hand on his head. He cracked an eye open to see a blurry Comet Girl standing over him. “Was that you?”

“Uh hu. Sorry I couldn’t protect you, but I felt keeping a protecting field over Uncle George and our bodies was more important.”

Jeremy nodded. “I’ll reset myself. Suit, appear here as Astro Man.” The room faded and with it, the pain. It reappeared and now he could see clearly and felt strong. He hopped to his feet and examined the pile of unconscious bodies. “Comet Girl sure knows how to pack a punch.”

Bridget giggled. Uncle George rubbed her head. “You can say that again.”

Jeremy pulled the ray gun from its holster and dialed in the gravity ray. He pointed it at the door and pulled the trigger. It burrowed into the metal, and a red glow spread across the door as the beam dissolved the molecular cohesion, disintegrating a hole into the thick metal.

Blue Nova flashed to a stop in front of Jeremy. “About time. What took ya?”

Jeremy pointed at the pile of men. “Needed to clean up after ourselves.”

Mickey smiled and slapped Jeremy on the shoulder. “Way to go, Bucko. That’ll teach ‘em.”

“It wasn’t me. Thank Comet Girl here. I was ready to surrender.”

Mickey tussled her hair. “I should have known when I heard an explosion in here.” He turned back to Jeremy. “But now what?”

“First, let’s get out of here. No doubt they have cameras all over this place. We can’t discuss plans here. You take yours and Bridget’s bodies. I’ll take Uncle George’s and my body in my ship. Comet Girl can fly. We’ll meet again once we are clear of this place and figure out where to go from there.”

Mickey nodded. “Sounds good. Let’s do this.”

Bridget gave a thumbs up. “Yes. Let’s.”

Uncle George said, “Anything to get out of here.”

Mickey picked up his and Bridget’s bodies, and Jeremy grabbed his own while Uncle George and Bridget followed him through the doorway. “Watch your step. The edges of the door are still hot.”

Once into the hanger, Jeremy called out, “Suit, call ship.” A dark jet-like aircraft materialized in the center of the hanger. The wings slicked back and pointed upwards at the tips. The rear tale marked the shape of a V. The glass hatch raised open from the back where the ship’s nose narrowed to a point and angled slightly downward. Uncle George crawled into the back seat.

Jeremy settled his body into Uncle George’s lap. “Sorry for the tight quarters, Uncle.”

“Just get us out of here.”

Jeremy saluted. “Sir, yes, sir.” Then he hopped into the pilot’s seat and lowered the hatch. After firing up the space jet, it rose from the ground. Jeremy aimed the ship’s gravity ray and blasted the hanger doors. A red glow spread from the center followed by the disappearing wall. Sunlight poured in as the hole grew. Jeremy shoved the throttle forward. The ship accelerated toward the door and into the air of freedom.

Jeremy engaged the radio in his suit. “Mickey, I’m going to send the government a Christmas present. Give me a minute.”

“Gotcha.”

Jeremy banked and came back around to the hanger door. He flipped the ship’s camera on and filmed the smoke rising from the side of a mountain. As he dove back into the hanger, slowed to a stop, hoovered around, and then blasted back out, he added the following audio narrative:

“Dear Mr. President and members of Congress. What you are seeing here is the secret base of a hidden military unit, or so I’ve been told. They kidnapped Astro Man, Blue Nova, and Comet Girl in order to steal our power. I was told you do not know of this unit, that it doesn’t exist in the books. And they threatened to ignore our constitutional rights upon capturing us. Even threatening to kill innocent civilians if we didn’t cooperate. You can see the coordinates displayed on the video of the site’s location. I’m sure you’ll figure out how to proceed with this information. Thank you.”

Jeremy saved the file, then addressed an email to the president, top cabinet members, and key members of congress, attached the video, and hit send. Jeremy couldn’t help but grin. Even if some were in on the plot, now that it was exposed it would die a quick death. And if it was truly a hidden organization, investigations and prosecutions were sure to follow.

Jeremy opened up the radio. “Blue Nova and Comet Girl. Operation Christmas Gift has been completed.”

“What was the gift?” Mickey responded.

“The gift of truth. When truth is born, its light forces changes. Usually big changes. Just like it did almost two thousand and fifty years ago.” Jeremy smiled. “See that plateau I’m headed to?”

“Yes.”

“We’ll all met there. We can’t return to our homes now. We’ll have to take our bodies to Titan and figure out a plan of attack from there. We’ll discuss the details on the plateau.”

“Will do.”

Jeremy focused as he angled the ship for a landing. Now he not only had lost his normal life and his parents because of these powers, he’d lost the last semblance of normalcy he had left: a home.

Jeremy felt Uncle George’s hand on his shoulder. “Jeremy, you’ve done good. I’m right proud of ya.”

Jeremy smiled. He hadn’t lost everything. He still had family and friends. And that mattered more than being normal. Now that was a real Christmas gift.

“Merry Christmas, Uncle. I love you too.”

The preceding story comes from the world of Mind Game, and Hero Game, the next novel in the series expected in the Spring of 2012. Click the link to learn more about the series and to discover where you can buy Mind Game for yourself or as a gift. Ebooks in all formats available.