Alpha Guard - Chapter Two
A sci-fi thriller novel, most easily described as Jack Reacher in space.
Hello alpha-readers, welcome to chapter two of Alpha Guard!
If this is your first time visiting, here’s a quick rundown of what’s what…
My name is Samuel George London and I’m a writer from Hampshire in the UK. Usually, I write comic books, but this is my first novel. And just so my fellow Brits know, I’m writing in American-English because the main character is originally from the US.
Alpha Guard is a sci-fi thriller novel, most easily described as Jack Reacher in space, but the short synopsis is as follows:
Even after 300-years of colonization, Mars is still a tough place to live - unless you can afford to live in Dome One. However, when the wealthy need to visit out-of-dome, they hire bodyguards known as ‘bugs’ to protect them. Alpha Guard is the best bug on the Red Planet, and when he's hired to escort a VIP around Mars, his skills are tested to the absolute limit.
So, in a nutshell, if you like books by Lee Child, Andy Weir, Mark Greaney and Blake Crouch you will (probably) enjoy reading or listening to this story. And if you haven’t read or listened to chapter one yet, you can do so by clicking here.
I’ll be publishing Alpha Guard on a monthly basis, chapter by chapter, right here for free. So, please be sure to subscribe to stay notified when new chapters are posted.
I’ll never put a paywall on chapter posts, but if you’d like to, there is an opportunity to upgrade to paid. However, it’s only to fuel my caffeine habit. So, please only part with your hard earned cash, if you can afford it.
There is an audio version of this post available, but to give you a heads up, the chapter reading is by an AI voiceover via ElevenLabs. However, when I eventually publish Alpha Guard as a polished novel, I will be hiring a human to read the audiobook.
If you prefer to listen rather than read, Alpha Guard is also available on iTunes, Spotify, Amazon Music, Audible or wherever you usually download your podcasts.
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Happy reading and please let me know what you think in the comments.
Ciao for now,
SGL
Walking through New Jezero Park always lifted my spirits, but since I wasn’t in my mech-suit, vigilance was vital. Ensuring there wasn’t anyone following me, my smart glasses captured the faces of everyone within view. While I crouched down pretending to tie my shoes, my glasses reported the vast majority of people had verified social media profiles. The remaining were young children, except from one unidentified guy wearing sunglasses. Standing back up, I tucked my shirt into my jeans and spotted him following the exact route I’d just taken. He looked similar to the thin man from the pods the day before, but not as tall.
Right in the middle of the park was a big clock tower. It was just before midday, which meant lots of people were meeting up for lunch. Through the rear-facing cameras on my glasses, I could see the man’s head and shoulders. He was still following my path and people were shifting out of his way. This put me on high alert.
Moving out from the main flow of foot traffic, I stood at the base of the clock tower. Then scanned the crowd as though expecting a friend to show up any minute. The man was getting closer and people were still sidestepping him. In preparation, I crossed my arms and slipped my right hand underneath the left side of my jacket. Feeling my pistol, I unclipped the safety strap and placed my palm on the grip. The man was almost in-line with my position. But there was a family of four in front of him, so I could still only see his head and shoulders. The father bent over to pick up his daughter. Then everything was clear to me.
The man was blind. He was swinging a white cane and people were making way for him. Admittedly, I felt pretty stupid, but I was still suspicious. What better way to sneak up and take me out than to impersonate being blind. As he walked past, I took multiple photos to investigate him later. However, at that moment, I was satisfied he wasn’t there to kill me.
Being suspicious always served me well. I grew up with a little sister and an alcoholic single father. Every time he lost a job, we had to move. But despite being a total deadbeat, he somehow managed to have a constant conveyor belt of new girlfriends. And when I was fifteen, there was one who seriously didn’t sit right with me.
My sister and I had just gotten back from school and the girlfriend was in the kitchen speaking with some guy. For once, my Dad was at work, so I thought it strange she was in our house with another man. Especially one who looked like he had lots of money. Not in a Wall Street way, but in a yes, I’m definitely a drug dealer way. I could feel the tension in the air immediately and knew something was wrong.
From there, I went straight to my sister’s room and told her that we had to climb out the window. Just as my feet landed on the grass outside, there was a gunshot from inside the house. I shouted at my sister to run, but she seemed more concerned about the girlfriend’s safety than her own. She left me no choice but to pick her up and carry her kicking and screaming.
We were living in a small town in rural Vermont, so there weren’t too many places to go. Once she’d calmed down, we ended up walking into the one bar on Main Street, assuming someone there could protect us. And sitting at the bar with a beer was our Dad. That’s when I knew the only person I could ever truly rely on was me.
From New Jezero Park, it took five minutes on the subway to get to the southern end of the city. Once there, I walked a scenic route, which led me to a wide glass staircase running through the middle space of two different levels. With a few floors below me and a couple above, I stopped on a balcony halfway up to double-check no one was on my tail. It was also an opportunity to appreciate the open spaces that New Jezero had to offer.
From top to bottom, the residential levels spanned ten stories. But because of how the structure had to be built, open spaces were only ever a maximum of five stories high. From a day-to-day perspective, it was fine. But to really get a sense of open air freedom, I hopped in a buggy and drove to the outskirts, where I would stand on the edge of the crater wall. On a clear day you could make out the pods on one side, New Jezero on the other and Dome One in the middle. Although the solar radiation exposure was serious, it always helped me put things in perspective.
After several people had walked past, I continued to my destination. Nestled away on floor five, the Blue Sunset was a plain and simple diner. No robots, no androids, just people. Nodding at the waitress, I sat in my usual corner booth and ordered some pancakes with a black coffee through the table-screen. I would have ordered eggs and bacon, but unless you’re mega-rich, you can forget fresh foods. Even though they were made with dehydrated insect powder, the pancakes weren’t half-bad. And at least they gave me some form of animal protein.
Just as the waitress served the pancakes and coffee, my handler appeared in the doorway. Despite being six-foot-six and built like a Viking, Eric had an uncanny ability to look as though he was gliding while walking. It was impressive for a guy approaching his sixties. I don’t know if he had a previous life as a figure skater, but if he did, he’s managed to keep it under wraps for as long as I’ve known him. Standing up to shake his hand, he towered over me by half-a-foot. Thankfully he didn't stand out from the crowd too much because of the lower gravity on Mars, humans were getting taller. If anything, me being just six-foot, meant that to everyone else, I was likely an Earthling immigrant. But that was about half the population of Mars. So I didn’t stand out too much either.
Even before we sat down, Eric began, “Clive Harris has booked next Tuesday to visit the pods again.”
“I thought he would. I hope you didn’t make it easy for him.”
Winking at me he said, “I charged him double for it bein’ less than a week away.”
Winking back at him I said, “Cha-ching. What else is new?”
“Before we come to that, I wanted to ask you about yesterday. What do you think were in those medical vials?”
Stuffing the last of the pancakes into my mouth, I just shrugged my shoulders. I could see his mood shift straight away and he replied in a dissatisfied tone, “Some small-time-pod-gangster had thirty bugs ready to take you down for whatever it was and a shrug’s all you’ve got?”
“It’s not that I’m not interested, but it’s none of our business. As long as we get paid, clients can sell whatever they want.”
“Be careful what you wish for, Yankee. One day a client is gonna step over the line and you’ll have to make a choice. Carry on kissin’ ass or step up to kick ass.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means that despite you thinkin’ you’re just an ice cold mercenary, deep down, you’re nae bastard.”
Being completely honest, I replied, “You know I'm all about the money, Eric. I'll never cross that line.”
Shaking his head in disapproval, he said, “Never say never, my friend.”
Before I could get the last word in, our conversation was broken up by someone wolf-whistling over at the bar, followed by everyone else clapping and cheering. That’s what I liked about the Blue Sunset. It was a welcoming place for us blue collar types, but for the well-to-do of New Jezero, it was way too rough and ready. Plus, everyone there knew not to stick their nose where it didn’t belong. Turning our attention to the bar, the TV was on the Martian News channel. Walking through a minefield in Africa, was a slim middle-aged woman with long dark hair wearing a near useless bomb vest. Then a silver-haired newscaster in a TV studio appeared to announce, “Her first visit in over ten-years, Amrita Andras will be landing on Mars this afternoon to represent Andras Corp’s new outreach program for Jezero aka, the pods.”
This put me on my soapbox. “Here we go. Another silver-spoon-goody-two-shoes sticking her nose where it doesn’t belong. Honestly, where do these elites get off.”
The newscaster continued, “The wife of the elusive eighty-year old trillionaire, Tristan Andras, Amrita said she is looking forward to speaking to the people of Jezero and getting to understand the root cause of their problems. Especially the recent wave of unexplained teenage deaths.”
I couldn’t contain my anger. “The root cause is Andras Corp. If they hadn’t allowed a load of wasters from Earth to move in, there wouldn’t be any problems!"
Before I brought any unwanted attention to us, Eric reached across the table and put his bear-claw-of-a-hand on my shoulder to calm me down. “Once upon a time, I believe one of those wasters was you.”
Seeing my own hypocrisy, I calmed down and apologized, “Sorry Eric, I just can’t stand these rich scumbags, who think they can control the Universe.”
“It’s all good fella, but it’s better that I tell you sooner rather than later. Our next client is Amrita Andras.” I tried to put my best poker face on, but Eric could see right through me and with a wry smile asked, “I thought you were just gonna kiss ass?”
I could feel my blood begin to boil, but before the temperature rose too much, I gave my mind a cold shower and replied, “Yeah, no, I can. I just needed to vent. I’ll be a total pro from here on out. What’s the job? Standard parrot on the shoulder while she does her dog and pony show?”
“Pretty much, but this will be our biggest paycheck ever. So whatever time of day, from tomorrow, you’ll be on-call for the next seventy-two-hours.”
“No sweat. What’s the itinerary for the next few days?,”
“Tomorrow mornin’ you’ll meet Ms. Andras at The Diamond and escort her to New Jezero to visit the park and government offices. On day two, you’ll take her to the pods, where her team has organized a meet and greet with a Martian family who have recently lost their teenage son. Followed by her givin’ out food parcels in the parking lot. Day three, you’ll accompany her around the mines and food farms in the lava tubes.” Sending the details to my smart glasses, Eric continued, “You can see I’ve highlighted all the possible pinch points and escape routes.”
“Thanks Eric, I couldn’t do this without you.”
With a touch of sarcasm and yet another wry smile he said, “I know.”
Scrolling through the details, I got curious “Why doesn’t she use her own security?”
“Mr. Andras wanted the very best the Red Planet has to offer.”
“You spoke with him?”
“Nah, just some assistant, but apparently, once this is all over, he’d like to meet us face to face. What do you reckon? You up for it?”
“Honestly, in some ways, I’d love to meet the guy, but in other ways, I want to wring his neck.” Thinking while sipping the last of my coffee, I made my decision, “Screw it, let’s do it. What’s the worst that can happen?”
“Good lad. He might be a total psychopath, but he made commercial space travel a reality. So at the very least, I’d like to look into the man’s eyes and size him up.”