Author: markswritingcorner

Mark Ahern was born in 1979 and is from Ireland. He attained a Degree in Commerce from UCD in 2000 and a Masters in European Studies in 2001. He has written three novels to date encompassing science fiction and thrillers. At times Mark has used his experiences as an individual with a disability to write from a truly unique perspective. "Chronicles of Martan" which is his sole science fiction work to date, is an epic space odyssey inspired by his love of Star Wars. This was followed by "Not the Usual Suspect" and "Paradigm". His current project is called "The Irish Ripper" and should be available late 2019.

Pegasus (Part 115)

We ran out the door to a narrow carpeted hallway with multiple wooden doors just like the one we were after exiting.

“Follow me.” Her tone was confident. “We need to take the stairs to catch them by surprise.

We went down the hallway, turning left and then right. It was a labyrinth. Then much to my relief, the stairs appeared in front of us.

She looked back at me over her shoulder. “Quiet.” I nodded.

Each step was taken slowly. Chrissie had her gun at the ready. Then her steps grew faster. I looked up and saw that Leanne and her sister waiting for us. They waved with their gun to follow till we reached our destination.

Leanne took one side of the door and Chrissie the other. Leanne shot at the door lock, and then they barged in shooting at everything that moved. There was Innumerable shots and blood flowed out of the room.

I entered the room to see three riddled bodies. Tabitha’s face was bloodied and bruised. Still, she managed a small smile when she looked at me. I ran and embraced her.

She wasn’t the only battered woman in the room. Leanne was untying her. She was slender with long, blonde hair.

Pegasus (Part 114)

Once more with a smile, he pulled back preparing for another whack.

“Oh, this time it will be your pretty face.”

The bastard was enjoying it.

Then there was a banging sound off to the right, where my view was obscured by the wall. A sound of shot. The bullet hit Jarlath in between the eyes, and he fell to the floor.

A second later, a smiling Chrissie was in front of me. Damn, I never thought I would be so happy to see her.

“Hello buster, I’ve been looking for you everywhere. Now let’s get you out of here and find Tabitha.”

She quickly untied my hands and legs. We hugged. The pain was pulsating me, but I just managed to walk.

“We realized that something had happened to the two of you. And we decided that we couldn’t just leave you. We went into the bar, and well the girls used some of their tried and tested techniques,”

“What are they?” I asked in a hushed voice through gritted teeth.

“A bit of cleavage here, a bit of leg there. And tablets containing some very strong drugs.”

“Well, I am very thankful. Where now?

“Follow me. She’s up a floor.”

Pegasus (Part 113)

The door swung open.

“Jarlath’s my name. You never asked on the way up.”

He was holding a baseball bat in his right hand.

“You really did come at a bad time. Right when a major operation against smugglers and infiltrators was under way. Bad, bad man. So are you just a smuggler or something worse?”

He lifted the bat over his shoulder and brought it down on my lower legs. A searing, immense pain engulfed my body.

“That’s a nice woman you brought with you. The boys are going to love her.”

Removing the cloth wrapped around my mouth I shouted, “Leave her the fuck alone!”

Jarlath laughed.

“Now, why were you trying to get to the Emperor’s habitat? And don’t fucking lie.”

“It was to trade…”

Another blow came crashing down.

“That’s not what Tabitha said, well after she got a few slaps. Oh yes, you were out cold so we started the process with her some time ago. A feisty woman. I sensed a real dislike of the Emperor. So, stop fucking around. I have places to be. Meeting a nice girl called Sharon in an hour so don’t delay. Funny enough, she’s the kind of person you were looking for. Ah well, too bad.”

Pegasus (Part 112)

I gulped down what was left of my drink and followed him. Tabitha didn’t bother finishing hers.

We went to one of the side walls where he pressed a well disguised button, Part of the wall opened up revealing a silver lift. We got in, and it immediately closed behind us.

The man inputted a long line of numbers. My heart skipped a beat. Our friends outside would be of little use. The lift took what seemed to be a few minutes to reach its destination. The doors opened revealing a large, comfy sitting room. I walked forward before feeling a strike to the back of my head.

It must have knocked me unconscious, because the next thing I know is my eyes are closed and I feel a massive headache. The kind where you wonder f you would be better off dead. I open my eyes to an unfamiliar room. It is very small, with white walls. I am tied down to a wooden chair in front of a door, that is the only piece of furniture. Instinctively, I roar out but it is muffled.

“Tabitha, Tabitha.”

There is no response. This is not good.

The seconds turn to minutes and then hours before I finally hear the sound of footsteps outside

Pegasus (Part 111)

It didn’t take long for that first drink to turn into two, then three. I knew one of the myriad of men would eventually bite and they did.

A burly, bald man dressed in fading clothes came over to us. He addressed us in English.

“What has brought you two here? I caught a word or two of English being spoken between you. I haven’t heard it being spoken in years.”

Tabitha looked at me wide eyed. I took the initiative.

“You don’t get away with too much around here. And where did you learn it? You seem quite fluent.”

“My mother is from Aruna V. She insisted we use it to communicate. And you never answered my question.”

“No, I didn’t. We’re here on business.”

“What kind of business?”

“We need to get a package onto the Emperor’s habitat, and we’re prepared to pay big.”

I let him glance at our bitcoin balance.

He murmured something to himself and then left to go to a backroom.

I could feel the sweat on my brow and took another gulp.

Then the man returned and said to follow him. We got up, leaving what remained of our drinks. It was action time.

For We Are Many (Bobiverse) by Denis E Taylor

Hello dear readers, I have just finished reading the second book in the Bobiverse series by Denis E Taylor. For those that may have forgotten, I gave the first one five stars out of five (We are Legion We are Bob). The sequel is not always on a par with the original though.

Bob Johansson didn’t believe in an afterlife, so he signed up to be resurrected after he had died. Little did he realize that it would be as an Artificial Intelligence or replicant, and that life would far outlive his biological one. Bob and his copies have been spreading out from Earth for 40 years now, looking for habitable planets trying to save the last remnants of humanity after a disastrous nuclear war. Something that’s increasingly feeling like a real prospect these days.

Each Bob copy has its own variability in character due both to the copying process and their own unique experiences once they separate. The relationships between the Bobs themselves is one of the things that makes this novel so special.

What follows is an intriguing tale of exploration, love and friendship over space and time.

Amongst the various sub stories, one Bob becomes a Sky God to a primitive species doing everything possible to ensure its survival.

Another Bob fall in love with a woman he can never touch.

“The Others” are the adversary in the book, who are stripping the surrounding star systems of life and material to create their own Dyson Sphere. Who finally wins is left to the next novel and I for one, can’t wait.

This gets another five stars out of five from me.

Pegasus (Part 110)

Yeah she had a point. I needed to give them something useful to do, or at least keep them occupied.

“I need the rest of you to keep guard across the street. If things kick off, we will need you.”

Casey pouted her lips, while Leanne’s eyes rolled.

Chrissie then spoke.

“Come on girls. It can’t be excitement all the time.”

Tabitha and I headed into the modern-looking building. The automatic doors opened as we approached. I was relieved it was pub on the first level as I had hoped. It had a wooden and leather decor. It smelled of tobacco.

I turned to face Tabitha.

“What would you like?”

“A drink, really? Don’t we have something to do?”

“We need to fit in, trust me.”

“Whiskey with red lemonade for me.”

I went up to the bar.

“Conas ata tu?”

It was the first time someone had spoken in my tongue for quite some time.

“An mhaithe ar fad. Ba mhaith liom Guinness agus uisce beatha.”

Having secured the drinks, we went to one of the round tables in the centre so that we could both observe, and be observed.

It was mostly military aged men in the bar, and many couldn’t resist a peek at Tabitha’s long legs.

Pegasus (Part 109)

It was difficult to make headway but I persisted. Every now and then, I would glance behind me to make sure I didn’t lose the others. They followed closely behind in a line to take advantage of every step forward I made.

The wall of people was made up of people from throughout the system. There was every hue of skin color – white, black, purple and orange, you name it. Humans were evolving to their various habitats, and some were starting to not look like humans at all.

There were large shopping malls on each side, followers by floor after floor of apartments and offices.

The streets that had been chocked by people, gradually became easier to navigate, and I soon broke out into a brisk walk.

I heard Chrissie comment about the thinning crowd from behind, but I was just anxious to reach our destination. I would look up the majestic, tall buildings, that seemed to rise up forever and ensure that the next was getting closer and closer till the light started to dim.

We had arrived.

There was little point in us staying as a group. It would complicate the matter of building trust.

I turned around to the rest.

“Tabitha, myself and you will head into that place called Toibins.”

Then Casey interjected.

“And, what are we supposed to do?”

Pegasus (Part 108)

As we left the ship, we stepped onto a platform that led to elevators on the wall. Chrissie walked ahead of us and pressed the button. Nothing seemed to happen at first. Then we heard a whizzing sound coming from below; it grew gradually larger. Then someone saw the elevator just before it arrived,

An artificial voiceover speaking in Irish told us to take a ticket, to remember where our ship was parked and that it would bring us to ground level. Hearing that the ancient language once more made me feel warm inside. I took the piece of pink paper and put it in my wallet.

Much to my surprise, I felt nothing on the way down. The opaque doors stopped you from seeing any movement also. The doors opened and we walked out to a packed street and a cacophony of sounds. People brushed up against our shoulders as they tried to get past. Large buildings looked almost magical as they stretched upwards. I realised I was feeling queasy, and took a moment to get my bearings. We needed to go towards the centre of the city, and see if we could do some sort of deal to get to the Emperor’s habitat.

In one direction, there was definitely an increased density of buildings.

“This way,”

Pagasus (Part 107)

A large electronic sign pulsed FAILTE as they drew closer.

“What does that mean?” asked with a frown.

“Welcome,” I replied.

“It’s Irish. The main language here,” Tabitha added. Her eyes were wide open.

“We need to find a set down area. Somewhere close to the centre, I reckon,” I continued.

The bustling city surrounded us as the ship sailed between the tall buildings. People thronged the choked city streets below us. Even the air tunnels that connected some of the taller buildings looked at their capacity.

I saw a “Parcail” sign in blue down the side of a building in the distance.

“Go there,” I said pointing at the building in question. It’s a dull monochrome grey without any windows.

As we approach, we get a message in Irish suggesting we allow the autopilot to take us in. Once I translated, Tabitha pressed the button to accept.

The ship then went into an ascent, before hovering over the top of the building, where we could see the stars again.

Then the ship descended. Ships of varying sizes were docked up against the wall. Then an empty space appeared, and the ship moved forward before it jerked slightly as it was clamped into place.

“Right, we’ve docked and the thrusters have all been switched off. Time to go,” Tabitha commanded.