Welcome to weekend writing warriors. Many fine authors, and me, contribute short snippets for your delectation. This is the start of a new work, Illegal Aliens. It is something of a cross between a horror story, a science fiction tale, and a romance.
Roland awoke after bringing an attractive young woman home, alone. Something of a surprise, and in some ways a shock. His mobile chirruped into life and the works manager – where he’d been called to examine a mysterious block of Roman concrete – told him the “bloody German bomb, it went.” A knock on the door interrupts their conversation just after Mr Shah explains that one of his workers couldn’t even stand the firecrackers on Guy Fawkes.
One of a somewhat menacing pair of visitors finished last week with “that is irrelevant.” Maybe for them.
The man pulled a warrant card from inside his jacket and showed it to him, “It’s better if you don’t know the details.” The card identified the bearer as an agent from MI6 and little else.
“For me or for you?”
“Very funny, Dr Stevens; may we come in?” Neither of them seemed to have much of a sense of humour.
“I suppose; not like I have much of a choice, is there; I need to shower; do you mind waiting?”
“Not at all.”
The man followed Roland upstairs and waited outside the bathroom while he showered. The woman used the time to search the downstairs rooms; she found a letter, written in an obscure script, one that looked suspiciously like Arabic or maybe Farsi, on the kitchen table; after sending a picture of it to the office, she pulled a chair from the breakfast table and sat. Satisfied with her efforts, she’d await the outcome.
My sincere apologies for abusing semi-colons.
Illegal aliens is up for preorder on Amazon.
You can get a copy of the first four chapters on instafreebie.
Bastet had an important role in Egyptian mythology. One of the several gods of evil, Apep, would attack the Sun God Ra in the evening. He or it would attempt to eat the sun and place the Earth in eternal darkness. (Though as a snake he’d freeze first, but then logic was never a strong part of mythology.) Bastet would routinely defeat Apep and slice his head from his body with a flint knife. Thus the sun would be available for the new day.
The featured image shows the asteroid Ida and her satellite Dactyl. 99942 Apophis or Apep (a synonym) was supposed to crash into Earth in 2029 or 2036, but NASA has shown that it won’t. This image is often labeled as Apep, but it isn’t.
For a moment I wondered why the agents would be willing to waste their time while he showered, but you answered that question immediately.
Thank you. It’s awkward enough to be dressed in an apron (and presumably pants), let alone to answer the door.
Nothing like a little unsupervised snooping to tie a few knots in things. Good luck with your pre-release ordering❤
Thank you. It’s sort of important that they question him about these weird messages.
I found the shower request odd. Not knowing your laws, but are the agents allowed to go snooping through his house that way? The switch in POV, to us watching the agent at work, seemed a bit jarring, where before everything has been from Roland’s POV (or so I thought – I know it’s impossible to really tell from snippets LOL). But I definitely am left wanting to know a LOT more about this story from the snippet, so it’s all good.
They’re not bound by the same rules as the police – they’re not collecting “evidence,” but intelligence. That said, she’s breaking the law.
Thank you. (& I do have trouble occasionally about view point.)
In a way, it was awfully trusting for Roland to shower while the agents were in his home. Or maybe he wanted to project an air of innocence?
Thank you. He didn’t have a lot of choice.
In a way it is. There’s a bit coming quite soon that shows he’s been searched already – when his ex, Janet disappeared. Thank you
I agree – I was a bit thrown by the change of p.o.v. too – and I’m not sure I’d want to leave a couple of agents in my home while I showered, myself – or does he have a hidden agenda? Having said that I really enjoyed this short excerpt, full of intrigue, and am very keen to know what happens next!
Thank you. I’ve already re-written the section to be in the one POV. (which I hope doesn’t violate the wewriwar rules).
The man followed Roland upstairs and waited outside the bathroom while he showered. The woman remained downstairs, ostensibly for modesties sake.
Roland, refreshed from his shower and decently clothed, walked down to the kitchen with his escort. “Care for some coffee?”
The woman rose when he entered. “What’s this? Arabic text from Al Qaeda or ISIS?”
Roland saw that she seemed pleased with herself. “I haven’t seen that before. Where?”
“Where did I find it?” The woman’s self- satisfied smile betrayed her. “I took the liberty of searching your digs while you showered.”
“I thought that was illegal.”
“It won’t be admissible as evidence in court. Not that it matters. Is it in Arabic or Farsi … an unusual alphabet for a document in your possession?”
“I read neither Arabic nor Iranian.” Roland laughed at her. “I am a specialist in Roman Britain.”
“We’ll see. I sent a copy to the office. Now” and with that word, she handed him the sheet, “would you translate this for us. Saves time you know.”
Awkward as the apron might be, I’m surprised he left long enough for them to snoop. And it sounds they knew exactly what they were looking for.
Thank you. There’s a reason MI6 shows up so quickly, and it’s not obvious, yet.
Sad that just a language is suspicious to her mind! Some people…
I agree about the POV switch being a bit jarring, but it’s useful info to have with a smoother transition.
Thank you.
Great snippet! 😀
Thank you.
I, too, wondered why he took the time (and they let him) to take a shower. I like the POV in you revised snippet. Nice job.
Thank you.