Hey ,
It's me again, your friendly neighborhood book weirdo, Stevie. For the love of all things fantasy and sci-fi adventure. I was listening to Eric Wienstein on The Joe Rogan Experience...
Who is Eric Wienstein? A fascinating mathematician, and I ABSOLUTELY love listening to him shoot the shit with Joe Rogan about the whole possibility of aliens, and the concept that it's possible aliens are out there, but it's also possible that the confusion of random sightings are simply a redirect to hide that we ourselves have advanced our technology to the point of our greatest minds having figured out how to defy gravity!
I mean it's possible, but without an actual physicist to confirm or deny information about what the government might have been working on, us normal citizens are left flummoxed by the UFO sightings of 2023!
Because really, there is no known explanation for what people have been seeing in the sky lately.
There are so many possibilities, from a conspiracy about how anti-gravity has been discovered by genius scientists, to aliens are out there, to even the possibility of a tear in dimensions between our world and the other known dimensions sharing this world with us. The randomness of the sightings are just too odd to fully understand.
What do you think, are UFOs aliens or science our governments are keeping secret?
Perhaps any number of other alien civilizations are out there connected to Earth through a slip in dimensions? That's part of the inspiration for Kingdom of Acatalec, having Earth connected to another dimension filled with aliens with magical powers gifted to them from the land.
(brow wiggle) Those UFOs could be the future "drone" transportation units defying gravity and slipping through rips between Earth's dimensions and theirs!
You never know, the line between magic and science has always been a blurry one since even before the discovery of fire.
Kingdom of Acatalec is a fantasy adventure set in a futuristic world with deadly drone races, a kingdom with a mysterious secret that could end both civilizations, and along the way you have two magical dudes that she crushes on, but she's got more important things to do like survive this new world with the skills she's honed through adversity.
Those UFOs people are sighting across the world... it may just be the Kingdom of Acatalec...
Magical world of aliens, check.
Lots of secrets, and world building check, and check.
Mystery, murder, and lies... Absolutely!
The romance takes longer to develop, yup.
MC is in a wheelchair, and that doesn't stop her from kicking ass, YESSSS!
It starts off slow, then takes off like a rocket and sucks you into the new world of Acatalec, full of adventure, romance, magic, and a futuristic Seattle with sciencey possibilities like drones as the future of transportation, brain implants like what we see Elon Musk engineering, and contact lenses that connect with it.
Go start reading/listening to Kingdom of Acatalec . Available in all the places books/stuffage is sold including Kindle, Audible and more! Even request the book at your local library! I would absolutely love it if you did that!
Kingdom of Acatalec: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B4V9867P
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That sneak peek of book two, that I promised last week, is at the end of the email! Depending on your email provider you may have to click the "read more"
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~Stevie, author of all things fantasical and otherworldly adventurous, mom of a few humans in training... including my hubby. Overall booknerd, and yes... I am writing this in my pjs. Why not?
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SNEAK PEEK of Acatalec Chosen Book two of the Acatalec Series, do not read if you have not read book one. Spoilers will be inevitable. (unedited)
Gently Kelly tugged my hood back and I squeezed my green eyes shut even knowing it wouldnât do much good at stopping whatever glamour poured off of me in an invisible miasmic wave. She shouldnât be this close to me, but my willpower to keep pushing her away dwindled day by day. Isolating myself from everyone wasnât a long-term solution. I needed to feel connected, and Kelly was always there.
Maybe she stayed because I wanted her too. Maybe she stayed because she had a strong stubborn sense of loyalty to our friendship. I wasnât strong enough to leave her alone, or to let her go. It was deeply unnerving how much I relied on her simply to exist near me.
Her black curly hair escaped from her work bandanna, tickling my skin, and even so it was like that unruly strand was meant to be there. Even her imperfections were envy inspiring and distracting me from what I should have been doing, pulling away. I couldnât be sure anything she did around me was of her own free will. Not when I discovered what I was capable of, and where I was actually from.
A place called Acatalec, and worse yet⌠the region of Tarquin, where everyone who develops abilities from the land is feared.
Things were safer when we only communicated through the NeuralGo tech, at least then I could be sure I was far enough away from her that my new found abilities didnât force her to do anything she didnât want to do simply by wanting it myself. The tarquin power of manipulating the people within a set boundary that I didnât even know the rules for. Where did the boundary end? How far away did I have to be? Did it even matter if I said what I wanted out loud, or could I simply look at a person and my wants override their own? I couldnât answer those questions, because I didnât grow up in the Kingdom of Acatalec.
When Kellyâs fingers laced into the belt loops of my coveralls to tug me in for a firm embrace, I couldnât refuse. My chair wheeled forward, and her arms wrapped around my waist pulling me to the edge of my seat. For her safety I should have stopped her, because I knew I wanted this, and even thinking about how much I needed her arms wrapped around me in comfort might have been enough to influence her through my magic. I couldnât control the Tarquin in me, and itâs only become stronger since I won the races, and found out what I was.
Not human. At least not fully.
But neither was Kelly.
âYou donât have to wear that all the time. Honestly Babe, I donât even think your hood would stop your glamour if you were trying to get someone to do something.â Kelly was more comfortable calling me Babe to prevent herself from screwing up in front of strangers with our new identities. Our old names were lost to us, as long as the person who hired my attempted killer was still out there.
Cradling my head against her chest, she nuzzled her cheek into my maple brown frizzy mop. I was considerably shorter, even if I wasnât sitting in my wheelchair, but that didnât seem to bother her.
Though I doubted everything now. Maybe it did bother her, and I would never know the difference. Not while my magic controlled her or anyone else I knew. My need to have her accept me could be all that was needed to change her own mind about accepting my disability, both my legs, and my tarquin ability.
In my ear she whispered assuring me, âIâm not doing anything I donât want to do.â
But I couldnât trust her words any longer. Or anyones for that matter.
âI canât know that for sure, and neither can you.â I regretted breaking the moment, but it had to be said. I reluctantly eased out of her grasp, but for me that meant grabbing her hands and gently untangling her from around my neck. Kelly had to do the rest, pulling back, and allowing me to get to work scanning the code of the malfunctioning drone in the garage hanger.
Kelly was my best friend, and sheâd been there for me since before we even met in person. I knew that sounded weird, but in this era itâs not uncommon to only see the people you care about through links in the NeuralGo, a neural connection in your brain transmitted to your retina through contact lenses. An image augmented over your environment in real time. I could be there with anyone without ever leaving my home.
Behind my ear was a button smaller than the thickness of a hair that I tapped to activate my interface to connect with my contact lenses. The code for the drone popped up, and as my eyes scanned down, the lines of data followed my ocular movements. Keeping my attention on the last line of code for more than a second allowed the next few lines of code to scroll. I closed my eyes, pausing my task unable to concentrate.
Kelly was hovering behind me, the pull of her presence tugged inside my chest. It was like I could feel her even though she didnât touch my skin, but the back of my neck warmed. If this was my old wheelchair it might have turned to face her as my control waned responding to my thoughts to move. Face her, I begged myself to compile, but I couldnât push past my self-made barrier to keep her safe.
Understanding what I wanted Kelly picked up the edges of my hoodie, her arms gently resting on my shoulders. Slowly she pulled the covering back over my face to hide my eyes, though I purposefully ignored the obvious reason why she was doing any of this without a word between us. Her chest pressed into my back as her arms wrapped me from behind, and her cheek grazed against mine, nuzzling in for good measure. This was all to prove a point that she did what she wanted, and in that moment she wanted to comfort me, but if I wanted it too how could I know for sure it wasnât my magic calling to her as a siren would luring a victim to the depths of the sea.
Being here in person, with Kelly, for the past few months⌠I wouldnât change that for the world. There was something next level in feeling her calming presence, and not simply seeing or hearing her through the NeuralGo. The whole air around us was different being in the same room with her, she really made being uprooted from my life easier to digest and manage. Which was why it was so difficult to push her away, but it was selfish of me to keep her by my side.
The person responsible for sending Bailey after me was still out there, and Kelly had already been caught in the dangerous game of trying to kill me. Whoever they were, they didnât care if Kelly was collateral damage, or Bailey for that matter. Even if there wasnât some psychopath out there, I still had no control over what was inside me.
Weâd been avoiding the topic ever since leaving Seattle to start a new life in the sticks of Oregon. Iâm not calling Oregon the sticks, Iâm calling where we were too far away from Portland to be considered civilization. Though, not far enough away that people didnât purposefully leave the city to get the expert services that the mum and pop shop Locket Code Nâ Machinery provided for everything drone repair, and more.
It was that reputation Remâs mother, Lauren, had gained that allowed both Kelly and me to temporarily get seasonal work here. Though I knew Rem enough from saving my life during the races to trust coming here, I didnât let her mother know who I was, or that Rem had hinted that she could help us get new identities. To Lauren, we were Aura and Peyton⌠I only got to hear my real name before we went to sleep each night in a whispered, âGoodnight Tyler.â
Kelly somehow knew I needed to hear that I was still the same person, despite everything thatâs changed I needed to still be me. But I didnât really know who that was anymore. I was almost certain the only way we were getting away with being off-the-books contract workers, not answering questions about our past, or living in Laurenâs spare loft above the garage was because of my tarquin abilities. Only a few months ago did I find out about what I was, and it was the reason I could never have a normal life as who I was ever again.
Unwittingly, I worked for Zeiten Drone Transportation ran and operated by Acatalecians, though I didnât know that at the time. The uncomfortable stares I got from co-workers took on a whole new meaning now that I thought about it. Were they simply not used to seeing a woman in a wheelchair, or was it that they thought I was a human working at an alien company?
âI think you need to stop avoiding this, and try to understand it better,â Kelly insisted. She squeezed my shoulder, and I tensed knowing that touch, voice, and eye contact made my abilities stronger. When I used them altogether it was pretty much a guarantee that Kelly did whatever I asked of her.
She was right about needing to understand more, but nothing was ever simple and I had to bear the weight on my soul of being responsible for someoneâs death because of what I was.
âHow do you think I should do that? Go around messing with peopleâs free will?â I snapped a little too aggressively, and accidentally jostled the hood enough to see the hurt in her eyes. Yanking my hood down I wished hiding my eyes did more than simply relieve my guilt for existing, that it actually helped stop my power from influencing people around me without forethought. I turned away and heaved out an exasperated breath. It wasnât her fault I was born this way.
There was a reason the Tarquins were avoided even on Acatalec.
We were dangerous.
âIâm sorry, this is my problem,â I dismissed.
Shaking her head in denial I could hear the way her hair bounced and brushed against her skull-patterned bandanna, which was supposed to keep the curly strands out of her face, but I could imagine more locks of curls springing free with every movement she made. âNo, this would have never happened if it wasnât for me,â she tried to take all of the blame herself. That was so like her to take the lead, and a majority of the time sheâd be right. Most of the trouble we got into over the last few years could easily be placed on her shoulders, she had a knack for wanting to test the boundaries with illegal races being only one of her morally gray activities.
âWhy donât you just try something simple?â she asked while grabbing my hands before I could pull away. Before I could object about the morality of taking away a strangerâs free will for experimental purposes Kelly quickly offered, âOn me. Ask me to do something. You have my permission. No matter what you ask in the next five minutes if itâs of my own free will I will not do it. I will stay right here for five minutes, no matter what.â
She squeezed my hands pleading with me. Her milk chocolate skin was grease stained from digging around the tools and repairing drone parts. She was a masterful engineer, knew the ins-and-outs of a drone so well she could manufacture her own parts if she wanted to, or build a drone from scratch.
I learned most of what I knew about drones from her, but I stick to the coding, not the mechanics.
âI could ask you for a cup of coffee,â I suggested while still keeping my eyes averted. Sometimes even suggesting that I wanted coffee was enough to get someone to grab a cup. My voice alone could force their will to bend, and they wouldnât even realize what Iâd done.
I didnât realize what Iâd done, or for how long Iâd been doing it before I knew what I was.
Being around people was too dangerous.
Speaking was too dangerous, but it was worse if they were making eye contact, or touching my skin. I pulled my hands from hers. I wore gloves, but I didnât want to force Kelly to do anything, even if it was simply to get coffee.
âExactly. You know I make horrible coffee,â she teased trying to lighten the mood and it did work to an extent. I had no idea how my abilities worked, except that I couldnât control it, and I tried to limit looking at people or asking for things so I could make sure anyone around me was still being themselves.
I wasnât a vampire, at least not in the traditional myth about them. There was no blood sucking⌠that I knew of, but having ancestry from the Tarquin Region of Acatalec did give me a heightened ability to manipulate the people around me. They called it a glamour, but what made it so dangerous was that it was difficult for the victim to know that they were doing something they didnât want to. Which was why I tried to avoid staring directly in the eyes.
I would rather seclude myself than take away someoneâs free will again. Images of Bailey smiling up at me as she fell made my heart ache, and I bit my lip to stop myself from reliving the moment again. If I didnât get a hold of myself soon could I guarantee another person wouldnât die because of me?
Nodding softly to Kelly I agreed. Iâd do it. I couldnât let someone else suffer that way. âOkay, but first letâs try it without eye contact.â
âAgreed, but you have to actually try, not just pretend to try. If your not in it, then itâs pointless and we arenât learning anything.â She squeezed my hand for reassurance, and then took a step back waiting before saying, âI will not go get you coffee, no matter what.â Kelly widened her stance like she was preparing for battle, and in a way she was, but it was all in her mind. I didnât know how it worked, but somehow I imposed my own will, and proximity was a factor.
I took a deep breath feeling my throat tighten. Closing my eyes for good measure, even with the hood down I finally said, âI could really use a cup of coffee.â My voice was low, and I could feel it vibrate out from me like a seduction. In order for this experiment to have value I had to make myself believe I wanted coffee, then in a more direct manner I asked, âWould you grab a cup for me?â
âNo problem,â she was quick to reply, and I sunk into my chair. Kelly turned from me and walked over to the counter where an old glass carafe warmed on a hot plate sat. âYou know Iâm not the best at making coffee,â Kelly rambled on, completely oblivious to what she was doing. I fisted my hands, angry with myself for thinking this would do anything but confirm what I already knew. That this experiment did nothing but prove that if I wanted something and I voiced those wants, people around me would do what I asked of them. So, basically I needed to keep my mouth shut.
âItâs a good thing you already brewed a bunch this morning,â Kelly continued, âBut, I could have sworn you were trying to cut back.â It was like even her mind was trying to convince herself that she shouldnât be grabbing me coffee, but the impulse to fulfill my request was too strong. And Iâd only used my voice.
Kelly came back and handed me a mug, completely forgetting she was supposed to be saying no this whole time. Did she even remember having the conversation with me? Or was my voice so enticing that she couldnât think of anything else but to help me out because I asked her to?
But I didnât demand it of her. I didnât tell her to grab me a cup. I only asked her if she could, but it didnât matter. None of it mattered. I couldnât find a way to ask something of someone and still give them freewill. I was a monster, and the very thought had my whole spine tingling in discomfort.
Groaning in frustration knowing my voice was only part of the problem. I mean, at least the voice thing usually only worked if I tried, but it was too risky to meet people in the eyes when I didnât know what I was doing. Whatâs worse was that it was getting more out of control, and I couldnât guarantee just talking wouldnât take someoneâs freewill away more and more often. Wanting something was enough for people in proximity to do something Iâd merely been thinking about if I caught their eyes with mine. Turning away from her I rolled back to the counter with all the coffee fixings, and with a bit too much force placed the cup in the sink creating a crack that shouldnât have been there. Story of my life, I scoffed at the offending coffee cup that had once been usable, and no longer was.
âDid I do something wrong? I thought you liked creamerâŚâ Kelly bemoaned. Thatâs how disturbing this ability was, she didnât even realize she was doing something against her will. I had no idea when my abilities would have started, and how many people in my life were affected without even knowing. There was no way to ask someone if they were doing something because they wanted to or because I asked. Iâd have to talk through the link permanently if this continued, just to be safeâŚ
âNo, itâs me. Maybe we can save up for some special contacts that can reflect so there isnât direct contact or something, so no one can be affected that way? Iâm not sure. I mean Iâm wearing contacts nowâŚâ
A light bulb seemed to trigger in her head at my suggestion, or perhaps my strong distaste for seeing the coffee adjusted my own glamour over her. She slouched in the ducked tapped swivel chair beside the drone we were servicing.
âMaybe itâs because coffee is such a simple request?â she posited with sympathy, obviously remembering our conversation now. âBut, you canât just ignore who you are, we should try again later with coffee, but this time donât do the voice thing and only make eye contact with me normally, not trying to do anything.â
âYouâre right,â I slid my hood off, and turned around to look at her, I could care less about wanting coffee, and actually thought about how I hated the idea of even drinking coffee right now, but asked anyways while staring directly in those gorgeous pitying eyes of hers, âI think this coffee would have been better black. No cream please.â
I tried my best to be as casual and non interested as possible. Kelly was stunning even in a ripped-up jumper, and dirty jeans. Her black curly hair was naturally puffy and held back by a simple rolled-up skull printed bandanna that she wore whenever she was determined to finish a project. It was like her super power to strap on a bandanna like a war sash, and whatever she was working on would be conquered that day, if not the next.
If she wasnât here with me, sheâd have been easily hired by any engineering department across the country for her skills. Even if she wasnât as knee deep in the shit we got ourselves into, I still wouldnât have been able to convince myself to leave her alone, not if there was a small chance that someone found out I was alive, and wanted to use her to get to me. Theyâd already done that once, and I wouldnât let it happen again. She was stuck with me, whether she liked it or not. At least, that was the excuse I kept telling myself which prevented me from letting go.
âI knew it! It was too sweet,â she said while practically jumping up from her seat with renewed vigor, âbut you know this coffee is practically shit without it.â Kelly sauntered over and took my cup from the sink, too focused to even notice it was dripping from where Iâd cracked it, pouring its contents down the drain to start again. âYouâd be better off getting an I.V. of the stuff than tasting anything but the sugar. Just my personal opinion.â She poured more coffee into the cup, and eyed the powdered creamer like I was insane to want coffee without it, since the coffee didnât taste great even with it. Then she reached for the sugar packets, glanced at me with a sly smile she poured a few packets in. âYou canât be serious about taking it straight like that.â
I nodded at her. âYouâre right, itâd be like guzzling nitrogen.â Giving her a sad, defeated smile before pulling my hood back over my face to shadow direct contact with my eyes. I had no control over it, and I didnât know how to not let energy seep out from me when I asked someone to do something.
âUgh,â she groaned probably finally realizing the coffee cup was broken, âWell, this one is for me.â Peeking from my hood I could see Kelly quickly cupped the bottom of the cup to cover up the evidence of the leak with a mischievous grin. Sheâd been duped into doing what I asked of her again, and she knew it, but thankfully it was such a weak request that she realized what had happened as soon as I broke eye line with her.
âThatâs enough,â I lamented. Experimenting on her was no better than being a scientist in ancient times cutting open people to discover the bodyâs mysteries without a scanner. I was done, and even not wanting to manipulate her was probably forcing her to agree with me, and I was exhausted even thinking about it. I understood why Tarquins had such an awful reputation, but most grew up with it and could control their energy, at least I hoped they did. âWhy donât we just see if Lauren can make something to block my eyes before we leave? Sheâd probably know what to do.â
At least I hoped she would. She may not have been human, but she didnât inherit her regionâs abilities either. Even still, I wouldnât know how she would react to finding out I was part Tarquin, it wasnât something people found endearing unless you were in Tarquinâs region itself. And going back to Acatalec, even to Tarquin, wasnât an option since they thought I was dead.
âIt was only coffee, get over yourself. Itâs not like you were trying to make me do something tragic. I may not have your ability, but Iâm pretty sure itâs not that easy to affect people when itâs something they donât want to do. Itâs probably just more potent when the person wouldnât find a problem doing it in the first place. Iâm not a good subject for the test.â She huffed and paced back and forth raking her brain for something before turning to me sharply with her finger pointing.
âA stranger,â Kelly exclaimed her epiphany. âSomeone that would have no reason to stop what they were doing to get your coffee, and wouldnât feel a connection that would make a favor seem trivial. Anything done for you would be out of character for a stranger. Then we can test if your eyes would still do it, or if you need to try harder to make it work.â
âAnd if it does? Then what? That isnât a plan.â I waved her off, and rolled in front of the drone sitting in the garage for repair more frustrated than I cared to admit. Linking up to the drone, interfacing, and then scrolling through to code for anything that would explain why it was sensing drones that werenât there was better than humoring this insanity. This drone may have been driving the owner crazy at all the slowdowns on their commute, but at least they werenât dealing with something unexplainable. It wasnât impossible that there were actually drones not normally on the overlay, but it was more likely picking up on some interference, and just needed a recalibration. If only my own problems could be solved with a simple retooling.
âWe need to know whether this is happening every time you look at someone, or if itâs only happening because unconsciously you know you can do it, and you trigger it because now you know about your power.â
âThen weâd never know. How am I supposed to tell my unconscious mind to shut the link up to prevent myself from using it?â
Frustrated with me she stomped over and tilted her hip with her hand resting on it. âFine, live like a recluse for the rest of your life. What do I care? Iâm the only one trying to come up with suggestions and weâre both avoiding the best solution.â
I knew she was right, there was an obvious solution, but to do that would put us at risk. We couldnât afford to let anyone from Acatalec know that we were alive, let alone go there and find a Tarquin to train me. It was risky enough to be here with Lauren, which I wouldnât have even done if I didnât know she was as normal as a human, but understanding that we werenât, while having lived on Earth her whole life, so really didnât have much connection with Acatalec.
Even still, I wasnât going to put her at risk by staying too long. Just long enough to get some spending credits, and convince her to help us with our new identities. I wasnât fond of resorting to my abilities, but I would to make sure she stayed safe. Convince her to help, then make her believe sheâd never met us. Iâd leave the contacts Rem let me borrow so that if she ever came back to visit her mom, sheâd know I was safe, but also that I didnât plan on coming back. Rem had done enough to make sure everyone believed I was still dead in the minds of all that mattered, meaning the Acatalecians. And if I was lucky, even the Lord Prince would believe I died when his drone crashed.
âYou know that isnât an option.â
She sighed. âI know, Babe⌠itâs just that even I grew up in Acatalec when I was younger to understand what was happening with me. Most who exhibit any abilities do, and you have no idea if it was your dad or your mom that you inherited this from. Honestly, I canât figure out why it couldnât be both. Itâs super rare for someone to inherit two regional abilities like you from only one parent. Iâve never heard of it happening ever,â she paused knowing this was a sensitive subject for me. âWe should find a way to contact your mom safely before we start somewhere fresh, you know, to feel things outâŚâ
âYah, because if sheâs human and I decide to tell her I have super powers sheâd think her daughter is insane, and accidentally decide to contact a therapist. Iâd have to use this ability to make her forget we talked, and pray to whatever deity existed that I donât accidentally make her forget not just that we talked but that she can talk at all.â I shivered remembering what happened the last time I tried to make someone forget about something.
My words mattered.
I didnât want to use my ability at all.
âIt wasnât your fault,â Kelly soothed, wrapping her arms around me her head leaning on my shoulder.
Thatâs just it⌠it was my fault, thatâs what made it so painful.
My stomach clenched in on itself.
I killed her.
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