BOB
BY
TEGON MAUS
Publisher: Tirgearr Publishing
Published: 5 September 2014
Genre: Soft Science Fiction
Available: eBook approx 165 pages
After 27 years as a newspaper man, Peter Anderson’s career is slipping away… at least it was... until he stumbled upon the story of a lifetime.
Sent to do a fluff piece about lights in the night sky over Arizona, he discovers far more than he ever expected when he comes upon a mysterious young woman held prisoner in a basement. After helping her to escape she disappears before he can learn the truth about who she is or where she came from.
His search for her leads him back to the lights in the sky and leaves him with more questions than answers. The only thing he knows for certain… the only thing he can count on are the two words offered repeatedly by his friend and guide…. “IS BELT.”
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EXCERPT
He seized the spike, yanking it from his body,
throwing it at her; the woman, having gotten to her
feet, removed the second nail and braced for another
assault on Carl, her hands bleeding freely.
Bob now stood next to her, ready for a signal to
charge.
"She's not what you think, mate. She's not human.
Believe me, on my mother's grave, she's a monster,"
Carl said, his right hand clutching his fresh wound,
his left outstretched, as if holding them at bay.
"I'm as human as anyone here," she shouted
defensively, looking from side to side between Bob and
Fred. She bounced from foot to foot, shifting her
weight and then lunged at Carl again.
Everyone screamed.
The two became a tangle of legs and arms until
Carl wrapped his enormous hand around her neck.
I had to do something and almost without thinking,
my hand found a cold piece of metal as I rummaged about
the shelves for a weapon.
The piece of metal turned out to be a pipe wrench. I
grabbed it with both hands and swung it as if all our
lives depended on it. It made a loud, metallic crack
as it encountered the back of Carl's head and he fell
to the floor like a sack of potatoes.
Bob stood over him, eyeing him closely before
looking to me. He snapped his fingers twice and
pointed to Fred without a word.
It took me a moment to understand his meaning but
the blood flowing from the back of Carl's head brought
me to full understanding.
I pushed my hand into my pocket, retrieving a
fifty handing it over to Fred.
He beamed in return, kissing the bill before
shoving it into his pocket.
"He's still alive," the woman said with
disappointment, straddling his body. She clutched the
spike in her dripping hand as if trying to decide
whether to stab Carl again or not.
My mind flashed with images of being found after
breaking and entering, standing over an unconscious and
bleeding Carl. And if that weren't enough... a woman
had been nailed to a table. All of which had begun to
fill me with panic.
"We have to go," I pronounced, turning for the
stairs.
Fred was way ahead of me, already halfway up as I
reached the first step at the bottom.
"I need salt," the woman said flatly. The nail
slipped from her hand, falling to the floor with a loud
clank.
"We need to go," I demanded.
"And I need salt," she insisted, turning to face
me.
I truly saw her for the first time. Her clothes
were torn and blood stained, ragged looking. She
appeared compact, fit, almost muscular really. Her
strawberry red hair hung just above her shoulders,
framing her face in an alluring way. Something about
her green eyes drew me, held me. They made me feel as
if she could see into my very soul. Beyond that, she
seemed ordinary, attractive but little more than
average...
"Emma Greenwood."
"What?" I asked, stopping where I stood.
"You were going to ask my name," she answered,
making her way to the steps.
"No I wasn't," I lied.
"Yes, you were," she insisted, pushing roughly
past me.
Once we reached the main level, we were greeted by
the sound of Fred rifling through the cabinets,
throwing pots and pans everywhere, littering the floor.
Emma made a beeline to Fred.
"Salt... there has to be some here, somewhere...
there has to be," she said, joining Fred in his
destruction of the kitchen. There was an edge of panic
in her voice. Her eyes had begun to take on a wild,
desperate appearance as her search had taken on an air
of all out urgency.
She emptied cabinet after cabinet to the floor.
"Dude," Fred said at last, excitedly holding a
blue salt box over his head.
Emma grabbed it as if it were about to explode,
pouring it onto her wounds and then down her throat.
To my surprise, she swallowed it without choking
or coughing, almost emptying the container.
"How I needed that," she said happily. "Let's
go," she commanded, slamming the empty box on the
counter.
We ran like thieves into the night, and to think
about it, if freeing a woman nailed to a table was
stealing, then I suppose we were.
No one ran faster than Fred, no one. He ran like
a track star, hurtling over rocks, bushes, fallen logs
as if we were being chased by dogs, bears or lions or
whatever the hell lived in the woods that could
possibly be worse.
Emma ran a close second, staying right on Fred's
heels.
I huffed along a distant third as best I could as
Bob pushed me from behind. I wasn't built for running,
let alone running at night in the woods over every
piece of crap nature had thrown on the ground.
Behind us, the sound of angry voices and the
treating whine of truck engines drifted through the
trees.
As expected, Fred was the first to reach the car,
pounding on its roof repeatedly shouting at us in
Russian.
Emma began to hammer on the top of the car,
shouting in Russian as well, rushing me along.
Bob removed his keys, pressing the alarm release as he
sprinted pass me again, jumping behind the wheel. Fred
jumped in next to him with cat like reflexes.
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About Tegon Maus
I was raised pretty much the same as everyone else... devoted mother, strict father and all the imaginary friends I could conjure. Not that I wasn't friendly, I just wasn't "people orientated". Maybe I lived in my head way more than I should have, maybe not. I liked machines more than people, at least I did until I met my wife.
The first thing I can remember writing was for her. For the life of me I can't remember what it was about... something about dust bunnies under the bed and monsters in my closet. It must have been pretty good because she married me shortly after that. I spent a good number of years after inventing games and prototypes for a variety of ideas before I got back to writing. It wasn't a deliberate conscious thought, it was more of a stepping stone.
My wife and I had joined a dream interpret group and we were encouraged to write down our dreams as they occurred. "Be as detailed as you can," we were told.I was thrilled. If there is one thing I enjoy it's making people believe me and I like to exaggerate. Not a big exaggeration or an outright lie mind you, just a little step out of sync, just enough so you couldn't be sure if it were true or not. When I write, I always write with the effort of "it could happen" very much in mind and nothing, I guarantee you, nothing, makes me happier.
I have consistently placed in the top 3 in 189 writing contest in a variety of genres and I have been featured in magazines a couple of times to raise money for Saint Jude’s Children’s Hospital.
Website: http://www.tegonmaus.com/#!
Author on Tirgearr Website:
http://tirgearrpublishing.com/authors/Maus_Tegon/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TegonMaus
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tegon-
Maus/150255051766767
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/tegon/tegon-maus/
Google+: https://plus.google.com/101974688416833509592/posts
Buy 'Bob':
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Barnes and Noble
Smashwords
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Praise for Tegon Maus's 'Bob'
"After twenty seven years in the business, who wouldn’t want an exclusive story, especially when “It’s the BIG one?” The one which answers questions which has been asked my millions.
“Are there really aliens out there, and have they ever visited Earth?”
Well, journalist Peter Anderson is given the opportunity to find the answers to these questions, a journalists dream. However first he must travel to Payson, Arizona and interview Professor Donald Thorpe, luckily the doorman at the hotel has a ‘friend’ who can drive him. Meet
Dimitri Rurik Petrova otherwise known as Bob!
The Professor says he has proof that the lights in the sky are real, and, what Peter sees that day, changes his life forever.
Soon, Peter and Bob find themselves rescuing Emma, a beautiful woman they discover being horribly tortured in a basement. Then the fun begins as we discover the answers to many questions. If you’ve always wondered about those lights in the desert, if little green men have visited earth, and if spaceships exist the answers could be here….
Whether or not you believe the outcome, there is no denying that you will have great fun reading this very enjoyable science fiction story. It has all the essential components, good characters, a great plot and plenty of twists and turns to keep you guessing, right up until the end."-
Susan Keefe, Book Reviews by Susan Keefe
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"This is a cute science fiction piece that can't be put down until the last "cousin" is discovered. Bob is so zany and endearing one can't help but to love him in spite of his nefarious ways.
This adventure moves very quickly, so one must keep on their toes to keep up with the action. This novel starts off as the typical lights in the sky story, but quickly morphs into an entirely unique tale of good and evil and the reader is kept on the edge of their seat waiting to see what happens next. The end is completely unexpected but completely hilarious. Anyone into sci-fi or comedy would enjoy this delightful little
gem that is worth reading again and again."- Belinda Wilson, Amazon Reviewer
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