A dramatic scene from my upcoming book, Children of Mars.
(From my upcoming novel, Children of Mars)
Tennille had the rover going as fast as it could. Freddie watched the charge meter reading as it slowly fell from near full to three quarters in no time at all. There was a mighty whooshing sound from behind, distant at first, but it was quickly upon them.
“TENNILLE!”
Tennille didn’t waste time slowing down as they climbed the short embankment. They were over the other side, bouncing wildly down into the relative safety of the crater before the shock wave hit. The whooshing sound was now a violent howl as a sudden blast of dust and debris rushed overhead, an amber storm from hell. The rover shook violently and over the din, Freddie heard the screams of the children. The shockwave was followed by a mighty rumble. Freddie undid her seat belt and dived over into the back of the rover, grabbing the baby and wrenching it from the small hands of Jodi as the rover was tossed around as easily as a toy ball in the nursery. Instinctively, Freddie pulled Timmy into her body and curled up into a ball. She felt a crack as her back hit first one wall and then the other. She grimaced with pain and closed her eyes tightly. The vehicle rolled over and over, before it finally came to an abrupt halt.
She was glad when she heard crying children until through stinging eyes, she looked up to see their horrified faces, their eyes wide with fear. When she tried to move, she felt numb and her legs would not budge. Her head was pounding and she felt something warm and sticky on the side of her face. Timmy was howling, which in the circumstances was a good sign. But for the second time in her life, she was overcome with dizziness and as a collage of confused images melded together to form one incomplete picture of the story of her life, the world she knew began to fade, along with the dying sounds of crying, swept away, replaced now with an emptiness that enveloped everything. In a last stubborn effort to push back death, she caught a glimpse of an image that didn’t belong there. It found form in the shape of a ghostly blue figure, which appeared briefly at the rear window of the overturned rover and after blinking its rich dark blue eyes once, just as quickly was gone. Then she succumbed to the inevitable, as the final sounds of her world left her, along with what little light remained until nothing was left but darkness.
Thanks Ron for your input. I have put up longer selections, but people like to read shorter pieces unless they are already familiar with the author. Rovers appears in many science fiction books. They are usually manned in such books. The tiny unmanned rovers of today have sort of hijacked the name. But, because I take your point that most people might think of these little rovers when they read the book, I may change it to MEV (Mars Exploration Vehincle) or something similar. As to the shock wave, there is enough atmosphere on Mars to produce such a shock wave in my view. It depends on what is exploding and when you find out in the book what it is, it seems believable that a great shockwave could do what is described. Of course, as authors, as you are no doubt aware, we do take some factual liberties with our stories. Having never been to Mars, I can still write about what might happen there just as much as in the absence of an actual event on Mars like this being recorded I can safely fiddle with the facts and let my imagination take over. :)
A nice teaser, but it would be nicer if you would allow more of the story, perhaps a chapter, like I have done, to be revealed here.
Couple of suggestions: rover is a name given to unmanned explorers that are on Mars right now. This people transport that you describe here, perhaps should have a different name. Finally, since Mars as a very thin atmosphere, and the occupants of the vehicle were enclosed in a airtight enclosure or wore suits to protect them from the thin air, it is doubtful, even on earth, that one could hear a shock wave coming.
5-star Review on Amazon: "A terrific read about a very disturbing subject!! The book is exciting and interesting and chilling and alarming! A literary ride that is well worth the time and money."
----
Aggressive AI invades young boy. Can he sav
Evil Seed: Mother Earth vs. the Human Race; Who Will Survive?
Launched onto a surreal odyssey by a desperate call for help, a heroine reluctant to save her own unworthy species, coupled with her closest friends and a band of otherworldly allies,
