Xkalibur

By Jacob M. Drake

Patrick Riley, college student, suddenly finds himself holding two ancient swords - and his body transformed into that of an alien metallic warrior. Is it possible his old friend Cameron Kensington can help him return to his normal state or have Cameron's own changes made him the enemy?

While Patrick faces the changes that have overtaken him Claire exhilarates over her ability to enter within the electronic realm within the internet - finding danger lurks in all aspects of the universe.

The second book of The Many Worlds of the Solarian. There are too many changes coming to miss a single installment.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Crescent Suns eBooks
• Release date: Feb 25, 2010
• ISBN: 9781452303543

Jacob M. Drake

Jacob Drake is the author of various Fantasy, Horror, Science Fiction and Erotica books, all available on Smashwords. His only problem in writing is not having enough time to write to completion all the stories he gets in his head. "If I wrote constantly until the day I died I still would never be able to exhaust the imagination that is the source of these stories."I've always loved reading, so somewhere along the line it only seemed natural that I would sit down and start writing the type of stories I like to read. And that's only because I can't always find a book I want to read that encompasses the type of story I want. Sure, there are lots of great authors out there, but they don't always have their next new novel in my hands at the time I want to read it. Certainly there won't ever be another new book by Robert Heinlein or Isaac Asimov, though I wish with all that's in me there were."I wrote my first story in high school for an English class. Had no idea what I was going to write until Sunday night (This was due the next day) when I sat down at my typewriter (Yes, this was back in the Stone Age before PCs came available) and started pounding on the keys. I turned in the finished story the next day and received an "A"."But I didn't write anything else (except songs, of which I have more than 100 finished) for many years, mostly due to the fact of raising a family and trying to be responsible (I hate that word). That came about because I had a story in me banging at the inside of my head, demanding to be let out. This time I sat down at the keyboard at my PC and began writing. I don't recall how long it took to complete that story, but it's now published as "Parallels: Book One - Heroes Enjoined Series"."I was quite satisfied with how that turned out, so a bit later I wrote the sequel to that book and called it "XKALIBUR". I then wrote a smattering of horror stories as well as a few more books and then a bunch of stories based on female superheroes who get into - ahem - trouble each and every time they go out on patrol."But none of these stories ever saw publication and that was okay with me (to a point), because I realized that deep down inside of me I was a writer and I had stories that kept screaming at me to write them. So I did, even though I had nowhere to publish them. My wife well knows how many times I said, "I just want my stories out somewhere so other people can read them! What good does it do if they sit on my computer and no one else can enjoy them?""I tried getting book publishers interested in my works, but they wouldn't even deign to read my intro letter. Many other authors know that feeling, too. I attempted to get an agent, with pretty much the same results. Most agents are too busy trying to place the stories for the author's they already represent."I then read something on the internet one day while searching for online publishers. Someone had published his story at a place called Smashwords.com and it hadn't cost him a cent. I don't recall who that was, but I wish I could thank him for having the sense to write that blurb where I could read it."I entered the name into my browser bar and hit "enter". Sure, I had to register, but that was free, so I did. Figuring out how to get my stories formatted properly in order to get them uploaded onto Smashwords was a bit of a chore, but Mark Coker's Style Guide was pretty much clear on the subject and eventually I had it all done for my first book."Once "Parallels" was published online I was like a little kid on Christmas morning with a tree filled with presents underneath."Within the next month I had all of my completed stories formatted and uploaded, which meant I had to take all my horror stories and put them together with a book title. Then I had to do the same for my B.A.B.E.S. stories, but that worked easy enough, once I figured out what program to use (Picasa3) to make covers with."Now I work on getting my latest novels written so they can join the rest of my 'family' of eBooks that are now available on all the eBook retailers' sites."Not all of my books are for everyone, especially my erotica classifications, like the "Complete Book of B.A.B.E.S." and my "Rebirth of the Gods" book. Some day I'll get around to writing the promised second book to that series, honest. For the time being, I've been channeling my energy into writing the books for my vampire series, the first of which is "Forever Undead" and the second one is "Darkness in the Light". Now I have the third in this series, "Forever the Dark Grave", and then I'll write "Darkness in the Draca Legacy". After that I'll link these all together with "Forever Darkness". Recently I got the idea of writing a bunch of short stories based on the vampire bar (Vampir Sange) that appears in "Darkness in the Light" and publishing it under the title "Vampir Sange - Dark Tales From the Blood Bar". That one will be written."I'm enjoying my vampire realms too much to do anything else right now, but I am open to hearing from those who read my books."Care to write and make suggestions? You can reach me at: [e-mail]

Book preview

XKALIBUR

Jacob M. Drake

Copyright Jacob M. Drake 2010

Second Edition 2013

Published by Smashwords

Cover Design by eBooksMade4You

Formatted by eBooksMade4You

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All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

Second Edition License Notes

This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. Thank you for respecting the author's work.

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PRELUDE

In the upper reaches of the exosphere, just changing into the thermosphere above the planet Earth, a small space-faring vessel alters course in order to not experience too high of a temperature rise in its intent upon landing on this marbled world.

Moving even further Earthward the vessel adjusts its course once more, intent upon taking its time in landing, as per the preset instructions placed within its onboard computer by the scientist who programmed it. It is soon to reach the mesosphere of this world's atmospheric shell and needs to keep from incinerating the cargo it carries.

The cargo this vessel holds is only one item and that a living specimen. The cargo was long ago lovingly placed within this vessel and entrusted to the care of the advanced electronics modules and computerization which pilots this craft. This technology has cared for this cargo as carefully as its designer intended. The cargo is the last living survivor of an alien race which thrives no more.

Though somewhat human in configuration and appearance, there are distinct differences between the race this small infant is from and those inhabitants who are the dominant race upon the third planet in this solar system which holds within its center a class G star.

The differences between these two races is about to be negated.

As the vessel continues entering the Earth's atmosphere, growing ever-slowly closer to the surface that looms below, an explosion erupts from the surface of this world and sends debris rocketing skyward. The debris thins out as most of it loses momentum and falls away, dropping back toward the planet from which it came.

A small, almost non-existent cloud of particles continues upward until it reaches the vessel and its lone occupant. As the particle cloud - in reality the molecules of another small being, this one distinctly human in appearance and birth, although that appearance has changed by virtue of the explosion within which the child who once embodied these molecules was caught - engulfs the vessel; the peculiar power structure of which this molecular cloud is permeated with, recognizes a kinship with the alien infant within the craft. The power structure alters the density of the cloud so that it passes through the solidity of the vessel in order to merge with the DNA of the infant.

As the molecular particles infuse themselves within the genetic structure of the alien, the infant opens its mouth for the first time since it was sent out from its home world. This action is due to the intense pain the infant experiences.

The infant screams.

This resistance to having its own genetic structure overtaken by an outside force causes a reaction unintended by the molecular cloud. The unique structure of the alien quickly absorbs the molecules infusing within it, but then as quickly the altered infant splits in two, becoming identical twins or nearly identical; the minor differences unnoticeable at this stage of their development.

Both now appear completely human.

An aura of intense energy forms within the small vessel and causes a shifting of the dimensional barrier which remains unseen to the naked eye - except in certain dire situations of unforeseen circumstances, such as this. The aura seems to explode outward from the vessel and yet, as it explodes the vessel seems to lurch forward, entering the rift that is opened in the fabric of space within the upper atmosphere of Earth.

As the vessel vanishes within the rift and the opening in space slowly closes, on the outside of the rift an identical vessel shimmers into existence until it is as solid in appearance and construction as the other.

Each craft held only one of the newly created twins.

Each craft lands upon the planet which is its intended destination.

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In Las Vegas, Nevada Marshall Montgomery sits up suddenly in his bed. Unbeknownst to him, in Tonoton, Washington his twin, Cameron Kensington also sits up in his bed.

Both young men have just experienced the same dream.

A dream they have each had before in the past few weeks.

A dream neither experienced until they were captured by the forces of a covert scientific testing facility known to them simply as The Institute.

They don't know it yet, but each will have this dream again - and again, many times over the next few weeks and months, always the same in every detail.

Neither realizes as yet that this is not merely a dream, but a memory shared within their likewise shared genetics.

A memory that will soon alter the direction of their lives.

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CHAPTER ONE

A spaceship flying through outer space.

That was the way Victoria had phrased it when she’d asked Claire what it felt like to move along the cybernetic pathways of the internet. Is it like a spaceship flying through outer space on Star Qwest shows? were Victoria’s exact words. And Claire had answered that it was more like gliding through heavy traffic on an electron highway, passing by the computerized version of buildings with their lights ablaze, having other vehicles passing by at high speeds.

Each time since that question Claire, now thinking of herself more in her super-powered persona of Wraith, the code name she has chosen to embody the being she is becoming has paid more attention to how it feels and what she observes when traversing through this cybernetic highway. She watches as a multitude of protons, electrons, molecules of all types pass by her in all directions, each one as varied in size as much as the varieties of flowers covering the face of the Earth.

No, it is definitely not like flying through space. Not in this particular highway, at least. And not in most of the others she has traveled since then, either. Though Wraith has to admit as she sails along at what would be dizzying velocities were she above the surface of this planet in solid form, flying the way Kyan, Helios, Amaterasu, Tempest, and Amethyst, her partners in vanquishing villains and foiling their dastardly deeds can do, this is a lot more like flying than driving. And sometimes the oddities she discovers are much the same as meeting strange, new civilizations, like what she saw on those sci-fi shows she watched while growing up.

So perhaps what she does within this internal universe is a lot like traveling through outer space. Yeah, she can go with that analogy.

Only – she’d gotten it wrong. This isn’t a universe. There are many, many worlds of various alterations within the computerized reality of the internet, a.k.a., cyberspace. Therefore, it might better be termed a multi-verse.

Wraith stretches her arms out in front of her. Instead of being the normal appearing appendages she is used to in her material form, she sees wispy shapes of milky white, more like arms that are blurred by an out-of-focus television set, or like clouds being wafted around in light breezes.

This is something she isn’t certain she can ever get used to. She would prefer to see her own body, just the way it always has been all of her life. Not something that shuffles about as she moves, as though it is trying to keep a solid form, but is having difficulty remaining corporeal. She seems to her more like the picture on an old-fashioned television set, back before cable when everyone had antennae or rabbit ears for bringing in the reception through the airwaves and tuning them on each channel. When such shows were out of tune they became blurry, erratic, and that was how Wraith seemed through her own eyes as she sailed through the streams of this internet multiverse.

Turning her arms and hands about in front of her she examines them more closely. Why is it she appears this way when inside the realm of computers? Certainly a monitor displays everything on it in terms the human eye can understand. And as she looks about in this realm she sees things that appear as she would imagine them to, though she admits there are plenty of items she neither recognizes nor understands clearly. Is there something she is missing about existing in this realm of the electron?

She knows of no one she can discuss this with who might be of any help. None of her friends are as adept as she is when it comes to computers, but she admits to herself that although she knows how to use them and understands some of how they operate, there are yet many aspects to computers she knows nothing about and cannot begin to comprehend.

She looks down, as Wraith has learned to term her actions within the puterverse, as she has decided to term the realm within these highly complex machines, and sees various oddly-shaped organisms. She knows no other word for them. That is the closest she can come to understanding what she sees in this odd realm.

These are some of those that appear almost to be miniature universes or solar systems of their own. That one over there. She draws closer to inspect it. It has what appears to be a variety of teeny-tiny worlds orbiting at least one sun. Sometimes as the worlds revolve and orbit within this miniature ecosphere of its own design, it seems as though there might be another sun within its depths. They spin around so dizzyingly fast she can’t really be certain.

What purpose do these tiny systems serve? And do they have a possibility of living creatures on any of them? And if that happens to be real, is there a possibility that the Earth she calls home might be a tiny system within someone else’s computerized world?

It is all too confusing to think about, but these are the type of thoughts that often invade Wraith’s mind as she travels within this realm, observing and studying what she finds. She smiles to herself. If she could record what she is seeing scientists might have to develop an entirely new classification for an existence such as this. Would such a place disrupt the already fragile theories that so many of the sciences operate within? Maybe she should find a way to record this. It might be fun to watch as scientists stumble all over themselves to understand what they would find here.

Intent upon the micro-systems she is watching, Wraith is unaware that she is heading for a barrier that has been erected in her way. Although her form is as insubstantial as a mist in this realm, still it is able to catch in the stickiness of the substance this barrier is composed of.

Yeeeecchh! Wraith articulates oddly what she feels, though she is at a loss to explain exactly how she could possibly feel anything in this form. She pulls back on her arms, finding them to be firmly attached by a sort of adhesive that is very similar, at least in her own meager understanding, to amber-colored glue. The substance stretches along with her as she tugs, but does not break.

Wraith continues to pull and struggle a few minutes, wondering if there exists a possibility that she will be stuck within this substance forever. Is this her final fate – to be stuck in an electronic version of a flytrap, deep inside the internet?

There must be a way to break free of this glue. Wraith ceases her tugging and sets her mind to working out a solution to what has happened to her. She knows she has to resolve this on her own. There is no one else in here with her. None of her friends could even begin to come to her aid, even if she could find a way to contact them. None of them have the ability to place themselves within this realm of the cyberspace. This is strictly her realm of existence. A place where none of her friends can ever join her.

It’s at times like this that she misses being able to depend upon Cameron Kensington, who has sped to her rescue so many times in the past.

Okay, Sheraton, she thinks to herself, figure this one out. Don’t panic.

How does she exist in this realm? Simple enough. Her unique abilities allow her to cause her corporeal form to become incorporeal, that is, to lose her solidity in order to blend in with the electron flow that formulates the internet and all else within the puterverse.

But how does she become this way?

Now, that is something she doesn’t know. Give her enough time and opportunity and maybe she could figure that one out. At this particular time, however, Wraith has absolutely no idea how her abilities allow her to do what she does.

Does that mean she can’t get out of this predicament?

Hell, no!

If there is anything in life Wraith has learned, it’s that tenacity, which is just another way of saying stubbornness, is the best way to get her out of any sticky situation – pardon the pun. And if there is any one word which defines Claire Sheraton, a.k.a., Wraith, that word is stubborn.

A few more times she tries to pull away from the springy substance the adhesive is attached to.

Is this some type of wall? She tugs a few more times. The wall pulls inward with the adhesive and moves back into place when she releases her efforts.

Okay. There might just be a limit to the give in this wall. After all, it pulls inward slightly each time I tug on it, she thinks, considering every detail of her predicament.

Reversing her action, Wraith pushes against the wall. It moves inward, forming around her hand.

Okay. That’s yet another question. If my hand is nothing more than a mist in this place, how can it apply pressure to something that appears to have more substance to it? And how can a substance like this adhesive grasp hold of something as immaterial as my hand?

She presses a few more times, each time releasing her pressure. The wall springs back into shape each time she moves her hand away.

Now that defies all laws of science – even the unexplainable ones that must govern a place like this.

Relaxing her body a while, Wraith allows her brain to assimilate the information she has gained from her efforts.

One – An incorporeal body has enough substance to it to be caught in a seemingly solid adhesive.

Two – A very solid-seeming wall can be pushed and pulled along with this adhesive when pressure either way is applied by the aforementioned and supposedly incorporeal form.

Exerting even more pressure, Wraith presses not only her hand, but her arm into the spongy wall substance. The wall material gives way, allowing the material to conform to the misty shape of her arm. She presses harder. The wall substance is now up and over where her shoulder would be, if she indeed had a proper shoulder.

Pulling back Wraith notices that although the adhesive sticks to her insubstantial form, it does not preclude her pulling away from the wall material. This is yet another paradox.

How can my arm pull free of this trap, but my hand cannot?

Wraith pulls a hand back, along with the adhesive attached to it. She examines her hand in front of her face.

I’ve been using my hands while inside this realm in order to touch things, pick things up, and push stuff around. Are my hands more substantial than the rest of me? Or am I merely attributing more substance mentally to my hands in order to affect objects when I want to?

Concentrating on her insubstantiality, Wraith focuses on making herself more insubstantial than she has been. In fascination she observes the adhesive clinging to her – form – she can’t really call it flesh in this realm, dropping from her as she loses all traces of corporeality.

As she falls free of the wall, Wraith assumes a modicum of substantiality once more, though she continues to float within the space comprising this region of the computer realm.

Okay. That was cool. Now – what is so important on the other side of this wall that someone needed to seal it off from the rest of this place?

Moving up near the wall, but keeping just enough distance so she doesn’t become caught within its embrace once more, Wraith considers her next move.

I was able to free myself by becoming insubstantial. A not-so-inconsequential feat, considering I was already insubstantial, relatively-speaking.

What if I do that again, but move forward…

Wraith closes the minor distance between herself and the wall. Her completely incorporeal form now passes harmlessly through the wall, avoiding entrapment by the adhesive which covers its surface.

On the other side she once more regains the modicum of corporeality that she has retained throughout her journey within this realm.

All right. That was mega-cool. Kinda like passing through soft taffy that has been stretched so thin it’s almost non-existent. Waaaay mega-cool.

Turning away from the wall, Wraith scans the view on this side. Everything she sees looks like everything that was on the other side of the wall. Nothing new here. Nothing different floating around, zipping by, passing up-and-down the ether world, netherworld, puterverse, cyberspace, whatever it’s called.

Okay. So what was the purpose of placing this wall here?

Moving slow enough to examine objects more closely, Wraith sees nothing of interest. Or more accurately, since everything is of interest to her here, nothing of more interest than anything else.

She continues on her journey, stumped by the wall’s positioning and meaning. Perhaps she’ll never know the purpose. Perhaps there is no purpose. Perhaps it’s simply one of those things that oddly exist in a place as odd as this, with no rhyme, meaning, or purpose to it.

Like a spider web that is placed between two branches. Only the spider web has a purpose. Right. The purpose is to catch flies and other insects that happen by. Wraith turns and looks back toward the wall.

Am I the fly? Did something or someone put that wall there to catch me?

She shakes her head. That’s absurd. No one even knows I’m here. Yeah, there are all these little gizmos and doodads that are floating around. But none of them have shown any interest in me. It’s like I’m just another fish swimming around in a vast ocean of fish. None of them take any notice of any others.

Wraith stops moving once more. A thought causes her to shudder.

Unless they want to eat them.

Quickly she scans the area about her once again, looking for anything that might be a potential threat to her. Something that looks like the cyberspace equivalent of a predator.

Seeing nothing, she begins to move on. Suddenly, hundreds if not thousands of tiny creatures swarm from all the surrounding area. They appear as the tiniest of bugs or insects, swarming up and over Wraith’s form, covering her with themselves.

She begins to scream from shock of surprise, and then remembers there is no one around to answer her scream and help her out of this mess.

Instead of panicking Wraith decides to control her fears and begins once more to alter her substance. Being insubstantial should cause these – what were they? - who knows – creatures to drop through her form onto the – ground or whatever exists around here.

But try as she

Reviews for Xkalibur

[jacobdrake · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

In this second book of the Many Worlds of the Solarian saga Jacob M. Drake makes an interesting use of the Arthurian legend - or perhaps he simply shows what actually transpired that led to the inclusion of the sword that no one could possess. Having this sword (actually two) be of alien origin is certainly a valid response to the legend. How else could it be as magical as everyone thought it was?