The Armor of God

By Ryan Schneider

The Armor of God is the fourth installment of the exciting science fiction serial adventure series The Go-Kids from Amazon Top 20 seller Ryan Schneider.

Thirteen-year-old Parker Perkins and his friends, Sunny and Bubba, along with teen acting sensations Colby Max and Igby Fry, find themselves in a Top Secret government installation where they are enlisted to track down and retrieve, or destroy, a secret weapon which has been stolen. But first they must prove they’ve got the right stuff. Between chili dogs and energy drinks, will Parker measure up to the responsibility bestowed upon him? Will he be able to keep the promise he made to his dad? To his friends? Why do the clawed hands come for him in the night? Experience The Armor of God for yourself to find out.

Universal themes of growing up, friendship, and making the right moral choices make The Armor of God a roller coaster ride readers will long remember.

Books 1-5 now available.
Book 6 coming soon!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ryan Schneider
• Release date: May 23, 2011
• ISBN: 9781458100948

Ryan Schneider

I write fiction. I will make you think and feel. That is my job.I am a husband, aspiring father, writer, and novelist.I try to write stories I would enjoy reading.My work is sometimes dark and heavy, sometimes light and fun, even romantic.I co-authored "The Pillow Book" with Petal Darker.I earned a Bachelor's degree in English Literature from the University of the Pacific. I have worked as a newspaper staff writer, a film critic, as well as co-host of a radio show. I studied screenwriting and independent producing at UCLA.I have written 7 novels, many short stories, a dozen screenplays, and many essays. I also co-produced a 35mm short film.I am also a commercially-licensed pilot with multi-engine and instrument ratings. I have flown various aircraft: Cessna 152, Cessna 172, Piper Arrow and Piper Seminole.I live with my wife Taliya in Palm Springs. Taliya is a singer/songwriter and musician. Her music has been likened to Enya, Yanni, and Sarah McLachlan. Taliya plays guitar, piano, and flute. She was awarded a Guinness World Record for recording her original song "Flower Child" in 15 languages. She has toured much of Europe and the United States. She has written and produced two albums and is currently in the studio at work on her third album.In 2013 I published the science fiction romantic novel EYE CANDY. Read it. You'll like it.I also published THE DEMON DRIVERS TRILOGY BOOK 1 -- THE BEGINNING. It's all five books of The Go-Kids adventure series collected in one volume for the first time ever! Read it. You'll like it.I am presently working on Book 2 of THE DEMON DRIVERS (coincides with book 6 of TGK), the epic tale of a thirteen-year-old boy named Parker who has the weight of the world on his shoulders, and the lives of his friends in his hands.

Book preview

THE ARMOR OF GOD

Book Four of THE GO-KIDS

Ryan Schneider

Copyright © 2011, 2013 Ryan Schneider

All Rights Reserved

All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook 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 recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

First Edition

Chapter 1

His Own Two Feet

Parker’s Battle-Suit sprang from the service platform like a rock fired from a slingshot. He suddenly found himself soaring into the air. The white steel beams of the rafters were approaching his head. Parker put his hands out, hoping either to grab hold of a beam or at least prevent one smashing him square in the face.

He was slowing down. In the next moment, his stomach filled with the odd feeling of weightlessness. Then he was falling. Picking up speed. Heading straight for the polished floor of the hangar far, far below.

He had to do something. Think! Think! Think! In the Go-Boy simulator at Skycade, he was always jumping off cliffs and tall buildings, always falling from dizzying heights. What should I do? he asked himself. Ignite my thrusters and attempt to fly this thing? Or maybe . . . maybe. . . . What? CRASH! That’s what.

He continued falling and falling. He racked his brain for something, anything, resembling a solution.

The floor rushed up at him at excruciating speed, despite the inescapable feeling he had been falling an impossibly long time.

He remembered falling like this once before, before the nightmares began. He remembered being surrounded by blackness, unaware of the immovable earth rushing up at him. He remembered the funny feeling in his stomach. And the feeling of dread screaming at him from far, far away in a sleepy corner of his mind. He was about to be seriously hurt. Darkness surrounded him. Danger loomed below. He almost felt like he was flying.

And then, he stopped. No more falling. And no memory of striking the ground, of the impact, the pain, the injury. Just that he was safe. He found himself wrapped in a soft blanket, cradled in the warmth of two strong arms. He looked up. He saw a face he could never forget: the face of his father smiling down at him, eyes brimming with worried tears. Parker felt his dad holding him tight and he never wanted to leave, never wanted to be far from the man holding him in his arms. Next to his dad, Parker saw the worried beauty of his mother. She pressed the phone hard to her ear as she explained her son’s injuries to the doctor: in his sleep, he’d rolled out of the top bunk of his bunk beds and fell to the floor. He struck his face against a plastic railroad car featuring a white beagle sleeping atop a red-roofed doghouse, smashing it to pieces.

A few weeks later, The Attack happened, and both his parents were taken, his mom right away, his dad later.

Parker snapped back to reality. The floor rushed up at him. He plummeted toward it. Strapped into a big, robotic, heavy metal object. The last memory he had of being with his mom and dad lingered in his mind. He remembered looking up into their faces, so filled with love. Love strangled and choked to death by the hands of a low and evil enemy, an enemy which even now could be gaining the upper hand on his dad.

Parker would never let it happen. He would find his dad. He would get there.

Parker looked closely at the concrete.

He would be the one to catch his dad this time.

Parker relaxed his body, readying himself to land on his own two feet.

He would be the one to exact the vengeance sought so desperately by his dad. He would pummel their enemies hard enough to drive them back to the steamy core of darkness, far below even the oldest primordial mud.

Inside the suit, Parker braced for an impact that never came. He felt like he’d jumped into a giant bowl of cotton candy. The instant Go-Boy’s massive black boots touched the concrete, Parker bent his knees and dropped into a three-point stance, reached out with the powerful arm, the massive hand, the mighty fist of Go-Boy, and drove his fist down hard to cushion his impact and shatter the putrid faces of those who had taken away the one and only thing he’d always wanted: a family.

Pulverized concrete erupted in a cloud of whitish-gray dust, engulfing him. He waited for the dust to settle, partly so he could see what was happening and partly to take a moment for a quick inventory of all pertinent body parts. Was he injured? He felt okay. There was no pain. Slowly, he stood up. Inside the cockpit, the Battle-Suit instrumentation looked like it had before. All systems were in the green.

Parker stood to his full height, which, in the Battle-Suit, looked to be nearly eight or even nine feet. He towered above all the grown-ups. The only ones with whom he looked eye-to-eye were the other kids in their Battle-Suits. He turned to face them. He rubbed his hands together, dusting off the concrete powder.

Now that’s what I’m talking about, said Bubba. Did you guys see that? Is this guy good or what?

Colby cupped his hands over his mouth, issued a scratchy voice like an old radio transmission from the original Apollo moon landing and said, That’s one small step for a dunce, one giant leap for a confederacy of dunces.

General Ramsey stepped forward. Thank you, Parker. I knew I could count on you to turn our first lesson into a drunken super-hero ho-down.

Parker blinked in surprise at the General’s statement. You said to take the sword from the stone.

I told you to carefully take one step off the platform, not to destroy the floor of my hangar.

Oh. Yeah. Sorry about that. The once gleaming concrete was now a shallow crater of broken rubble beneath Parker’s massive robotic feet.

That was a wicked landing, Park. Bubba beamed from inside his suit. I wanna go next. But don’t worry, General, I’ll try to go easy on your floors.

Thank you, Bubba, General Ramsey replied.

Hey Sunny, watch this, said Bubba.

It’s a piece of pie, said Royd. He stood on the service platform next to Bubba.

"‘Cake, piece of cake,’ Colby corrected. ‘Y’know, Chandra’d have kittens if he found out.’ ‘Yeah. But he isn’t gonna find out, is he?’ ‘Not from me. They could tear off my fingernails, I won’t talk.’ ‘My God, it’s full of stars.’"

That’s right, said Bubba, a great big mouth-watering piece of double-Dutch chocolate cake.

Bubba raised one foot and stepped off the platform.

One small step for a man. . . said Igby.

One giant leap for Fatty Arbuckle in a billion-dollar suit, said Colby. Besides, I already made that joke.

Bubba lost his balance when the booted foot of his Battle-Suit hit the ground. He quickly brought his other leg down as well and steadied himself. He stood there easily, as if he had stood up from his living room sofa. He took a couple steps, moving closer to Parker, then stopped and looked back at Sunny and Colby. Come on in, the water’s fine, he called.

"‘No, no it’s just me and the moron twins.’ ‘We’re not twins.’ ‘Let’s pee down the air hose.’ ‘I’m on the bar.’ ‘ You’re on the bar. Uh-oh, you fell.’ ‘Nobody said love’s perfect.’ Colby shook himself, blinked rapidly a few times and turned to Sunny. Let’s dance. He and Sunny stepped off their platforms. They stumbled a bit as well, quickly steadied themselves, and soon stood comfortably.

Parker stepped away from the crumbled cement and walked his Go-Boy closer to Bubba and Igby. His first steps were a bit awkward, but within a few feet he felt more comfortable. He exchanged looks with the other kids as they faced one another for the first time in their new Battle-Suits.

You know something, guys? said Parker. We might just pull this off. He looked at each