TS901: Dominion: TS901 Chronicles

By Stacey Rourke and Tish Thawer

Risen from their literal hole in the ground, Thia, Lance, and her 'Maly' brethren have escaped The Hive and now face a full-on war. Welcoming the distraction from her abysmal love life, Thia throws herself into training the troops and claiming Nary bases. 

Grateful to be of service again, Evan focuses on maneuvering their forces while fighting to break the icy bonds of betrayal still clutching Thia's heart. 

After a startling vision by his mother, Lance learns that Gigi is alive and trapped within The Hill. Now, he will stop and nothing to save his favorite icy blonde. 

Stuck deep in enemy territory, Giselle DuBeau isn't waiting for anyone to rescue her. Following her growing abilities, she becomes a force far beyond what her friends knew her to be. Yet, when a threat greater than anything the team has faced arises, Gigi is left to wonder exactly who has Command Control.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Anchor Group Publishing
• Release date: Jul 23, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386488187

Stacey Rourke

RONE Award Winner for Best YA Paranormal Work of 2012 for Embrace, a Gryphon Series Novel Young Adult and Teen Reader voted Author of the Year 2012 Turning Pages Magazine Winner for Best YA book of 2013 & Best Teen Book of 2013  Readers' Favorite Silver Medal Winner for Crane 2015 Stacey Rourke is the author of the award winning YA Gryphon Series, the chillingly suspenseful Legends Saga, the romantic comedy Reel Romance Series, and twisted fairy tale Unfortunate Soul Chronicles. She lives in Michigan with her husband, two beautiful daughters, and two giant dogs. She loves to travel, has an unhealthy shoe addiction, and considers herself blessed to make a career out of talking to the imaginary people that live in her head.  Visit her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/staceyrourkeauthor or on Twitter or instagram @Rourkewrites.

Book preview

Prologue

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Heels clicked over the white tile floor of The Hill’s secret, sub-level science lab. You should find everyone and everything you need to get started just through those doors, Doctor, the assigned escort officer stated flatly.

Thank you, replied The Hill’s newest scientist.

The officer spun without another word, leaving her just outside of the heavy metal doors marked Restricted.

Taking a deep breath, she channeled a Lucy Liu façade circa Charlie’s Angels, then scanned her new shiny ID badge and strode inside. Attention! I’m your new head of Research and Development, and there are going to be some serious changes made around here.

The laboratory room full of bald heads, glasses, and lab coats spun to face the gorgeous new scientist with their mouths agape. Wearing tight black pants and heels, her form-fitting white blazer stood out in sharp contrast to her raven-colored hair.

Flashing her badge for everyone to see, she continued. My name is Dr. Smith, and the first thing you’re going to do is take me to the TS901 chemical storage facility for inspection.

A lanky, wisp of a man scrambled from his chair, sending it careening backwards into his most recent experiment. It would be my pleasure. I’m Dan, by the way.

I don’t care, she snapped.

Following Dan even farther down the sub-level hall, the reflective surface of the tile floor had her wondering how they’d cleaned everything up so fast. Less than one week ago, she and her friends escaped this same facility. The last time she’d been in a hall like this, it had been covered in blood and shell casings.

Here we are. Dan motioned to a door marred with multiple warning labels. Keep Out. Danger. Toxic.

Pulling open the glass case next to the entrance, Dr. Smith retrieved a gas mask and placed it over her face, then smiled as she stabbed Dan in his kind-hearted chest.

Giselle DuBeau was many things––molecular scientist, an Anomaly (Maly), hooker-in-disguise, molder-of-minds––but the one thing she was not, was subtle. As her home-brewed power potion coursed through her veins, she took a step inside, ready to push her new powers far beyond their normal limits.

Vats of the TS901 chemical lined the massive facility. Sickly green tendrils of smoke rose from the enormous tubs. If she squinted just a little, Gigi could imagine the Joker and Harley Quinn on the catwalk above, ready to take their plunge. Ha! If only life were as simple as a cartoon. Then again, if Harley Quinn had anything to say about it, she’d probably just shoot you in the face, then scream over your dead body that her life was never easy.

Giselle, aka Dr. Smith, grabbed the metal handrail and descended the stairs, smiling at the shared thought between herself and the fictional character. No shit, Harley, I agree. Life is never easy.

Sucking in a steady breath behind her gas mask, Gigi kicked off her heels and ran to the far wall, yanking open the control panel for the room’s temperature module. TS901’s temperature threshold was right around sixty-five degrees and lowering that––and the resulting warning systems it would trigger––would buy her some time. She had to reach the science wing and release the test-tube Malies. It’s what Thia would want her to do.

Gigi thought back to the look on her best friend’s face when she’d let go of their group and fell through the sky during their recent escape. She was confident her sacrifice was worth it and that everyone had survived––a fact that had been confirmed when she saw Thia’s rousing speech broadcast to the masses. Letting go of that harness was one of the hardest things she’d ever done. But now, faced with freeing those poor encapsulated bastards then getting back to The Hive, this mission seemed a close second. However, Thia and her newfound army were going to need all the reinforcements they could get, especially since the military witnessed her ‘Independence Day’ style speech and had already sent out troops to eliminate the threat.

With the pull of multiple levers, the room’s temperature began to plummet. Gigi took a step back and casted an illusion that would show anyone looking that the gauges were reading within their normal parameters. She smiled wide. Her new power potion was proving to be quite the asset. No longer did she have to worry about her illusions breaking down if others entered the room. Now, once they were set, it would be hours until the fake images she cast wore off.

Just enough time to release the freaky Evan look-alikes and get the hell out of dodge.

Chapter One

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The first alarm sounded the second the storage facility doors slid shut. Footfalls pounded her way, signaling to Gigi that it was time for the next phase of her calculated plan of rebellion. Sure, she could make herself appear as any person on the planet. But, anyone that belonged walking the halls of The Hill would be scurrying toward the wailing sirens, not away from them. Boot stomps scuffing ever closer, Gigi flipped her now normal blonde hair back and became ... the wall behind her. Not her most glamorous façade, yet arguably the most effective. As soldiers rounded the corner at a full sprint, and scientists spilled out into the halls on full alert, she simply kept her back to the wall and side-stepped past them undetected.

Rounding a bend, she ducked into a stairwell and reverted back to Dr. Smith. Grateful to be minus her heels, she took the stairs two at a time in her mountainous climb to liberation. No one tried to stop her. No armed soldiers forced her to bend their minds to allow her by—which she kind of missed. That was a fun little thrill she doubted she would ever get tired of. With The Hill scrambling to save their precious stock of the TS901 serum, the facility was hers to debase, and the corruption she had in mind would bring it to its knees.

Bursting out onto the sixth floor, Gigi purposely averted her stare from the rows of encapsulated Maly experiments. Thia would be the one to try and comfort them through the glass, not her. She didn’t do sappy bullshit. She did balls to the wall kamikaze missions meant to scorch the fuckers that dared to imprison her kind. Current undertaking as the case in point. Padding across the room on the balls of her feet, she located the control room that maintained all the operating functions of the capsules. Considering one of those buggers got out the last time she was there, and ate another Maly, Gigi shut herself into the control room and locked the door for good measure. Taking a seat at the console, she located the intercom that broadcast into the holding room.

Tapping it on, she allowed it to screech and crackle to life before she spoke. Rise and shine, my Maly brothers and sisters. As she spoke she typed at the keys, initiating the release procedure. "This is your Captain Gigi speaking. In just a few moments, I’m going to turn off the fasten seatbelts sign and you will be free to roam about the cabin. At that time, please move toward the exits in an orderly fashion. If that doesn’t work for you, bulldoze your way there, and feel free to break shit along the way. For those of you that lack the basic capabilities to find the door, I will give you a little mental boost toward it and wish you all the luck in maneuvering through the rest of the world. Any Naries you see along the way, I suggest you either take them out or run the hell away from. Because, see, they consider us their property, and aren’t going to want to watch their investments run, slither, crawl, or fly away without a fight. Oh, and one more thing, if any of you are feeling peckish, don’t try to eat me. I don’t want to have to kill you, but I will."

Air hissed through pipes, and the capsules opened in unison. The beings within stumbled from their containments, all visibly leery of this offered gift. Throwing her hands out in victory, the chair Gigi sat in squealed beneath her weight as she treated herself to a victory whirl. Yes! Go forth, my friends, and wreak havoc!

One Evan clone paused outside the window wall of the lab. The lower half of his face was a spray of tentacles he slapped against the glass, leaving a trail of thick saliva smears with each swipe.

Well, hey there. Look at you, pretty. Gigi giggled, pleased that if the real Evan ever broke her best friend’s heart again, she now had the squid-faced version of him she could describe in great detail to lessen his appeal. Or, even more fun, she could morph into him. The idea of tormenting Thia was wickedly fun motivation for getting out of The Hill alive.

In the meantime, squid face was still stuck to the glass like an algae eater. Flexing her influence, Gigi gave him a gentle push toward the door. You gotta go, bud. They’ll come running soon to round you all up.

To Gigi’s surprise, he pulled back as she directed, then paused. Head tilting to the side, his tentacles swayed and curled as compassionate concern creased his forehead.

I’ll be right behind you, she lied, twangs of solidarity plucking at her icy heart.

Dipping his head in a nod of understanding, squid-face followed his brothers out, casting a final glance back over his shoulder at his savior.

To give them a fighting chance, Gigi needed to lead the Nary––the ordiNARY human soldiers––farther away. That would involve stretching her abilities in a way she never had before. Closing her eyes, she pictured the hall outside the storage facility. Imagined herself there. Remembered its antiseptic smell and smooth walls. She let herself hear that ringing echo of the warning siren that still blared in the distance. Behind her eyes, the scene formed, and she was there. Astral-projected into the frantic chaos. Borrowing the images of the burlier Maly-specimens, she implanted them into the fray. Roaring beasts, all gnashing teeth and vicious claws, prompted the soldiers to open fire. Confident her creations had their attention, she sent them running in the opposite direction of the actual Malies to buy them time and space to get away. Like good little puppies, the Naries followed.

Puppy. Gigi swallowed hard at the nickname she often used for Sergeant Lance Baker. She didn’t expect to miss him. Didn’t expect her longing to see a smile crinkle the corner of his dark amber eyes even just one more time. Yet, there she was.

What I need is to get laid, she grumbled to herself. Bang it out with some Maly hottie to knock soldier boy thoughts right out of my head.

Now that’s something I could have gone without hearing, a familiar voice mused from the doorway.

So distracted was she by thoughts of the muscular sergeant, that Gigi hadn’t heard the door shush open behind her. Spinning in her chair with a start, her jaw swung slack at the sight of the new arrival.

"You ... how?" she gasped.

Chapter Two

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Maly rebels, in the field ...

Red-faced Nary soldiers blinked furiously in Thia’s direction. Held immobile on their knees by her newest side-kick, Becca, Thia smiled at the twitch in their jaws from being bested by her rag-tag Maly team. This most recent success was just one in a line of stormed military bases that she and her rebels now controlled.

Let’s get ’em moved to the holding facility, then set up camp. We’ll stay here tonight while I assign new leadership and move onto the next base tomorrow. Happy with her plan, Thia stretched her wings and glided down from the roof of the commandeered military vehicle on which she stood. Stepping into the wide shadow of Sergeant Lance Baker, she was met with a frustrated cough and a matching look. What? You don’t approve? she asked.

I approve ... of some of it, he fidgeted with the rifle draped across his broad chest then