Earth Divided

By Silver Phoenix

Jeff Russell is a tormented and troubled soul experiencing the same 'recurring vision' since childhood. It depicts him standing at the edge of a sea cliff, waving his hands frantically to deter a stampede of animals heading towards him, followed by the smiling faces of an elderly couple that momentarily appear and then fade away. One day, his mentor, Fred Walters, claims he has encountered an angel and hands him a platinum ring and a silver coin. Later, Jeff is visited by a mysterious lady, who informs him that she is sending him into a different time zone through his dreams to find his 'missing' parents, using the two items and bronze trinket with a lace around it; so he will literally morph into a completely different being. But danger lurks ahead in the form of the Vertrons, rogue reptilian-robots who serve their leader, the deadliest of all, The Crystal Entity…

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: Apr 30, 2019
• ISBN: 9781528964364

Silver Phoenix

Rajeev Bhargava is a creative author whose books and stories include dark-fantasy and horror, science-fiction and fantasy, an Assorted Poems: Haikus Collection on themes including love and romance, comedy, wit, and humour as well as the welfare of animals, plants and love, admiration and concern for our green environment. And, just recently, he published a children’s storybook for Christmas, Easter and Halloween, all previously under the pen name Silver Phoenix. Rajeev absolutely loves all forms of art and creativity, attaining a BA (HONS) in Literature Degree and an English Literature Teaching Certificate, but enjoys writing the most.

Book preview

Earth Divided

Silver Phoenix

Austin Macauley Publishers

Earth Divided

About The Author

About The Book

Dedication

Copyright Information

Acknowledgement

Prologue

Chapter One

Recurring Vision

Chapter Two

Mysterious Lady

Chapter Three

Futuristic Journey

Chapter Four

Inside the Cave

Chapter Five

The Medical

Chapter Six

Animus-9

Chapter Seven

After the Fall

Chapter Eight

The Forest of Questions

Chapter Nine

Interruption

Chapter Ten

Nero’s Parlour

Chapter Eleven

Revelation

Chapter Twelve

Transformation

Chapter Thirteen

The Quest Begins

Chapter Fourteen

On a Mission

Chapter Fifteen

Pink Seagull Island

Chapter Sixteen

Danger Ahead!

Chapter Seventeen

After the Attack

Chapter Eighteen

The Cave of Thoughts

Chapter Nineteen

The Riddle

Chapter Twenty

Dreaming in Space?

Chapter Twenty-One

A Pact of Trust

Chapter Twenty-Two

Laanya

Chapter Twenty-Three

Dr Redberg’s Crypt

Chapter Twenty-Four

Crystalus-5

Chapter Twenty-Five

A Duel with Rock-Berg

Chapter Twenty-Six

The Vertrons

Chapter Twenty-Seven

A Narrow Escape

Chapter Twenty-Eight

A Night at Suzannah Whispers’ ‘Mishmash’ Apartment

Chapter Twenty-Nine

The Crystal Entity

Chapter Thirty

Family Reunion

Epilogue

About The Author

Silver Phoenix is a British citizen permanently residing in England, UK. Since 1991 to date, his works have been published consistently and appeared in a variety of small press as well as mainstream publications. After attaining his Bachelor of Arts (Hons) Degree in Literature and a Professional Skills Certificate in Literature for prospective teachers, he decided to pursue his love of creativity one step further by writing his first book, Earth Divided.

About The Book

Jeff Russell is a tormented and troubled soul experiencing the same ‘recurring vision’ since childhood. It depicts him standing at the edge of a sea cliff, waving his hands frantically to deter a stampede of animals heading towards him, followed by the smiling faces of an elderly couple that momentarily appear and then fade away.

One day, his mentor, Fred Walters, claims he has encountered an angel and hands him a platinum ring and a silver coin. Later, Jeff is visited by a mysterious lady, who informs him that she is sending him into a different time zone through his dreams to find his ‘missing’ parents, using the two items and bronze trinket with a lace around it; so he will literally morph into a completely different being.

But danger lurks ahead in the form of the Vertrons, rogue reptilian-robots who serve their leader, the deadliest of all, The Crystal Entity…

Dedication

To those that cannot speak for themselves.

Copyright Information

Copyright © Silver Phoenix (2019)

The right of Silver Phoenix to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

ISBN 9781528925600 (Paperback)

ISBN 9781528925617 (Kindle e-book)

ISBN 9781528964364 (ePub e-book)

www.austinmacauley.com

First Published (2019)

Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd

25 Canada Square

Canary Wharf

London

E14 5LQ

Acknowledgement

I would like to thank my beloved and respected mum and dad, my soulmate for being so loving and supportive, and especially my one and only dearest elder brother, Sanjeev Bhargava, who recognised my hidden talent since we were children and acted as my guide and mentor.

Prologue

Zebra, addax, oryx, eland and gazelle were just a few of the vast majority of animal species that continued moving forward in a stampede as the helpless figure stood at the edge of the sea cliff with his arms reached outwards in a desperate, and frantic, bid to somehow divert them, but they seemed oblivious and increased their pace.

Far down below, waves crashed against jagged rocks, spraying the stench of sea salt in contrast to the skies high above, where the gathering clouds had turned dark, all indicating that a storm was brewing.

Momentarily, the natural elements appeared still and settled until a distant roar sounded, followed by a flash of lightening which in turn cracked, like a whiplash, against the dry, barren South African savannah plains. And then the pitter-patter of tiny droplets of water beat down and increased into a spell of heavy fast rain that belted down with full force.

‘Stop! You’ll all jump and fall to your deaths. Please stop. Stop!’ But the wildlife, whose animals also included herds of elephant, cheetah, okapi, wildebeest, giraffe, rhino, buffalo and pride of lions just headed faster and faster. The figure’s eyes widened in terror, as he realised, not just theirs, but also his own fate. In a flash, the image of an elderly couple appeared before his eyes, smiling at him, and then followed darkness.

Chapter One

Recurring Vision

Jeff Russell’s eyes burst open and he sprang upwards in a sweat to find himself lying in bed at his New York apartment. He gazed around at the photographs that covered the walls, depicting abused animals and humans. He had snapped them all himself and each frame had a story behind it. It was part of his occupation as a freelance photographer, where he worked for a private company called Natural Evolution. But right now, Jeff was taking a break. It was originally planned that he would travel with his colleague, Suzannah Whispers, on a romantic date for a fortnight’s vacation in Hawaii, in Honolulu. Even their flight tickets had arrived and their luggage packed and ready, but due to unforeseen circumstances, when Jeff slipped and fell down the stairs of his three-storey apartment, it had resulted in the trip being cancelled. To make matters worse, he had ruptured his right ankle and suffered a torn ligament. Now it was heavily bandaged and he was limping around on crutches. In fact, he decided that once he was back to normality, he would not travel again, especially to a tropical location, as he did not want to risk catching some infection there. Suzannah was not happy about this and had taken desperate measures by changing her mobile number so Jeff could not contact her again, on a personal level.

Suddenly, the doorbell sounded and he got out of bed wearily, got hold of his crutches and made his way to the door. In stature, he was slim and athletic, with wavy blonde hair. Despite his unfortunate accident, he still maintained his good health exceedingly well by his sensible eating and drinking habits so well that nobody could have guessed he was now in his 50s. The moment he turned the key and unlocked it, the door swung open and a short pleasant-faced, elderly man in his early 80s, of stout stature with inquisitive grey eyes entered. He wore a light grey suit, white shirt with a matching blue tie and dark grey shoes, which were well polished with a buff-finish. It was Fred Walters, a retired carer, who had rented the apartment next to Jeff’s.

‘Jeff, how many times have I requested you not to lock the door?’

‘Oh my God, just look at you. That’s just typical. I go out for a couple of hours and when I get back, what do I see? You’re a complete mess. I hope you’re not brooding about Suzanna.