Starstruck: Episode 3, The Rock, New Edition: Starstruck, #3

By R T Green

Some people will tell you they have fairies at the bottom of their garden… Mia and Becca have little aliens at the bottom of theirs!

The Starstruck series tells the story of Mia, Becca, and the six little people who change their lives. It's a contemporary fairytale with a kick, something a little different, and very much for adults only!

Check out the full Starstruck story on the rtgreen website. 

 

This is Episode 3: The Rock –

An epic-sized lump of rock is on a collision course with the Earth. If it hits, the catastrophe will change everyone's lives, and not for the better. But as the Voyagers discover, it's no ordinary asteroid. The rock en route is unlikely to devastate the planet in the way everyone else expects it to.

Even Mia and Becca's tiny housemates are baffled, never having seen anything like it before. For Mia, the rock is not the only epic event that can change her life. Someone from her past rears her vengeful head, and aims her sights squarely on Becca.

It begins to look like Mia will have to face the wrath of the rock without the woman she loves by her side.

But when the fallout gets personal, Angel's big heart forces her to take the ultimate crazy step. A step that might just be the last hope of putting everything right…

 

* Starstruck does contain scenes of a sexual nature.

 

Enjoy!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wise Owl
• Release date: Apr 27, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201296698

R T Green

The RTG mission in life is simple... to not be like everyone else! ‘Going Green’ has taken on a new meaning, in the book world at least. Whilst we applaud the original meaning (ebooks are a perfect way to promote that) we also try to present a different angle to it. The tendency these days is that if you don’t look and read like everyone else, you don’t sell books. Maybe there’s some truth in that, but we simply don’t do it. The RTG books have been described as a ‘breath of fresh literary air’, and, by those discovering us for the first time, ‘unexpectedly good’. We know many readers prefer the same-old same old, and that’s fine. It’s just not what you get from the RTG stable. Those who know about such things said it would take five years to become a proficient author... I scoffed at that. They were wise. It took six. It’s one reason why even today we remodel existing books, and will always do so. Right from the early years the stories were always good, but were put into words less well than they could have been! These days we have several series and a few standalones, the hit Daisy series most popular amongst them. In everything we do, the same provisos apply – Never the same book twice. If we can’t think up a good story, it doesn’t get written. The RTG brand is about exciting and twisty plots, a fast pace which doesn’t waste words, and endearing (sometimes slightly crazy) characters. We can never please everyone, but it works for us, and, it seems, for those who appreciate our work. Enjoy! Richard, Ann and the RTG crew

Book preview

STARSTRUCK

Episode 3

The Rock

R T  GREEN

RTG Logo.png

Other books...

The Starstruck Series -

Starstruck: The Prequel

(Time to say Goodbye)

Starstruck 1: Somewhere to Call Home

Starstruck 2: The Disappearance of Becca

Starstruck 4: Ghosts, Ghouls and Evil Spirits

Starstruck: The Combo – books 1-3

The Raven Series –

Raven: No Angel!

Raven: Unstoppable

Raven: Black Rose

Raven: The Combo – books 1-3

The Daisy Morrow Series:

The first one – The Root of All Evil

The second one – The Strange Case of the Exploding Dolly-trolley

The third one – A Very Unexpected African Adventure

The fourth one - Pirates of Great Yarmouth: Curse of the Crimson Heart

The fifth One – The terrifying Tale of the Homesick Scarecrow

The sixth one – Call of Duty: The Wiltingham Enigma

The seventh one – Christmas in the Manor Born

The eighth one: The Shanghai Shadow

The ninth one – Some Like It Tepid

The tenth one – Waltzing Matilda

The eleventh one – The Wiltingham Incident

The twelfth one – The Pointing Finger

The thirteenth one – Here Comes Santa Claus!

The fourteenth one – The Witch of Scraggy Bottom

The fifteenth one – The Coronation Complication

The Throwback Prequel: When Daisy Met Aidan

The Box Set – books 1-3

The Second Box Set – books 4-6 plus the Prequel

The Third box set – books 7-9

The Sandie Shaw series:

Book 1 – Murder at the Green Mill

Book 2 – Christmas in Chicago is Murder

Book 3 – An American in Windsor

Book 4 – Springtime in Chicago

Book 5 – Murder on the Miami Express

Book 6 – The Family

Book 7 – Murder Most Olympic

Book 8 – Two Sisters, One Ghost

Book 9 – The Sergeant, the Flapper and a Crossword

The Mega Box Set – books 1 - 6

Red Mist –

Season 1

Episode 1: Falling

Episode 2: Phoenix

Episode 3: Jealousy

Episode 4: Fearless

Season 2

Episode 5: Phantom

Episode 6: Desperation

Episode 7: Unbreakable

Episode 8: Evermore

When Billionaires Collide

Somewhere Only She Knows

Timeless

Ballistic

Cry of an Angel

The Hand of Time

Elsie: Mean Street

Wisp

Copyright © 2023 R T Green

All rights reserved.

CONTENTS

AN INTRODUCTION TO STARSTRUCK

The Rock

Epic

Chapter 1

Three Weeks earlier

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Journey’s End

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Chapter 40

Chapter 41

Chapter 42

Chapter 43

Chapter 44

Chapter 45

Chapter 46

Chapter 47

Chapter 48

Chapter 49

Follow Mia, Becca and the Voyagers in the next episode...

Here’s a short, sneaky taster...

Would you like a free mega-bundle?

The RTG Brand

AN INTRODUCTION TO STARSTRUCK

Some people will tell you they have fairies at the bottom of their garden...

Mia and Becca have little aliens at the bottom of theirs!

Once upon a time in London...

OK, MAYBE NOT. ONCE upon a right here, right now might be more appropriate. Our fairytale is very much of the technological age, but still contains all the elements from the tales of a bygone time.

We’ve written the Starstruck series as a contemporary fairytale with a kick... and strictly for adults only! Those of you who read us will know I like the unexpected. Starstruck sure fits that description!

Mia and Becca’s fraught and emotional love story is blended with a big dose of adventure and fast-paced action, most of it brought about by six little people who come from a place far, far away...

What we now call fairytales were originally written a very long time ago, in dark ages when things we now look upon as shocking were considered perfectly acceptable. In more recent times, the tales were sanitised and watered down to make them suitable for children, the original scripts far too gruesome and horrific to be told to youngsters.

Even so, full of blood and gore and sexual depravity as they were, they were penned to send a message. The innocent girl treated badly, the beautiful queen banished from her lands, evil ogres who never thought twice about committing heinous acts, wolves in sheep’s clothing, handsome princes who expected nothing less than to own the fairest in the land...

Sound familiar? Of course, many of our favorite stories are modern versions of very old tales. But with Starstruck, we’ve tried to do something a little more outside the box, and bring these traditional elements into a modern, urban setting. I’ve avoided the blood and gore, but most of the other fairytale elements are there.

‘The Rock’ is the third episode of the Starstruck series.

Each episode can be read as a stand-alone book, but they are chronological, telling the story of Mia, Becca, and the six little people who change their lives forever. So to get the full ‘Starstruck’ experience, it’s perhaps best to read them in order!

‘The Prequel’ is available too. ‘Time to Say Goodbye’ is a shorter novella, and goes back to tell the tragic story of why the Voyagers had to leave their home, and how they only just escaped with their lives.

Please let us know what you think of the series, and as always...

Enjoy!

Richard, Ann, and the RTG crew

The Rock

Epic

MIA LAY ON THE BED, her face buried in the pillow. The image of Becca and Carla refused to go away. It didn’t seem like it ever would go away.

Why?

They were so strong, so totally in love. Mia fought back the tears, as an image flashed into her head to remind her of that. She saw herself pulling Becca out of the sea the day before Christmas Eve. The look on her face when she threw herself into her arms and held on forever said something pretty epic. Mia knew what it was, back then.

She sure as hell didn’t anymore.

Everything they’d been through... a lovely Christmas which started as hell but ended so beautifully, planning a future together for them and the Voyagers... Mia wiped away the tears of shock and confusion. Her life before Becca had been mapped out to the last detail, and perfectly on track. Predictable, and unexciting. Becca changed all that. And so did the Voyagers.

They’d turned her completely around, to the point where she’d grown to enjoy the epic, life-changing moments that seemed to follow each other thick and fast since they’d all come into her life.

But this one she could certainly do without.

Becca hadn’t come home. Mia had picked up the phone intending to scream obscenities at her, but something had stopped her dialling the number. Then a short while after, Becca had called her. Her thumb had hovered over the accept button, but somehow couldn’t find the will to press it. Three times she’d called again, but Mia hadn’t picked up any of them. Then she turned the phone off.

Somehow she couldn’t face speaking to Becca, and hearing the false excuses. And she was probably at Carla’s anyway, getting all the comfort she needed.

_ _ _

'Anyone seen Mia?' asked Effie. 'It’s fifteen minutes to lift-off.'

No one had. 'I tried her on the earpiece,' said Milo. 'It seems to be switched off.'

'Bit odd,' mused Angel.

'I'll switch Minimia on anyway, she'll know,' smiled Biff.

Last Christmas, just before the adventure with the Minotaur, Biff had invented his most incredible machine so far. The Biff-box, as christened by Effie, makes electronic duplicates of almost anything. He created it as a thank you to Mia and Becca for saving the Voyagers from the clutches of Jason Grubb. It enabled their two human friends to be duplicated into Voyager-sized people, so they were able to go off into space with them.

Most of the time, Mia's duplicate (Minimia), and Becca's (Minibex), were switched off. For one very good reason.

The duplicates are made of electronically-generated particles, but are exact copies of Mia and Becca. Which means they effectively share one brain. The full-size girls can’t physically go into space as they wouldn't fit into the ship, but they can go through their duplicates, seeing and hearing everything their tiny mini-them’s are witnessing. It was far and away the best virtual-reality headsets on Earth.

But it wouldn't do to have that split personality all the time, so when Minimia or Minibex are not needed, they are switched off.

Five-inch-tall Minimia flickered into life. 'Hi guys,' she said cheerily as she stepped out of the Biff-box. 'How've you been?'

'Good, thanks,' said Biff, 'but we've not seen Mia yet.'

Minimia closed her eyes. 'She said she'll be down in a minute. Seems we're a bit sad at the moment. And Minibex won’t be coming.'

'Oh?' Effie threw her a concerned frown. 'What's wrong?'

'Hmm...' she shook her head slowly. 'I don't think I should say any more.'

A pang of unease wafted through Angel, but she said nothing. She’d come to know Becca and Mia well, and it wasn’t like them. Maybe all was not so good between her human friends. She decided that when the trip to the rock was over it would be time to sit Becca down and force the truth out of her, whether she liked it or not.

_ _ _

Minimia forced her way into Mia’s brain. She tried to shake away the horrible images of earlier, and focus on the clock instead. It was almost time for the Voyagers to go. She needed to open the door to the hangar so the ship could leave. But then something occurred to her. One brain... Minimia would know what was wrong straightaway.

She eased herself to the edge of the bed, and shook her head from side to side in a stupid, vain attempt to dislodge the heartbreaking images. It didn't work. But it was likely before too long there could be other images filling her brain, from Minimia’s eyes, which could easily be horrific enough to supersede the current pain.

Close-up views of an epic-sized lump of rock speeding rapidly towards them might well put everything in a new perspective.

The light was fading as she made her way along the garden path to the summerhouse. The Voyagers were already aboard... she'd seen that through Minimia’s eyes. And as she took a quick look around to make sure no one was watching, and then opened the door, the ship was already fired up.

'Ready to roll, Mia,' Alto glanced round at Minimia, knowing her eyes and ears would relay the words.

'Good luck, guys,' Mia said. 'Longest trip for some time!'

'Sure beats the moon and back,' laughed Frazzle, referring to Christmas.

Angel pierced a questioning look into Minimia’s eyes. 'You ok, Mia?'

'Of course,' she replied, with a fake smile that didn’t have a hope in hell of fooling anyone.

'No you're not,' Angel retorted. 'You and me, we'll have a chat when we get back.'

Mia forced another fake smile. The ship lifted off, Effie threw a switch, and the invisibility cloak made it disappear. Mia stood back to allow it to pass by, feeling the waft of heat from the power core... the only indication other than a faint hum that the tiny ship was now hovering over the lawn.

She closed her eyes, so Minimia's eyes became the only ones that could see anything, and watched as the nose pointed upwards towards the darkening sky. And then they were gone, heading for the stars that were just starting to twinkle away in the growing blackness.

And one particular lump of rock, that was just starting to make its ominous presence felt.

_ _ _

As the ship left the atmosphere and headed into space, Alto glanced across to Biff, sitting in the co-pilot’s seat next to him.

‘So what do you think, Biff?’ he said quietly.

He knew exactly what Alto meant, and shook his head slowly. ‘Between you and me, I’m worried. Whatever it is, a lump of rock that size can do a lot of catastrophic damage...  as we know all too well. Just what that damage might be for the Earth, I’m not sure yet.’

Alto nodded, grim-faced. ‘It won’t be long until we find out.’

A gruff voice from behind them made its owner’s feelings known. ‘Face facts, the humans are doomed. Just point this thing to the next galaxy, and let’s clear off while we still can.’

‘Shut up, Bitz.’

Three hours later, the wait was over.

'There it is!' Effie pointed to a tiny pin-prick on her screen. Minimia peered over.

'It's tiny.'

'Just wait, and watch.'

She did, her wide eyes transfixed onto the VCR as the miniature dot grew bigger by the second. The Voyagers had kicked in deep space drive as soon as they’d left Earth’s atmosphere, and the tiny ship was travelling at a crazy speed. And as the rock was travelling pretty rapidly in the opposite direction, it hadn’t taken long to get the asteroid in sight.

And right then it was very much in sight, filling the bridge windows with its menacing presence as soon as Alto brought them out of DSD.

'Comin'atcha!' he grinned, as he turned the ship in a steep bank to starboard, and the rock disappeared from sight away to the side. 'We're making a big half-circle now,' he explained to Minimia, 'so we come round behind the asteroid, and we’re then flying in the same direction. We'll catch up with it, and cruise alongside for a while as close as we dare. See if we can find anything out.'

The stars were flashing across the windscreen from right to left as the ship turned. Then Minimia's eyes opened even wider, as the asteroid came back into view. They were close behind it, and it looked big. Really big.

What made it worse was that it didn't quite fill the bridge windows. Behind it they could see planet Earth, shining brightly in the distance.

Somehow that image brought home the full horror of it all. They could see detail. Land and water, sunshine and clouds surrounding the Earth. The world they had come to know as home was hardly a million miles away. And flying as they were then, on the same trajectory as the huge lump of rock, the inevitable was all too clear.

It was on a direct collision course with the planet.

Two minutes later, it was literally all they could see. Alto had caught up with the rock, and moved the ship just to one side. He drew closer and closer to the surface.

'Careful, Alt,' said Effie in a slightly shaky voice. They were so close they could see every detail of the surface. Something was puzzling Frazzle. 'It's not spinning.'

'Is that bad?' asked Minimia.

'Most bodies moving through space turn on an axis as they travel,' said Biff. 'This one isn't. But that doesn't mean it's that unusual.'

'Um, Alto... I think we're close enough now,' said a nervous Effie.

Alto had moved in as close as he dare. To Minimia, it seemed like they could reach out and touch it.

'Well... it looks like an asteroid,' mused Biff. 'But here goes, taking some readings. We'll know in a minute or two.'

His VCR flickered into life. The screen split into four coloured graphs, flashing away as the sensors collected data, and converted it to on-screen readings. Biff explained what they were for.

'This one's surface temperature,' he said. 'This detects life-signs... not that we expect any of those... this tells us if there's any metallic structure on or just below the surface, and this one measures radio-activity.'

Everyone except Alto gathered around Biff's screen. 'There you go,' he said. 'First two readings... no obvious life signs. Hmm, surface temperature is a bit higher than we would have expected.'

'What does that mean?'

'It means its making heat from somewhere.'

And then Angel cried out. 'Oh!'

'Wow,' said Milo with a frown. ‘Someone’s been busy.’

The third reading had just come in, and it was showing metallic structure everywhere.

'Jeepers,' said Biff quietly. 'This isn't good.'

But then the fourth reading flashed up. Effie gasped in disbelief. Frazzle clutched at the red vanes on his head and whispered, ‘Oh no...’, and Biff leapt to his feet.

'Alt... get us out of here, now!'

Suddenly everyone was strapping in, as Alto pulled steeply away from the asteroid's surface, and kicked in the DSD.

'What?' asked Minimia in a high-pitched voice. 'What's the matter..?'

‘We’re doomed,’ said Bitz, and vanished as only he could.

Effie looked round, her face almost white. Which told its own story for someone with pale green skin. 'Radio-activity levels, Minimia,' she mumbled. 'Totally off the scale. Something is very wrong with that lump of rock.'

_ _ _

It was almost midnight. Mia lay in bed, completely covered by the duvet. Becca hadn’t shown, she was alone. But she didn’t have to