Title: The Final Armada
Author: Tamar Anolic
Genre: Science Fiction
Book Blurb:
“This battle must end now.” Read the stunning conclusion to The Vanguard Warrior Trilogy!
The MH1 gene has reawakened in members of the military, giving them superpowers. Suddenly, cadets at military schools across the country, as well as high-ranking officers, gain supernatural abilities. Some want to use their powers for the benefit of the military. Others have a more nefarious purpose.
Former Marine Frank Montgomery and Army Colonel Henry Gibson were court-martialed and convicted of using their powers to kill someone. Now they’ve broken out of prison and their disappearance puts the whole country on high alert.
Gael and Isadora Perez are twins who just finished their first year in the Corps of Cadets at Texas A&M. The MH1 gene is all over the news. Gael is fascinated by it. Isadora is sick of it. But when they both manifest with the gene and its attendant superpowers, they have to figure out which side of the battle they will fight for.
Excerpt:
Isadora pulled the car keys from her pocket and lowered herself into the driver’s seat. Behind her, Gael slammed the trunk closed before he got into the passenger seat. They were on the highway, speeding through the eternal flatness of the Texas plains, when Gael’s iPod died.
“Damn it,” Gael mumbled as the radio came on, and it was the news rather than music that flooded the car.
“And the biggest news across the country is that Army Colonel Henry Gibson and former Marine corporal Frank Montgomery are on the loose after breaking out of prison late last night,” the newscaster said. “Both men were convicted of murder after a huge fight at Norwich University last year. They are among the few members of the military that we know of who have the special MH1 gene and its supernatural powers…”
Her voice disappeared as Isadora hit the radio’s power button. “Oh my God, that’s the only thing that’s been on the news. I don’t want to hear about it anymore.”
“I do.” Gael hit the power button again.
“Why?”
“It’s important.”
Isadora winced as the newscaster’s voice filled the car again.
“Frank Montgomery and Henry Gibson are on the run, and Captain Patrick Novak of the Military Genetics Control Board has asked everyone to keep an eye out. If you see either of these men, don’t hesitate to call the police or the Pentagon at this number…”
Isadora turned the volume down. “Montgomery is a six-foot, six-inch basketball player. How hard can he be to find?”
“They both have that crazy gene and its special powers. I heard a third guy with the gene used his powers to break them out of a high security prison.”
“They’re all completely evil. And the Military Genetics Control Board? What the hell is that?”
Gael grabbed his phone and began typing. “Wikipedia has all the answers,” he said, and began reading. “The Military Genetics Control Board was set up as a secret office at the Pentagon after Marine Corporal Francis William Montgomery IV manifested with the MH1 while serving in Iraq several years ago. It was led by Colonel Henry Gibson with the express purpose of exploiting the MH1 gene to our military’s advantage. In keeping with that secrecy, Colonel Gibson hid his own manifestation with the gene and its special powers until a supernatural fight at Norwich University killed the Corps of Cadet’s Cadet Colonel Edward Coltrane.”
Isadora made a face. “That must be the same fight the news was talking about.”
“Duh.” Gael looked back at the Wikipedia entry in front of him. “With Colonel Gibson’s conviction in the death of Edward Coltrane, the reins of the Military Genetics Control Board went to Captain Patrick Novak of the United States Coast Guard. Captain Novak has pledged to bring the Board out into the open, away from his predecessor’s secrecy.”
Isadora’s face retained its grimace. “Maybe it should have stayed a secret. That’s got to be better than it being the only news on the planet. Did you know how hard I had to look to find out when Beyonce’s new album was coming out?”
Gael shook his head. “Can’t convince you of anything once you’ve made up your mind.” He dropped his phone on his lap and stared out the window. The land around them remained flat as far as he could see. “We’re cadets too. What if we have that gene?”
“We don’t.” Isadora hit the radio’s power button again with a finality that ended the conversation.
After another four hours of driving, they started seeing signs for Laredo. “Finally,” Gael mumbled.
“Now that we agree on,” Isadora answered.
“Stuck in a car for five hours? I’ll be happy when we’re home.”
Isadora glanced over at her brother. “You’ve never liked small spaces.”
“Thanks for the reminder.” Gael rolled his eyes.
Both cadets were smiling by the time they pulled into their driveway. Their father, Raul, greeted them with hugs as they arrived at the back door of their large two-story house whose tan exterior looked all the brighter in the hot summer sun. “Your mother will be home soon.”
“She still at work?” Gael asked.
Raul nodded. “Some sales meeting that went late.”
Isadora dragged her bags into the living room. A model of an eighteen-wheeler FedEx truck, which had been a gift to Raul when he had been promoted to vice president, remained in a prominent position on the mantle over the fireplace.
Isadora looked around. Her parents’ familiar artwork and family photographs, so different from her sparse barracks room, greeted her eyes. Pops of color from framed textiles and paintings that Raul had brought back from his frequent trips to Mexico City, Guatemala City, and Tegucigalpa burned into Isadora’s retinas.
Isadora blinked a few times to clear the color away before looking around again. As always, her eyes focused on paintings of the hero twins, Hunahpú and Xbalanqué, then on a second painting of Xolotl and Quetzalcoatl. Dad really bought into the mythology of twins when Gael and I were born, Isadora thought. Then she went back into the kitchen, where Gael and Raul were still talking. “Everything okay, Dad? You seem kind of somber.”
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The Final Armada is the stunning conclusion to The Vanguard Warrior Trilogy, in which cadets at the nation’s military academies manifest with a rare recessive gene- and its attendant superpowers!
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Runs December 3 – December 8, 2024.
Winner will be drawn on December 9, 2024.
Author Biography:
Tamar Anolic writes in multiple genres, including military fiction, science fiction, and historical fiction. The Final Armada is the third book in The Vanguard Warrior Trilogy, whose first two books are The Fledgling’s Inferno and A Silent Evil. Tamar’s first novel, The Last Battle, was about a female veteran of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars and her transition home after being injured. Tamar’s historical fiction focuses on the Romanovs and the Od West.
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