Cadmus dives to the floor, grabs Brynlin, and pulls her up in front of him. “Drop it, scums, or this pretty thing will be no more.”

I hear metal strike the floor behind me. Must be Skyjo and Bram. Maybe Joost and Elaina. I can’t be sure. Whoever it is, now they’re unarmed.

Cadmus lets out a beastly laugh and tosses Brynlin to the side. “Don’t you know the first rule of mortal combat? Never, ever relinquish your weapons.” He raises his laser and aims. “Any last requests?”

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The rock surface splits open to expose a dozen ancient steps that disappear into a smoldering haze. The ground shakes, and a growl rumbles like distant thunder from the hole.

I look up to see Bram, Cypress and Skyjo across the ruins, their lasers ready. The ruins tremble. The growl intensifies.

“Binturong!” I hear Skyjo in my earpiece.

“That’s just a bedtime story,” Cypress says, her voice taut.

“What’s a Binturong?” Bram asks.

“Moloch’s ride,” Skyjo says. “It has the head of a mulkin and the body of a beraung. When Moloch was vanquished to his moon, the Binturong was stranded on Caterra.”

“It’s just a fable,” Cypress says. “No one’s actually seen it.”

Through the steam, I see a shadow pass.

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Harrison hands Elaina and me each a baseball cap with the Bowman Ridge logo on the front. “These are equipped with a sixteen-megapixel video camera, microphone, headlight, earpiece, and tracking beam. Hopefully, I’ve worked out the details with Alyx. When you split I’ll be able to see both videos from Earth and Caterra simultaneously.

“This sensor”—Harrison points to a small white circle on my cap— “will read your brain waves as you process the signal between your two halves. That way, I can see what you see almost immediately. Any deciphering that needs to be done, for example, I can help from here.”

“Wait . . . you’ll, like, be able to read my mind?”

“Not exactly. I’ll be able to see what you see through the camera, and your brain waves will indicate points of stress. In other words, things you’re having trouble understanding.”

I’m not sure I’m good with that. I mean, this is Elaina’s dad. Having him inside my head, figuring out what I’m thinking about his daughter is just wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong.

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Excerpt from ‘Daniel Everhart and the Skylands of Caterra: Guarinot’

Daniel speaking—

Filtered shadows pass overhead as another school of big eye trevally swim in waves, like ribbons in the breeze. The school scatters and a hammerhead cuts through the middle—right above my head. It spins and heads toward us.

My body jerks. I reach for my laser just as the shark’s tail brushes against Joost’s shoulder.

Joost falls sideways and bumps into me, and I lose my grip on the pistol. I swim after it, but the current sweeps it over the pyramid’s edge out of sight.

A shadow passes overhead again. I look up in time to see the shark make a circle and dive right at me.

I pull my arms up to block the shark’s mouth.

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“You were noticed yesterday,” Harrison says during the evening meeting.

Mom and Joost are handing out bowls of peach cobbler and ice cream, and I’m scooping my fourth shovel full from the bowl when Harrison kills my sugar high.

“There’s an old military base close to the Ziggurat. Since your departure, patrols have come and gone every hour. They stationed guards on the top terrace—one for each corner.”

I scoot over and make a place for Joost on the couch. “That patrol base isn’t far. Twice, we came within spitting distance of some of the older structures.”

“We placed the sensors where you told us to,” Cypress says. “What more can we do?”

“We can’t do the job with a bunch of guards around. We’re gonna have to deal with them,” Bram grunts between bites of cobbler.

“These are grown men, and they’re heavily armed,” Harrison tells us. He has at least a dozen more wrinkles than he did a week ago. And the ones he did have are etched deeper into his skin. “The last thing we need is a confrontation.”

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It’s here!!!!! At long last, I’m thrilled to announce Daniel Everhart and the Skylands of Caterra: Guarinot is available for pre-order on Amazon. Thank you so much to all of you who’ve supported our efforts to get this exciting new book off the ground. It’s time to fly!

PLEASE SHARE this link with your friends and family. A big pre-order will ensure a top spot on Amazon’s best seller list on opening day which, of course, will be a great help to us! 🙂 Support your friendly neighborhood starving artist and buy this book.

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It’s here!!!!! At long last, I’m thrilled to announce Daniel Everhart and the Skylands of Caterra: Guarinot is available for pre-order on Amazon. Thank you so much to all of you who’ve supported our efforts to get this exciting new book off the ground. It’s time to fly!

PLEASE SHARE this link with your friends and family. A big pre-order will ensure a top spot on Amazon’s best seller list on opening day which, of course, will be a great help to us! 🙂 Support your friendly neighborhood starving artist and buy this book.

There it is! D-P-E. Written on the wood in black permanent marker.

The letters are inside a square frame, and it only takes me a second to realize the frame is where the wood has been cut out. I split to my nightstand and find a combo knife with a blunt blade on one end and come back. Quick-as-a-discarded-Christmas wrapper, I’ve inserted the blade tip and popped out the wooden wedge. My fingers shake bad, and it’s all I can do to reach into the exposed opening. Inside, I find a box.

This is it.

Whatever’s in this box is something Dad wants me to have.

My hands tremble, and I can barely get the lid off. Inside, there’s a note, a key, and Dad’s ring. I remember it now like it happened an hour ago. I used to sit in Dad’s lap and tug on that ring. I tried and tried to pull it off his long finger. I shine the phone-light closer. The ring has a flat surface on top. A raised braided line weaves back and forth around symbols on each side. Earth . . . Caterra. I turn it over in my hand. Below each symbol, there’s a set of weird-looking letters I can’t read.

Dad knew.

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The weight of grade-determining tests hangs like the arrival of a north Texas ice storm. Or a giant shoe, threatening to squash us like cockroaches. Students walk around in a silent stupor. Except all the doom and gloom is lightened just a little, and a few pockets of peace hover in the air, because after the thing the other night Fane and Lenny haven’t returned to school. Word in the hall is that they’ve gone back to the private academy they got kicked out of earlier this semester after their dad offered to bank for a new football stadium or something.

It’s kinda fun to hear the rumors, since I know the truth. Lenny is being mentored by Alyx to join our team. And Fane is in a Caterrian youth prison. Sci-fi juvie. That would make a great setting for a book . . . only who would believe it? Maybe I’ll write it. Now there’s a thought.

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Excerpt from Daniel Everhart and the Skylands of Caterra: Guarinot

Daniel speaking—

“I don’t want to do any more sensors,” I whisper to Elaina just before I climb into the fold-up seat of the Van Gogh. “I’ve got a feeling we shouldn’t put them on.”

Elaina nods.

Harrison climbs in the driver’s side. “Okay guys, lots to do today. This could be the breakthrough we’ve been hoping far.” He starts up the motor and turns out of the parking lot.

“When you say we, do you mean Mr. Tantalus as well?” I ask.

“He’s our sponsor.” Harrison picks up a small black box from the center console. “These are his devices.”

“What do they do, exactly?” I ask.

“Hopefully, they’ll track your progress on Caterra.”

“I don’t think that will be allowed,” I say.

“Why would you think that?” Harrison asks.

“I’ve already been there.” My eyes meet Elaina’s, and she gives me a small nod. “I stood before the council of Caterra yesterday.”

“You did what!” Harrison slams on the breaks, causing all three of us to jerk forward in our seatbelts.

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