Fragmented (The Game is Life Book 6), page 1
Fragmented
The Game is Life Book 6
Terry Schott
Fragmented
Book 6 in the Game is Life Series
©2016 by Terry Schott
All rights reserved.
This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express, written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner.
Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Well, here we are at book six of this series.
Book eight if you throw Shadows and Cyber into the mix (and that is a must… If you have not read those yet, then you will miss out on parts of this new book. Go on, head over and download them =) ).
Over a million e-books are uploaded every year.
It is extremely difficult for a reader to choose what to read.
The odds against you finding the Game is Life were very high, yet you did.
Thank you for taking the time to give this story a try. I am thrilled that you enjoyed the Game enough to want to read on.
Thank you to my first readers, Karen and Carl. There are many lonely days along this road and your encouragement gets me through those.
Finding an editor to work with has been the single toughest part of being a writer (so far). I am extremely grateful that I found Tiffany and that she agreed to work with me. Thanks for putting up with me, Tiffany, and helping to make this story the best read possible.
And so on to the story.
You refused to believe that Cooper destroyed everything. Here’s what happened after he was handed a single red pop bottle cap… I hope you enjoy the ride.
Terry 2016
1
She sat cross-legged on the sand, its warmth seeping through her linen garments. Cool air blew over the lip of the dune, ruffling the hood of her dark brown cloak. She reached up and grabbed the edge to prevent it from blowing back onto her shoulders yet not so much that it obstructed the view of her flock below.
Surrounded on all sides by a high ridge, globes of light twinkled in the sand below. She looked down on her section, occasionally glancing left and right at the other figures who sat on the ledge in the same manner as she, robed shapes holding dark staffs scattered with glowing gold and crimson runes of light that pulsed in time with the breezes coming off the dark desert beyond.
A hissing noise sounded from behind her. She stood and turned, waiting as a bright white light materialized into the shape of a doorway and two figures emerged.
“Vav.” She bowed low, one arm sweeping behind her and the other, the hand holding the staff, extending forward so that the staff lay flat against the ground.
The old man cleared his throat and smoothed his beard. “Aleph.”
She stood and grinned. “It’s good to see you again. You visit so rarely.”
“There’s not much reason to visit, girl. You have a boring job.”
“I disagree.” Her eyes flicked to the person standing behind the old man. “I don’t like it when you bring others with you.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because you often leave them behind when you depart.”
The old man chuckled. “Now, don’t be like that, Aleph. I’ve brought you some very interesting characters over the years to keep you company.”
“Something tells me that isn’t the case this time.”
“You always say that.”
She shrugged and pretended to be interested in smoothing the folds of her outer robe.
“This is Cooper.”
“I thought so.”
“Don’t frown.”
She shook her head. “I don’t have time for babysitting, Vav.”
The old man winced. Aleph tilted her head, the hint of a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. “What’s wrong with you?”
“Nothing.”
“You said I could call you that.”
“I know.”
“I know, I know.” Her voice became deep, impersonating the old man. “You don’t like hearing it.”
“It’s fine.” The words came out in a sigh.
“Good.”
He walked to the edge, linked his arms behind him, and looked down at the globes. “They look healthy.”
“Smooth sailing, mostly.”
He turned and smiled. “Good. I want you to show Cooper what it is that you do here.”
Aleph groaned and covered her face with one hand.
“Please.”
She groaned again and the old man laughed. “Why must we always do this dance?”
“I don’t have the time or the patience.”
“You don’t have the time?”
She squinted and stuck out her tongue.
“You’re cute.”
Aleph giggled. “Don’t start sweet-talking me, old one.”
He laughed. “I ask. You grumble. Then I sweet-talk, and you finally agree.” He shrugged. “It felt as if we were at that part of our dance.”
“Fine.” She crossed her arms and tried to look serious. “I’ll do it.”
“Thank you.”
“For a price.”
The old man’s eyes widened. “What do you want?”
“Same as last time.”
“Same as—“ He scowled and looked at Cooper. After a pause, he extended his hand. “Okay, girl. Same as last time.”
“And he can’t speak.” She took the old man’s hand and tried to pump it up and down, but frowned when he tightened his grip and held still.
“That’s not gonna work.”
“Come on.” She pouted. “I’m being very generous. Throw me a little bone here.”
The old man shook her hand. “He speaks.”
She glanced at Cooper and shook her head. “Okay. He doesn’t look too chatty anyway.”
“He used to be, but he hasn’t said much lately.” The old man shrugged. “That can’t last forever. Him talking more is part of what I expect you to help with.”
“I remember being happy to see you when you first appeared, but that feeling is fading fast.”
The old man chuckled and pulled her close. She laughed and hugged him tight. “I suppose you will visit more while Cooper is with me?”
“Most likely.”
Aleph’s grin broadened. “Then it’s not such a bad deal for me after all.”
The old man patted her on the shoulder and turned to face Cooper. “Aleph will show you around.”
“Okay,” Cooper mumbled.
“I’ll be back in a bit.”
Cooper looked at the sky, squinting. The old man leaned close to her. “Be gentle with him, Aleph. He’s still in a bad way.”
She snorted. “After what he did, he should be.” The old man scowled and she nodded. “I’ll be as nice as I can be.”
“That’s all I can ask for.”
2
Aleph glanced sideways at Cooper. He sat beside her on the sand, cross-legged and unmoving. She half-turned to face both him and the field below. He was looking straight ahead, a blank expression on his face.
“I might be jinxing myself here, but so far, you’re the best shadow I’ve ever had.”
Cooper did not respond.
She shifted to get more comfortable. “How long since you got your bottle cap?”
He shrugged.
“Where’s the old man taken you so far?”
“I was in a house with a bunch of people that had bottle cap gloves.”
“People.” She snickered. “Where else?”
“That’s it.”
“He didn’t take you to the jungle?”
Cooper shook his head.
“You met Madge, though? An old lady with a yellow dress and floppy hat.”
“No.”
She snapped her fingers and sat straighter. “The car ride. You at least went on the car ride with him.”
“He can drive?”
Aleph laughed. “No, which makes the entire experience so memorable.”
“Didn’t take a car ride. I was in that big house, then we came here. I don’t know how long we were at the house. There’s no clocks anywhere.”
“Clocks?”
“To get an idea of time passing.”
“Ah, yeah, of course.” She looked down at the field, scanning the patches of globes. A long time passed in silence, and she sighed. “This is weird.”
“What is?”
“When I have visitors, they do most of the talking.”
“I find that hard to believe. You seem pretty chatty.”
“You’re funny.”
“I used to be.”
“No. You still are.”
Silence.
Cooper pointed. “What are those globes down there?”
“My flock.”
“You share it with others.”
She nodded. “It’s too big a job for one.”
“They don’t seem too demanding, as far as flocks go.”
“That’s ‘cause they are all behaving themselves at the moment.”
Cooper’s lips twitched. “They get up and run off?”
“Worse.”
“I can’t imagine.”
“Here’s hoping you don’t get to witness it.”
***
“How long do you think we’ve been sitting here?” Aleph asked.
“You don’t know?”
“I do, but I’m interested in your opinion.”
Cooper sniffed and looked at the sky. “Feels like hours, but the sky isn’t getting any brighter. I’d guess three hours.”
“Interesting.”
“Am I right or wrong?”
“Yeah.”
“Which?”
“Both.” Aleph shrugged. “Neither.”
“You play word games, like those at the house did.”
“Everyone who uses words plays games with them. I bet you’re pretty good at it yourself.”
“I suppose.”
She stood and stretched. “Time to go for a walk.”
Cooper stood and they walked down the slope. As they got farther away from the glow of the field, it got darker. Aleph sang a melody and touched the tip of her staff. The veins of gold swirled along the surface of the wood, gathering together and then flowing toward her hand. When the gold was focused there, she sang a different tune and it brightened, illuminating the area around them.
“You have a beautiful voice,” Cooper said.
“Thank you.”
“I did not recognize the words you were singing.”
“It’s an ancient language. Translated loosely, the words are, ‘Hey, gold flecks, come gather at the tip of my staff’.”
“It sounds better in the old language.”
“That it does.”
Cooper followed her across bare desert sand. They came to another hill. Instead of taking the rise, Aleph turned and they walked until they approached an opening in the side of the hill. Orbs glowed in the sand ahead.
“Is this the entrance to the field we were sitting above?”
She shook her head. “This is another.”
“How many are there?”
Aleph smiled. “Many.”
“You watch over all of them?”
“No.”
“How many Shepherds are there?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know. An awful lot would be my guess.”
“Closer to a hundred or a billion?”
Aleph turned to face him. “Whatever answer pleases you.”
“No answer would please me.”
“Then why ask the question?” Cooper frowned and Aleph laughed. “I assume you have been taught there is no such thing as a stupid question but I promise you that is not the case. Many questions lead to answers which serve no purpose. In my opinion, that makes them stupid. At least on some level.”
“Sorry.”
“For what?”
“Bothering you with questions.”
“Don’t be silly. I expect you to ask me questions. Tons of them.”
“But you just said—“
“What? That you asked a dumb one?”
Cooper nodded.
“So what?” She shrugged and raised an eyebrow. “Don’t tell me you’re afraid to look bad.”
He laughed. “Of course not.”
“Good.” She resumed their hike. “Ask whatever you want. If it’s not a good question, I’ll tell you. If you demand an answer anyway, then I’ll answer.”
“Okay.”
“Is it pretty important how many of us actually watch over the flocks?”
Cooper thought about it for a moment, then shook his head.
“If it was, I would find out.”
“From who?”
“Ah.” She looked at him over her shoulder and grinned. “That is a great question.” She whistled and continued walking.
“Not great enough to answer.”
She laughed and skipped ahead, turning as she reached the entrance.
3
Cooper stopped a few feet behind her and looked at the space beyond.
As big as an Earth football field, the flat expanse of sand was dotted with small mounds of dirt that had raised ledges.
Aleph moved toward a mound, stopped, and knelt down. “Come take a look.”
He came to kneel beside her. Two globes lay nestled in the depression. He held his hand above them. “They give off a bit of warmth.”
“Yeah.”
“The little one glows brighter than the bigger.”
“That’s usually the way it goes.”
“Are they eggs?”
“No.” Aleph laughed and stood. “Come on, follow me. It’s almost time.”
They came to a stop in front of a flat empty spot of sand. Aleph looked up at the sky and then threw him a look. “On second thought, you’d best back up some.” She waved her hand. “Keep going. A bit more. Careful, don’t step on that mound.”
He winced and looked at the three globes near his left foot. “Sorry.”
In the sky above and slightly behind Aleph, a large ball of flame appeared, growing in size. It was a meteor, streaking straight toward her. His eyes widened. “Uh, you better come over here.”
“Hush.”
Cooper raised one eyebrow as the ball of fire got closer.
“Don’t be like that.” She smirked. “I know what’s coming. How do you think the little craters form up around them?”
“What the—“
Bam. Behind Aleph, less than three feet from where she stood, the comet struck the sand, sending a spray of sand into the air. Cooper shielded his eyes.
When the sand cloud dispersed, he saw Aleph bending down and looking into the newly formed crater. “It’s safe now. Get over here.”
Cooper came to stand behind her. Looking into the indent in the sand, he saw five globes. They were different sizes and pulsed with a soft, golden light. “They are beautiful.”
“Yes.” She held a hand over one, making a quick motion and nodding as grains of sand fell from the smallest globe’s surface. “Kneel down and hold your palms over them. Like so.”
He dropped to his knees and stuck his hands out over the smallest globe. Warmth soaked through his gloves, making his fingers tingle. The globe shimmered and Aleph smiled. “That’s good. Wait until the shimmering stops, then move to the next one.”
“Why?”
“You are communicating with them.”
“They are intelligent?”
“In a manner.”
The tiny globe brightened a bit and stopped shimmering. The tingling sensation faded from Cooper’s fingers. Aleph motioned to the next globe and Cooper positioned his hands over it. The tingling started again. “It feels different from the first one.”
“Very good.” She smiled and crossed her arms. When the second globe stopped shimmering, he moved his hands to the next, then the next. Finally, he placed his palms over the largest globe.
Instead of shimmering when his gloves were positioned over it, the large globe began to flicker and make crackling noises. He started to pull his hands back but Aleph narrowed her eyes and shook her head. “Keep your hands over it.”
His hands stayed in place. “Something’s wrong with it.”
“Yes.”
“What’s happening?”
“Watch.”
The flickering became faster, the glow alternating with darkness. Then there was a loud crack and the globe broke, its light extinguishing as the halves fell away from each other.
“Remove your hands.”
Cooper withdrew his hands from the pit and leaned back. He looked down at the bottle cap on his glove. Warmth came through the glove and into his hand. It was unpleasant.
“Not bad,” Aleph said.
“What was all that about?”
“They arrived. We welcomed them. You bonded.”
“Bonded?”
She nodded. “This is your little flock. These four.”
“Five.”
“No.” She pointed at the dark globe. “That one is gone.”
“Dead?”
She nodded.
“Because of something I did?”
She smirked. “Oh yes. Because of something you did.”
He waited for her to say more, but she didn’t. He looked at the others, still glowing. “How do I tend them?”
Aleph stood and Cooper followed suit. “I will show you over the next while. Don’t worry, I’m a good teacher.”
“Do they drop from the sky often?”
“No.”
“Then I’m lucky this one did.”
“Luck had nothing to do with it.” Aleph laughed. “You brought them here.”
“How?”
She began walking toward the entrance they had used. “By earning your bottle cap.”
He frowned. “I don’t understand how are the two events related?”
