Age of Mystics (Saga of Mystics Book 1) Read Online Free PDF

last, his daughter’s imagination and playfulness. He cherished that as well.
    They came up to the front of the small church and knocked, but a voice called out from the side of the church. “Knockin’ don’t help. That door is always open.” The southern drawl was very pronounced, but so was the good nature behind it and Ted, Max and Princess walked around to see a bald man in his fifties working on the engine of a truck.
    “Hi there. The name is Ted Craven, this is my daughter Max and this is Princess.”
    The man came out from the hood, wiping the soot off his hands and he approached, “Rich Carson,” he said, as he held his hand out to shake Ted’s.
    “You the pastor here?” Ted pointed back at the church.
    Rich smiled and nodded, “Yep. I think I saw you opening that karate school in town yesterday, right?” Ted nodded. “Just moved into the house yonder?” Ted nodded again. “Well, welcome to the neighborhood. We have church services Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights. I hope you will come pay us a visit.”
    Ted smiled, he instantly liked the guy, even if this wasn’t his thing. “We aren’t really church people, Rich, but I appreciate the offer.”
    Rich stepped up close, “Can I tell you a secret, I am not a church person either.” They both laughed. “For some reason my car won’t start.”
    Ted grimaced a bit, “I don’t think you will be able to fix that. None of the cars work, all of the power is out and the phones don’t work. It is a bit of a mystery. The only thing I could think of was an Electromagnetic pulse. I hear that solar flares could do that, but I always thought that was an old wives’ tale.”
    “Hmm, well that is unfortunate. I guess there is nothing left to do but grab a beer and wait it out, huh?”
    “I like the way you think, Rich, I think we are going to be fine neighbors.” Ted shook his hand again.
    “And good friends as well, I hope” Rich replied. Ted smiled and they walked to the back of the church where Rich’s cottage was and each grabbed a beer from a cooler he had out.
    Rich took a decent draw on the long-neck bottle of his Sam Adams, “So, in those old wives’ tales, how long do these things last?”
    Ted shrugged, “No idea. I am not sure that part is covered.” Princess walked up and licked the condensation off the bottom of Ted’s bottle and Ted rubbed her behind the ear.

CHAPTER TEN
    Specialist Jordan Kane had barely made it into the botanical lab before he might have passed out from lack of oxygen. The power in “the Mountain” had gone out very suddenly, but the generators had not come on as they were supposed to come on. When everyone else ran in the dark toward the doors, Jordan remembered what he had learned in High School biology, plants produce oxygen. He also remembered that the lab was much closer than the doors that were across a huge area and up a couple of floors. In the pitch dark of the lab, he had breathed in the sweet oxygen the plants put off and realized he was not alone. Though he couldn’t see them, there were three others in the room – the research scientist, Dr. Pare; her lab tech Private Jose Rio and a guard who was normally stationed in another area, but liked to talk to Dr. Pare about gardening, PFC Donna Harris.
    Jordan knew a lot about the survival aspects of the base, because it was his job to maintain many of them. He had switched from infantry to mechanical last year when he re-enlisted, and was responsible for generators, filters and such. What he didn’t understand was why none of them had worked. The power had simply disappeared. That was not supposed to happen.
    “Dr. Pare, do you know when they will come and get us?” Rio had asked, but it wasn’t the doctor who answered, but Jordan.
    “They aren’t coming. The generators never came on. The oxygen was depleted pretty quickly. I am sorry, there is no chance they made it.”
    Dr. Pare answered him, “No, that’s not right. It is not oxygen