POD (The Pattern Universe) (30 page)

By the time the remaining fleet began dropping out of hyperspace millions of miles from their destination, they realised something had gone very wrong. Out of the one hundred and fourteen ships that retreated, only thirty two reached the Celnista homeworld. The others carried on reporting until one by one, the stranded Celnista crews fell silent. Consumed by the nanites, their ships would remain empty hulks drifting in space forever.

The Crystal Queen sat on her throne, she was in a pensive mood. Her immediate reaction was to rebuild her forces and return to this biological planet, overwhelm them with superior fire-power and obliterate them from the system they inhabited. Instead, she decided on a different course of action. Let them think they had won.

No, she could not afford to reduce her numbers any further when there were fights to be won closer to home. She needed to find a new ‘Ta and replace all the ships she had lost. They would have to begin raiding parties on neighbouring systems. The Queen reviewed her strategy and her processors chewed up all of her options and spat out the answers to her in a staccato report only she could see.

She turned to her clones and her new Avien Queen

"Go to your duties, prepare for war, build ships, build warriors, design new weapons. Understand me. We will not stop until ALL the hives are one."

When she returned for vengeance on that cursed fifth planet, she would do so as the Queen of the largest hive in the history of the Nubl. It would be the first of many worlds to be scorched clean as she took her empire across new galaxies in search of conquest.

END OF BOOK TWO

Errors and Omissions

Writing books at a fast pace can often mean pushing the limits on editing and proof reading. This can offend some of you. I’m sorry about that, but my time on this Earth is limited and I have many stories to write before I go.

Taking a book from start to finish in 90 days means I cut corners in getting the book published. As a result, I often miss little things and most of you are very tolerant and forgiving when you slip over them and say nothing. For that I thank you.

I continually modify the book after publication so, problems today might be gone in tomorrows update. You can help by making notes of anything of consequence and dropping me an email afterwards. I would love to hear from you all, although I cannot stop writing to respond to everyone, or the next book would never get written.

Thank you for reading and liking my books. It is a genuine pleasure writing for your personal enjoyment.

Sincerely

Tobias Roote

About Tobias Roote

Tobias Roote lives on Corfu, a verdant Greek Island just off the coast of Albania in the Ionian Sea/Mediterranean, enjoying a lifestyle that many would envy. This idyllic backdrop provides essential sanctuary and a relaxed atmosphere enabling him to work without the modern day stresses of the 21st. century.

As a 'Brit' who writes novels for Sci-Fi and Thriller genres, Tobias enjoys the challenge of creating 'Flash Fiction' stories, which also allow him to dip his toe in the exciting worlds of different genres.

Already the author of two novels, one an Amazon Best-seller, Tobias plans a further five novels in 2014 and hopes to travel extensively over the next few years while writing full time on his new series, The Pattern Universe.

If you would like to keep up to date with his books, stories and blogs you can find him and his work at:

website: http://tobiasroote.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TobiasRooteAuthor

Twittter: https://twitter.com/TobiasRoote