Today Jamie Zakian and Month9Books are
revealing the cover and first chapter for PROJECT EMERGENCE which releases March
14, 2017! Check out the gorgeous cover and enter to be one of the first readers
to receive a eGalley!!
A quick note from the author:
I’ve always dreamed of
writing an epic sci-fi thriller. I knew I wanted it to involve a group of teens
leaving a dead Earth to start new lives on a terra formed Mars, but I didn’t
have any ideas on how to make the plot exciting. Then, a song I never heard before
played on my Pandora app. Escape by Rogue. As that song blasted through my
headphones, the entire story that is Project Emergence streamed through my mind
like a movie trailer. So, I went straight to work. It took months of frantic
writing, almost a year of editing, and a mini rewrite, but that moment of
inspiration became my first YA novel.
Project Emergence is a
fast-paced thrill ride across the stars. It shows the extent people will go to
uphold their beliefs, and that love can overcome any evil.
Title: PROJECT
EMERGENCE
Author: Jamie Zakian
Pub. Date: March 14, 2017
Publisher: Month9Books
Format: Paperback, eBook
Pages: 292
An ancient Hopi myth says people arrived
on tiny silver pods that fell from the sky.
But the truth is far more terrifying.
Two-hundred fifty-eight teens are sent
from a dying Earth to a terraformed Mars as part of the Emergence Program,
mankind’s last hope before solar flares finish off their planet and species.
Among the brave pioneers are sixteen-year-old Joey Westen and her twin brother,
Jesse.
After only minutes in space, something
triggers a total ship lock down.
With the help of their roommates, the
Matsuda twins (notorious hackers and shady secret-keepers), Joey and Jesse
stumble onto an extremist plot to sabotage the Emergence Program.
But Joey and Jesse didn’t travel to the
deepest pits of space and leave their mother behind to be picked off in a
high-tech tin can. They’ll lie, hack, and even kill to survive the voyage and
make it to Mars.
Excerpt
Joey
squirmed in the seat of a large, airtight van as it sped along an empty road. A
cloud of red sand kicked up outside her window, and the van’s tires hummed
against cracked pavement. Solar flares had done a fine job of destroying this
once beautiful planet. She never got to see Earth in its glory days, as she had
been born into a scorched world, but could almost picture the way it used to
be.
In
her imagination, the reddish tint that covered the parched countryside outside
her window transformed to crisp green meadows. The piles of stone and metal
reconstructed to form the buildings they once were, reaching for a sky that was
blue instead of crimson.
Her
daydream ended when the nose of a spaceship peeked above maroon-crested hills.
That massive shuttle was waiting to carry two hundred and fifty-eight lucky
lottery winners off this dying planet, and she was one of them.
“Whoa,”
Joey said, her breath fogging the glass. A light crinkle drew her stare to the
paper in her now tight grip. She loosened her stiff fingers, smoothing a crease
from the official seal of the Unified Nations of Earth.
…The
letter in her hand still mesmerized her. Selected … Terraformed Mars … New home
… Those words knocked the bottom from her stomach every time she read them.
Things were getting way too real. No more tiny lead-lined home, school at the
kitchen table, Mom. She turned to Jesse, her brother’s smirk brighter than an
X1 flare.
“You’re
a crappy twin. I’m freaking out right now; you should be too.”
Jesse
rolled his stare her way. “Fraternal twins don’t work like that.”
“That’s
not true.” She read the letter again, making sure both their names were listed
for the umpteenth time.
“I
can’t believe this is happening.” Jesse grew tense. A frown swept his lips for
just a moment before his perma-smile returned. “No one from G-Sector ever goes
anywhere.”
“Did
you see the look on Mom’s face when we left?”
“I
know. Buzzkill.”
“What’s
she gonna do without us?” Joey asked in a near whisper.
“Finally
be able to feed herself.” Jesse snickered.
She
shook her head, folding the letter. “Maybe she’ll win the next lottery and meet
up with us on Mars.”
“Yeah,
I don’t think so.”
“Why
not?”
Jesse
leaned close, keeping his voice low. “Didn’t you hear what that kid behind us
was saying?”
“No.
What?”
“He
said the lottery’s rigged.” Jesse eyed the soldier stationed at the front of
the van, then the other two at the rear. “That everyone is selected for a
specific purpose.”
“But
that would mean the U.N.E. is lying to everyone,” Joey said, a bit too loud.
Jesse’s eyes opened wide, and she shrugged.
“You’re
gonna get us booted from this ride before we even launch.”
“Whatever,”
she muttered. “It’s a stupid idea anyway ‘cause look, we’re here. What do we
have to offer? All you can do is fix stuff, and me … well, I’m just good at
being cute.” She batted her eyes, flaunting a sly smile.
“Yeah
you’re right. That’s real flippin cute.” Jesse slanted toward the aisle,
glancing around the cab. “There aren’t any adults on this van.”
“There’s
the soldier guys.”
“Geez,
dummy. I mean the passengers.”
Joey
pinched her brother, who wriggled away. “Dummy,” she mimicked. With a failed
attempt to appear casual, she popped her head up and scanned the seats. Sparkly
clothes and bright makeup captured her stare. “They look like A-Sectors.” She
didn’t mean to gawk at the people seated around her, but she’d never seen such
lavish clothes, such flawless skin.
“Please
remain seated while the vehicle’s in motion,” a soldier thundered.
Jesse
grabbed Joey’s arm and pulled her down into the seat. “Smooth, sister. Real smooth.”
She
shrank back, deploying her trusty get-out-of-messes frowny smile on her
brother. “Oops. In trouble already. Figures.”
Grumbles
erupted from Jesse’s lips, and she turned back to the dusty earth outside her
window. Crazy how one day and a trip to the mailbox could change her entire
life. Yesterday, she was painting a mural of Mars on their bedroom wall. Today,
she was going to Mars.
The
parched countryside vanished behind a tunnel wall. She sagged in her seat. For
sixteen years, she clung to Jesse. Every time dust storms pelted their
windowless metal house, she curled under his arm. Mom worked late, so Joey’s
hand became glued to his. And now, when she actually needed the comfort of his
touch, her brain decided it was time to man up. Her eyes narrowed. She zeroed
in on his cozy-looking hand, her fingers drumming a steady beat on her leg.
***
Sabrina
poked her head around a corner. Her fingers tightened around the rifle’s grip
as she peered down a dim corridor. Shadows danced along the concrete wall, and
she backed up, pressing her comms button. “Stone to dispatch. Come in,
dispatch.”
Static
crackled in her ear, a garbled voice cutting in and out.
“Dispatch,
do you read? Where the hell is my backup?”
This
time, only the fizz of dead air replied.
“Damn
underground bright-out dens,” Sabrina mumbled.
These
missions twisted her gut every time. There were very few people left alive on
Earth. Many couldn’t afford specially designed homes or the rising cost of
oxygen, and it didn’t sit right to bust folks just for trying to survive the
scorching sun. But she was Captain Sabrina Stone of the Unified Nations of
Earth, a high ranking officer in the sector that controlled every aspect of the
entire planet, and she had a duty to protect what was left of that planet. Neither
a heavy conscience nor lack of backup would hinder that.
Sabrina
held her weapon close, skulking down the stone passage. Two men strolled around
the bend, then stopped short, and she popped off two rounds. No sound emitted
from the gun’s muzzle, just a flash that lit the graffiti-stained walls in
white.
The
men slumped to the ground. Tiny darts protruded from their chests, and
pamphlets spilled from their limp hands.
“Earth-heads,”
she muttered, glimpsing anti-Mars propaganda. The bang of a metal door slamming
shut echoed from the dark tunnel on her left, so she headed toward it.
Men
and woman dropped as Sabrina skated through shadows, firing her gun. Their
tranquilized bodies slapped concrete, a trail to a solid door at the end of the
long hallway. She reached into her vest and extracted a small explosive charge.
Just as the magnet clinked to the steel slab, a voice flowed through her
earpiece.
“Captain
Stone, we’ve breeched the airlock. En route to your position.”
“Bout
time,” she said beneath her breath. Her thumb glided over the button of the
wireless detonator, and spikes of fear burrowed into her gut. U.N.E protocol,
and the whirl in her stomach, said to wait for backup. Pride, however, was a
persistent little sucker, one that set loose a torrent of electric shocks in
her veins. She scurried back, covered her head, and pressed the detonation
button.
An
explosion rocked her chest, slamming her against the wall. Hunks of concrete
crashed down, and the door slammed atop the rubble. Sabrina swung her rifle
dead ahead. Adrenaline perked her lips into a smile as she charged through
wisps of smoke, firing upon everybody that lunged her way.
“This
is a raid of the U.N.E. Get down on the ground.”
Soldiers
flooded the doorway behind her, and she bit back her grin. A woman needed an
iron-clad stare amid this troop of grunts. “Took you guys long enough.” She
turned, stumbling back as the five-stars of a general gleamed in her eyes.
“Sir,” she roared, standing up straight.
“Captain
Stone, I need you to come with me.”
Sabrina
glanced around, as much as one could without moving a single muscle in their
neck. Her men cleared the room as the general’s elite soldiers crowded around
her.
“Am I
in trouble, sir?”
“Quite
the contrary, Captain. You’ve been selected for an important mission. You’re
going to Mars, Soldier.”
***
Joey
grabbed her brother’s hand the instant he climbed off the van’s step. People
shuffled all around the wide-open room, probably watching her act like a baby,
but she couldn’t let go. Fear stole her will. It could have been the towering
room of glass walls and silver beams that encompassed her, the barrage of
strange faces, or the fact that she’d never see her mother again, but gloom
tainted this moment. Holding her brother’s hand quelled a fraction of her
inner-turmoil, so she planned to keep doing it despite her sissy appearance.
A
soft voice streamed from a kiosk of video screens, repeating the Space Center’s
famed slogan.
Three
days on the state-of-the-art R23 shuttle, strolling through green grass,
swimming in cool oceans.
Everything
she memorized from the letter in her backpack.
“Look,
there’s check-in,” Jesse said, tugging her from the display of white sandy
beaches.
She
inched through the crowd, close to his side. They filed into a rowdy line, her
palm sweating against his skin.
“The
Westen twins, I presume,” a high-pitched voice echoed from behind them.
In
one swift move, Joey shook free from Jesse’s grasp and whirled around. An
ultra-posh Asian girl leered down, and Joey stood tall. Her eyes wandered to
the near identical boy at her side, bearing the same long jet-black hair.
Another set of twins.
“How
did you know our name?” Jesse asked. Joey nudged his arm, pulling his gaze from
the low cut of the girl’s sparkly shirt.
“We
know the names of all the twins on this ship,” she said, her hand hoisting to
her hip.
“First
and last,” the boy added.
Joey
stifled a chuckle. Twins who finished each other’s sentences; this trip was
going to be stellar. The line shuffled forward, and the small group edged up a
few paces.
“How
many twins are on this flight?” Jesse asked, glancing between the pair.
“Fourteen,
including us,” she replied.
“Well,
fourteen sets,” the boy corrected, turning to his sister.
“That
actually makes twenty-eight twins.”
“But
twins is plural, so it would be fourteen,” she argued, a hint of red flaring
her cheeks.
“Yeah,
but, you knew who we were,” Joey said. “We didn’t even know there were other
twins here. Is there, like, a manual we didn’t get or something?”
The
girl laughed, slapping her brother’s chest. A stealthy glare clouded her
delicate features as she leaned close to Joey. “We hacked the database.”
“We
hack everything,” the boy whispered.
“Cool,”
Joey said through a smile, glancing at Jesse.
“So
you must be Jesse,” the girl said, staring at Joey, “Short for Jessica, right?”
“Ah,
no,” Joey said. “I’m Joey. Short for Josephine, which I hate so … just Joey.”
“I’m
Jesse, which … isn’t short for anything.” Jesse shoved his hands into his
pockets, lowering his gaze.
“Ahem.
The line is moving,” a redheaded girl groaned.
They
all crept forward again, and then Jesse spun back around. “So are we supposed
to hack to find out your names?”
The
girl giggled, and Joey rolled her eyes. Her stare landed on the boy’s annoyed
face. Once their gaze connected, his frown lifted to a grin.
“Kami
Matsuda.” A rainbow of colors reflected off the girl’s clothes as she slinked
in front of Jesse, looking up into his eyes. “That’s Rai,” she said, nodding to
her brother but keeping her deep gaze on Jesse.
Jesse
gulped. His hands began to tremble, and it became painfully obvious at how fast
his breath flowed.
“Next
in line.”
“That’s
us,” Joey said. She all but ripped Jesse from Kami’s leer. “We’ll catch up with
ya.” It took quite a massive tug, but she finally got Jesse moving toward the
registration table. “Now who’s smooth, dorkus,” she whispered.
***
“Let
me get this straight, Mr. Winslow,” Sabrina said, only able to mask a fraction
of the edge in her tone. “You want me to be a glorified babysitter for a bunch of
teens in space?” She walked across the large office of the Space Center, toward
Director Winslow’s desk. Her boots sank into lush carpet as she strolled past
stone statues, one of which lost its arm somewhere along the way. Such
extravagance. If it were liquidated and spread out, every sector could afford a
giant dome to protect its people from radioactive air instead of just the
A-Sectors. She tore her gaze from art-adorned walls, catching an impatient
glare from the man behind a glossy wooden desk.
“The
situation on our hands goes far beyond babysitting, Captain Stone. We’re under
attack. The commander of the U.N.E. herself assured me you were the best of the
best.”
“Commander
Sun said that? Huh.” She stepped closer to the desk. The man before her strained
to appear confident, but she glimpsed the beads of sweat that trickled between
his dark wrinkled skin and white hair.
“You’ve
got my attention,” she said, cupping her hands behind her back.
“Of
course you understand every word spoken within this room stays within this
room.”
“Yes,
sir.”
“Ever
since the inception of the Emergence program, a group of fanatics have targeted
us. Are you familiar with the Earthisum Movement, Captain Stone?”
“Yes,
sir. I took out an underground lair of them this morning. They seem to be, for
the most part, harmless.”
“Perhaps
on the outside.” He pulled a brown folder from his drawer and placed it on his
desk. “Have a look.”
Sabrina
flipped through the file. When she read a handwritten letter, which appeared to
be scrawled in blood, her fingers actually shook.
“The
threats made in that manifesto were not empty.”
Her
head snapped up, and she gawked at the old man before regaining her composure.
“Are you saying the Earth-heads blew up your first flight to Mars?”
His
finely manicured fingers massaged his forehead, a ghostly shade of white
claiming his cheeks. “Yes. After only hours in space.” He lowered his stare.
“The second and third flights as well.”
“What?”
“Those
maniacs sabotage every spacebus we launch. None have successfully made the
voyage to Mars.”
“How
could you hide this from the public? They think people are living, flourishing
over there. You need to put a hold on this program. Now. I’ll need at least a
week to investigate.”
He
shook his head, and Sabrina slammed her hands on the desk. “That file says
there are two hundred and fifty-eight children walking onto that shuttle as we
speak, Mr. Winslow. Two hundred and fifty-eight lives you’re putting at risk.”
“If
we stop the program, they’ve won. No! The survival of the human race is too
important. This mission has to succeed, Captain Stone.”
“But
why now with kids? If what you’re telling me is true, Mars is empty. There are
no doctors, scientists, or security of any kind in place. They’ll eat each
other alive out there.”
“It
has to be them.” He rose from his seat, smoothed a crease on his pinstriped
lapel, and strolled to the window. “Those young adults were born in the year of
the massive solar flare.” While gazing out the lightly tinted glass, he
motioned for Sabrina to join him.
“I
don’t see why that matters.” As she approached, the doublewide spacecraft stole
her focus. She allowed her stare to wander along the gleam of curved metal and
sharp points of thin wings before she shifted her gaze to the man beside her.
“They’re
genetically predisposed to elevated radiation. I handpicked each one of
them—for their instincts, spark, and their odds of producing healthy
offspring.”
“Look,
I get that. But if you just postpone a few weeks I can—”
“Earth
only has a few weeks left, Captain Stone.” His voice quavered. He cleared his
throat, lifting his chin high. “The sun is set to flare in, approximately, ten
days. The space program predicts its intensity will surpass our classification
scale. Everything left above the surface will be eradicated. Not even the UV
dome of A-Sector can deflect these waves.”
Sabrina
gasped. She began to stagger back, but Winslow grabbed her arm.
“Captain
Stone, Sabrina. Look at those children.”
Her
legs wobbled for the first time in her memory, but she crept forward. People
hurried along a glass-encased walkway, far below, like tiny ants marching into
a trap.
“That’s
the future of mankind walking onto that spacebus. If they don’t make it to
Mars, our species will cease to exist. You have to get them to that planet
safely. You’re the last hope of humanity, Captain Stone.”
Jamie Zakian is a full-time writer who
consumes the written word as equally as oxygen. Living in South Jersey with her
husband and rowdy family, she enjoys farming, archery, and blazing new trails
on her 4wd quad, when not writing of course. She aspires to one day write at
least one novel in every genre of fiction.
3 winners will receive and eGalley of PROJECT
EMERGENCE, International.
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