O2xygone (eBook)
284 Seiten
Bookbaby (Verlag)
979-8-3178-1081-8 (ISBN)
I am a retired Information Technology Executive who likes to tell stories and always wanted to write them down but like many climbing the corporate ladder, never had the time to do so until now. One such story I carried with me in my head for forty years. It was a story about the 'Bones of Christ' being discovered. It came to me a long time ago as a result of a discussion I had as a young teenager with a pious man who was concerned about my then wanderings from the core of my Irish Catholic faith. I knew his faith was very strong and I asked him what it would take to shake it to its core. His answer was 'if they ever found the bones of Christ for he rose body and soul.' That got me thinking about a story; a story that would become Corpus Christi, my debut novel. It is a great story, even if I do say so myself. And I hope those of you that read it, enjoy doing so as much as I enjoyed writing it. My second book, 'Counterpunch' is also now available. It is an intricate tale about an assassination attempt on the President of the United States set against the backdrop of a terrorist attack on our mainland. It wasn't percolating as long is my head as my first book, but the end result is of no less quality. As is my third book, 'Perpetual Sin'. It is a dark novel in which satanic forces are set against those of God. A curse is unleashed - the curse of the first born - and it must be stopped lest evil triumph over good and another innocent victim is taken. The clock is ticking. And my fourth book, 'I am William Wallace,' a memoir of my career climbing the corporate ladder. It is essential reading for any aspiring, even mid-tier Information Technology executive, or anybody else with general management aspirations. It borrows heavily from Mel Gibson's Braveheart and is a compelling memoir of my determination to overcome rejection at an early age and rise to the highest echelons of leadership in Information Technology in a Fortune 100 company. Like the story of William Wallace depicted in Braveheart, 'I am William Wallace' touches all the emotions that it is humanly possible to experience - excitement, disappointment, elation, betrayal, anxiety, confidence, love, anger, compassion, forgiveness, humor, fear, shock, and awe. The successes, mistakes, even failures, experienced on my journey and the observed behaviors of the people whom I met along the way, and their impact on me personally, are a must for anyone on the same path, to know, understand and internalize. Replicating my journey won't guarantee the same success but not learning from it will almost certainly herald an outcome more like Falkirk than Sterling Bridge. After the memoir I returned to fiction, and my latest is Ozxygone, a tale in the age of climate change. It begins with a shocking murder, continues with a government cover-up, and ends with a cataclysmic revelation. Fueled by a woman on a mission, a man on the fringes, and an international police operation, it is a race to solve a crime, expose a conspiracy, and prevent a mass extinction event not seen since the dinosaurs. My accomplice in crime in all these endeavors was my wife Eleanor and our three adult children, James, Maire, and Anne who reviewed, edited and gave their seal of approval, the seal of approval that is worthy of the name Connolly.
A murder. A conspiracy. A secret quest. And an event not seen in sixty-five million years. So are the ingredients for a buckle your seat ride that moves seamlessly, even effortlessly from Paris, Algiers and Afghanistan to the United States of America where it oscillates between the south and east coasts, the deserts of Arizona and the Pacific northwest, with an extraterrestrial trip in between. O2xyGone details an effort to conceal an impending event not experienced since dinosaurs ruled the world and four people determined to thwart that effort and expose a very existential threat to the future of life on planet Earth as we know it. At its core are a woman mourning a death, but no ordinary woman- a veteran US Army ranger with her own regrets; a conspiracy theorist determined to investigate all too regular yet inexplicable seismic movements, but no ordinary conspiracy theorist- a discarded Top Gun with something to prove; a French policeman on the hunt to solve the murder that began it all, but no ordinary policeman- a man whose pursuit knows no boundaries; and last but not least, an FBI agent whose ordinariness is defined by WYSIWYG - what you see is what you get!Against them all are powerful people at the core of the defense industrial base and the very US government that they serve.
Dr. Arnie Glover
It was a beautiful summer morning. The cloudless Parisian sky was a deep rich blue and the city of lights was almost glistening against its backdrop. Arnie Glover loved Paris. He was coming to the end of his morning jog. He was at the Place du Trocadero, across the Seine from the Eiffel Tower. He paused to marvel at its greatness. Though initially criticized by Paris’s elite at the time of its construction as being wholly out of touch with the character of the city, it has since become beloved and is arguably the most recognizable cultural icon in the world. To this day, it dominates the Parisian skyline. And the Place du Trocadero, afforded the most majestic unobstructed views of that icon. It was truly something to behold. Maybe he could derive some inspiration from it for the most important presentation of his life later in the afternoon at Le Bourget. He was nervous. It was the biggest gathering of climate scientists in Paris since the United Nations Climate Change Conference of 2015, and Dr. Arnie Glover was the keynote speaker.
He was scheduled to make an announcement to the world at the United Nations Climate Change Conference of 2020 or UNC32020, as it was dubbed. It was the culmination of the last ten years of research effort at The National University of the United States of America, or NUUSA, as it was better known. And it was the most significant scientific discovery since the hominid in 2001 A Space Odyssey picked up a bone from a carcass and realized it could be wielded as a weapon.
The world as we know it will never be the same again. He was musing to himself. What do I say? How do I say it?
In his head he was thinking about how to phrase it.
My fellow academics, other distinguished visitors, members of the press, ladies and gentlemen, we are on the precipice of an extinction event not experienced on this planet since the dinosaurs were wiped out sixty-five million years ago.
That would get their attention.
Buzz! Buzz!
He looked down at his arm. It was his Fitbit. Time to get back to the hotel. Time for final preparations.
*****
Back in his room, Dr. Glover was going over the numbers in his head, memorizing the ones that were the most important and that needed to be recited with poise, precision, and presence. He would be talking directly to the audience. Sure, he would have charts to help him but he was a religious follower of the rule of three. Three charts. Three bullets on each chart. Three keywords in each bullet. He wasn’t one for reading charts and he didn’t want his audience reading them either. He wanted them to look at him. This would be a Where were you when you heard the news event. People remember where they were when they heard about Diana Spencer’s death, John F. Kennedy’s assassination, 9/11, or even Elvis’s death. Well, they would remember where they were when they heard the news that Arnie Glover was about to share.
A knock came to his door. He wasn’t expecting anybody. He ignored it.
“Room Service,” he heard being shouted aloud.
That’s impossible. I have the Do Not Disturb notice hanging on the door handle, he thought to himself.
The knocking kept going on. He was getting frustrated. It was interfering with his preparation. He got up. He went to the door.
“I didn’t order room service. I don’t want or need my room made up. I am okay. Thank you,” he shouted.
“I am sorry, sir” the voice said. “It is a gift for you on this day of days. It is from the chairman of today’s conference.”
“Thank you. Just leave it at the door,” Dr. Glover replied.
He wanted to get back to his presentation.
“Sir, I need a signature,” the voice replied.
“Christ,” Arnie Glover said in an exasperated manner as he opened the door.
He should have put the security latch on. In his elevated state of frustration, he didn’t. No sooner had he opened the door than two men burst in. They pushed the door hard into the wall with Dr. Glover behind it. They overpowered him. They threw him onto the bed.
“What the hell? Who the hell?” he shouted.
Without saying anything, one of the men grabbed a pillow, put it over Dr. Glover’s knee, and shot him. He screamed in pain and writhed in agony.
“Where is it?” the man’s accomplice asked.
“Where is what?” Dr. Glover answered.
“The memory stick!” the intruder said.
“What memory stick?” Arnie Glover answered.
He was in agony.
“Do you want us to do the other knee?” his buddy asked pointing his gun at Arnie Glover’s other knee.
“Okay. Okay,” Dr. Glover retorted. “It’s in my inside jacket pocket.”
“Get it,” the one with the gun signaled to his mate.
“On it,” he said rummaging through Dr. Glover’s pocket.
He found it.
“Got it,” he added.
“Great,” the leader said as put the gun to the side of Dr. Glover’s head and without saying anything, pulled the trigger.
Dr. Arnie Glover was dead. The two men left him where he lay and exited the room. They had got what they came for and did what they had to do.
*****
Annette Hamill was getting nervous. Dr. Glover should be down by now. Their car was waiting.
What is keeping him? she wondered..
She rang his cell phone. No answer. She rang his room phone. No answer.
This is very uncharacteristic, she thought.
She went to the concierge. He tried calling. Nothing.
“We have to go to his room,” she said. “There must be something wrong. Dr. Glover has a presentation at a conference this afternoon. He should be down by now. This is not like him.”
“Okay,” the concierge replied.
He signaled over to one of the doormen to take over at the concierge desk while he went with Annette Hamill. He went over to the reception where he got a master key that would let him in to Dr. Glover’s room. Annette and he went up. He knocked the door. Nothing.
“Dr. Glover,” he shouted.
Still nothing. He opened the door. Annette was behind him. He could see someone’s leg on the edge of the bed.
He ran in, shouting Dr. Glover’s name, as he went.
Past the entrance to the bathroom, he could see the body of Dr. Arnie Glover lying on the bed where his assailants had left him. He could see the wound on his knee. He looked up at his head. He saw the gunshot to the head. He turned to catch Annette. He didn’t want her to see any more than she had to. It was too late. She had seen her boss lying there. She screamed. The concierge grabbed her. She was in shock. She was crying uncontrollably. He held her close to him.
“Let’s go,” he said. “Let’s go back down to the lobby.”
“We can’t just leave him. He needs our help,” Annette replied.
“I am sorry but he is beyond our help,” the concierge said. “We need to go. We need to leave this to the police. We need to call them. Let’s get down to the foyer. Please. Let’s go.”
He ushered Annette out and closed the door behind him leaving Dr. Arnie Glover in a pool of his own blood.
Down in the lobby he told the manager what they had discovered in Dr. Glover’s room and called the police. The manager was clearly interested in keeping as much of a lid on this as possible. There was no point in spooking the other guests. Not yet. They took Annette into an office behind the reception. One of the receptionists stayed with her. They got her a cup of tea. Tea is good for shock and reducing elevated endorphins. God knows Annette needed to come down from an exceedingly elevated state of anxiety. She was in danger of collapsing herself. She was just moping. A policeman came in. A detective. He introduced himself as Philippe Mireault.
“Bonjour Madame. Je suis Philippe Mireault a la police de Paris,” he said.
“Anglais. Anglais,” the receptionist said to him on her way out of the room. “English. English.”
“Ah, oui. Pardon,” he replied as he prepared to switch to English. “Ah, yes. Sorry. I am Philippe Mireault of the Paris police. I am sorry for your loss, Ms. Hamill, but I need to ask you some questions,” he continued with his heavy French accent.
He looked at...
| Erscheint lt. Verlag | 20.7.2025 |
|---|---|
| Sprache | englisch |
| Themenwelt | Literatur ► Romane / Erzählungen |
| ISBN-13 | 979-8-3178-1081-8 / 9798317810818 |
| Informationen gemäß Produktsicherheitsverordnung (GPSR) | |
| Haben Sie eine Frage zum Produkt? |
EPUB (Ohne DRM)Größe: 997 KB
Digital Rights Management: ohne DRM
Dieses eBook enthält kein DRM oder Kopierschutz. Eine Weitergabe an Dritte ist jedoch rechtlich nicht zulässig, weil Sie beim Kauf nur die Rechte an der persönlichen Nutzung erwerben.
Dateiformat: EPUB (Electronic Publication)
EPUB ist ein offener Standard für eBooks und eignet sich besonders zur Darstellung von Belletristik und Sachbüchern. Der Fließtext wird dynamisch an die Display- und Schriftgröße angepasst. Auch für mobile Lesegeräte ist EPUB daher gut geeignet.
Systemvoraussetzungen:
PC/Mac: Mit einem PC oder Mac können Sie dieses eBook lesen. Sie benötigen dafür die kostenlose Software Adobe Digital Editions.
eReader: Dieses eBook kann mit (fast) allen eBook-Readern gelesen werden. Mit dem amazon-Kindle ist es aber nicht kompatibel.
Smartphone/Tablet: Egal ob Apple oder Android, dieses eBook können Sie lesen. Sie benötigen dafür eine kostenlose App.
Geräteliste und zusätzliche Hinweise
Buying eBooks from abroad
For tax law reasons we can sell eBooks just within Germany and Switzerland. Regrettably we cannot fulfill eBook-orders from other countries.
aus dem Bereich
