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    The First One Through the Door: A Story of Alien Invasion
    The First One Through the Door: A Story of Alien Invasion
    The First One Through the Door: A Story of Alien Invasion
    Ebook36 pages29 minutes

    The First One Through the Door: A Story of Alien Invasion

    By John Walters

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    About this ebook

    As predatory aquatic aliens invade the Pacific Basin, a severely disabled young woman receives an experimental cure in a secret facility. As a side effect of the treatment, she and a few other test subjects become telepathically linked with each other and with the alien group-mind. The only hope for humankind is for these recently healed patients to attempt a suicidal mission deep within enemy strongholds.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAstaria Books
    Release dateApr 27, 2020
    ISBN9781393296881
    The First One Through the Door: A Story of Alien Invasion
    Author

    John Walters

    John Walters recently returned to the United States after thirty-five years abroad. He lives in Seattle, Washington. He attended the 1973 Clarion West science fiction writing workshop and is a member of Science Fiction Writers of America. He writes mainstream fiction, science fiction and fantasy, and memoirs of his wanderings around the world.

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      Book preview

      The First One Through the Door - John Walters

      The First One Through the Door

      If there are hostiles inside, the first one through the door in a hostage situation is sure to get hit.  It's the most perilous position on a strike team.  And yet these young men vie for the honor.  They have the mindset that puts their lives on the line for their team and for their mission's objective.

      The sun was hot.  The sky was deep blue.  The graduates, in uniform, stood ramrod straight to the side of the podium as the officer concluded his address.

      After they received their pins and certificates one by one, the graduates descended the platform to mingle with their families and friends, consume refreshments, take photos.

      *     *     *

      Linda remembers the ceremony as if it were yesterday.  Her brother Keith had immediately sought her out.  She had been twelve at the time.  Despite the age difference, they had always been close.

      Now, six years later, Keith is missing in action, and she is undergoing her own graduation, if you can call it that.

      There is no ceremony; there are no outside guests.

      The remaining bandages and restraints have been removed.  She is naked, yet unselfconscious.  These half-dozen people in attendance have been her only companions for months.  They have fed her, clothed her, cleaned up her waste, sat with her when the pain was all but unbearable, listened to her ravings while she was delirious with fever, kept her entertained as best they could with stories and music and videos.

      She raises her right arm.  She knows she can do it; this is the appendage she has practiced the most with.

      She raises her left arm.  She wiggles her toes.  She pulls her feet back so her knees elevate.

      When she feels ready, she slides her right leg so it dangles off the bed.  She attempts to roll over to her right, but her weight presses upon her lungs.  She lies back again, coughing.

      The burly male nurse who often lifts her from bed to wheelchair and back moves forward to assist her.

      She waves him away.

      She rolls over again and follows through with the motion despite another paroxysm of coughing.  She lies on her right side for a moment, resting, gathering her strength, and then manages to lift herself into a sitting position.

      So far, so good.  But this much she had been able to accomplish regularly even before

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