I was kind of looking forward to this book and this series because I’d hear some good things about it. Well, I’m was totally disappointed, but I find the writing kind of stilted. The dialogue between the two main characters isn’t what I consider smooth and I’m not sure why. One is an alien and the other is a human so I guess there should be some difficulty in communicating right at the start.
Anyways, I was really, really surprised to find that Raymond “Flip” Kinnely was described as an old man of seventy-five. Well, I happen to be seventy-five and I kind of resent, no I guess I really, resemble an old man! Still, Flip as he’s usually called, seems to get himself in a lot of trouble.
He works as a janitor for the VasCorp which is somehow tied into the government. I do know they have some government contracts and the place Flip works has security guards around most of the time. Yet, he’s never really encountered much high-level secrecy around the plant that he currently works. Except for today!
He gets a frantic call from his boss to come in right now. Flip can’t understand why the hurry but he is doing his best to get to work as fast as possible. He gets to the entrance security gate only to find a new guard there, a more up-armored guard than usual. The guard checks his clip-board and says Flip is on the list so he lets him through. Flip notices other unusual activity around the plant. There’s a lot more perimeter guards roaming around and they have sharpshooters on the roof! Now he’s really confused as to what’s going on.
Once he gets to his shop office, he finds his boss sitting at a table and he’s the only one there. He asks where’s every one else, but the boss says they were told to leave and take the day off! So, why was he called in. Well, his boss said the had to have someone there besides himself and Flip’s shift was coming up so that’s why he’s there. Then Flip asked about all the extra security around. His boss says he’s not sure, but he’s been told to stay out of the hanger and he tells Flip he better do that also.
So, Flip grabs his usual stuff and heads out to do his usual routine. He does pass the hanger and has a chance to peek through the doors. What he sees is a huge rock that seems to be sitting inside the hanger but it looks too big to have gotten through the doors. He also sees a lot of the lab guys walking around the rock talking to each other. They seem to be trying to figure out his thing.
Well, Flip has seen enough to know it’s none of his business so he heads on down to clean the corporate offices. Once there he sees one of the guards that he trained a few years back. He asks him what’s he doing guarding the office doors and his friend tells him they are keeping someone inside. He also tells Flip that he’s not going in there without some kind of authorization.
Well, this really puzzles Flip. But then the guard tells him that the comms are down and he can’t get a relief so he can hit the head! He’s in bad shape and asks if Flip will take his place for just a few minutes while he does his business. Flip reluctantly agrees and the guard hands him his pistol which Flip tucks into his pants. He also receives the security key card from the guard, but is told not to use it or open the door!
But then he hears a tiny voice talking to him through the door. Who ever it is, is asking for him to let her out. Flip can’t see through the door so he asks if the person is hurt or just why is she being locked in the offices. She says she was captured along with her shuttle. Flip can’t figure that out, but he asks if she knows what that thing is in the hanger. She says she does and it is her shuttle. She needs to get back to it and go find the object she has been looking for.
Flip just doesn’t see why anyone should be held agains their will by VasCorp. They are not a police organization so don’t have the authority to just abuse anyone of their rights. And detaining someone agains their will just doesn’t set right with Flip. So Flip decides to open the door.
Well, things are going to definitely change for Raymond “Flip” Kinnely. He finds out the person being held is actually an alien woman called Sorsha. She’s kind of blue so that’s a big change from the few women Flip’s normally sees. She begins to ask for his help and one thing leads to another and Flip is going to become very closely attached to this alien female.
This is going to be an adventure for any seventy-five year old guy. Sorsha is probably in her thirties, not bad looking, but, of course, very alien. She has some kind of translation device that allows her to speak English and understand most of what Flip says. Flip’s life is certainly going to change. They will get out of the plant, but then Sorsha has to find something that is not far from where they are now. But, by then, VasCorp has brought in some high-level operatives that are going to chase Flip and Sorsha down one way or another. Flip is looking at being dead or spending the rest of his life behind bars.
A good start to an interesting series. While I don’t like the dialogue, it doesn’t distract from the book. There is some fighting and not just on Earth. Flip will be rewarded, but that’s just because of the circumstances and the chance he took. He’s going to live longer than he ever expected. More to this story will be told in book 2, “Nomads Gate”, now available on Amazon.
==[Note: As of 12/03/2023, this will not be published on Amazon since I have been banned from posting reviews for some unknown reason. Once the ban is lifted, assuming it does get lifted, I’ll go back and post this to Amazon.]==