Meet the goddess of destruction in the first scene of Worlds Away:
She escaped from a cult. Fought in Afghanistan with an Explosives Ordinance Disposal unit. Was discharged from the Army after a court martial. Fired from her latest job. Selena ‘Boom-Boom’ Baumer is no stranger to conflict. However, diving into an interstellar war on a planet she’s never heard of is pushing the limits, even for this rebel. It’s only temporary though, and in the meantime, the striped alien men are easy on the eyes. Helping them defeat a monstrous race of invaders can’t be a bad thing, right?
The explosives were set. All that remained was to bring the
hotel down, right in the middle of bustling Miami Beach.
Selena eyed the twenty-story structure through binoculars,
though she was situated in a spot where she’d have a perfect view of the
destruction. She preferred to see the finale up close, to imagine herself in
the midst of the flashes and flying debris. There was nothing like the end,
when obliteration struck.
At such times, she reflected on those who had inhabited her
target. The people who had walked those floors, who had laughed, lived their
lives, dreamed their dreams, never considering how such a place was fleeting.
As life itself was fleeting. Never anticipating how it would conclude in thunder
and lightning.
“Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust,” Selena breathed. The past
and present were coming together as she viewed the seemingly impervious
edifice. It had withstood hurricanes and the sometimes more cataclysmic spring
breaks. But it had never faced Selena Baumer.
It was a shame that there was no hush before the death, a
moment of silence before annihilation. Miami Beach was Miami Beach, full of
traffic and surf and seagull screams and the laughter of tourists. Had Selena
deigned to look beyond the concrete wall behind which she hid, she’d have seen
the colorful parade of sightseers. A never-ending procession of humanity, in
all its wide-eyed and wide-mouthed eagerness to gobble up the next experience,
the next selfie, the next breathless post of what they ate, what they drank,
and who they saw on the backdrop of pastel beaches and the even more pastel
buildings. Living it up as she, the goddess of destruction, readied to bring it
all down.
Selena’s heart beat hard as it always did before the instant
of execution. Whether overseas or stateside, in a remote village or in the
middle of a city, the excitement was the same. Heady. Intense. Almost arousing.
No, not almost. Definitely arousing.
She quelled a nervous giggle.
The voice in her earpiece had started the countdown. The
seconds lingered, yet they somehow flew past as well. The triggering mechanism
was slick in her sweating palm. The sun beat down mercilessly on the concrete
and glass edifice, a blinding glare. Would it rob her of the spectacle of the
flashes, of the balls of fire? Would the structure fall without granting her
the full performance?
“Five…four…three…”
Breath held. Lips licked. Please.
“Two…one…”
Oh, please.
“Light it up.”
It hit her as it usually did, a wave of emotion that was a
mix of terror and maddened delight. It was what Selena had been made for, when
the goddess of destruction announced her reign.
She triggered the explosives.
The sounds came first, a series of loud pops. Then, to
Selena’s exultant delight, the bright red flashes at the base of the old hotel.
As those continued, a low roar rose over the melodious glee that was Miami
Beach’s usual soundtrack. It was a sound that could not be mistaken as anything
but an explosion by anyone who’d ever gone to an action movie.
More pops. Flashes from midway up the building, which was
already descending like an elevator heading straight to hell. The ground shook
beneath Selena’s feet as the giant’s lowest levels fell. A whoosh, as if a mighty wind had blown up the coast, drowning out
thin, distant screams of humans and car alarms. A crash of thunder as flames
licked from the bottom of the collapsing structure, flames swiftly eclipsed in
the rising smoke and billowing dust.
As if in slow motion, it crumpled, one floor falling on the
next, more dust and debris swelling from the hotel’s agonizing death throes.
The rumble of its cry was deafening. The penthouse was the last part to display
its cracking façade before the gray shroud of disintegrating concrete covered
it from sight.
The final tremors, shivering up Selena’s legs. The last
moans of the condemned. The dry swish of wind settling. The patter of finely
crumbled remains sprinkling down in a shifting mist.
Silence.
She escaped from a cult. Fought in Afghanistan with an Explosives Ordinance Disposal unit. Was discharged from the Army after a court martial. Fired from her latest job. Selena ‘Boom-Boom’ Baumer is no stranger to conflict. However, diving into an interstellar war on a planet she’s never heard of is pushing the limits, even for this rebel. It’s only temporary though, and in the meantime, the striped alien men are easy on the eyes. Helping them defeat a monstrous race of invaders can’t be a bad thing, right?
Arga
Bolep, war commander of the planet Risnar, needs an explosives expert, and
Selena comes highly recommended. He’s not sure what he’s supposed to do with
this blue-haired, naughty-limerick singing, hardcore partier, but he knows one
thing’s for sure: he’s not about to fall in love. Not when he’s too aware of
how gut-wrenching loss can be. Despite his fascination with Selena, he’ll keep
their relationship as professional as her outrageous personality will allow.
When
the enemy race of Monsuda launch a surprise attack, threatening both Risnar and
Earth, Selena and Arga are forced to depend on each other just to survive. A
reckless plan to defeat the enemy could spell doom for the reluctant lovers—but
the more impulsive feelings they have for each other try their hearts and
souls.
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