Vendetta Read online

  Copyright © 2018 Richard Guy Mann Goldbloom Publishing. December 2018

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval without permission in writing from the author. All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. This work is registered with the UK Copyright Service registration number 284713421.

  I greatly appreciate you taking the time to read my work. This is the Special Edition with extra chapters, pictures, histories, afterword, and appendices. Please consider leaving a review wherever you bought this book or telling your friends about my books, to help spread the word.

  Cover illustration by Denis Turla and Richard Mann. Pictures purchased from Shutterstock. Internal pictures are classified as free to use, share or modify commercially.

  www.richardmannblog.com

  Feedback on the book: [email protected]

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  First edition

  Printed in the USA by the wonderful people at CreateSpace

  “Fabulous book! Science thriller with a feel of history. It pulled me from the first page. Plenty of action, adventure and unusual twists. The characters are masterly written and author’s attention to details deserves a lot of praise. At times I felt like I was traveling in time and space and it reminds me Star Wars and Lord of the Rings. Highly recommend this book to all Sci-fi lovers. Looking forward to your next book Richard Mann!”

  By Iryna Dudinaon 25 November 2017 | Verified Purchase

  “An outstanding piece of work. Destined to be a classic. It’s the best action adventure book I’ve read in years, gripping, edge of seat excitement, a real page turner. It’s a mix of sci-fi action thriller horror and historical fiction...Frederick Forsyth and Bernard Cromwell on steroids..

  This is quite a long book..but it needs to be. There is real depth on the characters..they feel alive and real. I really love Cockney Vinnie the sexy femme fatale vampire lucia and the flawed complex hero Bullet Proof Pete. I felt I could relate to the characters. There are many funny moments (esp. When 2 tough SAS heroes dress up as women).

  There’s also an interesting love triangle but I won’t go into it here as it will spoil the story. There is plenty of fascinating backstory....WWII and Roman times.i felt like I was there..i like the old fashioned chapter titles pictures appendices and history. Can’t wait for book two.”

  By Dan 8 November 2017 Format: Paperback | Verified Purchase

  “A tried and tested formula, aliens invade earth destroying and enslaving humanity. But this has an unusual twist. Humanity fights back with vampires as allies. A well-written book that will have you hooked from the first to the last page. It’s reminiscent of Lord of the Rings in scope and adventure. Can’t wait for the sequel.”

  By Celine 16 September 2017 Format: Kindle Edition | Verified Purchase

  “Excellent effort by a new author!

  Full of ambition and wide-ranging scope.

  Something for lovers of Sci-Fi, action heroes and with vampires thrown in for good measure!”

  By DejiDeal 15 September 2017 Format: Kindle Edition | Verified Purchase

  “Although I’m not a big reader this book was very easy to read which kept pulling me closer and closer. The characters were very interesting and the plot twists and surprises kept the reader engrossed in the story, it’s clear to see the author has put a lot of effort into the research that’s gone into this book.

  The quality of the book itself is also very good, however you wouldn’t expect less for the price. This book has definitely peaked my interest in reading more books and I can’t wait for the sequel.”

  By David on 5 September 2017 Format: Paperback | Verified Purchase

  “What a vivid imagination the author must have. The story is so well laid out one has virtually to be arrested to put the book down. I will not go into the story here except to say that it covers the globe and ventures into space. I’m looking forward to book 2. Don’t be long Richard mann.” By Chris 22 August 2017 Format: Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase

  This book is dedicated to my family

  who are the rock of my life. To

  my mother Patricia, you have always been there for us.

  “Sometimes doing your best is not good enough.

  Sometimes you must do what is required.”

  Sir Winston Churchill

  “A time to love, and a time to hate, a

  time of war, and a time of peace.”

  Ecclesiastes 3:8

  Contents

  Cast of Characters

  Chapter 1: Sirius Soldiers

  Chapter 2: Vinnie’s Pain

  Chapter 3: Pep Talk

  Chapter 4: Breakfast in the Desert

  Chapter 5: Route 66

  Chapter 6: Smelly Aliens

  Chapter 7: Bleak House

  Chapter 8: Remember the Holocaust

  Chapter 9: Shirley

  Chapter 10: Into the Maelstrom

  Chapter 11: Who Dares Wins

  Chapter 12: Summon the Holy Sword

  Chapter 13: Escape to Mojave

  Chapter 14: Handsome Mike

  Chapter 15: Sand Storm

  Chapter 16: How Was It Out There?

  Chapter 17: The Centurion

  Chapter 18: Meeting of Minds

  Chapter 19: Nazi Aliens

  Chapter 20: Peter Meets A Vampire

  Chapter 21: Message from the Queen

  Chapter 22: Cassian Remembers

  Chapter 23: Forging of Friends

  Chapter 24: Caius is the Legend

  Chapter 25: Into The Unknown

  Chapter 26: I Love the Smell of Crispy Fried Aliens

  Chapter 27: The Lust of Lucia

  Chapter 28: Everyone has Gone Mad

  Chapter 29: Alien Dictator

  Chapter 30: The Moment has Come

  Chapter 31: Price of Failure

  Chapter 32: Nine Wives

  Chapter 33: Buyers Remorse

  Chapter 34: Safer than Fort Knox

  Chapter 35: Escape from Hell

  Chapter 36: Flying Demon

  Chapter 37: We Are Ladies

  Chapter 38: Message from Jennifer

  Chapter 39: The Sigil of Prince Michael

  Chapter 40: Lucia’s Blood-Thirst

  Chapter 41: A New Hope

  Chapter 42: Reunion

  Chapter 43: Confessional

  Chapter 44: Unholy Alliance

  Chapter 45: Last Stand

  Chapter 46: Battle in the Sewer

  Chapter 47: Persistent Robot

  Chapter 48: To Steal A Plane

  Chapter 49: An Unexpected Journey

  Chapter 50: Reg and Ron

  Chapter 51: Court Martial

  Chapter 52: Prepare for Battle

  Chapter 53: Peter The Indefatigable

  Chapter 54: This is Not What We Signed Up For

  Chapter 55: Angry Vampires

  Chapter 56: The Counteroffensive Begins

  Chapter 57: The Professor’s Lab

  Chapter 58: Midnight Attack

  Chapter 59: The Mission is Compromised

  Chapter 60: Firefight

  Chapter 61: Not So Bulletproof

  Chapter 62: Healing on the Hillside

  Chapter 63: Aventine Hill by the Tiber

  Chapter 64: I Dream of Angels

&nb
sp; Chapter 65: Nowhere to Run

  Chapter 66: Time for a Pint

  Chapter 67: Ergtuk the 82nd

  Chapter 68: The Life of Ergtuk

  Chapter 69: Dark Side of the Moon

  Chapter 70: Secret Conspiracy

  Chapter 71: Dangerous Cargo

  Chapter 72: Cry for Help

  Chapter 73: War Stories

  Chapter 74: World on a Knife Edge

  Chapter 75: Nazi Bomb

  Amazon Review

  Acknowledgements

  Appendices

  About the Author

  Feedback to the Author

  Book Movie Trailer

  Cast of Characters

  Captain Peter ‘Bulletproof’ Morgan - SAS soldier / MI6 agent

  Corporal Vinnie ‘The Terminator’ Carson - SAS soldier

  Lucia - Vampire Elder and member of the Vampiri Grand Council

  Count Cassian - Vampire Elder and Head of the Vampiri Grand Council

  Jennifer Morgan – Peter’s wife

  Frank Wilson - US President

  General Bill Scott - US Chief of Defense Staff

  General Julian Grimbald - Head of US Space command

  Professor Picard – Eccentric French Polymath

  Father Sebastian Harris - Priest. Ex SAS

  Sir Nigel Goldbroom – MI6 Chief

  Ergtuk the 82nd – Sumeri Alien Clone

  Herr Herg-Zuk – Sumeri Alien Emperor

  Marshal Zurg-Uk – Sumeri Alien Defense Chief

  Lord Grim-Uk – Sumeri Alien Narzuk SS Chief

  Himm-Uk – Sumeri Alien Narzuk SS Deputy Chief

  Gill Carson – Vinnie’s wife

  ‘Handsome’ Mike - US Navy Seal

  General Mike Schmitt – Sirius Defense Chief

  Captain Duke Miller – CIA agent

  Colonel Bradley – 21 regiment SAS Colonel

  Colonel Stan Wight – Sirius base Colonel

  Please note: The Appendices: Cockney slang table and Vampiri and Sumeri Alien command structure are at the back of the book. Additional material is available in the Special Edition.

  “I imagine they might exist in massive ships, having used up all the resources from their home planet. Such advanced aliens would perhaps become nomads, looking to conquer and colonise whatever planets they can reach.”

  “To my mathematical brain, the numbers alone make thinking about aliens perfectly rational.”

  “The real challenge is working out what aliens might actually be like.” “We only have to look at ourselves to see how intelligent life might develop into something we wouldn’t want to meet.”

  “If aliens ever visit us, I think the outcome would be much as when Christopher Columbus first landed in America, which didn’t turn out very well for the American Indians.”

  Professor Stephen Hawking

  Chapter 1

  Sirius Soldiers

  SIRIUS UNDERGROUND COMMAND BUNKER-MOJAVE DESERT

  After three days with virtually no sleep, Peter is feeling refreshed after a good rest. He and Vinnie have both learned that the secret to a good night’s sleep is to eat well and drink plenty of water, so as not to be dehydrated when you wake up. Vinnie is complaining to a technician that he cannot find any tea bags.

  ‘I’m English—I don’t drink coffee. Where’s the tea?’

  Peter produced some tea bags from his kit. ‘Never travel without teabags.’

  ‘Lifesaver. Yorkshire Tea,’ replied Vinnie.

  As Peter and Vinnie walk down a corridor Vinnie is stopped by a technician who looks at his torn trousers. ‘What are you looking at mate?’ asks Vinnie.

  ‘Do you want some new pants?’ asks the technician.

  ‘You what mate? You want to look at my pants—are you a homosexual or somefin’?’ Vinnie stands face to face with the technician. Peter smiles.

  ‘Er no your pants are torn…’ replies the frightened technician.

  ‘Oh, you mean do I want some new trousers?’ asks Vinnie.

  ‘Yes, new pants.’

  ‘These yanks don’t talk proper English, Bulletproof,’ says Vinnie. Peter lets out a guffaw of laughter and pats Vinnie on the back. Having Vinnie around cheers him up—takes his mind off Jennifer for a while. In their darkest hour, everyone needs a friend they can rely on, thinks Peter.

  Every Frodo needs their Sam.

  Vinnie and Peter in fresh military fatigues are in a TV room with other Special Forces soldiers. Like many soldiers who have seen a massive amount of combat, they have a wired look to their eyes, known as the ‘thousand-yard stare.’ Peter and Vinnie have it too—they have seen their fair share of combat in Iraq and Afghanistan.

  And Yemen, don’t forget Yemen.

  The assembled soldiers are amongst the best of the best of the Elite Special Forces, chosen, like Peter, for the Sirius project. Peter waves to someone he recognises from his Iraq stint. They sup their tea while watching a training video on project Sirius weapons technology, and how to operate them.

  “This is the PR7 Rifle. It uses electrically-driven, electromagnetic, rail gun technology. This gives a constant acceleration along the entire length of the device, significantly increasing the muzzle velocity. It does not use explosive propellant—it is a strictly kinetic weapon. Each projectile travels at 2000 mph with a muzzle velocity of 1000lbs, enough kinetic force, in one bullet, to take out an armoured vehicle. It takes a magazine of thirty 20mm uranium-enriched projectiles and is powered by a unique electro-mag battery which is inserted into the stock, here. It can also fire a grenade with a range of 1000 yards.”

  ‘Kinetic energy,’ Vinnie raises his eyebrows. He has a natural interest in new rifle technology, being the best marksman in the regiment.

  Peter has read a New Scientist article about a space-based weapon that was fired from a satellite orbiting Earth—a non-explosive, twenty-foot long tungsten projectile, which would hit earth travelling at Mach ten. Devastating. Project Thor or something. But a rifle? He has used the PR7 once before, at Buckingham Palace, but it would be good to get some proper training.

  A Project Sirius officer addresses the soldiers.

  ‘I am Lieutenant Ross. We will go outside so you can train on the weapons. Alien activity is low in this area, but we will warn you of any incoming.’

  Peter and Vinnie are in the dry, arid Mojave Desert. There is a light breeze, but the desert air dries Peter’s mouth. Peter looks up at the blue sky; a vulture is circling above. ‘Nice place,’ thinks Peter, as he gulps some water, and puts on his sunglasses. He examines his solid titanium PR7 rifle. He adjusts his sight, loads a grenade, aims and fired the grenade launcher, which takes out a bus—and half the hillside with it. A plume of dust fills the air around them. Peter rubs his shoulder, the recoil from the shot is ferocious—even though he has the strength of ten men, he feels the recoil.

  ‘Use a pad for the stock, Vinnie, it’s got a vicious kick,’ says Peter. Vinnie nods and then destroys a tank with two shots from the rifle.

  ‘Now that’s what I’m talking about,’ Peter admires his gun.

  ‘Nice rifle,’ says Vinnie, ‘I think I’m in love,’ rubbing his shoulder.

  A siren sounds as Peter is about to fire another round. ‘We’ve got incoming!’ shouts the Lieutenant as soldiers run for the bunker. Peter just manages to dive into the bunker, and the huge steel door seals behind him as a black alien fighter flies past.

  Chapter 2

  Vinnie’s Pain

  SIRIUS UNDERGROUND COMMAND BUNKER-MOJAVE DESERT

  Atechnician looks at a bank of screens showing Sirius video feeds from around the world. Vinnie and Peter are standing behind him.

  ‘Captain Morgan, we have an incoming feed from an X-37D over London.’ The X-37D flies over a ruined Buckingham Palace; V
innie and Peter are shocked.

  ‘Glad we got Her Majesty away safely,’ whispers Peter.

  ‘God Bless the Queen,’ replies Vinnie. Peter crosses himself and nods, recalling their conversations with the Queen and Prince Philip, now indelibly burned into his mind.

  Next are pictures of toppled skyscrapers in the City of London, the Cheese Grater and the Gherkin lie in ruins, but remarkably the NatWest Tower still stands. The X-37D fuselage shimmers as the cloaking hides the ship from the alien fighters buzzing around the City. The X-37D slows down as it flies over Liverpool Street, then the East End of London. Vinnie looks worried.

  ‘Looks like my street, they destroyed my local Pub; look Pete, the Blind Beggar. Where am I going to get a decent pint now?’ says a distressed Vinnie. Peter’s super-vision spots something, and his heart jumped as he points at the corner of the screen.

  ‘Hold on there! In that crowd of women—it looks like Gill!’

  Vinnie stands open-mouthed, then gets on his knees.

  ‘Gill?’

  The X-37D hovers over the street. Vinnie and Peter watch as Vinnie’s wife, Gill, and a few other young and attractive women, are scanned, drugged and then taken away by Narzuks in black uniforms. Peter notices these particular aliens are fitter looking than the normal troops and have red armbands: meaner and leaner.

  Gill wakes up and is waving her arms and screaming as she is taken onto a larger transport ship, but then is injected again.

  Men and other, mixed-race women are ignored, or killed. Any who do not cooperate are shot where they stand. Bodies litter the streets. The ones who do cooperate are taken to a separate transport ship, to God knows where.

  BLIND BEGGAR PUB - LONDON

  Vinnie’s gangster father Reg and his brother Ron are holed up behind the bar in the Blind Beggar Pub in Whitechapel. The buildings around are badly damaged, people wander around like zombies unable to comprehend what has happened to their lives. An alien ship has landed outside, and alien soldiers in black, followed by blank-looking troops in grey uniforms stream out of the ship. The aliens are shouting orders; Reg can hear the unholy barking of alien dogs. Vinnie’s wife Gill hides, cowering under a table.