Gracie's Touch Zion Warriors 1

My husband, Steve, for believing in me and being proud enough of me to give me the courage to follow my dream. A special thanks to my sister and best friend, Linda, who not only encouraged me to write but read it as well.

GRACIE’S TOUCH: Zion Warriors Book 1

Copyright © 2012 by Susan E. Smith

First E-Book Publication
July
2012

Cover Design by S. E. Smith

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

All characters, places, and events in this book are fictitious or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is strictly coincidental.

Synopsis

Gracie
Jones
was
little more than a
child when the Earth was invaded by an alien species. Escaping into the subway tunnels of New York City, she hid in fear of being captured. Discovered by four men who became her protectors
,
she fought alongside them and they became known as the Freedom
Five
. At seventeen, she made a decision that turned the tide on the
war between Earth and the Allutha
ns but in exchange she gave up all that she knew.

Kordon Jefe is a Zion Warrior and commanding officer in charge of the Confederation of Planets military. When an unknown species begins attacking some of their outer settlements, he is assigned to discover who they are and stop them
…
at any cost.

Gracie unknowingly finds herself stranded millions of light years and hundreds of y
ears in the future in a distant
galaxy on an undeveloped moon. When an old enemy threatens once more, she does not hesitant to use her knowledge to
try to
stop them once again. Only this time, it is not just Earth she will be saving but the Confederation itself.

When their two worlds are thrown together, Kordon is unsure what to do with the strange, delicate creature that fights and behaves unlike anything he has ever encountered before. One thing he does know, he plans to keep her.

By reading any further, you are stating that you are at least 18 years of age. If you are under the age of 18, please get a refund for this book. It is designed for the entertainment of mature readers only.

“Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening to all the citizens of the world. This is Gracie reaching out to touch each and every one of you with love and hope. The Freedom Five, along with groups from around the world, are pushing back against the Alluthans. Forces around the world have freed thousands of captives
over the past several weeks
. Over two hundred Alluthan fighters have been destroyed in the past week. Our fight for freedom is heating up and we expect a break through soon, so don’t give up!” Gracie Jones leaned into the microphone attached to the bank of computers and continued sending out news, stories, and hope to the millions of listeners in fifteen different languages. She spent at least three hours a day during different times sending the messages of hope out. Adam worried it would open them up to attacks if the Alluthans traced the signal but Gracie was a master at bouncing signals off of the satellites the Alluthans hadn’t destroyed.

She was just ending her broadcast when Chance came in
. One look at his face and she knew he was
furious. She
also
knew what the cause was…Adam or Adrian finally told him about her plan. She winced when she
looked at
his face
again
. The confrontation about to come was not going to be a pleasant experience.

“This is Gracie’s Touch signing off.” Gracie said in a husky voice filled with emotion.

Fifteen minutes later she was ready to scream. She knew it was going to be difficult but she never expected it to be this difficult! Gracie turned to Adam pleading silently for his help.

“It’s the only way! I’m the only one who can do it.” Gracie said
again
quietly looking intently at the four men standing around her. “There is no other way.”

“Like hell there isn’t!” Chance said fiercely
. He
jerk
ed
away from Adam who grabbed
at
him
.

“Chance…” Gracie began
softly
.

“He’s right, Gracie. There is no way in hell we are going to let you do this.” Mark said softly.

Gracie sighed again in frustration. “Adam, you talk to them. You know I’m right.”

Adam watched as Gracie rose gracefully from the chair in front of
the
row of computers. He shut his eyes’ briefly in an effort to get control of the rage burning inside him. He knew she was right but he didn’t want to be the one to admit it. Adam opened his eyes and looked at his younger brother, Adrian, who hadn’t said a word through the whole argument. He had the same look of resignation in his eyes.

“Gracie is right. She is the only one who can do this.” Adam spoke quietly but with authority.

As the leader of one small group of New York rebels
known as the Freedom Five
, it was up to
him to make the tough decisions. He
wasn’t sure he would be able to live with
some of those decision
s
if they survived the fight for their freedom.
Five
years before Earth had been invaded by a group of ugly-ass aliens. There had been no warning, no promises for peace, nothing. The
half-organic/half-robotic
aliens had simply begun gathering up as many humans as possible and placing them in huge holding camps protected by
shield of some kind
. Millions perished from lack of food and medical care. It was later learned, thanks to the work of computer hackers, or geeks as Gracie liked to be called, that the aliens were planning on using the hum
ans as renewable parts for their own deteriorating forms
.
The Alluthans
were experimenting on
the captive humans
to
test their limitations and compatibility
. Gracie lost her parents and an older sister when the aliens first attacked New York. Adam, his brother Adrian and two
other survivors
,
Chance and Mark
,
found Gracie hiding in the old subway system
six months later
.
Gracie escaped with
her laptop, some external hard drives, and
had managed to tap
into one of the maintenance room’s access points to monitor what was happening. The governments of the world finally banded together to fight the threat but not before a devastating number of humans had died or were lost to the large alien holding camps.

Gracie
was the youngest daughter of two university professors at NYU.
Her ability
to understand
computer language, and languages in
general, was unbelievable.
By fifteen, she had mastered eight different languages
fluently and another seven on a conversational level. She also used her skills at
decipher
ing
computer generated languages
to stay one step ahead of the Alluthans.
For the past
two
years, she
focused on
studying the language and computer applications of the Alluthans
so she could find a way to defeat them
.

Adrian looked at his brother with a tense frown on his face. “You know it is suicide. She’ll never make it out.”

“That’s not true!” Gracie said turning to frown at the four men towering over her petite five foot four frame. “I have an excellent chance of escaping.”

“And how, pray tell, do you figure that?” Chance growled folding his arms across his massive chest.

“Chance, I can speak, read, and write their language. I’ve been stud
ying it extensively, as well as
their computer applications. Team
Two
has the
supply
ship of one of them in the old warehouse down by the river
thanks to me
. All I have to do is program
it to auto-pilot to the mother
ship. Once on board, I’ll upload the programs I’ve develop
ed
that will bring down the
shields
protecting all their bases and the prisoner camps around the world. Once it has downloaded, I reprogram the ship to bring me back to Earth.” Gracie said with a plea for understanding in her voice. “I know I can do this!”

Chance walked over and drew Gracie against him holding her close. She was the closest thing to family he had left besides the other guys standing with them. He had lost his family also and vowed to protect Gracie from the first time he saw her
emerald green
eyes staring fearfully ba
ck at him in the dark tunnel five
years ago.
He didn’t want to admit for a long time that as she matured his feelings for her grew beyond a brotherly love. At seventeen, Gracie was still too young. Chance was waiting as long as he could before he claimed Gracie as his own but he feared he would never get the chance to tell her how he felt about her.