Pantheon Snippet 1

 Dang it!

I meant to do this earlier this week but I was sidetracked with a couple of video projects. Oh well. 

Rea has sent Pantheon back, I'm about to send it on to Goodlifeguide. Here is the first snippet:

Chapter 1

 

The custom blue pearl and silver car twisted around the curves of the winding road by the sea with exquisite grace. Its occupants talked a little, but the driver kept one eye on the road.

He didn't need to. The car was one of his custom jobs with a powerful computer system that could drive nearly as well as a NASCAR race car. But he liked to be hands-on.

Tobin Safrin was a genius. He knew it; he knew he was arrogant too. He couldn't help it. Luckily, he had a beautiful woman beside him to keep him honest.

He was of average height and had a trim figure. That was one part forgetting to eat for periods of time when his brain was engaged and one part smart handling by his partner and fiancée Penny Armstrong.

The blond woman was smiling but she was still a little scared with his driving. Tobin had an intensity about him when he did it that was a little unreal. He was in control the entire time though. Despite being a techno genius, he still preferred to drive himself sometimes.

They were childhood friends and sweethearts. Tobin had created his own company and had hundreds of patents to his name. He was a multibillionaire. He dabbled in just about everything.

He had created room temperature superconductors that were rapidly changing the world. Just replacing high power transmission lines was netting them billions a year. It was also making impacts in fusion reactors, the space industry, and other high-tech things.

As a genius, he was better suited to the lab and his office dreaming up something over running the day-to-day operations of the business. That was Penny's job. They made a great team.

As a genius though, he tended to dabble in whatever caught his attention. That meant at one point or another he had gotten into just about everything. He'd explored a lot of A.I. coding before he got bored with it. Translation software, social media, logistic tracking, maps, video games, and other things had benefited from his touch and then he had switched to improving the hardware and other things.

The car shifted surfaces as he rounded a corner. The spoiler adjusted automatically. Vanes moved in and out slightly to adjust the car's aerodynamics. They helped with the downforce to keep the car hugging the road. Everything was electrical and whisper quiet. He avoided a dead cat in the road deftly and kept going.

At one point, he had explored assisted living mechs and prosthetics before he realized that the best thing was to get the person back up with organics. He spent a year learning bioscience and then formed a new department of his company. They built 3D printed organs and limbs.

From there he went into regeneration of various injuries allowing the disabled to walk, hear, and see again. The biosciences were the most popular division of the company because he did it all for 1 percent above cost. He wanted the tech to improve lives. It also undercut those who were interested in stealing the tech for their own profit. They couldn't profit at all with him cutting things to the bone.

She smiled as they arrived at a familiar picnic spot on the bluffs. Security was discretely present, for which she appreciated. Gabe doing his usual efficient best, she thought as Tobin got out, trotted around the car and opened the door for her. He even daintily held her hand as she leaned on it to climb out of his 4-wheel contraption.

A picnic blanket and basket were already set up. She smiled as they went over to look at the ocean and enjoy the breeze. She sniffed in appreciation, feeling the stress of the day unwind from her and seem to blow away.

She heard the pop of a wine bottle opening and turned with a lively smile to her partner. He poured each of them a glass and then handed her the first one.

She saluted him with it and then went to take a sip. She looked at him but her eye went up to the sky as something bright appeared like an explosion. She gasped, alerting him that something was going on behind him.

He turned to see what looked for all intense and purposes as a vertical glowing crack appeared in the darkening evening sky.

“Well! You don't see that every day,” he murmured.

~~>*<~~