Atlantis Series by Bob Mayer by cool Gus

ATLANTIS series book ONE by Bob Mayer

PART I THE PAST

THE DROUGHT AD 800 ANGKOR KOL KER It was well into the first month of the wet season but not a drop of rain had fallen. Concern in the first week had turned to fear by the fourth week. As the water level of the deep moat fell, so did the will of the occupants of the capitol city. Anxiety was spreading like a sickness from person to person and mother to babe. The city had taken the people over five hundred years to build. Within its watery protection lay all their wealth, memories and the graves of ten generations of their ancestors. It was the most advanced and beautiful city on the face of the planet. Thousands of miles to the west, Charlemagne was being crowned Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire in the Eternal City, but this place deep in the jungles of Southeast Asia dwarfed even Rome in comparison. It was the center of kingdom extending south to about the Srivijayan Empire of Sumatra and the Shailandra Empire of Java. To the northeast, the Tang Dynasty of China ruled, while to the west, in the Middle East, the tide of Islam was rising. The capitol city of Angkor Kol Ker, the heart of the Khmer empire, held architecture the likes of which Europe would not see for half a century. But within the empire lay a Shadow--a dark place, which closed off all travel toward India and the world beyond. The ancestors of the Khmer people had traveled halfway around the globe to avoid the shadow and for many generations they had seemingly foiled the force that had destroyed their original homeland. That place had birthed the Ones Before; the ones who knew the secrets of the Shadow. Secrets that their descendants had forgotten or remembered only as myth. But two generations

ago, myth and legend reappeared in the lives of the Khmer. The Shadow had appeared in the mountainous jungle to the northwest, sometimes coming close, sometimes almost disappearing, but always stopping at the water. Now the water was disappearing. The Emperor and his advisers gazed toward the mist-covered jungle beyond the evaporating moat knowing the Shadow had removed their choices as quickly as the sun took away the water. They spotted a fire from the guard tower on top of a northern mountain that poked above the mist. The fire burned for two nights, then went out and never came back. The Emperor knew it was time. The Ones Before had written thousands of years ago of abandoning their home. He knew the cost of quitting the city. The Ones Before had chosen a hard thing to save the people. The next morning, the Emperor issued the order to evacuate the city. Wagons were piled high, packs were placed on backs, and en masse, almost the entire population of the city crossed the lone causeway and trekked away to the south. Fifty strong men remained. Warriors, standing tall, spears, swords and bows in hand, they had chosen to represent all the people of the Khmer. The would face the Shadow, so the city would not die alone. They destroyed the causeway and waited on the northern edge of the city, staring across at the dark mist that approached. It grew ever closer despite their prayers that the clouds would come overhead and rain would fall, filling the moats. The men had been tested in battle numerous times. Against the Tang people to the northeast, and the people of the sea along the coast to the south, they had fought many battles and won most, expanding the kingdom of the Khmer. But the warriors of the Khmer had never invaded the jungle-covered mountains to the northwest. They had never within living memory gone in that direction, nor had any intrepid traveler from the lands on the other side come through.

The warriors were brave men but even the bravest's heart quavered each morning as the mist grew closer, and the water still lower. One morning they could see the stone bottom of the moat and only puddles were left, drying under the fierce sun. The moat was over four hundred meters wide and surrounded the entire rectangle of buildings and temples, stretching four miles north and south and eight miles east and west. Inside the moat, a high stonewall enclosed the city. Over 200,000 people had called Angkor Kol Ker home, and their absence reverberated through the city, a heavy weight on the souls of the last men. The tread of the warriors’ sandals on the stone walkways echoed against the walls of the temples. Gone were the happy cries of children playing, the chants of priests, the yells of merchants in their stalls. And now even the jungle sounds were disappearing as every animal that could flee did so. In the center of the city was the central temple, Angkor Ker. The center Prang of the temple was over five hundred feet of vertical, massive stone, a hundred feet taller than the Great Pyramid of Giza. It had taken two generations to construct and its shadow lay long over the city as the sun rose in the east, merging with the Shadow that crept closer from the west. As the last puddle dried, tendrils of the thick mist crossed the moat. The warriors said their prayers loudly, so their voices would prove to the gathering Shadow that this was a city well loved. Angkor Kol Ker and the fifty men waited. They did not wait long.

FLIGHT 19 AD 1945 FORT LAUDERDALE AIR STATION “Sir, I request stand-down from this afternoon's training flight.” Captain Henderson looked up from the papers on his desk. The young

man standing in front of him wore starched khakis, the insignia of a corporal in the Marine Corps sewn onto the short sleeves. On his chest were campaign ribbons dating back to Guadalcanal. “You have a reason, Corporal Foreman?” Henderson asked. He didn't add that Lieutenant Presson, the leader of Training Flight 19 had just been in his office making the same request. Henderson had denied the officer's immediately, but Foreman was a different matter. “Sir, I've got enough service points to be mustered out in the next week or so.” Foreman was a large man, broad shouldered. His dark hair was swept back in thick waves, flirting with regulations, but with the war just a few months over, some rules had waned in the euphoria of victory. “What does that have to do with the flight?” Henderson asked. Foreman paused and his stance broke slightly from the parade rest he had assumed after saluting. “Sir, I--” “Yes?” “Sir, I just don't feel good. I think I might be sick.” Henderson frowned. Foreman didn't look sick. In fact his tan skin radiated health. Henderson had heard this sort of thing before, but only before combat missions, not a training flight. He looked at the ribbons on Foreman's chest, noted the Navy Cross and bit back the hasty reply that had formed on his lips. “I need more than that,” Henderson said, softening his tone. “Sir, I have a bad feeling about this flight.” “A bad feeling?” “Yes, sir.” Henderson let the silence stretch out. Foreman finally went on. “I had a feeling like this before. In combat.” He stopped, as if no further words were required. Henderson leaned back in his seat, his fingers rolling his pencil end over end.

“What happened then, corporal?” “I was on the Enterprise, sir. Back in February. We were scheduled to do an attack run off the coast of Japan. Destroy everything that was floating. I went on that mission.” “And?” “My entire squadron was lost.” “Lost?” “Yes, sir. They all disappeared.” “Disappeared?” “Yes, sir.” “No survivors?” “Just my plane's crew, sir.” “How did you get back?” “My plane had engine trouble. The pilot and I had to bail out early. We were picked up by a destroyer. The rest of the squadron never came back. Not a plane. Not a man.” Henderson felt a chill tickle the bare skin below his own regulation haircut. Foreman’s flat voice, and the lack of detail, bothered the captain. “My brother was in my squadron,” Foreman continued. “He never came back. I felt bad before that flight, Captain. As bad as I feel right now.” Henderson looked at the pencil in his hand. First, Lieutenant Presson with his feelings of unease and now this. Henderson's instinct was to give Foreman the same order he'd given the young aviator. But he looked at the ribbons one more time. Foreman had done his duty many times. Presson had never been under fire. Foreman was a gunner, so his presence would make no difference one way or the other. “All right, corporal, you can sit the flight out. But I want you to be in the tower and work the monitoring shift. Are you healthy enough to do that?” Foreman snapped to attention. There was no look of relief on his face, just

the same stoic Marine Corps stare. “Yes, sir.” “You're dismissed.” End of Excerpt Purchase your copy at these outlets:

Next in the Series Book Two Atlantis Bermuda Triangle

What if the Shadow that destroyed Atlantis 10,000 years ago, comes back to threaten our present world?

A war beyond time. An enemy beyond space. A thriller beyond your wildest dreams. Three areas on the Earth’s surface defy explanation: the Bermuda Triangle, the Devil’s Sea of Japan, and a small region of Cambodia. Inside these realms, planes have disappeared, ships have vanished, and, in Cambodia, an entire civilization has been lost leaving behind Angkor Wat.

In the present, former Green Beret Eric Dane teams up with the mysterious Sin Fen, a woman with powers he can’t quite understand to fight the dark Shadow threatening the world.

In the year 1,000 AD, a fearsome Viking Warrior, must protect a Seer from Valkyries, Kraken and other forces of legend and help her on a quest that connects through mysterious gates to Dane’s battle in the present.

All around the planet, at the junction of ley lines, and where tectonic plates join, black gates are opening, letting the dark Shadow into our world, threatening the very planet itself. Can Dane, Sin Fen, the Viking and the Seer, combine forces across a millennium to save the planet? Purchase your copy at these outlets:

Next in the Series Book Three Atlantis Devilâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Sea

What if the Shadow that destroyed Atlantis 10,000 years ago, comes back to threaten our present world?

A war beyond time. An enemy beyond space. A thriller beyond your wildest dreams. Three areas on the Earthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s surface defy explanation: the Bermuda Triangle, the Devilâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Sea of Japan, and a small region of Cambodia. Inside these realms, planes have disappeared, ships have vanished, and, in Cambodia, an entire civilization has been lost leaving behind Angkor Wat.

In 1628 BC, a volcano erupts, one that would become legend as the eruption that destroyed Minoan Civilization. But a small group of priestesses stand fast against the dark Shadow that precipitated the destruction.

In 79 AD the oracle of Delphi must join forces with the most fearsome gladiator from the arena of Pompeii to fight the Shadow which destroys Vesuvius. And the

XV Legion is sent on a quest that causes it to disappear from the Roman Empire and into the fog of history.

In 1937, Amelia Earhart is on the most dangerous leg of her round the world flight, near the Devilâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Sea. A dark Shadow rises in front of her and swallows her and her plane, never to be seen again. Until the present, when Eric Dane leads his team against the Shadow threatening our present world and unites with her.

In 1986, the Shadow appears inside of Chernobyl, sucking power from the reactors and causing disaster.

And in the present, the Ring of Fire around the planet ignites, threatening the planet. Former Green Beret Eric Dane and the mysterious Sin Fen, a woman with powers he canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t quite understand, must track the mystical crystal skulls that have baffled scientists, to use them as a weapon against the Shadow, and unite with the gladiator and oracle to make a last stand for mankind. Purchase your copy at these outlets:

Next in the Series Book Four Atlantis Gate

What if the Shadow that destroyed Atlantis 10,000 years ago, comes back to threaten our present world?

“Some say the world will end in fire, some say in ice.” Thus Robert Frost warns the President of the Shadow at the beginning of Atlantis Gate, before departing on a classified mission on the first nuclear submarine, the USS Nautilus.

In 480 BC, King Leonidas leads 300 Spartans to Thermopylae to try to delay the massive Persian Army. Known only to the King, they have an even more important mission: to escort and protect a powerful priestess to a mystical gate

through which she can travel to help save the world. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a mission for which Leonidas will gladly sacrifice his own, and his menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s lives.

On the Nazca Plain in Chile, an old woman has been studying ancient lines in the ground for decades. Now she finally understands their terrifying message.

In the present, tremors deep inside the Earth threaten all civilizations. Eric Dane races against time to find the key to stopping this assault from the dark Shadow. He must reach across time to the Spartans and the priestess they escort to find the key to this defense.

And in doing so, he must travel to the Space Between, the boundary between our world, and the world of the Shadow. Purchase your copy at these outlets:

Next in the Series Book Five Atlantis Assault on Atlantis

In 10,000 BC, the Shadow approaches and destroys the mighty empire of Atlantis, leaving not trace of it other than vague legend. Only a handful of survivors, priestesses and warriors survive, knowing they must pass their legacy down, so that the next time the Shadow comes, mankind will be better prepared.

Now it has come back. But it wants the entire planet. Across parallel dimensions, the Shadow has consumed Earth after Earth, but one Earth has repeatedly stopped it: ours.

The Shadow's latest assault on the planet left millions dead worldwide, a widening gap in the ozone layer, and a cloud of radioactive gas poisoning the atmosphere. Former Green Beret Eric Dane believes his visions are messages instructing him on how to save the world from complete annihilation. Now, Dane and the crew of a U.S. Navy research vessel embark on a dangers quest across space and time in a desperate gamble to change the fate of the earth...

Purchase your copy at these outlets:

Next in the Series Book Six Atlantis Battle for Atlantis

What if the legendary Shadow that destroyed Atlantis 10,000 years ago, comes back to threaten our present world?

Washington DC is laid waste. In Paris, the swastika flies from the Eiffel Tower. More than two billion are dead from the polar caps melting. This is the future former Green Beret Eric Dane, with the help of Amelia Earhart, sees through the mysterious gates unless he can prevent it.

In 1863 Robert E. Lee leads the south’s last chance at victory over the North. The two armies meet at Gettysburg, neither side quite aware why they are drawn

there. For the result of Pickettâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s charge will not just determine the war, but the fate of the planet on a scale only a handful of priestesses from another time understand as they connect this battle with the Little Big Horn in 1876 and the Zulu territory in Africa in 1828 as British Forces prepare to face their enemy at Isandlwana.

In the present, Dane must work with Earhart to make sure the massacres and deaths from those battles will not be in vain as they try to stop the dark Shadow coming through the gates from consuming our world.

The book brings to a close the riveting Atlantis series of books. Battles across time and space. Massacres and noble sacrifices. Creatures and events mankind considered legends come to life. All in one terrifying climax with the fate of the world hanging in the balance. Purchase your copy at these outlets:

About the Author NY Times bestselling author Bob Mayer has had over 50 books published. He has sold over four million books, and is in demand as a team-building, life-changing, and leadership speaker and consultant for his Who Dares Wins: The Green Beret Way concept, which he translated into Write It Forward: a holistic program teaching writers how to be authors. He is also the Co-Creator of Cool Gus Publishing, which does both eBooks and Print On Demand, so he has experience in both traditional and non-traditional publishing. His books have hit the NY Times, Publishers Weekly, Wall Street Journal and numerous other bestseller lists. His book The Jefferson Allegiance, was released independently and reached #2 overall in sales on Nook. Bob Mayer grew up in the Bronx. After high school, he entered West Point where he learned about the history of our military and our country. During his four years at the Academy and later in the Infantry, Mayer questioned the idea of “mission over men.” When he volunteered and passed selection for the Special Forces as a Green Beret, he felt more at ease where the men were more important than the mission. Mayer’s obsession with mythology and his vast knowledge of the military and Special Forces, mixed with his strong desire to learn from history, is the foundation for his science fiction series Atlantis, Area 51 and Psychic Warrior. Mayer is a master at blending elements of truth into all of his thrillers, leaving the reader questioning what is real and what isn’t. He took this same passion and created thrillers based in fact and riddled with possibilities. His unique background in the Special Forces gives the reader a sense of authenticity and creates a reality that makes the reader wonder where fact ends and fiction begins. In his historical fiction novels, Mayer blends actual events with fictional characters. He doesn’t change history, but instead changes how history came into being. Mayer’s military background, coupled with his deep desire to understand the past and how it affects our future, gives his writing a rich flavor not to be missed. Bob has presented for over a thousand organizations both in the United States and internationally, including keynote presentations, all day workshops, and multi-day seminars. He has taught organizations ranging from Maui Writers, to Whidbey Island

Writers, to San Diego State University, to the University of Georgia, to the Romance Writers of America National Convention, to Boston SWAT, the CIA, Fortune-500, the Royal Danish Navy Frogman Corps, Microsoft, Rotary, IT Teams in Silicon Valley and many others. He has also served as a Visiting Writer for NILA MFA program in Creative Writing. He has done interviews for the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Sports Illustrated, PBS, NPR, the Discovery Channel, the SyFy channel and local cable shows. www.bobmayer.org.

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Copyright This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the authorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

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ATLANTIS, series book one

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