Helix_Episode 1 Read online

  ‘Then we understand each other.’ Damien lowered his hands slowly to his sides .

  ‘I understand deception,’ the masked gunman said .

  The new pair of figures ignored Damien, Nasira and Jay and went for the vehicles. One of them carried a black armored carry case. She reached the rear 4x4 and hurled the case into the back seat. The pair climbed in the 4x4 and reversed it up the ramp, leaving the original three figures and one vehicle to face Damien, Nasira and Jay .

  ‘Listen pal,’ Jay said, ‘we’re not standing in your way .’

  The masked figure fired a single round into Jay’s chest .

  Jay collapsed on his knees, mouth open .

  Damien lunged over and pressed his hand over the entry wound. He found the exit wound and pressed on that too. Blood ran from his fingertips. He took his hand off the exit wound so he could quickly tear through his belt pouch and find the sachet of hemostatic combat gauze. He ripped the sachet open with his teeth and packed Jay’s exit wound with gauze. Blood oozed and bubbled over his hand. He kept some of the squares for the entry wound .

  ‘What do you want?’ Nasira asked, voice wavering with anger .

  The figure smiled through his mask. ‘This is just the beginning .’

  Jay leaned on Damien and groaned. The smell of Jay’s blood mixed with gasoline. Damien kept his fingers inside the exit wound, making a ball from the combat gauze and maintaining pressure. On anyone else, this was life and death. But Jay’s enhanced healing would save him. His pseudogenes would keep him alive. Damien just needed to stem the blood flow .

  ‘There’s something you need to know,’ Jay said, struggling to breathe .

  Damien risked a glance at the masked gunman. ‘I’m working on it .’

  ‘Listen to me.’ Jay gripped his arm. ‘They didn’t just copy my pseudogenes .’

  Damien leaned in, taking over the pressure for both wounds .

  Jay’s breathing slowed. ‘They stole them .’

  * * *

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  About Helix: Episode 2 (Exile)

  Covert operatives are disappearing, and nobody knows why .

  But Olesya will put everything on the line to find out. After narrowly escaping a subway explosion she was assigned to prevent, she is too late to stop unknown assailants kidnapping her best friend .

  Forced away from her hunt by the Directorate, Olesya is exiled to the frozen borderlands of Kaliningrad, where she discovers a new and deadly threat that could destroy them all .

  This is the second episode in the new bestselling series of cyberpunk thrillers by Australian ex-recon soldier Nathan M. Farrugia. Do you like conspiracies and genetically-enhanced operatives? You’ll love this action-packed cross between Jason Bourne and Altered Carbon . Find out why readers are calling it “the most addictive action series” they’ve read .

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  Buy Helix: Episode 2

  Only 99¢!

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  By Nathan M. Farrugia

  Helix

  Episode 1: Helix

  Episode 2: Exile

  Episode 3: Interceptor

  Episode 4: Anomaly

  Episode 5: Inversion

  Episode 6: Exclave

  Episode 7: Purity

  Episode 8: Kill Switch

  Episode 9: Countervail

  The Fifth Column

  1. The Chimera Vector

  2. The Seraphim Sequence

  3. The Phoenix Variant

  4. The Phoenix Ascent

  About Nathan M. Farrugia

  Nathan M. Farrugia is the author of the Helix cyberpunk thrillers and the bestselling series, The Fifth Column . Nathan is known for placing himself in dangerous situations, including climbing rooftops in Russia and being hunted by special forces trackers in the United States. He studies Systema, a little-known martial art and former secret of Russian special forces .

  Nathan is a former Australian reconnaissance soldier who has trained under USMC, SEAL team, Spetsnaz and Defence Intelligence instructors, and the wilderness and tracking skills of the Chiricahua Apache scouts and Australian Aboriginals .

  To stay up to date, follow Nathan here :

  https://nathanmfarrugia.com

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  Credits

  Edited by Tara Goedjen

  Line edited by Pete Kempshall

  Photography by Andrew Maccoll

  Cover design by Pat Naoum

  Olesya portrayed by Elke Bonner

  Sophia portrayed by Haylee Collins

  Costume design by Julianne Ting

  Costume tailoring by Sam Melika

  Hair and makeup by Kim Tavares and Janice Wu .

  Expert beta reading by Haylee Collins, Julie Dodkins, Neil Hawkins, Craig Hildebrand-Burke, Jess Howard, Sam Linton-Smith, Jason Martin, Joel McMullen, Mike Powell, Jessy Stephens and Xavier Waterkeyn .

  Proofread by Sean Birkner, Lisa Cashen, Barry Caudill, Liz Charnock, Laura Cook, Jason Denness, Zandi Dezman, Robyn Donovan, Jon Fraser, Jim Gabler, Patricia Garner, Andy Howard, Patti Holycross, Jessica Jocher, Dean Johnson, Katherine Kuzmenko, Evie Lawlor, Katrina Mickle, Greg Morris, Thomas Roth, Sreedhar Sharma, Stephen Spence, Josh Tamayo, Eric Vollebregt and Carolyn Walkden .

  Acknowledgments

  Thank you to publishing revolutionary Joel Naoum for his pioneering vision and for bringing me on board at Momentum, one of the world’s first digital imprints, as their first debut author. After I stalked him on Twitter. (Stalking is OK if you get a book deal out of it.) It has been an honor to take part in the future of publishing with you .

  Thank you also to my brilliant and patient literary agent, Xavier Waterkeyn, for seeing potential in my writing and going beyond his role as an agent to mentor me over many years. To my editor, Tara Goedjen, for gracing this series with her incredible skill and dedication while also writing her debut novel .

  To my friends who generously gave me their time and feedback: Haylee Collins, Julie Dodkins, Neil Hawkins, Craig Hildebrand-Burke, Jess Howard, Jason Martin, Joel McMullen, Mike Powell and Jessy Stephens. (Look, I have a lot of friends whose names start with J .)

  Thank you to the talented authors I became friends with along the way: Amanda “Ripley” Bridgeman, Craig “Professor Genre” Hildebrand-Burke, Amanda “Croft” Pillar, Luke “Duke” Preston, Dave “Knows Best” Sinclair, Steve “Beast” Vincent and Justin “J-Dog” Woolley. We have our very own tough gang now, but we need to be home before dark .

  Thank you to Andrew Maccoll for his superb photography. And also to Neil Hawkins and Pete Kempshall for their helpful and intelligent feedback. A special thank you to my mother, Loretta Farrugia, and Sam Linton-Smith for encouraging me to pursue my dreams .

  I’d also like to thank my sharp-minded super-reader friends who gave me really amazing feedback: Sean Birkner, Fredrik Björk, Lisa Cashen, Barry Caudill, Liz Charnock, Laura Cook, Jason Denness, Zandi Dezman, Robyn Donovan, Jon Fraser, Jim Gabler, Pat Garner, Andy Howard, Patti Holycross, Jessica Jocher, Dean Johnson, Katherine Kuzmenko, Evie Lawlor, Katrina Mickle, Greg Morris, Thomas Roth, Sreedhar Sharma, Stephen Spence, Josh Tamayo, Eric Vollebregt and Carolyn Walkden .

  First published in 2016

  This edition published in 2016 by Anomaly Press

  Copyright © Nathan M. Farrugia 2016

  The moral right of the author has been asserted .

  All rights reserved. This publication (or any part of it) may not be reproduced or transmitted, copied, stored, distributed or otherwise made available by any person or entity (including Google
, Amazon or similar organizations), in any form (electronic, digital, optical, mechanical) or by any means (photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise) without prior written permission from the author .

  A CIP record for this book is available at the National Library of Australia

  Helix: Episode 1 (Helix )

  Print format: 9780995436107

  EPUB format: 9781537857114

  To report a typographical error, please visit nathanmfarrugia.com