The Community by Frank Luna

Book 2 in the Mars Series. A parallel timeline to events unfolding on Mars in Red Storm.

The President's Mars advisor, quantum physicist Dr. Kendo Tanaka, is found dead in a Northern California motel room. The administration knows it is the work of The Community, a clandestine organization determined to end Mars exploration.

Reporter Rudy Venana, with the help of Linda Rainwater, a White House aide, is asked to investigate Tanaka's death. Within hours of meeting, they find themselves in mortal danger, pursued by Community assassins.

What dark secret is The Community hiding on Mars?

Jefferson City, California

Who would have thought discovering the secrets of the universe could be so deadly? Dr. Kendo Tanaka certainly didn’t think so, yet here he was, hiding in a dilapidated motel room in Northern California, fearing for his life.

     Four weeks ago, the renowned experimental physicist conducted the first interplanetary communications test using the sub-atomic realm. The quantum corridor between Mars and Earth was instantaneous as he and his daughter and chief collaborator, Noriko, predicted.

     They collected a huge amount of data and images from Mars in a fraction of the normal time. This top-secret test circumvented standard communications procedure and the prime contractor accused him of corporate espionage. 

     Now Noriko and he were on the run, dropping off the grid and going their separate ways, all because of his successful experiment. He didn’t care about the Mars files; they were only bits of data to prove his discovery was not only possible but practical.

     There were forces at work he didn’t understand. An organization that kept tight control of information from Mars. Why, he could not guess, but he had to take control of his life, find his daughter, and continue their research. 

     He felt a familiar pressure at the back of his head, the Visual Cortex Stimulator, his quantum communicator, activated. Dr. William Boyle, science leader at Mars Base materialized before him as if he was sitting in the room. Boyle was a bald, stocky figure with a weathered face and graying eyebrows.

     “Dr. Boyle, I’m surprised to see you. I asked you to suspend communications from Mars for safety reasons.” 

     “I’m sorry Kendo, I must talk to you. I understand things aren’t going well for you and your daughter.”

     “Yes, but it’s not your concern,” Kendo replied. “It’s a misunderstanding with the Mars communications contractor. They want me to return the test file you sent me two weeks ago.”

     “You should have deleted that after the test. I sent that file to you by mistake,” Boyle explained. “You must delete it immediately.”

     “I don’t have the file anymore, my daughter Noriko has it. Now we’re being chased by mercenaries. I’m turning myself over to the FBI for my protection.”

     Dr. Boyle nodded, “It’s too late for that my friend. Events are in motion and your daughter, and you are expendable.”

     Kendo furrowed his eyebrows. “What events? Why are we expendable? We didn’t do anything wrong.”

     “Goodbye my friend,” Boyle responded. “I’m sorry it has come to this.”

     As soon as Dr. Boyle disappeared, a bright light illuminated the front window of the motel room accompanied by screeching tires kicking up rocks in the gravel parking lot. In a flash, two men with automatic weapons burst through the door. 

     Dr. Kendo Tanaka knew he was a dead man.