Excerpt:

Mark knew this operation would be impossible to execute successfully without the inside man, Paul, the main administrator of the mine, working with them. Mark knew Paul had hated Carl. Carl murdered Mark and Austin's father when their father realized Carl was dealing in slaves. Paul, who was located somewhere in this complex, was going to help them free the human slaves scattered among the artificials. It was a daunting task, but Mark was confident they could succeed if they kept their heads about them. But Mark was growing impatient. It was hard to be patient when there were human slaves who needed rescuing.

A guard stood at a distance from him. Guards didn't frighten him anymore. They just made him angry. And that was the tough part; he didn't dare show that anger. He was supposed to be an artificial--not an emotional human.

Now a second guard approached the first. The guard held out his note pad to the first guard. The first guard looked at Mark and nodded as if giving permission. God, what now? he thought. The second guard turned slowly toward Mark and tapped its heart with its open palm. It was Abby! She walked toward him. When she got within arms reach she took him by the upper forearm and yanked him to her. He looked into her visor but could see nothing. He could hear her breathe, and he was comforted by the sound because only Abby could breathe like that. Without speaking she pointed to an empty shuttle some distance from them. She pulled the riot baton from her belt and began rhythmically slapping it into the palm of her hand. Mark began to walk toward the shuttle, his best friend only inches behind him, his best friend doing a chillingly effective job at being a despicable bastard.

When they reached the shuttle, he climbed on, faced backwards, and grabbed the hand rails. He didn't know where she was taking him, but he was comforted by the fact that she was close to him.

She accelerated rapidly and took corners quickly. Several times Mark found himself in danger of falling off. He wanted to yell at her to slow down, but knew he couldn't. Now the shuttle came to an almost screeching stop. He felt himself going over backwards, his inertia almost taking him up Abby's backside, but he managed to hang on.

A guard came to the shuttle. Abby handed the guard a set of papers. The guard looked at them closely, then handed the papers back to her and waved her on. Where was she taking him? They came to a branch in the hallway. Abby turned down it. This hallway had a different feel to it. The doors were no longer gray steel; they were made of rich wood. She slowed the vehicle now, apparently looking for a name on the door. Then she stopped. "Get off," she growled. Mark was chilled by her voice. He would never forget this experience. He knew she was acting for both their benefit, but on some level it frightened him.

He got off and she again took his forearm in her gloved grasp and literally pulled him to the door. He could see several guards down the hall from them. They ignored Mark and his best friend. Abby knocked on the door, and the door opened.

Author BIO: Dick Claassen began putting his ideas to paper as a young child, but it wasn't until 1975 that he finally had his first major piece published. The feature magazine article written for The Iowan titled, Build Your Own Dulcimer, launched his free-lance career. It was only a few short years ago that Dick began to break away from factual writing in order to write novels. Dick wanted to accomplish two things in his novel writing. He wanted to write about aliens, and he wanted to write about them in a realistic way. Dick drew inspiration from authors like Whitley Strieber and Dr. John E. Mack, both men giants in the field of research in alien abduction. Dick collaborated with his coauthor, Diane Drury, whose editorial experience helped craft his story ideas. One year later, ta'Sara's Gift was ready for publication. They have since gone on to write two more novels, Zeta's Child, and The Healers, which round out The Dark Ships Trilogy. Dick has gone on to write three shorter novels: Shadow of Love, Love Signs, Plugged-In Souls, and Night Beasts. He has also written several novels: The Raphael Experience, plus Country Priestess, and it's sequel, Silver Seed. He has also written an instruction book called, Celebrate the Native American Flute, as well as a HyperStudio sign language instruction package titled, Serious Signing. Dick has studied writing at the University of Iowa Writer's Workshop. What does Dick do in his spare time? Forget spare time! He's co-running Awe-Struck E-Books with Kathryn Struck!