The Immortality Game

Zoya looked at her own body, which still felt odd. It wasn’t terribly different from her old self, except that it was certainly a few years younger. It was still hard to wrap her mind around the idea of all this being possible, but when she told that to Tyoma yesterday he dismissed the idea, saying that since the beginning of time people, even geniuses, were always saying things were impossible only to be proven wrong by history. But she had always believed in the soul, so what did this mean that there could be two of her alive? She decided that she would like to see Marcus. “Perhaps I can help him get through the shock of what was done to him.”

“I really think you could.”

Zoya pulled the pillow down into an embrace. “Can you please leave me alone for a while? I want to think about…‌things.”

Kostya put a hand lightly on one of her legs. “Of course. Take all the time you need. If you decide you wish it, Javier would like to speak with you. I understand if you don’t want to, though.”

“I just plug in here…‌I mean if I decide I want to?”

“There’s no need. Your slot has wireless. You’ll find him in your address book.”

“This is all going to take getting use to.”

Kostya nodded and stood up. “I’ll leave you alone now.”

“Doctor?”

“Hmm?”

“Your kindness has been helpful. I’m not ready to thank anyone for what was done to me, but I’m glad you’re here to help.”

Kostya smiled. “Get some rest. Give a call if you want anything.”

As the doctor departed, Zoya let her mind wander amongst the cascade of thoughts concerning everything that felt like the recent past to her—her mother most of all—and her new life and uncertain future. Would the new Marcus seem real to her? Despite the odd feelings about her new body, she herself felt truly real. She thought of the date they had told her, twenty-one fifty-six. Incredible. So much must have changed in the world outside. She had been roiling with rage since waking yesterday, but in the past few hours a level of excitement had crept into her internal conversation with herself. She had always enjoyed learning, and now there was so much to learn.

She forced her body to relax and searched her slot to see if any music was available. All of her favorite songs were there. She smiled and searched for a suitable one to be the very first one she played in her new life. As she scanned the titles, many of them looked both appropriate and wrong at the same time. I need one that is perfect…‌ah!

She fell asleep to the easy strains of This Wasn’t Supposed to Happen by Army of Anyone.

The End

Author’s Note

I’d like to thank you for reading this book. The publishing industry is changing dramatically since the advent of ebooks. It is now very difficult to get any book noticed, regardless of quality. If you enjoyed this book, you could do some very simple things to help me attract attention. Word of mouth is the number one source of success for novels, so simply telling family and friends about the book is a great start. Here are a few other ways of helping out, if you are so inclined:

Post a review on Amazon.com

Post a review on Goodreads

Talk about the book or write a review on Facebook

Tell folks about the book in a blog post.

One or more of those options would be a tremendous help! Again thank you, and I hope you will try out my future publications.

Ted Cross, November 2014

Acknowledgements

Many wonderful people helped me with this book. Bradley Wind helped me with the typography for the cover. Susan Kaye Quinn offered advice on publishing. Ivan Amberlake, Harriet Goodchild, Hart Johnson, Nicholas Kotar, Mary Fan, and many others helped me find mistakes in the manuscript. My wife and sons patiently allowed me the time to hide away in my office and type out this story.

About the Author

Ted Cross has spent the past two decades traveling the world as a diplomat, all the time dreaming about writing fantasy and science fiction. He's visited nearly forty countries and lived in seven, including the U.S., Russia, China, Croatia, Iceland, Hungary, and Azerbaijan. He's witnessed coup attempts, mafia and terrorist attacks, played chess with several world champions, and had bit parts in a couple of movies. He currently lives in Baku, Azerbaijan with his lovely wife and two teenage sons.

Fantasy

The Ark of Humanity, by Scott J. Toney

Eden Legacy, by Scott J. Toney

Horker’s Law, by Mike Lee

The Beholder, by Ivan Amberlake

The Firelord's Crown, by Dee Harrison

Firelord's Heir, by Dee Harrison

Firelord's Curse, by Dee Harrison

Firelord's Wyrd, by Dee Harrison

Godhead, by Ken Mooney

The Hades Contract, by Ken Mooney

The Willow Branch, by Lela Markham

Sci-Fi

Fey, by Mike Lee

StarFire, by Mike Lee

Dr. Zimm's Elixir, by Mike Lee

NovaForge, by Scott J. Toney