An Agent's Inbox #16

Dear Mr. John Cusick:

Twelve-year-old Maya didn’t know she was born on another galaxy until the day she makes a near-death escape from Earth in a giant avocado.

When a man named Gorak arrives on Earth to catch Maya, she dodges him by slipping into an avocado spaceship. She plops out on Pralayan, a galaxy where humans inhabit many of the planets. Maya finds out she has a twin sister, who has been enslaved by Gorak on Pralayan, and now Gorak needs Maya to complete his evil experiment to live forever. Maya’s sense of safety on Pralayan and her hope of finding her twin both dwindle when Gorak returns to Pralayan from Earth. Now Maya is shipped off to Navkaalam, a guarded planet for Pralayan’s human kids.

On Navkaalam, Maya befriends two boys, the fainthearted Yani and the half-plant-boy named Dhroon. But Maya’s connection with her twin runs much deeper than she imagined. Her dreams are haunted by the pain her sister feels, and the scar on her palm burns and leaves her longing for her twin. When she uncovers hidden symbols of a fiery eye, she is convinced it will lead her to her twin. Despite her fear that Gorak would show up any time and snatch her up, Maya and her friends set out to uncover the powerful secret behind the fiery eye symbol. But Dhroon goes missing, and Maya and Yani steal a space vessel to search for him, only to find out it’s a trap by Gorak to draw Maya out of Navkaalam. Their space vessel crashes on a planet where Maya spots the mysterious fiery eye, an energy source from outside our known universe. Now Maya must find a way to fend off Gorak so she can save Yani, and unite with her twin sister.

THE FIERY EYE is a 51,000-word middle grade science fiction. My story will appeal to readers of Karen Sandler’s TANKBORN and Dan Krokos’s The Planet Thieves.

Your interest in a fast-paced story set in an original science fiction world has compelled me to query you. This is a simultaneous submission. Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

R.P.

THE FIERY EYE

Chapter 1: The Glowing Man

Maya dug her hand in the seat of the police cruiser until her fingers found the coin. A quarter. She eyed Officer Mike, who was busy pulling into the driveway, before she drew the coin out and stuffed it in her pocket. Backseats of cars were the best places to find loose change, and police cruisers were always loaded. Unless, Maya thought, you got in one with hard plastic-molded seats instead of the smooth black leather. Tough luck then.

Officer Mike opened her door. 

Maya hopped out. The key chains on her backpack jangled like rusty cans.

“Do you ever take that thing off?” Office Mike asked.

“Never,” Maya replied. At least never in daylight. Why would she? Everything she needed she carried in her small canvas pack. A roll of watermelon bubblegum, two pairs of clean socks, and loose paper clips. Seventeen old key chains she had collected over the years. They didn’t make for stealthy exits but she hated making silent entrances where no one looked up or noticed. Everyone heard her jingle-jangle when she walked.

“Where was she this time?” Mother stood on the porch, her arms planted on her hips.

“Same place. Today she was napping on that unmarked grave,” Officer Mike said, as he urged Maya up the gravel driveway toward the house.

“I don’t know why she wants to run away,” mother said. “Go inside and wash up,” she ordered.

Maya stomped inside. The screen door slapped shut behind her.  I wasn’t running away.