Soliloquy

by A.B. Potts

Part blood and part android, Kylem was designed to spy. It's all he knows, so that's the life he has made for himself here on Earth.

Employed by Section 69, Britain's most elusive intelligence agency, he usually fights the evil wrong-doers of this planet. At the moment, though, he's been grounded by his boss, Emily Prince, while she's away on compassionate leave. Filled with boredom from the endless mountains of paperwork thrust upon him, Kylem is desperate to get back out into the field, but there's no way his handler will defy Prince's orders.

Filled with frustration and still racked with guilt over the death of Coman, his Sallow brother, Kylem decides to spend some 'quality time' with his blood family. He hadn't been there for Coman when he mysteriously disappeared, but he can make amends with them, especially with Christmas fast approaching. However, when his sister learns of the disappearance of his neighbour's son, she volunteers Kylem to help find him. Kylem is a little reluctant to take on the investigation, though. Peter Jolley is an unusual lad with Autism. Brilliant in many respects, he has been trying to convince those around him that Kylem is an alien. Ironically, he's right, but that doesn't help. Fortunately for Kylem, everybody seems to be writing his rantings off as the ramblings of a child who isn't quite right in the head.

With little enthusiasm for the task, Kylem begins his enquiries and soon realises that Peter's ramblings are more than that. The boy knows a lot more about Kylem and his past than he's letting on—even knowing the Sallow language. But how? Coman can be the only link, but Coman is dead. Are their disappearances connected?

626 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 25, 2022

About the author

Think of the big names in science fiction, and who do you have? Gene Roddenberry, Isaac Asimov, Douglas Adams, Jules Verne—yes, they do seem to be, predominantly, men but that is changing and, amongst the peace and tranquillity of the Shropshire countryside, a new science-fiction author is rising—and she's a woman!
By day, Anni Potts can be found hunched over a desk with a calculator and a set of ledgers, but by night she transforms into the science fiction writer, A B Potts.
"I write as A B Potts because I don't want people to pre-judge my writings based upon my gender. I was afraid that men and boys may not want to read science fiction written by a woman. Science fiction is still generally revered by many to be a male thing. They don't think a woman can write sci-fi, but they can and they do."
She laughs and continues, "My books are not the traditional girly type things my mother would approve of. They are action-adventure, sometimes a little raunchy, sometimes a little bloody. They are made of the stuff that great sci-fi is made of."
But, whilst Anni may be newly published, she is not new to writing.
"I've been dreaming up futuristic stories since I was five years old. When I was seven I wrote my first science-fiction story about a time-traveller, but it was 1971 and my aging English teacher didn't approve. British adults weren't very appreciative of science-fiction back then—they were having a hard enough time coping with the concept of Star Trek!"
Despite this setback, Anni continued to write but only for pleasure. Now, she has decided to go the whole hog and publish. Her first book 'IMPERFECT WEAPON' has just been released as an eBook on both Smashwords and Amazon.
"I'm absolutely delighted. A lot of hard work has gone into this, to produce a polished novel for people to enjoy. Writing a book is not just about writing. You need a whole team behind you—a proofreader, beta-readers, and people who will tell you honestly when something doesn't work. I've been really lucky in finding those people."