Non Traditional Published

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The Pandora Syndrome is a fact-based science fiction novel that follows a group of researchers from team conception to the discovery of an extremophile life form to the accidental release of the bacteria in a city outside of San Francisco. Through the skill of first responders, fire fighters, law enforcement and other agencies, a pandemic was prevented saving perhaps thousands of lives.

James Taylor is a veteran of the United States Navy and a trained state certified fire fighter with training in first responder and EMS/EMT and draws on this training and the research skills gained from four published English Renaissance biographies to present a fact-based science fiction on “What could happen.” The Pandora Syndrome presents a very real possible situation including the serious results of a deadly bacteria public exposure.

A retired college professor and his son sit down to play a game of chess. The sequence of moves they made are a key that opened a gateway allowing an ancient Egyptian war goddess Menhit, from the reign of Ramses XI, into their time to form a new dynasty, this time on the campus of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

During the time of the pharaohs, two meteorites fell (gifts from the gods) into the land of Egypt. Because one of them fell during the day, they called it a sun stone and because the other fell during the night, they called it a moon stone. The origin of the meteors is not known, but each stone contains powers unknown to modern science. The Egyptians broke the sun stone into four pieces and sent them into the cardinal four directions. The story follows a team of researchers who attempt to track down the location of three sun stones (one was seized by a high priest after the gateway was opened) which is the only way to close the gateway by completing the sequence of moves of the chess game. Military and civilian law enforcement soon realize that their weapons are ineffectual against Menhit and her large army as she slowly expands her new dynasty sometimes leaving a trail of death and devastation behind. 

The names of the ancient Egyptians, places and time periods are from ancient history, but the story will certainly change the way we think of the game called chess. 

Copyright 2018 James D. Taylor Jr.

This story is of a 17 year old girl growing up on a farm coming of age as rumors of discontent are heard as the Southern states disagree with the anti-slavery proclamations of newly elected President Abraham Lincoln and the lines of division begin to form as states separate from the Union. Her family is pro-Northern. A frightened 18-year-old run-away half black slave girl arrives at their house and captivates her young and innocent heart developing into a very deep relationship. 

Before the battle of Ball’s Bluff on 20 October 1861, her younger brother runs off to join the Confederate army. On the day of the battle, a division of Confederate troops camp near their home near Leesburg Virginia. They rape and brutally murder her mother and kill her father and hang the young woman who captivated her heart while she is on a picnic to say good bye to a young man after her heart. 

In late October 1861, Henrietta cuts her hair when she realizes that she can pass as a man then joins the Union army because she felt if the Union army had adequate size force at Ball’s Bluff, the brutal death of her parents and the woman who won her heart would have been prevented. 

Henry Walker finds herself in some of the bloodiest battles of the American Civil War fighting sometimes hand-to-hand to survive. Her gallantry and bravery rewards her with a commissioned officer rank and in a later fierce battle her position is over run and captured by Confederate soldiers and captured. She is held in the brutal Libby Prison (Satan’s Latrine) in Richmond Virginia, to face a new set of hardships never imagined. 

Her true identity is discovered by a slightly older Native American Ojibwa woman who helps her to escape then flee to Leesburg through miles of enemy held lines. A deep, everlasting bond and love quickly develops between them. They become Mr. And Mrs. Henry L. Walker as she is reassigned to the new offices of JAG army to follow her father’s desire to have a son as an attorney also. 

The story concludes with her passing the bar and with many very successful investments her father had in place, spends the remainder of her life with Mrs. Walker all the while concealing her sex. 

This story takes you over the seas during the Victorian era to the Forbidden City palace in Beijing China with a love that is forbidden during the dynastic reigns of China.