BRUNO MARTINS SOARES

«As Sam gets to the hallway to go back upstairs, he freezes. Her image is on the top of the stairs. His mother. In her white sleeping gown. Sam is scared. He doesn’t know what to do. His mother is just standing there. She raises one arm.»

«All hell was breaking loose, now. Nick was firing and retreating as enemy bullets hit the walls around them. He felt Sandra’s hand stop pulling his vest and he looked and saw Owens on the ground and Sandra pulling the corporal up. ‘He’s hit!’»

«So, Alex’s move at that moment was even more astonishing to him. She spun. She spun around like she did many times in training. But he couldn’t even follow the blade of her sword as it left the sheath. And in the next moment, she stopped, leaning forward, in perfect position, her blade stretching before her, the assassin falling next to her, fading in a torrent of blood, wounded by a strike so fast no one had been able to see.»

«No sound is carried in space. But I heard the first explosion. Deep inside my mind, it went like the loudest bang, snapping my brain in. My mouth was open. My eyes hurt. The fire was burning holes in my irises.»

«Storytelling has been here for millennia. It is in all likelihood the oldest sophisticated Human device to teach and learn. It is the realm of the confusing. The realm of grey mist and stormy seas. While academic knowledge is black and white, scientific and direct, stories dwell in the mysteries of Human Existence, the blood wrenched meanders of the Human Drama, the small unknowns that populate the vast Great Unknown.»

«She had been following me since I got out of the underground train. I spotted her right away but then again, she wasn’t hiding. I slid through the dark streets of Cais do Sodré, and it didn’t take the spotlight from the zeppelin for everybody to notice her. I waited around the corner.»

«Not many people know this story. A story from before the waves. Before the winds. Before the sandstorms and tropical storms and all the other storms. Many would say it’s not true. But they said the same thing about carbon and look at us now.»

«I stood there for a few moments. Confused. I had packed those books, hadn´t I? I looked at the time. Seven o’clock. There were supposed to be books in the boxes. Otherwise, I’d wasted a whole afternoon. Which was impossible. Because I had packed the books. For sure...»

«Maria girou a chave uma e outra vez. Mas o carro vibrava e sufocava, e Boris brandiu a pedra e bateu contra a janela lateral. O vidro partiu-se por cima dela.»

«Ali estavam elas. Vários contra-torpedeiros, duas fragatas, a nave de reabastecimento, a de reparações WS Pleeto, uma nova nave-de-guerra de terceira classe de 74 baterias, a WS Benavide, e os familiares pesos-pesados: a WS Taurus, de segunda classe e 90 baterias, e a WS Viker, de terceira classe e 70 baterias. E, finalmente, no centro da formação, a enorme WS Magnar, a Nave-Almirante de primeira classe e 120 baterias. A minha velha nave. Cinzenta, vermelha e verde. Majestosa.»

«Com o alarme a tocar, Alex esperou dois segundos. Dois segundos para se lembrar de todo o plano e assegurar-se de que estava pronta. Ao fim de dois segundos, levantou-se rapidamente, apertou o fato negro, enfiou as luvas e apertou-as, colocou o capacete e fez saltar para o coldre a Sako 132 de 4mm.»

«Ela devia chamar-se Amélia, ou Constança. Porque é que viria a este antro deixar-me uma garrafa de água e falar-me do meu problema? Cheirava a podre por todos os lados.»

«Eu lembrava-me de cada segundo de Anne Lundt. Como se fosse ontem. Lembrava-me da sedução com o tornozelo, ligado ao joelho, ligado à coxa sorridente junto à saia justa.»