Guy Stewart's Blog, page 99

MARTIAN HOLIDAY 105: Paolo At Burroughs Dome

On a well-settled Mars, the five major city Council regimes struggle to meld into a stable, working government. Embracing an official Unified Faith In Humanity, the Councils are teetering on the verge of pogrom directed against Christians, Molesters, Jews, Rapists, Buddhists, Murderers, Muslims, Thieves, Hindu, Embezzlers and Artificial Humans – anyone who threatens the official Faith and the consolidating power of the Councils. It makes good sense, right – get rid of religion and Human divisiveness on a societal level will disappear? An instrument of such a pogrom might just be a Roman holiday...To see the rest of the chapters, go to SCIENCE FICTION: Martian Holiday on the right and scroll to the bottom for the first story. If you’d like to read it from beginning to end (70,000+ words as of now), drop me a line and I’ll send you the unedited version.
The blue man, OrcAH, curator of the small museum, nodded slowly, making a subtle gesture with his left index finger. “I will give it some more thought. Where might I find you?”
Paolo said, “Around,” pausing, he added, “But don’t wait too long, I’ll be leaving soon.”
“How soon?”
“As soon as I figure out who betrayed me and confront them.” He turned and walked out of the museum. He expected to be grabbed by the Dome police or a band of rogue Artificial Human. When neither appeared immediately, he started back down the corridor leading to Burroughs Grand Plaza.
It didn’t take long to get there and he’d been to it a number of times – but the sheer scale and audacity of the place still boggled his mind. Twice the size of the Aeropagus on which is was modeled in Robinson, it was ostentatious in a way that might have been ugly, but was instead, overwhelming. He smiled when he realized that Burroughs bred audacity. OrcAH was no different in that than the Mayor of Burroughs, who styled herself  Citizen Council Director Haman. While she headed The District Council of fifteen men, women and genneuts, she pretended to a representative government, but her real powers were the same as every other Mayor: absolute.
Burroughs also renamed their floating rock the Court of Eleusinian Mysteries. Pretentious, but appropriate, Paolo thought. Wildly different smells roared around him: baking bread, aromatic woods burning, flowers, rotten melons of every variety, machine oil, and fried bread grease. The noise pummeled his ears after the silence of his hike from the rover: at least six languages, transuranic rock music, and a brass band thundering louder than ever in counterpoint to a literal thunder of air moving in an immense space.
The city founders had carved an immense disk of sandstone from the surface of Mars, polished, sealed it and kept it floating a meter off the ground with an antigrav field. A school cluster of children boiled like chattering steam after an Artificial Human child-minder which said as it passed him, “…stop young learners, will be the sewage reclamation plant…”. Multiple groans followed after them.
Still on the wide avenue that circled the Court, Paulo slipped through the crowds, making for the disk where it floated over a hectare of space. He stopped to stare at it and around the edge of the giant park. A massive Earth Redwood spread its branches over the stone of the Court. The landscape was dry, mimicking the habitat of the massive tree. Scattered over it were gold sand concrete benches, chairs, patches of Earth cacti and countless fat blue pillows. Men, women, children, robots, androids and holograms reclined, talked, argued, sang and gestured widely. He took a deep breath.
As in Robinson, the church, synagogue, Buddhist temple, the Rationalist Forum and other religious shrines and places were closed. As always, the softly glowing mural with the subdued humaniform logo of the Unified Faith in Humanity stood in benign ascendance over the scene. Paulo blew out a breath. There were still enough underground believers – both on Earth and Mars – to equip a small army. But there would be no war. That would only make things worse. Unlike before, he was working alone and desperately needed a connection to the Christian underground here. This time, he risked his life. Burroughs was NOT Robinson. Burroughs had thrown dissidents out the airlocks and called it “cleansing”. They still did it on occasion.
He needed to get to Cydonia and his marsbug was not doing well. He needed people who would both support him and pray for him.
He walked up the steps, kept going until he found an open bench and sat, his heart pounding. He held his breath as people noticed and those who might want to hear what he had to say stepped toward him. When he had a polite crowd, he waved to the mural and said, “People of Burroughs Dome, I can see you’re a spiritual people.”
There were nods. An elderly woman approached, flanked by a young woman. She sat in a grav chair, nodded to him and smiled as her chair settled. Encouraged, Paulo said, “I know, from traveling over Mars that no one else produces as much carbon and organic plastic as you do. I’ve heard that innovation is encouraged here in a way that it’s not encouraged anywhere else. Last of all, I know the you stick tight together in just about every way.” He held his breath then plunged ahead, “That’s why I was surprised when I heard that you so strongly support the Unified Faith in Humanity.” Grumbling mutters in those gathered. The old woman frowned faintly. He pursed his lips, then added, “Even to the point of removing those who have diverse and contrary views.”
“Why it surprises me is that in order to get everything to work so well here, you have to have met the challenges face-to-face. You had to understand the nature of Humanity better than anyone else in order to get people to work together so well. You had to know more about people than they knew about themselves.” Surprised silence. Every eye on him, focused and listening right now as he said, “That’s why I have no doubt that you understand that Humanity is made up of more than just the body, mind and heart. It has a soul that belongs to something outside of itself.” He had their attention – even that of a group of young adults who had been playing cricket not far away. They’d left their game to listen. “I’m here to say that the soul belongs to the Water God – who, like a pot of snow on a hot stove is solid, liquid and gas yet water all the same, the God of Heaven is Father forever, Son crucified and alive again and Spirit of unimaginable power yet all the same. That’s who we belong to.” There was laughter, angry mutters and words that sounded like “slavery” and “haters” and “terrorists”. Rather than shouting over them though, Paulo’s voice lowered as he said, “God wants us to turn away from evil and come to Him.” He stood abruptly, ending his session.
People drifted away, but some stayed. A man with two children approached him and lowering his voice said, “Get moving, young man. Some have gone to fetch the mind police.” He snorted softly. “You know, even your Christian forebears had friends in high places who believed that people should be able to choose for themselves what they believe. Some of them never became Christians themselves.” He turned and hurried away.
Farther on, another man watched, lifting his arm, first two fingers together, pointing up; the other three clenched to the palm. Paolo dipped his chin and set off across the floating platform.

Image: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_x2tsYqz5q3c/TFpRAD3RNyI/AAAAAAAAC70/ASN65Y_L4lQ/s1600/Astronauta+Marcos+C%C3%A9sar+Pontes.bmp

IDEAS ON TUESDAYS 311

Each Tuesday, rather than a POSSIBLY IRRITATING ESSAY, I'd like to both challenge you and lend a helping hand. I generate more speculative and teen story ideas than I can ever use. My family rolls its collective eyes when I say, "Hang on a second! I just have to write down this idea..." Here, I'll include the initial inspiration (quote, website, podcast, etc.) and then a thought or two that came to mind. These will simply be seeds -- plant, nurture, fertilize, chemically treat, irradiate, test or stress them as you see fit. I only ask if you let me know if anything comes of them. Regarding Fantasy, this insight was startling: “I see the fantasy genre as an ever-shifting metaphor for life in this world, an innocuous medium that allows the author to examine difficult, even controversial, subjects with impunity. Honor, religion, politics, nobility, integrity, greed—we’ve an endless list of ideals to be dissected and explored. And maybe learned from.” – Melissa McPhail.
F Trope: Most lycanthropy, telekinesis, etc starts at puberty why not at menopause…A Not-So-Current Event: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Werewolf
According to the source above – “A notable exception to the association of Lycanthropy and the Devil, comes from a rare and lesser known account of an 80-year-old man named Thiess. In 1692, in Jurgenburg, Livonia, Thiess testified under oath that he and other werewolves were the Hounds of God. He claimed they were warriors who went down into hell to do battle with witches and demons. Their efforts ensured that the Devil and his minions did not carry off the grain from local failed crops down to hell. Thiess was steadfast in his assertions, claiming that werewolves in Germany and Russia also did battle with the devil's minions in their own versions of hell, and insisted that when werewolves died, their souls were welcomed into heaven as reward for their service.”
Teodors Pakalns (Latvian) – who goes by Ted in his Minnesota high school is in his supposedly “native land” while mom and dad go clubbing on the French Riviera to celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary. While admitting to himself that with the divorce rate at 73%, it might be something worth celebrating. But sending him to live with his LATVIAN grandfather in some dinky town of Lode! Near the bustling metropolis of Rujiena? What the heck is he supposed to do?
He frets, fumes and mutters about lousy internet connections until he’s so hungry, he can’t stand it. Coming out to eat, he finds that his grandfather has made a simple meal. It smells great and looks sort of like a calzone. Ted eats on, then eats another and then in sudden and surprisingly good English, grandpa tells him a story. He also tells him he needs to watch out – grandpa Pakalns is a werewolf. He’s a werewolf on a mission from God!
Jaanjika Kivi (Estonian) is called Jan in Helsinki where she lives with her artist mother. She drags Jan to visit her “she’s-been-dying-for-the-last-ten-years” grandmother in Mom’s home of Estonia, which she escaped as a kid by winning an art scholarship to Helsingin Yliopisto the University of Helsinki. Jan and her mother trek to the tiny Estonian town of Karski near the roaring metropolis...of Tartu.
*sigh*
Mom says she can go, but she’ll have to walk. Then Mom goes out to paint, leaving Jan with her elderly grandmother. Jan is mostly afraid of the old woman and doesn’t remember her speaking anything but some old language Jan assumes is Estonian.
Until suddenly Grandma starts to tell a story – in clear English – about how she was a werewolf, on a mission for God...then she turns to Jan and says, “You are my granddaughter. My own daughter refused to take up the mission. I am asking if you would take up my mission; complete it and do what our people have been called to do for five hundred years. I will be with you the entire time, but you must be my strong arms and strong legs. Will you do it, Jaanjika?” Grandma’s eye’s suddenly clear and seem to pierce her heart. “Will you?”
Jaanjika meets Teodors on the border between Estonia and Latvia – in the heart of the ancient land of Livonia, a land with an ancient history that may very well be poised at the dawn of a new era that rights an millennium old wrong.
But what about the forces that don’t want the wrong set right. The ones who have profited from the carnage? Who are they and what will they do to Jaanjika and Teodors?
Resource: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LivoniaImage: http://www.skyscrapernews.com/images/pics/6255CaernarfonCastle_pic1.jpg

IDEAS ON TUESDAYS 311 -- An American Werewolf In Latvia!

Each Tuesday, rather than a POSSIBLY IRRITATING ESSAY, I'd like to both challenge you and lend a helping hand. I generate more speculative and teen story ideas than I can ever use. My family rolls its collective eyes when I say, "Hang on a second! I just have to write down this idea..." Here, I'll include the initial inspiration (quote, website, podcast, etc.) and then a thought or two that came to mind. These will simply be seeds -- plant, nurture, fertilize, chemically treat, irradiate, test or stress them as you see fit. I only ask if you let me know if anything comes of them. Regarding Fantasy, this insight was startling: “I see the fantasy genre as an ever-shifting metaphor for life in this world, an innocuous medium that allows the author to examine difficult, even controversial, subjects with impunity. Honor, religion, politics, nobility, integrity, greed—we’ve an endless list of ideals to be dissected and explored. And maybe learned from.” – Melissa McPhail.
F Trope: Most lycanthropy, telekinesis, etc starts at puberty why not at menopause…A Not-So-Current Event: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Werewolf
According to the source above – “A notable exception to the association of Lycanthropy and the Devil, comes from a rare and lesser known account of an 80-year-old man named Thiess. In 1692, in Jurgenburg, Livonia, Thiess testified under oath that he and other werewolves were the Hounds of God. He claimed they were warriors who went down into hell to do battle with witches and demons. Their efforts ensured that the Devil and his minions did not carry off the grain from local failed crops down to hell. Thiess was steadfast in his assertions, claiming that werewolves in Germany and Russia also did battle with the devil's minions in their own versions of hell, and insisted that when werewolves died, their souls were welcomed into heaven as reward for their service.”
Teodors Pakalns (Latvian) – who goes by Ted in his Minnesota high school is in his supposedly “native land” while mom and dad go clubbing on the French Riviera to celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary. While admitting to himself that with the divorce rate at 73%, it might be something worth celebrating. But sending him to live with his LATVIAN grandfather in some dinky town of Lode! Near the bustling metropolis of Rujiena? What the heck is he supposed to do?
He frets, fumes and mutters about lousy internet connections until he’s so hungry, he can’t stand it. Coming out to eat, he finds that his grandfather has made a simple meal. It smells great and looks sort of like a calzone. Ted eats on, then eats another and then in sudden and surprisingly good English, grandpa tells him a story. He also tells him he needs to watch out – grandpa Pakalns is a werewolf. He’s a werewolf on a mission from God!
Jaanjika Kivi (Estonian) is called Jan in Helsinki where she lives with her artist mother. She drags Jan to visit her “she’s-been-dying-for-the-last-ten-years” grandmother in Mom’s home of Estonia, which she escaped as a kid by winning an art scholarship to Helsingin Yliopisto the University of Helsinki. Jan and her mother trek to the tiny Estonian town of Karski near the roaring metropolis...of Tartu.
*sigh*
Mom says she can go, but she’ll have to walk. Then Mom goes out to paint, leaving Jan with her elderly grandmother. Jan is mostly afraid of the old woman and doesn’t remember her speaking anything but some old language Jan assumes is Estonian.
Until suddenly Grandma starts to tell a story – in clear English – about how she was a werewolf, on a mission for God...then she turns to Jan and says, “You are my granddaughter. My own daughter refused to take up the mission. I am asking if you would take up my mission; complete it and do what our people have been called to do for five hundred years. I will be with you the entire time, but you must be my strong arms and strong legs. Will you do it, Jaanjika?” Grandma’s eye’s suddenly clear and seem to pierce her heart. “Will you?”
Jaanjika meets Teodors on the border between Estonia and Latvia – in the heart of the ancient land of Livonia, a land with an ancient history that may very well be poised at the dawn of a new era that rights an millennium old wrong.
But what about the forces that don’t want the wrong set right. The ones who have profited from the carnage? Who are they and what will they do to Jaanjika and Teodors?
Resource: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Livonia
Image: https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2015/09/29/13/10/fires-963915_960_720.jpg

Slice of PIE: We Have GOOGLE® ! Burn Schools!

Using the Program of the North American Science Fiction Convention in Puerto Rico in July of 2017 to which I will MIGHT go someday if I recognized any of the names on the guest list… to go, I will jump off, jump on, rail against, and shamelessly agree with the BRIEF DESCRIPTION given in the pdf copy of the program. This is event #. The link is provided below…
The Future of Education – Technology has taken us to the point where almost everything we want to learn can be found on the internet or on an app. Can we eliminate the physical buildings in favor of virtual classrooms? If so, how would it work? (bilingual)Brother Guy Consolmagno SJ – Director of the Vatican Observatory…also a professor for several yearsMarie Guthrie (m) – Professor, member of the Heinlein SocietyMatthew David Goodwin – Professor and artistHelen Gbala – Librarian and “giver of the Golden Duck Award” (SF for under 18s)Sandra Manning – fan, collector, and all-around enthusiast
Except for the Director of the Vatican Observatory, all of these are new names to me. They’re all involved in education and some level, so I expect the gist of what they said was, “Information is not Education”.
The question becomes, as it always has been, “How do you know what to know?”
For some reason, 21st Century Society seems to think that we are somehow the epitome of wisdom – which just means there’s so much MORE to know today than there has ever been in ALL THE History of ALL THE WORLD…that no one can know enough – so let’s just assume that information equals wisdom and say that we know more than any other Society since the founding of Society.
But, that just plain doesn’t make sense!
I HOPE Brother Consolmango’s deeper and longer involvement with an institution that has existed for two millennia and that has vacillated between a harbinger of oppression and a harbinger of hope, spawning everything between Inquisitions to Hospitals, he might have pointed out that every age has experienced an acceleration of information.
Events of social, cultural, and scientific “renaissance” have occurred in many cultures: The Bengali, The Tamil, and the Nepal Bhasa “renaissances”; Al-Nahda; the Medical Renaissance; Haskalah; the Song Dynasty “renaissance”; dreams of a future African Renaissance; and the Brazilian Renaissance.
Cultures change. Ours is not significant in that we’re learning or doing things better or faster or “more” than at any other period of time. In five hundred years, there might be a Lunar Renaissance; or even a Diqiu Renaissance! There has always been a flood of information. We have always educated our younglings the same way.
But does it stand to reason that because “We Have The INTERNET!!!!!” we might as well close the schools and let everyone educate themselves? I mean, all the information is there, right?
Nope. Learners need vetted guides – we’ve seen what happens when individuals who believe they know best trim history, science, music, art, math, and sociology down to what is “appropriate” for the masses to know. Eventual revolution.
I have seen exactly what happens MOST often when young adults are given the freedom to educate themselves. The school I work in gives kids many options for education – an alternative high school, college classes in the school, advanced courses in the International Baccalaureate program, combinations of online class with in class work, and finally, online school. The last has only succeeded once or twice in my personal, six-year history as a school counselor. When I asked on student why they were not successful, they replied, “Well…the Netflix icon was right next to the school icon on my desktop screen.”
We’re at the front of a revolution now…I believe anyway; though, that it may not be the revolution some people in the SciFi world like to think it will be. My thought is that we will return to paper books primarily because “resources” like Wikipedia are editable by anyone who wants to edit them. I have had more than my fair share as a teacher of students who cut and paste quotes (not labeled as such, of course) in which some wag has replaced every word that starts with “f”…with a single, different word that starts with “f”. Wiki can be changed by anyone with a computer and a key – and an axe to grind or a political agenda. And they DO.
Paper books, while they CAN be edited and reprinted, leave a…paper trail. In a short story I wrote, “Invoking Fire”, a young adult inherits an autistic cousin, a snarky mentee, and a backpack with rare printed editions of books. One is Stephen King’s book CARRIE. The beginning is politically VERY incorrect. So in the ebook version he’s read, it’s been corrected. His great uncle, who kept a huge library of paper books – which also became the pyre on which he eventually burned – is part of a secret organization that is building and stocking a library in the Erg of Bilma. He has left the boy seven books by which he can buy passage from place to place and eventually deliver the only extant copy of an original Gutenberg Bible still left in print.
The boy begins his journey in this first chapter…
At any rate, there you go. My thoughts on the future of education. How about yours?
Program Book: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0eoR-X3dfkPREtLS25VUjRyMEk/viewResource: https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-word-for-planet-Earth-in-other-languages
Image: https://asthmaallergieschildren.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/gutenberg-biblia-muzej.jpg

LOVE IN A TIME OF ALIEN INVASION -- Chapter 65

On Earth, there are three Triads intending to integrate not only the three peoples and stop the war that threatens to break loose and slaughter Humans and devastate their world; but to stop the war that consumes Kiiote economy and Yown’Hoo moral fiber. All three intelligences hover on the edge of extinction. The merger of Human-Kiiote-Yown’Hoo into a van der Walls Society might not only save all three – but become something not even they could predict. Something entirely new...
The young experimental Triads are made up of the smallest primate tribe of Humans – Oscar and Xiomara; the smallest canine pack of Kiiote – six, pack leaders Qap and Xurf; and the smallest camelid herd of Yown’Hoo – a prime eleven, Dao-hi the Herd mother. On nursery farms and ranches away from the TC cities, Humans have tended young Yown’Hoo and Kiiote in secret for decades, allowing the two, warring people to reproduce and grow far from their home worlds.
“We had nearly fallen into stagnation when we encountered the Kiiote.”“And we into internecine war when we encountered the Yown’Hoo.” “Yown’Hoo and Kiiote have been defending themselves for a thousand revolutions of our Sun.” “Together, we might do something none of us alone might have done…a destiny that included Yown’Hoo, Kiiote, and Human.” (2/19/2015)
Kiiote and Yown’Hoo brought their war to us because they couldn’t breed in space. They needed Earth to do that and now we’re the poor dorks who inherited their endless war,” he paused, adding, “That’s how the Earth First faction feels. The Yown’Hoo and Kiiote want us for one thing – as babysitters. The Masters, Pan and Zir, Mother of All, Ji-hi, and the Martyr, St. Admiral had a greater vision. They wanted to form an interstellar civilization. They held minority views, but convinced at least some on each world to invest their time and resources into the Triad Project…”
Great Uncle Rion broke in, “The faction I have supported has worked to create a new belief system that all would follow. The main tenet is to weave personal lives into a complex whole, flexible, peaceful interstellar union.”
I stared at my great uncle. “You want to start a religion?”
He shrugged, gesturing to the conjure’s place, “We need all the help we can get here.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Religion had been one of the first things the world before ours had attempted to abolish. It was after the Horrible Teens, when terrorism wrought by religious factions of Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism Judaism, Bahaism, Confucianism, Jainism, and Shintoism had torn the world apart. The declaration of the United Faith in Humanity hadn’t really taken hold – no idea why. It always seemed sensible to me. Anyway, they tried and the UFIH hadn’t really replaced it. “So you want to create something like the UFIH, but with a metaphysical aspect”
GURion pointed at me and said, “Exactly.” He also waved toward where the conjure had been. “Things like that make our mission both more plausible and a matter of even greater urgency. The Yown’Hoo that created the beings can’t exactly explain what they are. They aren’t technically alive – yet they are. So they’re not just machines, even in a biological sense.” He made a rude noise, “It’s even clear to me – and I’ve been fabricated from materials, the ultimate materialist you might say, and I can see plainly that there are aspects of Humanity that are more than merely chemical reactions! A Human author your biological great uncle was fond of was named CS Lewis…”
Xio exclaimed, “I loved the CHRONICLES OF NARNIA!”
“Me, too. But he also wrote a deadly serious novel in which Humans tried to cast off their nature by furiously believing and trying to create an entirely UNnatural man. A ‘new’ Man so to speak who             had no truck with nature and would be entirely scientific.” He paused. “That didn’t work out any better than the UFIH, which became just one more religion among many. It even spawned its own terrorists who self-righteously terrorized the Old Believers.” He sighed, though he didn’t need to, and said, “Humanity is perverse on so many levels…you have no idea.”
Retired looked at us, seated at his feet, sighed, and said, “This is exactly what I hoped to avoid.”
“What?” I said.
“You’re looking to me for leadership! I’m an old man! I want to retire – hence the name! You nineteen…” GURion sighed and corrected him. Retired nodded. “Eighteen of you – you need to start to make decisions. Running away at this moment is prudent. But it cannot be the way you live the rest of your lives. The time has come when you give me orders.”
“But what if we give you a stupid order?” Qap whined then said.
He said a truly foul word, adding, “I didn’t say I was abandoning you! I will act as your guide, but I have to stop making decisions! And I will stop. Right now.” I opened my mouth and he pointed at me, smiled, and said, “And I will tell you when you are about to blunder. But then we will discuss what our next steps should be. On the shoulders of this Triad more than either of the others…”
I was sure he was going to say something like, “Rests the future of Humanity.” Or something inspiring like that.
But he concluded, “The burden of learning your roles in this hideous world we’ve left for you.” Shaking his head, he said, “Get some sleep. We’ll leave when everyone wakes refreshed and we’ve eaten.” He left us in the room, still sitting. One-by-one; two-by-two; or as a herd, we went to our rooms to await the morning.

Image: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/72/Rhll_wire_rope.jpg

IDEAS ON TUESDAYS 310

Each Tuesday, rather than a POSSIBLY IRRITATING ESSAY, I'd like to both challenge you and lend a helping hand. I generate more speculative and teen story ideas than I can ever use. My family rolls its collective eyes when I say, "Hang on a second! I just have to write down this idea..." Here, I'll include the initial inspiration (quote, website, podcast, etc) and then a thought or two that came to mind. These will simply be seeds -- plant, nurture, fertilize, chemically treat, irradiate, test or stress them as you see fit. I only ask if you let me know if anything comes of them.
SF Trope: Aesoptinium ((http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Aesoptinum)Current Event:http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/mindreading-rodents-scientists-show-telepathic-rats-can-communicate-using-braintobrain-8515259.html
Sophie Sperl stared at the researcher and pursed her lips. "How is this legal?"
The technician who was hooking up the wires that led into the helmet shrugged. "You're like fourteen?" Sophie nodded slowly. He continued, "And you're in a maximum security prison, so I figure you probably committed some really bad crime, so you have no, like, rights or anything." Sophie growled and squirmed. The tech looked at her and said, "I should let you know that the room is completely monitored and I'm armed with a taser,  and whoever's watching can send sleep gas into here in a second." He worked for a while then said, "What'd you do?"
Sophie snorted. "I killed someone."
"Duh," said the tech.
Sophie looked at him and said, "What's your name, handsome?" She squirmed in the chair until the straps pressed up under her breasts.
"Arnava Boqpool, and I'm gay."
Sophie looked disappointed and squirmed until she was comfortable again.
"Sorry, kiddo."
"You're the same age as me! I'm as much of a kiddo as you are!"
He shrugged, finished the contacts in the helmet and said, "Yeah, but I'm a genius."
"I am, too."
"You're a genius at murder. I'm a genius at being a sponge."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
He picked up the helmet and tried to place it on her head. She snapped her head back and forth until he stopped and said, "You can be conscious for this or I can tase you out cold." He shrugged. "Up to you."
She stopped struggling and let him put the helmet on her head. He snugged a strap under her chin and said, "There. This shouldn't take too long. They say your brain is no match for mine."He sat down across from her and lifted an aluminum bad bristling with wires and spikes and placed it on his head.
"What, you're a refugee from GAME OF THRONES?"
"Nope." He leaned to one side and said, "When I turn on the interface, we'll meet mind to mind. You'll try and kill me. I'll absorb you like so much spilled Koolaid." He flipped the switch.
Names: ♀ India ; ♂, GermanyResource: “Robert Sawyer…Neanderthal Parallax…plans sent by aliens…lets people read each other’s minds...strongly implied that this will lead to utopia.” Image: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b1/3,2,1_blast-off!_(15871161250).jpg/511px-3,2,1_blast-off!_(15871161250).jpg

POSSIBLY IRRITATING ESSAY: Dreams of a Humanist SF Writer, Fan, and Activist

Using first the Progress Reports of the upcoming World Science Fiction Convention in Helsinki Finland in August 2017 to which I will be unable to go (until I retire from education)), and eventually the Program Guide, I will jump off, jump on, rail against, and shamelessly agree with the BRIEF DESCRIPTION given in the pdf copy of first the Progress Reports, then the Program Guide. This is event #. The link is provided below…
The Con Committee came up with a list of questions to kick off the Update. They asked all of the Guests of Honor four questions (question 3 was in two parts.) Question 1 was: “What is the greatest (scifi) idea, that you’d like to see invented/come into being in the next one hundred years? Why? (It can be social, technological, etc.)”
John-Henri Holmberg replied: “I’ve actually tried to take this seriously over a few days, keeping it at the back of my mind while following the daily news. Over the years, sf has offered us an almost unlimited number of realistic or fanciful innovations, ideas, and debates…Poul Anderson’s Brain Wave, published in 1954. In that story, our Solar system emerges from the cosmic cloud it has been traveling through for the last many thousand years, a cloud full of particles that have inhibited the speed of neural impulses. And since mammal life evolved before we entered the cloud, our bodies begin again to function in the way they were designed – and intelligence in all species is vastly increased, not least in humans. In the novel, this means that we can finally turn away from childish things: According to Wikipedia, Holmberg is a “Swedish author, critic, publisher and translator, and a well-known science fiction fan…[having] published over 200 science fiction fanzines of his own…One of the fans with whom he worked was fellow Swede Stieg Larsson [author of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and the rest of that Millenniumseries].”
I don’t know Mr. Holmberg’s beliefs, but in the SFE: The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, he is characterized this way: “In his critical work, he has stressed the secular, rationalistic basis of sf literature and often discussed Feminist and Gender-oriented sf.” I would guess from the information above that his personal philosophy would tend toward Humanism, that is, “[the] philosophy informed by science, inspired by art, and motivated by compassion. Affirming the dignity of each human being, it supports the maximization of individual liberty and opportunity consonant with social and planetary responsibility. It advocates the extension of participatory democracy and the expansion of the open society, standing for human rights and social justice. Free of supernaturalism, it recognizes human beings as a part of nature and holds that values-be they religious, ethical, social, or political-have their source in human experience and culture. Humanism thus derives the goals of life from human need and interest rather than from theological or ideological abstractions, and asserts that humanity must take responsibility for its own destiny.– The Humanist Magazine”
That’s good for him. I’m sure he has no personal beef with me for being a Christian. I’m sure we could sit down for a drink and talk science fiction with little or no trouble. I’m sure both of us could behave just fine, and if we happened to hit it off, we might even be friends.
The issue I take, is that based on my personal view, it was Humanity that chose to irrationally disregard a clear direction and consequence for that disregard (“…from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not [n]eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die. …”) from the Individual in charge. That led to the intended system falling apart.
Seems pretty simple to me.
A Humanist rejects any kind of supernatural explanation and appears (to me) to make the assumption that Humans possess the ability to, en masse, make rational decisions. It’s just that we haven’t grown up enough yet (at least not all of us seven billion have.) Growing up, we would (in a curious allusion to the Christian New Testament “When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things.   1 Corinthians 13:11”) leave behind such things as In Anderson’s novel, Humanity leaps into space there to discover that because we evolved in the energy dampening cloud, we are more intelligent that all of the other intelligences in nearby space. The main character remains on Earth to live with the newly intelligent animals and former Humans with mental disabilities while the others meet various fates.
This is the future that Mr. Holmberg hopes will come about (though he doesn’t see any real hope of that based on his brief ending remarks). Even so, it seems somewhat unrealistic that once everyone comes out of their “slow thinking” phase at some future time, our societies (which would disappear, I assume?) would grow to a point of dropping all religious, national, race, envy, tolerance, opinion, violence, and control issue.
Certainly Ada Palmer (who is planning on being at the Helsinki WorldCon) has made a stab at visioning such a society in her book, which I’m reading now Too Like the Lightning.
Hopefully they’re on a panel together! [If they are, Paul Foth, would you take notes for me?] I would love to hear some practical suggestions of steps for us to take now – a bit more concrete than “be more tolerant”... or “don’t be envious”.
Program Book: http://www.worldcon.fi/files/progress_report_4_a4.pdfImage: http://www.leidenanthropologyblog.nl/images/sized/images/uploads/Pels_Header_New_York_Worlds_Fair_1964_Bell_Telephone_Pavilion-578x220.jpg

MARTIAN HOLIDAY 104: Aster of Opportunity

On a well-settled Mars, the five major city Council regimes struggle to meld into a stable, working government. Embracing an official Unified Faith In Humanity, the Councils are teetering on the verge of pogrom directed against Christians, Molesters , Jews, Rapists, Buddhists, Murderers, Muslims, Thieves, Hindu, Embezzlers and Artificial Humans – anyone who threatens the official Faith and the consolidating power of the Councils. It makes good sense, right – get rid of religion and Human divisiveness on a societal level will disappear? An instrument of such a pogrom might just be a Roman holiday...To see the rest of the chapters and I’m sorry, but a number of them got deleted from the blog – go to SCIENCE FICTION: Martian Holiday on the right and scroll to the bottom for the first story. If you’d like to read it from beginning to end (70,000+ words as of now), drop me a line and I’ll send you the unedited version.
Martian society needed to be responsible for lifting Artificial Humans up. In fact tolerance in Martian society had vanished at some point, replaced by a harsh ideal that every person must agree in all things – or there would be a chaos of different opinions.
Aster had the chance to change all of that. FardusAH, with her network of assistants to all of the other Mayors of Mars, was a powerful ally. The – literally – underground society of Artificial Humans were a power far beyond any that Naturals imagined.
The Orphans Ball might very well be the crux by which Martian society might return to one that allowed all beings a voice. A place where none were silenced and all were welcome to speak.
The slithering person of vo’Maddux was a different issue. In that creature’s mind, the Mayoral Consort should stay in the Pylon. But the “blue-collar” workers and FardusAH’s allies, the Natural and Artificial men and women who listened to her dad, attended his secret Christian church needed to know that what Aster had planned wasn’t “a stunt” by the Mayor’s Office. A union of Martians, is what she wanted – a union against the current power structure – and was something she was ready to work for. She suddenly realized that she wanted to do it, no matter what it cost her. Up to and including her life. She explained the Orphan’s Ball, then added, “After that, our intentions will be public knowledge. It will be impossible for Naturals to ignore the fact that Artificial Human families are as vulnerable as they are. It’s clear that the true enemies of all commoners both Natural and Artificial lived in the highest classes of Naturals; those who made their homes in the Owner’s District.She said, “We must make sure that those in the HOD come to the Ball.”
One dark blue arm lifted. Aster nodded. A voice thickened by many years of use; distinctly neither male nor female. It said, “You bring the HODders there and mix in blue’uns and you get yourse’f a shoot.” The hand dropped down.
Aster scowled. The accent and the slang was virtually impenetrable to her. A younger inti stepped forward, letting her see him full on. He couldn’t have been more than thirteen – though she knew full well that Artificial Humans were manufactured at whatever age and size required by the purchaser or the job. Still, he looked young. He said in clear SpanDarinGlish (a creole of Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, and English), “She means to say that if you throw this Ball of yours and we come in, the HODders will call out the guard and it’ll be a massacre.”
She nodded gravely. “True. But I will also have invited those among the other influential – those in medicine…”
Someone from deeper in the dark laughed and called out, “They cut us open like rats!”
Aster, Escort of the Mayor of Opportunity snapped back at him, “And some have answered to me that they deplore the practice and have sued for change! I am the Escort of Mayor Etaraxis!” Her title rang from the high ceiling of the underground intersection. She let it for a moment. Then she said, “I have been delivered into this peculiar bondage and have kept a timid post. Until now. I will cease to live in the shadow of my captor. I will direct a modicum of the power that streams from the Mayor to my own use. I will direct to Mars; to free all Martians, to create the society my father and those with whom he came to this Newest World envisioned.” She stopped, hands held down, before her, chin up.
There was silence for a time.
Then the gender-neutral voice called again from the darkness, “You watch that witch by ‘is side, girl! She be evil with flushin’ slime! We watch fo’ ye, girl. I watch fo’ ye! Mark me wor’!”
The intis began to leave. The young man stepped up to her and said, “Great-Great said that you need to watch vo’Maddux. That she was a slimy evil.” He leaned closer, “We will watch for you, your Majesty. We will watch and protect you.”
The looked he fixed on her made her want to shudder. Instead, she nodded slowly and said, “Go, then. When the moment is right, I will give the signal.” He grinned, turned, and ran into the darkness.
A moment later, Aster was alone.

Image: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/pv5BzHM3TJ8/hqdefault.jpg

IDEAS ON TUESDAYS 309

Each Tuesday, rather than a POSSIBLY IRRITATING ESSAY, I'd like to both challenge you and lend a helping hand. I generate more speculative and teen story ideas than I can ever use. My family rolls its collective eyes when I say, "Hang on a second! I just have to write down this idea..." Here, I'll include the initial inspiration (quote, website, podcast, etc.) and then a thought or two that came to mind. These will simply be seeds -- plant, nurture, fertilize, chemically treat, irradiate, test or stress them as you see fit. I only ask if you let me know if anything comes of them.
H Trope: adaptational heroismCurrent Event: “Throughout this work, we advance four primary ideas: (a)The concept of heroism is a way to unify several types of courageous or brave actions that have largely been treated independently in the literature to date; (b) that the simple presence of risk accompanying prosocial behavior is not enoughto define heroism; (c) heroism is viewed as distinct from otherprosocial activities, such as compassion and altruism (and may represent an entirely different behavior); and (d) that while heroism is primarily a positive and prosocial act, a simplistic view of this behavior misses important (and sometimes negative) aspects of the phenomenon.” (http://www.scribd.com/doc/161425346/A-Conceptual-Analysis-and-Differentiation-Between-Heroic-Action-and-Altruism)
“My baby sister tells me you can help us find Carlos,” Carmita Rodriguez Cruz said. Her eyes narrowed, “She’d better be right.”

Austin Ventura remembered then that she was also taking kickboxing lessons – and that his best friend was missing. “I’m not sure exactly where he is. I just know that there are certain places he’s likely to be.” He dared, “We’re in probability together. You do the math.”
She scowled darkly at him, but didn’t contradict him.
Score one, he said to himself.
Paulina Rodriguez Cruz, sister to Los Traviesos Gemelos, said, “Quit flirting, you two! Carlos has been kidnapped and we have to rescue him!”
Austin exclaimed, “I’m not flirting!”
Looking at him, Carmita said, “She’s right, A-man.” Looking at Paulina, she said, “¿Qué te hace pensar que fue secuestrado?”
“I have another question for you, dear sister – what would he be doing out in the middle of the night, by himself, without telling one of the three of us? Aren’t those enough reasons?”
“The bigger question is why would anyone kidnap him,” said Austin.
Carmita bristled, “Just ‘cause he’s not rich like you, doesn’t mean that there’s no reason to kidnap him!”
“You two have to cut it out! Carlos may need us out there!” Carmita and Austin looked at each other then looked away, hanging their heads. “You both know that Carlos is a better person than all three of us put together.”
Austin felt a chill run up his spine. He said, “What would that have to do with kidnapping?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. It just…felt right. Don’t you think?”
He grimaced as a chilly breeze blew from across the parking lot, chasing bits and pieces of leaves and paper over to them. “Much as I know about him, I have to say I agree.”
“What do you mean?” Carmita said. “I’m his twin. I’m just as good as him!”
“Better,” Austin said.
“What?”

“You’re better than him in everything. It’s like when you guys were conceived, you sucked all the talent out of him. You got everything.” Carmita was glaring at him. He added slowly, “You got everything except his good heart.” She opened her mouth. Closed it. Opened it. Austin said, “You look like los peces de colores loco.”
“A crazy goldfish?” she echoed, puzzled.
“Yep. You ever seen one?”
“No.”
“Sure you have. Someone who’s locked up and can’t do a single thing – and if they don’t start moving, it’s gonna drive ‘em crazy.”
Paulina said, “Fits you like a glove, Cabroncita.”
Carmita snorted and said, “Let’s get going.” She tossed her gigantic purse over her shoulder, “A-man, we’re gonna need your car.”
Source: http://www.remezcla.com/2012/latin/top-5-latino-halloween-legends-and-monsters/-- Carlos’ kidnapper #1? (http://able2know.org/topic/26631-1)Names: ♂ Mexico, Mexico; ♂ Minnesota, Italy (= “baby in the woods”, “foundling”); ♀ Spanish form of French name ‘Paul’Image: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OCWXw6InF70/TKigMBk87NI/AAAAAAAAAy4/tL7MhIfL9CM/s1600/2212_1025142570.jpg

WRITING ADVICE: What Do You Do When A Famous Writer Has A Book Published Whose “World” Idea Is VERY SIMILAR To One You Had?

In September of 2007, I started this blog with a bit of writing advice. A little over a year later, I discovered how little I knew about writing after hearing children’s writer, Lin Oliver speak at a convention hosted by the Minnesota Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. Since then, I have shared (with their permission) and applied the writing wisdom of Lin Oliver, Jack McDevitt, Nathan Bransford, Mike Duran, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, SL Veihl, Bruce Bethke, and Julie Czerneda. Together they write in genres broad and deep, and have acted as agents, editors, publishers, columnists, and teachers. Since then, I figured I’ve got enough publications now that I can share some of the things I did “right” and I’m busy sharing that with you.
While I don’t write full-time, nor do I make enough money with my writing to live off of it...neither do all of the professional writers above...someone pays for and publishes ten percent of what I write. When I started this blog, that was NOT true, so I may have reached a point where my own advice is reasonably good. We shall see! Hemingway’s quote above will now remain unchanged as I work to increase my writing output and sales! As always, your comments are welcome!
Let me just say that this is weird because it happened to me before.
Many years ago, I had an idea and approached a publisher. It had to do with writing a fictional account of an historic incident with which I was familiar. After researching and writing for over a year, I approached an editor. She was very excited with the story. We worked together and then suddenly this book was published: https://www.amazon.com/Firestorm-Adventures-Time-Neubert-Schultz/dp/0876142765/ref=la_B001JRZJLS_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1497730292&sr=1-1
The editor I was working with said that wouldn’t matter, but the fact is that the book died and I was the holder of a paper manuscript that wasn’t worth anything. (I WILL say that the same editor bought a short story that I wrote – and bought a sidebar as well: https://shop.cricketmedia.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/small_image/166x/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/c/r/cricket-magazine-july-2001.jpg)
Of course, the history of the Great Hickley Fire was there for the taking and there was nothing I could do to prove that I’d had the idea first – even if that could have been verified. It was just a weird coincidence that where that book's main character was named Maggie, my main character's name was Megan...
And now it appears to have happened again. Many years ago, I wrote the story, “Oath” that took place in a world very like the one presented in Brenda Cooper’s novel, WILDERS: “Coryn Williams has grown up in the megacity of Seacouver, where her every need is provided for—except satisfaction with her life. After her parents' suicides, her sister Lou fled the city to work on a rewilding crew, restoring lands once driven to the brink of ecological disaster by humans to a more natural state. Finally of age, Coryn leaves the city with her companion robot to look for her sister. But the outside world is not what she expects—it is rougher and more dangerous, and while some people help her, some resent the city and some covet her most precious resource: her companion robot. As Coryn struggles toward her sister, she uncovers a group of people with a sinister agenda that may endanger Seacouver. When Coryn does find her sister, Lou has secrets she won't share. Can Coryn and Lou learn to trust each other in order to discover the truth hidden behind the surface and to save both Seacouver and the rewilded lands?”
Here’s my story: http://www.stupefyingstoriesshowcase.com/0130826/0130826-40.html(published in 2013). Certainly not identical in any way, but the concept of people jammed into megacities and allowing the rest of the world to “go wild” again is similar enough to be…creepy.So, to satisfy myself, I’ll give you the timeline that led to my stories.
I belonged to a blog group called THE FRIDAY CHALLENGE. Here’s the original challenge that sparked my idea: http://thefridaychallenge.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2010-03-14T08:00:00-05:00
My story response was posted on my blog: http://faithandsciencefiction.blogspot.com/2010/03/entry-for-great-challenge-vet.html
I didn’t win that competition, but both Bruce Bethke and Henry Vogel had nice things to say about it – and offered me another challenge. http://thefridaychallenge.blogspot.com/2010/04/and-winner-of-greater-challenge-is.html
That’s where “Oath” came from.
Noodling around in that same world led next to another story published in PERIHELION MAGAZINE called “Invoking Fire” (no longer available online) and may lead to more stories because it’s really the first chapter of a YA quest novel. Another story that took place in the world I call Vertical Villages and Return To The Wild, was “Technopred”. In it, I postulate that our technological development has forced the evolution of intelligence in animals. NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC seemed to think so as well when they produced “Raccoon Nation” (Watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpAw5bDrw5w) You can also read my story here: http://aurorawolf.com/2013/05/guy-stewart/
Others are unpublished, but they’re there. I’ve also slotted other stories of mine into the same Universe that comes out of the Vertical Village Movement. In fact, a novel I’m shopping around, OUT OF THE DEBTOR STARS has major plot twists that take place in the MSP Vertical Village.
So – a question to the great “outdoors” – should I be worried or not?
Resource: https://www.amazon.com/Wilders-Project-Earth-Brenda-Cooper-ebook/dp/B01LXVRCBF/ref=as_li_ss_tl?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B01LXVRCBF&pd_rd_r=WT0E523GWD7A1E6ND00H&pd_rd_w=zwNQG&pd_rd_wg=SclXG&psc=1&refRID=WT0E523GWD7A1E6ND00H&linkCode=sl1&tag=brencoop-20&linkId=3ce84d52af459b0eb97a7d987e24c0dbImage: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/9f/22/3b/9f223b1e57a36e14db3eb13715fbe3f9.jpg