James Pyles's Blog, page 196
July 28, 2017
Lunch at Antiques
Jeremy wanted to think of someplace creative for his first date with Clare. They met at an online dating site and she said she felt more comfortable having lunch with him. “Antiques” was both a restaurant and an antique shop. They served “retro-cuisine” styled for the ’50s and ’60s. He hoped she’d like it, that it […]
Europa
The four time travelers who had become reluctant astronauts aboard an alien spacecraft now sat at their stations in that ship awaiting takeoff. Ross Murdock activated the manual control panel in front of him and opened the large hatch that had been covering the landing bay exposing the ship to space. The tube connecting their Forerunner […]
July 27, 2017
The Encounter
The temporal field in the alien time gate sparked and cracked for several seconds before anything came through. Then it appeared, a single Forerunner, an Orange. “Watch out!” Murdock sounded almost panicked. “It’s a Forerunner weapon.” It looked like the same race as the Blues. Skin color was a little darker, but everything else was […]
July 26, 2017
The Pay Phone Puzzle
“What kind of phone is it, Grandpa?” “An old pay phone. You used to put a quarter in to make a call.” “Why not use a cell?” “Well, little one, because they hadn’t been invented when people used these. This one is so low so that people in wheelchairs could reach it.” “Who uses it […]
Ceres
The Forerunner sphere was off course and out of control. It was going to miss the portal into the dwarf planet Ceres and crash on the surface! The lighting changed in the control cabin and a loud, intermittent buzzing sounded, probably an alarm. The configuration of the panels as well as shapes and colors of […]
July 25, 2017
Julio the Explorer
Stranded on a sandbar, Julio pointed to the rocks ahead of him and loudly declared, “I claim this land in the name of Philip the First, King of Portugal.” Some said he was drunk. Some said he was mad. The children pointed at him and laughed, making up silly and insulting rhymes about Crazy Julio. […]
Space Flight
Travis Fox stood with a security team as he witnessed the wonderful and horrible miracle of the Forerunner spaceship launching from the surface of the Earth. While Ashe and Murdock were in the past supervising the preparations for the ship’s time jump, Travis reluctantly agreed to remain in the present. He couldn’t stay away from […]
July 23, 2017
The Mission
The tall man with white hair wearing a conservative business suit opened the door of the amusement park ride and stepped into what looked like a spaceship. The park was deserted which is exactly what he expected. Under the seat was a tape recorder and an envelope. He opened the envelope and turned on the […]
The Second Ship
The quintet descended slowly into the small valley containing the second alien spacecraft. There was more vegetation here than in the previous depression and it partially obscured the vessel. “Only two stories tall. Maybe a scout craft. Similar construction to the two others but there seems to be some coloring and maybe ornamental differences.” “Ornamental, […]
Walkabout
Barega saw himself here in dreamtime. Merindah the Seer woman told him it was his time for the walkabout, his spiritual transition so that he could join the men of their people. His journey would be long and take many days. Barega would be traveling alone for the first time in his fourteen years of life. His […]
