Jared Millet's Blog

God of Extinction

To whomever deciphers this message:

If you act at once, there may still be time to save your civilization. First, you must immediately erase all records of your homeworld from whatever means your vessel uses to store data, then destroy the storage media as well. You will never be able to go home. To do so would ensure your species’ destruction.

Please understand that this isn’t a threat. We found a similar message etched on the hull of another wrecked starship many light-years from here. That ship was orbiting the same rocky planet where you presumably came across our vessel. You are correct to understand that the planet has moved. It has also, almost certainly, scanned your ship by now.

All of those who come across this planet refer to it as “God.” The intelligence housed within is sophisticated, but ancient. It will take several orbits around the nearby pulsar for its higher cognitive functions to engage. Its weapons will already be active, but with luck it hasn’t interfaced with your computers yet. Once again, we urge you to purge any data that might identify your homeworld. We suggest ejecting your records toward the pulsar for good measure.

By now, you’re wondering why you should believe us. To understand what God is capable of, direct your sensors to the nearest binary system. Around the smaller sun, you’ll detect a planet whose atmosphere bears the carbon footprint of an industrial civilization, but when you look for microwave transmissions, you’ll find that the world has gone silent. 

Our ship was fleeing with God in pursuit when we picked up that planet’s radio signals. God did too; it stopped chasing us to alter its course and annihilate that planet’s life. That tragedy gave us the time we needed to lure God into this pulsar’s gravity well and trick it into going dormant. Doing so came at a very high price, one that you will have to pay as well.

God is compelled to destroy any sentient life it encounters before moving on to seek another target. Powerful radio sources such as pulsars limit its detection radius, and the gravitational eddies near superdense collapsars force it to divert much of its power to maintaining a quasi-stable orbit. It only does so, however, when it can no longer sense any prey. 

And so we had to die. After inscribing this message on our hull, we made orbit at the gravitational balance point between God and the pulsar, then took our own lives so that God wouldn’t destroy our ship and this record.

We do not know how God came to be, but we know the last species who tried to appease it were the Vreel. Their race inhabited gas giant worlds and used a network of decoys to direct God against their enemies, offering them as sacrifices. God eventually tracked the Vreel’s decoys to their source and obliterated all of their planets. Somewhere in the galaxy, there is now a swath of stars with no gas giant planets at all.

It was the Vreel who created the first version of this message. The next were the Shayda, who lived on the dark sides of tide-locked planets. Their explorers didn’t understand God’s nature until it was too late. Next came the K’ul-K’ul, an avian species who lived on mountaintops above their atmosphere’s depths. They too tried to deflect God with sacrifices, but by then it had learned to see through such tactics. After the K’ul-K’ul, God encountered the Zsizs, who tried to stop it by sheer force of arms. A handful of scattered monuments is all that remains of their empire.

The next species to meet God were the first to avoid leading it back to their home. All we know of them is that their captain’s name was Ѭ. He and his crew destroyed their own ship, leaving only an annotation in the records of the Zsizs. By destroying themselves, they caused God to go dormant until the next explorers came along.

Those explorers were the first we’re aware of who tried to lure God to its death. They let it chase them into a star going nova, and the scoring across half of God’s surface shows how close it came to the blast. Those explorers left behind a record of their attempt, but nothing about who they were as a species. That is now the rule for all of us who follow.

The next souls to meet God tried to drive it across a black hole’s event horizon. They nearly succeeded, and perhaps would have done so if the black hole had been much more massive. The following species made the same attempt, and they were able to measure the strength of God’s engines. Their data revealed that God can escape the pull of any object of fewer than 1.5 million stellar masses.

Thus began the crusade of which we are a part. We can’t defeat God, and we cannot destroy it, but with determination and guile, we can lure it toward the supermassive black hole at the galaxy’s center, which we hope to make its final grave. We led it this far before our fuel ran out, and now you’ve become the next link in the chain. Once God is awake, you must let it hunt you as far as you can lead it down the path. When your resources are spent, leave a copy of this message, take your own lives, and let God go dormant.

We do not know anything about you, and we cannot reveal anything about ourselves. We do not know if your species has concepts such as “hope,” “honor,” or “love.” We do not know if you cherish your children, or what you wished to gain by exploring the stars. But whoever you are, and whatever you do, please trust that your sacrifice will not be in vain, and we wish you the very best of luck.

Fare well.

~

“God of Extinction” appeared in New Mythologies in Space, Flame Tree Myth & Fiction's limited edition newsletter that was distributed at WorldCon 2024 in Glasgow, Scotland. For more stories like this one, sign up to Flame Tree’s monthly fiction newsletter at FlameTreePress.com.

“God of Extinction” © 2024 Jared Millet

South Carolina Horror Con II: The Sequel!

Halloween starts early this year at the South Carolina Horror Con, taking place this weekend on Saturday, September 14-15 at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center. Guests include a variety of horror actors and authors, plus vendors galore. As always, I'll be promoting my usual mix of horror/epic fantasy and occult space opera. Come check it out for a creepy good time!

The Battle for Majadan: Omnibus Edition

The Complete Trilogy Now In One Volume!

The Wight Lords and their undead legions conquered the city of Majadan in one night. Their next target is civilization itself. Caught in the chaos is a band of refugees. They aren't heroes or generals, immortals or gods, but in the right place and at the right time, the actions of a few may tip the balance of the world.

The Blood Prayer: Aust is a young man fleeing from his past, hiding in plain sight as a common minstrel. His knowledge of Majadan's secret ways has saved his life many times before, but when the powers of Hell are set loose in the streets, Aust becomes a guide for a band of survivors who will each have to choose between their honor and their lives in a desperate gamble for freedom.
The Bone Collar: Moth is the last of her kind, a shapeshifting nomad whose family was murdered on the night of the invasion. Now on the run, she stumbles on a secret that cuts through the heart of the only nation blocking the Wight Lords' advance. When she can't tell friends and enemies apart, can one lost girl stand against the Immortals? No matter the odds, Moth will have to try.The Ghost Cauldron: Eris is a mercenary who lost everything when Majadan fell—including her life. Now, she and her fellow spirits are trapped, unable to escape from the city. Forging an alliance with former enemies, Eris leads a rebellion of ghosts, because the Wight Lords' schemes are darker than any of the living suspect, building toward a final battle that even the dead won't escape.
Ebook available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords, Kobo, Everand, and Apple.

Let the Summer SciFi Conventions Commence!

 

Just a quick note to announce that I'll be at two, count 'em, two great conventions bookending the month of June:

AugustaCon, June 1, Augusta, GA

HuntsvilleCon, June 30, Huntsville, AL

These were two of my favorite shows I attended last year, so I'm really looking forward to going back again. Hope to see you all there!

"Bat Country" in Illustrated Worlds

It's been a hot minute since I had a new short story for your consideration, but the day is finally here! My tale of a strange encounter in the wasteland on the edge of reality—otherwise known as “Bat Country”—is now available in Illustrated Worlds #5. Here's a sample:

I was on the edge of the Shadelands, near the Plain of the Shrieking Towers, when one of the void bats I’d spent months there to study was hit by a Greyhound bus. 

I didn’t know that it was a bus, or what the word “Greyhound” signified at the time. But there, where the tower-studded plain met the slope of rubble from Realm 348, a slice of road from an unknown Logic dimension had pressed against the fabric of Chaos Space. The void bats, drawn like moths to this fissure, feasted upon a trickle of alien laws of physics. They were usually deft at dodging the machines that shot along that otherworldly highway.

Not this time. As I spied through my optiscope from high up the mound of debris, a large block of metal with markings in an alien script plowed onto the road, surprising one of the two-dimensional bats and smashing it into goo across the machine’s face.

The whole issue promises to be fantastic. From the publisher:

Issue #5, the Spring 2024 edition of the horror and fantasy magazine, features incredible artwork by Reggie Thomas, Ruben Aldenhoven, Amuri Morris, Nick Stevens and more. Fifty pages of top quality fiction exploring the Hammer horror vibe of an all girls' school, a dimension hopping researcher studying bats and a ghost haunting phone apps. Stories by the likes of Scare in a Box, Fiona Scott Stevenson and Jonathan Balog bring the human imagination to life and explore the darker side of our souls.

Do I need to say more? Check it out now.

CoastCon & Nerdi Gras

It's going to be a busy month, with not just one but two conventions in the next few weeks! First off, I'll be returning to Biloxi's CoastCon from March 1-3, followed by Nerdi Gras in Duluth, Georgia from March 15-17. Click below for details:

It seems like it's been hardly any time since ChattaCon back in January. Here's a shout-out to everyone I shared Author's Alley with back in Chattanooga: Be sure to check out their books!
Alexander Nader - author of Beasts of BurdinBob McGough - author of The Jubal County SagaBen Meeks - author of The Keeper ChroniclesDevon Eriksen - author of Theft of FireGeorge Weinstein - author of Hardscrabble RoadJohn G. Hartness - author of The Black Knight ChroniclesKenneth Meade - author of Something WickedKim Conrey - author of Ares Ascending
Every time I go to a convention, I always end up adding a whole new bookshelf to my reading list. But hey, you can never have too many books, so be sure to head to your nearest SF convention with a wad of cash in hand! (hint hint)

ChattaCon 49

It's a brand new year, and it's convention time again! In just a few days (that's Jan 12-14) I'll be in downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee for ChattaCon 49, the latest installment in the South's longest-running gathering of science fiction fans (outpacing Dragon*Con by a decade, no less). The fun begins at 4:00pm Friday and keeps on going through Sunday afternoon. If you're anywhere in the area, come and join the party!

Next up on the schedule: a return to Coast Con in Biloxi, with even more shows in the following year. Oh, and a new story or two lurking on the horizon.

ColumbiaCon, October 1

 

Greetings, loyal followers! I just got home from AshevilleCon (which I completely forgot to blog about), but I'm turning right around and heading back out to ColumbiaCon on October 1. This will be the third convention I'm attending this year put on by promoter Carmine de Santo, and I have to say that the first two (in Huntsville and Asheville) were fantastic, well organized, and well attended. I'm also looking forward to AugustaCon on November 4, which will be the closest to home I'll be conventioning this year.

As for ColumbiaCon, I'm really excited that they've got Fabian Nicieza as the guest of honor. He's billed as the cocreator of Deadpool, and to be clear - Rob Liefeld may have designed the character, but Nicieza's the one responsible for his snark. He also wrote nearly 50% of the Marvel books I collected in the 90s, so now I've got to pull out an issue or two to get autographed. I may be an author myself, but I'm still a goddamn nerd.

Georgia Pop & Horror Con, Aug. 4-6

 

The time has come! I'll soon be attending the Georgia Pop and Horror Con at the convention center in Columbus, Georgia. I've really been looking forward to this one. Horror is rarely the main genre I write in, but I always seem to end up using it as a seasoning. What's more, in addition to my usual selection of books for sale, I'm bringing Summer Gothic: A Collection of Southern Hauntings out of the dusty, ghost-infested closet it's been stewing in for the last few years. Summer Gothic is a collection of ghost stories from a wide variety of Alabama authors that I edited and published back in my librarian days. I can't wait to share it with the world again!

So as not to bury the lede:

Get Tickets for the Georgia Pop and Horror Con.Come see me in the vendors room.Enjoy a weekend of creepy fun.

You have your assignment. Get to it!

Hey Cheapskates! The Smashwords July Book Sale is ON

The Smashwords July book sale event just kicked off, and that means you can get all of my ebooks for less than you'd pay for an off-brand bottle of water. All you have to do is use the coupon code SSW75 for 75% off on all my books! 
What does that get you? For starters, you can download my entire Battle for Majadan trilogy for $2.48:

You can pick up my latest book, The Shadow Jubilee, for the low, low price of $1.24. Meanwhile, The Whisper and The Unwinding House are going for a mere 99¢. Once again, use coupon code SSW75 on all my titles. (While you're there, you may as well browse other authors' books as well.)
The sale's going on through the end of the month, but that's no excuse not to CHECK IT OUT TODAY.