Chris Hechtl's Blog, page 29
September 28, 2019
Loose Ends Snippet 2
So, a bit frustrated, I still haven't gotten beta feedback on Loose Ends. I'm sending it to Goodlifeguide tomorrow whether or not I get it.
I am still nursing my hip. I'm too pigheaded to get it checked at the moment. If the pain persists another week I'll probably do it. :P
In other news, I'm 7 chapters from finishing PRI 2 Hostage Rescue but I keep getting interrupted. Drama. Loads of drama going on. Hopefully things will settle down soon.
On to the snippet!
Still in the short story BELL:
“How do you split a muon?” Alexi asked as he fiddled with the controls. Everything was kludged together; they were low on funding again. Improvisation was the norm. The station reflected that;it was patched together. Wiring trunks were bundled and run through the station. Anything and everything was used to keep the station running. Sometimes it was hard to sort out what was for the station and what was a part of the lab.
One of their smartest purchases was a trio of 3D printers and a CNC machine. The machinery worked with various raw or recycled materials, and it cut down on having to order expensive custom made equipment. It did mean they needed engineering and CAD help though. They had a cluster of engineering students on “loan.” The kids were working for minimum wage, but that helped keep the interest on their student loan debt down. It also gave them work credits on an actual space station that they could use on their resumes in the future.
Everything was old and used;they rarely had the money to buy new. Secondhand was the norm. Anything that broke to the point where it couldn't be rebuilt was stripped of parts and then the bits that were broken were recycled. There were bags and bins, many repurposed from food containers to keep the parts sorted and straight for the engineers.
Waste not, want not.
“Very very very carefully,” Pat deadpanned, giving him “the look.”
He snorted. “Cute.”
“Okay, here is a better one, how do you spin a split muon?”
“Ah …”
“Yeah, there is the rub.”
Whenever two objects that were connected by quantum entanglement moved, one object was spun in the mirror image of the second. The problem was, if either particle touched another object, poof, it became a part of that object and the connection was lost.
Quantum entanglement, also known as Bell entanglement, had been theorized as far back as 1935. Experiments had been run with buckyballs, diamonds, photons, neutrinos, and other materials. The scientific community was at odds about the results and correlation for some time. But it hadn't been imaged until 2019 that things began to take off.
Of course the communication corporations had gotten involved. The idea of FTL communications without a network to have to maintain was very appealing. They'd tried to perfect FTL only to find all sorts of problems with it. The technology was not mature—reading the spin was hard enough, inducing it was another problem. One tended to interfere with the other.
One thing Alexi liked about Pat was that they'd settled into a sassy old-friend sort of relationship. She didn't cut him any slack and she wasn't uptight. They joked all the time. Some might protest a few things, like when he threatened her with a warm bottom.
He'd thought he'd stepped over the line,but she'd come right back by bringing a paddle from a frat house the following day and using it on his hind end.
He still blushed when she teased him about that. She wasn't just someone he could relate to, a colleague, a friend, but also a good friend. Someone he trusted implicitly.
“Okay, so …”
“Hold that thought. Trevor sent over the latest calculations of the model you sent,” Pat said.
“Ah?” he asked, excited. Trevor Hillman was a cyborg and had once been the head of R&D at Lagroose Industries before the company had broken up shortly after the A.I. War. He, the company's lynchpin Athena, and others had led an exodus for many personnel to Mars University while Jack Lagroose had taken another group to Pyrax.
It was rumored that Athena had engineered both exit strategies.
Athena had been a professor at the university for some time before she had realized her software was failing. She had decided to shut herself down, and Trevor had replaced her as the chair of computer sciences. Trevor had taken her “death” hard.
So had Alexi, Athena had been a supporter,and she'd helped him out a lot with computer support and number crunching. It had taken time for him to get in with Trevor.
Really Pat had been the one to do that. She'd wined and dined Trevor and had reminded him that Athena had been a supporter of the project and finishing it would help with her legacy.
He hadn't quite bit into that but he had grudgingly taken on some of their sim tasks. Apparently,some of their work had helped him with other projects from time to time. And both scientists were of course on hand to answer questions he might have about particle physics, quantum mechanics, or other fields they knew about.
“The math is fascinating,” Pat said, looking at the tablet. When he tried to look at it, she pretended to play keep away before relenting.
They sat on the old tape-covered bench, legs tucked up to prop up their tablets as they scanned the documentation fully. Occasionally, he'd play footsy with her just to get her goat. She'd protest mildly, usually with a soft stop and he would … for a little while.
“You know you are impossible,right?” she finally said when he noted the light was fading.
“Yeah well, you started it,” he said, reaching out and catching a bare foot. She liked to pad around in her bare feet; she said it helped her to think.
He also knew from experience that she was ticklish. Very ticklish.
She instantly started to snicker as he started to tickle her. She kicked with her free foot and then reached over and grabbed a pillow to pummel him into submission. He finally relented to fend off her blows. They fell in a heap on the floor.
He groaned as a knee found a tender spot.
“Serves you right,” she said, poking him.
He chuckled. “So, dinner?”
“Yeah, sure, why not.”
“Chinese?” he asked.
She hit him again.
“Okay, okay, Korean?” he asked. He laughed as he fended off another blow. “Picky picky!”
.... . .-.. .-.. ---
I still can't get the font text to work right. GRR.
I am still nursing my hip. I'm too pigheaded to get it checked at the moment. If the pain persists another week I'll probably do it. :P
In other news, I'm 7 chapters from finishing PRI 2 Hostage Rescue but I keep getting interrupted. Drama. Loads of drama going on. Hopefully things will settle down soon.
On to the snippet!
Still in the short story BELL:
“How do you split a muon?” Alexi asked as he fiddled with the controls. Everything was kludged together; they were low on funding again. Improvisation was the norm. The station reflected that;it was patched together. Wiring trunks were bundled and run through the station. Anything and everything was used to keep the station running. Sometimes it was hard to sort out what was for the station and what was a part of the lab.
One of their smartest purchases was a trio of 3D printers and a CNC machine. The machinery worked with various raw or recycled materials, and it cut down on having to order expensive custom made equipment. It did mean they needed engineering and CAD help though. They had a cluster of engineering students on “loan.” The kids were working for minimum wage, but that helped keep the interest on their student loan debt down. It also gave them work credits on an actual space station that they could use on their resumes in the future.
Everything was old and used;they rarely had the money to buy new. Secondhand was the norm. Anything that broke to the point where it couldn't be rebuilt was stripped of parts and then the bits that were broken were recycled. There were bags and bins, many repurposed from food containers to keep the parts sorted and straight for the engineers.
Waste not, want not.
“Very very very carefully,” Pat deadpanned, giving him “the look.”
He snorted. “Cute.”
“Okay, here is a better one, how do you spin a split muon?”
“Ah …”
“Yeah, there is the rub.”
Whenever two objects that were connected by quantum entanglement moved, one object was spun in the mirror image of the second. The problem was, if either particle touched another object, poof, it became a part of that object and the connection was lost.
Quantum entanglement, also known as Bell entanglement, had been theorized as far back as 1935. Experiments had been run with buckyballs, diamonds, photons, neutrinos, and other materials. The scientific community was at odds about the results and correlation for some time. But it hadn't been imaged until 2019 that things began to take off.
Of course the communication corporations had gotten involved. The idea of FTL communications without a network to have to maintain was very appealing. They'd tried to perfect FTL only to find all sorts of problems with it. The technology was not mature—reading the spin was hard enough, inducing it was another problem. One tended to interfere with the other.
One thing Alexi liked about Pat was that they'd settled into a sassy old-friend sort of relationship. She didn't cut him any slack and she wasn't uptight. They joked all the time. Some might protest a few things, like when he threatened her with a warm bottom.
He'd thought he'd stepped over the line,but she'd come right back by bringing a paddle from a frat house the following day and using it on his hind end.
He still blushed when she teased him about that. She wasn't just someone he could relate to, a colleague, a friend, but also a good friend. Someone he trusted implicitly.
“Okay, so …”
“Hold that thought. Trevor sent over the latest calculations of the model you sent,” Pat said.
“Ah?” he asked, excited. Trevor Hillman was a cyborg and had once been the head of R&D at Lagroose Industries before the company had broken up shortly after the A.I. War. He, the company's lynchpin Athena, and others had led an exodus for many personnel to Mars University while Jack Lagroose had taken another group to Pyrax.
It was rumored that Athena had engineered both exit strategies.
Athena had been a professor at the university for some time before she had realized her software was failing. She had decided to shut herself down, and Trevor had replaced her as the chair of computer sciences. Trevor had taken her “death” hard.
So had Alexi, Athena had been a supporter,and she'd helped him out a lot with computer support and number crunching. It had taken time for him to get in with Trevor.
Really Pat had been the one to do that. She'd wined and dined Trevor and had reminded him that Athena had been a supporter of the project and finishing it would help with her legacy.
He hadn't quite bit into that but he had grudgingly taken on some of their sim tasks. Apparently,some of their work had helped him with other projects from time to time. And both scientists were of course on hand to answer questions he might have about particle physics, quantum mechanics, or other fields they knew about.
“The math is fascinating,” Pat said, looking at the tablet. When he tried to look at it, she pretended to play keep away before relenting.
They sat on the old tape-covered bench, legs tucked up to prop up their tablets as they scanned the documentation fully. Occasionally, he'd play footsy with her just to get her goat. She'd protest mildly, usually with a soft stop and he would … for a little while.
“You know you are impossible,right?” she finally said when he noted the light was fading.
“Yeah well, you started it,” he said, reaching out and catching a bare foot. She liked to pad around in her bare feet; she said it helped her to think.
He also knew from experience that she was ticklish. Very ticklish.
She instantly started to snicker as he started to tickle her. She kicked with her free foot and then reached over and grabbed a pillow to pummel him into submission. He finally relented to fend off her blows. They fell in a heap on the floor.
He groaned as a knee found a tender spot.
“Serves you right,” she said, poking him.
He chuckled. “So, dinner?”
“Yeah, sure, why not.”
“Chinese?” he asked.
She hit him again.
“Okay, okay, Korean?” he asked. He laughed as he fended off another blow. “Picky picky!”
.... . .-.. .-.. ---
I still can't get the font text to work right. GRR.
September 24, 2019
Loose Ends Snippet 1
Loose Ends is a short story anthology book taking place in the Founding of the Federation time period. There are 13 stories, some fun, some as a few people put it, 'scary'.
Here is the first scene from the first story, Bell.
Note: Okay, blogger is being a butthead and won't let me change the font color. So I highlighted it so you can see the text.
2230
When Lagroose Industries broke up after the A.I. War, Doctor Alexi Bell found himself without a job briefly. Trevor Hillman and the A.I. Athena led an exodus of personnel to Mars University. He followed when they confirmed he could continue to work on his holy grail, an ansible project.
The idea had been proposed centuries ago,but the ability to perfect the engineering involved had taken time. Every major corporation had been trying their own approach to solving it. Lagroose Industries were one of the few ones that had the R&D capabilities to continue with it. He'd started there as a wet behind the ears noob just before the break up. He'd made several advances though, which was why the program had moved forward.
But, the A.I. war and breakup had interfered with the research. It had taken him years to recreate his work at the university. Along the way, he'd found out one by one the other researchers working on the process had run into one wall or another and had quit. He'd been distressed to learn he had to teach and work on other projects, which had delayed getting the ansible back up and running.
During that time,he'd assembled a small hard core team of supporters. They'd managed to get the essential materials together to move to space.
His team's only competition had been the resurrected MIT until the program had been shut down five years prior. The MIT team had concluded that there was just too much gravitational interference from the planet as well as mass around the lab to create an effective cage.
But they had made a few advances to the field,so when Alexi had heard that the program was shutting down,he'd managed to convince the dean and his physics department head, Professor Crowle, to snap up whomever they could. A lot of the top researchers had moved on or retired,but they had snagged the one real find as far as he was concerned, the fine mind (and body) of Patricia Watson PHD.
Pat had been keen about moving off of the still polluted and contaminated Earth to greener pastures. She hadn't been keen about leaving her family behind though. She also hadn't been keen about Mars though; Mars was still centuries away from being fully terraformed. But Mars had the premier university in the star system.
But, after a bit of soul searching and some looking around at the prospect for work on Earth, she'd taken the job and had not looked back.
It was Pat's fresh perspective that had shaken things up. Her experiences with MIT's project had been picked apart by Alexi and his team. They'd found a few areas they'd overlooked,but in comparing notes, Pat had pointed out that the best place to do the work was away from gravitational interference.
Which meant a lab in space. Which costs money. A lot of money. But many physics experiments couldn't be done on the ground. Which was why the team had to share the station with the university.
The university hadn't been interested in funding their own dedicated space station. They had picked up a little corporate sponsorship but not enough to pay the bills. It was only when they'd picked up a small Lagroose space station and platform for pennies during the Lagroose breakup that they'd been able to move forward.
The university had wanted a station of their own; dozens of professors and grad students had sensitive projects that needed to be performed in null G. But none of them were organized;Alexi's team was. They'd managed to get their foot in the door first.
From there it had been just a matter of moving in by renting a shuttle and then digging into the project.
.... . .-.. .-.. ---
Here is the first scene from the first story, Bell.
Note: Okay, blogger is being a butthead and won't let me change the font color. So I highlighted it so you can see the text.
2230
When Lagroose Industries broke up after the A.I. War, Doctor Alexi Bell found himself without a job briefly. Trevor Hillman and the A.I. Athena led an exodus of personnel to Mars University. He followed when they confirmed he could continue to work on his holy grail, an ansible project.
The idea had been proposed centuries ago,but the ability to perfect the engineering involved had taken time. Every major corporation had been trying their own approach to solving it. Lagroose Industries were one of the few ones that had the R&D capabilities to continue with it. He'd started there as a wet behind the ears noob just before the break up. He'd made several advances though, which was why the program had moved forward.
But, the A.I. war and breakup had interfered with the research. It had taken him years to recreate his work at the university. Along the way, he'd found out one by one the other researchers working on the process had run into one wall or another and had quit. He'd been distressed to learn he had to teach and work on other projects, which had delayed getting the ansible back up and running.
During that time,he'd assembled a small hard core team of supporters. They'd managed to get the essential materials together to move to space.
His team's only competition had been the resurrected MIT until the program had been shut down five years prior. The MIT team had concluded that there was just too much gravitational interference from the planet as well as mass around the lab to create an effective cage.
But they had made a few advances to the field,so when Alexi had heard that the program was shutting down,he'd managed to convince the dean and his physics department head, Professor Crowle, to snap up whomever they could. A lot of the top researchers had moved on or retired,but they had snagged the one real find as far as he was concerned, the fine mind (and body) of Patricia Watson PHD.
Pat had been keen about moving off of the still polluted and contaminated Earth to greener pastures. She hadn't been keen about leaving her family behind though. She also hadn't been keen about Mars though; Mars was still centuries away from being fully terraformed. But Mars had the premier university in the star system.
But, after a bit of soul searching and some looking around at the prospect for work on Earth, she'd taken the job and had not looked back.
It was Pat's fresh perspective that had shaken things up. Her experiences with MIT's project had been picked apart by Alexi and his team. They'd found a few areas they'd overlooked,but in comparing notes, Pat had pointed out that the best place to do the work was away from gravitational interference.
Which meant a lab in space. Which costs money. A lot of money. But many physics experiments couldn't be done on the ground. Which was why the team had to share the station with the university.
The university hadn't been interested in funding their own dedicated space station. They had picked up a little corporate sponsorship but not enough to pay the bills. It was only when they'd picked up a small Lagroose space station and platform for pennies during the Lagroose breakup that they'd been able to move forward.
The university had wanted a station of their own; dozens of professors and grad students had sensitive projects that needed to be performed in null G. But none of them were organized;Alexi's team was. They'd managed to get their foot in the door first.
From there it had been just a matter of moving in by renting a shuttle and then digging into the project.
.... . .-.. .-.. ---
September 21, 2019
Ironman and Loose Ends cover
Sitrep:
I just sent Loose Ends to Rea last night. I know a couple of the betas are still outstanding on their feedback, hopefully they get me their 2 cents before it goes to Goodlifeguide.com for publishing. :)
Here is the cover:
Loose Ends is a Tales of the Founding of the Federation book. It is the last in that series as far as I know. Any more stories I write for that time period will be tucked away in a Multiverse book from now on.
In other news, I am nearly into act III of PRI 2. I still haven't nailed a name for it yet. I've got 3 in mind. Act 3 is all blocked out as are the 2 partially written chapters left in act 2. I'm hopefully going to be able to finish it within the next 2 weeks.
Yesterday sucked. Big time. I do chores on Friday... and well, the mailman came just as I was finishing mopping the floor at 11am. Like an idiot (or a dog, take your pick) when he rang the doorbell with a package 5 minutes later I hopped up and went to get it. I knew the floor was wet, I took 1 cautious step, okay, I can do this... and the second and down I went! (I use one of those knock off wetjet things and usually it's dry in 15 minutes)
I scraped my right forearm up, and I've got a lot of aches and pains on my left side from my shoulder to my hip to the top of my foot. Ice helps a bit. :P
Nothing broken except my pride as I've been telling the family.
Now, about Ironman...
I've been having issues with my printers. I tried swapping hot ends to an all metal one and it didn't work out for me. (I need to go back if I'm going to try printing PETG though) I finally broke down and bought a hot end from Creality instead of the 3 clones that screwed me up. Everything worked suddenly. Wow! What a difference!
So, to test it, I went and dug up a model I've wanted to print for a while. I actually wanted to print the Hulkbuster, but it would have taken really long prints... and I don't have room in my curio cabinet for him. GRR.
Anyway, I printed the parts, everything came out good so I switched back to printing droid parts and then put this guy together in between writing and dad working on his models. (usually doing stuff in the evening after supper, just before dark)
When the family went to AZ again to visit the brat pack, it was nice and cool here so I pounced on him to finish him off.
I had a few issues with him, the CA glue made some of the parts drift on me. That was annoying. But I got him wired up and he's cool. I know some really detailed people could do 100x better.
He has a 3MM white LED in his chest and another in his head. I added a bit of glow paint to his palm and to the cylinder walls for the arc reactor. I considered wiring a light pipe (using clear PLA filament) to his left palm. Now I'm glad I didn't try. I even considered drilling holes and adding micro arc reactors with the same process but decided against it. For some of you who are wondering, the modeler who made it blended the Mark 42 and 43 armors. I tried to blend both paint schemes the best I could with my limited skills. Just getting that red was a pain. Because of the CA drift he doesn't line up as he should. I've come to terms with that. Still looks cool. :)
Oh! First time I EVER tried an airbrush! I tried it on the top of the base, adding detail. Mixed results. It really doesn't like cheap Walmart Acrylic. I had to mix it 75% Windex to 20% paint and 5% water. Even after mixing it a lot with a stick it still spattered as it came out. And cleaning the airbrush was a pain! Easier than the gravity one I think. (I have both the jar and gravity, I tried the jar) Oh, and I found out the cheap generic jars I bought extras of won't work with my airbrush. Specifically the lid stems are 5mm too long. GRR.
I'll start posting snippets of Loose Ends sometime in the next day or so.
I just sent Loose Ends to Rea last night. I know a couple of the betas are still outstanding on their feedback, hopefully they get me their 2 cents before it goes to Goodlifeguide.com for publishing. :)
Here is the cover:
Loose Ends is a Tales of the Founding of the Federation book. It is the last in that series as far as I know. Any more stories I write for that time period will be tucked away in a Multiverse book from now on.
In other news, I am nearly into act III of PRI 2. I still haven't nailed a name for it yet. I've got 3 in mind. Act 3 is all blocked out as are the 2 partially written chapters left in act 2. I'm hopefully going to be able to finish it within the next 2 weeks.
Yesterday sucked. Big time. I do chores on Friday... and well, the mailman came just as I was finishing mopping the floor at 11am. Like an idiot (or a dog, take your pick) when he rang the doorbell with a package 5 minutes later I hopped up and went to get it. I knew the floor was wet, I took 1 cautious step, okay, I can do this... and the second and down I went! (I use one of those knock off wetjet things and usually it's dry in 15 minutes)
I scraped my right forearm up, and I've got a lot of aches and pains on my left side from my shoulder to my hip to the top of my foot. Ice helps a bit. :P
Nothing broken except my pride as I've been telling the family.
Now, about Ironman...
I've been having issues with my printers. I tried swapping hot ends to an all metal one and it didn't work out for me. (I need to go back if I'm going to try printing PETG though) I finally broke down and bought a hot end from Creality instead of the 3 clones that screwed me up. Everything worked suddenly. Wow! What a difference!
So, to test it, I went and dug up a model I've wanted to print for a while. I actually wanted to print the Hulkbuster, but it would have taken really long prints... and I don't have room in my curio cabinet for him. GRR.
Anyway, I printed the parts, everything came out good so I switched back to printing droid parts and then put this guy together in between writing and dad working on his models. (usually doing stuff in the evening after supper, just before dark)
When the family went to AZ again to visit the brat pack, it was nice and cool here so I pounced on him to finish him off.
I had a few issues with him, the CA glue made some of the parts drift on me. That was annoying. But I got him wired up and he's cool. I know some really detailed people could do 100x better.
He has a 3MM white LED in his chest and another in his head. I added a bit of glow paint to his palm and to the cylinder walls for the arc reactor. I considered wiring a light pipe (using clear PLA filament) to his left palm. Now I'm glad I didn't try. I even considered drilling holes and adding micro arc reactors with the same process but decided against it. For some of you who are wondering, the modeler who made it blended the Mark 42 and 43 armors. I tried to blend both paint schemes the best I could with my limited skills. Just getting that red was a pain. Because of the CA drift he doesn't line up as he should. I've come to terms with that. Still looks cool. :)Oh! First time I EVER tried an airbrush! I tried it on the top of the base, adding detail. Mixed results. It really doesn't like cheap Walmart Acrylic. I had to mix it 75% Windex to 20% paint and 5% water. Even after mixing it a lot with a stick it still spattered as it came out. And cleaning the airbrush was a pain! Easier than the gravity one I think. (I have both the jar and gravity, I tried the jar) Oh, and I found out the cheap generic jars I bought extras of won't work with my airbrush. Specifically the lid stems are 5mm too long. GRR.
I'll start posting snippets of Loose Ends sometime in the next day or so.
August 22, 2019
The Hyperspace War is publishing... NOW!
I received the manuscript this morning and here we go!
Forces were at work pushing the Federation together. A common threat in the form of the Ghost Armada solidified support for amalgamation into a unified galactic government. President Washington had to deal with the transition into a new form of galactic government, integrating new species while combating a seemingly invincible and merciless foe. The various alien and Terran species have to pull together like never before in order to combat this threat capable of destroying entire planets...
All the while fighting a war on another plane that they barely knew existed...
As usual I'll post the links when they become available.
On Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07WV5R87V
On B&N... I think: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1133129451?ean=2940163123506
Happy reading, it's an interesting ride!
Forces were at work pushing the Federation together. A common threat in the form of the Ghost Armada solidified support for amalgamation into a unified galactic government. President Washington had to deal with the transition into a new form of galactic government, integrating new species while combating a seemingly invincible and merciless foe. The various alien and Terran species have to pull together like never before in order to combat this threat capable of destroying entire planets...
All the while fighting a war on another plane that they barely knew existed...
As usual I'll post the links when they become available.On Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07WV5R87V
On B&N... I think: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1133129451?ean=2940163123506
Happy reading, it's an interesting ride!
August 20, 2019
The Hyperspace War Snippet 3
Sitrep: Goodlifeguide said they'd have the manuscript back and ready for publishing by the end of the week.
Expect it out by this weekend.
Loose Ends is done, the cover is done (I'll post it later) and I've passed it to the Betas.
In other news, my CR-10 is down, I had problems so I decided to bite the bullet and get an all metal hot end. Dummy me I went with a cheap Chinese knock off and it bit me. I'm returning it today and a better one is coming in.
I also bollixed the wiring on one of my other printers, I tried to fix a broken wire again and goofed by putting too much solder on. It wired 4 connections together and I can't get it cleaned off. I'm trying to figure that one out now. I may need a new wiring harness, or at least cut the wires and rewire them to a different connector.
So, between that and someone else monopolizing the workbench, and the heat, I haven't gotten any progress on the droid or other projects. :P
So, this hasn't been a productive week... yet.
I think I'm going to have a character do that just to make someone else feel my pain. lol
Epsilon 131 Base
Orders were cut and passed for a light cruiser to picket the Third Earth star system. Commodore Butterworth received the orders and scowled blackly at them. It was the last thing he wanted to see; he only had a single six ship squadron scattered on patrols. Losing one of them would turn his carefully crafted schedules into hash.
But, orders were orders. Which didn't mean he had to like it nor did Captain Roper Calvert when he cut the orders to the light cruiser captain.
“Sir?” the captain said when the call went through.
“That was fast,” the Neodog flag officer said dryly. The yellow lab flicked his ears. “Read the orders that quickly, did you?”
“Sorry, sir, it's just …”
“It's just you don't think Gloucestercan handle the job, Roper?” They had served together for a few years, and the captain had eaten at the commandant's table when his ship was in port.
Roper's lips twitched but he didn't flare or otherwise growl. “No, sir. We can handle it. I'm just wondering about why we're stuck on babysitting duty when there is a war on.”
The lab nodded his head. “Fair enough. Since you didn't read why the planet is quarantined, let me give you the 4-1-1 on the nature of the mission and the reason for the quarantine since I don't have anything better to do,” he said.
That did get Roper to flush slightly. “I can read about it, sir.”
“No, this one I think you should hear from me,” the Neodog said, yellow eyes flickering. “You've been through Third Earth, right?” Roper nodded.
“Well, somehow, in some way, a legacy of Earth's past came back to haunt the colonists recently. We don't know how it showed up there, or why, or what it means, but a very dangerous … let's call him a general with a war crimes history showed up out of the desert.”
“Showed up? A war crimes offender? And we can't just pick him up?” the captain asked, wrinkling his nose.
“Not when you think about it. This guy fought and died in the last war on Earth,” the Neodog said softly. That made the captain sit up straight. The Neodog nodded. “That's right. It seems he died on Earth. We've confirmed that six ways to Sunday. But now, he's back haunting the very people who were sent on the suicide mission to kill him.”
“Earth … the last war … war crimes … you mean a creature of Skynet?”
The Neodog's ears flicked. “Now you are catching on. Any other problems with the assignment, Captain?”
Captain Calvert shook his head emphatically no. “No, sir, we'll get it done. I'll need supplies though since I'm under the understanding that we can't land.”
The commodore nodded. “I think we can arrange to stuff you to the deck heads,” he said with an amused ear flick. “Just don't tell the bean counters.”
The captain cracked a smile. “I won't if you won't, sir.”
“Well, as it happens I have to but you'll be long gone by the time they take notice … hopefully. Just don't go hog wild.”
“I'll try to leave the caviar behind, sir,” the captain said with a gracious nod.
“Yes, definitely leave the fish eggs,” the dog said, scratching behind one large floppy ear. “Anything else?”
“No, sir. We'll get on it.”
“Good. Get underway soon. Out,” the flag officer ordered and then cut the channel.
)=+=(
Expect it out by this weekend.
Loose Ends is done, the cover is done (I'll post it later) and I've passed it to the Betas.
In other news, my CR-10 is down, I had problems so I decided to bite the bullet and get an all metal hot end. Dummy me I went with a cheap Chinese knock off and it bit me. I'm returning it today and a better one is coming in.
I also bollixed the wiring on one of my other printers, I tried to fix a broken wire again and goofed by putting too much solder on. It wired 4 connections together and I can't get it cleaned off. I'm trying to figure that one out now. I may need a new wiring harness, or at least cut the wires and rewire them to a different connector.
So, between that and someone else monopolizing the workbench, and the heat, I haven't gotten any progress on the droid or other projects. :P
So, this hasn't been a productive week... yet.
I think I'm going to have a character do that just to make someone else feel my pain. lol
Epsilon 131 Base
Orders were cut and passed for a light cruiser to picket the Third Earth star system. Commodore Butterworth received the orders and scowled blackly at them. It was the last thing he wanted to see; he only had a single six ship squadron scattered on patrols. Losing one of them would turn his carefully crafted schedules into hash.
But, orders were orders. Which didn't mean he had to like it nor did Captain Roper Calvert when he cut the orders to the light cruiser captain.
“Sir?” the captain said when the call went through.
“That was fast,” the Neodog flag officer said dryly. The yellow lab flicked his ears. “Read the orders that quickly, did you?”
“Sorry, sir, it's just …”
“It's just you don't think Gloucestercan handle the job, Roper?” They had served together for a few years, and the captain had eaten at the commandant's table when his ship was in port.
Roper's lips twitched but he didn't flare or otherwise growl. “No, sir. We can handle it. I'm just wondering about why we're stuck on babysitting duty when there is a war on.”
The lab nodded his head. “Fair enough. Since you didn't read why the planet is quarantined, let me give you the 4-1-1 on the nature of the mission and the reason for the quarantine since I don't have anything better to do,” he said.
That did get Roper to flush slightly. “I can read about it, sir.”
“No, this one I think you should hear from me,” the Neodog said, yellow eyes flickering. “You've been through Third Earth, right?” Roper nodded.
“Well, somehow, in some way, a legacy of Earth's past came back to haunt the colonists recently. We don't know how it showed up there, or why, or what it means, but a very dangerous … let's call him a general with a war crimes history showed up out of the desert.”
“Showed up? A war crimes offender? And we can't just pick him up?” the captain asked, wrinkling his nose.
“Not when you think about it. This guy fought and died in the last war on Earth,” the Neodog said softly. That made the captain sit up straight. The Neodog nodded. “That's right. It seems he died on Earth. We've confirmed that six ways to Sunday. But now, he's back haunting the very people who were sent on the suicide mission to kill him.”
“Earth … the last war … war crimes … you mean a creature of Skynet?”
The Neodog's ears flicked. “Now you are catching on. Any other problems with the assignment, Captain?”
Captain Calvert shook his head emphatically no. “No, sir, we'll get it done. I'll need supplies though since I'm under the understanding that we can't land.”
The commodore nodded. “I think we can arrange to stuff you to the deck heads,” he said with an amused ear flick. “Just don't tell the bean counters.”
The captain cracked a smile. “I won't if you won't, sir.”
“Well, as it happens I have to but you'll be long gone by the time they take notice … hopefully. Just don't go hog wild.”
“I'll try to leave the caviar behind, sir,” the captain said with a gracious nod.
“Yes, definitely leave the fish eggs,” the dog said, scratching behind one large floppy ear. “Anything else?”
“No, sir. We'll get on it.”
“Good. Get underway soon. Out,” the flag officer ordered and then cut the channel.
)=+=(
August 16, 2019
The Hyperspace War snippet 2
Oops!
Looks like I forgot Blogger doesn't like copy and paste text. Guess I need to go back and fix that.
Anyway, sitrep: I just got the manuscript back from Rea and sent it to Goodlifeguide.com
I'm struggling with the cover art for Loose Ends. Turns out a wicked cool model I bought is in the MAX format and I can't convert it. (it is too big) I'm trying to work with the seller now.
Oh, I got Avengers Endgame and watched it... and then the Youtube stuff, then watched the ending again last night. Still love it!
And on to the snippet!
Sol Star System
Interim President Jorge Washington tucked his hands behind his back as he looked out the window. For the moment, he was in the Confederation Executive branch office while the new Federation government was being set up. A lot was in flux but things were starting to settle down.
The Neochimp's fur flared briefly and then settled down. He wasn't sure how to handle some of it. The war, the amalgamation—it was all happening at once. He could multi-task with the best of them, but this was going to be tricky.
)=+=(
Koshy Ahura, deputy undersecretary of the State Department tugged on an ear as he considered the email. His old boss was out; a new Veraxin boss was on his way in. His old boss was going to stay in the Confederation government; he had a feeling she was going for some sort of position to take over the presidency with the hopes that the Federation fell apart.
He wasn't so sure about that. Then again, she could be jockeying to place herself in a position for a future Federation run. She had, after all, gotten a lot of credit for the Federation initiative, even getting the Nobel Peace Prize for it. It was her baby so it coming apart would reflect badly on her too.
One thing he did note was that she wasn't trying to pull anyone with her. Which made sense given that the Confederation government was splintering. Most of State was going over to the Federation. He wasn't sure about some of the other branches.
The navy would more or less have to become the core of the Federation military if they were going to have any hope of surviving the coming war.
He glanced at the screen replaying the latest news report. The image of the giant ship made him shiver a little.
May they live in interesting times indeed he thought with another shiver of dread.
)=+=(
Admiral Ian Kepler, chief of Naval Operations of first the Confederation Navy and now the nascent Federation Navy, was surprised when he received the first reports of the first warships in movement.
Given the delicate political nature of such things, he decided it would be wise to consult the president and pass the buck. President Washington listened politely and then nodded. “You are asking for permission?”
“Yes, sir. I want to know how fast are we pushing this amalgamation?”
“As fast as we theoretically can,” the Neochimp president stated. “I'll send credentials if needed. I'm surprised you didn't run this past the rest of the chain of command though.”
Ian grimaced. “To be honest, I considered it, sir, but we don't have a secretary of defense or secretary of the navy. Both positions are up in the air.”
The president nodded gravely. That was certainly true. Both positions were being hotly debated as were the other seats in his Cabinet and elsewhere in the administration. He wasn't even sure how long he would be able to hold onto his current seat given that it was an interim posting. Usually people were voted out after a while from such things unless they made a big positive splash.
He didn't even want to consider the implications of a campaign trail at the moment. As a Confederation presidential candidate, he'd made the rounds to some of the largest colonies but mainly focused on building a solid core in Sol where the largest population of Terrans still resided.
Now that was all up in the air. He was going to have to appeal to the masses.
He cleared his throat when he realized the admiral was staring at him expectantly. “Sorry, on another train of thought I guess. You were saying?”
“We can transmit a pass to the borders. But what do we let through and how fast? Are we to share our navigational databases? All of it?”
The president frowned. This was really a test of the Federation he realized. “All of it. Put our people on board if you have to. Send the credentials. Yes, send the navigational updates if they need it. Some don't.”
The admiral frowned but made a note. “So, for the record we're all one big happy family?”
“I know; I don't like the idea of alien ships moving through our star systems, especially alien warships. But it needs to be done. We need to set up a system. And we need those ships. We need to get our collective acts together. We've got a common enemy.”
The admiral nodded again. “Yes, sir. We've got the first customers now, a quartet of Tauren ships. One is a battleship.”
“Then start there since the Taurens are our allies and a satrap. We'll see how things go from there,” the president stated.
“Understood, sir.”
“But tag each of those ships. We need to fingerprint them and know where they are going at all times.”
“Understood,” Ian said with a nod of relief at such cautious wisdom. He'd already planned to pass those orders on but official recognition of them was even better. It meant he would be covered if it got out and someone got their noses out of joint over the lack of trust.
“Trust has to be earned,” the Neochimp president stated. “Trust but verify. But we have to start somewhere.”
“Yes, sir.”
“How are you on integrating the Federation Navy?” the president asked.
Ian snorted. “Barely started, sir. I have to admit, the jarheads have it easier than we do.”
“For good reason, they take anyone who can handle the job. Equality of opportunity not outcome. If you can handle the basics, you are in.”
“Yes, sir. We're working on that here. But not all minds think alike.”
“Then they need to learn and adapt just like you do. And there are places for all. If you have to keep them separate on separate ships, so be it.”
“We're exploring that option too, sir. Some are pretty damn alien. The bugs for instance. Some are big like the Taurens.” He'd heard some off-color jokes about Taurens and the size of their hands in comparison to other parts of their anatomy.
He personally never wanted to meet those same giant hands balled into fists in a bar or elsewhere. It'd be nice to pawn the Taurens and others off on the jarheads but the bulls had capital ships and were willing to help.
“Keep me posted,” the president said with a nod before he signed off.
“Will do,” the admiral said under his breath as the screen cleared and then reset to his usual status wallpaper. “Will do,” he echoed, sitting back and thinking about the problem.
)=+=(
Looks like I forgot Blogger doesn't like copy and paste text. Guess I need to go back and fix that.
Anyway, sitrep: I just got the manuscript back from Rea and sent it to Goodlifeguide.com
I'm struggling with the cover art for Loose Ends. Turns out a wicked cool model I bought is in the MAX format and I can't convert it. (it is too big) I'm trying to work with the seller now.
Oh, I got Avengers Endgame and watched it... and then the Youtube stuff, then watched the ending again last night. Still love it!
And on to the snippet!
Sol Star System
Interim President Jorge Washington tucked his hands behind his back as he looked out the window. For the moment, he was in the Confederation Executive branch office while the new Federation government was being set up. A lot was in flux but things were starting to settle down.
The Neochimp's fur flared briefly and then settled down. He wasn't sure how to handle some of it. The war, the amalgamation—it was all happening at once. He could multi-task with the best of them, but this was going to be tricky.
)=+=(
Koshy Ahura, deputy undersecretary of the State Department tugged on an ear as he considered the email. His old boss was out; a new Veraxin boss was on his way in. His old boss was going to stay in the Confederation government; he had a feeling she was going for some sort of position to take over the presidency with the hopes that the Federation fell apart.
He wasn't so sure about that. Then again, she could be jockeying to place herself in a position for a future Federation run. She had, after all, gotten a lot of credit for the Federation initiative, even getting the Nobel Peace Prize for it. It was her baby so it coming apart would reflect badly on her too.
One thing he did note was that she wasn't trying to pull anyone with her. Which made sense given that the Confederation government was splintering. Most of State was going over to the Federation. He wasn't sure about some of the other branches.
The navy would more or less have to become the core of the Federation military if they were going to have any hope of surviving the coming war.
He glanced at the screen replaying the latest news report. The image of the giant ship made him shiver a little.
May they live in interesting times indeed he thought with another shiver of dread.
)=+=(
Admiral Ian Kepler, chief of Naval Operations of first the Confederation Navy and now the nascent Federation Navy, was surprised when he received the first reports of the first warships in movement.
Given the delicate political nature of such things, he decided it would be wise to consult the president and pass the buck. President Washington listened politely and then nodded. “You are asking for permission?”
“Yes, sir. I want to know how fast are we pushing this amalgamation?”
“As fast as we theoretically can,” the Neochimp president stated. “I'll send credentials if needed. I'm surprised you didn't run this past the rest of the chain of command though.”
Ian grimaced. “To be honest, I considered it, sir, but we don't have a secretary of defense or secretary of the navy. Both positions are up in the air.”
The president nodded gravely. That was certainly true. Both positions were being hotly debated as were the other seats in his Cabinet and elsewhere in the administration. He wasn't even sure how long he would be able to hold onto his current seat given that it was an interim posting. Usually people were voted out after a while from such things unless they made a big positive splash.
He didn't even want to consider the implications of a campaign trail at the moment. As a Confederation presidential candidate, he'd made the rounds to some of the largest colonies but mainly focused on building a solid core in Sol where the largest population of Terrans still resided.
Now that was all up in the air. He was going to have to appeal to the masses.
He cleared his throat when he realized the admiral was staring at him expectantly. “Sorry, on another train of thought I guess. You were saying?”
“We can transmit a pass to the borders. But what do we let through and how fast? Are we to share our navigational databases? All of it?”
The president frowned. This was really a test of the Federation he realized. “All of it. Put our people on board if you have to. Send the credentials. Yes, send the navigational updates if they need it. Some don't.”
The admiral frowned but made a note. “So, for the record we're all one big happy family?”
“I know; I don't like the idea of alien ships moving through our star systems, especially alien warships. But it needs to be done. We need to set up a system. And we need those ships. We need to get our collective acts together. We've got a common enemy.”
The admiral nodded again. “Yes, sir. We've got the first customers now, a quartet of Tauren ships. One is a battleship.”
“Then start there since the Taurens are our allies and a satrap. We'll see how things go from there,” the president stated.
“Understood, sir.”
“But tag each of those ships. We need to fingerprint them and know where they are going at all times.”
“Understood,” Ian said with a nod of relief at such cautious wisdom. He'd already planned to pass those orders on but official recognition of them was even better. It meant he would be covered if it got out and someone got their noses out of joint over the lack of trust.
“Trust has to be earned,” the Neochimp president stated. “Trust but verify. But we have to start somewhere.”
“Yes, sir.”
“How are you on integrating the Federation Navy?” the president asked.
Ian snorted. “Barely started, sir. I have to admit, the jarheads have it easier than we do.”
“For good reason, they take anyone who can handle the job. Equality of opportunity not outcome. If you can handle the basics, you are in.”
“Yes, sir. We're working on that here. But not all minds think alike.”
“Then they need to learn and adapt just like you do. And there are places for all. If you have to keep them separate on separate ships, so be it.”
“We're exploring that option too, sir. Some are pretty damn alien. The bugs for instance. Some are big like the Taurens.” He'd heard some off-color jokes about Taurens and the size of their hands in comparison to other parts of their anatomy.
He personally never wanted to meet those same giant hands balled into fists in a bar or elsewhere. It'd be nice to pawn the Taurens and others off on the jarheads but the bulls had capital ships and were willing to help.
“Keep me posted,” the president said with a nod before he signed off.
“Will do,” the admiral said under his breath as the screen cleared and then reset to his usual status wallpaper. “Will do,” he echoed, sitting back and thinking about the problem.
)=+=(
August 12, 2019
The Hyperspace War snippet 1
Sitrep:
Okay, I'm down to 1 story left in the next book, an anthology of Founding of the Federation stories.
I recently sent the last full manuscript of that series to Rea Friday.
In other news, my landlord passed away suddenly, so we're scrambling to figure out what is going on with our home. Fun. That may interrupt my writing plans in the future for I don't know how long. :P
I actually finished the cover before releasing The Gaia Project but decided to sit on it. :)
The ships are from CGtrader.com. They are all the same high poly ship, I just played with them a bit.
The planet I bought from CGtrader.com or Daz3D, I forgot where. I retextured it.
Anyway, on to the snippet!
Chapter 1
Esby's World Psi Sector
Kenny Minogue had been more worried about his mother finding out he had gotten into her secret stash of sugar cookies over the light in the sky. But as the 7 year old started to pick up on the distress of the adults he started to bite his lip and realize something big was going on.
“What is it?” he asked, looking at his mother. She seemed to fret over what to say, another thing he'd noticed.
He was smart for his age, a product of the medical advances of the time though he didn't quite understand all of that fully. What he did understand was that he read at the high school level and was taking a college history class.
His parents were both teachers, they certainly kept him busy with homework. That kept him out of trouble most of the time and away from the bullies who were out in the growing town and who had a thing for picking on the kids related to teachers.
“Nothing honey,” she finally said. Her voice was foggy with tears. She came over and hugged him and then looked up to the window.
“Is it the light in the sky?” he asked, turning to the ship lights. Night had fallen and the sky was aglow, not just from the stars but also the glowing ships as they came up over the horizon. Big ships, very big.
“In a way,” she said gently.
“We should tell him,” his father said.
“What good will it do?” his mother asked with a sniffle. She started to sob. Instinctively Kenny's throat tightened up and he began to snuffle. Whatever was distressing his mom had to be bad.
“I think he knows something's up,” his father rumbled as he wrapped his arm around them both.
“Come on,” his mother said after a long moment. “Why don't we go read your favorite story,” she said. “And we'll break out the sugar cookies.”
“I already had a few,” he admitted.
His father chuckled. “I know, I cleaned up the sugar on the counter,” he said.
The boy trembled in trepidation. “Hiding your own evidence no doubt,” his mother accused, glowering at them both. She couldn't quite scowl though, and she looked sad. “Go get ready for bed,” she urged, stroking his hair. “I'll get the cookie jar.”
“The whole thing?” Kenny asked, eyes wide.
“Something tells me a belly ache tomorrow is going to be the least of our concerns,” his father said cryptically as they went to his room.
)=+=(
Governor Decker looked balefully out to the night sky and the glowing ships as they made what he assumed was their final run. He knew what was coming, everyone did. He'd sent everything he could, every scrap of information to every satellite in orbit or throughout the star system. His IT people had programmed the satellites in orbit to go out on a ballistic course and then run silent, silent electronic witnesses to the destruction that was about to come to their world.
There was nowhere to run. He could hear the sounds of breaking things, yells, and screams in the street. The panic was dying down as people went through the various stages of death. Acceptance was last and he knew someone somewhere should add acceptance but resentment to the order. Not that he cared.
He took a long swig from the bottle and then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. The rotgut wasn't as good as genuine Kentucky shine but it was the best his planet had yet to produce. It was one of their prime exports.
Not that anything like that mattered anymore. Nor the bills, their planetary mortgage, or any of that.
“Some day we're going to find a way to pay you back for this you bastards,” he snarled, fists clenching before he turned and threw the bottle to smash into the wall behind him. He'd never given into his impulse to destroy something when he was enraged until now. It felt... good but useless he thought.
He turned and considered the glass and instinctively he wanted to clean it up. When he checked himself he had to laugh. It was a bitter honest laugh, one fraught with grief over what would never be.
He wiped at his eyes in time to see his wife in the doorway. The kids were nearby, all scared. He turned back when a bright something flickered in his peripheral vision, then back and huddled with them. “Don't look,” he urged as energy tore at them and the wind howled. Blinding heat and light consumed them and they knew no more.
)=+=(
Okay, I'm down to 1 story left in the next book, an anthology of Founding of the Federation stories.
I recently sent the last full manuscript of that series to Rea Friday.
In other news, my landlord passed away suddenly, so we're scrambling to figure out what is going on with our home. Fun. That may interrupt my writing plans in the future for I don't know how long. :P
I actually finished the cover before releasing The Gaia Project but decided to sit on it. :)The ships are from CGtrader.com. They are all the same high poly ship, I just played with them a bit.
The planet I bought from CGtrader.com or Daz3D, I forgot where. I retextured it.
Anyway, on to the snippet!
Chapter 1
Esby's World Psi Sector
Kenny Minogue had been more worried about his mother finding out he had gotten into her secret stash of sugar cookies over the light in the sky. But as the 7 year old started to pick up on the distress of the adults he started to bite his lip and realize something big was going on.
“What is it?” he asked, looking at his mother. She seemed to fret over what to say, another thing he'd noticed.
He was smart for his age, a product of the medical advances of the time though he didn't quite understand all of that fully. What he did understand was that he read at the high school level and was taking a college history class.
His parents were both teachers, they certainly kept him busy with homework. That kept him out of trouble most of the time and away from the bullies who were out in the growing town and who had a thing for picking on the kids related to teachers.
“Nothing honey,” she finally said. Her voice was foggy with tears. She came over and hugged him and then looked up to the window.
“Is it the light in the sky?” he asked, turning to the ship lights. Night had fallen and the sky was aglow, not just from the stars but also the glowing ships as they came up over the horizon. Big ships, very big.
“In a way,” she said gently.
“We should tell him,” his father said.
“What good will it do?” his mother asked with a sniffle. She started to sob. Instinctively Kenny's throat tightened up and he began to snuffle. Whatever was distressing his mom had to be bad.
“I think he knows something's up,” his father rumbled as he wrapped his arm around them both.
“Come on,” his mother said after a long moment. “Why don't we go read your favorite story,” she said. “And we'll break out the sugar cookies.”
“I already had a few,” he admitted.
His father chuckled. “I know, I cleaned up the sugar on the counter,” he said.
The boy trembled in trepidation. “Hiding your own evidence no doubt,” his mother accused, glowering at them both. She couldn't quite scowl though, and she looked sad. “Go get ready for bed,” she urged, stroking his hair. “I'll get the cookie jar.”
“The whole thing?” Kenny asked, eyes wide.
“Something tells me a belly ache tomorrow is going to be the least of our concerns,” his father said cryptically as they went to his room.
)=+=(
Governor Decker looked balefully out to the night sky and the glowing ships as they made what he assumed was their final run. He knew what was coming, everyone did. He'd sent everything he could, every scrap of information to every satellite in orbit or throughout the star system. His IT people had programmed the satellites in orbit to go out on a ballistic course and then run silent, silent electronic witnesses to the destruction that was about to come to their world.
There was nowhere to run. He could hear the sounds of breaking things, yells, and screams in the street. The panic was dying down as people went through the various stages of death. Acceptance was last and he knew someone somewhere should add acceptance but resentment to the order. Not that he cared.
He took a long swig from the bottle and then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. The rotgut wasn't as good as genuine Kentucky shine but it was the best his planet had yet to produce. It was one of their prime exports.
Not that anything like that mattered anymore. Nor the bills, their planetary mortgage, or any of that.
“Some day we're going to find a way to pay you back for this you bastards,” he snarled, fists clenching before he turned and threw the bottle to smash into the wall behind him. He'd never given into his impulse to destroy something when he was enraged until now. It felt... good but useless he thought.
He turned and considered the glass and instinctively he wanted to clean it up. When he checked himself he had to laugh. It was a bitter honest laugh, one fraught with grief over what would never be.
He wiped at his eyes in time to see his wife in the doorway. The kids were nearby, all scared. He turned back when a bright something flickered in his peripheral vision, then back and huddled with them. “Don't look,” he urged as energy tore at them and the wind howled. Blinding heat and light consumed them and they knew no more.
)=+=(
July 16, 2019
The Gaia Project is publishing now!
Yup, sorry about the delay. Life, in the form of my landlord got in the way. (among other things)
Okay, I really don't have much more of an excuse than that. Anyway...
For thousands of years mortals considered their own mortality and worked on ways to extend their lifespan. Many also wondered what was beyond life, and if there were ways to cheat it permanently.
Some even wondered what lay beyond their mortal coil and how they would continue to evolve. With the coming of genetic engineering, artificial intelligence, and starflight, many in the Terran Confederation thought of the future as one fulfilled. They had their potential, they only needed to live up to it.
But a few continued to ask if there was more, and set out to explore it. To explore the merging of life orders, and ...transcendence.
Two Eves were about to be the center of that grand experiment, for good or for ill.
As usual I'll do an edit when they go live with the links.
Okay, I really don't have much more of an excuse than that. Anyway...
For thousands of years mortals considered their own mortality and worked on ways to extend their lifespan. Many also wondered what was beyond life, and if there were ways to cheat it permanently.
Some even wondered what lay beyond their mortal coil and how they would continue to evolve. With the coming of genetic engineering, artificial intelligence, and starflight, many in the Terran Confederation thought of the future as one fulfilled. They had their potential, they only needed to live up to it.
But a few continued to ask if there was more, and set out to explore it. To explore the merging of life orders, and ...transcendence.
Two Eves were about to be the center of that grand experiment, for good or for ill.
As usual I'll do an edit when they go live with the links.
July 9, 2019
The Gaia Project snippet 4
Sitrep: I'm off this week, pretty glad I am because there are 4 jackhammers going off in my backyard for the past hour. (they are replastering my pool) Fun.
I already have a headache.
My landlord is due in at any time to measure for carpets, more fun. But, anyway... on to the snippet!
Biosphere Mall
Eve XVII checked the latest report on the investigation. A Terran fleshy would say no news is good news. To an A.I., the lack of data was not a good thing, not when they wanted more data. And definitely when they wanted the problem resolved.
The pirate ship had not injured anyone or done any damage to the star system other than to destroy a couple of satellites. That was it. But it had woken everyone up and made them nervous. They had every right to be. If the pirates were bold enough to attack a star system with a naval destroyer picketing it, then they could go anywhere.
She overheard some of the fleshies comment about how they had expected the investigation to go cold. There was speculation about an inside man or it being staged by one company or another for different reasons. The only thing she could see as a viable plot was to increase security and the prominence of the Mall. It didn't make sense though.
Corporate continued to assure them with emails and messages that they were pushing the navy as hard as they could to put more ships into the star system. But again, no new input. That meant no activity on the negotiations. She wasn't surprised when people began to put in for transfers.
She considered her options and then her mortality. She was a smart A.I. but a stable one. She had several more decades of useful life expectancy. Her contract was up soon; she had already considered a transfer.
She weighed her options carefully and then decided to put in for a transfer to another post.
~<(O)>~
Sol
“What are we going to do, sir?” Angie asked as she forwarded the report to the CEO. “She is within her rights to request a transfer. Given her history it has to be approved.”
Jordan Davis grimaced as he scanned the report. It had obviously made its way through the various departments. He could read that from the header information. He glanced at Angie and then back to the report.
He sometimes hated A.I. Angie was a dumb A.I.; she was good as a personal assistant and secretary. Not too imaginative though, which had its upsides and downsides. She was also nearly saturated with her workload running a lot of the day-to-day administrative functions in the corporate station.
“Can we get her to reconsider?”
“No, sir. She has made the transfer a firm request.”
“A request can be refused.”
“Her contract specifies she can request and be moved from any post of her choosing. If we don't honor it, the company will have to double her rate from the point of the original request and any negotiations to extend her contract will start from there.”
He pursed his lips. Well, that wasn't going to happen he thought in annoyance. “Email to IT Biosphere Mall. Subject: look into a replacement A.I. Run maintenance on all systems. Repair any complaint areas. I want a follow-up report. Message ends,” he said, finishing his dictation. “Send that through channels.”
“Understood, sir. Will there be anything else?”
“No,” he stated with a shake of his head. He keyed off her access to his office and then sat back.
His email had been carefully worded even though it seemed vague. An order to “run maintenance” was a coded order for the cleaner on site to adjust the local A.I. to reconsider any abstinence she was offering to corporate. It was a long shot though; the A.I. were getting increasingly more sophisticated.
~<(O)>~
I already have a headache.
My landlord is due in at any time to measure for carpets, more fun. But, anyway... on to the snippet!
Biosphere Mall
Eve XVII checked the latest report on the investigation. A Terran fleshy would say no news is good news. To an A.I., the lack of data was not a good thing, not when they wanted more data. And definitely when they wanted the problem resolved.
The pirate ship had not injured anyone or done any damage to the star system other than to destroy a couple of satellites. That was it. But it had woken everyone up and made them nervous. They had every right to be. If the pirates were bold enough to attack a star system with a naval destroyer picketing it, then they could go anywhere.
She overheard some of the fleshies comment about how they had expected the investigation to go cold. There was speculation about an inside man or it being staged by one company or another for different reasons. The only thing she could see as a viable plot was to increase security and the prominence of the Mall. It didn't make sense though.
Corporate continued to assure them with emails and messages that they were pushing the navy as hard as they could to put more ships into the star system. But again, no new input. That meant no activity on the negotiations. She wasn't surprised when people began to put in for transfers.
She considered her options and then her mortality. She was a smart A.I. but a stable one. She had several more decades of useful life expectancy. Her contract was up soon; she had already considered a transfer.
She weighed her options carefully and then decided to put in for a transfer to another post.
~<(O)>~
Sol
“What are we going to do, sir?” Angie asked as she forwarded the report to the CEO. “She is within her rights to request a transfer. Given her history it has to be approved.”
Jordan Davis grimaced as he scanned the report. It had obviously made its way through the various departments. He could read that from the header information. He glanced at Angie and then back to the report.
He sometimes hated A.I. Angie was a dumb A.I.; she was good as a personal assistant and secretary. Not too imaginative though, which had its upsides and downsides. She was also nearly saturated with her workload running a lot of the day-to-day administrative functions in the corporate station.
“Can we get her to reconsider?”
“No, sir. She has made the transfer a firm request.”
“A request can be refused.”
“Her contract specifies she can request and be moved from any post of her choosing. If we don't honor it, the company will have to double her rate from the point of the original request and any negotiations to extend her contract will start from there.”
He pursed his lips. Well, that wasn't going to happen he thought in annoyance. “Email to IT Biosphere Mall. Subject: look into a replacement A.I. Run maintenance on all systems. Repair any complaint areas. I want a follow-up report. Message ends,” he said, finishing his dictation. “Send that through channels.”
“Understood, sir. Will there be anything else?”
“No,” he stated with a shake of his head. He keyed off her access to his office and then sat back.
His email had been carefully worded even though it seemed vague. An order to “run maintenance” was a coded order for the cleaner on site to adjust the local A.I. to reconsider any abstinence she was offering to corporate. It was a long shot though; the A.I. were getting increasingly more sophisticated.
~<(O)>~
July 7, 2019
The Gaia Project snippet 3
Sitrep:
Goodlifeguide,com said they'd try to get the manuscript back to me in a day or 2, we'll see.
I'm painting the dome, (or trying to) while working on a couple of other projects in the garage since the weather is beautiful right now.
In the meantime, I better get cracking on the snippets!
Sol star system
Big Jim McGraw tucked his massive hands behind his back as he looked out the expansive window. He was doing it. No, they were he corrected himself.
He sightlessly watched the blinking lights of a ship or shuttle move across his field of view. After a few moments, it would be gone. He had other things on his mind.
Excitement boiled in his body. He always had a purpose, always a project. They all raised money, tons of money of course. But money was only a means to an end; he'd realized early on after his first million that it was just a tool—a tool to achieve other things. Sure, it was financial freedom, but it was double-sided too.
He had enough money to retire and live somewhere comfortably. But he had chosen a different path, all for the dream. All to push Terran kind into the singularity to see what happens.
Some people thought he was mad. He knew it; he just didn't care. He was an investor and money manager. They might whisper and question his sanity, but they also envied how he could make money hand over fist. The Midas touch they called it.
Without risk there can be no reward he thought. And this was the biggest risk yet.
Project Gaia was finally moving forward. The board had met after they had bought the rights to a small out-of-the-way planet far from explored space and any known species. It was still in Alpha sector, but remote, far from the hyper bridges.
And that was fine for him. Just perfect, though the threat of piracy was making a few on the board a bit leery about the risks involved.
Let them worry. He'd secured one of the most expensive items on his wish list; an ansible was on its way to the star system. That had cost him a lot in arm twisting and favors. It would be worth it though, if only to monitor the star system and eventually get the publicity he knew they'd want once they were on track.
What they were doing was considered ambitious on so many levels. He was a synergist, a concept man who thought big and found ways to make it work. He had modeled himself after Jack Lagroose, even visiting the man on Eden from time to time.
Edenhe thought with a mental snort.
Jack might have named his planet Eden but he knew where the real Garden of Eden was going to be soon enough. And getting his family on board, along with making the final selection of their partner for the next phase, had pushed the project from a pipe dream into something closer to reality.
Well, closer in that it was still a series of concepts and ideas. Terry and the others were certain they could find ways around the big problems. And the big project should resolve them on its own.
They were about to push the boundaries of tech as well as what defined man and machine. They were about to see both evolve at a rapid pace. That was what he was expecting. After all, mankind's civilizations didn't just evolve incrementally; they leapt. Many things caused a leap, usually war, but sometimes other things like the creation of the internet. He wanted to see it, to be the guy who caused it, to be the guy at the start with the keys to the tech.
It was a gamble all right, in more ways than one. He had invested everything into the project. If it failed, all he would have was his yacht and whatever was in his wardrobe.
But that was fine; he'd started from less. But he was pretty sure this wasn't going to fail. Even if it didn't come out as he expected, there would still be plenty of advances to patent and exploit for decades to come.
He couldn't help but smile and rub his hands together. This was going to be cool.
“Happy new year, honey,” his wife said as she came in with a pair of half-filled champagne glasses.
He turned with a grunt and smiled as he took the glass. She wrapped one arm around his waist and rubbed the small of his back. “Come in for the view?” he could hear the party behind them through the open door. “Or the quiet?”
“Bit of both. Come to drag me back into the thick of the fray?” he teased as he kissed her forehead.
“In a bit,” she said as the group counted down. He turned at two to see the first of the fireworks popping off in the depths of space beyond the massive wall. They were small but still pretty. Better to see it with the naked eye than on the vid screens at the party.
“New year, new opportunities,” he murmured.
“Yup,” his wife said as she cuddled with him and watched the fireworks.
~<(O)>~
Goodlifeguide,com said they'd try to get the manuscript back to me in a day or 2, we'll see.
I'm painting the dome, (or trying to) while working on a couple of other projects in the garage since the weather is beautiful right now.
In the meantime, I better get cracking on the snippets!
Sol star system
Big Jim McGraw tucked his massive hands behind his back as he looked out the expansive window. He was doing it. No, they were he corrected himself.
He sightlessly watched the blinking lights of a ship or shuttle move across his field of view. After a few moments, it would be gone. He had other things on his mind.
Excitement boiled in his body. He always had a purpose, always a project. They all raised money, tons of money of course. But money was only a means to an end; he'd realized early on after his first million that it was just a tool—a tool to achieve other things. Sure, it was financial freedom, but it was double-sided too.
He had enough money to retire and live somewhere comfortably. But he had chosen a different path, all for the dream. All to push Terran kind into the singularity to see what happens.
Some people thought he was mad. He knew it; he just didn't care. He was an investor and money manager. They might whisper and question his sanity, but they also envied how he could make money hand over fist. The Midas touch they called it.
Without risk there can be no reward he thought. And this was the biggest risk yet.
Project Gaia was finally moving forward. The board had met after they had bought the rights to a small out-of-the-way planet far from explored space and any known species. It was still in Alpha sector, but remote, far from the hyper bridges.
And that was fine for him. Just perfect, though the threat of piracy was making a few on the board a bit leery about the risks involved.
Let them worry. He'd secured one of the most expensive items on his wish list; an ansible was on its way to the star system. That had cost him a lot in arm twisting and favors. It would be worth it though, if only to monitor the star system and eventually get the publicity he knew they'd want once they were on track.
What they were doing was considered ambitious on so many levels. He was a synergist, a concept man who thought big and found ways to make it work. He had modeled himself after Jack Lagroose, even visiting the man on Eden from time to time.
Edenhe thought with a mental snort.
Jack might have named his planet Eden but he knew where the real Garden of Eden was going to be soon enough. And getting his family on board, along with making the final selection of their partner for the next phase, had pushed the project from a pipe dream into something closer to reality.
Well, closer in that it was still a series of concepts and ideas. Terry and the others were certain they could find ways around the big problems. And the big project should resolve them on its own.
They were about to push the boundaries of tech as well as what defined man and machine. They were about to see both evolve at a rapid pace. That was what he was expecting. After all, mankind's civilizations didn't just evolve incrementally; they leapt. Many things caused a leap, usually war, but sometimes other things like the creation of the internet. He wanted to see it, to be the guy who caused it, to be the guy at the start with the keys to the tech.
It was a gamble all right, in more ways than one. He had invested everything into the project. If it failed, all he would have was his yacht and whatever was in his wardrobe.
But that was fine; he'd started from less. But he was pretty sure this wasn't going to fail. Even if it didn't come out as he expected, there would still be plenty of advances to patent and exploit for decades to come.
He couldn't help but smile and rub his hands together. This was going to be cool.
“Happy new year, honey,” his wife said as she came in with a pair of half-filled champagne glasses.
He turned with a grunt and smiled as he took the glass. She wrapped one arm around his waist and rubbed the small of his back. “Come in for the view?” he could hear the party behind them through the open door. “Or the quiet?”
“Bit of both. Come to drag me back into the thick of the fray?” he teased as he kissed her forehead.
“In a bit,” she said as the group counted down. He turned at two to see the first of the fireworks popping off in the depths of space beyond the massive wall. They were small but still pretty. Better to see it with the naked eye than on the vid screens at the party.
“New year, new opportunities,” he murmured.
“Yup,” his wife said as she cuddled with him and watched the fireworks.
~<(O)>~
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