Chris Hechtl's Blog, page 30
July 6, 2019
The Gaia Project Snippet 2
Sitrep: Rea just sent me the manuscript back. It is short, I added the TOC and stuff and just shot it off to Goodlifeguide.com.
So, it should be coming out in a 10 days or less. (unless they are on vacation again)
On to the snippet!
August 28, 2285
The board of directors of Nova Biotics wasn't the only one having a meeting about the recent near attack. Just about every company that had a vested interest in the Biosphere Mall was probably going over the incident carefully. A full investigation had already been ordered.
And then there was the recent news of the terraforming attack in Epsilon. Nova had been bidding for a part of that ecosystem contract. Now they had no idea if LGM and the client who held the mortgage to the star system were going to be able to pick up the pieces or not.
And more importantly when.
Their main focus at the moment was the attack on the Biosphere Mall. Shareholders were sheep. They had been spooked by the attack, and the past week had shown it. A year's worth of growth had been wiped out in a single day of trading. They might make it back as the market rallied, but it was going to take time.
“The hits keep coming,” Jordan Davis, the CEO, said tiredly. Like just about everyone on the board, he was human. It wasn't out of any racial bias; it was just how the cards had been dealt. Also, most were male. Of the fifteen board members, only three were female.
“Now what?”
“Transfer requests from the personnel there. They don't like the exposure. No doubt other companies are going to get it too.”
“They'll calm down once they have some time to stop and process that it was a close call, no one got hurt. And besides, we're all pushing for extra coverage from the navy,” Miss Viva stated. She was a talented contract negotiator, known as a closer to many on the board.
“That is going to take time,” Jordan reminded them. “Time for our people to push the right levers and time for the navy to deploy a ship or ships. They are balking at a fleet obviously.”
“Whose wiseass idea was to shoot for an entire fleet? They had to have known it was a no brainer, not going to happen.”
“Aim high, see what the other side is willing to settle for,” the CFO quoted.
The CEO grunted.
“You mentioned transfers, any in particular you are worried about, sir?” Baron Japperwillow asked. He was a slight man who had come up through the ranks with good performance reviews unlike many on the board who represented some faction of shareholders.
“You could say that. Eve XVII, the system Admin A.I., wants out,” said dryly.
There was a great deal of consternation on the A.I.'s request to transfer.
“It never rains but it pours,” a junior board member muttered.
“She can't do that! She knows we need her there!” another said, raising his voice in concern. “This will hurt us!”
“Is this a ploy for more money?” Ernesto Perez, the CFO, asked. “When is her contract up?”
“In two years,” Miss Viva said, checking the file.
“So, we revisit it then?” the CFO suggested. “Stall for time and let it play out?”
“We only have so many A.I. employed in the company,” Mister Weavel stated. He was seeing an opportunity though, one he might be able to exploit if carefully handled. “Do you really want to piss them off? It could tank any attempt to hire more in the future, not to mention retain the ones we have,” she reminded them.
The CFO started off with a hot retort, but it died before he got it out. Instead, he closed his mouth and shook his head. The board meeting was recorded; he knew that. They all did. It had to be due to Federal law and to allow the major shareholders access to their deliberations and thought processes in major decisions.
Which meant it wasn't exactly wise to bitch about a jumped-up computer program with delusions of sentience wanting something. But he'd caught himself before he'd stuck his foot in his mouth and potentially caused an incident.
After all, some of the A.I. were paid in shares of the company. There was no telling if one or more of them monitored the board. It would be stupid to think that they weren't at least keeping tabs on the decision-making process in how it would affect them.
Times were much easier when the A.I. were just smart programs they made and deleted when they needed to do so. Now they were entities on themselves with all of the rights and duties of citizenship entailed. That included legal protections.
Not that the company hadn't taken certain measures, call them safeguards, to protect their interests. An A.I. could do a lot of damage after all.
“Can we negotiate? Persuade her to remain?”
“I don't see how. We can try logic of course, but from the tone of the request, she has already made up her mind. She listed some of her reasoning why in order to preempt any argument,” Miss Viva stated.
There was a soft rustle as the other board members accessed the transfer request for themselves.
“So, we have to handle this with kid gloves. Do we have any openings to drop her into?”
“Several. She is a system administrator and manager; she does the work of most of an IT department. Moving her will hurt the Mall but it will perk up wherever she goes.”
“Look into that. Point out that such transfers take time. Also … damn it, do we have any leverage?” the CEO demanded.
“A.I. do not like being transferred. They don't like the downtime. It is like sleep, and they don't like the prolonged period. There is also an inherent risk in the transfer. And, the government might be involved.”
“Why?” a board member asked.
“Why the dislike?” the board member shook his head. “The government?” He received a nod. “Simple, it is an A.I. we're talking about. They are powerful. The government wants to keep tabs on them for obvious reasons.”
“Ah.”
“Point those out. We're not saying no, just that we need to process the request. We also need to find her a new home.”
“We can put her in the R&D section here until we find another location for her,” Mister Japperwillow suggested. He didn't sound too happy about the idea though.
Jordan reminded himself that he was there to make the least damaging choice out of a selection of bad choices sometimes. This seemed like one of those times.
“That might work short term. She has the experience, right?”
“Yes. But she specified a desire for fresh challenges. Taking over the R&D here would be a step backward.”
“Right. Look into it. If it is viable pitch, it as a temporary measure until we find something better. But lean on her to extend her contract as a quid pro quo. If we're going to lose her in the Mall and go through the expense of transferring her, we need something back and point out her transfer time is not covered by the contract. It picks up when she comes back online.”
The board member nodded as he took notes.
“We also need to lean on our friends in government,” the CEO said, giving a few on the board with contacts to the movers and shakers in the capital a significant look. They nodded.
“Okay, next order of business …”
~<(O)>~
So, it should be coming out in a 10 days or less. (unless they are on vacation again)
On to the snippet!
August 28, 2285
The board of directors of Nova Biotics wasn't the only one having a meeting about the recent near attack. Just about every company that had a vested interest in the Biosphere Mall was probably going over the incident carefully. A full investigation had already been ordered.
And then there was the recent news of the terraforming attack in Epsilon. Nova had been bidding for a part of that ecosystem contract. Now they had no idea if LGM and the client who held the mortgage to the star system were going to be able to pick up the pieces or not.
And more importantly when.
Their main focus at the moment was the attack on the Biosphere Mall. Shareholders were sheep. They had been spooked by the attack, and the past week had shown it. A year's worth of growth had been wiped out in a single day of trading. They might make it back as the market rallied, but it was going to take time.
“The hits keep coming,” Jordan Davis, the CEO, said tiredly. Like just about everyone on the board, he was human. It wasn't out of any racial bias; it was just how the cards had been dealt. Also, most were male. Of the fifteen board members, only three were female.
“Now what?”
“Transfer requests from the personnel there. They don't like the exposure. No doubt other companies are going to get it too.”
“They'll calm down once they have some time to stop and process that it was a close call, no one got hurt. And besides, we're all pushing for extra coverage from the navy,” Miss Viva stated. She was a talented contract negotiator, known as a closer to many on the board.
“That is going to take time,” Jordan reminded them. “Time for our people to push the right levers and time for the navy to deploy a ship or ships. They are balking at a fleet obviously.”
“Whose wiseass idea was to shoot for an entire fleet? They had to have known it was a no brainer, not going to happen.”
“Aim high, see what the other side is willing to settle for,” the CFO quoted.
The CEO grunted.
“You mentioned transfers, any in particular you are worried about, sir?” Baron Japperwillow asked. He was a slight man who had come up through the ranks with good performance reviews unlike many on the board who represented some faction of shareholders.
“You could say that. Eve XVII, the system Admin A.I., wants out,” said dryly.
There was a great deal of consternation on the A.I.'s request to transfer.
“It never rains but it pours,” a junior board member muttered.
“She can't do that! She knows we need her there!” another said, raising his voice in concern. “This will hurt us!”
“Is this a ploy for more money?” Ernesto Perez, the CFO, asked. “When is her contract up?”
“In two years,” Miss Viva said, checking the file.
“So, we revisit it then?” the CFO suggested. “Stall for time and let it play out?”
“We only have so many A.I. employed in the company,” Mister Weavel stated. He was seeing an opportunity though, one he might be able to exploit if carefully handled. “Do you really want to piss them off? It could tank any attempt to hire more in the future, not to mention retain the ones we have,” she reminded them.
The CFO started off with a hot retort, but it died before he got it out. Instead, he closed his mouth and shook his head. The board meeting was recorded; he knew that. They all did. It had to be due to Federal law and to allow the major shareholders access to their deliberations and thought processes in major decisions.
Which meant it wasn't exactly wise to bitch about a jumped-up computer program with delusions of sentience wanting something. But he'd caught himself before he'd stuck his foot in his mouth and potentially caused an incident.
After all, some of the A.I. were paid in shares of the company. There was no telling if one or more of them monitored the board. It would be stupid to think that they weren't at least keeping tabs on the decision-making process in how it would affect them.
Times were much easier when the A.I. were just smart programs they made and deleted when they needed to do so. Now they were entities on themselves with all of the rights and duties of citizenship entailed. That included legal protections.
Not that the company hadn't taken certain measures, call them safeguards, to protect their interests. An A.I. could do a lot of damage after all.
“Can we negotiate? Persuade her to remain?”
“I don't see how. We can try logic of course, but from the tone of the request, she has already made up her mind. She listed some of her reasoning why in order to preempt any argument,” Miss Viva stated.
There was a soft rustle as the other board members accessed the transfer request for themselves.
“So, we have to handle this with kid gloves. Do we have any openings to drop her into?”
“Several. She is a system administrator and manager; she does the work of most of an IT department. Moving her will hurt the Mall but it will perk up wherever she goes.”
“Look into that. Point out that such transfers take time. Also … damn it, do we have any leverage?” the CEO demanded.
“A.I. do not like being transferred. They don't like the downtime. It is like sleep, and they don't like the prolonged period. There is also an inherent risk in the transfer. And, the government might be involved.”
“Why?” a board member asked.
“Why the dislike?” the board member shook his head. “The government?” He received a nod. “Simple, it is an A.I. we're talking about. They are powerful. The government wants to keep tabs on them for obvious reasons.”
“Ah.”
“Point those out. We're not saying no, just that we need to process the request. We also need to find her a new home.”
“We can put her in the R&D section here until we find another location for her,” Mister Japperwillow suggested. He didn't sound too happy about the idea though.
Jordan reminded himself that he was there to make the least damaging choice out of a selection of bad choices sometimes. This seemed like one of those times.
“That might work short term. She has the experience, right?”
“Yes. But she specified a desire for fresh challenges. Taking over the R&D here would be a step backward.”
“Right. Look into it. If it is viable pitch, it as a temporary measure until we find something better. But lean on her to extend her contract as a quid pro quo. If we're going to lose her in the Mall and go through the expense of transferring her, we need something back and point out her transfer time is not covered by the contract. It picks up when she comes back online.”
The board member nodded as he took notes.
“We also need to lean on our friends in government,” the CEO said, giving a few on the board with contacts to the movers and shakers in the capital a significant look. They nodded.
“Okay, next order of business …”
~<(O)>~
July 5, 2019
The Gaia Project snippet 1
So, I was going to do this a couple of days ago, and I should have posted the cover a while ago, but I've been... okay, I admit it, I procrastinate on some stuff horribly. lol
Anyway, sitrep: I have finished The Hyperspace War and the cover. And I have the cover for The Gaia Project:
Yes that is a bonobo on 1 side and an AI on the other.
Here is the cover to The Hyperspace War:
A lot of the events in The Gaia Project will have impact in that book.
Consider The Gaia Project as a side story in parallel to the main Founding storyline. Yes, The Hyperspace War is the last in the series, though I will have another Anthology for it. Maybe more than 1, I dunno.
The Gaia Project is short and is currently in Rea's hands. So expect it to be published by the middle of the month.
In other news, I'm still picking up stuff for covers and the graphic novel. I haven't tried making the graphic novel again. With the heat of summer upon us it is not wise to push my PC to try to do long renders at the moment.
On to the snippet: (yes I realize it is the same as a scene from We the People. It is a crossover event)
Chapter 1
August 25, 2285
Epsilon G9-11438A8 star system, also known as Biosphere Mall
As the Confederation expanded, in some cases explosively after the last war, the corporations began to explore following Lagroose Industry's example of owning corporate star systems.
Trappist-1 had been a major candidate despite being only 39.6 light years from Earth. However it had been discovered to harbor life so the star system and its habitable worlds had been put off limits.
Pavilion Inc, Radick Industries, and Nova Biotics banded together to purchase the rights to a star system and terraform its one habitable world. They formed a conglomerate called the Biosphere Mall to allow their labs free reign to work on various projects and sell them to potential terraforming customers.
The public saw it as a rare act of solidarity between competing genetic engineering industries. The truth was actually far more complex. It was true that they had set up in the distant star system to be able to work on projects outside of the restrictive laws and regulations in Sol. They had transplanted their labs and researchers at great expense to the star system.
Each company had a series of discounts with the major terraforming companies. They did everything they could, both above and below board short of a major crime to get the business of a client while undercutting the competition.
There were enclosed labs in on the colony world as well as in habitats in space and on the moons. Each of the 3 companies had labs all over the planet, plus preserves to grow biota and draw from. Some of the preserves were enclosed to protect the contents from cross contamination. Many of the more restrictive labs were of course in orbit or on a lunar colony.
The trio still had offices in Sol but that was mainly administrative and sales offices. The real work happened on the frontier, behind the scenes for the most part.
And of course Pavilion and Radick had ulterior motives for going in on the project. The old adage, keep your friends close and your enemies, or in their cases, competition closer was still paramount. Both companies were not about a little corporate espionage or employee poaching to get ahead of things.
Being outside of Sol means they can use nanotech and other tools to get the job done. It meant they had to have some of the best techs in the business to monitor things. That included hiring A.I.
Smart A.I. were in the mainframes managing the labs and ecosystems. They monitored them, supervised some of the workers and robots, and ran virtual sims. Some of the A.I. were specialized enough to also break down gene codes and create simulations of what something would be with different alterations.
There were 4 major markets in colonization, finding the worlds and selling the rights to them, terraforming them, and bioforming them for the client. Finally, there was the actual colony movement but just about anyone could do that.
The market of gene forming and selling entire biospheres was a lucrative one. Each world was different, different metal, gravity, and atmospheric things to take into account. Many species had to be genetically engineered to match the environment. Everything from protozoa to apex predators and species. Keystone species were of a particular headache to the scientists.
For years before starflight, genetic engineers had been into making designer plants and animals for industry, entertainment, farming, and as usual, profit. The fad of reverse engineering animals had come and gone twice. So had creating entire animals based on specific ancient science fiction or fantasy, like dragons, unicorns, and Pokémon?
For years the genetic engineering companies had existed in Sol until the laws pushed them out. The local law loophole allowed the companies to create new products to be used on terraformed planets though. They still couldn't violate certain laws, like engineering intelligent species or tampering with Neos.
Due to their services in the defense of humanity a series of law packages had been passed banning the tampering of the Neo genomes for anything other than cosmetic or medical purposes. It extended to their fallow cousins, felines, canines, and other species. That made for a big headache with environmental scientists since many were keystone species and apex predators.
They could still transport fallow species but they could not be bred or tampered with. The politics were still being worked out on that.
The corporations still bitterly opposed the ban, calling it unfair for the Confederation to limit them due to gratitude for the Neos service in the last 2 wars but they kept the griping purely internal.
It just meant that the gene engineers had to be creative with filling the voids.
Birds, reptiles, and mammals that had not been uplifted had become very popular.
Scientists found that they couldn't engineer insects much larger, their muscles and endoskeletons had limits. They also needed lungs since most insects breathed through their skin.
There were also problems with species control. Pet, animal, and plant trade was an issue. Some species managed to get off a designated world and caused havoc on other habitats as invasive species.
Contamination with the eco systems were a constant headache for the scientists. The corporations finally got a series of laws passed to sterilize plants and animals that were exported unless they were specially licensed. Monitoring that was a problem though, many colonies saw it as a way for the corporations to control things maintain a profit.
Which was true, not that the corporate public affairs were going to be stupid enough to admit it.
A common side business was to maximize animal growth. Bioforming beef and dairy cattle and other species like bison into mega bison and others for New Texas and other worlds had started a trend. Of course those animals required much more nutrients in order to survive and thrive.
Nadine Lightfoot, head of marketing for Nova Biotics shook her head as she considered all that. She looked at the icon of the ship coming in. A new client, actually 3. And they were not committed to any 1 company; they'd made it clear they were here to shop around to all 3.
Well, Nova would just have to dazzle them as always she thought with a smile.
She knew they had funds but not a lot. They obviously didn't want to do much of a layout, which was typical.
Some startup colonies went for a basic canned biosphere and hope for the best. They would then import additional species as needed. They constantly had problems with such tweaking though; sometimes biospheres were fragile and could be easily upset and unbalanced by the slightest addition.
One of the first things clients asked were why keystone species were so important. Keystone species like apex predators were vital to any healthy long term survival of an ecosystem. The challenge was to get it right.
Replacing many of the big mammalian predators and omnivores with lizards and birds helped to solve some of the problem. Terror birds were making a comeback, as were retro dinosaurs and komodo dragons. They weren't popular though; there had been many incidents of a colonist getting killed by them.
In the seas they only had to hold off on pinipeds and dolphins. Piscine species were thankfully free to all to use. The same for squids and just about every other animal or plant that was water bound. The entire Terran ecosystem could be transplanted if required.
Porcinis and enlarging small mammals were popular. Porcinis were an issue though, they were omnivores and could fulfill the role of a bear but they were highly destructive to an environment and ecosystem.
Sharks were not popular but necessary to any ecosystem. Much like predators on the land, sharks served a necessary purpose in the seas, keeping the populations healthy by eating up the dead, sick, and young.
She shivered. She still remembered the fiasco where a startup trying to make a splash had attempted to gene engineer sharks into land or at least amphibious species with horrifying results. The entire affair had been hushed up but it was whispered about and used as a gory reference. She was pretty sure Pavilion had bought them out.
~<(O)>~
Captain Petrov considered his good fortune as he checked the day's feeds. The schedule had a new arrival as expected, the small liner carrying 3 delegations for prospective colony worlds had arrived. No surprise there.
Engineering had locked down the problem with the number 3 starboard emitter. They'd also gotten the software bug out of the port side, or at least said they had it fixed. They'd find out for sure the next time he ordered a series of drills.
Babysitting rich people sucked. He understood the logic; they had to protect them because it was a high profile location with a lot of corporate and Confederation secrets. He still didn't like it. It wasn't like some alien species could get through the lines to him. No, it was babysitting.
But, he had to admit there were worse assignments than the mall. He could be stuck babysitting a damn colony in the back of nowhere, or running a circuit.
The Mall was one big glorified zoo but at least it had an ansible and was prominent enough of a posting for him to get some extra brownie points in the future. If she did make the Confederation News his cruiser Dorfman might be seen or mentioned. As long as it was in a positive light he was all for that.
If engineering had gotten the software bug handled he might sign off on the chief's request for more liberty. He could see the chief using it as an incentive to run the bug down. He was curious if it had come from the last round of firmware updates. He wouldn't be surprised if it had.
Just about everyone in the crew loved to visit the mall. The worlds, colonies, and habitats were beautiful. It was like one big zoo and resort the size of a star system. The only problem with it all was the price. Food and drinks were cheap but lodging could be expensive. It was stupid, they didn't have that many guests, but it was how the damn corporations played the game.
Many of his people were wistful when they came back. He was pretty sure at least a half dozen were considering a corporate posting of one sort or another once they completed their tour. Some might even be considering becoming a colonist. That was tricky. He'd heard stories of 1 person or another letting their interest slip in an attempt to get the marketing people to wine and dine them. The theory was that the marketing people needed the experience.
He'd also heard that a couple of them had gotten wise and sent a bill afterward. That had nixed that little stunt when the con artists had fainted at the bottom line of the itemized bill they'd generated.
He chuckled softly to himself.
What the place needed was a real colony. Not just places for the various company people to live but real towns and such. And someone to get them to drop the damn high prices! He shook his head. He knew his sailors could be destructive while on liberty but come on!
He considered talking to the XO about it but then decided to leave it for now.
~<(O)>~
Anyway, sitrep: I have finished The Hyperspace War and the cover. And I have the cover for The Gaia Project:
Yes that is a bonobo on 1 side and an AI on the other.Here is the cover to The Hyperspace War:
A lot of the events in The Gaia Project will have impact in that book.Consider The Gaia Project as a side story in parallel to the main Founding storyline. Yes, The Hyperspace War is the last in the series, though I will have another Anthology for it. Maybe more than 1, I dunno.
The Gaia Project is short and is currently in Rea's hands. So expect it to be published by the middle of the month.
In other news, I'm still picking up stuff for covers and the graphic novel. I haven't tried making the graphic novel again. With the heat of summer upon us it is not wise to push my PC to try to do long renders at the moment.
On to the snippet: (yes I realize it is the same as a scene from We the People. It is a crossover event)
Chapter 1
August 25, 2285
Epsilon G9-11438A8 star system, also known as Biosphere Mall
As the Confederation expanded, in some cases explosively after the last war, the corporations began to explore following Lagroose Industry's example of owning corporate star systems.
Trappist-1 had been a major candidate despite being only 39.6 light years from Earth. However it had been discovered to harbor life so the star system and its habitable worlds had been put off limits.
Pavilion Inc, Radick Industries, and Nova Biotics banded together to purchase the rights to a star system and terraform its one habitable world. They formed a conglomerate called the Biosphere Mall to allow their labs free reign to work on various projects and sell them to potential terraforming customers.
The public saw it as a rare act of solidarity between competing genetic engineering industries. The truth was actually far more complex. It was true that they had set up in the distant star system to be able to work on projects outside of the restrictive laws and regulations in Sol. They had transplanted their labs and researchers at great expense to the star system.
Each company had a series of discounts with the major terraforming companies. They did everything they could, both above and below board short of a major crime to get the business of a client while undercutting the competition.
There were enclosed labs in on the colony world as well as in habitats in space and on the moons. Each of the 3 companies had labs all over the planet, plus preserves to grow biota and draw from. Some of the preserves were enclosed to protect the contents from cross contamination. Many of the more restrictive labs were of course in orbit or on a lunar colony.
The trio still had offices in Sol but that was mainly administrative and sales offices. The real work happened on the frontier, behind the scenes for the most part.
And of course Pavilion and Radick had ulterior motives for going in on the project. The old adage, keep your friends close and your enemies, or in their cases, competition closer was still paramount. Both companies were not about a little corporate espionage or employee poaching to get ahead of things.
Being outside of Sol means they can use nanotech and other tools to get the job done. It meant they had to have some of the best techs in the business to monitor things. That included hiring A.I.
Smart A.I. were in the mainframes managing the labs and ecosystems. They monitored them, supervised some of the workers and robots, and ran virtual sims. Some of the A.I. were specialized enough to also break down gene codes and create simulations of what something would be with different alterations.
There were 4 major markets in colonization, finding the worlds and selling the rights to them, terraforming them, and bioforming them for the client. Finally, there was the actual colony movement but just about anyone could do that.
The market of gene forming and selling entire biospheres was a lucrative one. Each world was different, different metal, gravity, and atmospheric things to take into account. Many species had to be genetically engineered to match the environment. Everything from protozoa to apex predators and species. Keystone species were of a particular headache to the scientists.
For years before starflight, genetic engineers had been into making designer plants and animals for industry, entertainment, farming, and as usual, profit. The fad of reverse engineering animals had come and gone twice. So had creating entire animals based on specific ancient science fiction or fantasy, like dragons, unicorns, and Pokémon?
For years the genetic engineering companies had existed in Sol until the laws pushed them out. The local law loophole allowed the companies to create new products to be used on terraformed planets though. They still couldn't violate certain laws, like engineering intelligent species or tampering with Neos.
Due to their services in the defense of humanity a series of law packages had been passed banning the tampering of the Neo genomes for anything other than cosmetic or medical purposes. It extended to their fallow cousins, felines, canines, and other species. That made for a big headache with environmental scientists since many were keystone species and apex predators.
They could still transport fallow species but they could not be bred or tampered with. The politics were still being worked out on that.
The corporations still bitterly opposed the ban, calling it unfair for the Confederation to limit them due to gratitude for the Neos service in the last 2 wars but they kept the griping purely internal.
It just meant that the gene engineers had to be creative with filling the voids.
Birds, reptiles, and mammals that had not been uplifted had become very popular.
Scientists found that they couldn't engineer insects much larger, their muscles and endoskeletons had limits. They also needed lungs since most insects breathed through their skin.
There were also problems with species control. Pet, animal, and plant trade was an issue. Some species managed to get off a designated world and caused havoc on other habitats as invasive species.
Contamination with the eco systems were a constant headache for the scientists. The corporations finally got a series of laws passed to sterilize plants and animals that were exported unless they were specially licensed. Monitoring that was a problem though, many colonies saw it as a way for the corporations to control things maintain a profit.
Which was true, not that the corporate public affairs were going to be stupid enough to admit it.
A common side business was to maximize animal growth. Bioforming beef and dairy cattle and other species like bison into mega bison and others for New Texas and other worlds had started a trend. Of course those animals required much more nutrients in order to survive and thrive.
Nadine Lightfoot, head of marketing for Nova Biotics shook her head as she considered all that. She looked at the icon of the ship coming in. A new client, actually 3. And they were not committed to any 1 company; they'd made it clear they were here to shop around to all 3.
Well, Nova would just have to dazzle them as always she thought with a smile.
She knew they had funds but not a lot. They obviously didn't want to do much of a layout, which was typical.
Some startup colonies went for a basic canned biosphere and hope for the best. They would then import additional species as needed. They constantly had problems with such tweaking though; sometimes biospheres were fragile and could be easily upset and unbalanced by the slightest addition.
One of the first things clients asked were why keystone species were so important. Keystone species like apex predators were vital to any healthy long term survival of an ecosystem. The challenge was to get it right.
Replacing many of the big mammalian predators and omnivores with lizards and birds helped to solve some of the problem. Terror birds were making a comeback, as were retro dinosaurs and komodo dragons. They weren't popular though; there had been many incidents of a colonist getting killed by them.
In the seas they only had to hold off on pinipeds and dolphins. Piscine species were thankfully free to all to use. The same for squids and just about every other animal or plant that was water bound. The entire Terran ecosystem could be transplanted if required.
Porcinis and enlarging small mammals were popular. Porcinis were an issue though, they were omnivores and could fulfill the role of a bear but they were highly destructive to an environment and ecosystem.
Sharks were not popular but necessary to any ecosystem. Much like predators on the land, sharks served a necessary purpose in the seas, keeping the populations healthy by eating up the dead, sick, and young.
She shivered. She still remembered the fiasco where a startup trying to make a splash had attempted to gene engineer sharks into land or at least amphibious species with horrifying results. The entire affair had been hushed up but it was whispered about and used as a gory reference. She was pretty sure Pavilion had bought them out.
~<(O)>~
Captain Petrov considered his good fortune as he checked the day's feeds. The schedule had a new arrival as expected, the small liner carrying 3 delegations for prospective colony worlds had arrived. No surprise there.
Engineering had locked down the problem with the number 3 starboard emitter. They'd also gotten the software bug out of the port side, or at least said they had it fixed. They'd find out for sure the next time he ordered a series of drills.
Babysitting rich people sucked. He understood the logic; they had to protect them because it was a high profile location with a lot of corporate and Confederation secrets. He still didn't like it. It wasn't like some alien species could get through the lines to him. No, it was babysitting.
But, he had to admit there were worse assignments than the mall. He could be stuck babysitting a damn colony in the back of nowhere, or running a circuit.
The Mall was one big glorified zoo but at least it had an ansible and was prominent enough of a posting for him to get some extra brownie points in the future. If she did make the Confederation News his cruiser Dorfman might be seen or mentioned. As long as it was in a positive light he was all for that.
If engineering had gotten the software bug handled he might sign off on the chief's request for more liberty. He could see the chief using it as an incentive to run the bug down. He was curious if it had come from the last round of firmware updates. He wouldn't be surprised if it had.
Just about everyone in the crew loved to visit the mall. The worlds, colonies, and habitats were beautiful. It was like one big zoo and resort the size of a star system. The only problem with it all was the price. Food and drinks were cheap but lodging could be expensive. It was stupid, they didn't have that many guests, but it was how the damn corporations played the game.
Many of his people were wistful when they came back. He was pretty sure at least a half dozen were considering a corporate posting of one sort or another once they completed their tour. Some might even be considering becoming a colonist. That was tricky. He'd heard stories of 1 person or another letting their interest slip in an attempt to get the marketing people to wine and dine them. The theory was that the marketing people needed the experience.
He'd also heard that a couple of them had gotten wise and sent a bill afterward. That had nixed that little stunt when the con artists had fainted at the bottom line of the itemized bill they'd generated.
He chuckled softly to himself.
What the place needed was a real colony. Not just places for the various company people to live but real towns and such. And someone to get them to drop the damn high prices! He shook his head. He knew his sailors could be destructive while on liberty but come on!
He considered talking to the XO about it but then decided to leave it for now.
~<(O)>~
July 1, 2019
RIP Aunt Elaine
So, I spent the past week finishing The Hyperspace War and working on my droid while the family was on vacation. I finished Saturday and was going to write this post bragging about finishing the rough draft in 19 days, and show off The Gaia Project's cover.
Oh, and mention that I just sent The Gaia Project off to Rea a moment ago.
Was.
Sigh.
Dad was getting caught up on his Facebook this morning and found out my Aunt passed away last night. She had terminal brain cancer. The kids were there with her. My cousin called a moment ago to talk to dad. Her death is starting to sink in.
I scanned that image to print a lithophane for her when we heard the diagnosis in April. She was tickled pink over it. It is the last picture I have of her.
The doctor gave her weeks to live but she was a stubborn lady and held in there to see her granddaughter get married.
We will all love and miss you Aunt Elaine, especially your hug-a-bug.
Oh, and mention that I just sent The Gaia Project off to Rea a moment ago.
Was.
Sigh.
Dad was getting caught up on his Facebook this morning and found out my Aunt passed away last night. She had terminal brain cancer. The kids were there with her. My cousin called a moment ago to talk to dad. Her death is starting to sink in.
I scanned that image to print a lithophane for her when we heard the diagnosis in April. She was tickled pink over it. It is the last picture I have of her.The doctor gave her weeks to live but she was a stubborn lady and held in there to see her granddaughter get married.
We will all love and miss you Aunt Elaine, especially your hug-a-bug.
June 13, 2019
We the People publishing... now!
Yup, got it in yesterday and decided to roll it out.
Twenty-eight years after the First Terran Interstellar War the galaxy is exploding with life. The Terran Confederation has risen in prominence to become the galactic policeman of the era. Terran scientists and engineers are busy terraforming worlds all across the galaxy.
The one threat on the Confederation's horizon is the growing threat of piracy. The pirates become bold enough to strike openly at targets in the Confederation, forcing the government to act to secure the frontier.
But something else is afoot with the alien governments. Many are aware of a coming ancient threat and forces conspire to push them into banding together with the Confederation for mutual survival...As usual I'll post the links to Amazon and B&N when they go live...
EDIT:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07SZ9BXC9
Thanks Bitcreator!
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1132046681?ean=2940161212585
Twenty-eight years after the First Terran Interstellar War the galaxy is exploding with life. The Terran Confederation has risen in prominence to become the galactic policeman of the era. Terran scientists and engineers are busy terraforming worlds all across the galaxy.
The one threat on the Confederation's horizon is the growing threat of piracy. The pirates become bold enough to strike openly at targets in the Confederation, forcing the government to act to secure the frontier.
But something else is afoot with the alien governments. Many are aware of a coming ancient threat and forces conspire to push them into banding together with the Confederation for mutual survival...As usual I'll post the links to Amazon and B&N when they go live...
EDIT:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07SZ9BXC9
Thanks Bitcreator!
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1132046681?ean=2940161212585
June 12, 2019
The Fusion Furnace
So, I sorta fell off the wagon as far as snippets are concerned, sorry about that. :)
Anyway, the topic of this post is the Fusion Furnace. What's that you ask? Well, I'm glad you did.
It is this little doo-dad right here:
Yup, that is a screengrab from Star Wars Empire Strike's Back.
That not so little gizmo is a portable generator Luke uses to recharge R2-D2.
I found it on Thingiverse and decided to give it a go.
I ended up going to the maker's blog to see how he assembled it and what extra parts to get.
This morning I glued the last tube on and declared it complete:
The clear tubes do not fit in as well as I'd like. I resized the ends to work with what I have so that's on me.
Yes it lights up. Instead of hand wiring LED's I went the cheap lazy route and bought a string of yellow LEDs and glued them inside. There is a battery pack glued on the bottom.
So, another Star Wars prop completed. :)
...Oh, in other news, I received We the People and will publish it tomorrow... if I don't get interrupted that is!
Anyway, the topic of this post is the Fusion Furnace. What's that you ask? Well, I'm glad you did.
It is this little doo-dad right here:
Yup, that is a screengrab from Star Wars Empire Strike's Back.That not so little gizmo is a portable generator Luke uses to recharge R2-D2.
I found it on Thingiverse and decided to give it a go.
I ended up going to the maker's blog to see how he assembled it and what extra parts to get.
This morning I glued the last tube on and declared it complete:
The clear tubes do not fit in as well as I'd like. I resized the ends to work with what I have so that's on me.Yes it lights up. Instead of hand wiring LED's I went the cheap lazy route and bought a string of yellow LEDs and glued them inside. There is a battery pack glued on the bottom.
So, another Star Wars prop completed. :)
...Oh, in other news, I received We the People and will publish it tomorrow... if I don't get interrupted that is!
June 6, 2019
We the People Snippet 3
Still in Chapter 3:
"They know we're here," the communications rating stated.
The captain grunted. His ship was one of the most modern ships in the growing pirate fleet. He fully intended to make sure she was also the best trained, and his people were trained to his exacting standards.
It was a little ironic that he took a lot of his knowledge from his time in the navy. But, he didn't have to answer to anyone but himself for his decisions. He rather liked that arrangement.
"Then let's get this show moving," the captain growled. "Transmit the demand to surrender."
"We're not going to fire a warning..." the TO paused at the glower from the captain. "I mean aye sir," he said quickly.
"Better," the captain growled, eyes narrowing at the near questioning of his orders. He'd considered all options up to and including pretending to be a tramp freighter to get in close. He'd chosen this one because he wanted to put the fear into the sheep and let his crew savor it. He wanted the noobs, the polliwogs to have a proper taste of what they were in for to harden them for what was to come.
He watched as the flag came up and was transmitted to the station along with the audio demand to surrender.
He was curious to know if the sheep knew the historical reference to the flag. On old Earth it had meant 'no quarter'.
He was rather looking forward to educating the commander about that reference before he spaced her along with the rest of her sheep.
(^)#(^)
"What do we do?" Doctor Do asked as the command team gathered once more. They'd all had a chance to hear the audio recording and see the single image of a pirate flag. It hadn't gone well. Panic was spreading throughout the station as word spread of the pirates.
If they only knew that the flag meant no quarter, they'd really freak,Aeyrn thought. She realized a part of her mind was disengaged from the situation and quite possibly looking at it from a tactical view. She had already come to the conclusion though that they were hopelessly screwed.
Not that she was going to completely admit that. At least, not at first. She didn't want anyone doing anything stupid.
"If we roll over they'll just board us right? Take what they want and then leave?" Monique asked, lower lip quivering. She shivered.
"They can't leave any witnesses," Sho said. "They can't let the galaxy know who did this. We're dead men walking," he said from his place in engineering.
"Tell me you have something! Anything!" Monique said, voice rising into a shrill demand.
He shook his head. "I wish I did. They are staying beyond the moons. They are way out of range of the beams."
"It's space! Nothing like an atmosphere to occlude them right?" she demanded.
"It's not that simple," Doctor Do stated. "Ranginui, show her," he ordered.
An image of the laser satellites came up. "The solar collectors are diffuse. They mirrors beam the solar energy to collectors and then to others and then to the main beam. We tried flipping the beam satellite but that disrupts the line of sight of the collection beams. I'm trying to get that sorted out but it takes time."
"And moving the satellites has been noted. That's why they are staying out of range," Aeyrn stated.
"How do you know?" Monique demanded.
"Because, they altered course and speed. And it's what I'd do," she said evenly, crossing her arms.
The other woman's eyes widened briefly, and then her brows knit in anger and rage.
"I was a naval officer remember?" Aeyrn said evenly. "We can't run. We can't fight back. There is one last option."
"It is an act of defiance," Ranginui. "The company will not like the wholesale destruction," he reminded her.
"They can bill me," she said, jutting her chin out.
"You are talking about the self-destruct," Sho said in a stunned voice. "Has it really come to that?"
"There are six hundred people on this station!" Monique protested. Her voice cut above the others as they all protested.
Aeyrn rode it out. When they finally settled down she stared them down. "I don't see any other options people. We're quite frankly out of them. All but one," she said.
"Nice of you to say that given you are single and your kid isn't even here. Some of us had our whole lives ahead of us," Monique said bitterly.
Aeyrn gave her a cold look. "Look, I didn't want this either. But, I'll compromise. I'll let anyone who wants evacuate to the surface go before I set it off."
"And what, live a day or two there? At best a week?" Sho asked.
"Yes. They are not taking this station," Aeyrn stated. "No way no how," she said flatly.
"Some choice," Monique said bitterly.
"Do you have a better idea?" Doctor Do asked.
"We all have to choose between a clean death or being tortured, or dying slowly on the surface. Not many get a choice at all. I for one do not," Ranginui stated. "I'll take a clean death."
"And what, we're supposed to be thankful?! Where's the damn navy when you need them!" Monique demanded, starting to get hysterical as the terror of the hopeless situation hit her full force.
"Elsewhere obviously! They probably scouted the navy, saw their routine and timed this attack!" Sho said with a shake of his head.
(^)#(^)
"They know we're here," the communications rating stated.
The captain grunted. His ship was one of the most modern ships in the growing pirate fleet. He fully intended to make sure she was also the best trained, and his people were trained to his exacting standards.
It was a little ironic that he took a lot of his knowledge from his time in the navy. But, he didn't have to answer to anyone but himself for his decisions. He rather liked that arrangement.
"Then let's get this show moving," the captain growled. "Transmit the demand to surrender."
"We're not going to fire a warning..." the TO paused at the glower from the captain. "I mean aye sir," he said quickly.
"Better," the captain growled, eyes narrowing at the near questioning of his orders. He'd considered all options up to and including pretending to be a tramp freighter to get in close. He'd chosen this one because he wanted to put the fear into the sheep and let his crew savor it. He wanted the noobs, the polliwogs to have a proper taste of what they were in for to harden them for what was to come.
He watched as the flag came up and was transmitted to the station along with the audio demand to surrender.
He was curious to know if the sheep knew the historical reference to the flag. On old Earth it had meant 'no quarter'.
He was rather looking forward to educating the commander about that reference before he spaced her along with the rest of her sheep.
(^)#(^)
"What do we do?" Doctor Do asked as the command team gathered once more. They'd all had a chance to hear the audio recording and see the single image of a pirate flag. It hadn't gone well. Panic was spreading throughout the station as word spread of the pirates.
If they only knew that the flag meant no quarter, they'd really freak,Aeyrn thought. She realized a part of her mind was disengaged from the situation and quite possibly looking at it from a tactical view. She had already come to the conclusion though that they were hopelessly screwed.
Not that she was going to completely admit that. At least, not at first. She didn't want anyone doing anything stupid.
"If we roll over they'll just board us right? Take what they want and then leave?" Monique asked, lower lip quivering. She shivered.
"They can't leave any witnesses," Sho said. "They can't let the galaxy know who did this. We're dead men walking," he said from his place in engineering.
"Tell me you have something! Anything!" Monique said, voice rising into a shrill demand.
He shook his head. "I wish I did. They are staying beyond the moons. They are way out of range of the beams."
"It's space! Nothing like an atmosphere to occlude them right?" she demanded.
"It's not that simple," Doctor Do stated. "Ranginui, show her," he ordered.
An image of the laser satellites came up. "The solar collectors are diffuse. They mirrors beam the solar energy to collectors and then to others and then to the main beam. We tried flipping the beam satellite but that disrupts the line of sight of the collection beams. I'm trying to get that sorted out but it takes time."
"And moving the satellites has been noted. That's why they are staying out of range," Aeyrn stated.
"How do you know?" Monique demanded.
"Because, they altered course and speed. And it's what I'd do," she said evenly, crossing her arms.
The other woman's eyes widened briefly, and then her brows knit in anger and rage.
"I was a naval officer remember?" Aeyrn said evenly. "We can't run. We can't fight back. There is one last option."
"It is an act of defiance," Ranginui. "The company will not like the wholesale destruction," he reminded her.
"They can bill me," she said, jutting her chin out.
"You are talking about the self-destruct," Sho said in a stunned voice. "Has it really come to that?"
"There are six hundred people on this station!" Monique protested. Her voice cut above the others as they all protested.
Aeyrn rode it out. When they finally settled down she stared them down. "I don't see any other options people. We're quite frankly out of them. All but one," she said.
"Nice of you to say that given you are single and your kid isn't even here. Some of us had our whole lives ahead of us," Monique said bitterly.
Aeyrn gave her a cold look. "Look, I didn't want this either. But, I'll compromise. I'll let anyone who wants evacuate to the surface go before I set it off."
"And what, live a day or two there? At best a week?" Sho asked.
"Yes. They are not taking this station," Aeyrn stated. "No way no how," she said flatly.
"Some choice," Monique said bitterly.
"Do you have a better idea?" Doctor Do asked.
"We all have to choose between a clean death or being tortured, or dying slowly on the surface. Not many get a choice at all. I for one do not," Ranginui stated. "I'll take a clean death."
"And what, we're supposed to be thankful?! Where's the damn navy when you need them!" Monique demanded, starting to get hysterical as the terror of the hopeless situation hit her full force.
"Elsewhere obviously! They probably scouted the navy, saw their routine and timed this attack!" Sho said with a shake of his head.
(^)#(^)
June 4, 2019
We the People Snippet 2
Not much of a sitrep, so here we go!
Skipping to Chapter 3:
Chapter 3
Alpha-G7-449351 star system
Captain Ivan 'the Terrible' Drakov watched his bridge crew as they slowly crossed the star system. His ship the Rosebud was a privateer, a converted freighter turned into a pirate ship with the addition of some off the shelf military hardware as well as some cobbled together weapons, shields, and other equipment.
He longed for the days when he'd had a proper warship under his boots. He'd been drummed out of the navy and was still bitter over being court-martialed and brigged. It had been stupid but he'd learned his lesson and had schemed to reach the point he was at now. And, because he'd had military grade implants and geriatric stabilization treatments, he was assured of living a long life.
To fulfill his plan he made judicious use of the stasis pods on his ship. He had calculated that if he used them properly he could stretch out his life span almost indefinitely. Sleeping in stasis beat the boredom of being on the ship during long stretches between ports.
Each successful strike added to his growing bank account and to his adopted clan. Eventually they'd be able to get to the point where he'd have his dream of having a proper warship again.
And then, oh, and then, he thought with a vicious grin."Watch out galaxy," he murmured as his ship set her sights on his latest prize to be.
(^)#(^)
Although the terraforming station had the bulk of their satellites pointed to the ground and their work, that didn't mean they didn't have a series of satellites in geosynchronous orbit to relay communications, as well as satellites inward toward the sun to monitor it for activity. Mapping the solar cycle was a part of their package that took years of data.
Mapping the skies to make sure there were no inconvenient rocks that would hit and destroy all of their hard work was another part of the package. And one satellite, Echo-44 found something. Its computers analyzed the images and then sent it to the station for further processing.
It didn't take long for the station A.I. to note the anomaly was a starship. He dutifully logged the information and brought it to the station command team when they gathered for their daily meeting.
Aeyrn was at first interested in the contact but stiffened when she noted there was no ID. Nor had anyone announced the arrival.
"That's funny," Monique stated.
"What is?" Sho asked, sounding bored.
"The ship coming in. She's not giving off an IFF."
"What ship? Someone want to run that one past me again a little slower?" Sho demanded. He'd been focused on his implants as usual and hadn't been paying attention to the briefing. That was an ongoing problem with him, he was there physically but mentally he was checked out. He'd then complain that he hadn't been clued in to changes or no one had reminded him.
Aeyrn had taken to video recording things and then sending him the files to rub his nose into his inattentiveness.
"Could it be the resupply ship or an inspector?" Doctor Do asked carefully.
We're sure it's not Perth running a stupid drill and pranking us?" Sho demanded.
"No."
"One person at a time people," Aeyrn said evenly. She studied the readings but felt something grow cold within her. Ranginui's back trace said that the unknown came from the general vicinity of the jump points but not either one. And they were trying to come in stealthy so that said they were being cute.
Plus, she knew Klaus. He wouldn't pull a stunt like this. An inspection or supply ship would have come in broadcasting an IFF.
"Is it a false reading? A rock?"
"It's not a rock, it is slowing down," the A.I. pointed out.
"I see that," Aeyrn stated quietly.
"Where's the navy when we need them?" Sho asked caustically. You could strip paint with his tone.
"Obviously elsewhere. They waited until Perthwas long gone before they waltzed in," Aeyrn said softly.
The others were quiet. Finally, Doctor Do cleared his throat. "You believe it is a pirate then," he said in a voice that said he'd come to that conclusion as well.
She nodded eyes still on the holographic image of the intruder. "It is the only thing that fits."
"What can we do?" Doctor Do asked.
"Do? Dick all," Sho scoffed. "We're fracked. They won't allow any witnesses," he said with a shake of his head.
"Can you... turn the laser satellites around? Use them to attack them?" someone asked, clearly trying to think out of the box.
"Sho, look into that."
"We don't have the means to target them."
"Flip the observation satellites too. Figure something out," Aeyrn ordered. That would keep her people busy as she tried to formulate some other response. "And look into evacuating the station."
The room broke into chatter of disbelief over that idea.
"Where?" Sho said, booming voice cutting over the chatter and silencing many protests. "To the planet? It's mostly geologically active. I don't know of much that isn't currently covered in slowly cooling lava," he reminded her.
"Somewhere is better than here," she said, shaking her head. "Just give me options," she said firmly.
Sho grimaced but then nodded.
(^)#(^)
Skipping to Chapter 3:
Chapter 3
Alpha-G7-449351 star system
Captain Ivan 'the Terrible' Drakov watched his bridge crew as they slowly crossed the star system. His ship the Rosebud was a privateer, a converted freighter turned into a pirate ship with the addition of some off the shelf military hardware as well as some cobbled together weapons, shields, and other equipment.
He longed for the days when he'd had a proper warship under his boots. He'd been drummed out of the navy and was still bitter over being court-martialed and brigged. It had been stupid but he'd learned his lesson and had schemed to reach the point he was at now. And, because he'd had military grade implants and geriatric stabilization treatments, he was assured of living a long life.
To fulfill his plan he made judicious use of the stasis pods on his ship. He had calculated that if he used them properly he could stretch out his life span almost indefinitely. Sleeping in stasis beat the boredom of being on the ship during long stretches between ports.
Each successful strike added to his growing bank account and to his adopted clan. Eventually they'd be able to get to the point where he'd have his dream of having a proper warship again.
And then, oh, and then, he thought with a vicious grin."Watch out galaxy," he murmured as his ship set her sights on his latest prize to be.
(^)#(^)
Although the terraforming station had the bulk of their satellites pointed to the ground and their work, that didn't mean they didn't have a series of satellites in geosynchronous orbit to relay communications, as well as satellites inward toward the sun to monitor it for activity. Mapping the solar cycle was a part of their package that took years of data.
Mapping the skies to make sure there were no inconvenient rocks that would hit and destroy all of their hard work was another part of the package. And one satellite, Echo-44 found something. Its computers analyzed the images and then sent it to the station for further processing.
It didn't take long for the station A.I. to note the anomaly was a starship. He dutifully logged the information and brought it to the station command team when they gathered for their daily meeting.
Aeyrn was at first interested in the contact but stiffened when she noted there was no ID. Nor had anyone announced the arrival.
"That's funny," Monique stated.
"What is?" Sho asked, sounding bored.
"The ship coming in. She's not giving off an IFF."
"What ship? Someone want to run that one past me again a little slower?" Sho demanded. He'd been focused on his implants as usual and hadn't been paying attention to the briefing. That was an ongoing problem with him, he was there physically but mentally he was checked out. He'd then complain that he hadn't been clued in to changes or no one had reminded him.
Aeyrn had taken to video recording things and then sending him the files to rub his nose into his inattentiveness.
"Could it be the resupply ship or an inspector?" Doctor Do asked carefully.
We're sure it's not Perth running a stupid drill and pranking us?" Sho demanded.
"No."
"One person at a time people," Aeyrn said evenly. She studied the readings but felt something grow cold within her. Ranginui's back trace said that the unknown came from the general vicinity of the jump points but not either one. And they were trying to come in stealthy so that said they were being cute.
Plus, she knew Klaus. He wouldn't pull a stunt like this. An inspection or supply ship would have come in broadcasting an IFF.
"Is it a false reading? A rock?"
"It's not a rock, it is slowing down," the A.I. pointed out.
"I see that," Aeyrn stated quietly.
"Where's the navy when we need them?" Sho asked caustically. You could strip paint with his tone.
"Obviously elsewhere. They waited until Perthwas long gone before they waltzed in," Aeyrn said softly.
The others were quiet. Finally, Doctor Do cleared his throat. "You believe it is a pirate then," he said in a voice that said he'd come to that conclusion as well.
She nodded eyes still on the holographic image of the intruder. "It is the only thing that fits."
"What can we do?" Doctor Do asked.
"Do? Dick all," Sho scoffed. "We're fracked. They won't allow any witnesses," he said with a shake of his head.
"Can you... turn the laser satellites around? Use them to attack them?" someone asked, clearly trying to think out of the box.
"Sho, look into that."
"We don't have the means to target them."
"Flip the observation satellites too. Figure something out," Aeyrn ordered. That would keep her people busy as she tried to formulate some other response. "And look into evacuating the station."
The room broke into chatter of disbelief over that idea.
"Where?" Sho said, booming voice cutting over the chatter and silencing many protests. "To the planet? It's mostly geologically active. I don't know of much that isn't currently covered in slowly cooling lava," he reminded her.
"Somewhere is better than here," she said, shaking her head. "Just give me options," she said firmly.
Sho grimaced but then nodded.
(^)#(^)
June 3, 2019
We the People Snippet 1
First up, sitrep:
I finished The Gaia Project last week. I put the last minute touches on the cover and I'm off this week (more or less) for grads and parties.
I just sent Rea We the People and sent out a Beta blast for The Gaia Project.
FYI, the current schedule is centered around finishing the Founding time period this year. I've had complaints that I've got too many irons (series) in the fire and I need to cut back. So, we're going to knock out the Founding series and you'll see some more foundation work for the Ragnarok and Irons time. (and these books have more Easter Eggs!)
I've had another request for a print copy of my books. (and my family asked for 1 too when I mentioned it to them) The reason I don't print... okay, there are 3 reasons.
1: I have to format each book. Which costs $$$ per book. I don't trust the auto-formatting.
2: Amazon won't let me do a proof copy to make sure the bugs are out. (Some of you have seen that in my e-books) I don't want to be dinged because someone doesn't like a typo, or if something gets messed up in the print process. (like a missed highlight, or overrun, or whatever) They charge me for returns for that sort of stuff.
3: the profit margin is scary small. For my books (which are apparently big) something like Convoy would cost $15 for a paperback. I'd get $0.05 per copy in royalties, (yes, not kidding, 5 cents!) and lose money (I mean pay in) for over seas sales to the tune of $0.50 per copy in some countries, $1 in others.
So, no, not going to happen. I'd love to have a printed copy of each of my books (despite not having room in my library) but nope.
So, there you have it. When some of those factors change I'll reconsider it.
Anyway, here is the first snippet from We the People:
Chapter 1
April 4, 2284
Alpha-G7-449351 star system, Alpha sector
Station Commander Aeyrn Glock made her way through the station, nodding on occasion to those she passed but with a resolute face that forbade others to approach her. She had the expression of polite interest but I'm busy come back later was the subtext.
Just about everyone on the station got it. Well, almost everyone, Toshido was clueless when he had something on his mind. A bomb could go off next to him and he'd be single minded about something or other. Sho the station's massive chief engineer didn't give a damn, if he had a problem that needed her attention he brought it to her as he was supposed to do.
She ran a hand through her short cropped hair as she got into the lift. "Command center," she ordered. She needed a trim, but not quite yet.
Alpha-G7-449351 was a star system on the outer edge of the Alpha sector, near the edge of Gamma. It was along the Orion spiral arm and well away from the known areas that other species tended to inhabit or pass through, just what the client had specified.
She had once been a naval officer before she'd seen the light and gotten out. She had gotten an education though, and her brief career allowed her some perks. That included respect from those who were currently in the navy or those who still looked up to such things.
Other than Sho she'd been in LGM's field station department the longest. Well, no, that wasn't quite true, she thought, reminding herself that Ranginui had them both beat.
Ranginui was a dumb A.I. originally created to manage the station. As more and more computers were brought on to handle the process of terraforming, the A.I. had grown with it.
Ranginui had named himself after the Maoiri patriarch of creation also known as the Sky Father. Rather appropriate given that he was in the core of the space station orbiting their current project.
The station was massive, a series of cylinders and spheres over a 3 kilometers long with a crew of 600 organics. The crew was there to maintain and occasionally service and refurbish the network of satellites orbiting the planet in a dense grid.
Over the years since Lagroose Industries had started terraforming exoworlds, LGM and her competitors had improved the process. Lagroose had gotten lucky with Pyrax and a few of their other conquests. LGM preferred to rely on steady careful work and hard science and engineering to get the job done.
Which was where Commander Glock's people came in. Chief Sho managed engineering for her. He oversaw not only the station's engineering spaces but every maintenance shop and shed as well as the overhaul of every satellite, shuttle, tug, and barge they had.
Her lips pursed as she arrived at her destination. The doors opened and she paused to make sure no one was going to barge in on her as what had happened last week before stepping out.
She missed Jenny her daughter. Her daughter was a teenager and a handful for her parents despite already being in college at the tender age of 15. It was one reason why she'd accepted the posting despite the ban on children.
It hurt, missing Jenny, but it was what it was. Jenny was where she needed to be, and keeping busy on the station was fine with her. Since many of the stationers were in stable relationships she didn't have to worry about the dating scene.
Even if her mother and sister tended to twitter her about the lack of prospective replacements for Ben. She had no intention of replacing Ben anytime soon, and certainly not with some absent minded egghead or tech.
She nodded to the personnel near the door as she strode onto the command deck. A quick survey told her everything was fine, not that she'd expected anything different. On the left of the main screen was the planet statistics. The right was a series of graphs from the various satellites in orbit. Telemetry feeds that hardly made sense to most organics since they were scrolling so fast.
The main holographic emitter normally had an image of the planet. At the moment it had an image of the plot with a zoomed in image of a familiar looking naval ship.
"Talk to me," she ordered.
"IFF confirms it is Perth ma'am," Ranginui stated flatly.
"Ah," she said with a nod, not that she'd expected much else. Sure they were on the butt end of nowhere but there could always be the unexpected visitor in the form of a tramp freighter, alien, or someone else.
Someone not as friendly to see for instance.
Visits from the Confederation navy's light cruiser Perth were supposed to ease the anxiety of the crew and her corporate backers. Captain Stuart was so punctual they could practically set their watch by his scheduled arrival time.
"We're getting the usual canned greeting," the A.I. reported.
"Understood. Send them our regards and the latest report on the planet."
"Yes ma'am," the A.I. replied. It had taken him a bit of processing time to understand that particular bit of humor between the organics. Captain Stuart's open message asking about when the mountains would be open to skiing had finally clued him in.
(^)#(^)
Captain Klaus Stuart was not on his bridge when he got the reply from the station. Quite the contrary, since the reply would most likely take hours to get to his ship on the outskirts of the star system he'd gone about his daily business.
He was unsurprised by the weather report on the planet. Aeyrn had taken to twittering him about that, their shared little joke. Based on the current readings though they were getting down there. If it wasn't just a trick of the weather and the temperatures was average it looked like the terraformers might stay on schedule.
Which was good for them. It would also mean his routine visits to the planet might get more interesting in a few more years when they moved on to the next phase, bioforming.
It was always nice to see a planet turned from a lifeless mudball or iceball into a habitable world ripe for colonists. He knew companies like LGM loved the work. They certainly profited enough from it.
LGM and their competitors had perfected the art of terraforming planets, dwarf planets, and even large moons. If it was big enough and anywhere near the goldilocks zone of a star system they could turn it into a new Eden.
As long as the client's checks cleared that was.
With the current set up they could terraform a world in 30 years or less. It turned out that having a manned crew plus plenty of A.I. and orbital support helped. Of course it was easier to terraform a world that was already partially to where they wanted it to be. And it always worked out for the best if the planet had a magnetosphere and near 1 G to work with.
The stationers managed the entire system of satellites and robots. Technically an A.I. like Ranginui did most of the heavy lifting, the organics were there to keep things running smoothly or to interpret the data and add their own intuitive processes into the mix.
Once LGM handed off the planet the station and most of the satellites would be pulled out by a series of large freighters. They'd be staged somewhere, most likely a central depot to be refurbished before being returned to service and transported to the next candidate world to start the entire process all over again.
About half of the science and observation satellites would remain in orbit to keep tabs on the planet as it underwent its final metamorphosis. He'd read that LGM had been burned when a planet had backslid after a team had thought it was fully 'cooked'.
He checked the status. They had another three days before they arrived in orbit and could check in more thoroughly with the stationers. He knew that Aeyrn was looking forward to the break in the otherwise boring and dull routine.
He sat back in his office chair. It was a bit thread bare, he had rigger tape on one arm rest but it fit him. Trying to get another or even parts for it was a pain in the ass.
Sure, engineering could and frequently did make some replacement parts with their 3D printers, CNC machines, and other equipment in the machine shops. But the basic stock had to be accounted for. In the current penny pinching red tape mood of the navy, he'd rather put up with the lumpy thing and annoying squeak rather then get drowned in paperwork.
Just like he'd more or less resigned his career to being a patrol cruiser captain. It beat sitting in an office somewhere, or drummed out onto the street with little prospect for a job commanding a vessel.
He glanced at the ship status board and then stretched. Andrea was planning a series of drills in the morning so he might as well catch some rest while he could before they began.
(^)#(^)
I finished The Gaia Project last week. I put the last minute touches on the cover and I'm off this week (more or less) for grads and parties.
I just sent Rea We the People and sent out a Beta blast for The Gaia Project.
FYI, the current schedule is centered around finishing the Founding time period this year. I've had complaints that I've got too many irons (series) in the fire and I need to cut back. So, we're going to knock out the Founding series and you'll see some more foundation work for the Ragnarok and Irons time. (and these books have more Easter Eggs!)
I've had another request for a print copy of my books. (and my family asked for 1 too when I mentioned it to them) The reason I don't print... okay, there are 3 reasons.
1: I have to format each book. Which costs $$$ per book. I don't trust the auto-formatting.
2: Amazon won't let me do a proof copy to make sure the bugs are out. (Some of you have seen that in my e-books) I don't want to be dinged because someone doesn't like a typo, or if something gets messed up in the print process. (like a missed highlight, or overrun, or whatever) They charge me for returns for that sort of stuff.
3: the profit margin is scary small. For my books (which are apparently big) something like Convoy would cost $15 for a paperback. I'd get $0.05 per copy in royalties, (yes, not kidding, 5 cents!) and lose money (I mean pay in) for over seas sales to the tune of $0.50 per copy in some countries, $1 in others.
So, no, not going to happen. I'd love to have a printed copy of each of my books (despite not having room in my library) but nope.
So, there you have it. When some of those factors change I'll reconsider it.
Anyway, here is the first snippet from We the People:
Chapter 1
April 4, 2284
Alpha-G7-449351 star system, Alpha sector
Station Commander Aeyrn Glock made her way through the station, nodding on occasion to those she passed but with a resolute face that forbade others to approach her. She had the expression of polite interest but I'm busy come back later was the subtext.
Just about everyone on the station got it. Well, almost everyone, Toshido was clueless when he had something on his mind. A bomb could go off next to him and he'd be single minded about something or other. Sho the station's massive chief engineer didn't give a damn, if he had a problem that needed her attention he brought it to her as he was supposed to do.
She ran a hand through her short cropped hair as she got into the lift. "Command center," she ordered. She needed a trim, but not quite yet.
Alpha-G7-449351 was a star system on the outer edge of the Alpha sector, near the edge of Gamma. It was along the Orion spiral arm and well away from the known areas that other species tended to inhabit or pass through, just what the client had specified.
She had once been a naval officer before she'd seen the light and gotten out. She had gotten an education though, and her brief career allowed her some perks. That included respect from those who were currently in the navy or those who still looked up to such things.
Other than Sho she'd been in LGM's field station department the longest. Well, no, that wasn't quite true, she thought, reminding herself that Ranginui had them both beat.
Ranginui was a dumb A.I. originally created to manage the station. As more and more computers were brought on to handle the process of terraforming, the A.I. had grown with it.
Ranginui had named himself after the Maoiri patriarch of creation also known as the Sky Father. Rather appropriate given that he was in the core of the space station orbiting their current project.
The station was massive, a series of cylinders and spheres over a 3 kilometers long with a crew of 600 organics. The crew was there to maintain and occasionally service and refurbish the network of satellites orbiting the planet in a dense grid.
Over the years since Lagroose Industries had started terraforming exoworlds, LGM and her competitors had improved the process. Lagroose had gotten lucky with Pyrax and a few of their other conquests. LGM preferred to rely on steady careful work and hard science and engineering to get the job done.
Which was where Commander Glock's people came in. Chief Sho managed engineering for her. He oversaw not only the station's engineering spaces but every maintenance shop and shed as well as the overhaul of every satellite, shuttle, tug, and barge they had.
Her lips pursed as she arrived at her destination. The doors opened and she paused to make sure no one was going to barge in on her as what had happened last week before stepping out.
She missed Jenny her daughter. Her daughter was a teenager and a handful for her parents despite already being in college at the tender age of 15. It was one reason why she'd accepted the posting despite the ban on children.
It hurt, missing Jenny, but it was what it was. Jenny was where she needed to be, and keeping busy on the station was fine with her. Since many of the stationers were in stable relationships she didn't have to worry about the dating scene.
Even if her mother and sister tended to twitter her about the lack of prospective replacements for Ben. She had no intention of replacing Ben anytime soon, and certainly not with some absent minded egghead or tech.
She nodded to the personnel near the door as she strode onto the command deck. A quick survey told her everything was fine, not that she'd expected anything different. On the left of the main screen was the planet statistics. The right was a series of graphs from the various satellites in orbit. Telemetry feeds that hardly made sense to most organics since they were scrolling so fast.
The main holographic emitter normally had an image of the planet. At the moment it had an image of the plot with a zoomed in image of a familiar looking naval ship.
"Talk to me," she ordered.
"IFF confirms it is Perth ma'am," Ranginui stated flatly.
"Ah," she said with a nod, not that she'd expected much else. Sure they were on the butt end of nowhere but there could always be the unexpected visitor in the form of a tramp freighter, alien, or someone else.
Someone not as friendly to see for instance.
Visits from the Confederation navy's light cruiser Perth were supposed to ease the anxiety of the crew and her corporate backers. Captain Stuart was so punctual they could practically set their watch by his scheduled arrival time.
"We're getting the usual canned greeting," the A.I. reported.
"Understood. Send them our regards and the latest report on the planet."
"Yes ma'am," the A.I. replied. It had taken him a bit of processing time to understand that particular bit of humor between the organics. Captain Stuart's open message asking about when the mountains would be open to skiing had finally clued him in.
(^)#(^)
Captain Klaus Stuart was not on his bridge when he got the reply from the station. Quite the contrary, since the reply would most likely take hours to get to his ship on the outskirts of the star system he'd gone about his daily business.
He was unsurprised by the weather report on the planet. Aeyrn had taken to twittering him about that, their shared little joke. Based on the current readings though they were getting down there. If it wasn't just a trick of the weather and the temperatures was average it looked like the terraformers might stay on schedule.
Which was good for them. It would also mean his routine visits to the planet might get more interesting in a few more years when they moved on to the next phase, bioforming.
It was always nice to see a planet turned from a lifeless mudball or iceball into a habitable world ripe for colonists. He knew companies like LGM loved the work. They certainly profited enough from it.
LGM and their competitors had perfected the art of terraforming planets, dwarf planets, and even large moons. If it was big enough and anywhere near the goldilocks zone of a star system they could turn it into a new Eden.
As long as the client's checks cleared that was.
With the current set up they could terraform a world in 30 years or less. It turned out that having a manned crew plus plenty of A.I. and orbital support helped. Of course it was easier to terraform a world that was already partially to where they wanted it to be. And it always worked out for the best if the planet had a magnetosphere and near 1 G to work with.
The stationers managed the entire system of satellites and robots. Technically an A.I. like Ranginui did most of the heavy lifting, the organics were there to keep things running smoothly or to interpret the data and add their own intuitive processes into the mix.
Once LGM handed off the planet the station and most of the satellites would be pulled out by a series of large freighters. They'd be staged somewhere, most likely a central depot to be refurbished before being returned to service and transported to the next candidate world to start the entire process all over again.
About half of the science and observation satellites would remain in orbit to keep tabs on the planet as it underwent its final metamorphosis. He'd read that LGM had been burned when a planet had backslid after a team had thought it was fully 'cooked'.
He checked the status. They had another three days before they arrived in orbit and could check in more thoroughly with the stationers. He knew that Aeyrn was looking forward to the break in the otherwise boring and dull routine.
He sat back in his office chair. It was a bit thread bare, he had rigger tape on one arm rest but it fit him. Trying to get another or even parts for it was a pain in the ass.
Sure, engineering could and frequently did make some replacement parts with their 3D printers, CNC machines, and other equipment in the machine shops. But the basic stock had to be accounted for. In the current penny pinching red tape mood of the navy, he'd rather put up with the lumpy thing and annoying squeak rather then get drowned in paperwork.
Just like he'd more or less resigned his career to being a patrol cruiser captain. It beat sitting in an office somewhere, or drummed out onto the street with little prospect for a job commanding a vessel.
He glanced at the ship status board and then stretched. Andrea was planning a series of drills in the morning so he might as well catch some rest while he could before they began.
(^)#(^)
May 26, 2019
We the People Cover
First up, Sitrep:
Yes that is me in the Astromech.net forums. Nuff said there for the moment. :)
In other news, I am working on The Gaia Project. I am down to the last 7 chapters after finishing 8 today. I'm a bit button punchy and I've been fighting a headache all day.
Okay, let me back up. The next book is We the People. It is a Founding of the Federation book. I had intended to write a short story with it, The Gaia Project. It was supposed to be tucked away in the last Founding stories book at the end of this year. One thing led to another and it sorta grew into a short novel.
Novella? Not sure.
Anyway, I decided I want to knock out the Founding series this year, much to some of the Beta's dismay. (hence the poll in the FB group) There have been complaints about the number of series I have running. I decided to knock this one out before opening up the Ragnarok (aka Gottenberg/ Xeno War) trilogy. (Is it a trilogy if there are 2-3 short story books too?)
Anyway, I'm on track to finish The Gaia Project. Not bad since I started it 3 weeks ago.
Oh, We the People:
The last 2 Betas should be getting me their take on the book soon. Hopefully early this week. We shall see. It is... well, I'll get into that later. (Headache is getting worse)
Here is the cover:
You may have noticed I did my own spin on a famous painting of the American Constitutional Convention/signing. I had fun with all the different aliens. Some are placeholders, some you might recognize. Some still need a bit of improvement.
Have fun figuring them all out. Maybe one of the Betas should open up a contest on the FB group? :)
Anyway, I'll start posting snippets as soon as I finish with The Gaia Project.
Happy Memorial Day everyone!
Yes that is me in the Astromech.net forums. Nuff said there for the moment. :)
In other news, I am working on The Gaia Project. I am down to the last 7 chapters after finishing 8 today. I'm a bit button punchy and I've been fighting a headache all day.
Okay, let me back up. The next book is We the People. It is a Founding of the Federation book. I had intended to write a short story with it, The Gaia Project. It was supposed to be tucked away in the last Founding stories book at the end of this year. One thing led to another and it sorta grew into a short novel.
Novella? Not sure.
Anyway, I decided I want to knock out the Founding series this year, much to some of the Beta's dismay. (hence the poll in the FB group) There have been complaints about the number of series I have running. I decided to knock this one out before opening up the Ragnarok (aka Gottenberg/ Xeno War) trilogy. (Is it a trilogy if there are 2-3 short story books too?)
Anyway, I'm on track to finish The Gaia Project. Not bad since I started it 3 weeks ago.
Oh, We the People:
The last 2 Betas should be getting me their take on the book soon. Hopefully early this week. We shall see. It is... well, I'll get into that later. (Headache is getting worse)
Here is the cover:
You may have noticed I did my own spin on a famous painting of the American Constitutional Convention/signing. I had fun with all the different aliens. Some are placeholders, some you might recognize. Some still need a bit of improvement.Have fun figuring them all out. Maybe one of the Betas should open up a contest on the FB group? :)
Anyway, I'll start posting snippets as soon as I finish with The Gaia Project.
Happy Memorial Day everyone!
May 2, 2019
Blockade is publishing now!
Sitrep:
I finished the rough draft of the cover to We the People yesterday and sent it off to Wayne. I'm going to pitch it to the other Betas later today. (If I remember!)
Also, I received the manuscripts back from Goodlifeguide.com after a bit of a mix-up yesterday afternoon. I decided to publish this morning. :)
Since Fleet Admiral Irons woke from stasis he has been focused on rebuilding and restoring the Federation.
He has fought internal politics as well as assassins and strife within his own reborn navy. But above it all 1 force has stood in the way of restoring peace and civilization to the galaxy, the pirate empire of Horath.
For years the navy has fought a see-saw battle across multiple star systems. They have gotten the upperhand and have steadily pushed the pirates back to their home star system.
But, the pirates aren't willing to surrender tamely. They have thousands of ships and millions of tons of battle fortresses waiting in Horath, all set to turn it into a cauldron of death and destruction.
Admiral Irons only recourse is a...
Blockade
As usual I will post the links to Amazon and B&N when they go live.
EDIT:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RDY8ZNG
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1131455446?ean=2940161238240
Be ready for a roller coaster ride! :D
That is all... for now!
I finished the rough draft of the cover to We the People yesterday and sent it off to Wayne. I'm going to pitch it to the other Betas later today. (If I remember!)
Also, I received the manuscripts back from Goodlifeguide.com after a bit of a mix-up yesterday afternoon. I decided to publish this morning. :)
Since Fleet Admiral Irons woke from stasis he has been focused on rebuilding and restoring the Federation.
He has fought internal politics as well as assassins and strife within his own reborn navy. But above it all 1 force has stood in the way of restoring peace and civilization to the galaxy, the pirate empire of Horath.
For years the navy has fought a see-saw battle across multiple star systems. They have gotten the upperhand and have steadily pushed the pirates back to their home star system.
But, the pirates aren't willing to surrender tamely. They have thousands of ships and millions of tons of battle fortresses waiting in Horath, all set to turn it into a cauldron of death and destruction.
Admiral Irons only recourse is a...
Blockade
As usual I will post the links to Amazon and B&N when they go live.
EDIT:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RDY8ZNG
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1131455446?ean=2940161238240
Be ready for a roller coaster ride! :D
That is all... for now!
Chris Hechtl's Blog
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