Chris Hechtl's Blog, page 42
July 10, 2016
EE Snippet 2
DKH: Ask and you shall receive... sometimes!
... Oops! I almost posted a snippet from J5! My bad. Here you go. ;)
“How is Argus doing sir?” Commander Saul Garretaj asked as he met the Commodore at the airlock.Horatio stopped his forward progress for a moment then snorted. “Am I that predictable Commander?” he demanded, instinctively moving to one side to let others behind him pass by.Saul shrugged. “I know you like to finish your check of the yard with the ships about to launch. You usually end it with the one that is closest to launch. Ergo, Argus. It sort of puts a cap on it and ends on a high note.”“Making it a pleasant task in the end in other words?” Horatio asked with a smile. He wasn't ready to admit the tours weren't tedious to him. He enjoyed being in the slips. What he didn't enjoy was the transit time in between, or the spot inspections he was supposed to perform. Or the backlog of paperwork that inevitably piled up in his absence. “Sort of. I check each slip and spot check each module section randomly. Or mostly random,” Horatio admitted as he indicated they should proceed.Saul nodded thoughtfully. “Almost randomly sir?” he asked.“Well, I've learned to read between the lines. To also pay attention to the scuttlebutt and to check-in to potential trouble spots. Sometimes a spot check at the right time can cool heads and get people paying more attention to what they're doing,” he admitted.“And let you get eyes on problems so you can decide on the spot what to do about them sir?” Saul asked.“Something like that,” Horatio admitted. “What's up?”“Admiral Subert sent me along to check on you. Specifically to, and I quote, run him down, drag him kicking and screaming to get cleaned up, and then detail a Marine escort if necessary to get him to the party,” he said with a straight face.“You forgot the end quote there,” Horatio replied with a chuckle. “Okay, okay, I'll behave.”“You'd better. You know he likes all his people on deck for occasions like this. And I've got to get moving myself since I'm the one handling the organization and execution of it,” the Chief of Staff said, shaking his head.“You could have delegated,” the Commodore replied mildly.It was Saul's turn to snort. “As if. I know you sir. Anyone else wouldn't have the voltage to get the message through to you. You're probably dreaming up all sorts of ways to get out of this.”“Maybe,” Horatio said without admitting too much. “But I'm not like Admiral Irons. I can handle the occasional party. I even enjoy them if they are fun,” he said.“This isn't going to be fun. Its work, just in a stuffy uniform and keeping a straight face as you make dinner conversation with people more interested in talking to our Bekian guests and eating rubber chicken until you gag,” Saul said.“Lucky us,” Horatio replied with a grimace.“Yes. See you there?” the commander demanded. “I think he was serious about the Marine thing sir.”“With bells on. Tell Admiral Subert aye aye sir,” Horatio replied solemnly.Saul sized him up and then nodded curtly. “Good.” He cocked his head. “Sir.”“Dismissed Commander,” the Commodore said, motioning him to get moving. “I don't want you to miss your own party,” he teased.Saul gave him a wary look and then got out while the getting was good.Horatio inhaled and then exhaled heavily. Damn it, now he was committed he thought.~<><{<^>}><>~
... Oops! I almost posted a snippet from J5! My bad. Here you go. ;)
“How is Argus doing sir?” Commander Saul Garretaj asked as he met the Commodore at the airlock.Horatio stopped his forward progress for a moment then snorted. “Am I that predictable Commander?” he demanded, instinctively moving to one side to let others behind him pass by.Saul shrugged. “I know you like to finish your check of the yard with the ships about to launch. You usually end it with the one that is closest to launch. Ergo, Argus. It sort of puts a cap on it and ends on a high note.”“Making it a pleasant task in the end in other words?” Horatio asked with a smile. He wasn't ready to admit the tours weren't tedious to him. He enjoyed being in the slips. What he didn't enjoy was the transit time in between, or the spot inspections he was supposed to perform. Or the backlog of paperwork that inevitably piled up in his absence. “Sort of. I check each slip and spot check each module section randomly. Or mostly random,” Horatio admitted as he indicated they should proceed.Saul nodded thoughtfully. “Almost randomly sir?” he asked.“Well, I've learned to read between the lines. To also pay attention to the scuttlebutt and to check-in to potential trouble spots. Sometimes a spot check at the right time can cool heads and get people paying more attention to what they're doing,” he admitted.“And let you get eyes on problems so you can decide on the spot what to do about them sir?” Saul asked.“Something like that,” Horatio admitted. “What's up?”“Admiral Subert sent me along to check on you. Specifically to, and I quote, run him down, drag him kicking and screaming to get cleaned up, and then detail a Marine escort if necessary to get him to the party,” he said with a straight face.“You forgot the end quote there,” Horatio replied with a chuckle. “Okay, okay, I'll behave.”“You'd better. You know he likes all his people on deck for occasions like this. And I've got to get moving myself since I'm the one handling the organization and execution of it,” the Chief of Staff said, shaking his head.“You could have delegated,” the Commodore replied mildly.It was Saul's turn to snort. “As if. I know you sir. Anyone else wouldn't have the voltage to get the message through to you. You're probably dreaming up all sorts of ways to get out of this.”“Maybe,” Horatio said without admitting too much. “But I'm not like Admiral Irons. I can handle the occasional party. I even enjoy them if they are fun,” he said.“This isn't going to be fun. Its work, just in a stuffy uniform and keeping a straight face as you make dinner conversation with people more interested in talking to our Bekian guests and eating rubber chicken until you gag,” Saul said.“Lucky us,” Horatio replied with a grimace.“Yes. See you there?” the commander demanded. “I think he was serious about the Marine thing sir.”“With bells on. Tell Admiral Subert aye aye sir,” Horatio replied solemnly.Saul sized him up and then nodded curtly. “Good.” He cocked his head. “Sir.”“Dismissed Commander,” the Commodore said, motioning him to get moving. “I don't want you to miss your own party,” he teased.Saul gave him a wary look and then got out while the getting was good.Horatio inhaled and then exhaled heavily. Damn it, now he was committed he thought.~<><{<^>}><>~
July 5, 2016
Enemy of my Enemy cover and 1st look
Hi,
EE Sitrep: Phase 1 of the Betas is done, (mostly) and I've passed it on to phase 2. I want to get it to Rea next week (even though she will be on vacation) if I'm going to make sure it is published by the end of the month as planned. (fingers crossed)
Also, I've been poking at Jethro 5, despite all the parties going on. (I've had 3 over this holiday weekend, and 1-2 every weekend of June. I am BBQ'd and partied out but we've got 1 more to go this upcoming Sunday, and then 3 more in August. :P)
Anyway, I blocked out a few of the chapters and I've gotten 2/3rds of chapter 1 finished. So far it is 61 pages so it is going to be a big book. I'm skipping around a bit until I get my groove back.
On to the cover:
Yes it is another space station cover. :)
I modeled a few bits but drew 90% from my library of stuff. You might recognize a few of the components from the previous covers. The ships (all but 2) were modeled by Rj001 over at Renderosity. I retextured and tweeked them a bit.
The 2 ships I modeled are the Quantum of Space passenger liner and the Ilmarinen in the background.
And now, without further ado what you really want, snippet 1. This is a raw snippet:
Act I
Chapter 1
Commodore Horatio Logan admired his last stop before his departure from the capital ship line. He wasn't looking forward to getting back to his office and the mountains of paperwork waiting there... nor the scowling yeoman whose job was to keep him on task.He couldn't help but grin slightly like an errant boy playing hookey. Okay, maybe a few more minutes he thought as he looked over to Commander Hsu Tong. Tong was a good slip supervisor and construction manager. He had to be, otherwise he would have never risen through the ranks to his present position, Horatio thought.Just like the Commodore, the Commander liked to get his hands dirty. One of the things that endeared him to the Commodore. But he was also busy, and it seemed engaged with a thorny problem. As tempting as it was to sit in and listen or be helpful, Horatio restrained himself and instead did a bit of wool gathering and checking out the Navy's newest toy.His visits to the slips helped his morale. It made him feel like all the paperwork he was drowning in was worth the sacrifice of his true love, getting his hands dirty. He did his best to check on the progress of each ship at least once or twice a week, schedule permitting. Lately he'd lost more and more of his time to the evil yeoman so he'd been forced to settle into checking on those almost ready to launch. He'd felt a bit guilty, but he understood he couldn't be everywhere. Besides, when he did get into the ship block construction areas he invariably forgot all sense of time. Since he had an appointment he couldn't avoid, he had to at least try to pretend to try to keep his schedule in mind.He smiled briefly at the thought as his eyes covetously caressed the massive ship in front of him. Here and there he could still see work crews doing a spot of last minute work, but to his eyes she was worthy of the fresh smart paint robots were touching up... and the hull markings someone was working on programming into either side of the flanks just behind the bow as tradition dictated.The work on Argus, their first Fleet Carrier was finishing up he judged. On budget and on schedule. Slightly ahead he noted with a mental check. In a day or so she would leave her building slip for the last time and head over to the fitting slips. They only had a few pieces left in her grand blocks to connect and some trouble spots to run down. Teams of robots and suited figures could be seen working on all sides of her hull. Occasionally he could see the spark and flare of welds going on as the tacked together outer hull received its finished welds.As a Fleet Carrier, Argus would be the largest carrier in their inventory to date, surpassing even Spirit of America. Take that Vestri, Horatio thought with pride. Pyrax was turning into a carrier yard much to the amusement of people like himself... and the annoyance of the battle fleet types that populated the rest of the Navy.He didn't care, a ship was a ship. Every one of them was needed. It made sense to produce carriers considering the force mix they were up against. A carrier with the right compliment and armament could take down multiple ships well outside her class under the right circumstances. At the least they could push the sensor envelope of a fleet out... and do attritional damage to an enemy task force or fleet.Their sensor coverage and flexibility allowed them to fill a lot of roles. And one carrier task force could cover an entire star system if properly employed. The crew of Spirit of America could attest to that. Argus was massive, a 3 kilometer long, 700 meter wide, 400 meter tall blocky rectangle with odd shapes sticking out from her keel, dorsal, and flanks. 2 of the offset towers on her dorsal midships were her Flying Bridge and Primary Flight Ops. The one on her keel was her back up Prifly.She had multiple flight decks, 1 on each face to allow her compliment to come on and off quickly. The dorsal and keel decks were complimented by large flat stretches of hull to aid landing and launches. Long catapult tracks cut the deck like seams in the hull. The forward facing bays served as 2 of her 3 primary flight decks. The bow flight deck had clusters of sensors and grav emitters around it. She had 1 pass through flight deck in her flank; something considered a liability in her design by the ship architects since it had called for massive structural engineering to redirect forces around the open bay.There were also a lot of misgivings about the Broadway in the ships interior, and the large elevators and maintenance bays. Having massive locks to connect Broadway to each of the bays was an engineering hassle in a half. He'd already read a few memos about the hatches getting stuck by debris. He didn't envy the crew when it came time to keep them in working order. On either side of the midships bay opening her flanks were studded with hexagonal hatches for the small interceptors to launch on a moment's notice without having to go through the carrier's normal flight deck.Near her stern there were 6 nacelles with engine pods to allow her sublight propulsion. The 2 on the flanks were the largest, with double the number of pods as those on tucked in between on her dorsal and keel stern. Here and there he could see small point defense phaser turrets and sensor pods, along with half egg shaped grav pods. The defense turrets were a sop to the crew. They would serve as a last ditch effort to protect the ship from incoming fire but could only interdict some of it. Energy weapons were their Achilles' heel. Hopefully, the shields were pretty powerful with redundant systems he mused. And plenty of heat sinks, he thought, trying to wrestle the thought train aside with difficulty.A light carrier like Illustrious had a compliment of 120 craft. That was, if she didn't have to have guests on board. The compliment was usually mixed in squadrons, fighters, interceptors, bombers, and support craft, though a carrier's compliment could be tailored to a specific mission if necessary. He remembered reading carriers that had been outfitted with shuttles to evacuate people during the Xeno war. It had been an appalling wasted use of a warship since even with a compliment of sky whale shuttles they wouldn't have made much of a dent in a population. A straight carrier like Spirit of America had a compliment of 240 craft. An assault carrier, a heavily armored vessel they weren't building could handle 300 craft but was slow on the helm and the same size as a Fleet Carrier which Arguswas.Argus would have a balanced wing of 360 craft when she was fully loaded. Each squadron was made up of 8 to 12 craft. The general use fighters would hold the most slots since they were multi-role. Most likely there would be a dozen squadrons of GP craft. Call it 144 total. Then another 6 squadrons of interceptor craft for another 72. The same number of squadrons of bombers, and 8 squadrons of 8 support craft like tankers, Eyes craft, SAR shuttles, and lighters.If he remembered correctly each ship would carry about a dozen spare craft to fill in if a bird was down checked... a couple of those would be reserved for personal use by the CAG as well.At least for the time being the carrier community was keeping it simple, he thought. They weren't pushing for stealth fighters or other craft. Nor specialists like recon fighters, the eyes craft did that role much better than a fighter even if it wasn't as fast and had a much larger crew on board.Most likely somewhere at some time they'd fit in weapon drones of various sorts. At least he hoped so.He hadn't much experience with the carrier side of the fleet, so every exposure to them brought something new to his education. Like the various rooms in Prifly and the double bridge assemblies. One wasn't just a CIC with the other being a maneuvering bridge.Apparently, the ship ran as almost two independent entities, with the bridge crew and ship crew running the ship while the pilots and support staff running the space craft. They had to coordinate of course, but... he shook his head.There was something to be said about a man couldn't have two masters. And that there shouldn't be two captains on one ship he mused. But it wasn't his problem. Besides, it had worked for ages, so obviously they knew how to get along.It took an entire team to run a plane, not just the pilot. The pilot, sometimes a copilot and specialist or 2 depending on the class of the craft. Each plane had a plane captain, a noncom who was in charge of the craft's maintenance, loading, fuel, and care. Then there were specialists who stepped in to handle certain tasks like avionics repair, software, munitions, that sort of thing. Somewhere in all that the dumb A.I. had to fit in there he was sure.No wonder a carrier had a large compliment, even the CEV's had a lot of manpower tied up in them he thought. And no wonder why they ran through so much fuel, parts, and munitions. The extra personnel tied up into each bird explained why the CEV's were having so much fits with the extra compliment they had on board. And why they sucked the logistics down on any tender that came along side them. He envied their machine shops, now that he'd had a chance to look them over. He'd seen plenty in his day, but the capital ships he'd been on didn't have those! A plane could be torn down to the frame and rebuilt with them. He looked around the compartment with the robot remote as he waited. He felt a tug as another user tapped on it. He relinquished control and got back to the here and now.He wondered as he patiently waited for Commander Tong to finish up a conversation if the shipyard in Bek was producing carriers on the level of Americaand Argus. Hopefully,. Hopefully, the carriers would be the easiest to convert to starships too. Or, if they couldn't be converted, Hopefully, they'd serve as platforms to train the men and women who would serve on the starships to come he reminded himself.Horatio rode as a guest in a remote flying along the ship's flank, then when it turned into a bay he jumped from it to another bot as it went down Broadway. The remote stayed near the center of the massive passage. Like the flight II CEV's, both the floor and ceiling were being used to move traffic in an efficient manner, though it seemed odd to have the crew on the ceiling upside down to those on the floor. He shook his head and flipped his feed into another remote, but it went up to the dorsal deck so he pulled out of the feed and then back into an external remote once more.A carrier he knew was a projection of force, either used for offense or defense. The carrier itself was virtually defenseless, one of the reasons he'd always disdained flying on one. But he'd taken Junior's advice and pushed through with the Kittyhawk class and he was glad now that he had. The CEV's had come in handy and had proven themselves.But the war was getting serious and far more dangerous. The CEV's lacked the punch to handle a fleet engagement, hence the need for the larger carriers like Americaand Argus. They would need fleet trains and escorts to look after them he knew, but they were going to do a lot to shift the balance in the reborn Federation's favor. At least, he hoped so. The ships and crews had a lot to prove he mused.“Sorry about that sir,” Hsu said as he came over to the Commodore.“No problem. I was touring the ship remotely,” Horatio said as he unjacked. “Got it covered?”“I think so. I'll check-in an hour or so to be sure of course,” Hsu replied with a confident shrug.Horatio sized up his confidence and then nodded slowly. “It's always the fiddly bits that slow a project up. Getting the bugs out, the fine tuning... that sort of thing,” Horatio said, shaking his head.“Yes sir,” Hsu replied dutifully. He was the project manager in charge of the ship, the first of her class. He was writing the book on how to build the ship class. Fortunately he'd just come off work on the light carrier line and was organized enough to keep up with the demand despite the need for so many assistants, both organic and electronic. “I'd just as soon see the back side of her sir.”“And get started on the next project?” Horatio teased, shooting the Hsu an amused look.“Oh, we're already on our way with Righteous Swarm sir. We're going to need the slip in another day or so,” Hsu admitted. “I don't want to stall her if Argus runs into a problem here,” he said.Horatio nodded. Such things sometimes happened but it was a manager's job to keep it from happening as much as possible. Backups tended to stall an entire production line with negative consequences for all involved.“So much for shifting some of your people over to help finish Collective Destiny,” the Commodore teased. Collective Destiny was Argus's sister ship currently nearing completion in a neighboring building slip. Hsu shot him a horrified look. “What? Something I said?”“Sir, you know damn well C'll'n'kk doesn't play nice with others. Every time I let her borrow something, or in this case someone, she doesn't return them! I have to beg or steal it back!”Horatio chuckled. “I was planning on heading over there next if I've got the time. I'll tell her you said that,” he teased wickedly.“You would,” Hsu said in mock disgust as he shook a fist at his boss. “Frack, she'll be unbearable,” he said, shaking his head as he let his fist drop to his side. “And she's bad enough as it is.”“Yeah yeah,” Horatio said, waving such considerations off. “Something tells me she's not going to be too much of a pain in the ass. Didn't I hear through the grapevine that the two of you had some sort of bet going on?” he asked slyly. Betting between the slips was common these days he thought. There were 2 major shipyard slips in the Pyrax yard, and each was filled with a Fleet Carrier at the moment. Both groups had pulled out all the stops to get their ship out of the dock and into the hands of the fitting yard first.But they damn well knew they had to do it right or their crappy work would come back to haunt them. No cutting corners, no dangerous overlooked steps or loose ends. Get it right the first time or there would be hell to pay. Admiral Subert and Horatio had made certain they'd all known that. And they'd kept the inspection teams going to drive home the point.“Why do you ask sir?” Hsu asked cautiously.Horatio snorted. He noted there was no evasion in the question, just a stall tactic. Typical of Hsu. He liked to keep his tricks close to the vest. “Oh, just wondering what you promised your people if you won. Beyond bragging rights of course.”“As it happens,” Hsu swelled with mock dignity. “An open bar tap at O'shay's was on the line. I... might have let that slip to a supervisor or two. I don't know how it got around to the rank and file though,” he said virtuously.“Heavy and expensive with this crew... wow,” Horatio said, shaking his head. “High stakes indeed knowing some of the hollow legs here,” he said. Hsu grinned impishly. “She's going to regret not cracking the whip harder,” he said thoughtfully.“To be honest she did the best she could given the circumstances. I spotted her three days since we had that much of a lead on her.”“Generous of you,” Horatio said with a grin. “Since by that time your people had hit their stride and knew what they were doing and she was just starting out,” he said. “And I think she didn't poach as many people from you as she'd liked to have. You had a lot more experienced people, given they've all had a hand in building smaller carriers.”Hsu spread his hands in supplication. “Not my fault sir. She didn't get all green horns. We just have different ways of doing the same job I think.” He didn't want to admit that he'd almost let the bug talk him into doubling down with a barbeque. He'd been tempted, but a few hiccups had made him think twice. He was now glad he'd bowed out, even if she'd ribbed him a bit about it.Horatio snorted. “Well, don't be too surprised when she sends her spies around to figure out how many corners you are cutting so she can replicate it. And she'll want to double down,” he said.It was Hsu's turn to grin. His eyes twinkled. “She's welcome to try sir, but I know we'll still kick her ass. I've got a good crew.”“I see that,” Horatio said with a nod. He didn't have much long to wait before the Commander cleared his throat. “Um, sir, Argus will be ready to fly in two days right? I mean, at least go out on builders trials?” he asked plaintively. “I've got the timing down to the minute...” he paused when Horatio's chuckles interrupted him. “What? What's so funny sir?”“Nothing, nothing,” Horatio said, waving the other man off. “So, we're waiting on her shipment of fighters and other craft to fill out her compliment I understand. The powers that be are polling the fortresses and other ships for veteran pilots to fill in her upper ranks, but they are all starting with new ships.”Hsu grimaced. “That means they'll have to break them in,” he mused. After a moment of thinking that sort of problem over he shrugged. “Hell, not my problem.”“Well, it will be someone's. The shipment is arriving on the next scheduled convoy I believe. Which,” Horatio frowned as he checked his implants. “Should be jumping in by the end of this shift. So, we'll see them in three days. Just in time for her launch I think.”“A day or so after. She'll be in the fitting slip by then,” Hsu replied. “Not my problem,” he said with another smile.“Right. And neither is finding her crew. And her skipper. I'm still working on that,” Horatio admitted.“Wait, I thought that was BuPers problem?” Hsu asked.“It is. But I dabble,” Horatio admitted. He had settled on one candidate after thinking about the options. He'd settled on Junior Valdez for a variety of reasons. Getting it past BuPers shouldn't be a problem he thought. Selling it to both Junior and Subert though.... He decided Junior would be easier.“Meddling you mean,” Hsu snorted, bringing him back into the conversation again. “Be careful boss, they might want you over there,” he said, shaking a finger at Horatio.“Perish the thought,” Horatio retorted.“Anything about our Bek friends?” Hsu asked, clearly anxious.Horatio shrugged. “They are still being debriefed by the powers that be I believe. We'll see them eventually. I'll give them a tour.”“You would just to get out of doing paperwork,” Hsu replied in amusement. “You know most people have aides and such for niggling things like that boss,” he said.Horatio snorted. “Yeah, but as you said, I get to get out and look around,” he said as his implants pinged.“Last call for the shuttle. Gotta go. I guess I'll have to check on Collective Destiny and tattle on you some other time,” Horatio said. He shook hands with Hsu. “Damn good work here.”“Awe shucks,” Hsu said as they shook hands. “Stay safe sir.”“It's space. It's the navy,” Horatio replied.“Exactly my point,” Hsu said as Horatio departed.~<><{<^>}><>~
EE Sitrep: Phase 1 of the Betas is done, (mostly) and I've passed it on to phase 2. I want to get it to Rea next week (even though she will be on vacation) if I'm going to make sure it is published by the end of the month as planned. (fingers crossed)
Also, I've been poking at Jethro 5, despite all the parties going on. (I've had 3 over this holiday weekend, and 1-2 every weekend of June. I am BBQ'd and partied out but we've got 1 more to go this upcoming Sunday, and then 3 more in August. :P)
Anyway, I blocked out a few of the chapters and I've gotten 2/3rds of chapter 1 finished. So far it is 61 pages so it is going to be a big book. I'm skipping around a bit until I get my groove back.
On to the cover:
Yes it is another space station cover. :)
I modeled a few bits but drew 90% from my library of stuff. You might recognize a few of the components from the previous covers. The ships (all but 2) were modeled by Rj001 over at Renderosity. I retextured and tweeked them a bit.
The 2 ships I modeled are the Quantum of Space passenger liner and the Ilmarinen in the background.
And now, without further ado what you really want, snippet 1. This is a raw snippet:
Act I
Chapter 1
Commodore Horatio Logan admired his last stop before his departure from the capital ship line. He wasn't looking forward to getting back to his office and the mountains of paperwork waiting there... nor the scowling yeoman whose job was to keep him on task.He couldn't help but grin slightly like an errant boy playing hookey. Okay, maybe a few more minutes he thought as he looked over to Commander Hsu Tong. Tong was a good slip supervisor and construction manager. He had to be, otherwise he would have never risen through the ranks to his present position, Horatio thought.Just like the Commodore, the Commander liked to get his hands dirty. One of the things that endeared him to the Commodore. But he was also busy, and it seemed engaged with a thorny problem. As tempting as it was to sit in and listen or be helpful, Horatio restrained himself and instead did a bit of wool gathering and checking out the Navy's newest toy.His visits to the slips helped his morale. It made him feel like all the paperwork he was drowning in was worth the sacrifice of his true love, getting his hands dirty. He did his best to check on the progress of each ship at least once or twice a week, schedule permitting. Lately he'd lost more and more of his time to the evil yeoman so he'd been forced to settle into checking on those almost ready to launch. He'd felt a bit guilty, but he understood he couldn't be everywhere. Besides, when he did get into the ship block construction areas he invariably forgot all sense of time. Since he had an appointment he couldn't avoid, he had to at least try to pretend to try to keep his schedule in mind.He smiled briefly at the thought as his eyes covetously caressed the massive ship in front of him. Here and there he could still see work crews doing a spot of last minute work, but to his eyes she was worthy of the fresh smart paint robots were touching up... and the hull markings someone was working on programming into either side of the flanks just behind the bow as tradition dictated.The work on Argus, their first Fleet Carrier was finishing up he judged. On budget and on schedule. Slightly ahead he noted with a mental check. In a day or so she would leave her building slip for the last time and head over to the fitting slips. They only had a few pieces left in her grand blocks to connect and some trouble spots to run down. Teams of robots and suited figures could be seen working on all sides of her hull. Occasionally he could see the spark and flare of welds going on as the tacked together outer hull received its finished welds.As a Fleet Carrier, Argus would be the largest carrier in their inventory to date, surpassing even Spirit of America. Take that Vestri, Horatio thought with pride. Pyrax was turning into a carrier yard much to the amusement of people like himself... and the annoyance of the battle fleet types that populated the rest of the Navy.He didn't care, a ship was a ship. Every one of them was needed. It made sense to produce carriers considering the force mix they were up against. A carrier with the right compliment and armament could take down multiple ships well outside her class under the right circumstances. At the least they could push the sensor envelope of a fleet out... and do attritional damage to an enemy task force or fleet.Their sensor coverage and flexibility allowed them to fill a lot of roles. And one carrier task force could cover an entire star system if properly employed. The crew of Spirit of America could attest to that. Argus was massive, a 3 kilometer long, 700 meter wide, 400 meter tall blocky rectangle with odd shapes sticking out from her keel, dorsal, and flanks. 2 of the offset towers on her dorsal midships were her Flying Bridge and Primary Flight Ops. The one on her keel was her back up Prifly.She had multiple flight decks, 1 on each face to allow her compliment to come on and off quickly. The dorsal and keel decks were complimented by large flat stretches of hull to aid landing and launches. Long catapult tracks cut the deck like seams in the hull. The forward facing bays served as 2 of her 3 primary flight decks. The bow flight deck had clusters of sensors and grav emitters around it. She had 1 pass through flight deck in her flank; something considered a liability in her design by the ship architects since it had called for massive structural engineering to redirect forces around the open bay.There were also a lot of misgivings about the Broadway in the ships interior, and the large elevators and maintenance bays. Having massive locks to connect Broadway to each of the bays was an engineering hassle in a half. He'd already read a few memos about the hatches getting stuck by debris. He didn't envy the crew when it came time to keep them in working order. On either side of the midships bay opening her flanks were studded with hexagonal hatches for the small interceptors to launch on a moment's notice without having to go through the carrier's normal flight deck.Near her stern there were 6 nacelles with engine pods to allow her sublight propulsion. The 2 on the flanks were the largest, with double the number of pods as those on tucked in between on her dorsal and keel stern. Here and there he could see small point defense phaser turrets and sensor pods, along with half egg shaped grav pods. The defense turrets were a sop to the crew. They would serve as a last ditch effort to protect the ship from incoming fire but could only interdict some of it. Energy weapons were their Achilles' heel. Hopefully, the shields were pretty powerful with redundant systems he mused. And plenty of heat sinks, he thought, trying to wrestle the thought train aside with difficulty.A light carrier like Illustrious had a compliment of 120 craft. That was, if she didn't have to have guests on board. The compliment was usually mixed in squadrons, fighters, interceptors, bombers, and support craft, though a carrier's compliment could be tailored to a specific mission if necessary. He remembered reading carriers that had been outfitted with shuttles to evacuate people during the Xeno war. It had been an appalling wasted use of a warship since even with a compliment of sky whale shuttles they wouldn't have made much of a dent in a population. A straight carrier like Spirit of America had a compliment of 240 craft. An assault carrier, a heavily armored vessel they weren't building could handle 300 craft but was slow on the helm and the same size as a Fleet Carrier which Arguswas.Argus would have a balanced wing of 360 craft when she was fully loaded. Each squadron was made up of 8 to 12 craft. The general use fighters would hold the most slots since they were multi-role. Most likely there would be a dozen squadrons of GP craft. Call it 144 total. Then another 6 squadrons of interceptor craft for another 72. The same number of squadrons of bombers, and 8 squadrons of 8 support craft like tankers, Eyes craft, SAR shuttles, and lighters.If he remembered correctly each ship would carry about a dozen spare craft to fill in if a bird was down checked... a couple of those would be reserved for personal use by the CAG as well.At least for the time being the carrier community was keeping it simple, he thought. They weren't pushing for stealth fighters or other craft. Nor specialists like recon fighters, the eyes craft did that role much better than a fighter even if it wasn't as fast and had a much larger crew on board.Most likely somewhere at some time they'd fit in weapon drones of various sorts. At least he hoped so.He hadn't much experience with the carrier side of the fleet, so every exposure to them brought something new to his education. Like the various rooms in Prifly and the double bridge assemblies. One wasn't just a CIC with the other being a maneuvering bridge.Apparently, the ship ran as almost two independent entities, with the bridge crew and ship crew running the ship while the pilots and support staff running the space craft. They had to coordinate of course, but... he shook his head.There was something to be said about a man couldn't have two masters. And that there shouldn't be two captains on one ship he mused. But it wasn't his problem. Besides, it had worked for ages, so obviously they knew how to get along.It took an entire team to run a plane, not just the pilot. The pilot, sometimes a copilot and specialist or 2 depending on the class of the craft. Each plane had a plane captain, a noncom who was in charge of the craft's maintenance, loading, fuel, and care. Then there were specialists who stepped in to handle certain tasks like avionics repair, software, munitions, that sort of thing. Somewhere in all that the dumb A.I. had to fit in there he was sure.No wonder a carrier had a large compliment, even the CEV's had a lot of manpower tied up in them he thought. And no wonder why they ran through so much fuel, parts, and munitions. The extra personnel tied up into each bird explained why the CEV's were having so much fits with the extra compliment they had on board. And why they sucked the logistics down on any tender that came along side them. He envied their machine shops, now that he'd had a chance to look them over. He'd seen plenty in his day, but the capital ships he'd been on didn't have those! A plane could be torn down to the frame and rebuilt with them. He looked around the compartment with the robot remote as he waited. He felt a tug as another user tapped on it. He relinquished control and got back to the here and now.He wondered as he patiently waited for Commander Tong to finish up a conversation if the shipyard in Bek was producing carriers on the level of Americaand Argus. Hopefully,. Hopefully, the carriers would be the easiest to convert to starships too. Or, if they couldn't be converted, Hopefully, they'd serve as platforms to train the men and women who would serve on the starships to come he reminded himself.Horatio rode as a guest in a remote flying along the ship's flank, then when it turned into a bay he jumped from it to another bot as it went down Broadway. The remote stayed near the center of the massive passage. Like the flight II CEV's, both the floor and ceiling were being used to move traffic in an efficient manner, though it seemed odd to have the crew on the ceiling upside down to those on the floor. He shook his head and flipped his feed into another remote, but it went up to the dorsal deck so he pulled out of the feed and then back into an external remote once more.A carrier he knew was a projection of force, either used for offense or defense. The carrier itself was virtually defenseless, one of the reasons he'd always disdained flying on one. But he'd taken Junior's advice and pushed through with the Kittyhawk class and he was glad now that he had. The CEV's had come in handy and had proven themselves.But the war was getting serious and far more dangerous. The CEV's lacked the punch to handle a fleet engagement, hence the need for the larger carriers like Americaand Argus. They would need fleet trains and escorts to look after them he knew, but they were going to do a lot to shift the balance in the reborn Federation's favor. At least, he hoped so. The ships and crews had a lot to prove he mused.“Sorry about that sir,” Hsu said as he came over to the Commodore.“No problem. I was touring the ship remotely,” Horatio said as he unjacked. “Got it covered?”“I think so. I'll check-in an hour or so to be sure of course,” Hsu replied with a confident shrug.Horatio sized up his confidence and then nodded slowly. “It's always the fiddly bits that slow a project up. Getting the bugs out, the fine tuning... that sort of thing,” Horatio said, shaking his head.“Yes sir,” Hsu replied dutifully. He was the project manager in charge of the ship, the first of her class. He was writing the book on how to build the ship class. Fortunately he'd just come off work on the light carrier line and was organized enough to keep up with the demand despite the need for so many assistants, both organic and electronic. “I'd just as soon see the back side of her sir.”“And get started on the next project?” Horatio teased, shooting the Hsu an amused look.“Oh, we're already on our way with Righteous Swarm sir. We're going to need the slip in another day or so,” Hsu admitted. “I don't want to stall her if Argus runs into a problem here,” he said.Horatio nodded. Such things sometimes happened but it was a manager's job to keep it from happening as much as possible. Backups tended to stall an entire production line with negative consequences for all involved.“So much for shifting some of your people over to help finish Collective Destiny,” the Commodore teased. Collective Destiny was Argus's sister ship currently nearing completion in a neighboring building slip. Hsu shot him a horrified look. “What? Something I said?”“Sir, you know damn well C'll'n'kk doesn't play nice with others. Every time I let her borrow something, or in this case someone, she doesn't return them! I have to beg or steal it back!”Horatio chuckled. “I was planning on heading over there next if I've got the time. I'll tell her you said that,” he teased wickedly.“You would,” Hsu said in mock disgust as he shook a fist at his boss. “Frack, she'll be unbearable,” he said, shaking his head as he let his fist drop to his side. “And she's bad enough as it is.”“Yeah yeah,” Horatio said, waving such considerations off. “Something tells me she's not going to be too much of a pain in the ass. Didn't I hear through the grapevine that the two of you had some sort of bet going on?” he asked slyly. Betting between the slips was common these days he thought. There were 2 major shipyard slips in the Pyrax yard, and each was filled with a Fleet Carrier at the moment. Both groups had pulled out all the stops to get their ship out of the dock and into the hands of the fitting yard first.But they damn well knew they had to do it right or their crappy work would come back to haunt them. No cutting corners, no dangerous overlooked steps or loose ends. Get it right the first time or there would be hell to pay. Admiral Subert and Horatio had made certain they'd all known that. And they'd kept the inspection teams going to drive home the point.“Why do you ask sir?” Hsu asked cautiously.Horatio snorted. He noted there was no evasion in the question, just a stall tactic. Typical of Hsu. He liked to keep his tricks close to the vest. “Oh, just wondering what you promised your people if you won. Beyond bragging rights of course.”“As it happens,” Hsu swelled with mock dignity. “An open bar tap at O'shay's was on the line. I... might have let that slip to a supervisor or two. I don't know how it got around to the rank and file though,” he said virtuously.“Heavy and expensive with this crew... wow,” Horatio said, shaking his head. “High stakes indeed knowing some of the hollow legs here,” he said. Hsu grinned impishly. “She's going to regret not cracking the whip harder,” he said thoughtfully.“To be honest she did the best she could given the circumstances. I spotted her three days since we had that much of a lead on her.”“Generous of you,” Horatio said with a grin. “Since by that time your people had hit their stride and knew what they were doing and she was just starting out,” he said. “And I think she didn't poach as many people from you as she'd liked to have. You had a lot more experienced people, given they've all had a hand in building smaller carriers.”Hsu spread his hands in supplication. “Not my fault sir. She didn't get all green horns. We just have different ways of doing the same job I think.” He didn't want to admit that he'd almost let the bug talk him into doubling down with a barbeque. He'd been tempted, but a few hiccups had made him think twice. He was now glad he'd bowed out, even if she'd ribbed him a bit about it.Horatio snorted. “Well, don't be too surprised when she sends her spies around to figure out how many corners you are cutting so she can replicate it. And she'll want to double down,” he said.It was Hsu's turn to grin. His eyes twinkled. “She's welcome to try sir, but I know we'll still kick her ass. I've got a good crew.”“I see that,” Horatio said with a nod. He didn't have much long to wait before the Commander cleared his throat. “Um, sir, Argus will be ready to fly in two days right? I mean, at least go out on builders trials?” he asked plaintively. “I've got the timing down to the minute...” he paused when Horatio's chuckles interrupted him. “What? What's so funny sir?”“Nothing, nothing,” Horatio said, waving the other man off. “So, we're waiting on her shipment of fighters and other craft to fill out her compliment I understand. The powers that be are polling the fortresses and other ships for veteran pilots to fill in her upper ranks, but they are all starting with new ships.”Hsu grimaced. “That means they'll have to break them in,” he mused. After a moment of thinking that sort of problem over he shrugged. “Hell, not my problem.”“Well, it will be someone's. The shipment is arriving on the next scheduled convoy I believe. Which,” Horatio frowned as he checked his implants. “Should be jumping in by the end of this shift. So, we'll see them in three days. Just in time for her launch I think.”“A day or so after. She'll be in the fitting slip by then,” Hsu replied. “Not my problem,” he said with another smile.“Right. And neither is finding her crew. And her skipper. I'm still working on that,” Horatio admitted.“Wait, I thought that was BuPers problem?” Hsu asked.“It is. But I dabble,” Horatio admitted. He had settled on one candidate after thinking about the options. He'd settled on Junior Valdez for a variety of reasons. Getting it past BuPers shouldn't be a problem he thought. Selling it to both Junior and Subert though.... He decided Junior would be easier.“Meddling you mean,” Hsu snorted, bringing him back into the conversation again. “Be careful boss, they might want you over there,” he said, shaking a finger at Horatio.“Perish the thought,” Horatio retorted.“Anything about our Bek friends?” Hsu asked, clearly anxious.Horatio shrugged. “They are still being debriefed by the powers that be I believe. We'll see them eventually. I'll give them a tour.”“You would just to get out of doing paperwork,” Hsu replied in amusement. “You know most people have aides and such for niggling things like that boss,” he said.Horatio snorted. “Yeah, but as you said, I get to get out and look around,” he said as his implants pinged.“Last call for the shuttle. Gotta go. I guess I'll have to check on Collective Destiny and tattle on you some other time,” Horatio said. He shook hands with Hsu. “Damn good work here.”“Awe shucks,” Hsu said as they shook hands. “Stay safe sir.”“It's space. It's the navy,” Horatio replied.“Exactly my point,” Hsu said as Horatio departed.~<><{<^>}><>~
June 16, 2016
EE Sitrep
Okay, I finished the rough draft of Enemy of my Enemy yesterday. 520 pages. I added 2 pages of notes today, did a few minor tweaks, then combined it with Wayne's act I version and 28 pages disappeared from the page count. I have no clue where they went. I ran a comparison of the old version and the new and nothing jumped out at me as crossed out.
I'm still scratching my head over that one. But, I plowed ahead and went and spell checked the last 2 acts again.
Anyway, I sent it to the first 4 betas 2 minutes ago. Maybe they can see what I'm missing. I'm a bit bleary eyed and hungry. I am hoping once everyone gets a look I'll be able to send it to Rea before she goes off on her vacation next month. Fingers crossed I can publish it next month!
That is all... for the moment! ;)
I'm still scratching my head over that one. But, I plowed ahead and went and spell checked the last 2 acts again.
Anyway, I sent it to the first 4 betas 2 minutes ago. Maybe they can see what I'm missing. I'm a bit bleary eyed and hungry. I am hoping once everyone gets a look I'll be able to send it to Rea before she goes off on her vacation next month. Fingers crossed I can publish it next month!
That is all... for the moment! ;)
May 10, 2016
Retribution live TODAY May 14!
A funny thing happened when I went to check my email last night...
Wait, let's back this story up a bit. Okay, see, I've seen the pre-order thing for a bit, and a couple people came to me and said, "Hey, why don't you try it?" I wasn't keen about it since I'd be locked into a release date. If something went wrong I didn't want to get bit in the caboose. But after I sent it to Goodlifeguide I decided to give it a shot.
And that was when the headache began. See, when I uploaded it, you have to choose a date 10 days after the final submission deadline for release. Um... no, that doesn't sound right. Okay, let me try to explain it again. Goodlifeguide said they were backed up and would get the book to me by May 19. I said okay so I had to set the final release date for 10 days after to accommodate that. (it's an Amazon thing)
I was going to add the pre-order link to the blog (I hear it is on the fan group already) today. But low and behold last night (okay caught up to the story) I found Goodlifeguide had finished the reformatting early and sent it back to me last night.
So, I went to upload it this morning, did so... and found out Amazon won't let me release it until May 14th! GRRR! Argth!!! (wringing hands) So, I dunno if I'll be trying this experiment again. I'll hold off on uploading the manuscript to Nook until Friday afternoon.
About:
The Xeno War devastated the Milky Way galaxy over 7 centuries ago. Worlds and entire star systems were gutted in this galactic war. A dark age descended upon the remaining hold out worlds.
But civilization is slowly returning to the Rho sector of the galaxy, and with it a renewal of hope and prosperity once more. Fleet Admiral John Henry Irons has done his best to sow the seeds of civilization, now he is busy as acting President tending to those seedlings as they sprout and begin to grow. With him is a dedicated group of individuals, some from his time before the Xeno War. Rear Admiral Subert has taken his place in Pyrax to oversee things there while Rear Admiral White wields their offensive fleet in the hopes of pushing back the barbarians. Admiral White has had a few successes and a few setbacks, but his small force has not only held its own, it has grown with each reinforcement into a powerful weapon.
Indignant and enraged by their setbacks and losses, the Horathian pirate Empire has finally marshaled its forces. As the Federation clings to life and renewed purpose, a pirate juggernaut is bearing down on it to crush it under its boot once and for all, and with it, any hope of civilization's renewal.
One way or another, Retribution awaits!
Here it is on Amazon for Pre-orderEDIT:
Here it is on Amazon:
Here it is on B&N:
I haven't put it up on Smashwords since the older books need to be edited and reformatted.
When it goes live I will update this post with the links to each store. I don't know at this point if I will upload it to Smashwords or not. I've been holding off on putting my entire inventory there since the first 7 books have not been professionally edited or reformatted. (and that costs $$$$$)
Anyway...
In other news, I'm up to 180 pages of Enemy of my Enemy. (Horatio Logan's Adventures 1) I am almost done chapter 6. (I skip around a lot) I shot myself in the foot a couple of times though so it took all day yesterday to clean up 1 mistake. Hopefully I got it all. (That's not related to when I rolled over my pinky toe with the shopping cart April 30th and messed it up. It stopped bleeding and the X-rays said it wasn't broken or dislocated. All better now.)
Oh, I still haven't tried Space Engineers. (Sorry Jory!) I did try Mario Maker and I did watch Jurassic World. lol I still haven't seen The Force Awakens and some of the other movies I've got in my collection... including Deadpool which is coming today.
And I did some character fan art for Pete Abram's Sluggyfreelance. I posted 1 image on my deviantart page. Eventually I'll do an entire strip or 2. If he likes it maybe he'll post it as filler when he needs a break. :)
EDIT: I ran into a screwy problem while writing yesterday. (May 13) I finished a 2 scenes in chapter 12 and went to save and the curser started to jump all over the manuscript and randomly deleted sentences and paragraphs. I freaked and got out without saving. I went back in and all my work was gone, 2+ pages. I'm frustrated and annoyed so I'm holding off on going back in. I dunno if the button got stuck or what? GRR.
That is all!
Wait, let's back this story up a bit. Okay, see, I've seen the pre-order thing for a bit, and a couple people came to me and said, "Hey, why don't you try it?" I wasn't keen about it since I'd be locked into a release date. If something went wrong I didn't want to get bit in the caboose. But after I sent it to Goodlifeguide I decided to give it a shot.
And that was when the headache began. See, when I uploaded it, you have to choose a date 10 days after the final submission deadline for release. Um... no, that doesn't sound right. Okay, let me try to explain it again. Goodlifeguide said they were backed up and would get the book to me by May 19. I said okay so I had to set the final release date for 10 days after to accommodate that. (it's an Amazon thing)
I was going to add the pre-order link to the blog (I hear it is on the fan group already) today. But low and behold last night (okay caught up to the story) I found Goodlifeguide had finished the reformatting early and sent it back to me last night.
So, I went to upload it this morning, did so... and found out Amazon won't let me release it until May 14th! GRRR! Argth!!! (wringing hands) So, I dunno if I'll be trying this experiment again. I'll hold off on uploading the manuscript to Nook until Friday afternoon.
About:
The Xeno War devastated the Milky Way galaxy over 7 centuries ago. Worlds and entire star systems were gutted in this galactic war. A dark age descended upon the remaining hold out worlds.
But civilization is slowly returning to the Rho sector of the galaxy, and with it a renewal of hope and prosperity once more. Fleet Admiral John Henry Irons has done his best to sow the seeds of civilization, now he is busy as acting President tending to those seedlings as they sprout and begin to grow. With him is a dedicated group of individuals, some from his time before the Xeno War. Rear Admiral Subert has taken his place in Pyrax to oversee things there while Rear Admiral White wields their offensive fleet in the hopes of pushing back the barbarians. Admiral White has had a few successes and a few setbacks, but his small force has not only held its own, it has grown with each reinforcement into a powerful weapon.
Indignant and enraged by their setbacks and losses, the Horathian pirate Empire has finally marshaled its forces. As the Federation clings to life and renewed purpose, a pirate juggernaut is bearing down on it to crush it under its boot once and for all, and with it, any hope of civilization's renewal.
One way or another, Retribution awaits!
Here it is on Amazon for Pre-orderEDIT:
Here it is on Amazon:
Here it is on B&N:
I haven't put it up on Smashwords since the older books need to be edited and reformatted.
When it goes live I will update this post with the links to each store. I don't know at this point if I will upload it to Smashwords or not. I've been holding off on putting my entire inventory there since the first 7 books have not been professionally edited or reformatted. (and that costs $$$$$)
Anyway...
In other news, I'm up to 180 pages of Enemy of my Enemy. (Horatio Logan's Adventures 1) I am almost done chapter 6. (I skip around a lot) I shot myself in the foot a couple of times though so it took all day yesterday to clean up 1 mistake. Hopefully I got it all. (That's not related to when I rolled over my pinky toe with the shopping cart April 30th and messed it up. It stopped bleeding and the X-rays said it wasn't broken or dislocated. All better now.)
Oh, I still haven't tried Space Engineers. (Sorry Jory!) I did try Mario Maker and I did watch Jurassic World. lol I still haven't seen The Force Awakens and some of the other movies I've got in my collection... including Deadpool which is coming today.
And I did some character fan art for Pete Abram's Sluggyfreelance. I posted 1 image on my deviantart page. Eventually I'll do an entire strip or 2. If he likes it maybe he'll post it as filler when he needs a break. :)
EDIT: I ran into a screwy problem while writing yesterday. (May 13) I finished a 2 scenes in chapter 12 and went to save and the curser started to jump all over the manuscript and randomly deleted sentences and paragraphs. I freaked and got out without saving. I went back in and all my work was gone, 2+ pages. I'm frustrated and annoyed so I'm holding off on going back in. I dunno if the button got stuck or what? GRR.
That is all!
Retribution live May 14!
A funny thing happened when I went to check my email last night...
Wait, let's back this story up a bit. Okay, see, I've seen the pre-order thing for a bit, and a couple people came to me and said, "Hey, why don't you try it?" I wasn't keen about it since I'd be locked into a release date. If something went wrong I didn't want to get bit in the caboose. But after I sent it to Goodlifeguide I decided to give it a shot.
And that was when the headache began. See, when I uploaded it, you have to choose a date 10 days after the final submission deadline for release. Um... no, that doesn't sound right. Okay, let me try to explain it again. Goodlifeguide said they were backed up and would get the book to me by May 19. I said okay so I had to set the final release date for 10 days after to accommodate that. (it's an Amazon thing)
I was going to add the pre-order link to the blog (I hear it is on the fan group already) today. But low and behold last night (okay caught up to the story) I found Goodlifeguide had finished the reformatting early and sent it back to me last night.
So, I went to upload it this morning, did so... and found out Amazon won't let me release it until May 14th! GRRR! Argth!!! (wringing hands) So, I dunno if I'll be trying this experiment again. I'll hold off on uploading the manuscript to Nook until Friday afternoon.
About:
The Xeno War devastated the Milky Way galaxy over 7 centuries ago. Worlds and entire star systems were gutted in this galactic war. A dark age descended upon the remaining hold out worlds.
But civilization is slowly returning to the Rho sector of the galaxy, and with it a renewal of hope and prosperity once more. Fleet Admiral John Henry Irons has done his best to sow the seeds of civilization, now he is busy as acting President tending to those seedlings as they sprout and begin to grow. With him is a dedicated group of individuals, some from his time before the Xeno War. Rear Admiral Subert has taken his place in Pyrax to oversee things there while Rear Admiral White wields their offensive fleet in the hopes of pushing back the barbarians. Admiral White has had a few successes and a few setbacks, but his small force has not only held its own, it has grown with each reinforcement into a powerful weapon.
Indignant and enraged by their setbacks and losses, the Horathian pirate Empire has finally marshaled its forces. As the Federation clings to life and renewed purpose, a pirate juggernaut is bearing down on it to crush it under its boot once and for all, and with it, any hope of civilization's renewal.
One way or another, Retribution awaits!
Here it is on Amazon for Pre-order
When it goes live I will update this post with the links to each store. I don't know at this point if I will upload it to Smashwords or not. I've been holding off on putting my entire inventory there since the first 7 books have not been professionally edited or reformatted. (and that costs $$$$$)
Anyway...
In other news, I'm up to 180 pages of Enemy of my Enemy. (Horatio Logan's Adventures 1) I am almost done chapter 6. (I skip around a lot) I shot myself in the foot a couple of times though so it took all day yesterday to clean up 1 mistake. Hopefully I got it all. (That's not related to when I rolled over my pinky toe with the shopping cart April 30th and messed it up. It stopped bleeding and the X-rays said it wasn't broken or dislocated. All better now.)
Oh, I still haven't tried Space Engineers. (Sorry Jory!) I did try Mario Maker and I did watch Jurassic World. lol I still haven't seen The Force Awakens and some of the other movies I've got in my collection... including Deadpool which is coming today.
And I did some character fan art for Pete Abram's Sluggyfreelance. I posted 1 image on my deviantart page. Eventually I'll do an entire strip or 2. If he likes it maybe he'll post it as filler when he needs a break. :)
That is all!
Wait, let's back this story up a bit. Okay, see, I've seen the pre-order thing for a bit, and a couple people came to me and said, "Hey, why don't you try it?" I wasn't keen about it since I'd be locked into a release date. If something went wrong I didn't want to get bit in the caboose. But after I sent it to Goodlifeguide I decided to give it a shot.
And that was when the headache began. See, when I uploaded it, you have to choose a date 10 days after the final submission deadline for release. Um... no, that doesn't sound right. Okay, let me try to explain it again. Goodlifeguide said they were backed up and would get the book to me by May 19. I said okay so I had to set the final release date for 10 days after to accommodate that. (it's an Amazon thing)
I was going to add the pre-order link to the blog (I hear it is on the fan group already) today. But low and behold last night (okay caught up to the story) I found Goodlifeguide had finished the reformatting early and sent it back to me last night.
So, I went to upload it this morning, did so... and found out Amazon won't let me release it until May 14th! GRRR! Argth!!! (wringing hands) So, I dunno if I'll be trying this experiment again. I'll hold off on uploading the manuscript to Nook until Friday afternoon.
About:
The Xeno War devastated the Milky Way galaxy over 7 centuries ago. Worlds and entire star systems were gutted in this galactic war. A dark age descended upon the remaining hold out worlds.
But civilization is slowly returning to the Rho sector of the galaxy, and with it a renewal of hope and prosperity once more. Fleet Admiral John Henry Irons has done his best to sow the seeds of civilization, now he is busy as acting President tending to those seedlings as they sprout and begin to grow. With him is a dedicated group of individuals, some from his time before the Xeno War. Rear Admiral Subert has taken his place in Pyrax to oversee things there while Rear Admiral White wields their offensive fleet in the hopes of pushing back the barbarians. Admiral White has had a few successes and a few setbacks, but his small force has not only held its own, it has grown with each reinforcement into a powerful weapon.
Indignant and enraged by their setbacks and losses, the Horathian pirate Empire has finally marshaled its forces. As the Federation clings to life and renewed purpose, a pirate juggernaut is bearing down on it to crush it under its boot once and for all, and with it, any hope of civilization's renewal.
One way or another, Retribution awaits!
Here it is on Amazon for Pre-order
When it goes live I will update this post with the links to each store. I don't know at this point if I will upload it to Smashwords or not. I've been holding off on putting my entire inventory there since the first 7 books have not been professionally edited or reformatted. (and that costs $$$$$)
Anyway...
In other news, I'm up to 180 pages of Enemy of my Enemy. (Horatio Logan's Adventures 1) I am almost done chapter 6. (I skip around a lot) I shot myself in the foot a couple of times though so it took all day yesterday to clean up 1 mistake. Hopefully I got it all. (That's not related to when I rolled over my pinky toe with the shopping cart April 30th and messed it up. It stopped bleeding and the X-rays said it wasn't broken or dislocated. All better now.)
Oh, I still haven't tried Space Engineers. (Sorry Jory!) I did try Mario Maker and I did watch Jurassic World. lol I still haven't seen The Force Awakens and some of the other movies I've got in my collection... including Deadpool which is coming today.
And I did some character fan art for Pete Abram's Sluggyfreelance. I posted 1 image on my deviantart page. Eventually I'll do an entire strip or 2. If he likes it maybe he'll post it as filler when he needs a break. :)
That is all!
May 5, 2016
Retribution snippet 3
Hi,
FYI: I made some retcons in Pirate Rage. So, you might notice them... once they get uploaded I mean. Minor bits here and there, and 1 thing probably everyone tripped over.
Also, as I mentioned in the comments, I just uploaded Retribution to Goodlifeguide.com. However they are backlogged, so I am not certain when I'll get it back.
On to the snippet! This is taking up in chapter 2 where the last snippet left off.
"Are they serious?" D'angelo demanded, eyes wide. "Who the hell do they think they are?""Are they ours?" Captain Bellerose demanded as she came onto the bridge. "You didn't respond, did you?"The pilot shook his head vehemently no. He knew better; she'd have his balls if he'd had. "No, ma'am. We've had an automated IFF challenge, but we ignored it per your orders. This is from another ship though. It's too far out for our sensors to see it though," he reported with a grimace."A trader?" the captain asked as she took her seat. She grimaced as she took a look at her side monitor and then the plot. D'angelo was right; they had crappy civilian grade sensors so damn myopic they were nearly useless in a situation like the one they were finding themselves in.She was a Horathian. Sure they were in a freighter, but her people were the hunters not the prey. Being interrogated set her on edge and her excess arrogance made her fume."No, ma'am," the rating replied carefully. He glanced at the others and then replayed the message. The captain frowned as she listened. The inflection meant it wasn't human. There was a slight buzz that meant it was Veraxin or T'clock. That didn't make sense. Nor did what they said. federation? As if! The ship though … "Descartes," she murmured thoughtfully. She wracked her brain but nothing came up. "I don't recognize the name. You ran the war book?" She turned to the pilot turned bridge rating."Yes, ma’am, but its fifteen years out of date." He shook his head."Size?""Based on what comm picked up, they are talking to someone else. That means two ships, ma'am. They are still on the outer edge of our sensor envelope. Based on their speed, they appear to be too small to be tramp freighters. And well, the order to heave to …," the rating shrugged and pointed helplessly to the plot. "I think they've plotted an intercept course, ma'am. They'll link up with us short of the planetary orbit," he said."Damn it," she muttered, shaking her head. "Horath …""Fresh challenge coming in, ma'am. They are … transmitting their authority? It says they are a pair of warships of the federation, ma'am," Oswald said, turning and looking at the captain with wide frightened eyes. "What the hell, ma'am?""Did we just fly into some sort of other dimension?" the captain muttered. "Someone figure out what the hell is going on. Is this a prank?""I've been monitoring transmissions from the planet, ma'am. There is chatter about the federation. I can filter for it," Oswald said. He nervously licked his lips, his Adam's apple bobbing in fear."Do so. Meanwhile, Angel, plot a course away from the planet and to the ET jump point.""Ma'am?""You heard me. No way in hell am I going to allow us to be tamely boarded, if they are ours or anyone else's. No, this is fishy.""Yes, ma'am." He frowned and pecked at his station for a few moments. When she cleared her throat, he realized he'd stalled long enough and looked up. "Course plotted.""Then execute it. Minimum burn, let's see if they react. How they react I mean," she said. He nodded and fed the course change to the helm.:::{)(}:::"They changed course. They are running to the ET jump point," R'll reported an hour later."You can run but you can't hide. No response?" Captain Levinson demanded."No, sir.""I know; I know you would have reported if there was one. Did they contact the planet?""No, sir. Not that we are aware. The geometry is off for us to pick up any signal traffic though.""Query the planet. Maybe they think we're pirates or something.""Aye aye, sir.""Meanwhile," the captain said as he tapped at the computer. The plot shifted. "Helm, come to course 331 mark 31 and increase speed to one-half impulse. Comm, signal Loch to follow suit and stay on our flank.""Issuing the order before the comm signal?" his XO and chief engineer asked from his repeater panel. "Something up, Skip?""I want to see if Troy's people are paying attention," the captain replied with a mild shrug. The XO snorted. "I'm headed to dinner. Keep me posted of any changes," the captain said as he exited the hot seat."Aye, sir. R'll has the bridge," the Veraxin said. By now the rating was used to being dumped in the watch. She was watch qualified as was everyone else on the ship. She was even considering mustanging to officer when they got back to civilization—if they got back. From the look of it, it wouldn't be anytime soon apparently.:::{)(}:::
FYI: I made some retcons in Pirate Rage. So, you might notice them... once they get uploaded I mean. Minor bits here and there, and 1 thing probably everyone tripped over.
Also, as I mentioned in the comments, I just uploaded Retribution to Goodlifeguide.com. However they are backlogged, so I am not certain when I'll get it back.
On to the snippet! This is taking up in chapter 2 where the last snippet left off.
"Are they serious?" D'angelo demanded, eyes wide. "Who the hell do they think they are?""Are they ours?" Captain Bellerose demanded as she came onto the bridge. "You didn't respond, did you?"The pilot shook his head vehemently no. He knew better; she'd have his balls if he'd had. "No, ma'am. We've had an automated IFF challenge, but we ignored it per your orders. This is from another ship though. It's too far out for our sensors to see it though," he reported with a grimace."A trader?" the captain asked as she took her seat. She grimaced as she took a look at her side monitor and then the plot. D'angelo was right; they had crappy civilian grade sensors so damn myopic they were nearly useless in a situation like the one they were finding themselves in.She was a Horathian. Sure they were in a freighter, but her people were the hunters not the prey. Being interrogated set her on edge and her excess arrogance made her fume."No, ma'am," the rating replied carefully. He glanced at the others and then replayed the message. The captain frowned as she listened. The inflection meant it wasn't human. There was a slight buzz that meant it was Veraxin or T'clock. That didn't make sense. Nor did what they said. federation? As if! The ship though … "Descartes," she murmured thoughtfully. She wracked her brain but nothing came up. "I don't recognize the name. You ran the war book?" She turned to the pilot turned bridge rating."Yes, ma’am, but its fifteen years out of date." He shook his head."Size?""Based on what comm picked up, they are talking to someone else. That means two ships, ma'am. They are still on the outer edge of our sensor envelope. Based on their speed, they appear to be too small to be tramp freighters. And well, the order to heave to …," the rating shrugged and pointed helplessly to the plot. "I think they've plotted an intercept course, ma'am. They'll link up with us short of the planetary orbit," he said."Damn it," she muttered, shaking her head. "Horath …""Fresh challenge coming in, ma'am. They are … transmitting their authority? It says they are a pair of warships of the federation, ma'am," Oswald said, turning and looking at the captain with wide frightened eyes. "What the hell, ma'am?""Did we just fly into some sort of other dimension?" the captain muttered. "Someone figure out what the hell is going on. Is this a prank?""I've been monitoring transmissions from the planet, ma'am. There is chatter about the federation. I can filter for it," Oswald said. He nervously licked his lips, his Adam's apple bobbing in fear."Do so. Meanwhile, Angel, plot a course away from the planet and to the ET jump point.""Ma'am?""You heard me. No way in hell am I going to allow us to be tamely boarded, if they are ours or anyone else's. No, this is fishy.""Yes, ma'am." He frowned and pecked at his station for a few moments. When she cleared her throat, he realized he'd stalled long enough and looked up. "Course plotted.""Then execute it. Minimum burn, let's see if they react. How they react I mean," she said. He nodded and fed the course change to the helm.:::{)(}:::"They changed course. They are running to the ET jump point," R'll reported an hour later."You can run but you can't hide. No response?" Captain Levinson demanded."No, sir.""I know; I know you would have reported if there was one. Did they contact the planet?""No, sir. Not that we are aware. The geometry is off for us to pick up any signal traffic though.""Query the planet. Maybe they think we're pirates or something.""Aye aye, sir.""Meanwhile," the captain said as he tapped at the computer. The plot shifted. "Helm, come to course 331 mark 31 and increase speed to one-half impulse. Comm, signal Loch to follow suit and stay on our flank.""Issuing the order before the comm signal?" his XO and chief engineer asked from his repeater panel. "Something up, Skip?""I want to see if Troy's people are paying attention," the captain replied with a mild shrug. The XO snorted. "I'm headed to dinner. Keep me posted of any changes," the captain said as he exited the hot seat."Aye, sir. R'll has the bridge," the Veraxin said. By now the rating was used to being dumped in the watch. She was watch qualified as was everyone else on the ship. She was even considering mustanging to officer when they got back to civilization—if they got back. From the look of it, it wouldn't be anytime soon apparently.:::{)(}:::
April 28, 2016
Retribution Snippet 2
I skipped ahead a bit;
Chapter 2
PO Blake Hale grinned as he saw the image of the planet on the view screens. The skipper had assented to putting it up where everyone could see it. It was a blue pearl, precious to them even if it had a hint and air of danger about her that belied a planet's normal innocence. "Nightingale. A prettier planet I haven't seen me in a looong time," he drawled."We've been away for years but don't expect much to have changed. These hicks can't find their ass with their elbows.""I don't care. I just want a fresh steak, bake potato, and a woman who can pretend to be loving for a whole evening," Blake drawled. "Well look at you, a whole evening? You wouldn't last five minutes," Oswald said.Blake scowled. "Wanna bet?""With what? Skipper is taking all our creds to get food and fuel so we can get on to the next stop.""Frack," Blake muttered. His vision of liberty was rapidly fading."There goes your lady friend. Don't worry, I've got a good pic and you can always use your five fingers like you've been doin," Oswald tormented.Blake held up his hand then dropped all but 1 telling finger in return. Oswald smirked back at him insufferably."We've got a healthy reserve even with the skipper skimping and saving with us on ballistic. Just getting the stink out of the air would be nice for a change," Oswald said."Fat chance on that. I know Bruno's trying but no way can he get the fish smell out. We're stuck with it until we get home.""Joy," Oswald muttered. He tapped at his controls then frowned. "Hey, something odd here," he said."Odd?""As in out of place. There is an IFF orbiting the gas giant. Two of them. I just picked them up." Oswald wrinkled his nose. "It's too far to get a reading with our sensors though.""Ships?""Possible. One probably, but what is the other? It's pretty low in the atmosphere..." he frowned as he pecked at his controls, working his fingers around the broken or sticky keys as best he could. When he finished his inquiry he hit the execute button then sat back and rubbed his fingers together to get some of the stickiness off. Angelo and his damn sugar kick he thought with a corner of his mind as the computer broke the IFF down further."Yeah," he grunted. "One's a tanker, the other one is get this, a gas refinery!""You don't say!" the PO said, now curious. "When the hell did they get the tech for something like that?""The tanker? I don't know.""Anything more?""IFF says to quote 'inquire when we make orbit. Payment is expected.' Unquote," he said."Shit. Frack, no way can we afford it.""I doubt it. Skipper wants enough fuel for one or two jumps. If this is refined... you think HE3?" He was referring to Helium 3. "Or Deuterium?""No fracking idea. It'd be nice though. Expensive I bet. I'll let the skipper know," the PO stated."Yeah, you do that," Oswald sighed. He leaned back and stretched as he watched Blake type out an email or log entry. Their ship had been in transit for a decade and a half. That was a hell of a long time to be away from home. He'd heard of longer voyages, and they'd damn near become one of those that never came back.But the big gamble was about to pay off. Or would as soon as they got back to friendly space. Was the skipper planning to take them to Pyrax? It was possible; they'd gotten word that the Gather Fleet had been assembling a conquering fleet to sweep through the sector just before they'd left Horath.It'd be nice if they'd already gotten to Nightingale. Then no bill, no worrying about exposure. But he doubted it. He frowned and then absently ran the calculations. He ran a second set when he realized he'd gone the southern route. That just made the frown deepen. It was possible, probable even. He just wasn't sure. It all depended on the fleet and which way her Commanders jumped and what star systems they had prioritized to take.Either way they'd find out when they got into orbit in 2 weeks.:::{)(}:::Captain Levinson of the Horseshoe Crab class Frigate Descartes cursed the luck when his sensor watch reported the arrival of a new ship. The ship had jumped in from B443 so it had a questionable origin. He'd just started a new war game with Captain Yu on Loch,Descartes' sister ship in order to pass the time.He was frustrated, he knew it. So was Troy. They knew the crew was frustrated by their situation too. But they didn't have a choice; they weren't going to abandon their post. Ever since they'd run down that Horathian fleet they'd learned to appreciate the duties of being on a picket... however boring it was when no one else was around.Now the usual crap about actually liking the boredom over the brief moments of excitement came into his mind. He did his usual best to brush them aside."Skipper, we've been getting a lot of interference from the solar storms in the area. Our signals may not punch through right away. Not until we get clear of them at any rate," PO R'll reported."Do your best," the captain ordered. "Pass on our compliments and order them to heave to and prepare to be boarded once we've got an intercept course. I want to do this and get back to our war game," he growled. Yu had kicked his ass in the last 2 passes and it was dead even. He was determined to make it game and set, match on this go around, not a draw."Aye Aye Sir," the Veraxin rating replied. She tapped at her controls with her truehands and passed the order on to the civilian ship as well as their authority to pass on such orders. "Let Loch know what we're doing. Tell them to tag along. We might as well refuel at Bertha before we go back to the games," Captain Levinson ordered. The tanker was the real reason he felt safe enough to play the war games in real life. And hell, if they broke something maybe it would get the navy to cough up the relief they'd been promised and regretfully delayed for so damn long he mused darkly."Aye Aye Sir.":::{)(}:::
Chapter 2
PO Blake Hale grinned as he saw the image of the planet on the view screens. The skipper had assented to putting it up where everyone could see it. It was a blue pearl, precious to them even if it had a hint and air of danger about her that belied a planet's normal innocence. "Nightingale. A prettier planet I haven't seen me in a looong time," he drawled."We've been away for years but don't expect much to have changed. These hicks can't find their ass with their elbows.""I don't care. I just want a fresh steak, bake potato, and a woman who can pretend to be loving for a whole evening," Blake drawled. "Well look at you, a whole evening? You wouldn't last five minutes," Oswald said.Blake scowled. "Wanna bet?""With what? Skipper is taking all our creds to get food and fuel so we can get on to the next stop.""Frack," Blake muttered. His vision of liberty was rapidly fading."There goes your lady friend. Don't worry, I've got a good pic and you can always use your five fingers like you've been doin," Oswald tormented.Blake held up his hand then dropped all but 1 telling finger in return. Oswald smirked back at him insufferably."We've got a healthy reserve even with the skipper skimping and saving with us on ballistic. Just getting the stink out of the air would be nice for a change," Oswald said."Fat chance on that. I know Bruno's trying but no way can he get the fish smell out. We're stuck with it until we get home.""Joy," Oswald muttered. He tapped at his controls then frowned. "Hey, something odd here," he said."Odd?""As in out of place. There is an IFF orbiting the gas giant. Two of them. I just picked them up." Oswald wrinkled his nose. "It's too far to get a reading with our sensors though.""Ships?""Possible. One probably, but what is the other? It's pretty low in the atmosphere..." he frowned as he pecked at his controls, working his fingers around the broken or sticky keys as best he could. When he finished his inquiry he hit the execute button then sat back and rubbed his fingers together to get some of the stickiness off. Angelo and his damn sugar kick he thought with a corner of his mind as the computer broke the IFF down further."Yeah," he grunted. "One's a tanker, the other one is get this, a gas refinery!""You don't say!" the PO said, now curious. "When the hell did they get the tech for something like that?""The tanker? I don't know.""Anything more?""IFF says to quote 'inquire when we make orbit. Payment is expected.' Unquote," he said."Shit. Frack, no way can we afford it.""I doubt it. Skipper wants enough fuel for one or two jumps. If this is refined... you think HE3?" He was referring to Helium 3. "Or Deuterium?""No fracking idea. It'd be nice though. Expensive I bet. I'll let the skipper know," the PO stated."Yeah, you do that," Oswald sighed. He leaned back and stretched as he watched Blake type out an email or log entry. Their ship had been in transit for a decade and a half. That was a hell of a long time to be away from home. He'd heard of longer voyages, and they'd damn near become one of those that never came back.But the big gamble was about to pay off. Or would as soon as they got back to friendly space. Was the skipper planning to take them to Pyrax? It was possible; they'd gotten word that the Gather Fleet had been assembling a conquering fleet to sweep through the sector just before they'd left Horath.It'd be nice if they'd already gotten to Nightingale. Then no bill, no worrying about exposure. But he doubted it. He frowned and then absently ran the calculations. He ran a second set when he realized he'd gone the southern route. That just made the frown deepen. It was possible, probable even. He just wasn't sure. It all depended on the fleet and which way her Commanders jumped and what star systems they had prioritized to take.Either way they'd find out when they got into orbit in 2 weeks.:::{)(}:::Captain Levinson of the Horseshoe Crab class Frigate Descartes cursed the luck when his sensor watch reported the arrival of a new ship. The ship had jumped in from B443 so it had a questionable origin. He'd just started a new war game with Captain Yu on Loch,Descartes' sister ship in order to pass the time.He was frustrated, he knew it. So was Troy. They knew the crew was frustrated by their situation too. But they didn't have a choice; they weren't going to abandon their post. Ever since they'd run down that Horathian fleet they'd learned to appreciate the duties of being on a picket... however boring it was when no one else was around.Now the usual crap about actually liking the boredom over the brief moments of excitement came into his mind. He did his usual best to brush them aside."Skipper, we've been getting a lot of interference from the solar storms in the area. Our signals may not punch through right away. Not until we get clear of them at any rate," PO R'll reported."Do your best," the captain ordered. "Pass on our compliments and order them to heave to and prepare to be boarded once we've got an intercept course. I want to do this and get back to our war game," he growled. Yu had kicked his ass in the last 2 passes and it was dead even. He was determined to make it game and set, match on this go around, not a draw."Aye Aye Sir," the Veraxin rating replied. She tapped at her controls with her truehands and passed the order on to the civilian ship as well as their authority to pass on such orders. "Let Loch know what we're doing. Tell them to tag along. We might as well refuel at Bertha before we go back to the games," Captain Levinson ordered. The tanker was the real reason he felt safe enough to play the war games in real life. And hell, if they broke something maybe it would get the navy to cough up the relief they'd been promised and regretfully delayed for so damn long he mused darkly."Aye Aye Sir.":::{)(}:::
April 18, 2016
Retribution Snippet 1
Hi,
So, the editing is humming along nicely. Only 2 people left who haven't turned in their notes. As soon as I get Tim's feedback I'll be shipping the manuscript off to Rea. (yes despite the rants in some of the reviews on Amazon I am sticking with Rea) :)
Anyway, I thought it was time to post some snippets.
I have an Intro before Chapter 1 but I'm skipping it here since I just jotted it out. A little bit of intro for this though, the book starts off similarly to Pirate Rage. You'll see what I mean later on. But if you haven't read Tales of the Federation Reborn you might want to skip reading this and go pick up a copy first. ;)
Act IChapter 1
Petty Officer third Class Kelsea Travere slowed her pace and cocked her head as she noted the skipper was at the navigational station. She frowned thoughtfully. "Something wrong skipper?"The Captain didn't look her way, just kept working at the console. When she was finished she plugged a chip in and then turned. "No, nothing is wrong.""Um...""Captain something's going on with the computer," PO Blake Hale said from his post manning the ship's sensors. "I just lost all the log files... there is a script going on... do we have another virus?""Indeed we do," the captain said as she noted the 100 percent mark on the screen in front of her. She pulled the flash chip and then placed it on a chain. The chain went around her neck. "I just deleted our navigational data," she said."Um...""The only record I've kept is with me. And I've encrypted it," she said."We're only going to exit in Nightingale ma'am.""That's not the only reason I'm doing it." Blake frowned thoughtfully as Kelsea came over to relieve him. He rose from the chair and she slipped in his place."We're exiting hyper in a few minutes ma'am. Why did you do that? It might throw our heading off a bit since we no longer have the way markers behind us to compare too," Blake said carefully."My business," The captain said tightly, eyes narrowing.Kelsea frowned as she put the arm of the chair down and then logged in to the computer. She checked the status board and nodded."Paranoid much ma'am?" Blake asked, not ready to let the subject go."Just being careful. I don't want our find to be taken from us," she stated."I like the sound of the 'us' there ma'am," Chief Faver stated as he came in to the compartment behind them.Captain Bellerose eyed him, sizing up his loyalty. She wasn't certain if the chief or anyone else had made a copy of their log. She hadn't seen a copy mark in the file... but then again that was easy to delete. He hesitated then seemed to ignore her look as he went over to the electronic box connected to the helm station."A problem chief?" Kelsea asked."Some signal noise we're trying to run down and clean up. The software filters keep pointing to a hardware issue.""Okay," Kelsea replied thoughtfully. The chief was hopefully on to something Marengohad the occasional filter issue from time to time that haunted the crew. More so now with their new additions to the ship's bridge network. She watched out of the corner of her eye as the chief hooked up his gear to test the data lines. It sucked that they'd run electrical lines not ODN. They hadn't had any spare ODN lines long enough for the project.It also sucked that the lines ran through the ship's hatches. At least the chief had been smart enough to drape it rather than have it as a trip point. Only the tall people had to watch out for it. But what interested her the most about his temporary distraction was that he was watching the skipper intently. And from the occasional look she managed to sneak to the skipper, she was also aware of the subterfuge going on."As you were people," the captain said. "I'll be in my wardroom," she said as she stalked out of the compartment without a backwards glance.The chief seemed to exhale like air coming out of a balloon. Kelsea shook her head and then went back to refining the sensor data for the transition out of hyper.
:::{)(}:::Kelsea's day wasn't quite over when she got off shift. She picked up her dinner, and then went to the compartment where the aliens were. She had a stable stomach, but the stench hit her right when she came through the airlock Doctor Cloutier had set up to prevent it from fumigating the ship."You're turn? Thank the gods, Maevus said, shaking her head as she got off the stool. She handed Kelsea a tablet and darted through the hatch before the other woman could say anything.She juggled the tablet, her drink and plate until she got to the stool. She heard a soft moan but ignored it. She took a seat and started to read out loud in between bites.It was all a part of the service apparently; the boss lady wanted everyone to get familiar with their prizes and to read to them. It wasn't quite out of a mommy complex, the doc insisted seeing humans in a nonthreatening light would help them with their interactions. And tone mattered apparently. So, hence the reading. It was also an attempt to keep the aliens sane, something that was a worry of the doctor.They knew the aliens couldn't understand them, nor vice versa. The skipper had thought to set up the life support, harvested from a Gashg habitat, but she hadn't factored on the need to communicate with a species that didn't understand them in return. Doctor Cloutier had also overlooked the problem and he kept muttering about their universal translators.Whatever. It didn't matter. An order was an order, so Kelsea stood her shift like everyone else. She refused to barter to cover other shifts for other people though, no matter what they offered her in return. She wasn't that much of a masochist thank you very much she thought acidly. She glanced at the clock and then took a sip of tepid water. There was a sputter in the tank. She glanced at it, then back down to the tablet.She was so not amused when she realized she was reading Moby Dick.:::{)(}:::
Oh, BTW, I am switching up my next book. I decided to go with Enemy of my Enemy (Horatio's Adventures 1) over the Founding anthology book I'd planned on working on. I've been writing scenes off and on in EE, Gathering Storm, J5, and Shelby's Adventures for the past couple of days. After a bit of thought I figured I'd stick with what is fresh on my mind and roll with it. We'll see how it turns out.
So, the editing is humming along nicely. Only 2 people left who haven't turned in their notes. As soon as I get Tim's feedback I'll be shipping the manuscript off to Rea. (yes despite the rants in some of the reviews on Amazon I am sticking with Rea) :)
Anyway, I thought it was time to post some snippets.
I have an Intro before Chapter 1 but I'm skipping it here since I just jotted it out. A little bit of intro for this though, the book starts off similarly to Pirate Rage. You'll see what I mean later on. But if you haven't read Tales of the Federation Reborn you might want to skip reading this and go pick up a copy first. ;)
Act IChapter 1
Petty Officer third Class Kelsea Travere slowed her pace and cocked her head as she noted the skipper was at the navigational station. She frowned thoughtfully. "Something wrong skipper?"The Captain didn't look her way, just kept working at the console. When she was finished she plugged a chip in and then turned. "No, nothing is wrong.""Um...""Captain something's going on with the computer," PO Blake Hale said from his post manning the ship's sensors. "I just lost all the log files... there is a script going on... do we have another virus?""Indeed we do," the captain said as she noted the 100 percent mark on the screen in front of her. She pulled the flash chip and then placed it on a chain. The chain went around her neck. "I just deleted our navigational data," she said."Um...""The only record I've kept is with me. And I've encrypted it," she said."We're only going to exit in Nightingale ma'am.""That's not the only reason I'm doing it." Blake frowned thoughtfully as Kelsea came over to relieve him. He rose from the chair and she slipped in his place."We're exiting hyper in a few minutes ma'am. Why did you do that? It might throw our heading off a bit since we no longer have the way markers behind us to compare too," Blake said carefully."My business," The captain said tightly, eyes narrowing.Kelsea frowned as she put the arm of the chair down and then logged in to the computer. She checked the status board and nodded."Paranoid much ma'am?" Blake asked, not ready to let the subject go."Just being careful. I don't want our find to be taken from us," she stated."I like the sound of the 'us' there ma'am," Chief Faver stated as he came in to the compartment behind them.Captain Bellerose eyed him, sizing up his loyalty. She wasn't certain if the chief or anyone else had made a copy of their log. She hadn't seen a copy mark in the file... but then again that was easy to delete. He hesitated then seemed to ignore her look as he went over to the electronic box connected to the helm station."A problem chief?" Kelsea asked."Some signal noise we're trying to run down and clean up. The software filters keep pointing to a hardware issue.""Okay," Kelsea replied thoughtfully. The chief was hopefully on to something Marengohad the occasional filter issue from time to time that haunted the crew. More so now with their new additions to the ship's bridge network. She watched out of the corner of her eye as the chief hooked up his gear to test the data lines. It sucked that they'd run electrical lines not ODN. They hadn't had any spare ODN lines long enough for the project.It also sucked that the lines ran through the ship's hatches. At least the chief had been smart enough to drape it rather than have it as a trip point. Only the tall people had to watch out for it. But what interested her the most about his temporary distraction was that he was watching the skipper intently. And from the occasional look she managed to sneak to the skipper, she was also aware of the subterfuge going on."As you were people," the captain said. "I'll be in my wardroom," she said as she stalked out of the compartment without a backwards glance.The chief seemed to exhale like air coming out of a balloon. Kelsea shook her head and then went back to refining the sensor data for the transition out of hyper.
:::{)(}:::Kelsea's day wasn't quite over when she got off shift. She picked up her dinner, and then went to the compartment where the aliens were. She had a stable stomach, but the stench hit her right when she came through the airlock Doctor Cloutier had set up to prevent it from fumigating the ship."You're turn? Thank the gods, Maevus said, shaking her head as she got off the stool. She handed Kelsea a tablet and darted through the hatch before the other woman could say anything.She juggled the tablet, her drink and plate until she got to the stool. She heard a soft moan but ignored it. She took a seat and started to read out loud in between bites.It was all a part of the service apparently; the boss lady wanted everyone to get familiar with their prizes and to read to them. It wasn't quite out of a mommy complex, the doc insisted seeing humans in a nonthreatening light would help them with their interactions. And tone mattered apparently. So, hence the reading. It was also an attempt to keep the aliens sane, something that was a worry of the doctor.They knew the aliens couldn't understand them, nor vice versa. The skipper had thought to set up the life support, harvested from a Gashg habitat, but she hadn't factored on the need to communicate with a species that didn't understand them in return. Doctor Cloutier had also overlooked the problem and he kept muttering about their universal translators.Whatever. It didn't matter. An order was an order, so Kelsea stood her shift like everyone else. She refused to barter to cover other shifts for other people though, no matter what they offered her in return. She wasn't that much of a masochist thank you very much she thought acidly. She glanced at the clock and then took a sip of tepid water. There was a sputter in the tank. She glanced at it, then back down to the tablet.She was so not amused when she realized she was reading Moby Dick.:::{)(}:::
Oh, BTW, I am switching up my next book. I decided to go with Enemy of my Enemy (Horatio's Adventures 1) over the Founding anthology book I'd planned on working on. I've been writing scenes off and on in EE, Gathering Storm, J5, and Shelby's Adventures for the past couple of days. After a bit of thought I figured I'd stick with what is fresh on my mind and roll with it. We'll see how it turns out.
April 7, 2016
Retribution Cover
Okay, here goes.
I haven't had a lot of feedback on the cover yet from the betas. Just a couple of missives. I thought I'd put it here so everyone can get a peek.
I had intended to do a scene with elements I bought from Renderosity, but again went with a bridge scene. (in this case a certain furry admiral's flag bridge) the 'windows' are nothing of the sort btw, just vid screens to look like windows. :) (Who would be silly enough to have a flag bridge or any other bridge on the outer hull where it is vulnerable??)
The ships are a mix of my own and stuff from Renderosity and Daz 3D. The characters are all Daz3d. The set was made with Stonemason's Sci-fi kit 1-2 and his interior lab set. Sharp eyes will notice I borrowed elements from the Pirates Bane set as well. (I'm lazy) :)
The rear admiral is the fuzzball with his back to the camera. In the foreground is Lieutenant Kelly Guadino his Neogorilla Intelligence officer, and Lieutenant Garfield, his TO. (yes I got lazy and used the tiger material) In the background are Lieutenant Jojo, Kyle, Alec, and the rest down below are various ratings and noncoms. :)
Now that the cover art is done I'm catching up on my To-Do list one item at a time. I don't know if I'll hit them all, I doubt it, I never do. I'm feeling lost when I'm not in write mode, like I'm floundering around without purpose. It is hard for me to just kick back and relax I guess... though I should. I have a ton of movies to watch (Jurassic World and The Force Awakens are 2) plus a DVR that needs clearing out, plus Mike Kotcher's books to read, and other books to read... ugh. Then there are all the projects, Duncan and Jory have been assisting me with the Wiki, Mike Boos has been working on star system maps, (very cool ones, better than mine!) and Tom is waiting patiently for me to get my act together to re-start the website. Then there are all the other projects I've had on back burners. Character bios and images, ship images, Smashwords, Google books, the wiki, the 3d map I started, fixing books... buying and trying StarCraft II Nova... Mario Maker... finding a house...
See? It's more work 'relaxing' than it is to write! ROFL
Anyway, I am not sure if Mike Boos or one of the other Betas put the 'Galactic Sector Map' up on the wiki or Facebook group yet or not. The background was 'borrowed' from Galaxymap.org I think. I'm considering using it to map out the Tau and a few of the other sectors so they are rooted in 'reality'. The map gives a rough idea on what I intended for the galactic sectors and will play a larger role once I get into the bigger stage. The sectors are roughly aligned along the galactic arms. There are No Go areas that are marked.
If he hasn't I think it is okay to post it now. I think. Maybe.... Ah heck, go for it Mike or Jory!
I haven't had a lot of feedback on the cover yet from the betas. Just a couple of missives. I thought I'd put it here so everyone can get a peek.
I had intended to do a scene with elements I bought from Renderosity, but again went with a bridge scene. (in this case a certain furry admiral's flag bridge) the 'windows' are nothing of the sort btw, just vid screens to look like windows. :) (Who would be silly enough to have a flag bridge or any other bridge on the outer hull where it is vulnerable??)The ships are a mix of my own and stuff from Renderosity and Daz 3D. The characters are all Daz3d. The set was made with Stonemason's Sci-fi kit 1-2 and his interior lab set. Sharp eyes will notice I borrowed elements from the Pirates Bane set as well. (I'm lazy) :)
The rear admiral is the fuzzball with his back to the camera. In the foreground is Lieutenant Kelly Guadino his Neogorilla Intelligence officer, and Lieutenant Garfield, his TO. (yes I got lazy and used the tiger material) In the background are Lieutenant Jojo, Kyle, Alec, and the rest down below are various ratings and noncoms. :)
Now that the cover art is done I'm catching up on my To-Do list one item at a time. I don't know if I'll hit them all, I doubt it, I never do. I'm feeling lost when I'm not in write mode, like I'm floundering around without purpose. It is hard for me to just kick back and relax I guess... though I should. I have a ton of movies to watch (Jurassic World and The Force Awakens are 2) plus a DVR that needs clearing out, plus Mike Kotcher's books to read, and other books to read... ugh. Then there are all the projects, Duncan and Jory have been assisting me with the Wiki, Mike Boos has been working on star system maps, (very cool ones, better than mine!) and Tom is waiting patiently for me to get my act together to re-start the website. Then there are all the other projects I've had on back burners. Character bios and images, ship images, Smashwords, Google books, the wiki, the 3d map I started, fixing books... buying and trying StarCraft II Nova... Mario Maker... finding a house...
See? It's more work 'relaxing' than it is to write! ROFL
Anyway, I am not sure if Mike Boos or one of the other Betas put the 'Galactic Sector Map' up on the wiki or Facebook group yet or not. The background was 'borrowed' from Galaxymap.org I think. I'm considering using it to map out the Tau and a few of the other sectors so they are rooted in 'reality'. The map gives a rough idea on what I intended for the galactic sectors and will play a larger role once I get into the bigger stage. The sectors are roughly aligned along the galactic arms. There are No Go areas that are marked.
If he hasn't I think it is okay to post it now. I think. Maybe.... Ah heck, go for it Mike or Jory!
March 31, 2016
Shhh... be very vewry quiet...
Soren HamptonMarch 23, 2016 at 9:34 AMGreat time for new post. Dying to hear what is up with the new book
Ask and ye shall receive. ...Eventually. ;)
Lol it seems like Elmer Fudd has been keeping the betas and everyone at bay for a while. Well, FYI, I finished the first rough draft of Retribution the other day. Spell check and stuff, my own edits... I'm about ready to hand it over to the betas.
I'm debating the cover art, as well as my rather lengthy To-Do list I put off until I finish a book. Let's see, I need to work on the Wiki, the website with Tom, the character art, ships, that SPACE ENGINEERS game Jory has started in the Engineer Universe... (check it out!)
Let's see, what else... get my books on Smashwords... Fix the stuff Amazon and others have nagged me about for Pirates Rage and Battle Lines...
Chores...clean the shower... and oven...(UGH!) :P
I think I'm regretting finishing the book now! lol Unfortunately I'm up in the air on what to work on next since Tales of the Federation has bombed. (a few reviews might help folks!) Hmm...
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