Chris Hechtl's Blog, page 9

Multiverse 7

 A new year and a new book. Well, more than 1 of course. :)

Sitrep: I had a good holiday season, hopefully those of you reading this did as well. Mine was the usual fun chaos peppered with my questionable sense of humor. 😆

One thing that came out of it, my mother has wistfully asked for a copy of one or more of my books... in print form. I have tried twice to make that happen before, but gave it up when I realized it wouldn't work out. 

After the series of health scares she had last year, I'm trying again to make that dream a reality this month. So, I've been working with Mechmaster to revamp my Bootstrap Colony 1 cover again. It looks a bit better, but more on that later. (Still working on it)

In other news I've been working on Bootstrap Colony 5- the one with the crossover with PRI. I've blocked out 91 pages so far, so trucking along. Again, more on that later.

On to MV7.

Multiverse 7 is short, just 4 short stories, 1 Roo story, 1 PRI story, and 2 Federation stories. The Fed stories will play into the upcoming books. The Roo story will be seen in the Roo Collective, the next book on the schedule to come out. And of course the PRI story will come up in the book I'm currently writing.

Rea just shot the manuscript back to me, I just went through the final back/front edits and sent it off to Goodlifeguide.

On to the snippet!

The following is from Giant Slayer the Roo story:

 

Counter stumped through the new warren, feelingevery bit of his advanced age. It was getting there though, one day at a time.He paused to let some younglings pass and then kept moving.

There were vertical movers but one was in use andthe other was loading so he elected to take the stairs. It was hard on his oldknees but the cane helped.

His free hand touched the polished railing as hetook the steps up to the top of the tree.

The new warren was centered around the thunkertree that had offered his people refuge during their moment of crisis. Withinthe tree the Roo people had found temporary shelter against the weather,predators, and the giants who had attacked their old home with poison fog.

Now, thanks to the surviving diggers it wasextending outward. They had gone out under the surface initially, splaying outin tunnels in all directions before going deeper to get below the frost linebefore the cold snap.

The diggers had achieved it. They had found an oldstomper skeleton to help with their efforts. He had just come from touring thatarea in his rounds.

As he went higher, the air grew colder. He pulledthe shawl tighter over his shoulders. His fur had thickened in the cold but hewas old. The cold seemed to seep into him more and more as each cold seasonbegan.

The climb was good for him, and the view wasrefreshing. He enjoyed that there were fewer Roo as he climbed; most had movedinto the tunnels and were huddled in the cramped quarters underground. Many ofthe oldsters were trying to hibernate. Some of the very old who had survivedhad passed away in their sleep. He worried about the additional loss of thatprecious knowledge.

Perhaps it was for the best though, the old ideasgiving way to new fresh ones that might keep them alive, he thought as he sawTinker in his workshop. He passed the open door and kept going.

When he got to the lookout point, he nodded to thesentries there and then looked out, sniffing his air and feeling his eyes slitfrom the bitter wind chill. He wouldn’t remain there long; he didn’t want tocatch a chill. But he did like it now. Funny, he hadn’t before. He’d hatedbeing exposed to the outside. Now it was nice; the smells were better than thecrush of bodies below.

He took his time to look about them, nodding toeach of the sentries. They nodded back politely.

At each of the four corners, he stopped. They weremarked by the directions. One was to the east and the rising sun, opposite thatthe west and setting sun. The north was marked with an arrow pointing to theNorth Star and the northern lights. Therefore, the last point was to the south.

In each of those general directions, a Roocommunity was located. None had offered to send help. It angered him to beignored. They hadn’t even offered to take in some of the refugees. Nothing atall.

He sighed. There was supposed to be a convoy oftrade goods midway through the cold season if the weather cleared. He wascurious if they’d hear about inquiries about it or see it at all. It wasn’tlike his people had a lot to trade.

Well, certainly not food items. But a lot wascoming out of the old warren these days. He turned and looked down. The heightswere dizzying but he still looked. Below there was a path leading to the old warren.Half of it was underground, the other half in a trench of the white water. Theice had been packed over the top in some places. In others it was open, and hesaw a steady flow of figures moving between the old warren and the new.

The younger set moved quickly to avoid the cold.He didn’t envy them the task of cleaning out the old warren, but it needed tobe done.

He nodded once and then turned to the east and thedistant glittering shape. He could just see the top of it over the screen oftrees between them and the clearing far away. The white snow had fallen on the giantwarren but it was still there.

He glowered at it but then shivered when the windspicked up.

“Better get inside, Elder,” a defender said. Heturned to the defender in time to see the other Roo look to the sky. He lookedup to see clouds moving slowly in.

“Storm is coming in,” the Roo warned.

Counter nodded and headed back inside. He couldn’ttake the lift down until he went one floor down. Once there he waited patientlyfor his turn to ride it down. He could go upstairs but going back down wastroublesome and dangerous. His fear of falling was great, so he exercised hispatience and waited.

 ~======~

Happy Holidays!

 So, I'm a known reindeer fanatic. I bought another reindeer from Daz set last year but ran out of time to use it.

This year I tried to work on my animatronic one and didn't make it. But I was determined to make the 3D model work. I tried several renders but they failed in Daz. I ended up porting the basic model over to Cinema a moment ago and came up with this.

I've been inspired by Blacmore's Night Christmas Eve video.

I'm not a big fan of AI art but I did like the reindeer and some shots and the song is cool.

So, there is that, I survived another Christmas Eve dinner, with help, and I am taking a break from cleanup.

Oh, Rea asked me to write a Christmas story but I ran out of time. (That has been happening a lot!) but I did have fun butchering a famous poem:

A Visit from St. NicholasBy Clement Clarke Moore modified by Chris Hechtl'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the houseOnly one creature was stirring, Ember playing with her a mouse;(“That better be the mouse Ember!”)The stockings were hung by the DVD shelf with care,In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;(Bark, Bark, Bark outside)(“Rocky! Shut up!”)The children were nestled all snug in their hotel beds;While visions of sugary drinks danced in their heads;And Dad in his boxers and I in my briefs wishing the neighbor’s dog would shut his yap,Had just settled our brains for a long winter's nap,When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,(Bark, Bark Bark! Outside)I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter.Away to the window I flew like a flash,Tore open the curtains and looked out in a dash.The moon on the breast of the black gravel below,Didn’t give much of a lustre of midday to bestow,When what to my wondering eyes did appear,But a miniature sleigh and eight tiny rein-deer,With a little old driver so lively and quick,I knew in a moment he must be St. Nick.More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name:"Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now Prancer and Vixen!On, Comet! on, Cupid! on, Donder and Blitzen!To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"(Bark, Bark, Bark! Outside)As leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky;So up to the housetop the coursers they flewWith the sleigh full of electronic toys, and St. Nicholas too—And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roofThe prancing and pawing of each little hoof.As Ember dived under the bed, and I was turning around,Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,And he looked like a pedler just opening his pack.His eyes—how they twinkled! his dimples, how merry!His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,And the beard on his chin was as white as the snow;The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,And the smoke, it encircled his head like a wreath;He had a broad face and a little round bellyThat shook when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly.He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;A wink of his eye at my briefs and a twist of his headSoon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,And laying his finger aside of his nose,And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.(Bark, Bark, Bark outside)But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight—“Rocky Quiet! ...And Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!”(Crash in the living room)(Groan. “EM---BER!”)

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays!

Academy has Published!

 

About:

   Have you everwondered what it was like to experience the academy in the Federation? Six verydifferent officers swap stories about their experiences at the start of theircareers…

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CNL7B7TL

B&N: ... to be continued...

Academy Snippet 4

Sitrep:  Goodlifeguide stated they'll try to get the manuscript back to me by this weekend. We'll see.

Rea also dropped a broad hint for me to write a Christmas story and post it here or in another book. I'm thinking about it but it isn't a priority. Right now it seems like I'm being pulled in a half a dozen directions all at once. (multitasking!)

Anyway, the next story snippet:

 

“Why not?” a voice asked behind her.

Dorothy Gayle twitched her ears as she finishedreading the chart of the patient and then turned to the lead nurse.

“Okay, I’ll bite,” the small Neodog asked. “Whynot what?”

“Why not go for it?”

“Go for what?” she asked, this time in a testiertone of voice. She had to scramble down the steps behind the nursing stationuntil she hit the floor. Sometimes it really sucked to be only a meter tall.

At least she wasn’t an elf. They really had itbad.

“Go all in. You have the education, right?”

“I’m still not following.”

“ET.”

“What about it?” she asked.

“Your training.”

“I was an AN there,” she said patiently.“Assistant Nurse, remember? They yanked me out of training and threw me intothe trenches,” she said.

Raina nodded. “I know that. But when the plagueswere over, you were an RN,” she said.

“Yeah, and they saddled that damn ensign rank onme too. So what?” Dorothy asked.

“So, you want to be a surgical nurse still,right?”

“It is a thought,” Dorothy said with a sniff. Shewas actually considering resigning her commission in order to go into civilianpractice. Only the regular work, good pay, and free education kept her fromdoing that. That and she was supposed to have some retirement in the pipelinewhenever she did retire.

If she resigned before a set period, she wouldn’tget much at all or so the scuttlebutt experts insisted.

“Why not go for the full experience?” Rainainsisted as she crossed her arms.

“And that is?” Dorothy asked as she checked themedical cart. It was robotic; all she had to do was follow it and make sure itadministered the right medication to the right patient. Some of the patientswere a bit wary of having a robot mist them or give them a small paper cup withpills in it.

“Go full medical. Become a surgeon,” Raina said.

Dorothy paused and turned to her. “Are youserious?”

Raina studied her. “As a heart attack. You’ve gotthe grades, right?”

“Sure.”

“And you’ve got the background. Your family eatsand breathes medicine.”

“That’s the family. And that doesn’t exactlytranslate over,” the Neodog said. She was a mutt, a small Neodog that had somany mixed breeds in her ancestry they all sort of blended together. She hadfloppy ears that still bothered her. Her friend Katya had saddled her with Totoon her for a nickname. Only when she’d found the reference had she been readyto strangle the pilot.

Katya of course had loved it. She shook her headslightly.

“I’m serious. I’ve seen your bedside manner. I’veseen you close wounds and you caught a few things that the doctors miss. Youcould do it,” Raina insisted.

“That eager to get rid of me?” Dorothy asked asthe cart began to move out.

“No, but I want you to live up to your potential.Right now you are just filling a slot. I know you can do better.”

Dorothy blinked, looked back to the senior nursebut another had distracted the woman. Instead, she sniffed and went on herrounds. It did stick a bone in her mind to gnaw on for a few days though.

<<<*>>>

Raina thought about it and then checked Dorothy’scredentials. The Neodog had an ensign rank but had been stuck in that rank for threeyears. She finally realized why when she noted that the Neodog had nevercompleted the officer training courses mandatory for nurses.

She knew the hospital administrator was a prickabout such things. She decided to get on Dorothy’s case and get her to at leastget that squared away by the end of the fiscal year.

<<<*>>>

When Dorothy woke the following morning, she hadan email in her work inbox. She grimaced and checked it and then her grimaceturned into a ferocious scowl as she noted the heading. Apparently, someone hadnoticed she hadn’t taken the courses for the navy and were now requiring it.Damn.

Like she needed the distraction.

She was still fuming at the injustice in theuniverse when she got to work. She checked in and got another email with a textto report to the educational administrator’s office. She sighed and handed herduties off to her partner and took off to find out what the problem was.

“Ah, Nurse Gayle. Interesting name,” the Veraxinstated when she knocked on the office door. He scuttled and tilted his odd headuntil all four eyestalks looked at her. “Ah, there you are.”

“You wanted to see me, Director?”

“Yes. It has come to my attention that you havebeen remiss in updating your credentials.”

“Sir? I am up to date on all certifications.”

“Except your naval career.”

“I’m in a navy hospital, sir,” she reminded him.The director was a civilian contractor, one of the rare civilians in thehospital. He was so good at his job that the navy had accepted his services andhad not forced him to become an officer.

“I understand that. But the navy wants all of theI’s dotted and T’s crossed as the metaphor goes. Which means we need to carveout some time for you to get that sorted out. And I understand you applied tobecome a surgical nurse?”

“I was undergoing classes for the upgrade before Iwas reassigned to Antigua,” she said stiffly.

“Well, that is on hold until the military gets itsway. Unless you are considering resigning?”

“I did think about it,” she admitted.

“Well, if you did, you would be missed here,” hesaid offhand.

Her eyes narrowed. “And what is that supposed tomean?”

“It means you would be unqualified to work in thishospital. You would no longer be a naval officer. You would have effectivelyquit your job. Of course with the capital expanding so explosively, you wouldfind work elsewhere in our industry. The resignation might serve as a cloudover any prospective employers though,” he warned.

She frowned, clearly unhappy. She hadn’t quitegotten that far into gaming out her possible life paths. Now that he mentionedit, the idea of a resignation in her record would not look good. There would bequestions as to why. Her answer of not wanting to get qualified to be anofficer would make them wonder if she tended to skip over critical details,which would mean some juicy jobs might pass her over for patient safety.

Which wouldn’t be good on her record either. Wordlike that got around.

“I can take the online courses,” she sighed.

“I’m afraid it is a bit more involved than that,”he said.

“Excuse me?” she asked as she blinked.

“You are an officer who never attended theacademy. You have served in that capacity for some time. Makeup classes can betaken but you also are required to attend in person classes.”

She frowned. “I took a few basic courses on ET.The mandatory ones.”

“Which are in your record. But to be an officer,especially a medical officer, there is a lot more involved I’m afraid.”

She growled softly and wondered if Raina had sether up. She wouldn’t put it past the senior nurse to try to push her out of thenest just when she was getting comfortable.

“What are we talking about here? I’m not willingto run around a track or play soldier,” she growled.

“Your ignorance of your naval career is one reasonyou need this educational experience. I suggest you take a tour of the academyand look into your future more deeply. To that end you’ll be reassigned to half-dayshifts three days a week. The rest of the time you are to get your credentialsup to date. If you need to adjust that schedule, let me know.”

She opened her mouth to protest and then closed itslowly. Half-day shifts were nothing. Nurses worked full twelve- or twenty-four-hourshifts. Being on half day would make her a fill-in. She didn’t like it.

“I realize it is not optimal to your currentschedule. But this must be rectified,” the Veraxin said sternly. “I suggest youconsider your options carefully.”

“Am I still going to be paid to train?” she asked.

“Of course.”

“Fine, I’ll look into it,” she growled, clearlyunhappy.

“Excellent. This is, after all, a teachinghospital, so we encourage all of our staff to continue to better themselves.Please avail yourself of the educational opportunity here.”

She sniffed and then left. It wasn’t quite a stormout but it was as close as the diminutive nurse could get to it.

<<<*>>>

Academy Snippet 3

 Happy Veterans Day!

So, Rea sent me the manuscript back yesterday. I finished the edits and shot it off to Goodlifeguide. Fingers crossed it will come out before T-day.

Speaking of which, I was asked to throw a second T-day (today) for family who surprised us by coming into town. So, I'm about to run around like a chicken with its head cut off some more. (oh, wait, that's the turkey! never mind)

On to the snippet!

This is from the second story:

 

Katya followed the directions she had been givenand walked down the corridor on her assigned floor with her gear. She tried notto look too closely, aware of the line of other students behind her. They had avery short window to get into their dorm rooms, get squared away, and thenready for an inspection. She saw a group of cadets being balled out by anothercadet, possibly an upperclassman. She was a bit confused about that distinction;she initially didn’t understand that the upperclassman was acting as aninstructor. The guy was in their face, chewing them out while brandishingsomething she couldn’t quite see yet.

When she got closer, she noted it was a crumpled-upwrapper from a candy bar. There was a balled-up bag for chips too. More debriswas on the ground. The deck she reminded herself. The room looked like a bombhit it, strewn and torn apart.

One of the cadets, a human girl, was damn near intears. She wanted to intervene but was shocked by the tableau and slowed herstride.

That was a mistake; it drew the attention of thepredator in the form of the senior cadet. He turned his glower her way and shestiffened. “Problem, Larva?”

“Just ah … passing through,” she said carefully,swallowing her pride. She should know better than to make waves and drawattention to herself.

He sized her up and down. “You new here?”

“Yes … sir,” she said. She didn’t know whatinstinct told her to call him sir but she knew better than to ignore it in thisinstance.

“Keep moving!” a voice said from the back of theline.

“You haven’t learned to report at attention,cadet?” he asked icily.

She frowned but put her gear down and braced toattention. Others following behind her were suddenly blocked. There was somemumbling but then they too dropped their gear to see what the holdup was.

The senior cadet sized her up and then the group.His brown eyes trailed to them like knives. Katya glanced at the duo of girlswho had been his original prey. They seemed to be regaining their composureduring the momentary distraction.

“Name, cadet?” the voice said, making her snapback to attention.

“Katya Budnova,” she replied.

“That’s Cadet Katya Budnova. Didn’t they teach youanything, plebe?” the senior cadet demanded.

She thought about how to respond and then justdecided to be honest. “There is a first time for everything,” she replied witha shrug.

He glowered at her. Some of the other cadetslooked surprised at her insolence.

“Put yourself down for two demerits cadet. Thenget out of my sight. Get your gear squared away and read the in brief pronto.”

“Yes, sir,” she replied as she gathered up hergear and got into motion once more. Prick, she thought as she paced him.He had already turned his back to her. She gave the girls a roll of her eyesand kept going. The group behind her quietly moved to their assigned quartersas well.

<<<*>>>

She had just enough time to find her quarters andstart to put her gear away before the senior cadet arrived in the doorway for asnap inspection.

Her roommate arrived behind him and blushed as sheducked past him and stood by her rack.

He examined the room and then sniffed. “You twobetter get squared away. You are in the kiddy pool now, but being in the navyis not for kids. Learn the ropes fast or get yanked.” He glowered at Katya. “Ihave a feeling you won’t last long,” he growled before he about-faced and left.

Katya felt her spine stiffen but she didn’t sayanything. She looked at her roommate who was sagging a little.

If she couldn’t hack that, she was in for a roughride, Katya thought. “I’m Katya. And you are …?”

“Sorry, Norma Jean.”

“Ah.”

“Are you from Syntia’s World?”

“No, ET.”

She wrinkled her nose in confusion. “ET?”

“Epsilon Triangula.”

Her eyes widened. “Oh! The place with the mob andbig cities?”

“Yeah,” Katya drawled. She turned and finishedputting her stuff away. She compared it to the image on her HUD. So far sogood.

“Um …,” the girl was just putting things into herpress willy-nilly.

“Follow the inspection list,” Katya warned. Shewas used to checklists and inspections from her time as a pilot.

“Excuse me?” the girl asked defensively.

“The inspection sheet in the manual. They’ll comeback and check our stuff. If the socks aren’t right, they’ll throw them on thedeck and make us redo stuff. And we have to pay in demerits later.”

The mousy brown haired girl blinked.

“You may want to get a haircut too. They can dingus for a lot of stuff. Hair, nails, uniform, bed …,” she indicated the racks.They were still clean and neat. “Dust,” she indicated the single desk andchair. “Anything.”

“Oh. Was that what that was about? Those kidsgetting balled out for having food?”

Katya nodded. “Yeah.”

“Oh. Damn,” the girl bit her lip. “What did I getmyself into?” she muttered before she got to work. “Can you ah … help me?”

“You don’t have the implant module?”

“Um, I’m not sure how to access it. What was yourname again?”

“Katya. Here,” the older woman pulled up her HUDand sent the girl a text. She had to patiently explain how to access theimplants while they exchanged contact information. Along the way, she got a bitof the girl’s backstory. Norma had been a wet merchant officer on a ship on herhomeworld before jumping at the chance to join the navy.

They bonded a little as they got squared away. Shelearned a bit about how it was important to share knowledge and help eachother. You could know everything with your implants but if you didn't sharethat information or know how to access it then it wasn't worth spit.

She also learned that they could be penalized forinfractions that were collective. If one failed, they all failed, just like ona ship. It was a bit hard to take in. There were a lot of concepts to absorb,and they definitely liked to leave the plebes to flounder and find their ownlevel.

A female senior cadet came around and did aninspection. They could see outside the door where a pair of males were gettingballed out by another senior cadet across the corridor. The girls were nervousbut resigned to what was about to happen.

“Been through this before?” the woman asked.

“Pilot, ma’am,” Katya volunteered.

That earned a bit of side eye. “I didn’t ask foryour life history. Very well. Which of you got the demerits?”

“I did, ma’am,” Katya sighed internally.

“You’ll have to work them off Friday. Don’t letBrian or Ferris catch you looking bad. No food in the dorm rooms obviously,”the woman sniffed. “Make sure your room and appearance are clean and neat atall times. Regs are regs, stick to them. If you get dinged, don’t offer anexcuse, just accept the punishment. If you try to fight it, you will just endup sorry and sore. This is the navy—rightway, wrong way, navy way. You have the rules in your implants. Read them andlive by them or be sorry.”

“Yes, ma’am,” the two ladies responded in unison.

“Trying to stay under the radar works for some. Youget by better if you remember to work as a team, just like on a ship. Getmouthy and uppity and you’ll pay for it,” the woman said as she leveled a lookon Katya again. Katya didn’t rise to the bait and kept her own counsel.

“Seriously, familiarize yourself with yourimplants, regs, and honor code, all of it. You need to be a sponge, quiet butabsorbing everything. Eyes, ears, and no mouth unless required. Can I get aread back?”

“Be a sponge, ma’am—eyes, ears, and no mouth unless required,” the twowomen replied in ragged unison. Norma Jean hesitated a little but fell intoplace with Katya’s impersonal tone of voice.

The senior cadet nodded curtly.

“Protocol too. I know it is a lot. Sir or ma’am isfine. Right now you are Larva, the lowest of the low. A plebe. Get used to it.The only way out is to quit or upwards. Figure your path out. If you can’t hackthe class load, well, there are tutorials, and there are cadets who can help.Don’t drown.”

Katya noted Norma Jean ready to ask something butthe woman’s eyes shifted to her. The girl gulped and straightened up,swallowing back her question instantly.

“Don’t get stupid and raise a sexual complaint unlessyou record it. If you do file one, all hell will come down on you so becareful. No one has time for that crap so don’t be too sensitive. Some of theguys will press you just to push a button. They’ll be recording too. Get areputation as a tattletale and you’ll make yourself a target. So don’t.”

The two didn’t know what to say so they remainedsilent.

She gave them a few more looks and then left.

Norma Jean sighed and sat on the bed. Katya notedit instantly ruined the sharp folds but said nothing. She just shook her head.

“What have I gotten myself into?” the other womansaid with a sigh.

Katya was wondering the same thing.

<<<*>>>

Academy Snippet 2

   Insanity is about to strike, on top of my usual holiday stuff I've been tasked with throwing two Thanksgivings this month. I was asked a few days ago to throw an early one Saturday for family coming into town. I'm going to be busy. lol 

Not to mention pooped when it is all said and done. lol

 Right into the first story:

A Proper Naval Officer’s Education

 

Annapolis,Bek

 

There were so many prospective naval recruits eachyear that there were different academies on Bek and off. The Citadel,Annapolis, the Britannia Naval College, and four others were the premier ones.Getting into one of them took some hard work and commitment… not to mentionsome proper connections.

A few people each year went the community college oruniversity ROTC route and managed to get in. Those people would never getbeyond a reservist or REMF position within the fleet. At best they would beshoved off to shuffle papers or man a desk in a recruiting office.

Shooters, also known as the gun club were wherethe real action and path for promotion was. Get in there and Gregory knew he’dbe made.

Annapolis was the one academy that all shootersstrove for. Once you got in there and graduated you were introduced to theclub. Your career would be covered by others who had graduated from your almamater. He had set himself on the course for Annapolis early.

His family came from a long line of navy officersreaching back to the inception of the Bekian branch of the Federation navy. Hewas ninety percent human, only a small percentage of his genes were chimera. Helearned to appreciate those modifications as he grew older.

Minor screw ups could be swept under the rug. Youscratch my back; I’ll scratch yours when you call in the favor later. It was nowonder that half of the naval families sent their kids there. They looked outfor each other and helped or hindered each other’s advancement later.

The strategic thinking taught in the academyclassrooms and simulators were not only for ships. A large part of what seepedinto them over time was the political strategy. An officer needed to thinkabout the bigger picture and the long term.

He thought he was fully prepared for the academy.He had gone to military boarding school growing up. He had been trained to militarystandards of life and culture since he could walk. He ate, slept, and breathedthe navy and had never thought of any other sort of a career.

At least he was doing something with his life. Hislittle sister Britney wanted to be a cosplayer and make costumes, or become apop singer, or both. She had flunked out of every military school that theirparents had sent her into one way or another. They’d finally given up and senther to an all girl’s boarding school. She’d settled down but for a time there shehad started to turn into a serious liability and public embarrassment to thefamily.

Perhaps intentionally? A rebellious streak to gether own way that won in the end? He hadn’t known she could be so devious.Perhaps she had some strategic skills after all.

He reported for duty with the crush of othercadets. All but 3 had gone to some formal boarding school; they were allsquared away from the beginning. The other 3 were close but he knew that theupper classman and instructors would be on them like rabid dogs.

He had been fortunate enough to have taken a tourof the campus during the summer, and of course he had been there for hiscousin’s graduation. That meant he’d gotten a lot of his tourist mentality outof him and didn’t look around. He hoped he kept a professional mask as hewalked past the statue of the rearing goat, the mascot of the academy.

The building oozed old. It was made out of stone,or at least appeared a such. The entrances were grand, rising up over 5 meters.The ornate walls were alabaster white. The floors had geometric tiles on them.The staircase was grand. He took it one step at a time since he had his bagwith him.

At the top was the plaque with the impressivewords, ‘Don’t Give Up The Ship’.

Inscribed on the brass plaque were the immortalwords dedicating it to the alumni who had given their lives to defending theideals of the Federation. The wording was rather careful since as far as hisknowledge base held there had been no Bekian killed in action. In fact therehad been no combat in Bek or in the pocket of space they resided in.

The plaque was bracketed by the flag of theFederation on the left and the flag of Bek on the right. There were lit panelswith the list of names of people who had died in accidents and other incidentsover the seven centuries since the academy had been founded.

He saw a cadet linger to look but studiouslyavoided the plaque. He’d seen it before. Instead he turned smartly to the rightand headed down a corridor to another. He had the map seared into his memory.

As soon as he found his dorm he quietly got hisgear squared away. One bed and press had already been taken. He ignored themand focused on unpacking quickly and professionally. Three other cadets joinedhim after a moment; the first had been in the head.

They exchanged names softly but each was busy.They smiled tentatively, obviously nervous and excited, but they knew what wascoming.

Gregory just finished getting his uniforms andclothes stored to regulation and his duffle stowed as well when the door openedbehind him. He turned smartly and came to attention. His sharp move made theothers look up and then brace to attention as well.

A cold Elven upperclassman came in and checkedthem over. He sized them up and then leveled a look on Greg. “Pacifier?” hedemanded.

“Sir?” Greg asked, confused.

“Do you have a hearing issue Plebe? I asked if youare a pacifier. You know, a boarding school wanna be,” the high elf saidcontemptuously. He was tall and gangly, the typical blue skin with long limbsof his subspecies. The long braided hair and long ears and his cat eyes madehim intimidating as he towered over the plebes.

“I… Sir, this cadet did attend boarding school yessir,” he said as he remembered what he’d been rehearsed to say.

The elf glowered at him and then turned to look ateach of the others. All three confirmed they too had attended naval boardingschool.

“Very well. You are pacifiers. Don’t think we’llgo any easier on you. If your shit is squared away then fall out.”

They immediately fell out to the corridor and cameto attention again. Greg heard other upperclassman bawling out some of theother cadets. He studiously kept his eyes front and center and 6 centimetersabove the brow line above the doors.

“I am midshipman Trip Shenandoah. You will notscrew up. You will abide by the regulations or you will besorry,” the elf growled. He strode up and down and then back.

“I expect you to frack up. I might even encourageyou to lower your guard to frack up. Just so we’re on the same page, I’missuing you each a demerit as a way of greeting,” he said.

One of the plebes opened his mouth and the elf wason him in an instant. He went nose to nose to him. “Yes? Something to sayplebe?” he demanded in a cold voice.

“Nothing sir!” the plebe replied.

As starts went this was not a good one,” Gregthought.

“Oh, so you think you are better than me? Wellplebe, that’s now two demerits for each of you. Anyone else want to foul my airwith your useless excuses?” he demanded as he surveyed the others.

“No sir!”

“Oh good. You can work the demerits off now. Onelap around the campus. Double time it. Move out!” he barked, voice droppinginto a bass bellow.

They didn’t have time to change into their PTuniforms. They had to rush out at a trot.

Yup, as far as starts went, this one was peachy,Greg thought in annoyance.

<<<*>>>

Academy Snippet 1

 So I am moving forward with Academy (finally!) It has been sitting on the back burner long enough.

I actually wrote it earlier this year before Horatio 5. I've been sitting on it for some reason.

Anyway, here we go.

Academy is a series of stories with interludes at a military wedding reception...

Tulip-Camper Wedding Reception, Antigua

 

“You have to admire them,” Commander Gregory Yeggisaid as he watched the newlywed couple with a trace of envy and pity. Envy thatthey’d found each other, pity because he suspected he knew what was coming intheir future.

The 2 humans were having a grand old time on thedance floor. It was their wedding after all, and it was high time to party.There might be a war on but that didn’t mean life stopped. Technically therewere 2 wars going on, the Federation was at war with the pirates in Sigma andother sectors, and the Tauren Confederacy in Tau sector.

At the moment you couldn’t tell that from theatmosphere in the large room. He was grateful from the reprieve of crushingresponsibility, no matter how small a time period it was. In a few days itwould be back to work once more.

He was a chimera, a human with elven, alien, andneo genes. He sported long elven ears, a long slim frame and face, cat likeeyes, and a series of spike horns on either side of his temple ranging backinto his braided black hair. His skin was a golden color unblemished by tattoosor defects.

“How so?” the army officer sitting across from himat the table asked curiously. The wreckage of their meal had been swept up bythe quiet catering team some time ago. Just the usual drinks and personaleffects remained to mark where people had been sitting and may return.

“Sorry, you are…?” the Bekian asked. The armyofficer was a Neochimp male with a bit of a hulking presence. He had noted theMajor at the party out of interest because the officer was in army green notthe usual navy blue.

Their table was mostly deserted at the moment;many of the people were out visiting other people, dancing on the dance floor,or getting drinks at the bar.

The wedding had gone as expected. The blushingbride and blushing groom and all. The wedding party had been replenished informal dress uniforms; there had been only the 1 stand out civilian on the sideof the bride. A lot of the audience had been military too. The antics of thetoddler flower girl and ring bearer had livened up the formal mood. Seeing thelittle kitten chasing flowers and then curling up for a nap had been adorable.

The reception had gone well with the usualspeeches, antics, and photo ops. He had some good shots of his former bossgetting cake crammed up his nose to share with the ship’s company when he gotback on board.

He was heartily glad they were down to the funpart, to relax and enjoy without anymore crap. Just party. He glanced to thegroup going all out on the dance floor. The wedding had a very good DJ andplanner.

His gaze shifted to the center of the dance floorto see the bride and groom tearing it up on the dance floor and snorted.  Dirty dancing indeed. They were breaking outmoves that would scandalize quite a few people.

“Major Louis Chimpsky.” the Neochimp stated as heplayed with his drink idly.

“Ah,” the Commander replied with a nod. “I’mCommander Gregory Yeggi. To answer your question, they found love whilemaintaining a lifelong career,” he said.

The major nodded slightly. Anyone above alieutenant’s rank knew how difficult it was to maintain a work life balance inthe military, especially one at war. It got worse when one person was deployedfor years at a time. If both people were in the military they could be sent tothe ends of the Federation. Throw in the anxiety of not knowing if your partnerwas alive or dead and it was tough. The complexity of having kids eventually aswell just blew all of that into the stratosphere.

Most careerists did not want the problem of apartner or kids; they wanted to rise through the ranks as rapidly as possible.It took a rare set to find each other in these trying times.

“Yeah, it is tougher for you spacers I suppose,”the major said. He looked around the room. There were a lot of formal jacketson the back of chairs. Everyone was loosening up now that the formalities wereover. They would be seeing off the couple soon.

“So, how do you know the newlyweds?” CommanderYeggi asked.

“Ah?” the Major cocked his head. He had a bluffchiseled look to him. No nonsense, someone who had seen a lot.  He flapped his hands after a moment. “Sorry,I’m a plus one.”

“Ah.” the commander nodded sagely.

“What about you?” the major asked.

“Oh, I served with Captain Campers in two tours. Iwas his XO on the cruiser Hudson during our last deployment,” he saidproudly.

“Ah,” the major said idly. “Do I hear a bit of aBekian accent?” he asked.

“Yes,” the commander replied with a wary nod. Somepeople did not appreciate his kind.

The army officer studied him and then flapped a hand.“Nuevo,” he said.

The Bekian blinked. “Ah. I should have known,there aren’t that many army personnel here yet,” he said.

“No, we’re almost at a balance now. New Texas,Avalon, and the rest of the worlds in the sectors have been contributingpersonnel steadily. But the hard green core comes from Nuevo,” he said proudly.

The commander nodded. He thought the same thingabout the navy but there were some who thought differently. There were a lot ofpeople who resented Bekian superiority. He kept his counsel about it just incase someone was in ear shot. There were plenty of people around and some hadhit the bar a lot.

“I heard that they put in for same dutyassignments,” a female voice said. They turned to the human Commander who wassitting 2 chairs down from them. “Sorry to eavesdrop. Commander Katya Budnova,”she said as she indicated herself.

The 2 officers noted the woman as she took herjacket off and put it over the back of her chair. Her left lapel had wings soshe was a pilot certified officer.

“Few,” she said as she took a sip of wine. “I’mhalf blind from the flash photos,” she said.

The other officers smiled in understanding.

“So, they put in to the same duty assignment?” themajor asked. “And BuPers let them have it?” he asked dubiously. “Is that evenpossible?”

“Yeah, I know. BuPers is ruled by low and infernalpeople. Most have a twisted sense of humor,” she said with twisted lips. Thatearned soft snorts from the other officers. “Scuttlebutt has it that one orboth of them went to BuPers to announce their engagement. They don’t share thesame chain of command, so that isn’t a problem.”

“But it potentially could be since both are navalofficers,” Commander Yeggi observed.

“No, Sheila is sitting on admiral Snake Charmer’sstaff as her staff TO and captain Camper is a ship captain as you know,” shereplied with a shrug. “I’m CAG on Decorum,” she said. They blinked andabsorbed that news. She took a sip of her wine and then set it down. “That ishow I know anyway,” she said by way of explanation.

“Ah.”

“BuPers tried to separate them, or so thestory goes. One or both offered up their resignation.” That startled the otherofficers. “BuPers had a sudden change in heart and assigned them to the samefleet.” The pilot smiled a feral smile.

Commander Yeggi blinked and then his lips pursedin a thoughtful silent whistle. “I didn’t know you could blackmail BuPers likethat. Usually if an officer offers to resign they get reassigned or allowed toresign,” he said dubiously. There were ways to get out of an assignment but adirect confrontation usually ended poorly.

“Yeah, but several high ranking officersintervened on their behalf. Scuttlebutt has it that it went up to AdmiralChampion, possibly even to Admiral Irons.” Again the 2 other officers stared ather in surprise. The pilot shrugged. “What can I say? Admiral Sprite andAdmiral Irons have a romantic soft core somewhere.”

That earned a snort of disdain from the commander.

Rumor also had it that Irons favored anyone notfrom Bek. He still held a grudge over the Childress insurrection supposedly. Itsucked, Bekians should be getting their just due, and the Navy should beconforming to their long standing traditions not forcing them into an unwantedmold.

“So, they are in the same fleet? That doesn’t meanthey’ll get to be together,” the Major said.

“Not sharing the same bed nightly maybe, butsharing the same fleet means they can communicate with each other moreregularly. They can share leave together, that sort of thing,” the pilot saidas she ran a hand through her short hair. Like all pilots she had short hair tofit under her helmet. The sides of her head had been shaved. They could see thefaint glitter of implant jacks on either side of her head. That indicated shewas a high level pilot.

Given that she was a CAG on a carrier she was nodoubt quite highly skilled.

“What’d I miss?” another female officer asked ashe sat next to the pilot. She downed her wine glass and then looked around foranother. The small Neomutt looked a little… tired. She panted a little.

The men knew better than to point out that thepilot was a bit sweaty. Women do not sweat they ‘glowed’. Anyone who thoughtdifferently might get into trouble, especially if they were of the wrong genderwho pointed such differences out.

“Have fun on the dance floor?” the pilot askedwith a knowing grin.

The newcomer rolled her green eyes. “You know it,”she said with an answering grin.

“Going to take anyone home?” the pilot asked witha broadening smile.

“No, he’s taken damn it,” the newcomer said with amoue of disappointment. The pout had the pilot snorting in amusement. “You’reone to talk,” the woman growled. She turned to the others. “So, are you inTenth fleet too?”

“Ah, no,” Commander Yeggi said with a shake of hishead. He had been retained in Home Fleet. He’d thought he’d take over for theskipper but apparently not. He was to take up command of a tin can next week.It would be his first command.

“Obviously not,” the major said dryly holding up ahand. “Plus one.”

“Ah. I’d wondered,” the Lieutenant Commander said.She checked her jacket. The glitter of a cadeaus on her left lapel indicatedshe was a doctor.

“Sorry, this is Lieutenant Commander DorothyGayle, call her Stitches,” the pilot said by way of introduction to thenewcomer. She then introduced the other officers in return.

“Stitches?” the chimera asked as he wrinkled hisnose. It was a common nickname among surgeons but he was curious as to why. Theshort Neomutt didn’t look like a surgeon.

“If she doesn’t crack you up she might crack yoursternum to get nosy and make adjustments to your soft bits just for the funof it,” the pilot said wickedly. The medic opened her mouth to say something inprotest, closed it and then lowered a glower on her partner.

“Low blow crop-duster,” she growled, green eyesflickering in challenge.

The pilot snickered. “Seen any ruby slippers ortwisters lately Toto?” she teased back.

The medic turned away with a sniff as anotherofficer quietly sat at their table. She turned to the commander and noted hisring. “Ring knocker?” she asked with a cock of her head.

He touched his ring and played with it. “Yes.” Hekept the statement neutral. Some people did not like academy graduates. Hishomeworld was not popular among those who were not born there.

“Bek?” she asked as she cocked her head.

“Yes. A problem?” he asked in challenge.

She smiled. It was a warm smile that helped to puthis defensive aura at ease a little. “So, what’s it like? I went to the academyin Antigua…”

“And now she teaches at it. Or did until she wasassigned to Tenth fleet with the rest of us,” the pilot interjected.

“Hush,” the medic scolded, turning her head to herpartner.

“Or?” the pilot asked.

The medic turned a look on her. She held it for along moment and then took on a thoughtful evil look. The pilot put her handsup. “Okay, just teasing. No need to trot out the nuclear arsenal Stitches,” shesaid.

The Neodog just raised an eyebrow at her.

“Seriously, I’ll behave,” the pilot said in asmall voice as she seemed to shrink into herself.

The Neodog snorted as did the others around thetable. “That’ll be a first,” she teased with a grin and ear flick. She turnedher eyes on the commander again. “So, what was the academy like?”

“Well, it was… different I suppose thanwhat it is now…”

“How so?”

“Well, when I went to the academy Carolinehadn’t turned up yet,” the commander said. The others nodded. The light cruiserCaroline had successfully navigated the rapids to get into the pocket ofspace that Bek and Nuevo existed in, isolated and forgotten by the rest of thegalaxy for centuries. Admiral Irons had visited during his time as a juniorflag officer during the first stages of the Xeno war. He had been there to setup the star systems as a last ditch redoubt of civilization should the Xenoswin.

Bek had built a massive navy to protect itselfagainst the Xenos. Nuevo had gone in the other direction, building a massivearmy on its 2 inhabited worlds, primarily to fight a never ending war againstthe worms that infested the planets.

Bek had lost the ability to build hyperdrivesuntil Caroline had shown up. It wasn’t the only thing that they’d lostthough...

Lewiston Strong

 So, as many people know, I'm from New England.

   Actually, I'm from Lisbon Falls Maine. Yeah, the one in the news. You know the feeling when you get tickled when your home town is in the news? I used to love the idea of it. Now? Not so much. 

   So, even though it has been 33 years since I left, I remember it well. So, I know the boat ramp where Card's car was found, I used to play there when we went to the Big Dipper restaurant or I'd walk down the hill from the Lisbon side where the 2nd ambulance barn was at. I know the woods where his body was found, there are trails that criss-cross the state. I used to be able to walk a trail almost to other towns. I loved being able to walk the trails to and from school. I even found an old car in the woods near Lisbon High that had an old 30's car in it at the bottom of a ravine with trees growing out of it!

   I was (and still am) a weird kid, I wasn't into sports but I loved to build forts and play in the woods. I loved playing pretend. (probably where a lot of my stories come from!) So, yeah, I still remember Maine fondly. I miss the trees! The snow? Not so much. Lol

   It saddens me that someone would do that... it just sickens me. We are still trying to find out if we knew some of the people, a few of the names are familiar... but distantly. My aunt knew the people at the bowling alley, (she lives with her wife and my gram and her mother in law in Lewiston) unfortunately, she's not speaking much since she is a nurse and rather busy at the moment.

   We have as I mentioned, friends and family in the area. I know they are still in shock and sad.

  To those who lived through it, I hope you get well soon. To those who died, may you rest in peace. To the families, big zen hugs from my family to yours.

Beyond Pi is publishing!

 

About:

Admiral Horatio Logan has been through a lot of ups anddowns in his lifetime. He survived the Xeno war after his ship was shot outfrom under him, centuries in stasis, a time as a virtual slave in Pyrax, andthen the dawning hope and rebirth of the Federation.

He survived a near civil war and kangaroo court martial inBek. He survived the pirates in Pi and completed his secret mission with the Stargateproject. He thought he was done with politics until they surprised him, rearingtheir ugly head once more.  He is asurvivor though.

In a neighboring sector nightmares from the past begin towaken…

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CK6Q24FD

B&N: EAN 2940185937570 I'll update with a link when it goes live.

Beyond Pi Snippet 3

 Sitrep: So, I checked my mail and Goodlife sent Beyond Pi back early! So, this is the last snippet. I'll publish the book later today or this weekend.

 

In Hyperspace

 

The rogue science ship, Lois Pasteur,made her cautious way across the void to the Omicron sector. The AI onboard had argued with the doctor many times about the idea of abandoning theirnormal route. He had overruled them by simple force of will and his role asowner of the ship. They were committed now anyway.

The ship’s AI Loi managed the internalsystems carefully. It controlled a legion of robots of various sizes and capacitiesto keep the ship running smoothly. It was his diligence that had allowed theship to remain functional over the centuries of the dark time.

Nikki, his android AI counterpart, was thesecond half of the equation. She managed the day-to-day operations of the shipas well. She was too limited to pilot the ship though; that task fell to eitherLoi, the doctor, or one of their subjects.

Doctor Mathis had been trying forcenturies to recreate his lost love through cloning and memory implants. Todate he had failed utterly or so he insisted.

In truth the bodies were perfect copies ofthe genetic template. There was no drift; each clone was a copy made from theoriginal, carefully maintained subject in a stasis pod. Her cells were culturedfrom samples and rigorously checked for genetic damage from the lethal amountof radiation she had sustained in life.

Since the subject’s DNA had been unstrungand encoded into their files before her accident, she was carefully preserved.

No, the fault laid in the improper copy ofher mind or so the doctor insisted. In truth he could not and would not acceptthat any copy of the original would hold those intrinsic flaws. They weregrowing up in a different environment and time, under different circumstances.They were effectively sisters of the original template.

The other issue was that the memoryimplant process was flawed. If they pushed the memory implants too far, itdamaged the subject. It involved reprogramming the entire brain neuron byneuron. Which was a problem since the original subject’s brain had been damagedbefore death and the process of sampling her mind to upload it to an AI hadn’tbeen complete because of that damage.

And then there was the doctor himself.Doctor Mathis, or, at least the original organic version had died years prior.He had also been preserved but this time in the science lab mainframe. He hadmaintained his bewilderment and grief over the loss of his beloved and hadcontinued with his obsession to bring her back no matter how long it took.

There were seven subjects currently beingcultured. The first had been woken early to help pilot the ship. Her inherenthelm skills had ensured their survival in the arduous trek across the void.Nikki was caring for her now. Loi checked on her and then went back to hisduties.

>>><><<< 

Doctor Mathis sighed as the inevitablesigns of failure manifested itself in the latest MRI and GRI scans of subjectZ981A. The young clone had begun to formulate her own memories and personalitythat differentiated from his beloved.

He could trace the change to when she waswoken to take the helm and endure the first scans. They really needed a bettermethod of implanting the memories into the subject brain while monitoring it.However, MRI and GRI scans were not reliable in the detailed nanometric levelhis work required within the close confines of the pod.

Just the act of transferring the subjectfrom the artificial uterus to the pod might be another factor for failure.

It was all so frustrating. But he wouldplay politics and allow Nikki to continue to coddle the youth until they founda proper place to drop her off and start anew once more.

>>><><<<