Dyego Alehandro's Blog, page 3

The Science and History of Avarice Dynasty

I knew when I first started writing a science fiction story that I didn’t want it to be ‘hard sci-fi.’ Hard sci-fi, in a simplified nutshell, refers to stories that are so laden down with scientific formulae and math that one would need a doctorate in physics to understand. The stories revolve around the science, usually in such a way that the science is more of a character than any of the people. Those kinds of books are popular and I have nothing against them at all, I just knew that’s not what I wanted. I may have aced math and science in school but I find research incredibly boring. I didn’t want to have to spend months checking and re-checking my facts to make sure they were correct.

In short, the ‘science’ of Avarice Dynasty isn’t really science. It is based on real science and could quite possibly happen. It would probably require all of the three thousand years between now and when the story is set to get these radical ideas to work. To be perfectly frank I like my stories to be fun even when they are set in a dystopian universe and what could be more fun than personal spaceships just a little bit bigger than sedans? But the rational, logical side of my brain (the part that’s always at war with the creative side) demanded that there be some explanation for these miracles.

One of the most significant events of Avarice Dynasty’s history is where my search for science really needed to start. Some quick facts: the story is set about three thousand years from now on the other side of the Milky Way Galaxy from Earth. It is important for both the history and science of the story that we know how mankind got all the way over to the Frontier Worlds, as I have named them.

A scientist by the name of James Isaac Newton launched a fleet of six vessels to escape the tyranny of the Barons. I’ll get to the Barons in my next Argot, but suffice to say that they are evil and James wants to get himself and a nice small chunk of humanity away from them. He launches the Journeymen vessels and off they go on their journey! And this is the part where science comes in. Feel free to let your eyes glaze over for the next few paragraphs if you hate numbers and things; I nearly did.

The problem with space transport of any true length of time is storage of fuel, water, air and food. You can launch a bunch of people into space for fairly cheap but then you have to keep them alive once they’re up there. A gallon of water weighs eight pounds, people eat an average of 4.7 pounds of food a day, and the space shuttle requires 1,100,000 pounds of fuel solid just to get it to orbit. A year’s supply of water for one person at a gallon a day is just over 2,900 pounds and equivalent supply of food is just over 1,700 pounds. The shuttle itself is designed to ditch the containers that carry most of the fuel but they are also not designed to haul as much weight as our imaginary space-traveling-for-a-long-time vessel. If each Journeymen vessel carried 1,500 people (which they did) then we’re looking at 4,350,000 pounds of water and 2,550,000 pounds of food just for one year. That doesn’t even include the amount of breathable atmosphere that would need to be stored and I don’t even want to know how much that would weigh. And we keep coming back to those being the numbers just for one year. Even if the vessels traveled at the speed of light they would need 3.24 more years to reach our closest stellar neighbor, Proxima Centauri. Traveling at the more scientifically-feasible rate of half the speed of light (which is still way beyond our current capabilities) means that each Journeymen vessel would require 36,888,000 pounds of water and 21,624,000 pounds of food just for starters. Again, that doesn’t include water for washing nor does it include any potential births or sicknesses in which people might need extra food or water.

That’s 18,444 tons and 10,812 tons of water and food respectively for each vessel. According to some sources, the heaviest spacecraft and its rockets only weigh 1,500 tons. And, yet again, that doesn’t include the weight of the fuel it would take to get those craft off the ground. The quickest and easiest way for me to get around (some of) that immense problem was actually with James Isaac Newton’s invention: the Memphis Stardrive. One of the many benefits of the Memphis is that its powerful mechanism produces drinkable water and breathable atmosphere as a byproduct. That is at least based on scientific fact because a hydrogen engine would conceivably generate H20 as vapor byproduct. That’s as far as I got into researching how an engine would produce water or breathable air. The rest is Future Science™! With an engine that produces water and air the need for storing those reduces rather quickly. Add in the sci-fi staple of oxygen scrubbers and waste-product filters and you have a pretty-easy-while-still-semi-based-on-fact system of eliminating the water and oxygen storage problems. Food, well that’s different. I’ll get to that later.

However, such an incredibly complicated engine as the Memphis would require an immense power source, which comes back to the question of fuel and its weight as well. And that is where the Barons and their Kanjer Machine come in, which will be the subject of a future blog.

Still working…

Ah, making websites. So much fun!

The Barons

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I had three blog ideas ready for this month. Instead another driver decided stops were optional and totaled my vehicle, leading to rather acute pain for my wife and I. I hope you can forgive me for not writing sooner. This is a short explanation about the general government structure of the Barons, as found in my science-fiction series Avarice Dynasty.

The Barons are in charge of the Frontier Worlds and since the end of the Second Cartel War nobody will challenge that fact. They use the unstoppable Frez Jankins to destroy anyone who gets too far out of line. However, they have granted the six Alpha Cartels a substantial amount of leeway in the everyday governing of matters

At the top of the Baron “food-chain” are the Vier (four in German), whose identities are a closely guarded secret. Nobody outside of the Vier know who the Vier are, with the exception of Frez Jankins.He answers directly to them and is occasionally used to root out conspirators within the Barons themselves. In direct order of power, the ranks of the Barons are:

The Vier: The four absolute leaders of the entire Frontier Worlds. Their words and whims are law. They have direct control of Frez Jankins and the Mandators, an ultra-secret warrior sect.

The Mardukes: The Mardukes are in charge of Baron military operations and are warlords in everything but name. They are almost as elusive and secretive as the Vier.

The High Resheph: This position is generally held by a single person but occasionally a committee handles it. They have enormous power and act as a buffer between the Mardukes and their subordinates. They can even overrule a Marduke edict if the situation calls for it.

The Molochs: (I’ve been using this name since 1997; much longer than a certain conservative radio/television host) The Molochs are in charge of the financial operations of the Barons, which means pretty much the entire purpose of the Barons. They control vast tracts of commercial territories and are concerned only with the furthering of the Barons control of the economy.

The Militates: These are people just beginning to gain power in the Baron hierarchy. They are almost always assigned to a specific planet or project. They are also the highest Baron rank that ‘outsiders’ usually aspire to meet and deal with personally.

The Acolytes: These are the newcomers and there are six separate levels within their ranks alone. Entry to the Barons is only by selection; the Militates seek out and select people who have shown tremendous loyalty and competence and then induct them as Acolytes. Those who continue to show loyalty and promise are quickly given higher Acolyte ranks. First-Class Acolytes have a very strong chance of being promoted to Militates, while those who never rise above Sixth-Class are often drummed out of the Baron command chain. Sometimes Sixth-Classers are even executed for being too incompetent.

The Treaty of Six, which ended the Second Cartel War, placed specific ranks, privileges and duties upon the Alpha Cartels as well. But that’s another subject for another blog.

Gaining Inspiration: The Upside-Down Method

Inspiration comes in many forms. It also refuses to come in an equal number of forms. The malady known as “writer’s block” affects every creative person at some time in their life. For some people writer’s block is a constant state of being. It can be difficult to break past the frightening blank page, or blank canvas, blank bead tray, etcetera.

“Think outside the box!” is a phrase usually applied to gaining inspiration, or thinking creatively. But what box do we need to think outside of? Our house box? That certainly can work. Many great inventors, including Nikola Tesla, gained inspiration from taking long walks. In Phoenix, during the summer, our time for long walks is limited to very early or very late.

But I digress. Instead of trying to ‘think outside the box,’ it might be time to try thinking “Upside-Down.” The idea behind Upside-Down Inspiration is to freshen your perspective on something, rather like thinking outside of the box. Look at your situation from a different and fresh angle. If you are writing a story, imagine things backwards or upside-down. What if the good guys were really the bad guys? What if the love was actually hate? What if the destruction was really creation? If taking a photograph, why not take it upside-down? If designing a pattern, what if it was inside out?

By removing yourself from the situation and looking at it with new eyes you can often find just the spark you were looking for. Here’s a collection of photographs in their normal and upside-down versions to spark some creativity. If ever the Writer’s/Beader’s/Chef’s/Photographer’s/Etc’s Block hits, turn your world Upside-Down.

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The Science and History of Avarice Dynasty

I knew when I first started writing a science fiction story that I didn’t want it to be ‘hard sci-fi.’ Hard sci-fi, in a simplified nutshell, refers to stories that are so laden down with scientific formulae and math that one would need a doctorate in physics to understand. The stories revolve around the science, usually in such a way that the science is more of a character than any of the people. Those kinds of books are popular and I have nothing against them at all, I just knew that’s not what I wanted. I may have aced math and science in school but I find research incredibly boring. I didn’t want to have to spend months checking and re-checking my facts to make sure they were correct.

In short, the ‘science’ of Avarice Dynasty isn’t really science. It is based on real science and could quite possibly happen. It would probably require all of the three thousand years between now and when the story is set to get these radical ideas to work. To be perfectly frank I like my stories to be fun even when they are set in a dystopian universe and what could be more fun than personal spaceships just a little bit bigger than sedans? But the rational, logical side of my brain (the part that’s always at war with the creative side) demanded that there be some explanation for these miracles.

One of the most significant events of Avarice Dynasty’s history is where my search for science really needed to start. Some quick facts: the story is set about three thousand years from now on the other side of the Milky Way Galaxy from Earth. It is important for both the history and science of the story that we know how mankind got all the way over to the Frontier Worlds, as I have named them.

A scientist by the name of James Isaac Newton launched a fleet of six vessels to escape the tyranny of the Barons. I’ll get to the Barons in my next Argot, but suffice to say that they are evil and James wants to get himself and a nice small chunk of humanity away from them. He launches the Journeymen vessels and off they go on their journey! And this is the part where science comes in. Feel free to let your eyes glaze over for the next few paragraphs if you hate numbers and things; I nearly did.

The problem with space transport of any true length of time is storage of fuel, water, air and food. You can launch a bunch of people into space for fairly cheap but then you have to keep them alive once they’re up there. A gallon of water weighs eight pounds, people eat an average of 4.7 pounds of food a day, and the space shuttle requires 1,100,000 pounds of fuel solid just to get it to orbit. A year’s supply of water for one person at a gallon a day is just over 2,900 pounds and equivalent supply of food is just over 1,700 pounds. The shuttle itself is designed to ditch the containers that carry most of the fuel but they are also not designed to haul as much weight as our imaginary space-traveling-for-a-long-time vessel. If each Journeymen vessel carried 1,500 people (which they did) then we’re looking at 4,350,000 pounds of water and 2,550,000 pounds of food just for one year. That doesn’t even include the amount of breathable atmosphere that would need to be stored and I don’t even want to know how much that would weigh. And we keep coming back to those being the numbers just for one year. Even if the vessels traveled at the speed of light they would need 3.24 more years to reach our closest stellar neighbor, Proxima Centauri. Traveling at the more scientifically-feasible rate of half the speed of light (which is still way beyond our current capabilities) means that each Journeymen vessel would require 36,888,000 pounds of water and 21,624,000 pounds of food just for starters. Again, that doesn’t include water for washing nor does it include any potential births or sicknesses in which people might need extra food or water.

That’s 18,444 tons and 10,812 tons of water and food respectively for each vessel. According to some sources, the heaviest spacecraft and its rockets only weigh 1,500 tons. And, yet again, that doesn’t include the weight of the fuel it would take to get those craft off the ground. The quickest and easiest way for me to get around (some of) that immense problem was actually with James Isaac Newton’s invention: the Memphis Stardrive. One of the many benefits of the Memphis is that its powerful mechanism produces drinkable water and breathable atmosphere as a byproduct. That is at least based on scientific fact because a hydrogen engine would conceivably generate H20 as vapor byproduct. That’s as far as I got into researching how an engine would produce water or breathable air. The rest is Future Science™! With an engine that produces water and air the need for storing those reduces rather quickly. Add in the sci-fi staple of oxygen scrubbers and waste-product filters and you have a pretty-easy-while-still-semi-based-on-fact system of eliminating the water and oxygen storage problems. Food, well that’s different. I’ll get to that later.

However, such an incredibly complicated engine as the Memphis would require an immense power source, which comes back to the question of fuel and its weight as well. And that is where the Barons and their Kanjer Machine come in, which will be the subject of my next Argot.

On Why I Write

The question authors get asked the most: “Where do you get your ideas?” That’s easy to answer, really: large overdoses of caffeine and sugar combined with an overactive imagination. The second question I personally get asked the most is “Why do you write?”

That one is a little tougher to answer. The quick and humorous answer is that my deteriorating health and allergies prevent me from doing any kind of physical work. But it goes deeper than that. It’s actually easier to explain reasons why I don’t write.

I don’t write stories to make a statement. I don’t write stories to be analyzed. I write for entertainment value. Allow me to tell you a little story that I think best illustrates what I mean.

Back in 8th grade the literature teacher hosted a week-long analysis session on what was then my favorite poem: The Raven, by Edgar Allen Poe. We analyzed structure, rhyming, and phonetic patterns, and by the time that week was up I hated The Raven. We had analyzed it to death. All of the magic and mystery was gone and I can never read that poem without that session coming to mind and interrupting my enjoyment of the work.

It was at that point I realized why I don’t write (I’d already written my first novel by then). I never want my stories to be over-analyzed and destroyed like The Raven was for me. I write stories so that people can forget their troubles and simply enjoy a good book.

If just one person, only one, gets lost in my universes and forgets the real world for a little while, then I will consider myself a successful author. If just one person looks up at the clock and realizes it’s much later than they thought, how on Earth could they have been reading so long??…then I am a successful author.

I write to escape to other worlds, and I hope that others escape with me.