Sunday Snippet: Consortium of Chaos (a Chaos novella)

February kind offlew by, which isn't actually a big shock since it's a short month anyway. But,man, I kind of wish it went by a little slower. I'm always scrounging aroundfor time and short months make me feel like there's less to be had.

Still had troublefocusing this week but I got a lot accomplished on my work projects despite mydistraction. Luckily, I have more than one project going so I can hop aroundwhen I start to lose my concentration.

Had an okay week ofviewing. I have to figure out what's going on with one of my streamers. Thatcould take another week. But I did get through most of my usual shows.

Started with MyLife Is Murder and actually got two episodes watched. I like the pickupwith Alexa's brother again. I wondered if we'd see him this season. Alsoenjoyed both cases Alexa had to solve.

Watched the first partof Agatha Raisin. Poor James. I can't wait to find out who offed hisbride. I love the interaction between all the characters, but I'm sad Roy isn'tin this one. At least not yet.

Caught anotherepisode of Silent Witness. Kind of enjoyed having another case mixed inwith the ongoing saga of Sam Ryan. I'm really not sure what's going on with herand I'm not going to be super surprised if she ends up being in the clear. Alsoloved Nikki and Jack's date. Nice to get some backstory with Simone, too.

Enjoyed an episodeof Death in Paradise. I remember bits of this one and I'm glad I got tosee the whole thing from start to finish. Not a bad opening for season six.

Watched anotherepisode of Elementary. I liked seeing Sherlock realize he'd way oversteppedwith the NYPD. Also loved having the captain kind of take some of his dignity back.

Caught another episodeof The Batman. I'm not as fond of this season and I remember feelingthis way when I watched originally. The new format grew on me, and I'll settleback in and enjoy, but I really loved the first season of this show the most.

Enjoyed thepenultimate episode of The Secret Life of Amy Benson. Everything is comingto a head, and I can't wait to see how this ends.

Also rewatched the BattlestarGalactica resistance webisodes. Groundbreaking at the time, there's a lotof story packed into ten mini-episodes. And twenty years later, I'm stillstunned at how prescient the writers were for what's going on in the worldtoday.

And that's prettymuch it for the life update this week. Tonight's post is from Consortium ofChaos, a novella in my chaos series.

Here's the miniblurb:

A missing brother, a madman's sinister plot to make aperfect world, and a connection so strong it saves a life hundreds of milesaway. Ashton Sylvester and Esme Von Staunton never have a dull moment.

And a preview snippet…

Ash became unsettled as soon as Esmelaunched. His weird sixth sense all but screamed a warning that something didn'tfeel right.

Smithers picked up on Ash's unease."Can I do anything, sir?"

Ash heaved a sigh. "How aboutyou drive me to the meeting and poke around in the shops, while I try to stayawake."

Smithers gave him a bland smile."You have the shorter end of the stick this time."

Ash couldn't disagree, especially sittingin on another session of the Consortium of Mining and Minerals. He onlylistened with half an ear because he didn't give a damn about any of the drivelslated for discussion. Sadly, keeping up appearances had become a necessaryevil.

Esme would be the first to remind meof that.

While the forechair droned on, Ashlet his mind wander. Intelligence reports came in slowly and he needed toremedy that issue. It might be time to take on a little more risk and use the zeppelins.He'd held back on that front because piracy was rampant in the skies.

A moment of guilt hit him. If he'dused them previously, they could've discovered the camps a lot sooner. Maybeprevented the infestation of the horrible places. Kept good people from beingforced to work in the mines.

Like Esme's brother.

Ash wondered if she'd made contactwith Eric yet. He cast a quick eye to his time piece. He'd know in a few hours.Grayswander would send a communiqué soon.

The forechair switched the topicover to the sale of Olympus.

Ash narrowed his eyes in anger. Itwas a touchy subject for him. He'd voted against the mining of the mineraluntil more research could be done. But the limitless potential for energyderived from the refined ore had the consortium too lathered up to wait. Onceit had been discovered that in its unrefined state the rock had mind-alteringproperties, Ash presented a motion to halt all mining until proper safetymethods could be put in place.

The members got a whiff of how theycould create a new market for usage … and the more dubious members of the consortiumwanted to not only keep the mining of the mineral but also made the decision tomake it available to the masses. Until they understood the complex nature ofthe meteor rock, Ash thought it should be used only for medical purposes in itsunrefined state.

Needless to say, he'd beenoutvoted.

The damned stuff would be society'sdownfall. The desire to turn a profit won out over the potential hazardsOlympus presented. That kind of greed and avarice sickened Ash. Maybe hecouldn't dissuade the trade for the stuff, but he could influence safepractices in the mining operations and refining processes.

Even though the council would fighthim tooth and nail.

And the man leading the chargewould be Mobride.

It didn't make sense. Why would heor anyone in consortium object to providing respirators to the workforce?Olympus had proven dangerous in raw form. Once processed, it lost its unstableand narcotic effect.

The answer hit Ash like ahydrohammer.

And he did not like it.

He almost interrupted theproceedings and demanded confirmation but thought better of it. He should dosome stealthy digging around first.

If Ash had guessed correctly, the contrivanceangered him. He might not be able to dissuade the trade of Olympus, but hewould use influence and demand safe practices in the mining operations andrefining processes. He didn't give a hang how it affected the bottom line andprofits of the society.

He knew in his bones, he'd guessedcorrectly. Someone—a very big someone—in the council didn't want safe workingconditions for the workforce. Instead, their preference would lean more towardfast consumption with minimal output. Hook the workers on the stuff and theydidn't care how dangerous the job would … or if they got paid.

Keep the supply flowing and createmore demand when the wage-earners became addicted to the Olympus. Pay them less—theywouldn't care—and hell … the plan actually came across as rather brilliant.

And damned evil.

And Ash would find a way to stopit.

I'm having so muchfun writing this series. It's got a steampunk flair but doesn't dive completelyinto the genre.

 

That's it for thisweek.

Cheers!

Skye