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Merimnae: Outbound
Long distance travel has always been challenging. From Columbus to Magellan to Rasinovsky and Chen Shan, the captain and crew had to face unknowns. The sponsors, planners, designers and forecasters could not anticipate everything.
On this, the first trip to Tau Ceti, 11.7 light years from Sol, the challenges for the four members of the crew did not only come from outside the starship. They came from Henry's guts. Memories of things he'd never experienced plagued him.
There seemed to be nothing he or the others could do to suppress the memories, and Titan was too far away. What kind of crisis loomed in the future: the brig, mutiny, suicide?
It would be a long flight.
On this, the first trip to Tau Ceti, 11.7 light years from Sol, the challenges for the four members of the crew did not only come from outside the starship. They came from Henry's guts. Memories of things he'd never experienced plagued him.
There seemed to be nothing he or the others could do to suppress the memories, and Titan was too far away. What kind of crisis loomed in the future: the brig, mutiny, suicide?
It would be a long flight.
125 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 3, 2021
About the author
William Altmann
20 books6 followersHello, my name is Bill. I write under my full name, William Altmann. So far, I have 17 books completed and all up on Amazon and most on Apple. Most are available as large print paperbacks because that's what my mother can read. My son (kudos to him) has done all my cover designs.
I've had a forty-plus-year career as an electrical engineer, working for companies large and small, established and not out of the womb. It's been fun (at times), interesting (at times), and paid the bills (all the time, so far). It's also provided me with international travel (I will not brag on my country count...), which I love. Put me on a train going anywhere, and I'm happy.
I've semi-retired and moved to Austin, Texas from California. I enjoy bike riding (road, not trail), hiking (trail, not road), reading, collecting books and slide rules.
I had dreamed of writing a book for more than 20 years. I started a couple, and they're still in the "incomplete manuscript" stage. Then, in Spring of 2020, with not enough to do except stare at the keyboard and curse viruses (bio, not techno), I said to myself, "Why not now?" I cranked out a four-book series beginning with Emperor First and continuing through 3 more novels, about a few Presidents, one-after-the-other, with more or less success in their endeavors. In parallel, I wrote seven (so far) shorter 'novellas' as "cozy friction", The Mary Jane Gang, each set in a senior citizens' residence complex. This one was prompted by phone calls with my mother... Guess which character she is! Then, in the fall last year, my son and I dared each other to write a sci-fi novel each. I finished mine: In On a Comet. When my wife got tired of me rolling my eyes at the evening news in January, I wrote a satirical fiction novel: about a leader trying to escape justice. It has four alternate endings, all in one volume: Escape Pod. And, turning a news story into a short novel, I wrote The Blossomfield Affair, and set it near my home town.
Since 2022, I've added five novels in a sci-fi saga. They tell of an interstellar mission where things go wrong, not outside the spacecraft, not inside the spacecraft, but inside the head of one astronaut. See: Merimnae: Outbound, Merimnae: Inbound , Merimnae: Unbound , Merimnae: Rebound , and Merimnae: Homebound .
I've uploaded a set of short stories to my page on https://vocal.media/authors/william-a....
I have lots more ideas. And I'm having lots of fun.
I've had a forty-plus-year career as an electrical engineer, working for companies large and small, established and not out of the womb. It's been fun (at times), interesting (at times), and paid the bills (all the time, so far). It's also provided me with international travel (I will not brag on my country count...), which I love. Put me on a train going anywhere, and I'm happy.
I've semi-retired and moved to Austin, Texas from California. I enjoy bike riding (road, not trail), hiking (trail, not road), reading, collecting books and slide rules.
I had dreamed of writing a book for more than 20 years. I started a couple, and they're still in the "incomplete manuscript" stage. Then, in Spring of 2020, with not enough to do except stare at the keyboard and curse viruses (bio, not techno), I said to myself, "Why not now?" I cranked out a four-book series beginning with Emperor First and continuing through 3 more novels, about a few Presidents, one-after-the-other, with more or less success in their endeavors. In parallel, I wrote seven (so far) shorter 'novellas' as "cozy friction", The Mary Jane Gang, each set in a senior citizens' residence complex. This one was prompted by phone calls with my mother... Guess which character she is! Then, in the fall last year, my son and I dared each other to write a sci-fi novel each. I finished mine: In On a Comet. When my wife got tired of me rolling my eyes at the evening news in January, I wrote a satirical fiction novel: about a leader trying to escape justice. It has four alternate endings, all in one volume: Escape Pod. And, turning a news story into a short novel, I wrote The Blossomfield Affair, and set it near my home town.
Since 2022, I've added five novels in a sci-fi saga. They tell of an interstellar mission where things go wrong, not outside the spacecraft, not inside the spacecraft, but inside the head of one astronaut. See: Merimnae: Outbound, Merimnae: Inbound , Merimnae: Unbound , Merimnae: Rebound , and Merimnae: Homebound .
I've uploaded a set of short stories to my page on https://vocal.media/authors/william-a....
I have lots more ideas. And I'm having lots of fun.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 30, 2021
Hard science fiction at its best
Altmann's style is very sciency in a good way. Just like the Jules Verne stories where the discovery and the science are at the core of the story - true hard science fiction!
The forty year mission to another star to find a new planet where humans can live is very believable. Four crew take turns being awake. There is emptiness and loneliness, but also camaraderie and love. It has wonderful discussions about genetic memories and the human-bacteria symbiosis.
If you like Verne, you like Altmann.
Altmann's style is very sciency in a good way. Just like the Jules Verne stories where the discovery and the science are at the core of the story - true hard science fiction!
The forty year mission to another star to find a new planet where humans can live is very believable. Four crew take turns being awake. There is emptiness and loneliness, but also camaraderie and love. It has wonderful discussions about genetic memories and the human-bacteria symbiosis.
If you like Verne, you like Altmann.
May 25, 2024
Quite an interesting situation, with an ending I had not expected. Instead of aliens or climate battles, the protagonist battles issues in his mind: not psychoses, but things being affected by the rest of his body. The four characters -- and there are only 4 -- are on their way to a nearby star. What we don't know yet is whether they'll make it there.
December 26, 2023
This review is also featured on Behind the Pages: Merimnae: Outbound
Tau Ceti is 11.7 light years away and the spaceship destined for it holds only four crew members. While they’ve prepared for what seems to be every possible situation, they did not prepare for the threat to be from within their own bodies. One member begins to have irrational fears and false memories. While the crew does everything they can to discover the cause and provide relief, the condition only continues to advance. With nowhere to go but forward.
Merimnae: Outbound is a hard sci-fi that focuses on how the body’s genetic memory could be influenced by biological differences. As Henry begins to experience unknown memories and their emotional responses, a scientific search is launched. William Altmann does a wonderful job making the science used easy to understand. Even those who know little about science will be able to connect the dots and see how each crew member draws their own conclusions.
The narrative is broken down into viewpoints from the crew members. Henry and his partner Constance have the most page time as Henry’s condition is a large focus point of the story. And each character brings to the story their own beliefs on how Henry’s condition could affect the crew. There is little conflict among the characters as the focus remains on the science behind what is happening to Henry.
Despite Henry’s condition escalating, there is a calm sense of acceptance. The crew does not emotionally respond to his condition but instead takes a rational approach to each occurrence. Whatever challenges they may face, the mission must still continue. I would recommend this novella for readers who are interested in biology and the study of the human biome.
Tau Ceti is 11.7 light years away and the spaceship destined for it holds only four crew members. While they’ve prepared for what seems to be every possible situation, they did not prepare for the threat to be from within their own bodies. One member begins to have irrational fears and false memories. While the crew does everything they can to discover the cause and provide relief, the condition only continues to advance. With nowhere to go but forward.
Merimnae: Outbound is a hard sci-fi that focuses on how the body’s genetic memory could be influenced by biological differences. As Henry begins to experience unknown memories and their emotional responses, a scientific search is launched. William Altmann does a wonderful job making the science used easy to understand. Even those who know little about science will be able to connect the dots and see how each crew member draws their own conclusions.
The narrative is broken down into viewpoints from the crew members. Henry and his partner Constance have the most page time as Henry’s condition is a large focus point of the story. And each character brings to the story their own beliefs on how Henry’s condition could affect the crew. There is little conflict among the characters as the focus remains on the science behind what is happening to Henry.
Despite Henry’s condition escalating, there is a calm sense of acceptance. The crew does not emotionally respond to his condition but instead takes a rational approach to each occurrence. Whatever challenges they may face, the mission must still continue. I would recommend this novella for readers who are interested in biology and the study of the human biome.
November 6, 2021
Altmann has done it again. The Merimnae trilogy finishes with new mysteries. After landing on a planet near Tau Ceti four human explorers are joined by a colonization ship. With new children born on site, a real settlement is built. Everyone tells their own story in the form of journals. Not only are new towns built, the adventurers discover traces of a million year old civilization. And to top it all off, the colony ship continues with its next mission into deep space.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews