Sailing the Rubble of Galaxies – Proof-of-Concept

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Every once in a while I get an idea for a novel but I’m not sure how well it’ll transition from brain to page. So I take the story out for a test drive. I call it a Proof-of-Concept and wrote about it here.

I’ve had this idea stuck in my head for the past few weeks -and I think I like it. I love the idea of a warship’s crew needing to find something else to do when there’s no war left.

Of course they’ll turn to piracy until the real threat shows itself again. It would borrow a lot from Arthurian myth but with a little Pirates of the Caribbean feel.

Let me know what you think.

Sailing Rubble of Galaxies

“Nice of them to design these cells with portholes,” admired former security commander, Nessa Muldune. It seemed like a strange waste of outer hull but she appreciated being able to see the stars.

“Shut up traitor,” sneered her jailer. Lieutenant Alfred’s disdain was a relief after the months of him awkwardly hitting on her. “We’ll be at New Mars soon and you’ll get what’s coming to you.”

The United Martian Empire (UME) Camlann was a Starcruiser class ship, with a crew of twenty-three. Her mission was to explore the other edges of the galaxy for any and all resources that could help in their war against the Ares Republic.

“Alfred, take a walk.” Doctor Anson made sure the man knew it wasn’t a suggestion.

Waiting until he’d left, Nessa said, “Peri, if you’re here to tell me how much you’ve always hated me I don’t want to hear it.”

The perfectly androgynous face of the ship’s Doctor broke into a smile. “You’re an idiot Muldune, but I don’t hate you. I agree with what you did, but they expect us medical types to be Peacers.” It was one of the worst insults for a Martian to be called a Peacer. Peace would only happen when the Empire’s enemies were all dead. Any other opinion was heresy.

The Doctor shook their head in either annoyance or amusement, Nessa couldn’t tell, and added, “I just wanted to tell you I’ve looked over the logs and I’m going to testify for you at your court-martial.”

“But that could get you thrown in here with me.”

“Doubt it. There are perks to one of my fathers being an Admiral. I’m not the only one who thinks the Captain went too far this time.”

Lifting her hand, Nessa said, “No. Shut up. Until we’re safely in dock on New Mars, I don’t want to hear about it and I don’t think you should talk about it either.” Pointing at her ears and then the walls, Nessa added, “What you’re saying could be taken as the M word and you know how the Captain doesn’t like that word.” The last person to hint at mutiny had been spaced without a trial. Her multiple commendations, stellar military record, and Red Star of Honour were the only reason Nessa wasn’t sleeping with meteors.

”Fine, but you’re not alone in this and I wanted you to know that.” Peri smiled again and turned to leave.

“Thank you. Old friend.” They’d served together for nearly twenty years, since Nessa’s first tour of duty when she was a green fifteen-year-old ensign.

Alfred walked back in and started saying crude things about the Doctor. Nessa ignored him; she was doing the same thing she’d done countless times since she’d been put in here. She went over the incident to see what she could have done differently.

They were pushing the limits of known space when they’d gotten a distress call. It was old earth Morse code. When they arrived at the coordinates they found three ships; an Ares Bird-of-Prey, an ancient frigate and a third ship they’d never seen before.

The ancient frigate was what was giving off the distress code. It must have been five hundred or more years old. Nessa’s first mistake was to suggest that the frigate might have star-maps that could lead them back to earth. The Captain had laughed at her and mocked her for her silly superstitions. He was one of the many Martians who were convinced all sentient life had evolved on New Mars.

They’d hailed the Aresian ship and received no answer, but when they hailed the unknown ship it answered with what sounded like a riddle.

Myrddin searches for Arthur

It was all they’d say. It seemed like it was a recording on repeat. When the mysterious ship opened its gunports, the Captain had ordered her to open fire. She hesitated and she still didn’t know why. It was like she froze. The Captain had thrown her to the side and fired on the ship himself.

It had done nothing, their weapons didn’t even dent the ship. The Captain was furious and ordered her to fire on the Aresian ship. Their stardrive was powered by antimatter and the explosion would be more powerful than their weapons.

It was at that point that she’d ruined her career by saying, “Sir, we can’t. If those aliens are powerful enough to take a full blast from our ion cannons, we need to get access to their tech, not blow it up.” And she’d made it worse by adding, “Not to mention that frigate could hold the key to finding our original home world.”

“New Mars is my home world you Peacer trash. Take the traitor to the brig.” To the security guards credit, they both looked uncomfortable jailing their commanding officer. The captain had blown up Aresian ship and the frigate with one hit. The alien ship had given off one unintelligible message before it exploded. The Camlann barely made it out on time, thanks to its top of the line Stardrive.

Now she was on her way to a court martial and, if she was lucky, a life time sentence of hard labour on some mining asteroid. If she was unlucky, she’d be put in the Colosseum for sport.

Nessa felt the telltale wobble of the Camlann’s Stardrive powering down and looked forward to once again seeing the planets of the New Mars system; it was the crown jewel of the empire.

The ship shook violently and all she could see out the porthole was an asteroid field. Something was wrong.

“Brace for impact. We seem to have gone off course.” The Captain’s voice sounded calm.

Nessa felt sick. There’s no way they’d been off course. Out her porthole, all Nessa could see was darkness and meteors; she should have been able to see New Mars, it’s yellow dwarf and the other five inhabited planets.

Something had happened. The Captain’s voice came back on, “Oh Gods! What have they done!”

Blush: Pride

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Blush’s kickstarter is doing well, but we still have a long way to go, and about two weeks left! Please keep harassing your friends and family, and add neighbours into the mix! Let’s make this game a reality!

Pride flag. Image from i.telegraph.co.uk
Pride flag. Image from i.telegraph.co.uk

Algonquin College, my school, has their Pride Week this week. I had the opportunity to attend a workshop yesterday afternoon, given by the fantastic people at Venus Envy Ottawa (Facebook, Twitter), on Bi/Pan/Poly relationships. The speakers were very well educated and gave thoughtful and insightful answers to all our questions. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and learned a lot.

This is what Pride means to me. As an Ally, I sometimes feel adjacent to what the Pride movement stands for. I loved the inclusiveness that taking part in something as minor as a workshop gave to me. On top of feeling as though I belonged, I was able to learn more about how to respect people in those relationships previously mentioned, and how to break through the myths surrounding the stereotypes.

Pride Week, to an Ally like me, is about education on different types of relationships and sexualities. It is about showing support and respect to everyone. It is about welcoming other human beings and accepting them for who they are.

Thank you for such a great workshop. I definitely won’t forget it!

Algonquin’s Pride Week will continue today and tomorrow, and has various workshops free to the public. Check out their calendar of events here.

Support the Blush Kickstarter you could WIN!!!

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Don't dread "the talk." Blush makes it fun, and approachable... no matter what the questions are. Please help make this sexual health trivia game happen by backing our kickstarter! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1357195744/blush
Don’t dread “the talk.” Blush makes it fun, and approachable… no matter what the questions are.
Please help make this sexual health trivia game happen by backing our kickstarter!
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1357195744/blush

Contest

Pledge any amount you want to the Blush Kickstarter and then enter below to win a $50 gift card for any JenEric Designs products.
[contesthopper contest=”3685″]

Disclaimer

Jen, of JenEric Designs is the author of Blush and is working with the awesome publisher Renaissance Press to make Blush a success. Learn more about the game on the Kickstarter or on Blush: A Card Game.

Wargrave Island (Serial Story) Part 3

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List of Characters | Part 1| Part 2

They had just placed James’s body in the same room as the burnt canoe when all three of their phones rang.

Riko brushed her short black hair behind her ear and looked down at the screen incredulously

“Allison R has invited you to a LiveStream on Konect-EDTM” read her screen.

“What the hell? I thought she was dead?” Doctor Abe Harker gave a confused glance at the canoe.

“How’d she get my number? Wait… I don’t have signal. What the hell?” asked Ethan. He’d clicked on ok and Riko could see a countdown clock with fifteen minutes left.

Riko put her phone away and said, “If we got this, everyone else will have too. We should go before they panic.”

“Screw them, I’m panicking already,” Abe trembled as he spoke.

On the way to the staircase, they didn’t trust the elevator, they met up with Zane and Blane. “Riko!” they exclaimed in unison and pulled her into a group hug. The two had been inseparable in high school and they’d been teased mercilessly; called every form of homophobic insult until Zane came out. The teasing transformed into whispers and rumour. Despite everything, Blane had stayed firm in his friendship with Zane. In senior year they’d announced they were a couple. The whispers turned into bullying. Riko had been enraged by the way they were treated and had gotten into multiple fights before they’d asked her to just ignore it. When the two were married, a few years later, she’d been part of the wedding party.

“I know that look. What’s wrong?” Zane’s sharp nose and bright eyes looked down on her after the hug.

“James is dead and someone else was killed.” Riko was blunt but it was the best way.

“Good riddance. Who’s the ‘someone else’?” Blane’s sandy blond hair contrasted with his naturally tanned skinned and dark eyes.

“We thought it was Allison but…” Abe lifted his phone with the countdown on it and shrugged.

They walked the rest of the way to the ballroom without speaking.

When they arrived the whole group was there except for Jonathan.

“He went to the kitchen. Said he needed some ‘grub’. He’s really stuck in the past.” Zoe made air quotes around the word “grub”.

“That man is completely useless,” Missy enunciated clearly as if she was in parliament. “Screw him, What about this?” She held up her phone with a little over five minutes left in the countdown. Behind her well controlled disgust, she was barely hiding her panic.

Calmly Riko said, “Let’s all head to the kitchen together and we’ll take the call there.” As the ten of them walked across the lobby to the small attached dining room and kitchen Riko expected to see Jonathan dead. To her mixed relief and annoyance he was sitting on a stool in the dining room watching a large screen with the same countdown as their phones. He was munching down on a large bag of chips.

“Oh, hey guys. Looks like Teacher’s pet is still alive.” Jonathan used Allison’s high school nick name. He’d given it to her personally when she’d rejected him in junior year. He then started a rumour she’d been having an affair with their computers teacher, Mr. Trevors. He’d been straight out of teachers college.

Riko was embarrassed to remember that she’d believed the rumours. She wasn’t alone and they spread to the teachers and the parents. Mr. Trevors was fired for the affair despite both him and Allison saying it didn’t exist.

On the table next to Jonathan was a big bowl with ice, a dozen glasses, and a variety of drinks, both non-alcoholic and alcoholic.

Ethan reached over and prepared himself a drink of rum and coke on the rocks. Seeing Riko watching him he said, “What? We’re not on duty.” He said it with a smirk that made her insides tingle.

Taking their cue from him, they all fixed themselves drinks of one sort or the other in the glasses. Riko took a bottle of water and just held on to it.

“This better be good,” Missy mumbled. Sitting at the far end of the table she filled her glass with ice and poured a bottle of water over it. She looked ready for a tough business meeting at the end of the table in a comfy chair.

When the countdown ended, they were all sipping their drinks quietly. Allison’s face with a background of books, as if she were in a library, appeared on the screen. She hadn’t changed at all from high school. “If you’re getting this I’m most likely dead.” Everyone started talking at once, but quieted down when Allison continued, “The good news is one of you is my killer. The bad news is you’re trapped here.” Allison looked up, as if she was looking at something beyond the camera and asked, “Is that ok?”

The video cut to a blank screen and a computerized voice started saying, “Twelve naughty kittens all trapped on an island. They’re all going to die for certain. The first betrayed love for cash; now she’s ash. To violence and hate the second clung; now he’s hung.” The words appeared and stayed on the screens.

“That’s twisted,” laughed Jonathan.

“Oh shit. We’re all going to die,” Zoe fell from her chair and started hyperventilating. “We’re going to die, we’re going to die.” She kept repeating the words and Abe went to her to help with the panic attack.

Ethan moved closer to Riko and gave her a solemn look. Zane took her hand. If someone was really trying to kill them they needed to find out who it was. Riko wouldn’t put murder past most of them, unfortunately, but this was one step beyond. It was scarily premeditated.

Looking up at the screen again Riko noticed that another line had been added.

Twelve naughty kittens all trapped on an island; they’re all going to die for certain.
The first betrayed love for cash; now she’s ash.
To violence and hate the second clung; now he’s hung
To gossip the third fixated; now she’s been asphyxiated.

The only other person still looking at the screen was Missy. Riko recognized the signs of anaphylaxis; Missy’s skin was puffy and eyes bloodshot. Missy’s throat had closed and she’d suffocated while everyone had been fixated on Zoe.

Her dead eyes still stared at the screen with terror.
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Romania

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Apologies for the short and late post today. I am fighting a bad cold and can’t take traditional medication for it, due to the pregnancy, and herbal remedies don’t seem to be working very well.

One of the best stories comes from Romania. Bram Stoker’s Dracula. The fact that it has been reworked so many times and into different forms proves that it stands the test of time.

How would you feel about visiting Dracula’s castle?

Bran Castle. Image from ilovenature.world
Bran Castle. Image from ilovenature.world

Bran Castle was the inspiration for Dracula’s Castle, even though Bram never saw the castle in person. Apparently pictures were enough to stoke (I punned! heheh) his imagination. Vlad the Impaler (inspiration for Dracula himself) was reputed to have been held prisoner here in the 15th Century.

The castle is currently up for sale, and the link in the description of the picture contains more pictures of the castle. If you had $80 million dollars (euros?) would you buy this castle? Personally, I’d rather go and visit.

Let me help you plan your trip.Jen has retired from working as a travel agent. Hope you’ve enjoyed Fandom Travel.

Ciamon of Chymar – Conclusion

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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3| Part 4| Part 5

It was obvious to him when he reached the thing that had frightened everyone. It felt like someone had hit him in the head and ripped his body apart. Flashes of colour assaulted his eyes. It felt like it lasted forever.

When it ended he was under a different sky. It was simple to assume it was another world since his planet had only one moon and this one had three. He heard the hunter gasp from under the wagon. At least he wasn’t alone in this strange place. In front of Ciamon was a large semitransparent stone. The stone flashed different colours. He gasped, realizing it was the Bilfrost of legend.

It had been daytime before, but now the moons were high in the sky. The caravan only paused briefly before continuing its journey. Whatever ramp they were on now was curving right and down. He tore his eyes away from the Bilfrost long enough to see that they were on a high mountain. The road below was pure silver. The silver moved like it was slithering. Again he gasped, thinking it was the great serpent Mulciber.

Looking closer, he saw that it wasn’t a serpent but a great army, hundreds of thousands of men in silver armour. Ciamon’s mouth went dry and he said as loudly as possible, “If someone in my land touched a tower and said, ‘Haski Fra Utan’ they would summon our most powerful wizards.”

Slipping out of his bonds, he howled. Grabbing one of the unsuspecting guards with one hand he lifted him and tossed him down the mountain. His other hand took the bent piece of metal that the guards had pointed at him.

There was a small trigger on the bent piece of metal that reminded Ciamon of a crossbow. He hoped it was a weapon and pointed it at the army. A bolt of lightning shot out and took down a half dozen of the crowded soldiers.

If it had happened to a Panos hunting group, they would have scrambled away, but this army only moved forward, stepping over or on the dead to fill the gap. Ciamon started firing wildly while he avoided capture again.

The hunter was halfway to the Bilfrost before the caravan and soldiers realized what was happening. The hunter avoided several guards and dove through the Bilfrost and hopefully to home.

Once the hunter was gone, Ciamon used the weapon to destroy the door on his wagon and free the people. He then shot at anything that tried to stop them from getting to the Bilfrost.

Distantly he heard a voice yell, “Shut the bridge down. NOW!”

A voice, equally as loud but terrified, replied over the distance, “We can’t turn it off without destroying it.”

“Then send them somewhere else!” the voices were coming from black metal boxes that each of the soldiers had on their shoulders.

The Bilfrost changed from colours to solid stone and then to a watery blue colour. Ciamon didn’t know what to do, but he knew he couldn’t stay here. He ran towards the Bilfrost and jumped through, the other captives close on his heels.

As he passed through the Bilfrost, he felt the same pain as before, but this time instead of colours, he just saw blue. As he came out the other side realized he was falling. Looking down he could see the water of a lake far below him coming up much faster than he’d like.

Doing his best to get into a diving position he took a deep breath and hit the water. It hurt terribly, but he was able to get to the surface and swim to shore.

Exhausted, he collapsed onto his back and looked up. The Bilfrost was suspended into the clouds so high he could barely see it. He couldn’t go back home. Hopefully the hunter had made it in time to warn the Battlemages that an army was going to invade.

As for himself, Ciamon had no idea what to do next. Exhausted, hurt, and sad, he started to drift to sleep. As he drifted he could have sworn he heard Aleenia’s voice saying, “My turn! I’ll find you.”

“As I know you will,” he mumbled.

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