Generation Ship

Generation Ship

We had to leave our planet, pollution became ubiquitous and air quality was very poor. We had the technology for a housing ship, the size of a small country. These ships couldn’t travel very fast, but that was okay. We started a new civilization on the generation ship. Originally the inhabitants were both men and women but soon space became an issue and the men had to be sent off. Reproduction was performed through artificial insemination. The population slowly grew over time but was highly regulated. The ship could only contain one million individuals.

The first boy opened his eyes. He was in the hospital sector, born only seconds ago. His mother, a servant, breathed hard through a layer of sweat. The nurses and doctors carried the baby away for tests and health screening. The room was very bright to the baby. He could make out the white walls and equipment, even though he didn’t know that what he saw was the color white.

The media was in the hospital too, documenting the birth of the first male. Video cameras filmed the baby with his mother. Wirelessly the information was sent to the populations’ tablets and laptops. Outside the hospital people gathered in the parks and gardens. Roses climbed trellises; thorns were trimmed for the safety of everyone. There was very little crime on the generation ship. Women tended not to resolve their conflicts with violence.

The emperor of the ship was a very old woman who was appointed the position one year ago, while the ship was still grounded. She was tall and charismatic. She marked the day of the boy’s birth as a holiday and the triumph of the generation ship over the rigors of civilization.

The ship was on a slow course to a nearby star where it could gather light to recharge the ship’s batteries through the miles of solar panels covering the ship. The course was previously untraveled which led to several surprises. Soon the ship was in an asteroid field, the large, floating rocks came into view. The ship’s controllers called the emperor and told her the news. They could use the guardian lasers the blast the asteroids, but that would just make smaller asteroids.

After conferring with the emperor, the controllers used the remaining battery power to erect a force field which protected the ship. The lights on the generation ship cut out. People began to panic. Soon the emperor came over the speakers and reassured everyone:

“We have encountered an asteroid field. To protect the ship and all its’ inhabitants we had to create a force field which meant depleting most of the ship’s energy. Based on estimations from the controllers we should be out of the field in two hours. Then it should only be another two hours before we reach the star.”

The boy was awake in the pitch blackness of the hospital room. For a second he thought he was back in the womb, but wasn’t too sure. He didn’t like the darkness. He closed his eyes and pictured the asteroid field. He wished it away. The asteroids disappeared.

“Where did they go?” Asked a controller.

“Very strange, they just disappeared.” Said another controller.

Soon the force field was turned off. The power was back on. The baby opened his eyes as the lights came flickered into life. He liked the bright lights.   

Pretty Good Little Saturday

I may have just used a line from "Old School" but it's fitting. I haven't posted about something non-sci fi for awhile so it's time for an entry.

Today was awesome. Got a lot done, saw some people, had lots of fun. Here's a quick rundown:

- Went out for breakfast with my wife
- Bought some soil for the gardens
- Bought new floor mats
- Cleaned out the car
- Picked up my wife's number for her race tomorrow.
- Went to the library
- Read about the universe in the backyard with my wife and our dog
- Picked up some trash near a marsh around town. Plastic bottles aren't going to recycle themselves.

Let me know if my list of seemingly mundane things is boring. Either way, I enjoyed myself (writing this and spending my day). I hope you had a good day too.

Another Dimension

Another Dimension

Main Character: A cool-headed god who can open a gate to another dimension.

Setting: A fantasic cathedral within a different dimension, where legislative disputes are settled by duels to the death.

Plot: Thwarting the forces of darkness

                Today is the day for job shadowing in present day Olympus. The lesser god Seamus is following the cool-headed god Osiris around to learn the lay of the land. Osiris, the current king of the gods created Seamus from his own gold blood and spoke to the puddle to animate it. He is the king’s son, created to watch over a newly discovered dimension, where things are handled in a most barbaric fashion.

                “Seamus, now that you have met all the gods and goddesses of Olympus I need to show you something that I just learned. If you come over to this boundary and watch as I place my hand on the celestial wall you’ll see something amazing.” Seamus followed and watched as Osiris opened a door in the barrier and they soon entered an ancient cathedral in another dimension. “Watch what transpires here.” Said Osiris as a group of toga clad men held some sort of a council. They could not see the gods, who watched from the side of the large room. Gods allow people to see them when they want. Sometimes they take other forms, but on occasion they appear as they do to other gods.

                The men argued about some new type of legislation and soon they drew swords. “What are they doing? We can’t let this go on!” Shouted Seamus.

                “We must, it is their way.” Said Osiris.

                There was a brief sword fight until one man stood over another, he pushed his sword into the man’s heart and killed him. Just then Seamus made himself visible to the men and with a snap of his fingers turned them to stone. Osiris looked to him and smiled.

                “They cannot move, but their minds will still function. They will stay like this for twenty years. Only then will they consider their actions leading up to this moment and my decree. The citizens will discover the men and will adopt a different form of government, because if they fall into the same way of resolving differences then they will be turned to stone as well. This is for the better.” Said Seamus, out of breath. His work took much energy out of him.

                “Congratulations, you passed the test. If you let the men continue without doing anything then I would have killed you instantly, but you made the right decision. Now you will watch over this dimension and be king of the gods. I will return to my dimension. You cannot open the portal, only I can. We will never see each other again, but fear not, you have everything you need. Good bye Seamus.” Said Osiris.

                “Goodbye Osiris. Fare thee well.” Said Seamus.

In A Perfect Circle

In A Perfect Circle

 

     The crew set off from their home planet of Isis on a direct course to the unexplored, by their standards, planet of lush fields and pristine ponds and lakes known as Cartore. The ship traveled faster than the speed of light for three months until Cartore was within range.

     During the trip the all male crew exercised, ate, slept, read and cleaned their equipment and probes. When the planet was within range the captain announced to the crew:

     “The time has come, this is what we’ve been waiting for. Now we’re minutes away from touching down on Cartore. I hope you all are as excited as I am.”

     The crew watched through the cockpit window as the ship hit Cartore’s atmosphere. Suddenly the layer of sulphuric acid, mistaken as clouds by the men, started melting the ship’s hull. The men scrambled around trying to repair the damage but they were quickly sucked out of the ship through the gaping holes and dissolved in the acid atmosphere. All except for one man, Artel who recalled something he learned in high school. The great Albert Einstein theorized that if you travel in a perfect circle at the speed of light, then bisect that circle (basically taking a short cut) then you will actually see yourself. Artel had to try this while the ship was still functioning.

     He took hold of the controls and turned out of the acid cloud, then he drove the ship into a complete circle, he hoped it was perfect, set it to cruise control and increased the speed to beyond light speed. Art wondered if Einstein contemplated what could happen at beyond light speed. The lights of the ship went out for a second and when they came back on the rest of the crew were present with the captain speaking: “I hope you all are as excited as I am. Hey, Art, what are you doing at the controls?”

     “I had to get us out of there, we can’t go to Cartore, the atmosphere is all sulphuric acid, it will burn holes in the ship and kill us.” Said Art. Adrenaline pumped through his body as he looked around to make sure everyone was safe and sound. He couldn’t believe it worked!

    “I doubt it, we’ve come this far, there’s no way we’re turning around.” Said the captain.

    “It already happened, I went back in time to prevent it from happening again.” Said Art.

    “How did you take us back in time? Time travel is impossible.” The captain said as he looked around to the men, who appeared to be laughing.

    “It is possible and I did it. You have to believe me, or we’ll all die, again.” Said Art.

    “I think Art might be on to something. I’ve heard theories about time travel. Maybe we should scan the atmosphere before we land, just to be sure.” Said one of the crewmen.

     They scanned it, pure sulphuric acid, Art was right. The mission was soon aborted, they were going home.

The Sorians

The Sorians

Main character: A promising ambassador with a cold demeanor

Setting: A miltocratic country where humans live in complete luxury served by aliens that do all the work

Plot: A powerful forbidden technology and the cost of using it.

 

                Following the Sorian war, and the victory of the humans, the planet took on a new resident, the enslaved Sorian aliens. They wait on the humans, trained to pamper them and work for them. From what I could tell the aliens took well to their new roles, they made excellent slaves and almost enjoyed it. They were well treated servants, given a section of the house to live in and all their food and needs were taken care of. I’ve been living as a slave for one year, although my real job is ambassador for the Sorian people. We feel like the time has come and we deserve some more respect. We’re not willing to fight the humans again for we would surely lose, but we need to reach an agreement, somehow, no cost is too high.

                I’ve been looking into some darker technology, communicating with native Sorians through telepathy (humans are not aware of this ability of ours). We are a smart race, but not the best soldiers. They told me about the dark ray weapon, a device buried in Earth’s crust, put there thousands of years ago so that it would never be used again. But we unearthed it at a construction site and did some research. Ancient dolphins developed and used it two thousand years ago to destroy the whales who were consuming their food sources. The ancient dolphins were an extremely intelligent race that developed many weapons, but the dark ray was their most effective. However, modern dolphins have no technology, it’s almost as if their intellect disappeared. This could be why the technology is forbidden, it could have some massive draw backs, but we’re willing to adopt those if it means we can have our freedom again.

                I continued working at the construction site until I felt as though the time came for an agreement. I took a video of myself demanding the freedom of the Sorians and if the demand was not met, then I would activate the dark ray. I then sent it to a major news station, they played it that night for the viewing of millions of people. I was summoned to the white house and sat down with the president.

                “So, you’re the one who was sent here to make a change?” Asked the president.

                “That’s correct, I’m an ambassador of the Sorian race and we want our freedom. I’ve been living in slavery for the past year and I’ve studied your race carefully, searching for weaknesses. Little did you know you had a weapon of mass destruction lying under the feet of your people. I unearthed it and now I have it with me. Such a powerful little weapon this is.” The ambassador said as he played with the gun in his hand. With a sudden movement the president reached for the gun. The ambassador was quick and pointed the weapon at the president. “Oh no, you can’t have this, now you must die for your stupidity.” The ambassador said as he pulled the trigger. “No! You fool, you don’t know what you’re doing.” Shouted the president, but he was too late. A sudden white light filled the room and spilled out the window. When the ambassador opened his eyes the president was gone, but the importance of this did not cross the ambassador’s mind. He was small, about the size of a turtle and his mental capacity was greatly diminished. The humans were gone, the Sorian’s could inherit the planet but they had more competition now. They no longer had their telepathic abilities and their intelligent was on par with a common mouse. The dark ray effectively got rid of the humans but the side effects were huge, they paid the price for freedom.    

 

The Curse

The Curse

Main character: A cocky mercenary who pilots a building sized starship

Setting: A place where machines have integrated with human society

Story: A handgun and the strange fortunes of those who touch it

                “Okay, here we go, time for a smooth landing.” The mercenary says as he enters the atmosphere at an alarming rate. Clouds cruise by as he can see the ground expanding in all directions. He’s pulling the huge ship up but the landing destroys most of it. Somehow the mercenary is unharmed through the ordeal. The ship accordions but stops at the cock pit. “Phew, I really am a great pilot and an even better mercenary. Now, time to look around this primitive planet.”

                The mercenary is currently in between wars. He wasn’t hired by any kingdom as of yet, so he decided to go exploring. Using the money from various kings the mercenary purchased a sky scraper sized star ship, almost completely destroyed now.

                He crash landed on the highly populated planet of Sorg. He just so happened to settle in the trees of one of the planet’s only parks. Joggers looked up as the massive ship crashed on top of the tall maples. He got out and climbed down the trees. He noticed a strange machine pruning some nearby plants while another was walking four dogs at the same time. “This really is a strange place,” the man said to himself. He made his way out of the park, saying hi to the few humans he saw. “Now time to find some work, I bet I could fetch a huge sum protecting this fine town. They would be foolish not to hire me, I’m the best.”

                The mercenary approaches a busy street just as a robotic taxi parks next to him. “Do you need a ride?” The machine asks. “As a matter of fact I do, take me to the mayor’s office.” The mercenary demands. “Yes sir, right away.” The car says as it speeds off. The man looks around the city as he’s driven around. He notices other robo-taxis with people inside, talking on cell phones or reading books. “Hmm, it’s almost as if machines have totally integrated into human life, very interesting.” The man says to himself.

                The car slows down and parks directly in front of city hall. “That will be $50.” Says the car. “See, the thing about that is..” and the man quickly bounds up the stairs and runs inside. He finds the office of the mayor and casually walks in. “Can I help you?” Asks the mayor. “What you should be asking is can you help me?” Says the mercenary. “I don’t follow. Who are you anyway?” Asks the mayor, starting to get a little ticked off. After a long talk the persuasive mercenary convinces the mayor that he should hire him with a massive annual salary for the job of city protector.

                “Allow me to show you the fire arm you’ll be assigned. He walks over to a gold box and opens it. With a gloved hand the mayor removes an antique colt .45 and gives it to the mercenary. “Now I have to tell you about this weapon, something very important.” The mayor says to the man. “Oh I know how a gun works, where am I assigned to tonight?” The man asks. “You must patrol the park tonight, there have been reports of some undesirables harassing people in the area. But about the gun…” Just then the mercenary leaves without listening to the mayor.

                That night the mercenary covers every square foot of the park and only arrests two kids for smoking weed. “Undesirables? I could do this job in my sleep.” Just then the man notices a figure with red eyes shining in the moon light. It races towards him and bears it’s teeth. The mercenary is caught off guard and doesn’t draw his weapon fast enough. The beast tackles the man as a shot gun blast rings thorough the park. The beast runs off limping into the ground cover and past the trees. The mayor walks over from the right of the mercenary, holding a twelve gauge. “Are you alright?” The mayor asks as he helps the man to his feet. “Yeah, that thing surprised me. What was that?” Said the mercenary. “What I was trying to tell you earlier is that that gun is cursed. I was hoping that you would be able to lift it and destroy the beast.” Said the mayor as he reloads the shotgun. “What do you mean by cursed?” Asks the mercenary, unable to catch his breath.  “All the other owners of that weapon have been gruesomely mauled by the beast. It’s cursed. Now it is up to you to kill the beast and lift the curse.”          

Spider Like

Spider Like

Main Character: A widely known android with a hooded cloak

Setting: The last days of the world, in St. Petersburg Russia

Plot: A mysterious occurrence that would reveal yet-undiscovered truths about the origin of mankind.

                Here I am with probably more than a thousand nuclear warheads buried under my feet. I raise my hood over my head to shield my identity, they know me here. I tread carefully, trying not to set off a chain reaction, but they’re miles deep so I have nothing to fear. I’m in the heart of half of the Cold War, St. Petersburg Russia. What I’m doing, not sure, but I am drawn to this city to find something out about the humans, me not being one of them. Yes it’s true, I’m an android built by super computers, so I basically have no allegiance to humans, even though I care for them. I’m known as a god droid, created to oversee the progress of nature and technology. I also have the ability to predict the future, but I’m powerless to stop it. I can’t change the future, only view it. My quest is to uncover any secrets about humans, so I start where life begins.

                I’ve been to local hospitals to view newborn infants to see if they can change the future that I see, so far they cannot. But my trip is not fruitless; I’ve witnessed unusual birth defects. Some of the infants are born with eight legs, like a spider. The children are surprisingly mobile and can climb around and onto the ceiling, completely upside down. They are quick too, easily out running the nurses and parents. At one point my hood fell from my head, but no one seemed to notice, I quickly righted it.

                The future I see is a strange and frightening one, I have not yet understood it, but I don’t have much time. The future is all around us, it is constantly happening. First I must figure out this spider problem. Some of the babies are born completely black or brown; some have yellow or red spots. Some of the premature babies were screened for other abnormalities, tests showed they have traces of poison in their bodies, but do not seem to create harm to the host, as if they’re meant to have it, like a defense. I made notes in my CPU and recorded video footage to view later.

                I left the hospital and ventured out into the streets, it was a frenzy. People were running and screaming. I heard someone say “all the missiles have been launched” that’s when I figured out the thing about the spider babies. They are devolving! Reverting back to the closest evolutionary relative, the spider! That’s it, humans evolved from spiders! I have to pass on this information to the super computers. Just then a war head landed close by, the droid saw a bright light, then nothing.

                He awoke on the streets in a ruined Russia. How he survived, he will never know. What he did before the massive launch of nuclear war heads was send his information wirelessly to the nearest super computer. Even though humans are now extinct, due to a malfunctioning computer in St. Petersburg which launched all of the buried nukes, their origins will be documented forever.