Category Archives: NOVEL WRITING

Canto 148 – Of Rocks and Men

The hills of Outpost had come alive with construction projects.  The Lazerstone collective had found enough harmonic crystals to form ten million new rock men.  They all looked like the original Lazerstone, but once separated from their original, they quickly developed personalities and intelligences uniquely their own.  Lazerstone himself explained that the content of the native Outpost crystal, various minerals and odd bits of elements, made each crystal man different from the rest, just as snowflakes are unique from each other.  The result was a vast and capable workforce who could build spaceships and defense installations in an airless environment without complaint.  They were also highly capable of manipulating the planet’s rock formations to construct what was needed for defense.

“It is unbelievable!” swore Tron, “these rock men may have saved us from Tang and his Imperial Fleet!  Arkin, I can never repay you for this.”

“I am lucky to be alive and glad to be able to help in this fight,” declared Cloudstalker. 

“You got that right!” added the head of Ace Campfield bitterly. The head of the deadly bounty hunter and skilled assassin was all that remained of the Mechanoid menace.

“Shut up, Ace,” said Cloudstalker.

Tron, Arkin, Hassan the Elf, and the head of Ace Campfield were watching the intensive creation of defense facilities from the edge of the transparent dome that covered Tron’s pirate city. 

Tron’s scarred face drew up in a sneer.  He looked at the still-living Mechanoid head. “I don’t know why you keep that thing around.” 

“He was someone to talk to on the trip here.  Besides, I may be able to learn something about the enemy from him.”

“Yeah,” growled the head, “When the stars all go out.”

“If it were me, I would drop-kick that thing out onto the surface.  He can talk to himself for a thousand years.  How do you know he’s not secretly broadcasting everything he sees or hears to Admiral Tang?”

“Well, I guess that’s why I only kept the talking part.  It’s small enough to scan completely and inside out.”

 The head fell into grim silence.

 “These rock men fit my armors perfectly,” said Hassan.  “They will be a formidable fighting force.”

Arkin looked at the Peri intently, really noticing him for the first time.  He marveled at the clever way the little child-like man had redesigned his artificial leg to operate like a Swiss Army Knife, with forty-two extra pop-out devices including a mini drink mixer for martinis.  He also noticed how charming the creature was for being a genetically manipulated freak.

“You are quite an arms designer,” Arkin said to the elf.

Hassan smiled an extra-broad smile and looked a bit sheepish as he answered, “I don’t really like weapons, you know.  The Peris believe that every story, no matter how much adventure and risk it has in it, should be about love.  All life is a page in the Great Story.  I don’t object to making things that might save someone in battle or prevent a serious injury.”

“Hmm.  I see.  I don’t know how necessary the defensive part will be to Lazerstone soldiers.  They are pretty much impervious to harm as it is,” said Arkin.

“Well, the armor allows the wearer to fly and protect against plasma bolts,” said Hassan.

Arkin nodded.  That was a very good thing for his side in the upcoming battle.  He was glad this creative little goober was on their side.  The elf was not a great warrior or anything, but he was a good little man to have on your side.  Arkin couldn’t help but feel something paternal towards this child-like little man.  He was reminded of his own son, Devon, growing up away from his father on the distant planet Arriseah.  It could easily all end very badly.  Even with the help of these crystal soldiers, Admiral Tang had the resources and strategic genius to wipe out all of these pirates.  He knew he could die here and never see his family again.  That had never stopped a good idea before, though.  He meant to see this through, no matter what the cost.  He smiled at the brooding head of the assassin, Ace Campfield.

“We are gonna win this, Tron,” said Arkin.  “I know we will.”

“I wish I could have your optimism,” Tron answered.  “Any realist will tell you, we are probably doomed.”

“We can’t fail,” said Hassan simply.  “The good guys always win.  The creator made it so.”

Arkin nodded as he looked at the elf.  It was the way he had always felt put into words.  Let Admiral Tang come soon!  He wanted to see how this would play out.

Canto 147 – The Dilemma of Tiki Astro

Tiki Astro, the robot boy, sat at the control console of the Ancient Red Dragon Space Craft.  As a synthetic, computerized being, he was really the only one who could take over the monitoring of the Dragon’s travels when Junior Aero slept.  Tiki didn’t have the Psionic ability to read mechanized minds that Junior had, but his computing powers in his psychotronic brain were almost the equal of Junior’s Psion ability to read computer minds via telepathy.

The panel in front of Tiki was a complex sea of buttons, lights, levers and a myriad of labels and warnings written in an indecipherable Ancient script that nobody alive in the present universe could read.  Tiki was trying to decipher it in the back of his computerized brain, as he had for a month now.  While doing so, he could also look out through the Dragon’s eyes, the bridge of the space craft actually being inside the head of the Dragon, and see the passing stars as the Dragon leaped through jump space into the interior of the Imperium.

“So, Metal Head, how’s it going?” asked Phoenix as he walked onto the bridge.

“My head is not made mostly of metal.  Synthetic flesh is composed of elements like…”

“Save the lecture, Tiki.  I know what you are.  You are the robot trying to be a real boy.”

“Unlike the other boys on this ship, I am only a little over two years old.  Three if you count the day my head was activated as my original birthday.”

“Yeah.  We are all very different on this flight crew.  It makes it all the harder to figure things out.”

“What things?” Tiki asked the flame-haired boy.

“Well, a lot of things are on my mind.  I mean, who among us Disciples of the White Spider should be the leader after Sensei Ged Aero?”

“I always assumed it was between Junior Aero and Sara Smith.  They are the first two students of the Dojo.”  Tiki looked at Phoenix with expressionless eyes.

“Don’t look at me like that.  I know it is wrong to be jealous of anyone.  But…”

“But you were a leader rather than a follower when you were a student of the Black Spider.”

“Well, yeah…  I mean, I was trained by them to be a tactical leader and the commander during combat.”

“And you don’t want to turn over leadership to telepaths and healers?”

“It isn’t just Junior and Sara.  I acknowledge that they are my equals in many ways.  But there is also the Gaijinese boy, Shu Kwai.  He knows how to lead from the front.  And his telekinesis is almost as powerful as my pyrokinesis.  And when it comes to telepathy, no one among us can keep Hassan Parker out of our heads if he wants to take over our minds.  How am I supposed to handle that?”

“What kind of answer are you asking me for?”

“If it came to a fight over who’s in command, would you, as a rational robot, be on my side?”

“Sensei Ged Aero is in charge of this mission.”

“But if something were to happen to him…”

“If it did, we would be in serious trouble already.  I would follow the leader with the best plan for whatever the situation is.  Maybe you.  But also, maybe not you.”

“That’s the kind of answer I expected, Metal Head.  But if it came down to it, and the mission was on the line, I would certainly pay attention to who you choose to follow.  I know you calculate the odds better than anyone else can.”

“That’s what happens when you make a pocket computer like me into an almost-real boy.”

The conversation ended there, but Phoenix continued studying the stars ahead as he continued to stand behind Tiki and look out the Dragon’s eyes at what was coming into view.

Canto 146 – Robo-Alliances

Smoky Hardretter was adding the final touches to the image on the 3-D display of a Mechanoid-control device.  It was essential that they get things right.  If they were going to establish control over the planet Mingo, Smoky and his ally Raylond King, two thirds of the ruling triumvirate of the local star cluster, would have to develop a stronger Mechanoid army than the one already controlled by the third triumvir, Evil Emperor Mong the Maniacal.

“Ray, what are we going to do if we can’t overcome Mong’s superior control mechanisms?”

The handsome young Raylond and his beautiful young wife, Tara Salongi, stepped in from the nursery.

“We just got little Amanda to sleep, Smoky.  You have to discuss quietly.”  Tara’s stern look gave him no room to raise his voice in protest.

“Mong is such a weak-willed ruler.  There has to be a way to overcome his advantage.”  Ray’s jaw was set in a grim line.

“You haven’t really taken him on directly, Ray.  He’s tougher in conflict than he seems when he’s drinking coffee or participating in the mechanical-dance ritual.  And he was the one out of the three of us responsible for the defenses of the entire star cluster.”

“Oh, I am aware of that.  And it only got worse when we tried to force him to join the New Star League with us.  He went directly to Sir Saurol to report us and get Admiral Tang to replace and recall us.”

“Um, guys…”  Tara indicated the man-shaped thing listening to their conversation while leaning against the door post.

“Interesting…  I seem to be here at just the right time to hear exactly what I needed to hear.”

“Who are you?  And what do you want?” Smoky asked.

“He’s the synthezoid robot known as Sorcerer.   He’s a bad guy, and you need to shoot him in the head before he can do his robot thing.” Tara was glaring commandingly again.

“Wait!  I’m not the early model.  I’m Sorcerer 27.  New and improved.  And I’m the solution to the problem you were just talking about.”

“You want to help us revolt against the Imperium?” asked Raylond.

“I’m tired of being shot in the head before I can perform my miraculous functions.  I need to be on the winning side for a change.”

“What can you do for us?” asked Tara suspiciously.

“I possess access to Syn Corporation AI control systems.  I can turn your Rot Warrior Zombie Soldiers into reanimated beings who can think creatively and independently, even as well as they did when they were living beings.”

“Why would you help us?” asked Smoky.

“You will reward me with sole control of the planet Zadukar that orbits the Lonely Star in the far corner of the cluster.”

“That miserable hot rock with methane for an atmosphere?” asked Raylond.

“You have a deal!” declared Smoky.

“Yes, but the prince is probably long dead.  And, besides, Slythinus himself was probably killed on Stanley,” said Sorcerer.

“Why do you want it?” asked Raylond.

“I just want to be a ruler among the good guys for once,” he said with an evil robotic smile.

Canto 145 – Senators and Senate Stuff

The biggest debate in the arguing about forming the New Star League had been about which planet was the best place to host the capitol of the newly formed multi-star government.  The idea had formed around the planet Don’t Go Here, which was entirely too provincial and had never had a space-faring tech level before.  In spite of its sentient orbiting space port, the Ancient construct known as Frieda, retrieved from the device made by the Ancients called the Crown of Stars, it was determined that the planetary system was simply not equipped to be an interstellar capitol.

Tron Blastarr, leader of the pirate space forces establishing the new union of solar systems, wanted his home base of Outpost to be the new capitol, but the main inhabited planet, Outpost itself, was an airless rock with no room for much beyond Nebulon colonies and military installations.

Xavier Tkriashav, the political leader who had brought all the worlds of the Psion exiles and the Lupin pirate hordes into the union wanted his home world of Zarane to be the capitol.  But that world did not really have a central enough location to work well.

So, the leaders, meeting on the centralized world of Gaijin with its hybrid Gaijinese people and relatively high tech level, decided to build the new capitol in the city of Kiro on the planet Gaijin. 

Tkriashav and the bald immortal Dr. Naylund Smith both retired to the Gaijinese tea garden behind Dr. Smith’s house with their cups of steaming white-stork tea.

“Well, Dr. Smith, it seems that everybody got what they wanted in the meeting.  The constitution is practically written already.”

“Yes, you, it seems, got the choicest position, making yourself Senator Prime.”

The turbaned Zaranian smiled.  “You will be my Number Two, so you will succeed me if anything happens.”

“Yes, but it was not a looked-for opportunity.  I have other matters that urgently demand my time.”  Dr. Smith stared into his cup of tea.

“But you are an immortal.  Surely if anyone has all the time they will ever need to do anything, it is you.”

“I go on living practically no matter what happens to my body, it is true.  But my precious daughter is not immortal.  Even now, Sara is with Ged Aero on a mission she may not return alive from.”

“But she’s only one of how many children you have sired over your three-thousand-year-plus lifetime?”

“She may be only one of many, but they are all gone now in the well of time, and I vowed that her mother would be the very last woman I ever loved and then outlived.  That kind of loss is taxing to the soul.”

 “Yes, the sentiment is certainly understandable.  But it is a great thing we are undertaking.  Never before have so many different sentient species come together to form an interstellar planetary alliance.  We have always been ruled in the past by the members of the Earther Human Race and the  Human-Galtorrian Fusion Race.  But now there are the Molluscan M’uduai Race, the Japanese/Sylvani Race we are now calling the Gaijinese, the Psion Race of Zarane and her sister worlds of the Old Psion Empire, the Pale Humans of the Geonee Race, the deep-space Nebulon Race, the Lupins, and the Dion Saurian People, as well as all the Genetically Altered Races of the Faulkner Genetics Worlds.”

“An impressive list to be sure.  But can they hold together as one people with common interests in this new government?”

“I don’t see why you would doubt it?”

“Maybe because of the endless warring and race-hatred of the many human races.  You know how the Imperium is.  Zombie like Mechanoids, dead bodies brought back to life artificially are the backbone of their armies, space marines, space navy, and special forces.  The ruling elite see all alien races as expendable and exploitable.  They don’t even treat Dions and M’uduai as worthy of being called people.  And they enslave and exterminate Nebulons and Lupins.”

“Yes, and we are not them.  We are not Imperials.  We will hold ourselves to a higher standard.”

“You have no idea how often I have heard that same sort of pronouncement come out of the mouths of well-meaning world rulers and empire builders.  It almost never goes the way they see it in their glorious visions.”

“It will be different this time.  The Prophecy of Xhan says it will be so.”

“I too have studied the prophecy, Xavier.  I have also studied much too much history firsthand to have your confidence.”

The younger man smiled and softly slapped the old immortal on the back.  “Fear not.  There is much in the Prophecy of the White Spider yet to be realized.  We are making history.  But it is history that is foretold and will certainly come true.”

“It will if Ged Aero succeeds in his quest.  And it will if the space forces on our side can get it all together to fight off evil old Admiral Tang, and the darker forces behind him.  You would be wise to prepare for at least some parts of your prophecy not to come true in the way you are expecting.”

There was no doubting that Dr. Smith had a point.  And even Xavier’s clairvoyant Psion abilities couldn’t remove the darker clouds from among all the cumulus constructs of the possibilities that lay ahead.