Category Archives: science fiction

Canto 90 – Little, Medium, and Big Are All the Same (the Blue Thread)

Unlike other impending revolutions, the upheaval of the planet Djinnistan was so far overdue that the inequity and inequality between races was laughable.

The gigantic Afrits were all treated as machinery rather thinking, feeling, sentient beings.  The Faulkner Genetics executives who ruled the star system felt that someone with artificially limited intelligence didn’t have to be treated as equal to anyone.  They continued to follow orders blindly because they were simply not smart enough to question them, although there was no doubt about whether there was suffering going on in the Afrit community.  No one bothered to suggest to them that they might vomit lava on their oppressors and be easily done with them.

The tiny Peris had an opposite sort of problem.  They were child-sized even as adults, and though they were highly intelligent, some of them more intelligent than their corporate masters, they were easily frightened and intimidated by the security beasts (basically genetically enhanced primates in Nazi uniforms who were excessively violent, limited in thinking ability, and fond of the taste of Peri children).

The security beasts themselves enjoyed conflict and violence.  They understood two-word sentences like, “Kill Peris,” “Eat children,” “Throw this,” “Scare Peris”, and “Hit that.”  A few were genius enough by comparison to understand, “Hit that hard!”  But they, themselves, were unjustly tormented by bosses that starved them on purpose to make them fiercer.  And they were not smart enough to realize they could do to their corporate masters the same things they did to Peris and Eaglemen because they were so physically more powerful.

The winged Djinn, also called Eaglemen, were of average intelligence.  They were mostly manipulated by the genetic coding that made them docile unless their masters needed them to be warlike, and then code words could instantly turn them into crack shock troops.

This was the situation Arkin Cloudstalker found himself in as he, Lazerstone, and Black Fly sat down to a meal with the leaders of Djinn Rebellion.

The meeting was held in a huge light-blue desert tent.  In the far corner sat a group of three Afrits, keeping their distance from everyone to avoid choking them with the natural Afrit corona of sulfur and black smoke.  A smoke-hole had been placed in the tent roof directly above where they sat.

The head table held a party of Eaglemen, ten male and five females.  There were exactly two Peris at the table, a male and a female, both of indeterminate age.

The head Eagleman stood and introduced himself.  “I am Alsama’ Alzirqa’.  I am the sultan of the enslaved ones.  I lured you here because agents of the White Duke have been urging me to rebel.”

A second Eagleman stood and spoke also.  “I am Mutasabiq Alsama’. I am the sultan’s adversary.  And I am disappointed that you did not arrive with an army.”

Arkin didn’t have much of an idea what was expected of him, especially in the matter of what to say next.  Both bird-men stood looking at him expectantly.

The male Peri then stood.

“Ahem!  I am Another Danged Boy 152.  And, yes, that really is my name.  I am brother to the famous Another Danged Boy 143, may he rest in peace.  What the sky-guys are trying to get across in their bird-brained way is that we know the White Duke wouldn’t have sent you, specifically, the three of you, unless he thought you could solve our problem.”

“Ahem, also!” said the female Peri.  “I am Pretty-in-Patches.  That is also really my name.  I am the sister of the famous Uggo Uglygirl.  And I am here to come up with a creative solution if you goony birds fail to figure it all out.”

“Um, yes, I see,” said Arkin.  “We are supposed to help you rebel against your corporate masters.  The trouble is, I really don’t know anything about you people or your world.”

ADaB (Another Danged Boy 152) then spent twenty minutes recounting all the information about Djinnistan that I have already explained earlier, so you don’t need to worry about his recitation of it.  Besides, PiP (Pretty in Patches) spent considerable time and effort in contradicting and correcting him, so I will try not to bore or confuse you more than I already have.

“So, if I understand everything rightly, you outnumber the bad guys by a thousand to one, but you simply can’t take the fight to them because you are scared of the security beasts.”

They all looked at Arkin with some surprise registering on their faces, partly because Arkin had understood ADaB perfectly, and partly because PiP didn’t believe she hadn’t worked hard enough to fudge up ADaB’s explanation.

“Okay…  But you still don’t seem to have an army to solve our problem with,” said ADaB.

“We do have an army,” said Lazerstone.

“We do?” asked Arkin.

“Plenty of harmonic crystal out there in the sand, yes.  But also, look at them.” His sweeping gesture took in all the Freaks present.  “They can take this planet by sheer force.  They just have to be willing to try.”

“We can trap Dr. Bludlust in his lab easily, if we just don’t have to worry about the security beasts,” said ADaB.

“Would the Afrits be willing to aid us in battle against the security beasts if Lazerstone and I took them on by ourselves?” Arkin asked.

“You are powerful enough to do that?” asked Alsama’ Alzirqa’.

“Are we powerful enough?” Arkin asked Lazerstone.

“Definitely.”

“Uggo Uglygirl?” Black Fly asked PiP.

“Daddy had just endured a twenty-five-year run of only daughters, and he was desperate for another son.” “Okay, then, let’s get this battle underway,” said Arkin.

Canto 89 – Back to Darker Skies (the Blood Red Thread)

            Ham finally had the Leaping Shadowcat reloaded and ready to return to space.  It was a pleasant thing to take part in celebrations for a new government, but the reality was that soon the rot warriors and death commandos of the Galtorr Imperium would be descending.  Admiral Tang would hear about Ferrari’s victory and wish to turn it into an ultimate defeat.

The Imperium could bring far more warships and troops to bear than a single planet like Farwind could possibly hope to possess.  The only real hope was to activate alliances with other planets. 

There was always Coventry.  The high-population world was Ferrari’s home planet, and likely to be even more easily swayed to Ferrari’s cause than Farwind had been.

            Ham’s crew was reassembled.  Duke Ferrari would return as astrogator and navigator because he knew the routes to Coventry better than the rest. 

The two Lupins, Sinbadh and Sahleck Kim, would continue to serve as stewards.  Sinbadh would be the cook and sometimes the copilot.  Sahleck was the cabin boy and did the cleaning. 

I was back aboard as the ship’s engineer and chief mechanic.  I could also lay claim to the job of Science Officer, though nobody really took a Star-Trekky job like that seriously in the modern universe.  Space travel had never truly been imagined right by the movies and TV.

 Besides, I was one of the few that really took Astrophysics and Xenobiology seriously.  Most spacers would much rather kill it than study it, regardless of what it was.  The Kritiian Bugbright was left in charge of the revolutionary government, and we took off on a new mission.

            The Leaping Shadowcat rose smoothly through the bright blue skies of Farwind.  It was basically a water world, only a few small islands showing on the surface of the ocean-covered blue planet.  I watched the planet become smaller below us as I looked out through the viewport on the bridge. 

I knew that Coventry would be far different.  It was a planet with practically no oceans.  Ninety per cent of the water there was underground, or contained in sealed water systems.  When you looked at a smoggy brown high-population world like that, all you really could see was a vast, seamless cityscape.  I didn’t relish the idea of going there.

            “Are we gonna have to make another commando raid against impossible odds when we get to your homeworld Duke?” Ham asked pleasantly.

            “I hope not,” Ferrari answered.  “You probably noticed that I am no good at such things at all.”

            “How do you plan to reconquer it?”

            “I don’t really know.  Maybe we can luck into something as we get there.  Like we did on Farwind.”

            “I think…” I said, offering vast wisdom on the matter, “I think we should seriously list those who are on our side in the area.”

            “Well,” said Ferrari, “I know we can’t count on Galtorrian or Fusion troopers to aid us this time.  Coventry has three different Imperial Training Academies on the planet, all of them fiercely loyal to Slythinus.  The local pirate or corsair forces are the Monopoly Brigade, and we’ve learned from Tron Blastarr that their leader is dead set against us.”

            “Well, that’s two definite no’s,” I commented wryly.

            “How about the White Duke?” offered Ham.

            “He’s powerful throughout the sector with gamblers, smugglers, and thieves, but do we really want them on our side?” 

            “Are there many Unhumans in the system?” asked Sinbadh innocently.

            “Mostly as part of the downtrodden under classes.  The Imperium treats sentient aliens almost as badly as the Classical Worlds do.”

            I had to shake my head on that one too.  Genetic freaks were also abused in the area as far as I knew.

            “Are there any allies for us there?” asked Ham, concerned.

            “Not really,” said Duke Ferrari.  “The people loved me when I ruled there, but I championed them and alienated all those who had power.  It was the beginning of my downfall.”

            “I thought the Imperium was not a republic or a democracy,” offered Sahleck.  He was a bright-faced boy for a Lupin.  I had always thought Lupins were thoughtless brutes before.

            “That’s true,” said Duke Ferrari, “but even a cruel tyranny like the Galtorr Imperium has to have the consent of the governed to rule.”

            “Maybe,” said Ham, “that is precisely what we need.  The people are behind you, Han, not the current rulers.  We just have to let them know what the Imperials tried to do with you.”

            “Well, I be hornswoggled!” said Sinbadh.  “Ye have found a solution Ham-boy!”

            The simpering Lupin lackwit had suddenly reversed my opinion of Lupins once again. The Shadowcat, now fully prepared, but not fully confident, embarked through jump space for the next fateful destination, the planet Coventry.  If only we had failed to tell Captain Dalgoda and the First Half Century where we were going!