Chapter Five
No Time For Guilt
The strange chalk-like writing was fast becoming something of a personal hatred for Wesley. He did his best to ignore it as much as possible, but lying in his tent staring at the tarp that served as the ceiling made it a little tricky.
It was scrolling across the blo...
2024-06-02 08:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostChapter Four
One Shot
Wes lay in the grass and tried his best to look like a rock. A few dozen feet away was a pair of Flat Horn Deer. The buck was massive, muscles rippling on its legs as it stomped one hoof. The horn he had come for lay at the feet of the victor.
A slight disagreement over...
2024-06-01 08:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostChapter Three
Hearty Hello
Licking the rim of the upended canteen failed to miraculously summon any extra water. He tried twice more anyway and wiped his hand across his sweaty brow. Water was something they never had to think about back home. It was just always there. The only time he had thought about...
2024-05-31 08:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 32
Exploration Mode
“Are you sure about this?” Lucy asked again.
The AI was not used to being unable to interact directly with the world. She had a body for so long and had become so adapted to being able to affect the world around her that it was proving difficult to have that t...
2024-05-30 08:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostChapter Two
Hiking Blues
Wesley’s first shot went well wide of the beast. The bang was loud, but it didn’t even shy away. It kept coming: paws eating up the ground as it charged toward him with blood slathered across its muzzle.
He adjusted the range with trembling fingers and...
2024-05-30 08:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostChapter One
Details
“Does this look like technology from the Second World War to you?” Todd sneered as he plucked Wesley’s iPhone from his pocket.
“It certainly does not!” Andy’s sycophantic voice was as grating as nails on a chalkboard.
“Sorry, I forgot I had it,” Wes ...
2024-05-29 08:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 31
Surprises.
The security center was dark and silent when she arrived. The warning lights were out, and the messages had vanished from the walls themselves.
Improvisation was the name of the game, and Nellie attached a spare camera from her suit to a long metal pole, using it to sca...
2024-05-28 08:05:03 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 30
Solo
First things first.
Nellie went over and checked out the suit Lucy was wearing. It was still showing faint power signs, but that was about all. Whatever in the suits was run by nanites had been wrecked.
Nellie was still a little low on nanites herself; the feeling of th...
2024-05-28 08:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 29
Shutdown
There was no pain, not at first. That was the strangest thing. Large parts of her body had just shut down, but Nellie was not in any pain. It was almost enough to prevent the mounting panic, but not quite.
She lay, staring out of one eye at Lucy's blank, empty face. Slowly, a s...
2024-05-23 08:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 28
The Outer Ring
…..
ACCESS GRANTED!
“We’re in,” Quad hurried back away from the door as the others took positions on either side of it.
This was their first foray into an I.E.S. facility while it was still powered, and taking every precaution in the book was now their...
2024-05-21 08:05:01 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 27
Magma Power
“N.S.S. Indomitable, to Bly’s Rest,” Nellie called over the comm line. “We are on approach to the planet and expect to lose contact in five minutes.”
“Bly’s Rest, reading you,” Dar’s voice came back. “I have a message for you from Paren.”
“Go ah...
2024-05-21 08:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostHey all,
I am looking forward to welcoming you all to my new world and introducing you to my new protagonist.
While this book is firmly rooted in the fantasy side of Science Fiction and Fantasy, I think there will be something for everyone in the tale.
As I announced earlier, this will be a special event. So, instead of...
2024-05-20 08:49:01 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 26
The blinking comm line.
Crush was just sitting down at the desk that had been hurriedly set up at the base of the new tower when Nellie wandered over to eavesdrop shamelessly. True, she could have done it from where she had been standing, so this was almost the polite version.
Sort of.<...
2024-05-16 08:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 25
Progress Report.
“Administrator Salem to all department heads, progress report meeting in two hours,” Salem called over the nationwide announcement system. There was probably a station somewhere in the universe where that would not be necessary, but it was here on the Bly’s Rest. <...
2024-05-14 08:05:02 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 24
Trading
“Mister Bil-Tor, let’s talk,” Nellie smiled.
“Uh-oh,” Bil hung his head.
“What?” Nellie asked, surprised by the response.
“That means we need to negotiate,” Bil-Tor shrugged. “I’m not exactly good at that.”
“Well, actually,” Ne...
2024-05-14 08:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 23
Splitsville
“So, let me get this straight,” Crush said, putting his feet up on the desk dividing him from Duke. “The council, in its infinite wisdom, has decided that the residents of this quarter are the problem?”
“That is not what I am saying,” Duke insisted. “We a...
2024-05-09 08:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 22
Making a bad situation worse.
“All of you fuck off; I want to speak to my brother,” Brenda said as she strode into the Council chambers.
“We are members of this Council, too,” Hadrian protested.
“Do you want to stay?” Brenda shrugged. “That's fine, but open your mout...
2024-05-07 08:05:01 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 21
A Colony in Peril.
“What are the results?” Nancy asked anxiously. “Did we win?”
“Brix has been replaced as Mayor,” Hadrian said with a frown.
“Then why, can I ask, are you frowning?” Warrick growled. “Did our candidate somehow fail to win?”
“No, but it ...
2024-05-07 08:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 20
Snapshots.
“Ambassador Banjo to Bly’s Rest, Ambassador Bajo to Bly’s Rest,” He grinned into the comm handset as he made his daily call up to the station to give a progress report.
“Bly’s Rest, receiving,” Dar sighed heavily over the comm line, “And for the last time, you...
2024-05-02 08:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostChapter Nineteen
Expansion
Nellie supervised loading the extra Pre Fabs into the Indomitable for a return trip to the moon. There were several of the large cubes, as well as several sets of equipment and then came Paren with her little friends.
Watching them cross the bay was like watching someone...
2024-04-30 08:05:00 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 18
An old Friend.
“Captain?” Remy knocked politely on the outer hatch to her quarters, where Nellie was busy trying not to worry about the strange egg in the sands of the volcanic planet. Over a week and a half had passed since they disturbed it, and the thing had not moved, grown, or even t...
2024-04-30 08:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 17
Council Meeting.
“It seems Marshall Crush has caused another problem,” Nancy said, her face twisting in distaste.
“This was clearly not his doing,” Duke countered. “The problem is with my sister’s crew.”
“We only have his word for that,” Warrick said, sitti...
2024-04-25 08:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostHey all,
As I announced today, one of my weekly titles has been semi-retired.
Well, I hate to announce bad news without some good news as well.
I wanted to do something special to show my appreciation for you all, and I think I have the perfect way to do that. My new title, The Rifleman, is reaching a stage where I am happy to...
2024-04-24 06:35:19 +0000 UTC View PostHey all,
As those of you who follow the story know, I am currently in the process of writing Volume 5 of The Waystation. I am sorry to say that I will not be releasing any more chapters in that Volume for a while.
The story and its characters are very dear to my heart, but I am afraid to say that it is simply not selling very ...
2024-04-24 06:10:38 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 16
The Red Planet
Nellie's heart raced as the Resurgence pierced the upper atmosphere, plunging into a truly primordial world. The skies were a tumult of thick ash and smoke, their presence a stark reminder of the planet's volatile nature. The landscape, a vivid tableau of glowing red lava track...
2024-04-23 08:05:01 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 15
Industrious
“The first thing we need to do is build more shuttles,” Salem stated, consulting her now-packed clipboard of notes. It was strange that the synth insisted on using it, given how much easier it would have been to use a pad, especially one of the new, improved models using the s...
2024-04-23 08:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 8
What happened on Earth
THE SU(Rest of title Obscured) - UK Newspaper - Date Obscured
Mysterious Lights Descend on London
Widely reported instances of strange light, noises, and visions have been reported by this newspaper as being...
2024-04-19 08:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 14
Circling
“Resurgence to Bly’s Rest,” Nellie double-checked her position on the sensors. “In position for launch.”
“Roger that, Captain,” Vey responded. “We show you in position. Clear to launch on your command.”
“Roger, Rest. Resurgence out.” Nellie clicked o...
2024-04-18 08:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 7
Side Quests and Safe rooms.
The settlements of men were few and far between in the lands of the Queen of Beasts, with the ones that did exist preferring a more nomadic existence to stay a step ahead of her herds and packs.
One of the few exceptions to this rule was a small hamlet a...
2024-04-17 08:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 13
Digging In.
“What’s wrong?” Nellie asked.
“I am confused,” Lucy said, “Which is a rare condition in an AI, as you can imagine.”
“What’s confusing you?” Nellie ran her hand through her girlfriend’s hair and looked at the components of the I.E.S. datapad ...
2024-04-17 08:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post