Reviews: Recently Read

Recently I have been reading some more of the free science fiction that can be found on Amazon and other places. I will share some of the thoughts I had about them, although I will say they are all worth reading.

Sands of Osiris (Aegis Colony book one) - FREE

A very good space opera series opener. I will have to caution you that it is not for younger readers since there a couple of graphic sexual scenes, which seemed pretty pointless from my POV. The first one was unnecessarily graphic to the point that I almost stopped reading. But overall the story is worth reading.

Mutation Z: The Ebola Zombies

The first of a series , as usual. More of a novella.  The main character seemed to take everything a bit too much in stride. The story seemed a little disjointed but that could be explained by the character: a young nurse who still acted a bit childish, IMO.

The idea of someone purposefully infecting a volunteer nurse (or more than one) with the virus is a bit preposterous when there are literally thousands of locals who could be used as guinea pigs.

Overall though, you will want to know what happens next.

Oasis: Part Four

 See Part One

I might have rushed this part a bit. If you find a mistake, I'll fix it. There will be a part five at the very least but I need to put some extra thought into that one. Loose ends need to be tied. I would love to write full time but nobody buys books or donates to a noob like me.

 Oasis:

Part Four

A bald man in a bright white robe walked through a garden on a flat stone path, one could see orange hills rise in the distance. Several young men and a young woman followed him, they wore yellow robes and carried tablets. He led them up the hill to a large gazebo-like structure where they sat on its floor in the shade.

“Teacher. I heard there is a war coming.” one of the students said “Do you think people will kill each other?”

The teacher lowered his head solemnly. “It is a regrettable thing that from time to time humans go to war with each other. I hadn't meant to discuss current events with you today, class, but I suppose we can use it for out purposes. Who can tell me about the Star League?”

Two of the students raised their hands and he chose the farthest one. “An organization founded upon the principle of peace between inhabited worlds. More than three hundred member-planets and...”

The teacher waved his hand. “Yes, yes. We know the textbook definition already. We know what it was supposed to be, in theory. What is it now?”

Another student answered this question. “A debating club where nothing really gets done.”

The teacher nodded “That is definitely a lot closer to the truth than some magnanimous organization bent on peace and prosperity. They don't seem to pay much attention to this planet, I suppose it is because there are no resources here for them to exploit.”

The teacher continued “Occasionally some ruthless tyrant does things so horrible that they become a pariah world. Once in a while they step on too many toes and threaten too many worlds prosperity and the Star League takes military action. They don't do this to help anyone who is oppressed by that tyrant, but sometimes they end up getting to vote for the next one.”

The students were taking notes but one of them chuckled. The girl student looked more serious “Is there anything we can do to stop Oasis from getting its own tyrant?”

“Do? The Solon hasn't paid much mind to Oasis City affairs in a long time. We are educators first and foremost. Would you have me march to the center of the city and take on the soldiers.” The teacher asked them, he was asking. “What do you suppose we could do about the situation?”

She put her tablet down and thought for a moment. “Every other tribe is involved whether they know it or not. This will effect the Solon, of course we should have a say in it. Peace should be our say.”

The teacher waved a hand. “We do not use the word tribe to describe people here. There is no real division between this people and those people. All lives matter. Remember that, no-one should be put above any other. Lindia was correct, though. The Solon should be seen and heard in the present situation.”

The soldiers would be coming any second. Jake dragged Ria into the middle of a copse of trees since she didn't seem to want to get up. Or because he was hovering right over her.

“What are you doing, Jake?” she asked. He paused and looked down at her.

“So you do know my name!”

She shook her head. “I mean why are you dragging me around like you're a cave man?”

Jake sat beside her and pushed her to the ground in the dense weeds as the sounds of boots became louder and louder. Bolt covered his head with his hands, his face was turning red. The soldiers milled about before the sound of an explosion got their attention and they ran off again.

Jake could breathe again. Then something hit him in the side of the head and he saw stars.

“Get off me!” Ria told him and gave him another shove.

“Ria, your people on the plateau. They have communications with the Star League don't they.” Bolt asked, scooting forward to them carefully. “We need to have a message sent immediately.”

“What kind of message?” she asked and pushed herself onto her feet. Then she stretched and bent while holding her side. “Ouch” was all she said. She reached toward her ear but her communicator was missing.

“The council is being held hostage by a space pirate. Matt Dillinger.” Jake told her. She looked at him like he had lost his marbles.

“Why in wonder would a space pirate be doing that?”

“Power and wealth. Imagine if he had a planet of his own as a base of operations and look at all the empty land on Oasis he could sell for settlements. Once it's green.” Bolt said.

Ria crossed her arms. “First, that's insane. Second, my dragon is wrecked. Third, we need to get out of here before the soldiers come back.”

Jake and Bolt led Ria through the dark alleys of the city and into Mr. Tinkers factory. Lily and Tulip were surprised to see Ria joining them.

“Did you see my father?” Lily asked.

“No. I saw a group of hostages, though. The whole council is chained.” Jake explained. “They just sat there like they were sitting on primed grenades.”

“My dad.” Lily muttered and she and Tulip were hugging and crying again. Ria shook her at this scene and walked over to the aerial vehicle Jake and Bolt had made.

“If this thing can get us back to the plateau, we can send that message to the Star League. Then they can't pretend they don't know what's happening here.” she told them.

“This is urgent.” Jake told her “We saw the nomads and the riders outside of the city. I think they know what is happening somehow. Maybe they're involved.”

“What your saying is that the caravans and the riders are massing outside of Oasis City.” Ria asked, almost snorting with a laugh. “Hopefully the cavers stay away, unless they learned to wear clothes. It sounds like a convention.”

Bolt had been looking outside and came back in. “Sounds like the fighting has died down. Seems like the Air Knights are south of the city. With the caravans are to the east and the riders are to the west, I have no idea what's going on right now.”

Ria shrugged. “If it's quiet maybe we can leave now.”

“The airships” Bolt said “I saw them coming back from the mountains. Dozens of them.”

Jake was alarmed by this. “Dad wouldn't come back, he wouldn't put Jato and Tawni in danger!”

“It's a real convention.” Ria said, but she seemed concerned about something too. “I wonder why the fighting has stopped. Was there a stalemate?”

Bolt shrugged. “It's not like I read minds.”

Bolt hit the switch on his wrist bracelet and the roof began to part again. They could see stars and a few wispy clouds. Then Jake, Bolt and Ria headed toward the aerial vehicle. Lily walked after them and put a hand on Jake's shoulder. “This is too dangerous. All three of you don't need to go.”

Jake thought about it. Lily was probably right. There was little doubt in his mind that Ria could fly this thing by herself. “I need to tell them what I saw.”

Bolt and Tulip were looking up. “Uh-oh” the girl said.

Jake looked up as well. Red streaks were quickly growing. Ships were entering the atmosphere of Oasis. “I bet those are pirate vessels! We need to hurry.”

Ria, Jake and Bolt climbed onto the aerial vehicle and lifted up quickly. Bolt had the roof closing before Jake put on the forward thrust. He aimed the vehicle south but he kept the altitude low enough to keep the anti-aerial weapons from locking on. Between the Merchant Association and the old church they flew and in front of them was the open plaza overlooking the lakes.

Jake looked down. He could see soldiers on one side and Air Knight “Marines” on the other, a crowd had gathered since the shooting stopped. Between them were people dressed in clean robes, sitting on the ground in circles. Jake didn't know what they were doing but his mind had figured out that the academics of the Solon had joined in.

“Anyone missing?” he heard Ria say sarcastically over the radio in his ear.

Soon enough they reached the plateau and landed in the field by its edge. Jake quickly looked back at the city and the sight of several ships in the sky on approach made his stomach ache.

“We have to go!” Ria said throwing the helmet on the ground. “Before they jam all the communications systems!”

The three of them ran towards the empty barracks before making a right toward another building. Inside of this one they found some older people studying maps and video feeds. Ria ignored them and ran past to a second room where a communications set-up was waiting. A man was fiddling with it, Jake hoped they weren't too late.

Ria grabbed the mans shoulders. “Uncle Alto, we need to send a message to the Star League!”

He nodded. “I know, the coup...”

She shook her head. “Pirates. Matt Dillinger has taken the council and others hostage in the council building. He has bribed some soldiers to join him, but his reinforcements have arrived!”

Jake stepped forward. “You need to send the message to them, on an open frequency, all of the frequencies, make it so they cannot pretend they hadn't heard.”

Ria's Uncle Alto turned some dials and hit some switches. “Don't usually broadcast on all frequencies, since we're usually kind of secretive...” he mumbled. Ria rolled her eyes and tried to smile.

“They can't broadcast all the frequencies.” The man said “They didn't bring enough vessels to cover everywhere. We're not stupid, us Air Knights. We have transmitters on the far side of the planet too.”

“Uncle Alto!” Ria said in a loud whisper “How about just do it without telling all our secrets?”

Soon enough Alto turned on a microphone. “This is Oasis, Pirate Matt Dillinger has taken our governing council as hostages with the intent to profit from selling parts off with terra-forming. The Star League must intervene to stop this tyrannical transgression against a sovereign world and a member in the League. I request that all vessels picking up my message to rebroadcast on all open frequencies. I repeat....”

Jake was breathing easier. If the message made it out, then the Star League would have to do something eventually. In the meantime they would still have to deal with Dillinger and his pirate troops. About now those soldiers who accepted bribes, the ones not dead, were regretting their decisions. They probably had no idea that Dillinger would have lied to them. Of course he would have no intention of keeping those promises, he was a pirate for crying out loud.

Ria, Bolt and Jake went back to the field. They watched as several ships descended upon Oasis City and hovered over it. It seemed like a whole different era had just begun for this planet. Oasis had nothing that could fight off these vessels. Until and unless the Star League decided to intervene, their world was now under occupation.

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Link to Part Five

Short Story: Mind Prisoner

Mind Prisoner

The detective pulled on the shackle, dragging the milnarian into the compartment after him and pushing him into a seat. The minarian hadn't said anything since detective Rick Patton had confirmed his identity and slapped the shackles to his hands. Then all the way to the space port the alien just ignored him and watched the scenery of Altos VI slip by.

Patton usually enjoyed suspects who knew when to shut up but something about a quiet milnarian bothered him. Their species were not well known yet, they sort of showed up one day and blended into the metropolitan nature of the Star League. Their presence usually just generated a shrug.

Vaguely their green faces looked humanoid but the green antenna above their brows put them into a category with few of the known species. Unlike the varron, who are pale green, the dark green complexion of the milnarian species was a bit different. They weren't known to talk much and many people assumed they were able to communicate with each other telepathically. Or at least by touching their antenna.

They acted normal enough though. They drove vehicles, worked at shops and wrote novels just like any other species. There was also a percentage that became criminals, or were criminals before they arrived, since nobody knew where their home world was.

“Ja'vess, you don't have to stay silent. It means you don't have to talk about the crime you were arrested for.” Patton told his prisoner who was again staring at the shackles on his wrists.

“Yeah boss” it replied, finally. It's voice seemed to come from far away, like down a long tunnel with a badly tuned video player at the end.

“What would your parents think of you being a thief anyway?” He asked the alien.

The alien looked askance with its dark eyes getting glassy. The detective suddenly felt bad for asking and pulled out a cube. A holographic novel hovered above it, he had been reading this when he was sent to catch the thief. He suddenly realized that the action-adventure tome had been written by a milnarian.

“This author, Ki'vann, is one of yours. He didn't become a criminal, there are choices in life. You could have done so much better with yourself.” he showed the novel to the alien, who nodded as if he appreciated the talk.

“I gits it, boss” it said, again sounding like a recording from some old movie or vid program. It was weird but what can you do. The detective also noticed that he had never really heard a milnarian speaking standard before. On television they usually spoke their own language with subtitles or translators.

Ja'vess probably learned standard from watching old films and vids. That would explain why he talked like that.

“You'll get a fair shake in court. Just tell them you'll reform yourself and straighten up your act. A guy like you, gotta be a good model for the kids. Do you have kids.” The detective asked.

Ja'vess looked right at him and answered “I don't know nothin' about birthin' no babies!”

Detective Patton was taken aback by this but the alien went back to studying the shackles as if nothing had happened. Patton looked around the compartment but there were only a few other people around and nobody was paying any attention to them.

“I'll just deliver you to the authorities on Marco-S and everything should go smoothly.” he told the alien who was paying no attention to him. Then he pulled out a different restraint and magna-locked Ja'vess to the seat. Now he had something else to stare at while the detective tried to take a nap.

As soon as the detective closed his eyes, Ja'vess looked right at his face. His mental muscles worked overtime, peeling the topmost layer from the active mind of the detective. A western film starring himself was playing in his head, move that over carefully. Ja'vess wanted to go deep and find the unconscious mind of this human. A bit father a memory of a human female submerged in bubbly water and laughing, then she stood up.

Ja'vess nearly retched and pushed the image away. Hopefully he wouldn't vomit onto the human an wake him up. All he needed were some autonomous motor functions and some muscle control, the human might not even know what was going on. It would be better if he stayed asleep. Ja'vess used another feeler to calm the mind and keep out any signal about what was going on elsewhere.

The human was chasing someone, they were both riding on the backs of beasts, firing primitive weapons at each other. It was a dream, this running battle had to be kept going as long as possible. It seemed odd but these violent images were calming to this human.

The hand flexed. Ah, now he was getting somewhere. Soon he had the arm moving sideways from the elbow, it sort of slapped Ja'vess across the chest. He needed some better control, this would take a little more time.

Suddenly Ja'vess had the image of a boy climbing out of bed, wearing pajamas and running outside yelling for his father. When the boy reached the exterior of the dwelling, the sight of the vehicle reaching into the sky was heart-wrenching. It was a sad memory from the detectives past. The human sniffled and a tear was welling in the corner of one of his eyes, Ja'vess pushed the memory away.

Now the hand was more controllable. He was able to get it to disable the magna-lock. Ja'vess breathed easier and could move a bit more in his seat, but he was still shackled to the detective. He would need to get the detective to punch in the proper code to unlock the shackle. Once that was done he could try to hide on the ship or take the detectives weapon and...

Another memory. This time he was running laps in some kind of orbital gym because the running track was perpendicular to the floor. The track must have had a different gravity than the rest of the gym, where people were pulling gravity weights or using machines to work muscles. Above them was a big swimming pool, but the water did not fall, this was intriguing to Ja'vess. His own people had never used technology in that way before, for comfort or leisure and such.

The young detective put on a burst of speed and caught up with a female in tight coverings, Ja'vess tried not to think about that earlier image. Keep it covered! She was happy to see the guy, then Ja'vess realizes it was the same female.

She must have been his mate or was still his mate, Ja'vess reasoned. He must have a lot of feelings for this female, a lot of loyalty was felt in the dream. Although Ja'vess also felt something else from the human, sadness and regrets, when he looked at the girl.

Must change the memory. Finally something useful. A recent memory, the detective was punching a code into the shackles. Perfect. Now Ja'vess simply needed to have the detectives hands punch it into the keypad since it was DNA-locked. He got the hand to the control pad and punched in a couple of the numbers but something happened.

It was a new memory. The detective, Rick Patton, was at a funeral. A large framed portrait of the woman was next to the wooden box. She looked a bit older, small wrinkles by her eyes but the same twinkle in them still sparked for the picture. Ja'vess realized this must be a funeral rite. The detective had recently lost his mate. Ja'vess felt the sadness wash over him, the grief was becoming his own. He had to escape from these memories.

“Let's go” the detective said yanking on the shackle. Ja'vess opened his eyes and kicked himself mentally, he had fallen asleep. They had arrived at Marco-S where the authorities on this world had issued a warrant for his arrest for theft. Ja'vess hoped he had an easier time getting to the core of the judge's mind than he had with the detective.

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I'll try to have another OASIS instalment soon. In the meantime, remember the tip jar... not that anyone ever does.

Short Story: R-Point

R-Point

Day 160

The General entered the tent.

“We've cleaned it up a bit, sir” the Corporal said as he motioned his superior over toward the notebook computer. “Listen to this.”

He hit the button and the recording plays, there was a lot of static but someone was talking through it, giving out coordinates. Finally and more clearly “This is the 4th E-platoon, we are still holding on, just barely...”

“You heard it?” the Corporal said

The General nodded. A Major in the communications unit came over. “They've been missing for 6 months, and presumed dead.”

The General thought about it. “Do we know where those coordinates are. Can we send a drone to see if there is anything there?”

The Major scratched his head. “Well, our forces are so badly mangled right now, I'm not sure we can spare a drone. I'm inclined to think they are either dead or captured, maybe the enemy is laying a trap for us.”

“That's an E-platoon! If they are alive, we need them.”The General said “We need to put together a team, a squad to find them and extricate them if possible!”

The Major nodded. “I can't promise much, I can send one special forces operative, a sniper and a couple of rangers. We're really in bad shape.”

“Just get it done, Major!” The General said “If we can get the E-platoon out, we might still have a chance to win this war.”

The General left the tent. The Major sat and shook his head. “I don't know. It doesn't look good for the human race at this point.”

The following morning a lightly armored vehicle left the secret base toward the coordinates heard in the message. They hid whenever they detected movement of enemy forces, it was good that the area was heavily wooded. The location they were headed to seemed to be on the edge of a swamp.

“Sergeant Stephen Wald sat in the passenger side of the vehicle watching the navigation system on a tablet computer, they were getting closer. They parked in a densely wooded area. The spot on their map was across some water.

“Could be gators.” one of the Rangers said. The other seemed startled by this idea.

“Get it together.” The sergeant told them. Then he looked at the corporal, the sniper, who seemed calm and had done a good job driving them. “Get your gear, I hope it's waterproof. We need to cross this, unseen. Once we get to the other side, you find a good nest fast.”

“Yes, sir.”

He led them into the moss and leaf-covered water slowly, so as to not disturb the surface or create ripples that might be seen by the enemy. All the way across they were able to keep their feet on the muddy bottom, no sign of the enemy or gators. Once they got out on the other side, they quickly moved to a dirt berm and used it as cover. A thick fog had rolled in.

“We should be able to find them quickly. I want you, corporal, to move toward those trees and find a sniper nest. Can't see much more in this dense fog.” he told them in a whisper as they huddled. The corporal moved away, initiated his active camouflage device and bent over to get as little attention as possible.

The Rangers pulled out their Mark 5 battle rifles and attached V-Scopes that should be able to see a ways through the fog. The sergeant pulled on a pair of goggles that had the same technology and a small Mark 4 sub-rifle. The three of them started up their active camouflage and moved over the berm with Rangers covering left and right while the sergeant covered straight ahead.

A few steps later they found themselves at the food of a stone stairway, something large was close to them, towering over them. The sergeant adjusted his goggles, it looked like some kind of building. There was no known building of this size in the area. It was quite large, a mansion.

“Why would there be a mansion here?” One of the Rangers asked when the fog thinned a little. The other Ranger looked a bit skittish.

“I grew up not too far from here. There were stories of an insane asylum in the swamp. Inmates who got out were killed by gators or snakes or something.”

The sergeant hit him on the shoulder. “Pull yourself together. This place looks abandoned. No sign of anything or anyone.”

“Something sent that signal.” The skittish Ranger said.

The sergeant opened a local channel to the corporal. “Looks like we might need to search this building. The survivors might be close, keep an eye open.”

“Yes, sir!”

The sergeant headed up the steps with the Rangers on either side of him. He keenly felt under-manned and under-gunned but with the war situation, it couldn't be helped. The double doors at the top of the stairs were warped and rotted and easy to push open. They turned on the lights on their guns and the foyer was dusty but abandoned. No footprints they could see.

There was a stairway going up and doors to either side, plus a corridor behind the stairs. The place looked very large from this vantage point. The left side turned out to be a dining room with several tables and then a kitchen.

The pantry had been stripped bare, there were boxes and cans all over the floor. It was messy but they didn't find anything. To the right side of the foyer there were offices, some of the paper files had been scattered everywhere. In the largest office the desk had been turned over, the chair behind it ripped to shreds, even the curtains thrown down.

“Okay, let's check the upstairs.” The sergeant said.

“Can't we go back and say there was nothing here?” The skittish Ranger said “This place is not right, I get really bad vibes here.”

The sergeant grabbed the mans helmet and pulled him up the first couple of steps. Once at the top there were corridors right and left and then right and left again in the opposite end. They pulled the first doorknob and the door disintegrated on contact. All 3 of them nearly fell down and backed up quickly at the sight of a mummified corpse still on its knees, mouth open in a silent scream and arms as if banging on the door.

“Oh my god!” The quiet Ranger said.

“Let's get away from here.” The more skittish officer said, panting for breath. The sergeant got his own breath under control and used his gun to push himself onto his knees and stood. “There's nothing we can do for this guy. Let's keep looking.”

“They aren't here! Can't you see that?” the quieter Ranger said “There would be footprints and items they used scattered about. There are no survivors here, sir”

The skittish Ranger scooted over the mummified corpse. He moved cobwebs aside and pointed.

“This was them. This was the 4th E-Platoon!”

The sergeant dropped down and got a close look at the dog tag around the neck of the remains, his breath deepening. He rubbed his eyes. “Where are their E-suits?”

Truth was, they were sent more to retrieve the E-suits than the soldiers. With the E- armored combat suits they could possibly exploit a newly discovered weakness of the enemy. The problem was this weakness had been found too late. No more of the powered-armor battle suits had been left and more could not be built.

“The enemy might have captured them.” The quiet Ranger said.

“Search every room. Search the garage, attic and everything else. We need to find those combat suits if they are here. We don't leave until every stone is turned over.”

Then the corporal broke in over the radio. “You guys don't need to look. They are outside. They are across the swamp looking at the vehicle, dragging it to the water.”

“The enemy?”

“Yes, wearing the E-suits.”

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This is sort of an homage (loosely) to a Korean film of the same name.

Please consider leaving something in the tip jar on the sidebar, any amount will help me out considerably.

Short Story: Unprepped

Unprepped

I remember that day. I remember the power went off. It went off and on several times that day before going off for good around midnight. The Game-Station died right in the middle of my battle with an Orc boss, it was really close but I think I would have beaten him. I rolled over on the couch and went to sleep, sure that the power would be on by morning.

Nope. Since I could not restart my game I went and took a shower, it was cold because the water heater was electric. I heard the front door open and slam, then the locks being turned, all six of them. Sandra was home, I hope she went by McDaniels and got me a breakfast sausage burger.

The door opened and I was startled enough to almost fall down in the tub. “Sandra!” I said, catching my breath “You scared me!”

“Mike! You won't believe it.” she said, she looked harried. She wasn't holding a paper sack with the MD logo either, or anything else. “Everything is shut down, the supermarket doors are open because they were stuck since last night, it's a mad house! Everyone was taking everything, there was hardly anything left. The whole town has gone nuts! The stores are empty.”

I wrapped a town around my waist, just my belly hung over it. “I'm sure it'll get back to normal soon, it always does. Is there anything to eat? I'm hungry.”

She rolled her eyes and went back out. “There are some Cheese Doodles and a left-over ham sandwich from last night.” she said looking through the fridge. I rolled my eyes, it was turkey ham; that is why it is still there!

She was sitting at the small table in the kitchen when I entered. “I don't think you grasp what is happening, Mike. It looks like the end of the world out there.”

I nodded and said “Calm down. If it's that bad the National Guard will be here soon to restore order and stuff. We have some canned goods, we'll survive.”

I look at the cellphone. Obviously there was no cellular connection but I had a little power left and there were games I could play on it. Then again, it might need to last days, I put it on standby mode and put it back down. I was proud I could be responsible like that.

The elderly woman next door knocked on the door and Sandra ushered her in. She was carrying a box and set it on the coffee table. “I know you guys sleep late, so I brought you something from the store.”

There were some canned goods, a package of chocolate chip cookies and a bottle of some cheap liquor in it. She smiled, some teeth missing and nodded. “Thank you, Lilly” Sandra said, and she sounded totally sincere. After the woman left she sat down on the couch next to me “She had two big carts of crap from the store! I guess we're lucky to get anything.”

Sandra leaned against me and put her head on my shoulder. It was quickly cutting into the circulation and she smiled. I know that smile. What a weird time to get frisky. I get my arm out from under her and throw it over her shoulder to let the circulation move again, it had gotten tingly.

“How in the world are we supposed to cook Mackerel?” I said, peeking into the box.

“If it's the end of the world, let's just forget about it. Let's drink that bottle and stay in bed all day!” she said, I was a bit put-off, it'd been months. It must be because of the stress of the outage and the shower I took. She grabbed my arm and tried to pull me up, as if she could budge me if I didn't want her to.

She had the bottle of that rotgut but I grabbed the cheese doodles from the warming fridge on the way into the bedroom. She was throwing the clothes from the bed onto the floor in the far corner. I moved the curtains over the window blinds to make it darker, it was impossible to sleep-and stuff- in the bright daylight.

So I let her have her way. I mean she let me have my way with her. Soon enough the liquor was wearing off and it was getting dark outside, really dark. She had been sitting between my legs while I massaged her back and shoulders, her muscles really were knotted up. When it was too dark to see we laid down and cuddled.

It was tough to sleep once the gunshots started. I looked outside about midnight to see that there were several buildings burning in our neighborhood. Sure we lived in a low-rent area but I never thought this kind of stuff would happen here. We didn't sleep, she was shivering like a scared puppy most of the night.

“Maybe it really is the end of the world.” She whispered. I tightened my arms around her. The only girl who ever showed the slightest interest in me, Sandra was my everything. It was her section 8 and food stamps that kept me housed and fed. Sometimes I felt like a bad person for not doing a better job as a man, but when she needed to scare someone off, I'd show up. My size is actually one of the reasons she hooked up with me, it was good to be scary big in this neighborhood.

“They looted and burned down both pharmacies!” someone had told us after we opened the windows and door once the sun came up. Everyone in the building was spending time out on the bannister because it was just hot and stuffy inside. One guy named Jamaal walked by handing out warm cans of beer, saying he couldn't drink it unless it was cold.

The only news we had heard from “outside” came from the police, firefighters and others who were trying to put out the fires and pretend to guard the looters. Looks like much of the east coast power grid had crashed, taking out a lot of the country with it. Except Texas.

“I don't have any clean clothes, Mike, why did this have to happen just before laundry day?” Sandra said digging through the closet. She finally ended up wearing tight yellow short shorts and a purple tube top that a friend had left. I saw her looking in the mirror shaking her head. Then she shrugged and put on big hoop earrings and the red high heels.

“Might as well go all the way with this look.” she said, I suppressed a laugh. She looked like some crazy hooker but that was normal in this part of town. Sure enough, nobody else even raised an eyebrow. That made me want to laugh even more. Then I remembered she was mine, and I wanted to drag her back inside to hide her.

A truck carrying ice and water came through and I was able to carry a few bags up to the apartment, we were second floor. I put them in the old cooler we had, the one with the broken spigot. We put a shoe under that end. We put the cans of warm beer inside and some bottled water, which was all we had at that moment.

There were more shootings and fires the next night. Again we just huddled on the bed and pretended it wasn't happening as best we could. The supermarket burned down, probably punished for having been looted off all the food. We only had a couple cans of food left, we had decided to save green beans, corn and leftover cranberry sauce from two Thanksgivings ago.

It was the food we wanted to eat the least, but that was neither here nor there.

I thought things would be peaceful again when the sun came up. I was wrong. Crowds of people started mobbing the police and fire trucks, throwing things at them, trying to smash the vehicles. I saw some of this from the bannister, I was completely shocked. I backed into the apartment and shut and locked the door.

Sandra had been washing her face. “What's up?” she asked.

“There's a riot.” I told her and she went back to washing her face in the kitchen sink. Then the water stopped and she turned the knob a few times.

“Seriously?” she asked and then she looked at me and then her eyes were red and brimming with tears again, “What are we going to do?”

I took a rag and got some water from the cooler and wiped her forehead with it. She put her hand over mind and sniffled. “I'm so scared, Mike.”

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Oasis: Part Three

See Part One

 

 Oasis

Part Three

“We don't even know who is behind all this.” Jake stressed “Yes, Mr. Campo is definitely a suspect but you can't go off and do crazy stuff.”

The Administrator turned to him with a vague look on his face. “Aren't we also citizens of Oasis? Are we not allowed to visit our own city?”

Jake closed his eyes and almost pinched the bridge of his nose. “You know what I mean, if dozens of your fliers show up at once, people are going to think your invading or something.”

“We call them our dragons.” Ria said “Not fliers.”

They were outside walking into a field where dozens of the flying machines were being prepped by crews and pilots.

Lily spoke up waving a hand at all the activity. “Yes, he's right. They will definitely take it as a hostile act, this definitely does look an invasion.”

Soon all of the crews were standing at attention next to their flying machines and the pilots were standing at attention in front of them. There was blue squad with Ria and Hando, but there were several other color-coded squads too. Including the older pilots in the gold squad.

Ria came up to Jake and pointed “What is that?” she pulled something from his jacket pocket and held it up “Where did you get a boomerazor?”

“I bought it from a street merchant. It's a bit rusty.” he answered rubbing the back of his neck.

She opened it up and looked inside. “Yes, it's rusty all right. That's my mark, you found one of mine out there! Ha!”

She handed it back to him and ran off to be with her crew.

The Administrator rubbed his chin. “The council has become someone's prisoner. That someone has hijacked the authority of the council to send orders to the defense forces. People and businesses have been bullied to remove the ability of the masses to fight a prolonged battle. All of this points to a coup in progress. I think we should go and find out what is happening.”

Jake shook his head. “They have their anti-aerial weapons readied. To everyone down there it's going to look like you started the war!”

The elderly man nodded. “Possibly.”

Jake gave up on the argument and joined his friends at their flying machine. Bolt said”They were very impressed with my engine design. I bet they'll try to copy it.”

Lily shook her head. “Bolt, this is not a good time.”

Just then a couple dozen armed men and women wearing some kind of armor jogged out to join the pilots. Jake didn't know what that was about but it looked like they were going to pair up on those flying machines, they didn't look like they would carry two.

“They only need to go downward.” Lily said “They'll drop the soldiers into the lake and be able to pull up.”

Jake looked at her like she had gone nuts. “That's crazy.”

“It's what they have been trained for.” she said “Hando was boasting about it”

Jake shook his head, “Hando needs to learn to keep secrets from people outside the clan before he gets himself in trouble. Let's go. I don't want to get shot out of the sky.”

The engines aimed downward and their aircraft lifted off the ground, after a dozen or so feet he turned toward the edge of the plateau and headed off. They would have to head back to Oasis City from the eastern area, hopefully they won't be mistaken for Air Knights.

Now that they remembered how to use the short-range radio they were able to chat a bit.

Lily asked “Are they going to try and gain entrance to the council building?”

Jake hoped not. “They could die if they did that. I don't know much of what they are planning, maybe the air show will be just a diversion.”

Bolt spoke up, “Maybe we should try to sneak in when their attention is on the Air Knights?”

Lily exclaimed “Us?”

Several thoughts went through Jake's mind. Should they just go back to the factory and hide there for the duration? Then he saw a dust cloud below them and saw two long columns of Caravan nomads in their wagons headed toward the city. This was strange.

“I'm going to go around first!” he told them. Oasis City wasn't very big but his suspicions were soon confirmed when he saw a large number of cycles heading toward the town from the south and west.

“Riders!” Lily yelled, “What's going on?”

Jake didn't know. “It looks like everyone is converging on the city.”

He flew through and around the airships surrounding the city and landed back in Mr. Tinker's factory after Bolt opened the roof remotely again. He took off his helmet.

“Something big is happening.” he said

“No kidding, but we still don't know who is behind all this!” Bolt said, tossing the helmet “We don;t know who the sides are, or who is behind all this. We can't fight a shadow.”

Jake went to the wall terminal and called his father.

“Where have you been?” his dad asked, concerned.

“Dad, listen. I'm fine. It looks like a war or something is breaking out. Maybe you can take Tawni and Jato and get away from Oasis City for a while?” he asked his father. His father replied calmly and evenly “You have to come too, Jake.”

“I think it's too late.” he told his father “Just go past the mountains until this is all over.”

“Jake, listen to me.”His father said “If you can't come here, find a safe place and hideout! Don't do anything stupid. Can you promise me that?”

Jake put a hand over his eyes. “I can try. Just get to safety!”

There was banging on the door and Bolt went over to it and activated the door monitor. It was Lily's little sister Tulip. She looked frantic and she ran into her sisters arms when Bolt opened the door for her.

“Lily! Some men came and took Dad away!” she said, tears in her eyes.

Lily lost her balance and Jake helped her sit on the floor. “Who were they? Did they say anything?”

Tulip and Lily were embraced and crying but she said “They said he was going to be a hostage.”

“Bolt. We might need some guns.” Jake told him.

Bolt looked confused “I was kidding about sneaking into the council building...” he lied “Let's pretend that idea never came up.”

Jake shook his head. “I think we have to. We have to find out what is going on before this whole situation explodes.”

Just then loud streaking sounds broke the silence from outside. They were shooting the anti-aerial weapons from around the council building. Jake opened the door and looked into the darkening skies to see several vehicles zipping around.

“The air show has started.” he told them “Bolt, we need to go.”

They left the girls in the factory and made sure the door locked. They walked down alleys as quietly as they could toward the council building. They wanted to avoid the troops, but instead of finding the place surrounded they found it mostly not.

“They must be fighting the Air Knights ground troops at the lake.” Bolt whispered. That was as good a theory as any. It also fit with what they knew. Only the anti-air batteries remained around the building, and maybe a few troops. With their attention diverted, it might actually be possible to sneak in.

The main entrance and the back entrance were both guarded, but the third entrance on the side for the staff seemed to be unguarded. It was very quiet on that side of the building.

“What are we going to do once we're inside?” Bolt asked. Jake hadn't decided that yet. He thought the council chamber, where their business was done in public might be the best location to look if there are a bunch of hostages. It's the only room big enough.

“We need to look into the council chambers.” was all he said. As if Bolt could figure out the whole plan from that much information. The door was unlocked and they sneaked inside, the lights were off in this corridor, it seemed abandoned. It led to the kitchen.

“Don't touch anything.” Jake said, knowing Bolt would probably want to touch anything that looked unfamiliar. He was as much into doodads as his father was. They made it through the kitchen without knocking pots, pans or hydrolizers off a shelf. The next room was the banquet room. There were a lot of tables but it was dark and nothing was stirring here either.

'Nice carpet.” Bolt said. It was soft and thick, good for absorbing sound as a matter of fact. It had to have been an antique from one of the original colony landings. Must be very expensive to import one of these from off-world, ridiculously expensive. Concentrate.

He looked out of a crack in the old door frame into the corridor. There were two armed soldiers in the hallway by one of the entrances to the chambers. One of the soldiers put a hand to his hear as if being told something and then saying “Roger that.” then to the other soldier “Out front, they need some help!”

Jake really hoped that didn't mean the ground force of the Air Knights was arriving already. Then he opened the door and duck-walked to the chamber door. He could hear voices from inside. He opened the door just a fraction of an inch and put his eye to it.

The closest thing was a footed foot of a soldier facing away from him. He could the back of several heads in the seats where the audience would watch the floor. It was darker there than down on the floor where the small part of the council desk he could see had members sitting there. The few he could see looked haggard, dark sacks beneath their eyes as if they hadn't slept since the “lock-down” began.

One of the few council members he could actually see sitting there like a refugee was Mr. Campo, and he looked pissed. The speaker, whoever it was, was droning on and on about a united and peaceful Oasis. A free and democratic Oasis. At this point Campo raising his shackled arms and clanging the chains “That's the sound of your freedom!”

At that moment Mr. Campo suddenly looked like a rebel freedom fighter compared to the suspicions Jake had been having. A figure crossed the small space he could see, just from the back Jake could see the man was tall, painfully thin and had a pony-tail.

“Temporary measure, Councilman Campo.” The man said “This will all be for the common good and you will all see it my way soon enough.”

Jake thought really hard. He didn't keep up on news, especially politics, but he didn't think man was on the council. How had this happened? How had some stranger walked into the center of government and claim its power for himself?

“You can't just expect this will end as you want it to.” Campo told him. “The people of this world are fiercely independent. I've warned them they need to forge a common identity myself, but not for the reasons you might think.”

The man raised both arms into the air as if he were surrendering. “Oh enlighten me, newcomer to the council.”

Mr. Campo gave a grim smile. “They will not accede to your demand. The people of this planet aren't the kind who would trade their freedom for anything you could promise them. I know it has happened all through human history, maybe it will happen here in the future. Not now, though, you could offer them heaven itself and they would throw you out on your ear.”

The man laughed. “Do you think I haven't done my homework? There is one thing that is more precious than heaven on this world. Water.”

Campo's head dropped and his shoulders sagged.

“These men joined me for water and enough land to start their own colonies once Oasis is a lush green utopia. Their all going to be filthy rich. Your army has become my army. Everyone will fall into line for water. To see Oasis bloom they would sign a new Constitution, I only want to rule for 99 years.” The man said, Jake couldn't believe that a maniac like this had already fooled many Authority soldiers. He wondered how many outside or sent to the lakefront to fight even knew what was happening.

“They might fall into line to save the people you took as hostages.” someone said “They won't really mean it. Someone will come and stop you.”

The man laughed again. “The Star League will be happy to see Oasis united and becoming more than a dry dirtball. Sure, it won't lift a finger to bring water and it won't lift one to stop me.”

The man turned around. Suddenly Jake started to recognized that face. Almost handsome but with that ugly scar on his left cheek. It just could not be true. “The Cavers, the Caravans, the Riders and others all want to have their own green lands, I can give it to them. Why should it all be localized in this one valley?”

It made no economic sense to bring ice asteroids from the outer system, unless this pirate was planning to restart the colonization process. Why would the Star League stand aside and let this happen? How could Matt Dillinger have taken over the council and army?

He crawled back to the kitchen where he found Bolt nibbling on some fruit. He looked up and slid over to Jake. “What did you find out?”

Jake breathed a deep sigh. “Space pirates.”

Bolt tilted his head. “Sun stroke?”

“Matt Dillinger is in there. The council is shackled. The hostages aren't moving, as if they were scared to move. He bribed the soldiers to join him!” Jake told Bolt all this, hardly believing it was real. “I have a feeling that he isn't alone either. Where are his ships? His men?”

If the Star League had paid any attention to Oasis before maybe this wouldn't be happening, how could they let a member world be invaded? This violates the charter is so many ways. The Star League could have sent ships to drag the ice asteroids to Oasis without a coup. Maybe Dillinger was lying and the League knew nothing, which would make sense. The League really didn't pay attention to the desert world.

Quickly they were back outside the council building. The air show was still happening, there was a soldier on the ground in the road with a boomerazor in his chest. As they watched a laser zapped one of the dragons like it was a bug and it headed toward the ground. The pilot was able to pull up barely but it simply lessened the impact as it hit a barn.

Jake ran to the barn and opened the door. There were small fires breaking out, he saw Bolt start winding the pump next to the door. Water began dribbling from the ceiling pipes as Jake walked through the mess. He found broken dragon parts and then a pilot on a stack of hay, unmoving. He grabbed the body and turned it over and both he and Ria yelled at the same time.

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Link to Part Four

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Short Story: Texas 2121: The Rookie

Texas 2121

The Rookie

Rocky couldn't believe the dumb luck. He had somehow been chosen to partner with a new rookie Ranger. This was a duty he had been able to avoid for the first 15 years on the job. He took a swig from the flask and slid it back into its leg holster where it would be hidden under his duster.

“Okay, Rocky,” he told himself “Let's go meet this green Ranger.”

The door slide open as he strode inside, passed the lobby desk with a wave of his hand over the laser reader and into the chute. The air pressured chute shot him to the 4^th floor and he walked across the hall and into the chief's office without knocking.

“Okay Gramm, I'm here. Lay it on me, I can take it.” Rocky said. The gray-haired fat bureaucrat had become very tolerant of this kind of thing in past decade. He hardly even reacted at all.

“Rocky, meet your new partner.” He said motioning to the chair between them. Rocky looked at the chair and back to the chief behind his large wooden desk.

“The chair is empty.” Rocky said “Am I being paired up with a ghost?”

“Not as exotic as all that.” Chief Gramm said with a sly grin, “Meet Boda.”

The chair swiveled around to face Rocky. There was a 3-foot elf sitting on the chair in some type of overalls with a Ranger badge on. It seemed to be grinning, but maybe that was a neutral look for his species.

“Hello, Mr. Rocky.” it said “Boda, my name is.”

Rocky had a feeling this was going to be a long month.

As they left the building Rocky was back into his element. “First thing to know is, I'm the boss, I have the experience and you should listen when I say something.”

“Understand, I do.” Boda said, the backward English made Rocky grit his teeth. He would hold it in, it's not good manners to make fun of immigrants. Rocky stopped in front of the big black SUV and held out a hand.

“This beauty is the best vehicle that the Rangers can buy. It's outfitted with everything one could need in the field.” Rocky said as he hit the right button on his cufflink and the doors opened up for them. “I'm driving of course.”

They climbed in. Boda could barely see over the dash but he (?) hadn't complained. His pointed ears did droop just a bit when the General Patriot 2250 lifted into the air and Rocky ignored the regular traffic lanes. “We're going to make a stop in Hauston before we head out west.”

Boda just nodded.

Soon enough they had crossed town and stopped on the roof of Betty's Place Bar & Grill. Boda followed down the stairs into the loud music and the sound of clinking glass. A few people stopped to gape at the short alien with a badge, but it's not like they haven't seen an alien before. The big red furry guy sweeping the floor was proof of that.

The bald man tending bar didn't look happy to see them but he dutifully set out two glasses as they sat on the bar stools. Rocky hadn't been looking when Boda got up there, it was as tall as he was. He'll see it next time.

“What'll you have Rock-man?” the congenial but worried bartender asked.

“Two cold ones should be good, Fred. Don't worry, I'm not here to see you.” Rocky told him and he looked very relieved as he filled up the glasses with domestic brew. “I'm here to ask Betty a couple of questions. Is she around?”

Fred looked put out for a second and with what seemed to be a bit of a huff walked to a small cabinet, pulled out a yellow blond wig and put it on his bald pate. Then he, -pardon- she, came back and smiled at the two lawmen.

“What can I do for you boys today, Rocky?” she asked then looked at the smiling, green face of Boda and asked “Are you male? Are you old enough to drink?”.

Rocky put his emptied glass down on the bar with a thump. “We aren't here to fraternize, Betty. I need to ask you a couple of questions. Questions about Ro Bart, you know him, he was a regular here for a short time.”

She was blank for a second but her face lit up. “Oh right, Ro Bart. I wonder whatever happened to that son of a....”

“He's wanted on attempted murder.” Rocky said and then bent down and said in a quieter voice “Allegedly he tried to ax his wife. Killed a robot too, but that's not a crime if it was his property.”

Betty opened a bottle of water and took a long drink. “As I recall he had a cabin north of Bothur, not too far from the coast.”

This was good. Rocky needed a little more detail if he could get it. “Anything more specific?”

She leaned forward and tickled his chin. “Might be, if'n you call me honey once.”

Boda choked on the beer he had been pretending to sip this whole time.

Rocky chuckled. “Okay, Betty honey, if you know something else, and you don't tell me it's a crime.”

She rolled her eyes. “Thicket Mills, look there.”

Rocky slapped five Sammies on the bar and put his hat back on “Thank you, kindly.”

Boda and him went back up the stairs and started south. Soon enough Rocky had his SUV flying at 600 kph, which was almost fast. Boda worked the computer as they rushed into the area of Thicket Mills, quickly narrowing the list of fake names that could be their suspect.

“Swamp, this is.” Boda said “Feels like home, it does.”

Boda pinpointed the cabin and they lowered their altitude. Soon they were hovering right over the moss-covered swamp water and nudging through some trees. The cabin had a large wooden deck for a porch. They silently hovered next to it and got out.

Rocky grabbed the shotstub from between the seats as Boda pulled out his needle gun and went wide right of the door. Rocky took the left side.

“Alright, come on out Ro Bart! We know your in there!” Rocky yelled

As expected the door exploded from an inside blast. Rocky tossed a stunball inside and turned inside right after it flashed. Ro Bart was on his hands and knees as if he was searching for his glasses.

“Dang you Rocky!” he said, feeling his face and noticing the goggles were still there. “I know'd you come for me! I just know'd it!”

Rocky grabbed Ro Bart's arm. “You gotta do your time, Ro, you did the crime.”

“S'not me! I tain't did nothing.” Ro Bart protested as his arms were bound behind his back, but he was just going through the motions. His heart wasn't in the protest at all.

“I know you loved her, Ro, but you shouldn't have tried to hurt her.” Rocky said leading out to the wooden deck.

After shutting the door to the back seat he looked at his new partner. “Thanks for covering me, I didn't even have to tell what you to do. Looks like your training already took hold. Ro here, he ain't all that bad he just dumb crap sometimes, he gets emotional. He's a sad man.”

“Understand, I do.”

“I like to break in the new guys with a fishing trip in the Gulf, we usually just get drunk without catching anything. Ever been fishing?” Rocky asked as an alligator crawled onto the deck behind him. Boda raised his hands and the alligator lifted off and the ground and was flung back into the water, Rocky saw none of this.

“Young as you think, I'm not. Quite old, I am.” Boda said as he strapped himself back into the SUV.

“I think we're going to get along great as partners, Booda.” Rocky said as the SUV rose straight into air.

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Short Story: Mine

Mine

It's all rock. Dark rock as far as the eye could see. This whole planet seemed to be one big overheated rock. The sun wasn't bad, no way to get a sunburn, the heat seemed to emanate from the ground itself. As if it were a giant lump of charcoal. The air was thin and barely breathable. Too much time spent thinking up analogies, too much time alone on this worthless rock.

There were some flying creatures but I've not got a good look at them. The only food source are the hard-shelled lizards, or were they crabs? I guess I would have to name those things sooner or later, Lord knows I've eaten plenty of them by now. Just not enough of them to keep me from being tired and losing muscle mass.

My parents had thrown their fortune into buying this planet, then spent years trying to get their money back and then they died. This was my pathetic inheritance. Without the ability to earn much of a living at odd-jobs that couldn't pay rent on shack I took up a position on a star freighter. Got sick on my first trip when they initiated me with a zero-gravity in a pitch dark room prank.

Never lived that down. The rest of the crew treated me like I was beneath their contempt. All my belongings were in a crate on that ship. My open-top vehicle, a veek and a backpack. On my fourth trip I inquired if I could get a look at the world I owned and they decided to just leave me here.

That was two years ago. I've been roaming the surface of this planet since then. My veek, powered by an atomic battery, will last for years more. There has to be something on this planet besides me and the lizards or crabs or whatever. Since they exist there must be some water somewhere. I can't dig through the rock with the weak laser I have on the veek, though.

I know there was an attempt to mine the planet before my parents realized there was really nothing that would recoup their investment. I want to see what is down there. Maybe they hit a vein of water or something. I've traveled a long way in two years, been to both poles and there was no ice. It was a little cooler but the heat from the ground wasn't lessened much.

I had to reserve as much energy as I could, not just because I haven't been eating enough lizards but the thin air made everything worse. The only shade I made for myself was out of my old uniform, on a frame made from parts of the crate, I connect a hammock to it and to the veek to stay off the hot ground. It was as comfortable as it got. It's not like I need the uniform except for the boots, so it's all I wear.

I would use the veek's communicator to send out distress calls but it's range was too small, a ship would have to be almost as close as orbit to pick up the signal. Not that it would cause me to give up, but I was tired a lot lately.

Then one morning I'm shocked. I see three small buildings and the opening of a mine from the top of the ridge. I race down to the veek and negotiate the boulders (the veek hovers a couple feet off the ground) and then across the flat expanse to the abandoned mining operation.

Of course I checked the buildings first. One had been used as offices, another was barracks and the last one was storage, a mostly empty storage building. But it was off the ground and lying on the ground was very comfortable in comparison. After a nap I searched what little I found in the buildngs. A bag of old chips, I munched them as I continued looking around.

A big air conditioning unit. No generator. I could plug it into the veeks atomic battery I suppose but that wasn't a priority right now. The mine. I wanted to know what was down there.

I carry two hand-held lamps to the veek and let them charge from the battery for a while. I didn't suppose it would get colder down there, probably hotter actually. Since the heat came up from the ground I would bet everything on hotter. So I wouldn't need any of the spare uniforms I found in storage.

After a couple of hours I couldn't wait any longer. I wanted the mystery solved so I took the lights and entered the mine. About fifty yards in there was no more light from outside, I turned the first of the lights on. About one hundred and fifty yards in I must be at least fifty yards underground. There was some moisture on the walls and the temperature hadn't changed much.

About four hundred yards in and more than a hundred yards under the surface, the walls were still the dark gray rock I saw up top. There were dribbles of water on the floor going downhill. Then I reached the end. There was a large puddle of water at the bottom about two feet deep from wall to wall and stretched ten meters to the end of the mine. The lizard-crabs were loving it here.

At least I would have my fill of the lizard crabs and use of the water. A hot bath just sitting there waiting for me and I'd be surrounded by my prime food source.

I shine the light on the wall, unbelieving that it really ended right here. I sit and breathe as eeply as the thinning air allowed. One big wall of solid, worthless diamond. Probably a deep layer of it all over this world. Further down was probably the molten core that was giving off all the heat. The end of my search was fruitless. A world not worth having and it was all mine.

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