*****
Before I start the current topic, I have a couple notes to make.
The first one.
These topics that I am writing are unedited. I am a discovery writer and I start at the beginning and go to the end. I then turn back to beginning and start editing my work. My work changes 50% to 75% from what the first draft started as.
These blog posts don't have that polish. I apologize for any inconveniences that it may cause.
Number Two.
I am not an English Teacher. I had a hard time with English class. My English 12 teacher told me, straight up, that I am not a writer. I do not have the spelling capabilities to be one and that I should stop trying. I tell her now to go frak herself and I keep writing.
I have an auto-spell and grammar checker. If it doesn't show up with a little red line underneath it saying that there is an error, I don't catch it on the first pass. That's what my edits (which I am not doing on these posts) are also for.
I tell stories, not literary pieces. I entertain, I don't show off my extensive grasp of the English Language and my ability to stretch it to my will.
That is all. Now back to your original blog post. Cheers.
*****
In my last couple blog posts, I have talked briefly about the different aspects of my world. My world is a unique and inter-connected place. It is hard to only talk about one topic without having to talk about another. There may be times that you may get confused at a post because I haven't explained something in great detail yet. Please let me know so I can do a post on it.
This world has been two years in the making and it is not done yet. There are still topics that I haven't even thought to cover, and a lot of topics to talk about.
Some examples of different topics. Mars and Venus still aren't done yet. There are aspects of these planets to tell. The mole people of Mars. Venosaurs. Space Colonies. Asteroid Mines. Economy. Teraforming and it's boom. The Jovian League. Politics of the System. I could go on.
Today, however, I am going to talk about the different types of habitats that people live in.
Not everyone lives on a planet. Actually, most people exist is steel and plastic structures of some kind. I am not going to give numbers as to how many people live in what. It is hard at this point to come up with realistic numbers. I may have some later on.
Terraformed Surface/ Earth-Like.
This habitat is like we live in now on this planet we call home. Each culture or even planets will have a different architecture type. Some places people are squished into little areas, while others they are spread out over vast areas. The main thing is that the houses themselves have little, if any, environmental controls. In other words, they are not pressurized to survive the void of space.
These planets or moons, like Mars, you can walk around on the surface with out a space suit. You can grow crops on the surface and fly kites in the wind. The wind, the rain, the sleet and snow are not artificially created. Man has no control over the weather. Even though, sometimes, he wishes that he does.
Examples of Terraformed Surface Habitats: Earth, Mars, Callisto.
Semi-Terraformed Surface.
This habitat is in the process of being terraformed. The Planet has enough surface pressure and/or oxygen to have a partial environmental structures. Most likely each house will have its own airlock of some kind. The environment, however, won't be safe for human habitation without any safety protection.
In this future, only the planet Venus qualifies for this spot.
Underground Surface.
This habitat is on a planet or moon. For some reason, the planet surface has no capability to be terraformed. Either they failed or never tried. Underground surface habitats is very common. Way more common than any terraformed planets or moons.
Places like Europa, where the entire surface is made up of ice, has giant cities capable of housing millions of people. The cities are built under the surface of the ice. Or Mercury, where the planet is either super hot or super cold. Where there are no actual cities, but giant underground mines/ prisons. Where the inmates mine for ore in order to get fed that night. Even dwarf planet's like Ceres are considered n Underground Surface Habitat.
Any planet or moon that has no atmosphere has structures built underground. The reasons for it will be covered in another post, but lets just say that it is easier and safer. Underground surface habitats use the planet or moons own gravity. There is too big of an area to cover to have an artificial system cover the entire planet. This issue will be covered in another blog post.
Examples of Underground Surface Habitat. Mercury, Europa, Ganymede, Io, Ceres, Lunar.
Roid Stations
Roid Stations are habitats that are built into the side of an asteroid. Small moons like Phobos (Moon of Mars) are a Roid Station.
Most asteroids or small moons could be placed into the Underground Surface category as there structures are built under the surface, but as they use an artificial gravity machine they are not. They can be science stations, military posts, pirate bases, trading posts, but they all start out as a mine.
The asteroid's innards are mined out by miners. The outer shell is left over, it is then sold to someone else, who uses what structure it has left to build a station inside it.
Space Colonies
Space Colonies are giant steel cylinders of some shape. They rotate creating an artificial gravity on the inside of the cylinder. Imagine a bucket filled up with water in it. Now imagine it spinning around in a circle. The water will stay to the bottom of the buckets as the spinning creates a gravity-like force which keeps it there.
They are safer to live in than a Roid, and with the large space that is left open, it mimics Earth. It mimics Earth to a point that makes it easy for Humans to adapt to living in its steel walls.
These colonies are placed in various places. They usually placed in large clusters either around the various Legrange Points or around the busier transportation routes.
There are millions of these colonies scattered around the inner solar system and around Jupiter.
Hives.
A hive is like a Space Colony. Actually it is exactly like a space colony except for no open space above the cylinder walls. A hive can hold up to ten times the numbers as a standard colony does. They do this by having the open space filled with decks and people.
Hives were built by the Terra Entente to house its excess population from emigrating away from Earth and Immigrating to one of its many enemies.
Space Station
A space station is exactly that the name implies. It is a structure built to float in space attached to nothing. It uses an artificial gravity system instead of spinning and is usually too small for spinning the station to have any effect in the first place. Like a Roid Station, most of them are the same.
I hope that these categories gives you all a general outlook on what my space world looks like.
Leave a comment.
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Let me know how I am doing.
Cheers.
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Travel
So a writing buddy of mine has suggested to me that writing a post of Travel in the solar System 500 years in the future is a good place to pick up where I left off.
In the previous post I mentioned that to travel from Earth to Mars with the planets being at there closest points will take a total of seven days.
How did I get that number? Did I just pull it out of my arse?
Actually. I did.
I looked at what a potential story will need to be what I was looking for. So I looked at some of the Science Fiction stories out there and critiqued them. Star Trek had people zooming around almost instantaneously. Note that I said almost. My point is that they go 'warp 9'.
Star Wars had a bit of time that they sat around to talk and stuff, but it still was kinda fast.
My inspiration came from the show Firefly. In the show, there was always spaces of time where they had to wait. They were on transit to another destination. It was fast, but still took days to get anywhere.
I then decided that I wanted my characters to experience that downtime on a journey. It makes it feel a little like a sailing ship more than a space ship. In sailing shows, it always takes endless time to get to one place. And it usually consists of setting a course and sitting on a tack until you need to change the tack.
I still didn't know how fast that they could travel. For that I needed to do some research. I needed to know how fast can we go now and why.
I looked up the different space craft to get an idea on how fast can we go. I learned some information on space travel in the process.
The idea that we can go 'warp' speed is technology impossible. Also there is no 'max' speed in how fast you can go. It depends on the destination. You speed up until half way, and then turn your craft around and slow down until you get there.
NASA, however, uses a transfer system. It takes three to six times as long as a straight journey, but uses gravitational forces that are already in space to hurdle the craft to it's destination with minimum fuel used.
It seems like we have an issue getting stuff into orbit. But we'll talk more on that a different day.
Back to space travel.
At that point I got frustrated with all of the different information out there. I decided to pick a number and roll with it.
I then decided that a week sounded like a good number to a quick trip to Mars.
Now I needed the how.
How does one get from Earth to Mars in seven days?
My answer. A really fast engine.
I looked at the idea of the warp drive and studied it's 'science'. It works not by speeding you up past the speed of sound, but by bending the distance that is being traveled making you go faster.
So in my my future, there are two major speeds that are used.
'Impulse Engine."
The Impulse Engine varies ship to ship. Some use a hydrogen fuel liquid, some use nuclear. Some use an Ion type drive. While other uses Electromagnets or even some Microwaves. There speed varies greatly, but they all aren't that fast. The fastest can make the trip in little over 30 days.
What Impulse Engine is the fastest? I haven't decided that. I may come up with some type of ranking system later, but right now it is a mute point.
'Hypersonic Rail-Gun'
The Hypersonic Rail-Gun is a made up technology. Like a 'Warp Drive' or Hyper Drive'. This technology doesn't exist and probably couldn't exist. The idea is there though. Using a mixture of sound waves and magnetism a giant 'gun' shoots a ship to a destination.
Each Rail-Gun takes a crew of hundreds to operate and maintain. Each requires a space station to support its infrastructure. More on that later.
How a Rail-Gun works is that the gun will shoot off a ship towards a per-selected target. This target has to be within a max and min zone. If there were guns lined up from the Earth to Mars, that ship would have to take a total of 16 trips to the next gun.
Now, each Rail-Gun is not fixed in space. Nor are the planets for that matter. They are all constantly moving around with each other. The Earth rotates around the sun faster than Mars. It would become impossible to keep the same 16 Rail-Guns from Earth to Mars at the same time. That means that each Rail-Gun has its own rotation on its own.
In an ideal world, there would be a central computer system that controls the movement of these way-stations. But with the politics of the world (Another topic for another time), that will not happen anytime soon.
That brings up a very good point. How to navigate the constantly shifting Rail-Guns to get to your destination? You need a navigator of some kind.
Enter the role of an Astrogator. An Astrogator is a person of elite talents. It's his job to plot the course from Point A to Point B with an eye for making the fastest time. Picking which Rail-Gun to shoot off to. With the chaotic shifting of the guns, a wrong turn can put you days off course.
That is all that I have time for today. As you can see, I still haven't scrapped off the tip of the iceberg of my future. I still have weightlessness, stations, cargo, health, safety, dangers of the Rail-Guns and more that is still in the topic of Travel.
But it'll have to weight another day.
For you few readers out there. I need a new name for my Hypersonic Rail-Gun. I need the name Rail-Gun for something else, but I can't find something that is better.
Post a comment and let me know.
Cheers.
In the previous post I mentioned that to travel from Earth to Mars with the planets being at there closest points will take a total of seven days.
How did I get that number? Did I just pull it out of my arse?
Actually. I did.
I looked at what a potential story will need to be what I was looking for. So I looked at some of the Science Fiction stories out there and critiqued them. Star Trek had people zooming around almost instantaneously. Note that I said almost. My point is that they go 'warp 9'.
Star Wars had a bit of time that they sat around to talk and stuff, but it still was kinda fast.
My inspiration came from the show Firefly. In the show, there was always spaces of time where they had to wait. They were on transit to another destination. It was fast, but still took days to get anywhere.
I then decided that I wanted my characters to experience that downtime on a journey. It makes it feel a little like a sailing ship more than a space ship. In sailing shows, it always takes endless time to get to one place. And it usually consists of setting a course and sitting on a tack until you need to change the tack.
I still didn't know how fast that they could travel. For that I needed to do some research. I needed to know how fast can we go now and why.
I looked up the different space craft to get an idea on how fast can we go. I learned some information on space travel in the process.
The idea that we can go 'warp' speed is technology impossible. Also there is no 'max' speed in how fast you can go. It depends on the destination. You speed up until half way, and then turn your craft around and slow down until you get there.
NASA, however, uses a transfer system. It takes three to six times as long as a straight journey, but uses gravitational forces that are already in space to hurdle the craft to it's destination with minimum fuel used.
It seems like we have an issue getting stuff into orbit. But we'll talk more on that a different day.
Back to space travel.
At that point I got frustrated with all of the different information out there. I decided to pick a number and roll with it.
I then decided that a week sounded like a good number to a quick trip to Mars.
Now I needed the how.
How does one get from Earth to Mars in seven days?
My answer. A really fast engine.
I looked at the idea of the warp drive and studied it's 'science'. It works not by speeding you up past the speed of sound, but by bending the distance that is being traveled making you go faster.
So in my my future, there are two major speeds that are used.
'Impulse Engine."
The Impulse Engine varies ship to ship. Some use a hydrogen fuel liquid, some use nuclear. Some use an Ion type drive. While other uses Electromagnets or even some Microwaves. There speed varies greatly, but they all aren't that fast. The fastest can make the trip in little over 30 days.
What Impulse Engine is the fastest? I haven't decided that. I may come up with some type of ranking system later, but right now it is a mute point.
'Hypersonic Rail-Gun'
The Hypersonic Rail-Gun is a made up technology. Like a 'Warp Drive' or Hyper Drive'. This technology doesn't exist and probably couldn't exist. The idea is there though. Using a mixture of sound waves and magnetism a giant 'gun' shoots a ship to a destination.
Each Rail-Gun takes a crew of hundreds to operate and maintain. Each requires a space station to support its infrastructure. More on that later.
How a Rail-Gun works is that the gun will shoot off a ship towards a per-selected target. This target has to be within a max and min zone. If there were guns lined up from the Earth to Mars, that ship would have to take a total of 16 trips to the next gun.
Now, each Rail-Gun is not fixed in space. Nor are the planets for that matter. They are all constantly moving around with each other. The Earth rotates around the sun faster than Mars. It would become impossible to keep the same 16 Rail-Guns from Earth to Mars at the same time. That means that each Rail-Gun has its own rotation on its own.
In an ideal world, there would be a central computer system that controls the movement of these way-stations. But with the politics of the world (Another topic for another time), that will not happen anytime soon.
That brings up a very good point. How to navigate the constantly shifting Rail-Guns to get to your destination? You need a navigator of some kind.
Enter the role of an Astrogator. An Astrogator is a person of elite talents. It's his job to plot the course from Point A to Point B with an eye for making the fastest time. Picking which Rail-Gun to shoot off to. With the chaotic shifting of the guns, a wrong turn can put you days off course.
That is all that I have time for today. As you can see, I still haven't scrapped off the tip of the iceberg of my future. I still have weightlessness, stations, cargo, health, safety, dangers of the Rail-Guns and more that is still in the topic of Travel.
But it'll have to weight another day.
For you few readers out there. I need a new name for my Hypersonic Rail-Gun. I need the name Rail-Gun for something else, but I can't find something that is better.
Post a comment and let me know.
Cheers.
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Sci-Fi World
So today I can't seem to write anything right on my solar storm story. It all seems to be off in some way. Funny.
So instead I am doing a blog post about my next story. I am not going to talk to you about the plot or the characters at this moment. I am wanting to talk to you about my world that I have been creating and the techniques that I have used to create them.
In the broad generalization my story exists in this universe. This isn't an alternate dimension story. It exists almost five hundred years in the future.
So the question comes up, how far could we have gotten in 500 years of technological advancements?
In the 1950's, they thought that we would have rocket packs and flying cars today. Now. Where are they? The reality is that we have advanced astronomically in other areas.
But back to my question. How far can we go in 500 years? Would Captain James T. Kirk be a norm in the future?
The answer is no. There is no warp speed. No weaponized lasers, phasers, masers or any kind of sers. There is no travel faster than light speed. In this future, we can't get anywhere close to it.
Light speed is 1,080,000,000 km an hour. In the future, the fastest that we can travel is 450,000 km an hour. That is from here to Mars in 7 days when the two planets are at there closest.
Now before I go into technical details over the fundamental properties of space travel in this future, what about the planets?
If we can't go faster than the speed of light, then we can't get anywhere. There is no finding an uncharted world to explore and exploit.
Hmm... But there are lots of places to go and see here in the solar system. The gas giants have moons to explore, there's Mars. Venus. The moon.
So let's start with Mars. What will Mars look like in 500 years. Is it still red? I'd say no. There is already talk about what it would take to make the red planet green and blue. So how do I do it?
The answer can only be understood if we look at the problem with Mars. We all know that there is water on Mars. And that that water was liquid in sometime in the past. What happened?
Most of the atmosphere was blown away from the surface because it has no magnetosphere. So besides the fact that it has little atmosphere and no magnetosphere, what else is wrong with the planet?
Understanding those reasons is what creating alternate future books so entertaining to me.
Mars is a cold planet. It's surface temperature is about -63 degrees Celsius. Too cold to harbor life. So that's problem one. The planet is too cold. Why? Very little atmosphere to hold in the heat.
What most people forget to think about is that the solar system is just that. A system. They think about Mars and focus only on Mars. They think of only how do I get stuff from Earth to Mars to fix Mars.
What about Venus?
Venus, like Earth and Mars, lies on the solar systems habitable zone. But Venus has no life either. But it has an atmosphere. A densely thick atmosphere 93 times as heavy as Earths made up of mainly Carbon Dioxide.
Wait a second... Carbon Dioxide. Isn't that the substance that our cars keep pumping into our atmosphere that is causing global warming?
Why not pump some Carbon Dioxide from Venus and put it on Mars where it is needed. Heat the planet up into a temperature that will potentially sustain life.
Now. I know what you are thinking. Easy idea. But how could that happen? The technology required is hard to think of.
But this is fiction and I have freedom to think up crazy sounding things as long as the idea around the technology existing is sound. So how can these future people use the atmosphere from Venus, a plant very close to Earth's size, heat up Mars.
The atmospheric pressure on Venus is 93 times the size of Earth and the temperature is 460 degrees Celsius. No one is capable of living on the surface of Venus.
Not even in a bubble.
With lot's of air conditioning.
But, the surface temperature and atmospheric pressure is earth-like at about 50km's above the surface. Why not build floating cities on Venus? Why not have these cities being held up by hydrogen and giant fans.
Can the Star Wars fans all say Cloud City?
The airmovers blow the atmosphere through filters which would filter out the carbon and leave the oxygen. The hydrogen will be let out eventually when the temperature drops to react with more carbon dioxide to create water.
This captured Carbon would be then shipped to Mars where it would be converted into something burnable and burned. The carbon would then enter the atmosphere as Carbon Dioxide by harassing water asteroids from the belt and melting them by the foundry.
This extra Carbon Dioxide would raise the temperature of Mars. Once it gets past a certain point, it will naturally melt the water and carbon dioxide in the soil, further heating up the planet. Once the planet gets to a certain point, algae and weed type plants are introduced turning the thick carbon dioxide atmosphere into a better one comprised of Oxygen and Nitrogen. Next thing you know, you have plants and animals and water on Mars.
Now what about Venus? Venus, in this future, is not a completely successful terraform. It takes them 250 years to terraform Mars into something more Earth-like. At the current year in this future, Venus is still not completely terraformed.
Is it liveable. Yes. Is it comfortable. No.
Venus goes from 93 times atmospheric pressure to about 2.5 atmospheres. The temperature drops from 460 degrees Celsius to about 50 degrees Celsius. Atmospheric conditions of under 1.5 is considered safe to live in, while a temperature of 50 degrees Celsius is unbearable to live in.
So that means that the people living on Venus would still have to wear some type of suit at all times and all of there homes would have to be sealed units with decompression chambers.
Unfortunately, I have run out of time to keep talking about my world.
Until next time.
So instead I am doing a blog post about my next story. I am not going to talk to you about the plot or the characters at this moment. I am wanting to talk to you about my world that I have been creating and the techniques that I have used to create them.
In the broad generalization my story exists in this universe. This isn't an alternate dimension story. It exists almost five hundred years in the future.
So the question comes up, how far could we have gotten in 500 years of technological advancements?
In the 1950's, they thought that we would have rocket packs and flying cars today. Now. Where are they? The reality is that we have advanced astronomically in other areas.
But back to my question. How far can we go in 500 years? Would Captain James T. Kirk be a norm in the future?
The answer is no. There is no warp speed. No weaponized lasers, phasers, masers or any kind of sers. There is no travel faster than light speed. In this future, we can't get anywhere close to it.
Light speed is 1,080,000,000 km an hour. In the future, the fastest that we can travel is 450,000 km an hour. That is from here to Mars in 7 days when the two planets are at there closest.
Now before I go into technical details over the fundamental properties of space travel in this future, what about the planets?
If we can't go faster than the speed of light, then we can't get anywhere. There is no finding an uncharted world to explore and exploit.
Hmm... But there are lots of places to go and see here in the solar system. The gas giants have moons to explore, there's Mars. Venus. The moon.
So let's start with Mars. What will Mars look like in 500 years. Is it still red? I'd say no. There is already talk about what it would take to make the red planet green and blue. So how do I do it?
The answer can only be understood if we look at the problem with Mars. We all know that there is water on Mars. And that that water was liquid in sometime in the past. What happened?
Most of the atmosphere was blown away from the surface because it has no magnetosphere. So besides the fact that it has little atmosphere and no magnetosphere, what else is wrong with the planet?
Understanding those reasons is what creating alternate future books so entertaining to me.
Mars is a cold planet. It's surface temperature is about -63 degrees Celsius. Too cold to harbor life. So that's problem one. The planet is too cold. Why? Very little atmosphere to hold in the heat.
What most people forget to think about is that the solar system is just that. A system. They think about Mars and focus only on Mars. They think of only how do I get stuff from Earth to Mars to fix Mars.
What about Venus?
Venus, like Earth and Mars, lies on the solar systems habitable zone. But Venus has no life either. But it has an atmosphere. A densely thick atmosphere 93 times as heavy as Earths made up of mainly Carbon Dioxide.
Wait a second... Carbon Dioxide. Isn't that the substance that our cars keep pumping into our atmosphere that is causing global warming?
Why not pump some Carbon Dioxide from Venus and put it on Mars where it is needed. Heat the planet up into a temperature that will potentially sustain life.
Now. I know what you are thinking. Easy idea. But how could that happen? The technology required is hard to think of.
But this is fiction and I have freedom to think up crazy sounding things as long as the idea around the technology existing is sound. So how can these future people use the atmosphere from Venus, a plant very close to Earth's size, heat up Mars.
The atmospheric pressure on Venus is 93 times the size of Earth and the temperature is 460 degrees Celsius. No one is capable of living on the surface of Venus.
Not even in a bubble.
With lot's of air conditioning.
But, the surface temperature and atmospheric pressure is earth-like at about 50km's above the surface. Why not build floating cities on Venus? Why not have these cities being held up by hydrogen and giant fans.
Can the Star Wars fans all say Cloud City?
The airmovers blow the atmosphere through filters which would filter out the carbon and leave the oxygen. The hydrogen will be let out eventually when the temperature drops to react with more carbon dioxide to create water.
This captured Carbon would be then shipped to Mars where it would be converted into something burnable and burned. The carbon would then enter the atmosphere as Carbon Dioxide by harassing water asteroids from the belt and melting them by the foundry.
This extra Carbon Dioxide would raise the temperature of Mars. Once it gets past a certain point, it will naturally melt the water and carbon dioxide in the soil, further heating up the planet. Once the planet gets to a certain point, algae and weed type plants are introduced turning the thick carbon dioxide atmosphere into a better one comprised of Oxygen and Nitrogen. Next thing you know, you have plants and animals and water on Mars.
Now what about Venus? Venus, in this future, is not a completely successful terraform. It takes them 250 years to terraform Mars into something more Earth-like. At the current year in this future, Venus is still not completely terraformed.
Is it liveable. Yes. Is it comfortable. No.
Venus goes from 93 times atmospheric pressure to about 2.5 atmospheres. The temperature drops from 460 degrees Celsius to about 50 degrees Celsius. Atmospheric conditions of under 1.5 is considered safe to live in, while a temperature of 50 degrees Celsius is unbearable to live in.
So that means that the people living on Venus would still have to wear some type of suit at all times and all of there homes would have to be sealed units with decompression chambers.
Unfortunately, I have run out of time to keep talking about my world.
Until next time.
100,000
So as I am writing this book of mine, I checked the word count. I am now over 100,000 words. I now have 100,900 words in my book. AND I am getting close to the end of it. What a monster.
Once I am done the book, I am not really done it. I need to edit my work. Major edits. Edits that require a hull cutter and three depth charges to complete.
Well, mainly spelling and grammar issues. I am a writer, not an English Teacher.
I re-read my prologue and a spelling error appeared in the first few lines. It is *can* not *cab*. Stupid autospell checked. The work shown here is a preview after all. It may or may not change when I polish it up.
I have so much that I'd love to talk to you all about, like my sci-fi novel idea or my philosophical ideas on writing, but my task-master, I mean wife, demands that I stop talking on my blog and get back to writing.
Something about the book not writing itself. I replied with if I am only allowed to buy a hundred monkeys, maybe it will. She didn't get my joke.
Oh well. Until later.
Once I am done the book, I am not really done it. I need to edit my work. Major edits. Edits that require a hull cutter and three depth charges to complete.
Well, mainly spelling and grammar issues. I am a writer, not an English Teacher.
I re-read my prologue and a spelling error appeared in the first few lines. It is *can* not *cab*. Stupid autospell checked. The work shown here is a preview after all. It may or may not change when I polish it up.
I have so much that I'd love to talk to you all about, like my sci-fi novel idea or my philosophical ideas on writing, but my task-master, I mean wife, demands that I stop talking on my blog and get back to writing.
Something about the book not writing itself. I replied with if I am only allowed to buy a hundred monkeys, maybe it will. She didn't get my joke.
Oh well. Until later.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Preview.
Here is the updated Prologue. Don't tell my wife that I am on here. I am supposed to be writing.
PROLOQUE
DEEP SPACE- HALFWAY BETWEEN THE EARTH & THE SUN- APRIL 13TH, 2012
The asteroid tumbled through space. Very few forces pushed or pulled the asteroid around, mostly it floated uncontrollably through the darkness of space. The sub tugged at the innocent asteroid. It careened down a new direction.
A nearby satellite rotated around the sun. It sat in a geosynchronous orbit between the sun and the earth. For nearly five years the Solar Explorer took readings of all solar activity. It measured solar flares and solar winds, and sent the information back to Earth for analysis.
Deep within the sun’s core, a massive geomagnetic storm sprang to life. A solar wind so powerful that nothing equal to it had ever been recorded in Earth’s history buffeted the tiny satellite.
The satellite’s computer was activated shortly after the onslaught of solar activity began. The satellite compiled the data immediately, storing it to send it to earth.
The Solar Explorer had been hardened to withstand the heavy radiation from the sun. But the onslaught of solar radiation was too powerful. Its protective casing started to warp and heat up. It's fragile components protected by the deadly radiation.
Cased to one side of the satellite was a long distance antenna which was wired to multiple other devices. The antenna started to send data towards the earth while seconds slipped away.
Propelled by the sun’s gravitational force's the asteroid cruised through space on a collision course with the helpless satellite.
CONSTRUCTION SITE- BURNABY- FRIDAY APRIL 13TH, 2012- 4PM
Cameron Peterson stood on a narrow wooden beam two stories above the ground. A safety harness attached him to a safety line as he slowly made his way down the beam. A fellow co-worker and himself manoeuvred a heavy two by six into place.
Cameron's towering six foot tall, two hundred and twenty-five pound frame made it easy for him to slid the two by six into place. Cameron sat down onto the beam. His steel toed boots dangled in the air as the wind pulled at his plaid shirt and heavy tool belt. A yellow hard helmet sat on his head, a small safety line ran from the helmet to his tool belt.
Cameron pulled out a portable drill and a screw from his tool belt. He quickly attached the beam with the ease and finesse of someone with many years of experience working with his hands.
“Do we have time for another?” Cameron asked his co-worker.
“Nah,” he replied, “it is time to call it a day.”
With a couple quick strides, Cameron made his way off of the narrow beam and back onto the safety of the finished floor. He unstrapped his safety harness as he looked around at the construction site.
The construction site was supposed to become a series of five-story condos build entirely out of wood. It was currently three stories tall and looked more like a skeleton than anything else. On the ground, piles of wood and other supplies lay scattered waiting to be used. Dozens of workers packed up their tools for the day.
Cameron walked over to a work bench and quickly grabbed a couple of his tools. He threw them into their respective places in his tool belt.
Excitement filled up Cameron as he knew that the weekend was now upon them. He followed the other workers down the ladder to the ground.
Waiting in front of them stood a man in a white hard helmet, a shirt and a tie. The man's name was Bert. He was Cameron’s foreman and his boss. In his hand was a pile of envelopes with people’s names on them. Cameron knew that it was his pay cheque.
“Hey Cam.” Bert said as he began to hand Cameron his cheque, “Good work this week.”
“Thanks boss.” Cameron replied as he took the envelope.
“Did you want to work some overtime this weekend?”
“Sure. Let me call my girlfriend.”
Cameron walked a few steps away from the foreman. He pulled out his cell phone out of his pocket.
After a few rings, Nicole picked up.
“Hello,” Nicole said, her voice sounded sweet over the phone.
“Hi Hun,” Cameron began, “I got some bad news.”
“What.” She said, her voice echoed with a touch of bite to it.
“I was asked to work some overtime this weekend.”
“Not again!” Nicole barked, “This happened last weekend and the weekend before that.”
“I know,” Cameron said, “But I need the money so I don’t have a choice.”
“And our date?”
“We can still go.” Cameron said, “It will just have to be later that night.”
“No.” Nicole spat, “You have done this to me too many times. I am going out with my friends from work. I’ll let you know sometime next week if I want to go out on a date with you.”
The line went dead. Cameron calmly put his cell phone back into his pocket. He could feel his anger and frustration build. He rubbed his temples as he took a couple deep breaths. After a few seconds, he quickly calmed himself down.
Bert the foreman walked over to Cameron.
“You know that you don’t have to take the overtime.” Bert said, “You are the one guy that I can count to take these extra shifts. You can say no.”
“I know,” Cameron said, “I need the money though.”
“So you all say.”
COFFEE SHOP- DOWNTOWN VANCOUVER- SUNDAY APRIL 15TH- 5PM
Cameron Peterson sat at a small table in a coffee shop. He stared aimlessly out the window at the busy street outside. The coffee shop sat at an intersection that seemed to be lined with coffee shops, each looked very much the same.
The rain pattered in a constant roar that it only seemed to do in the rainy city of Vancouver. People, in typical Vancouverite fashion, huddled under their umbrellas trying to look as if the rain, the beggars or the bad drivers of the city did not affect them.
Horns honked noisily as the bad drivers made their way around pedestrians. The pedestrians were attempting to cross the street in front of the coffee shop. The drivers were attempting to turn the corner.
Cameron chuckled as he watched the drama unfold in front of him.
Cameron was twenty-six years old. He had shady blond hair that seemed to be in a permanent buzz cut. His muscled torso was hardened through six years employed as a rifleman in the Canadian Armed Forces. Three years as a construction worker allowed him to keep the physic.
Cameron currently sported a two day old scruff of a beard and wore baggy work clothes. An umbrella sat on the floor next to him, as well as a leather jacket dripped from his chair.
A playful couple entered the store. They laughed and poked at each other. Water dripped from there umbrellas and clothing.
“That was close.” The guy said, “Stupid drivers.”
The girl giggled as they headed for the extremely long looking line-up to buy a coffee.
He smiled at the thought of his girlfriend Nicole. He had met her when he had finally declared to himself that he wasn’t ever going to look for another girl again.
Very quickly she became his reason for getting up in the morning, the reason he worked so hard for the little money that he did have. For two years he had dated and eventually lived with her.
Cameron pulled out his cell phone. He quickly thumbed through his phone's contact list.
“Where are you Wally?” Cameron said to himself.
“What?” Wally said as he entered the store behind the couple, “You do know that talking to yourself is a sign of madness?”
Wally was shorter than Cameron’s six feet, but not by much. He was also heavier than Cameron, but not in the same department. Wally’s weight wasn’t from exercise like Cameron’s. Wally’s weight was from spending too much time in front of an Xbox or at the bar.
Wally was clean shaven and well groomed. He had long noticeably white hair for a twenty-eight year old. He also wore designer clothes and a goofy smile that was plastered on his face most of the time.
“Can’t you ever get anywhere on time?” Cameron snarled.
“You get stressed out too much.” Wally sat down, “What is this about? Why did I have to get up at the crack of dawn to come down here for?”
“It’s not the crack of dawn.” Cameron said, “It’s noon.”
“Whatever.” Wally muttered.
“I am proposing to Nicole tomorrow.” Cameron said.
“Are you mad?” Wally retorted.
“What kind of question is that?” Cameron exclaimed, shocked.
“You are giving away your freedom.” Wally said, “Look around you, lovely woman are everywhere.”
“Who are all, very taken. Look, you've known me since high school. How many girlfriends have I ever had?” Cameron asked.
“Shit dude.” Wally said, “I haven’t a clue. Like four.”
“How about two in nine years.”
“How many girlfriends have I had?” Wally answered, “One three years ago. Do I care, no. I am not going to propose to the first girl that I meet.”
“I didn’t just meet her. I have been with her for two years!” Cameron exclaimed.
“So,” Wally said, “I need to be with a girl for at least six years before I even have thoughts like that.”
“The last girlfriend that you had, only lasted two weeks.” Cameron said.
“Best two weeks of sex that I ever had.” Wally shot back smugly.
“Why are we arguing?” Cameron asked.
The playful couple from before looking at them funny as they headed back out into the rain.
“We’re arguing ‘cause it’s so damned entertaining.” Wally answered.
Cameron laughed as he ignored the strange looks that he had gotten from the random people in the coffee shop.
Arguing was so damned entertaining, especially when they always took the other side of the argument. Wally was not only his best friend; he was more like a brother.
“Seriously though, I am going to propose to Nicole tomorrow at her work.” Cameron said.
“Okay. Good luck man.” Wally said.
“That’s not the problem.” Cameron said.
“What is?”
“If I don’t propose to her tomorrow, she will go traveling.”
“So let her go travelling.” Wally said, “It can’t hurt anything.”
“For two years.” Cameron answered.
Wally paused. The goofy look the Wally usually wore dropped from his face. It was replaced by a mask of seriousness.
“I see.” Wally said, “What brought this up? I mean, when I talked to you last week, you didn’t say anything about wanting to marry her.”
“I don’t know.” Cameron said, “It just seems like I am spending all of my time working at shitty job and if I don’t do something, I am going to lose her.”
“The money is good right?”
“Sure, overtime with a 25 buck an hour base rate is great, but what is the point if I have no one to spend it on? That's the same issue that I had in the army. No time to keep a girlfriend.”
“Right.” Wally said, “This is me being serious. Propose to her. If you love her, get her. Don’t let her leave. If you do, you will regret it. I regret losing mine.”
“You regret your two week girlfriend?” Cameron asked.
“I do.” Wally said, “I wish that I hadn’t cheated on her. If I wasn’t so stupid, I’d be still with her.”
Cameron laughed. “All right, I gotta get going. I’ll call you after I do it.”
U.B.C. SOLAR ANNEX- MONDAY APRIL 16TH- 3AM
Row, upon row of computer consoles filled the room deep in the bowels of the observatory. A giant monitor sat on a single wall on one side of the room.
Only one of the vast multitudes of computers was currently in operation. Light flashed form the screen, causing unnatural shadows to flash across the darken room. A single figure sat at the console.
Lucy LuKarin was asleep; she had leaned back into her chair with her feet resting on her desk and her hands behind her head. The latest harlequin romance novel lay splayed across her chest; it threatened to topple over every time she exhaled. Her long black hair was pulled into a bun, with carefully selected strands pulled aside to showcase her startling green eyes.
On her computer, an Orlando Bloom screen saver flashed. Each picture was more scandalous than the last.
Suddenly, the screen saver disappeared and a window popped up.
It said, “Solar Explorer Connection established, press Okay to download.”
Lucy didn’t stir as drool ran down her lips with each snore.
The monitor flashed back to the Orlando Bloom screen saver.
A couple minutes later the screen saver disappeared. The window popped back up. The screen said the same thing as before. This time the change of the light waked Lucy.
Groggily she clicked okay. The window disappeared and a progress bar popped up.
Lucy opened up her book. After she read and then re-read the same line over and over again, she soon fell back asleep. The book rested on her bosom.
The progress bar moved slowly across the screen. When it eventually reached 17%. Then the computer beeped loudly and an error message popped up.
It said, “Error. Connection Lost.”
Lucy woke up and looked at the screen. Her left hand wiped the small sliver of drool off of he lips.
“What the… Oh crap.” Lucy said as she sat up, her previous tiredness all but gone.
In a flutter of pages her book flew to the ground.
“Oh fuck! Where is it?” she cursed.
With a furry of clicking, window after window and menu upon menu opened and closed.
She grabbed the phone and dialled a number quickly. After the phone rang a few times, the line picked up.
“Hello.” A tired male voice muttered.
“Doctor Winston, sorry to bother you, but I’ve lost the connection to the Solar Explorer.” Lucy said quickly as her words streamed together.
“What do you mean lost it?” Dr. Winston replied groggily.
“I was downloading the latest data from the Explorer, when the connection was lost.”
“Oh. Did you look for the satellite through the secondary antenna?” Dr. Winston said mockingly, “The primary antenna isn’t well shielded from solar radiation, maybe a wire melted on the stupid, ill-designed thing.”
“Yes I did look through the secondary antenna,” Lucy snapped, “it is as if the satellite doesn’t exist.”
“Hmm.” Dr Winston muttered, “We’ll figure it out later.”
“Doctor.” Lucy said, “I’d have to do a more thorough analysis, but I looked the data over quickly. It has solar activity going through the roof.”
“Did you get all of the data before the explorer was lost?”
“Well... No. But...”
“But nothing.” Dr. Winston said sternly.
“Sir, several of the data points, which indicate a solar storm is showing readings through the roof.”
“What you fail to learn is that a single data point or find or artifact means nothing. Show me a complete data analysis or show me nothing.”
Lucy was silent for a moment. But before she could speak up, Dr. Winston interrupted her.
“Nothing to say?” Dr. Winston muttered. “I’ll check it out in the morning. I am going back to sleep.”
“But, sir! I think that this is...” Lucy yelled out in frustration.
“It isn’t important.” Doctor Winston yelled back at Lucy, causing Lucy to sink back into her chair. “It is probably just an ‘operator’ error.” Dr. Winston said firmly, “Don’t bother me again!”
The phone disconnected with a slam.
The silence of the morning echoed as Lucy sat in her chair dumb-founded.
“What am I going to do?” she muttered to herself.
She got up out of her chair and paced back and forth across the room.
“What the fuck am I going to do?” she asked herself rather loudly.
She kicked the book across the room each time she passed it. The book tore apart as it left her foot.
“Stupid fat doctor.” Lucy screamed.
The book sailed across the room. Its pages scattered as they hit a far wall.
“I need to call someone. I need to raise the alarm, alert the press. Warn the Prime Minister.” Lucy rambled to the Orlando Bloom screen saver, “But who do I call?”
PROLOQUE
DEEP SPACE- HALFWAY BETWEEN THE EARTH & THE SUN- APRIL 13TH, 2012
The asteroid tumbled through space. Very few forces pushed or pulled the asteroid around, mostly it floated uncontrollably through the darkness of space. The sub tugged at the innocent asteroid. It careened down a new direction.
A nearby satellite rotated around the sun. It sat in a geosynchronous orbit between the sun and the earth. For nearly five years the Solar Explorer took readings of all solar activity. It measured solar flares and solar winds, and sent the information back to Earth for analysis.
Deep within the sun’s core, a massive geomagnetic storm sprang to life. A solar wind so powerful that nothing equal to it had ever been recorded in Earth’s history buffeted the tiny satellite.
The satellite’s computer was activated shortly after the onslaught of solar activity began. The satellite compiled the data immediately, storing it to send it to earth.
The Solar Explorer had been hardened to withstand the heavy radiation from the sun. But the onslaught of solar radiation was too powerful. Its protective casing started to warp and heat up. It's fragile components protected by the deadly radiation.
Cased to one side of the satellite was a long distance antenna which was wired to multiple other devices. The antenna started to send data towards the earth while seconds slipped away.
Propelled by the sun’s gravitational force's the asteroid cruised through space on a collision course with the helpless satellite.
CONSTRUCTION SITE- BURNABY- FRIDAY APRIL 13TH, 2012- 4PM
Cameron Peterson stood on a narrow wooden beam two stories above the ground. A safety harness attached him to a safety line as he slowly made his way down the beam. A fellow co-worker and himself manoeuvred a heavy two by six into place.
Cameron's towering six foot tall, two hundred and twenty-five pound frame made it easy for him to slid the two by six into place. Cameron sat down onto the beam. His steel toed boots dangled in the air as the wind pulled at his plaid shirt and heavy tool belt. A yellow hard helmet sat on his head, a small safety line ran from the helmet to his tool belt.
Cameron pulled out a portable drill and a screw from his tool belt. He quickly attached the beam with the ease and finesse of someone with many years of experience working with his hands.
“Do we have time for another?” Cameron asked his co-worker.
“Nah,” he replied, “it is time to call it a day.”
With a couple quick strides, Cameron made his way off of the narrow beam and back onto the safety of the finished floor. He unstrapped his safety harness as he looked around at the construction site.
The construction site was supposed to become a series of five-story condos build entirely out of wood. It was currently three stories tall and looked more like a skeleton than anything else. On the ground, piles of wood and other supplies lay scattered waiting to be used. Dozens of workers packed up their tools for the day.
Cameron walked over to a work bench and quickly grabbed a couple of his tools. He threw them into their respective places in his tool belt.
Excitement filled up Cameron as he knew that the weekend was now upon them. He followed the other workers down the ladder to the ground.
Waiting in front of them stood a man in a white hard helmet, a shirt and a tie. The man's name was Bert. He was Cameron’s foreman and his boss. In his hand was a pile of envelopes with people’s names on them. Cameron knew that it was his pay cheque.
“Hey Cam.” Bert said as he began to hand Cameron his cheque, “Good work this week.”
“Thanks boss.” Cameron replied as he took the envelope.
“Did you want to work some overtime this weekend?”
“Sure. Let me call my girlfriend.”
Cameron walked a few steps away from the foreman. He pulled out his cell phone out of his pocket.
After a few rings, Nicole picked up.
“Hello,” Nicole said, her voice sounded sweet over the phone.
“Hi Hun,” Cameron began, “I got some bad news.”
“What.” She said, her voice echoed with a touch of bite to it.
“I was asked to work some overtime this weekend.”
“Not again!” Nicole barked, “This happened last weekend and the weekend before that.”
“I know,” Cameron said, “But I need the money so I don’t have a choice.”
“And our date?”
“We can still go.” Cameron said, “It will just have to be later that night.”
“No.” Nicole spat, “You have done this to me too many times. I am going out with my friends from work. I’ll let you know sometime next week if I want to go out on a date with you.”
The line went dead. Cameron calmly put his cell phone back into his pocket. He could feel his anger and frustration build. He rubbed his temples as he took a couple deep breaths. After a few seconds, he quickly calmed himself down.
Bert the foreman walked over to Cameron.
“You know that you don’t have to take the overtime.” Bert said, “You are the one guy that I can count to take these extra shifts. You can say no.”
“I know,” Cameron said, “I need the money though.”
“So you all say.”
COFFEE SHOP- DOWNTOWN VANCOUVER- SUNDAY APRIL 15TH- 5PM
Cameron Peterson sat at a small table in a coffee shop. He stared aimlessly out the window at the busy street outside. The coffee shop sat at an intersection that seemed to be lined with coffee shops, each looked very much the same.
The rain pattered in a constant roar that it only seemed to do in the rainy city of Vancouver. People, in typical Vancouverite fashion, huddled under their umbrellas trying to look as if the rain, the beggars or the bad drivers of the city did not affect them.
Horns honked noisily as the bad drivers made their way around pedestrians. The pedestrians were attempting to cross the street in front of the coffee shop. The drivers were attempting to turn the corner.
Cameron chuckled as he watched the drama unfold in front of him.
Cameron was twenty-six years old. He had shady blond hair that seemed to be in a permanent buzz cut. His muscled torso was hardened through six years employed as a rifleman in the Canadian Armed Forces. Three years as a construction worker allowed him to keep the physic.
Cameron currently sported a two day old scruff of a beard and wore baggy work clothes. An umbrella sat on the floor next to him, as well as a leather jacket dripped from his chair.
A playful couple entered the store. They laughed and poked at each other. Water dripped from there umbrellas and clothing.
“That was close.” The guy said, “Stupid drivers.”
The girl giggled as they headed for the extremely long looking line-up to buy a coffee.
He smiled at the thought of his girlfriend Nicole. He had met her when he had finally declared to himself that he wasn’t ever going to look for another girl again.
Very quickly she became his reason for getting up in the morning, the reason he worked so hard for the little money that he did have. For two years he had dated and eventually lived with her.
Cameron pulled out his cell phone. He quickly thumbed through his phone's contact list.
“Where are you Wally?” Cameron said to himself.
“What?” Wally said as he entered the store behind the couple, “You do know that talking to yourself is a sign of madness?”
Wally was shorter than Cameron’s six feet, but not by much. He was also heavier than Cameron, but not in the same department. Wally’s weight wasn’t from exercise like Cameron’s. Wally’s weight was from spending too much time in front of an Xbox or at the bar.
Wally was clean shaven and well groomed. He had long noticeably white hair for a twenty-eight year old. He also wore designer clothes and a goofy smile that was plastered on his face most of the time.
“Can’t you ever get anywhere on time?” Cameron snarled.
“You get stressed out too much.” Wally sat down, “What is this about? Why did I have to get up at the crack of dawn to come down here for?”
“It’s not the crack of dawn.” Cameron said, “It’s noon.”
“Whatever.” Wally muttered.
“I am proposing to Nicole tomorrow.” Cameron said.
“Are you mad?” Wally retorted.
“What kind of question is that?” Cameron exclaimed, shocked.
“You are giving away your freedom.” Wally said, “Look around you, lovely woman are everywhere.”
“Who are all, very taken. Look, you've known me since high school. How many girlfriends have I ever had?” Cameron asked.
“Shit dude.” Wally said, “I haven’t a clue. Like four.”
“How about two in nine years.”
“How many girlfriends have I had?” Wally answered, “One three years ago. Do I care, no. I am not going to propose to the first girl that I meet.”
“I didn’t just meet her. I have been with her for two years!” Cameron exclaimed.
“So,” Wally said, “I need to be with a girl for at least six years before I even have thoughts like that.”
“The last girlfriend that you had, only lasted two weeks.” Cameron said.
“Best two weeks of sex that I ever had.” Wally shot back smugly.
“Why are we arguing?” Cameron asked.
The playful couple from before looking at them funny as they headed back out into the rain.
“We’re arguing ‘cause it’s so damned entertaining.” Wally answered.
Cameron laughed as he ignored the strange looks that he had gotten from the random people in the coffee shop.
Arguing was so damned entertaining, especially when they always took the other side of the argument. Wally was not only his best friend; he was more like a brother.
“Seriously though, I am going to propose to Nicole tomorrow at her work.” Cameron said.
“Okay. Good luck man.” Wally said.
“That’s not the problem.” Cameron said.
“What is?”
“If I don’t propose to her tomorrow, she will go traveling.”
“So let her go travelling.” Wally said, “It can’t hurt anything.”
“For two years.” Cameron answered.
Wally paused. The goofy look the Wally usually wore dropped from his face. It was replaced by a mask of seriousness.
“I see.” Wally said, “What brought this up? I mean, when I talked to you last week, you didn’t say anything about wanting to marry her.”
“I don’t know.” Cameron said, “It just seems like I am spending all of my time working at shitty job and if I don’t do something, I am going to lose her.”
“The money is good right?”
“Sure, overtime with a 25 buck an hour base rate is great, but what is the point if I have no one to spend it on? That's the same issue that I had in the army. No time to keep a girlfriend.”
“Right.” Wally said, “This is me being serious. Propose to her. If you love her, get her. Don’t let her leave. If you do, you will regret it. I regret losing mine.”
“You regret your two week girlfriend?” Cameron asked.
“I do.” Wally said, “I wish that I hadn’t cheated on her. If I wasn’t so stupid, I’d be still with her.”
Cameron laughed. “All right, I gotta get going. I’ll call you after I do it.”
U.B.C. SOLAR ANNEX- MONDAY APRIL 16TH- 3AM
Row, upon row of computer consoles filled the room deep in the bowels of the observatory. A giant monitor sat on a single wall on one side of the room.
Only one of the vast multitudes of computers was currently in operation. Light flashed form the screen, causing unnatural shadows to flash across the darken room. A single figure sat at the console.
Lucy LuKarin was asleep; she had leaned back into her chair with her feet resting on her desk and her hands behind her head. The latest harlequin romance novel lay splayed across her chest; it threatened to topple over every time she exhaled. Her long black hair was pulled into a bun, with carefully selected strands pulled aside to showcase her startling green eyes.
On her computer, an Orlando Bloom screen saver flashed. Each picture was more scandalous than the last.
Suddenly, the screen saver disappeared and a window popped up.
It said, “Solar Explorer Connection established, press Okay to download.”
Lucy didn’t stir as drool ran down her lips with each snore.
The monitor flashed back to the Orlando Bloom screen saver.
A couple minutes later the screen saver disappeared. The window popped back up. The screen said the same thing as before. This time the change of the light waked Lucy.
Groggily she clicked okay. The window disappeared and a progress bar popped up.
Lucy opened up her book. After she read and then re-read the same line over and over again, she soon fell back asleep. The book rested on her bosom.
The progress bar moved slowly across the screen. When it eventually reached 17%. Then the computer beeped loudly and an error message popped up.
It said, “Error. Connection Lost.”
Lucy woke up and looked at the screen. Her left hand wiped the small sliver of drool off of he lips.
“What the… Oh crap.” Lucy said as she sat up, her previous tiredness all but gone.
In a flutter of pages her book flew to the ground.
“Oh fuck! Where is it?” she cursed.
With a furry of clicking, window after window and menu upon menu opened and closed.
She grabbed the phone and dialled a number quickly. After the phone rang a few times, the line picked up.
“Hello.” A tired male voice muttered.
“Doctor Winston, sorry to bother you, but I’ve lost the connection to the Solar Explorer.” Lucy said quickly as her words streamed together.
“What do you mean lost it?” Dr. Winston replied groggily.
“I was downloading the latest data from the Explorer, when the connection was lost.”
“Oh. Did you look for the satellite through the secondary antenna?” Dr. Winston said mockingly, “The primary antenna isn’t well shielded from solar radiation, maybe a wire melted on the stupid, ill-designed thing.”
“Yes I did look through the secondary antenna,” Lucy snapped, “it is as if the satellite doesn’t exist.”
“Hmm.” Dr Winston muttered, “We’ll figure it out later.”
“Doctor.” Lucy said, “I’d have to do a more thorough analysis, but I looked the data over quickly. It has solar activity going through the roof.”
“Did you get all of the data before the explorer was lost?”
“Well... No. But...”
“But nothing.” Dr. Winston said sternly.
“Sir, several of the data points, which indicate a solar storm is showing readings through the roof.”
“What you fail to learn is that a single data point or find or artifact means nothing. Show me a complete data analysis or show me nothing.”
Lucy was silent for a moment. But before she could speak up, Dr. Winston interrupted her.
“Nothing to say?” Dr. Winston muttered. “I’ll check it out in the morning. I am going back to sleep.”
“But, sir! I think that this is...” Lucy yelled out in frustration.
“It isn’t important.” Doctor Winston yelled back at Lucy, causing Lucy to sink back into her chair. “It is probably just an ‘operator’ error.” Dr. Winston said firmly, “Don’t bother me again!”
The phone disconnected with a slam.
The silence of the morning echoed as Lucy sat in her chair dumb-founded.
“What am I going to do?” she muttered to herself.
She got up out of her chair and paced back and forth across the room.
“What the fuck am I going to do?” she asked herself rather loudly.
She kicked the book across the room each time she passed it. The book tore apart as it left her foot.
“Stupid fat doctor.” Lucy screamed.
The book sailed across the room. Its pages scattered as they hit a far wall.
“I need to call someone. I need to raise the alarm, alert the press. Warn the Prime Minister.” Lucy rambled to the Orlando Bloom screen saver, “But who do I call?”
Wow. It's been a while.
So... I have recently been notified that I haven't been on here in a while. I look at the last time that I did post anything and I see that I haven't. I am pretty surprised. Not surprised that I haven't been on here in a while, but surprised that someone actually read my blog. I kinda doubted that she actually read my blog. She probably just skimmed through it.
And if she did read through it, I apologize. My blog sucks. But here I am. Back for now. And wow things have changed. If you would have told my sixteen year old self that in ten years that I would be married for almost 4 years, have a 18 month old, and have a second baby due any day, I would have laughed in your face.
Laughed hard. Split my gut open. Peed my pants.
But it is true. Ten years later I have a wife of 4 years, a 18 month old named Donald, and either Alexander or Audrey on the way. And no we have no idea what we are having. Really. No I am not lying. Fine. If you insist, but only to you. Don't tell anyone. Today we are having a girl. Audrey. Tomorrow it is a boy. Alexander. There happy? Did that make you feel better?
No? Not really. Oh well. I tried.
An update on my projects. Still there. Still haunting my every step. Still hounding me to finish them. Still mostly in the same stage that I left them. Maybe a little more disorganized as I have moved a bunch of times.
My current one. 'Solar Storm'. Yes I am still working on this one. Yes I am aware that I have been with my wife for only a slight more time than I have been working on it. Don't do the math. It is scary. Very scary.
Good news on it though. About a year and a half ago, I burnt it. Well... Kinda. My wife wouldn't let me actually burn it. Or parts of it. Or even cutting the margins off of the paper and burning that. So I went through the book and started a major re-write. I changed the last two thirds of the book. Got rid of a character, then put him back. Now I currently have 500 words shy of 100,000 words. For you non-writers, that is 400 pages. Average book has 250 words per page. Simple math.
Now to answer the next question. No I am not done it. Stop looking at me with that tone of voice. I am well aware that I have written a lot of pretty sounding words. I need another 8,000 words to finish it. I am working on it again. Don't worry. It'll get done.
Eventually...
Meanwhile, I have thought up other ideas for other books. Met people that I want to immortalize in prose. Most of them even with there knowledge of it.
My next story idea is one set 500 years in the future. We have space travel and we have colonized the other planets of the solar system. It's a fun project to work on. I am still figuring out what 500 years in the future looks like. I am split between making it a mix of Cowboy Beepob and Schlock Mercenary.
I will have to do a couple posts on the in's and out's of my future world. So many topics to talk about. Hmm...
My wife just told me to go and write something in 'Solar Storm'. I got to go to work. Oh well. Play time over.
Cheers.
And if she did read through it, I apologize. My blog sucks. But here I am. Back for now. And wow things have changed. If you would have told my sixteen year old self that in ten years that I would be married for almost 4 years, have a 18 month old, and have a second baby due any day, I would have laughed in your face.
Laughed hard. Split my gut open. Peed my pants.
But it is true. Ten years later I have a wife of 4 years, a 18 month old named Donald, and either Alexander or Audrey on the way. And no we have no idea what we are having. Really. No I am not lying. Fine. If you insist, but only to you. Don't tell anyone. Today we are having a girl. Audrey. Tomorrow it is a boy. Alexander. There happy? Did that make you feel better?
No? Not really. Oh well. I tried.
An update on my projects. Still there. Still haunting my every step. Still hounding me to finish them. Still mostly in the same stage that I left them. Maybe a little more disorganized as I have moved a bunch of times.
My current one. 'Solar Storm'. Yes I am still working on this one. Yes I am aware that I have been with my wife for only a slight more time than I have been working on it. Don't do the math. It is scary. Very scary.
Good news on it though. About a year and a half ago, I burnt it. Well... Kinda. My wife wouldn't let me actually burn it. Or parts of it. Or even cutting the margins off of the paper and burning that. So I went through the book and started a major re-write. I changed the last two thirds of the book. Got rid of a character, then put him back. Now I currently have 500 words shy of 100,000 words. For you non-writers, that is 400 pages. Average book has 250 words per page. Simple math.
Now to answer the next question. No I am not done it. Stop looking at me with that tone of voice. I am well aware that I have written a lot of pretty sounding words. I need another 8,000 words to finish it. I am working on it again. Don't worry. It'll get done.
Eventually...
Meanwhile, I have thought up other ideas for other books. Met people that I want to immortalize in prose. Most of them even with there knowledge of it.
My next story idea is one set 500 years in the future. We have space travel and we have colonized the other planets of the solar system. It's a fun project to work on. I am still figuring out what 500 years in the future looks like. I am split between making it a mix of Cowboy Beepob and Schlock Mercenary.
I will have to do a couple posts on the in's and out's of my future world. So many topics to talk about. Hmm...
My wife just told me to go and write something in 'Solar Storm'. I got to go to work. Oh well. Play time over.
Cheers.
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