Poll | | Is the phrase "Once upon a time..." | Overused | | 33% | [ 1 ] | Underused | | 67% | [ 2 ] |
| Total Votes : 3 |
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Monthly Writing Prompt |
For this month's writing prompt write a scene using the following sentence to start;
The streets were deserted. Where was everyone? Where had they all gone?
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Writing Tip |
Our monthly writing tips are written by our very own TerishD. You can read more in Terish's Blog located in "The Abstractions" area of the forum.
Look Back
When not able to write ahead, it helps to look back. In my case I had written a paragraph ahead of the story. What I needed to do was add a section of exposition (talking) presenting some facts. In going back, I realized that I could insert a section where a 'tour' of the surroundings could be done. This allowed for character interaction, story development, and other things that enabled me to present the facts in an entertaining manner.
One should not face a writer's block with the mentality of bursting through it. I have found in my own experience that a writer's block is usually due to my mind indicating that it has a problem in 'channeling' the story. One reason might be a re-imagining of certain story points. Another reason however is that there is a problem in where you are at in the story, so you need to look back and find out the problem with the 'journey' that prevents the tale from advancing.
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| | Permission to Go: TimeSaga D7 (All 4) | |
| | Author | Message |
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TerishD
Number of posts : 1441 Age : 64 Location : Ringgold, Louisiana Current Mood : Registration date : 2008-07-21
| Subject: Permission to Go: TimeSaga D7 (All 4) January 20th 2018, 8:04 am | |
| Permission to Go TimeSaga: The Source Story SevenChapter One It was not unusual to be called into Colonel Fockles’ office. One of the best ways to keep a secret was not to give others the suspicion one has a secret. Colonel Fockles would call me into his office to tell a joke, update me on personnel, talk about his family, and occasionally actually handled business that needed to be kept secret. After closing the door, he asked, “Clyde, how much has your sister told you about what she is doing?” I replied, “She is not keeping things secret from me, but a lot demands a level of expertise that I do not have.” “I am asking about her involvement with the aliens.” “We are aliens out here, Sir. We also cannot be everywhere. If Debra needs me, she knows she can ask. However, she has some good people protecting her.” “My – our – superiors feel that we need some oversight in matters dealing with the okagaki and verakiy.” I hated it when I was given orders I had no way to comply with, and tried to imply that as I said, “Let me know how they expect us to accomplish that. As for Debra, she seems to have good relations with the okagaki and verakiy. Her mission however does not involve them. Her desire is to stop the problem with the transforming signal that doomed the Nerisus Federation.” “It seems that Debra is involved with the okagaki and verakiy.” “My sister is very qualified. She has earned the trust of the okagaki. The verakiy have also learned to trust her. What she tells me is that we, I am talking about all of us humans, need to do our best to keep the support of all other aliens that we encounter. Her words are that we need to stay the good aliens.” “My orders are to have you join her team.” The words I chose I clearly intended to indicate my displeasure with the orders. “I cannot join her team. Debra has very good people with her. Her robot is very good. I can hang out with them, and they will even let me tag along, but that does not mean that I will have joined her team.” “Listen, Clyde, when your sister gains her objective, all of the worlds of the Nerisus Federation will be available to humanity. Hell, with other things we are learning the entire universe will be available to us. The Iranians are determined to make a stand, and we Americans need to do so as well.” “Listen, Sir, we – Iranians, Americans, Who-the-fuck-cares-ians – need to stay the good aliens.” “Hang out with your sister, Clyde. Tag along with her. That’s an order.” Still determined to state my displeasure, I replied, “My sister is a queen, Sir. She out-ranks us.” When the colonel glared at me, I added, “Tell our superiors that.” No comment, rebuke, or cute remark came in reply. I was simply dismissed. That caused me to think about what I was told and what I might need to tell. When I stepped into the room where the men available to me were gathered, I wondered what comments or cute replies I would get from them. “Freckles, you are with me. Kyle –“ Sgt. Daniel Orange piped up to say, “If it concerns your sister, Major, I want in.” “Not given up?” I asked. “I’m not here because I am willing to give up.” “You might find your reason to give up on Debra, Dan.” Feeling that my men needed something to go on, I lifted my voice while saying, “I was not told anything. I however was given orders. We are going down and we are going to spend time with my sister. I actually trust my superior, Colonel Fockles, so I suspect there was a reason for my orders. It however does involve my sister, so I have no way of knowing how this is going to go. If you think this is going to be R&R, you obviously do not know my sister.” No laughter came to that last statement. The men did know my sister. The reason that I liked Freckles was that he could keep a cool head. When no laughter sounded, he asked an important question. “What is your gut telling you, Major?” “My gut isn’t telling me anything,” I replied. “I know my sister. All of you should know that we do stay in contact with each other. While the conversations are short, we know enough about each other to read into what is said. Debra is going after trouble. She has a good team with her. She has a good battle hardened team with her. She does not need us. My orders are to join her team, even if we are only tagging along. We are going into trouble with the first major difficulty being Debra herself. Four men: Freckles, Dan,” I shrugged on that name letting the men know that I really did not care whether he went or not, “and two more. Kyle, I would prefer you, but that is not an order. I’m packing. When I come back, I expect to have four men packed and ready to join me.” We needed a shuttle, so in my room I gave time for my men to decide on who was going and pack as I got transportation. “Chaos, I need a pilot to bring my team down to the planet. I however want you to tell me what you can.” The man was not Army. He was on board the Achilles because he was not truly a man. By that I meant he was not truly male or truly human. Chaos actually appeared slightly girlish with his small build, white hair, and pleasant attitude. His reason for being on board the Achilles was due to his skills piloting a space vehicle. The man was a member of the ancient race of beings who once had a flourishing culture in the universe, and I suspected he was one source of what was troubling my superiors when he made a soft reply. “Not over the intercom, Clyde. I’ll tell you what I can on the way down.” “I’m packing,” I replied. “Have the shuttle ready.” I had made my career on secrets. I could keep them, and I could ferret out those kept by others. My sister’s complaint about me was that I built my life on deception. She then taught me something about secrets. She showed me that one could keep secrets in a public forum. Everyone she worked with were open books that no one knew anything about. The complexities of their lives and work made most unwilling to learn all the facts behind them, and beyond the ability of most who actually made the attempt. Just like I could learn things from others, Debra had the mentality to comprehend those things others were unable to see even if they looked right at it. My superiors knew secrets, which is why I had the status with them, and I prepared to visit my sister suspecting that in keeping her mysteries in the open others wanted me to get her to explain what they were. I was the older sibling, so determined to do things properly I made a call to my sister. She always took my calls, but her comments about her work were usually vague. I suspected something when she simply told me that there was room for me. When I asked her what she was doing, I heard some annoyance in my sister’s voice. “You should know what I am doing.” Feeling that I heard the reason for my superior’s concern, I asked, “How close are you to accomplishing that?” “Probably real close.” “Well, instead of coming down to you can I offer to have Chaos bring you and your team up here?” “No. I have people from the Solomon Foundation here right now. If we leave, it will be on the Roland.” Keeping secrets from my sister was not a way to win any confidence with her, so I went ahead and said, “I have orders to tag along.” “Then you probably should stay on the Achilles and have them duplicate the portal we open.” “That close?” “If we can keep Mary sane.” Not wanting to get on my sister’s bad side, I made the offer, “I can bring a medical team with me.” “That’s not her problem, Clyde. The poor girl’s father did not know the future. She is not out here simply watching TV in her mind or overhearing phone messages. There are alien transmissions all done in strange languages and methods of encrypting. Her mind seeks to unravel the noise, but then she faces other hurdles in attempting to understand things.” “Listen, I’m coming. America wants its own agent, and that is me. I will have men with me, but I know not to cause trouble with the Iranians.” “You better.” I said parting words while rushing my packing. Feeling that I had things to actually discuss with Chaos, I considered it my duty to get moving. Going to the room for my men, I decided upon some personnel changes and prepared words to get moving someone who probably had not been packing. “Dan, you’re out. Sorry, but my sister will not be giving you the time of day. Sack, you’re in, and you better tell me that you have been keeping up with the alien languages.” Corporal Sagura Luronna, a man of Korean descent, looked up with a surprised expression, then said, “Best I can, Sir. We however have very little to go on.” “No, Sack, but we have a lot, and I suspect my sister is going to let you know that. Come on.” Sack proved his training by getting his things together before Dan could finish his griping. I had the men then move quickly to the shuttle bay. Chaos did have the vehicle ready for us, and as soon as we finished securing our places he had us on our way. I had taken a seat near the front of the shuttle, and once I saw us smoothly traveling to the planet I said, “Chaos, what do you think my sister is up to?” “I know what she is up to,” he replied. “What bothers me is that she, well those with her, killed Irquillator.” “So, your people are now scared of dying?” “No, but the plan to end our civilization was not a simple one. Those that put it into place were scared of it being undone. What Debra did was prove herself able to undo it. That did trigger certain things in the system.” It was Freckles that asked, “How would those things know?” “They already knew. The loss of transmitters was recognized. Problems in equipment are accepted with the system only being troubled by a lack of repair orders being filled. Irquillator actually supported the system, so his death pushed certain values into critical levels.” “So, how much trouble are we looking at?” Chaos pointed to a window while saying, “That much.” It took a moment to realize what I was seeing. There are a lot of lights in space. One however comes to the realization that most are much too far away to be of any influence. Just as with the ancient humans, they focused on those that were close enough to recognize movement. The word for planet actually came from the term for wandering star. What had me exclaim with the men was realizing that these lights were massive korlocks coming toward the planet.
Last edited by TerishD on February 4th 2018, 8:27 am; edited 2 times in total | |
| | | TerishD
Number of posts : 1441 Age : 64 Location : Ringgold, Louisiana Current Mood : Registration date : 2008-07-21
| Subject: Chapter Two January 25th 2018, 7:43 am | |
| Permission to Go TimeSaga: The Source Story SevenChapter Two Opening the channel to warn the Achilles, I heard them discussing with the Roland targeting information. Both ships were aware of the whale-like semi-material monsters. Debra and her group actually had the credit for test firing the great weapon for defeating them. While built by Americans, when things got desperate they put their faith in tried weapons. As things got worse than desperate, it was my sister that infiltrated the ship that had the powerful gun in order to use it. With the success of the mission, the major ships in space were built with the weapon. They understood the power that would be released, so discussed the use with each other so as not to cause damage to our own people. I was about to send another call to my sister when another transmission came over speakers. A recognized problem in using the portals that enabled us to quickly travel between places in space was that they also brought monsters. Having a Flag of Freedom, one of the ships bringing emigrants to this alien world, had me consider that they, and not my sister, was responsible for the grand korlocks. Something however had me believe differently, even as a call came to us. “Achilles shuttle, please head to the incoming Flag of Freedom.” Hoping to indicate my own importance, I activated a microphone to say, “This is Major Washington. Shouldn’t the Flag of Freedom have its own security?” “Against this? It seems that they are getting more than expected. Support has been requested.” I told Chaos to change our direction, then put through the call I intended to make, and when the connection was made I asked, “Debra, what are you doing?” She did not fuss at me, but answered the question. “Figuring out the databases. The computers are binary, but it seems that their databases are not so simple. Mary can interpret things in active memory, but not what is stored. We think we are getting it.” As I said, my sister could keep her secrets in the open. I looked to my language guy, and heard him mumble that he was no computer person. Wanting to understand something of the situation, I asked my sister another question. “I am being routed to help a Flag of Freedom. The Achilles and Roland are firing upon the grand korlocks. Tell me this will be a limited affair.” “We will be moving as soon as we find what we are looking for. Hopefully, we will be taking the fight with us.” Reading into what was said, I ordered, “You will wait for me, Debra. You are going to need us.” “I told you that we have those of the Solomon Foundation with me. I have military support.” “The Solomon Foundation is not – you mean you have Iranian military?” “Yes, Clyde.” Still hoping to understand the situation, I asked, “You mean that you knew this was going to happen?” “No, Clyde. You know the Iranians want a world of their own. Well, they are hoping to find just that. We are going after the coordinates of the worlds the Nerisus Federation knew about, but they are interested in other coordinates.” “Hold it! That means they will be heading in one direction while you head in another.” “No, Clyde. They understand the threat of the transforming signal. They will support me to eradicate the source of it. Then, when we have the freedom to travel without worrying about becoming korlocks, they will leave us.” That sounded good, but I had my own orders and worked to keep them moving forward. “Listen, that should not be an independent operation. No offense to the Iranians, but we Americans want our credit as well.” “I’m American, Clyde. All you are is military.” “You wait for me! You are getting into something that wiped out an entire civilization, Debra. You are going to need help. I have no problems with Iranians, but let them know that we win or lose together.” Another voice than my sister’s proclaimed, “Allah is with us. We will not lose.” “My sister doesn’t lose either. She is still my sister, and I will be there for her.” “That will be determined by whether you are here or not.” I told my sister and those with her that I would do my best to get there, then closed the connection to tell my men, “Those on board that Flag of Freedom are not going to like us. We go on board, wipe out the korlocks, then get planetside.” It was Kyle that looked out the window before asking, “What makes you think it will be that simple, Sir?” “My sister. Whatever this is, it is coming to her to stop her. She however will not be stopped. It is my objective to be there with her.” “Your sister is pretty awesome.” Instead of responding, I turned my attention to another. “Sack, how much time have you put in learning the language of the Nerisus Federation?” “You freed up time so I could, Major, and I have not been goofing off. I mostly just follow the forums of others, but I will also ask Chaos questions. His problem is that he is actually speaking to us mentally, so does not really know how to speak our language or have us understand his language. Still, he does help keep us from making any serious errors in our translations. So far we have not been able to associate the language of the Nerisus Federation with any Earth language, but Dame Mary has supplied us with a number of facts. Her focus is however on enabling us to access the complete databases.” “Yes, that is what Debra told me as well.” As if understanding I was not impressed, he said, “Think of it like this. If you have a hundred piece jigsaw puzzle and you are missing a piece, a lot of information could be missing. On a thousand piece puzzle, the lack of a piece is not that important. For a million-gajillion piece puzzle the lack of a piece could be almost unnoticed. Opening their database will give us that million-gajillion piece puzzle. We might not notice a lost piece, but putting it together is still a bitch.” Freckles mumbled, “Million-gajillion is not a word.” “If you understood what I said, it was a word.” Kyle said, “But we don’t know what the puzzle is about.” “Wrong. A lot of things we won’t know, but databases store correlated information. The machines for the portals will store the information for the locations of the worlds the Nerisus Federation felt worth visiting.” I had to admit, “And my sister did say they were looking at that database.” Kyle concluded, “So those korlocks know they will be facing my sister, so are hoping to stop her here.” “And the rest of humanity. We possibly have our work cut out for us, but we need to prove ourselves able to overcome.” “Hey, Chaos, what are your thoughts?” Our pilot said, “Those big things are jelorrum. They were not part of the federation. I was secure in my identity as History before I ever saw one. I have never spoken to one. Irquillator however realized their ability to shut down connection corridors, and found a way to summon them.” Freckles asked, “If you have never met or spoken to one, how do you know they are called jelorrum?” “Same way you know the name of those transformed are korlocks. You had to call them something, so found a name to fit. If you speak to one, let me know what it calls itself.” Kyle said, “Queen Debra will speak to one.” “I have been rather impressed with her as well. One reason I hang out with Major Clyde is his connection to her.” While the men spoke, I had considered some things, so asked, “Chaos, if Irquillator is out of the picture, and he was responsible for those jelorrum, who would be responsible now?” “I really do not know who he is, but he calls himself Magnificent. The one who actually set up the transformation signal believed in it, and became transformed. Everyone I know who was active in setting up the transformation signal was affected by it. Magnificent I believe was some administrator, and he reveled in the power. Just the power. He is really corrupt, and is one of those responsible for authorizing the experiments that resulted in my split personality. I am here doing what I can to guide humanity, but I am also active in maintaining the transforming signal.” Freckles said, “So if we take him out, we have a clean path to stopping the signal?” “Well, you will just have the security of the complex. However, someone like Mary should enable you to have an advantage there. With Magnificent still active, you will have someone with authority over the system working to prevent you from reaching the source of the signal.” “Shouldn’t there be a transmitter or something we can take out?” “I would say the signal can be broadcast through the network from any location by anyone with authority on the network.” Feeling the craft make some turns, I looked at a monitor and knew to say. “Okay, men, I am glad you are thinking the thoughts. However, put everything on hold until we deal with this situation.” Chaos kept his focus on directing the shuttle while saying, “Yes, we are approaching the Flag of Freedom. We have a welcome, but they are in need. Prepare for conflict.” As if to test us, a korlock came through the wall of our craft. We all had weapons for those monsters ready. While the inside of the craft was not large, what we directed at the threat were not physical attacks. Our energy weapons used a charged pulse that could hurt, but the burning shock really did not harm metal. As Chaos piloted our craft we took positions to assure our shots would not strike each other. Korlocks died as they passed the walls of the craft, and finding ourselves clear of the monsters we prepared to enter the emigrant vessel to help them with the creatures there. All I had was a shuttle. If one of the jelorrum was nearby, there was nothing in my arsenal that could attack it. With the monsters being a real threat in our movement through space, most vehicles had some arms. Strangely, the best attacks came from wave pulses, such as sound, which did not travel through a vacuum. Energy weapons could travel through space, but it took great charges to equal the deadliness of our small arms. Chaos did fire some of the shuttle weapons to clear some monsters from where we would connect to the larger vessel, but all of us felt the battle would turn more in our favor once we could engage them with our weapons. My team and I had been in space long enough to have certain tactics well practiced. As a secure hold was gained between our shuttle and the Flag of Freedom vessel, we set ourselves where we could take up the battle. No sooner did the two airlocks open a clear path, than we pulled the trigger on our weapons. As korlocks dispersed, we advanced keeping an eye for those that might move through the hull behind us. In a short period of time my team had the immediate situation cleared and able to consider our progress through the vessel. There was some fighting in the hallway, then an oriental man I considered to be one of the emigrants turned to say, “I’m glad to see you guys. No one said the monster problem was this prevalent.” “It usually isn’t,” Kyle replied. I said, “Sorry if you expect more from us, but we are simply going to clear your vessel, then move on.” The man replied, “I’m Otaku Keveggu, originally from a town outside of Osaka, Japan. Not certain where I am going, but I was told that they are about to open up worlds even as they solve the korlock problem.” “That’s my sister you are talking about, and I am on my way to help her.” “Queen Debra? You’re her brother?” “It’s Queen Debra Washington, and I’m Major Clyde Washington, US Army.” Another voice, one of a lady, commanded, “Enough chit-chat. Glad to see you guys, but we need you to get to work.” All four of us voiced an acceptance of the orders. After assuring some understanding of the layout of the vessel, we readied our weapons. Hoping that my sister was as bothered by situations as my team, I set to the best path of moving quickly through the vessel. All four of us however stopped hearing a voice over the speakers. While he spoke Japanese, I was able to understand, “My apologies to all who trusted me to get them to their new homes. A massive korlock however just appeared before us, and we have no way to prevent crashing into it.” | |
| | | TerishD
Number of posts : 1441 Age : 64 Location : Ringgold, Louisiana Current Mood : Registration date : 2008-07-21
| Subject: Chapter Three January 30th 2018, 7:48 am | |
| Permission to Go TimeSaga: The Source Story SevenChapter Three I gave a command to one of my men, “Kyle, speak to Chaos or someone about our situation.” I then rushed to an intercom to say in Japanese, “Captain, whatever weapons you have, fire them.” It gave me hope to hear a response and not just a demand for my identity or for me to shut up. “Of course we are firing them, but it is hopeless.” “No, Captain, as in this game buying time can be enough.” While I switched back to English, I kept the intercom channel open as I said, “Kyle, tell me the Achilles and Roland are being successful.” He replied, “Not in the usual manner. They are –“ Suddenly I heard Chaos say, “OH! Both fired, and the jelorrun are dispersing. YES! The rest are leaving.” The voice of the captain could then be heard to say, “Yes! The one before us is fading from view. In the nick of time.” That last line was done in English. While my usual line of work had me choose those who could speak multiple languages, I saw smiles as they all heard the phrase. Their faces however went back to showing concentration as I said a line they also knew. “We have a job to do. Let’s make sure it’s done.” Usually, when the big korlocks left they took a major portion of the monsters with them. Best we could determine whatever influence kept us from using portals when they were around enticed the other semi-material creatures to stay in their presence. Nothing was however perfect, so I had my team move through the vessel to assure that all the korlocks left either on their own or with our encouragement. We were about to check one of the cargo bays when Chaos said over the communicator, “Major Clyde, an Irani shuttle just gated from the world. It is on its way to the Roland.” I had to ask, “It has my sister on it, doesn’t it?” “I believe so.” I told my men to continue with the mission. I then turned to head to the bridge. All I could do was hope for the best. Having my faith in the men to finish the mission, I set myself to doing what my orders were. Coming to the bridge, the captain said, “I want to thank you for your aid.” I did a slight bow as I curtly replied, “You’re welcome, but that is the end of the pleasantries.” “Sir?” “I believe I heard it said that this vessel has no set destination.” “No, as it was a belief that there would be a number of possibilities opening up.” “Well, I’m going to give you a destination.” I assumed the captain could understand English, as I used that when I activated my communicator. “Chaos, come to the bridge. When the Roland opens a portal, I want us to open the same one.” The captain said, “Sir, this is an emigrant vessel. We do have some successful, well successful in a limited way, people, but not warriors. You cannot bring this vessel into danger.” “Crap. Just opening a portal is dangerous. What is happening, and I mean happening now, is the move to open up all the worlds of the Nerisus Federation. I was on my way to my sister to join her. Well, I got sent here. I am now sending you to my sister.” “Who is your sister?” “Queen Debra.” Shock showed on the captain’s face as if he wanted to disbelieve what I said. The others in the bridge turned to me as if unsure about my claim. Having Chaos come through the door let the captain know just how serious I was, even as the words of my pilot came in their usual calm manner. “There is an easy way to do what you requested.” Chaos moved to the navigator’s position, then opened up a communication channel to say, “This is a Flag of Freedom vessel that has been commandeered by Major Clyde Washington. Roland, I would like to speak to one of the Annapolis series.” Over the speaker came the reply of a girl’s voice, “This is Kara.” “Yes, Kara, when you gain the coordinates to open a portal, we would like to have them supplied to us. It is our intention, our orders, to follow you.” “I will need authorization to do that.” I moved up to speak through the microphone, “This is Major Clyde Washington. Kara, you tell that punk kid that is your captain that he better authorize you to release those coordinates.” “You can tell him yourself, Sir.” I then heard the voice of Roy say, “Hey, Major Washington, we have military with us.” “Yes, well tell those Irani that they are not the only ones wanting first choice at certain worlds. You also tell my sister that she is getting my help whether she wants it or not.” I heard some chatter over the speakers, but stayed quiet as no one spoke strongly against what I was requesting with Roy admitting as much as he said, “Your sister is sending the coordinates to you. She however warns you that you will be on your own.” “Yes, well tell her that she will not be.” I noted a message on my phone, then looked at it only to say, “Oh, she should not have done that.” Chaos looked to me as I handed him my phone, and asked, “You want us to go ahead?” “Yes,” I answered. The captain asked, “Is it safe?” “Safe? Exploration is never about safety, it’s about notoriety. We are going where mankind has never been, to stake our claim on having arrived. You’re a vessel of emigrants wanting some brave new world. Well, that is what I am going to offer you.” My phone then rang, and when Chaos answered he held it out so I could hear, “This is Colonel Fockles. Clyde, I would like those coordinates as well.” I gave Chaos permission to forward the message to the Achilles. Soon there was chatter over the intership channel about the Roland being the last to arrive at a certain place. Debra did her usual stunt of releasing data to everyone, trusting in most not being able to make sense of it. The captain of the Flag of Freedom vessel moved to announce to those on board his vessel about the coming maneuver, telling all that there would be a company of others, including military, to assure safety at whatever destination we would gain. He then gave permission to his helm to have us go to the coordinates now entered in the system. There was a process where the captain verified the safety of his guests. I did not rush this process, as I did not want the people to become worried. The process would need to be extremely slow for us to be behind my sister, so I allowed the captain to go through his routine. Having no reason to challenge the quality of the bridge crew, I simply secured myself and watched as they prepared to move. I had traveled in enough vessels to have a good sense of how things should go. Nothing in what was done gave me a reason to challenge anyone, and I watched as a portal opened ready to see where my sister planned to go. Voices sounded as what I would call a very cluttered area of space appeared before us. I could see ships, but also what appeared as huge grand plates of gold metal. I recognized the rectangular shape with one end overlayed with an equilateral triangle to form a type of cross as being similar to the original key that opened the portal we found in India. There were many of these about the equator of this planet with one more at the north and south. As voices mentioned detecting satellites and debris in the space around us, I focused on gaining some sense of the situation. I picked up my communicator to summon Sack to do some translating, but then realized I had another already with me. “Chaos, what is being transmitted? I believe I hear Nerisus.” The captain signaled for his crew to become silent as the soft voice of my shuttle pilot said, “Yes, Major. This is Gnothell, the central world of the Nerisus Federation. Basically, we are told not to advance until recognized by the planetary authorities.” I asked, “It’s an automated message?” “Yes, but I would suspect the planetary defenses are automated as well.” I stared at the screen. The amount of things to see amazed me. I however forced myself to focus on specific objects in order to try and make sense of things. I thought about all the countries I had visited, then realized what on the screen I needed to see. I said, “Chaos, I see all these ships. I recognize a few designs from those we found earlier. Those were warships preparing to attack the okagaki. Could they authorize us?” “No.” Chaos moved up to the main monitor to point to something that was only a large collection of dots as he said, “That is Kenotion Station. It is the center of the planetary customs system.” I activated my communicator and asked, “Kyle, what is your status?” He replied, “Everything is good here, Major. We prepared to again fight korlocks when you made the portal jump, but all seems clear. There seems to have been five lost in the previous situation. One family that I guess did not take appropriate actions, at least not in time.” “Well, lock and load as you head back to the shuttle. We have business.” The captain asked, “Who are you going to speak to?” “If there is no one to speak to then there is no one to deny our authorization.” “There is? Ah, I understand. Thank you for taking it upon yourself to see that the formalities of our arrival are properly handled.” Chaos said, “You humans are so devious, but I cannot fault your logic at all. It really should not be that simple, but I have never been to Kenotian Station. Let’s go find out.” I smiled as I said, “Captain, enjoy the comforts of your vessel as you await your clearance. Since I brought you here, it is only proper that I handle the procedures. I return command of your vessel to you.” | |
| | | TerishD
Number of posts : 1441 Age : 64 Location : Ringgold, Louisiana Current Mood : Registration date : 2008-07-21
| Subject: Chapter Four February 4th 2018, 8:37 am | |
| Permission to Go TimeSaga: The Source Story SevenChapter Four We spent time in the shuttle staring at a monitor while attempting to recognize everything we saw. While alien in design, physics and necessity would force similarities. A few times someone commented that a design like what was viewed would not occur got lectured on some minor fact of history or fashion that altered how we built things, but that did not prevent other designs. I actually did what my sister said I would not do, and kept our conversation on an open channel. A few of the crew of the Flag of Freedom vessel joined the conversation, and made our ride in the shuttle seem less boring. The next ship to appear around the planet was the Engendered. As they chatted about everything they were seeing, the Roland arrived. Finally, the Achilles joined our group. While each ship had checked on me, from the military vessel I was glad to hear a more formal statement. Colonel Fockles said, “I am acknowledging your command of the situation, Clyde. What do you need us to do?” I replied, “Just hold tight. Actually, you need to prepare for what you are supposed to do, which is keep the peace. Prepare for victory. Fighting korlocks and overcoming any planetary resistance is one thing, but I believe our little party about sums out the real complications. We resolve this, and we have emigrants, holy desires, and those wanting priority all scrambling for what should be different things, but they will want what the other gets. I need you to keep the peace.” From the Roland came the comment, “Americans attempting to create lasting peace – will not happen.” “Yeah, well if I point out a world and tell you to claim it for Allah, will you go away?” When only a period of silence occurred, I said, “Yeah, that’s what I thought. We got to live with you, so you might as well learn to live with us. Don’t worry, Roland. Once we learn how to authorize ships, you will be authorized as well.” It was now the voice of Roy that spoke, “Especially since I have the people that can deal with the problem.” “Yes, and I probably will have to acknowledge that. I have people that I believe could solve the problem, but none of us want to wait. My people will get first crack at things, but I promise to plead to my high-and-mighty sister should they get bogged down.” It was actually the voice of Debra I heard next. “Mary says you are heading to the right place.” “Remember, I have a member of this federation as my pilot. I know I am heading to the right place, but that is about all I know.” Chaos said, “My real body is down on the planet. I however never gained the chance to travel on my own, and certainly not into space. While I know things from just being a part of the culture, I really have no first-hand experience.” My sister replied, “Well, we’re here if you need us.” I had to say, “Thanks, Debra. If you noticed, I’m keeping an open channel.” The voice of a girl, Mary, commented, “Not that it would matter. I’m listening.” “I can turn this radio off, Darling. Although I am probably going to recommend spacesuits, so I guess we will be using radio, but it would still take time for the signals to reach you.” “Should not need spacesuits. The station has recognized your approach, and has started a recycle of its atmosphere. Chaos, you are listening on the wrong frequency.” The quality of the people my sister had with her was made apparent as Mary told us things about our shuttle. Beyond the awareness of the android, I had to acknowledge that my weapons were not of the quality of those Debra and her robot played with. I found myself hoping my mission would be a simple one, as I easily comprehended that I truly might need to go groveling to my sister for the help of her and her people. I heard Mary and Chaos begin to chuckle. One could see me while the other could not, at least I did not think a camera was pointed at me enabling the distant android to catch an image of me. Chaos saw me look to him, and he explained the humor. “Major, someone from the surface attempted to have the station fire on us. However, an automated system returned a quote about how it was to provide safety and security to all. I cannot say how you will be treated once in the station, but we should be able to dock safely.” From the Achilles I heard the voice of my superior saying, “Clyde, I recommend that you go in armed.” I replied, “While the threat of korlocks is real, the truth is that going armed into a government building is next to stupid.” I heard chuckles behind me, although it was hearing Freckles set a magazine back into a gun that had me make a decision. “I will go in unarmed with Sack and Chaos. If we need help, come in heavy.” Freckles asked, “Why Sack and Chaos?” It was Kyle that replied, “Because they should be able to understand the language. If all Major Clyde has to do is sign a form, mission accomplished.” I asked, “What do you think the odds of that are?” Chaos should have been the one that answered, but I heard Freckles say, “Zilch.” Our pilot instead asked a question of his own. “Mary, are you detecting any life on board the station?” The voice of the girl answered, “No. Everything is automated.” “It is probably more involved than signing a document, but without korlocks we should be able to handle it easily enough.” He then added, “Major, I am preparing to dock. Get ready.” I replied, “I want you with me, Chaos.” “I heard. Let me get this boat docked first.” While the Nerisus had the same problem with needing to keep an atmosphere around them as we did, they had members who were much larger than a human. What that meant was their portals were larger than ours. Even if we had designed the same type of air locks, the size difference would keep us from being able to secure our hatch to theirs. As Chaos brought the shuttle near a berth, a large tube of some pliable material came out and secured itself to our boat. I had to assume that the Nerisus did not just have various races, but types of space vehicles, which caused a need for a generic method of securing a save transfer of people through an atmosphere. Chaos however let us know a fact. “It’s been centuries, the transfer tube has lost a lot of integrity. We need spacesuits.” I had everyone put on a spacesuit. While I hoped not to have my entire team go on the station, I wanted them ready to join me if necessary. While I checked the integrity of their spacesuits, they checked over my weapons with each of us assuring the other would have no problems. Mary came over our communicators to offer help with any passcodes, but the airlock to the space station was not protected. It was a simple process of assuring the inner door was closed, remove the air, open the outer door, go inside, close door, fill the space with air, then open the inner door. We timed the process to let me know how long I would have to wait on any arrival of reinforcements, but I otherwise let Mary know that I did not need her help with the airlocks. It was almost comical the way we stopped coming into the corridor with Sack asking, “Is that a sign?” Chaos answered, “Yes, with it telling us to head to the right.” “I see the arrow, but really had not seen the writing of the Nerisus Federation. I mean, we have their computers, so I have seen their symbols. They however did not leave signs.” “They were not made of metal, so eroded over the centuries. I guess whatever this station did to maintain itself kept these signs in good condition.” Not really wanting to cause trouble, we calmly strode in the direction indicated. There were other signs that Sack worked at translating. They seemed to be the usual statements of advice and instruction that would be set in a public place. I did make comments about the stylized artwork that showed simple images of the various creatures we only knew from monsters except for a few encounters with actual surviving members of the Nerisus. We could only wonder how our surroundings would have appeared when the people were still people as we strode toward what we hoped would be a peaceful process of gaining authorization. It was necessary for us to take out speakers. We had taken along the devices for protecting us from the transforming signal, but we did respect the power that had transformed those of the Nerisus Federation. While we hoped we were not giving the wrong impression to any internal security, we did what was necessary to make our advance safe. Coming into a large room where I could see the usual security booths, something in the light had me look up to see a large floating creature that appeared something like a roach with tentacles instead of legs. “Stop right there!” I heard the voice more in my head than any sounds around me. “I do not know how you made it this far, but you can go no further.” Without any clues to go on, I simply went on training. “I am Major Clyde Washington of the Army of the United States of America from a planet we call Earth. To whom am I speaking?” “You are an agent of the okagaki.” Understanding that it was pointless to argue with idiots, I asked, “Do I need to call them in?” “What? Call them in? Whatever for?” “To refute your statement.” “Refute? Why, the evidence is clear that you have worked with them and made agreements with them.” This entity had moved a little forward, so I stepped up a few steps while saying, “And I am proud to say that is true. We humans are a despicable race of people. We can go to war over trivial matters and commit crimes for enjoyment. We however are standing with our heads high in how we have treated the okagaki and the verakiy. Still, among ourselves we keep needing to remind each other to be the good aliens. What I hear from you is encouragement to not be a good alien.” “You cannot defeat us!” “You are already defeated. The fact that you wiped out yourselves is comical, as most humans do not consider suicide a respectable end. I expect you of the Nerisus Federation to be used in a number of jokes in the centuries ahead.” He again floated forward, and I took a couple of steps to him while triggering a switch on my communicator as he declared, “We rose to a higher state of existence!” “And yet,” I calmly returned, “you are here with nothing better to do than present petty grievances while being annoying.” “You have no way of understanding what happened to my kind.” “I understand haughty bureaucrats and mindless regulations simply created to make those with little minds feel important.” Showing no problem with being a member of the groups I spoke about, it declared, “You will not pass!” Accepting that I needed to give the rest of my team time to cycle through the air locks, I made a call on my communicator. “Debra.” Hearing her make a reply, I said, “I have to apologize for failing. I cannot maintain being a good alien for long.” She replied, “It sounds like that entity has made up its mind to be nothing but a barrier. Barriers must be removed.” I heard Freckles say, “That’s why she’s our queen.” Raising my weapon, I fell back firing at the entity. My men advanced while spreading out with their aims staying true on the target. We had all fought monsters of this type. Korlocks, even intelligent ones, were only dangerous in close combat. Most of the problems in battling them were the tight spaces we would build for ourselves. The Nerisus Federation however had large members, so their structures gave plenty of room for movement. We easily spread out while having our weapons send powerful pulses at the entity. It ended up fleeing. There were stalls and structures meant to slow down and organize beings into a steady stream that could be processed. My team found themselves unable to give chase. What we however heard was a strong reverberation through the hull of the space station, and the voice of the captain of the Achilles let us know the fate of the entity when it fled into space. “Got it. It might not like me saying this, but just one more korlock removed from the universe. Away team, what is your status?” I looked around, then replied, “In trying to give chase, nothing but physical barriers bothered us. Give us time.” Sack learned a bit more about the language of the Nerisus Federation as Chaos worked at a computer terminal with the oversight of Mary. It took our vessels sending an identification code at a certain frequency, but with that done the system recognized them as being present. Chaos could then type in the commands to authorize the vessels. Those in charge of the vessels spoke of seeing a couple of the large odd shaped satellites light up as some sounds were heard over their speakers. Mary translated that boats from our vessel would be allowed to pass between the indicated satellites, although she also told the shuttles to send the identification codes. Returning to the Achilles, I smiled seeing Colonel Fockles show up saying, “Well done, Clyde. Mission accomplished.” I replied, “Yes, but we have not won the war yet. I accept there is more to do.” “The others are discussing the next step right now. Do what you can to stay with your sister.” Thinking of this mission, I replied, “Or ahead of her.” “As long as the war is won, I doubt she will complain.” | |
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