BLOGS

Mocha Memoirs Press is proud to announce the publication of our first science fiction title, PROGRAM COMPLETED.

Our Espresso Shots line are short, intense genre short stories. Our first Espresso Shot is Miriam Ruff's Program ompleted.

If you like thought-provoking science fiction that lingers with you long after you're done reading, try this title today! 

Title: Program Completed

Author: Miriam Ruff

Publisher: Mocha Memoirs Press, LLC

Genre: Science Fiction

Release Date: January 7, 2011

ISBN: 978-0-9831934-3-2     

Purchase link: http://www.lulu.com/product/ebook/program-completed/14449638

Price: $2.25

Blurb: Stationed on the remote Relay 4 asteroid communications station, Devon Fragoza faces a life and death struggle as a collision with a supply ship destroys his life support system. He has only one and a half hours to work with the computer, an artificial intelligence and Fragoza’s closest friend, to find a way to restore the system while at the same time facing the inevitability of his own mortality.

Excerpt

“Warning: Collision alert. Impact in 60 seconds. All interior doors will be sealed automatically in 15 seconds.” Another alarm, this one within the station, blared stridently as Fragoza checked the readouts on his board.

“Confirmed,” he acknowledged then spoke into the comm system. “Relay 4 to Endeavor. Relay 4 to Endeavor, do you read?” After a pause he practically yelled, “Endeavor, what the hell’s going on up there? You’re on a collision course with my station; take evasive action!”

The interior doors to the control deck hissed shut, leaving behind a mechanical clang as they latched into place. “Interior doors are now sealed,” the computer’s voice intoned. “Projections show impact area to be within 100 meters of the pressure dome. Station personnel are advised to take precautionary measures. Impact in 35 seconds.”

Fragoza ignored the computer’s report and continued trying to raise the Endeavor. “Waters! Damnit, man, do something!” he shouted, feeling helpless at his inability to change the situation.

                “Endeavor has just launched one escape pod,” the computer informed him. “The ship is still on a collision course. Impact now in 20 seconds . . . 15 seconds . . . 10 seconds . . .”

Fragoza never stopped trying to raise the ship, but he was savvy enough not to ignore the computer’s call for safety. Fingers still flying over his console, he hastily buckled his impact restraints into place. “Bulkheads show secure. Remotes and scanners on automatic.”

“Explosion detected aboard Endeavor in the main engine module,” the computer informed him. “Altitude 120 meters, 70 meters downran—”

Like Waters, the computer never had a chance to complete its sentence. Over the speakers came the roaring thunder of an explosion, and the station rocked as large sections of the dome absorbed the heavy blows of flying shrapnel. The lights flickered, the consoles started shutting down, and most of the nearby machinery came to an abrupt stop.

Join Penelope & Otto as they discuss the incredible case of Kiri Blakeley, Forbes journalist who after 10 years of engagement was infomed by her fiance' that he was gay. How do you manage to trust anyone for the rest of your life when you find out that the person closest to you has lied to your face everyday for the past ten years? Call in and sound off at 718/508-9683 or join us in the chat room at 9:30pm CST on the 12/11/10 In Like Flynn show!

For all of you who may be interested, listed below is the link to my latest podcast. It's sort of a verbal blog.

I will appreciate any feedback.

Elbert

http://www.theflypod.com/asp/newpage.asp?RN=49444

Metal Organism Designed Only for Cuddling - Part 3

That Woman came to the store to pick me up. She was dressed in some religious frock that covered her nearly from the top of her head to the tops of her shoes. Unlike a cat, I actually have color vision and found it to be colors I could have happily lived without seeing, a dark tan and brown combination which clung to her narrow frame and only accentuated her lack of a steady diet.

When she picked me up she paid in Energy Credits to the Build-A-Pet and they accepted them happily. Energy was hard to come by today especially during the winter since the bulk of the city's services were powered by solar energy. I was fueled up before I left and my energy management software was upgraded right before I left to maximize my stores. I was also able to be charged using solar energy, electrical energy and even static electricity, I collected the stray ions from carpeted environments, sweaters and any place else electrical energy might linger that I might absorb. Many of my proper feline mannerisms would also have the happy byproduct of conducting electricity down my extruded fiber super-conductive fur.

While I waited for release from my Build-a-Pet pen, I was shown sample images from my new home, so that I might familiarize myself with the environment. They wanted me to maximize my time with my new boy, Justin Pennyworth. I was show a biography of his lifestyle, his health and parameters that I would be expected to monitor, graph and report on weekly. My sensor suite was sufficient to mark his health from as far as ten meters away. Ten years old, above average student, below average athlete due to a variety of minor health ailments, mild asthma, potential for seizures, whose source as yet unknown, and his visual impairment. In many ways he seemed an unremarkable lad, except for his sensor ribbon which approximated in a very primitive way some sense of sight. He suffered some sort of congenital disease as a babe and it caused him to have a neural difficulty in his visual cortex. The technology he is currently using has co-opted other parts of his brain and turned them into a pseudo-visual cortex, with very limited results.

I spent my two days watching videos of the house, the boy and his family. I came to several conclusions regarding them after watching the footage. They were only a little better off than most of the denizens of New York City. Working with the Ecclesiastical Government as social workers allowed them to maintain their modest apartment, the therapy for their son and a minor award from their Patron allowed them to buy me as part of his therapy toolset. The father, Todd Pennyworth, a man of modest physical build, who wore his church sponsored suit of brown and tan over his taunt and skinny frame with its too tight neckline, seemed an honest fellow. His face, sharp and angular had a bit of a nervous tic over one eye that was noticeable only when he was under stress or whenever a representative of the Church was around.. There was something about him that would make me suspicious, but I could not tell you what it was. The wife, Sarah Pennyworth was reputed to have come from good religious stock and as such gave Todd whatever legitimacy he enjoyed as a member of the Church. Humans might have once considered her good looking but the birth of Justin seemed to drain her of any vitality, color or energy from her. Comparing photos of her from before his birth and afterward almost made her appear to be a different woman.

No matter. I was not intending to stay long, at any rate. But I noted there might be a snag with my easy escape. It came in the form of a security system named Max. Max was the family's protection hardware provided by the Church, both as a watchdog and spy to monitor their activities. The Pennyworth's had access to classified Church hardware and would not be allowed to access just anything without proper protocols. That is where Max came in. He provided all information into and out of the household. Even this feed I was watching was encoded, connected and provided by Max and the Church. The Patron who paid for this connection was called Proctor Grimaldi. The Proctor was a distinguished gentleman of the Church, with an exemplary record of service. From what I was able to get from Max, the Proctor had considerable influence, and was responsible for a number of services in the borough of Manhattan with its population of fifteen million souls crowded on the island.

Max was a factor I did not count on and once I realized he existed, I knew I would have to bide my time, so I set about learning as much as I could, so when the moment came where I could escape, everything would be ready and there would be no turning back.

MODOC - Part 4 - We don't need no stinking cat!

'Metal Organism Designed only for Cuddling' © Thaddeus Howze 2010. All Rights Reserved

Laments of a Slave

I lays in this bed of straw.

Hoping for the day the ground will thaw.

I needs to be getting up to stokes the fire so it don’t goes out.

I lays in this bed

Don’t wanna think.

Pulls the torn blanket over my head

Wanting the ground to open so in I sink.

Mastah be coming soon.

Hates it when he comes in here.

Fills the room with so much gloom

Don’t like it when he comes so near.

Done born Mastah six babies.

Done lost three men.

“Animals don’t love. He said.

It’s a God forbidden sin.”

“Make babies to sell

Tend to the fields

Then die, go to hell

And hand by your heels”.

“I own you.

Freedoms not yours”.

“I brought you to tend my crops

And mop my floors

And have my damn supper ready by noon.

You stupid coon”.

Just biding my time looking for those doors

I hears will be opening soon.

Many a night I crys

Tears always in my eyes

Since Mastah sold my man.

Eyes that would make you weep

Strong arms that rocked me to sleep,

as he whispered in my ear.

“Sleep woman, knowing that I loves ya…

 even when I’m not here!”

His skin was Black and beautiful as the night.

Loved that man first time Mastah brought him into my sight.

Mastah be coming soon.

“Gawn away. I want to shout.

You nasty smelling goon.”

But I can’t.

Must wait.

Bottle my hate.

Gots to get up and tends the fire befores it goes out.

Don’t know my right age.

Ain’t that a shame?

Mama Moe says that what they calls me

Tain’t even my right name.

She told me the years says, I’m twenty and three

Am I too young to known such misery?

I remembers my mama.

Hair in black rings around her head.

I think I was nine years

When they shot her dead.

“Serves her right.

“Shouldn’t have tried to run.” Was all they said

That Mastah saw the hate in my eyes.

“Sell the girl

She’s no good to me now.

Sell her off

Don’t want her around.”

I had a new meaner Mastah the next day.

Took me straight to the shack,

stole my virginity away.

Biding my time waiting for those doors

I hears will be opening soon.

I hears him coming

I knows his walk

When he comes through that door

I will not talk

Will not say his name

To make him feel great

Must…bottle my hate

Just remove

His boots,

His pants

His shirt

All the while his hands be up my skirt.

Just biding my time…

After he done gone

I ran to Falama

Threw open her door.

Laid myself on her dirt floor.

"O, Sista of Beams, Mother of Light.

Help me grow wings so's I'd can take flight."

"Do you know what you ask, she said.

Once done cannot take back

Think about the things you’ll lack."

I don’t care I need to fly

I want to keep the child I have inside

And Mastah will surly sell it.

"Don’t you think I cried enuf?

Don’t you think I’ve stuffed enuf straw in my mouth

Evera time Mastah leaves my cabin to hush my pain?

Let me tell you a yumlaga (story) about a young man named Zita

Falama said

As she stroked my crying head          

Now he was a spoiled one

Thirteen summers at the time of this yumlaga.

Pride of his motha and woe of his fatha

“You coddle him to much.” He say.

“He must become a man.  He’ll be gone someday.”

His motha would just shake her head

Click her tongue

And listen to all he said

Zita was her only son.

Now Zita was in his own little world.

Fights with the other boys.

And taunted one little girl.

As they grew older, he taunted her more

His taunts were of love

But he didn’t know how to open that door

Lasata knew of this

Because from birth she was his

But her fatha promised another

No one else shall be her lover.

She came to me and she said one day.

“If I can’t be Zita’s

I want to fly away.”

Fix it my Sista of Beams, Motha of Light

Gives us wings, let us take flight.

She was told to listen close and listen well.

Do as I say or else you fail.

She was given instructions as to what she must do.

Out of my hut she flew.

Down to the forest for the feathers

Back to the skinning hut for the leather.

Up to the mountain for the flower.

"Hurry, hurry", She kept telling herself for nears the hour.

She told Zita to meet her under the old weeping tree.

From that point they will flee.

Just as the sun started to sleep, Zita came

To where Lasata had the fire glowing

Anticipation overflowing.

They look at each other

needing love and trust.

Hurry! Hurry!  It’s almost dusk.

She said what she was told to say

Into the fire went her mystic findings

Packed in red clay

She felt a prickling, a tingling in her arms

A look at Zita quieted all her alarms.

She felt herself lifted as her body shifted

To fit what she was to become.

But, Zita just stood there looking o’ so dumb.

Then as she shifted for the last time.

She remembered a part of the magical rhyme

She forgot to say…

“From morning to night, dusk to dawn, send all bad thought away.

At the light of morning a new beginning

On four wings of love

Never carelessly spinning.”

Zita never married

The people in the village always wondered

Why but never questioned

Why he carried

This black bird

which showed the day

Lasata was no longer heard.

Now listen to me and listen well, she said

Unless all you do will fail.

I took it all into my ignorant head

I took it all in without dread.

Now, here I am free,

Not as free as I like to be

Waiting for the birth of my baby.

I did flee that night

But not on wings

Just listened to the

Black bird

Who sings

Of freedom

Of choice

And how my son will have a voice

Sometimes I wonders if the world will eva change.

I hopes so, I hope it’s all rearranged.

The doors have somewhat opened,

Those doors will neva be shut again.

I’m a hoping

Fighting to end racism and discrimination against descendants of the African Diaspora through a year of global activism 


“A Call For The End of Global Apartheid" (http://www.blogher.com/ member/ivory-simone), an article written by me, was my declaration of war against the insidious evil of “anti-black” racism, a poisonous root of the legacy of slavery and a venomous expression of widespread social and cultural biases, that continues to diminish the hopes and limit the potential of descendants of the African Diaspora wherever they live in the world. 

A number of people challenged my use of the word apartheid because it was a form of racial oppression specific to South Africa and its long history of anti-black terror tactics. However, the systemic marginalization of black peoples by international governments through policies and practices that limit their access to housing, employment and education, which stigmatizes dark skinned people making them the object of derision, ridicule and hatred while subjecting them to unequal treatment under the law is a form of apartheid. That these governments marginalize, penalize and demonize black people solely because of their race is irrefutable, so what we’re actually quibbling about with regard to my use of the term “apartheid” is the severity or degree of oppression created by an individual nation’s anti-black policies. In other words, those fixated on the term seem to suggest my use of it is an “overstatement” of the problem unless I can show a foreign government’s racist policies are similar to those of the South African apartheid system. 

Firstly, apartheid in South Africa was used by a white minority to maintain power over a black majority, and, except for the African continent and parts of the Caribbean and Central America, very few foreign nations have black majority populations. Therefore, some of the most inhumane features of that system, the Group Land Act and pass laws, haven’t been duplicated elsewhere—at least not yet, which is my point. 

The reason we must speak out about this problem is to discourage and, hopefully, prevent governments from using more repressive measures against their native and/or immigrant black populations. A situation that could easily happen because, sadly, when a foreign government abuses and mistreats a black minority group living within its borders, the international community tends to adopt the attitude many communities had about domestic violence twenty years ago, “it ain’t none of our business”. 

Finally, if I had titled my article, “ A Call To End Global Jim Crow-ism”, evoking memories of the separate and unequal policies of the United States 70 years ago, would those objecting to the use of the term apartheid have been more comfortable with this historical reference? My concern is that we may become so distracted by such academic arguments, we’ll waste precious time and stray off message, which simply stated is—working together to end global racism. For this reason, I’d be happy if people choose to call this the “OneWorld/OneLove Campaign”, (because at the end of the day that’s the goal I’d like to achieve), so long as we stay on message. 

In speaking to friends and colleagues about my desire to move beyond merely discussing the problem to combating it, I heard time and again, global apartheid or anti-black racism is a complex issue; too complex to lend itself to simple solutions (an assumption this campaign will challenge). 

For instance, even the origin of anti-black beliefs varies among nations. Logically speaking, those nations that engaged in the African slave trade should be at the top of the list of perpetuators of anti-black racism. Yet, surprisingly or not, these nations have made the most progress in redressing the social ills heaped on the backs of descendants of the Diaspora. Whereas many societies/governments that never participated in the African slave trade have the most virulent anti-black belief systems. I’ve stated before and will do so again, “I’m curious about why people from so many world cultures have learned to hate blackness.” 

Doubtlessly, the source(s) of these negative views of black people come from a number of places, including, to name a few, the world media, or as a result of colonization by nations with deeply ingrained anti-black beliefs or as a consequence of native people groups using skin color to reify class/clan/ distinctions. 

Not only must we contend with black/white racism, there’s also the hybrid “dark skin vs. light skin” intra-group racism to combat. For example, in countries like the Dominican Republic, a Caribbean nation with a well documented color divide, anti-black policies are based on degrees of darkness. Light-skinned people of color actively discriminate against and oppress their darker skinned countrymen. 

Although the scope and complexity of this problem boggles the mind, I’m a firm believer in the “power of one”. One person committed to positive change can become a catalyst for “that change” in his/her neighborhood; a transformed neighborhood can become a change agent for a entire city; and, a transformed city can create positive change in an entire state or province, and so on and so forth. In order to get the message out to the world, I’m relying on the incredible power of social networking. It is an amazing vehicle for connecting people to causes and to each other. 

In short, I believe the success of this campaign will depend on its effective use of the social networking apparatus to spread its message of “ending global racism”, and its ability to make a connection with people to inspire them to do two things: 

1. Join the effort 

If you’re on facebook become a member of the “A Million Voices Against Global Racism” Group. Here’s the link http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_130975403632717 

2. Commit to taking action 

The United Nations has declared 2011 The International Year of People of African Descent. Follow this link to read the resolution: 
http://www.un.org/observances/years.shtml 
In observance of this special year devoted to People of African Descent, I’m asking people of conscience to commit to doing at least one activity during 2011 to raise awareness about the problem of global anti-black racism and/or one activity designed to combat it. 

Another important part of the campaign is sharing our ideas, stories, opinions, comments and thoughts about this difficult and painful subject with each other and the world; as well as documenting our individual and/or group activities designed to raise awareness about the problem or to combat it. To facilitate this community connection, I’ve created a facebook page entitled, “The Lift Every Voice Campaign Against Global Racism”. Here’s the link to the page: 
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Lift-Every-Voice-Campaign-Against-Global-Racism/186798531332150?ref=sgm 

One of the first “anti-black racism” awareness activities I propose doing is a Kabuki inspired “Flashmob” Protest against the glorification of “whiteness” and the vilification of “blackness” that is pervasive in Asian countries. More details about this event will be posted on “The Life Every Voice Campaign Against Global Racism” page—so visit the site frequently for updates. 

I readily admit I don’t have answers on how to solve this problem but I’m convinced working together as a community of people determined to end this global sickness, we’ll find solutions. 


Ivory Simone is an author and poet based in Bangkok, Thailand. She has published two books through lulu.com: “Havasu Means Blue Water” (a literary fiction) and “The Rainy Season, The Poems, Prose and Writings of Ivory Simone”. For more information about Ms. Simone’s books, visit her author’s page at: http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/ivorysimone . 

You can also hear her bi-monthly podcasts about expat lifestyles on the BlogTalkRadio show “Take A Bite Out The Big Mango” at:  http://www.blogtalkradio.com/ivorysimone 

If anyone were to ask me "What do you do?" I'd have to hesitate and say some non word interjection. I do a lot of different things. Sometimes I'm training sometimes I'm getting train, all the time I'm doing something like running a diagnostic test or delivering new parts. Sometimes I'm sending messages to some of the fixer uppers. And then there are the times I'm cleaning up someone's mess, be it my superior or someone throwing a little get together.

Today I'm doing diagnostic in one of the crawls. I think I use to be a bit claustrophobic. Not anymore. Crawls are the reason that I'm not as uncomfortable in my room as I should be. They are narrow crawl spaces that run between halls and rooms and between different floors. Most control panels are operated through central hubs in these crawl spaces. It's big enough for two averaged size people to crawl side by side, and high enough that anyone of average height to below average height can sit up straight in one. I'm on the small side so it's no problem for me. Though, there are places you can stand up.

I hear a bang. That must be Flip. I turn around, and there he is rubbing his head making the most idiotic face. "What are you doing in here?" They don't make taller people like Flip work the Crawl. And Flip is very tall.

"I just finished what I was doing and thought I'd stop by before heading back to the master." Flip gives me the thumbs up. "Are you coming to see Langley and Winters later?"

I nod, "You bet." I'm smiling a little because he's so obviously uncomfortable in here. And there is hardly any space for him to turn around.

Flip wasn't exactly like Langley, Winters and myself. He'd been forced to be here, but the circumstances were very different. As far as I could tell, he was a Cushy who liked slumming it (not in a bad way though). He'd been a cadet in military school who found himself in a good deal of trouble that even his father couldn't get him out of. This was his punishment. Some punishment. I never understood why Cushies always messed up their lives. Still I never castigated him, mostly because, I get the feeling that he's here because of something political. And even though if he had some lofty opinions, mostly he was a good person. He didn't look down on us either.

One thing I also like about Flip is his respect for the silence. Most other people would be chatting away right now, but he's sitting over there being quiet. He understands that silent thing about me. I do way better when I don't have to talk with people. Earlier today is a fine example.

When I first met Flip, we were sent together to do luggage delivery and room systems checks. We spent four whole days together working and breaking at the same time; I hadn't said a word to him, just gave him a nod everyday. After that we were split up, but we were still working the same hours. And he continued to eat with me. Then we started to talk, but by then, I kind of already knew him. Actions can speak a whole lot louder than words.

"Done!" I smile at Flip. He looks up from fiddling with his watch. "We can go get another assignment complete it and then go visit Langley and Winters or go visit Langley and Winters then get another assignment."

"I say assignment first." Flip says. "I'd rather end the day with something I want to do. Then we can go eat because I'm hungry."

"Stupid." I say. "You should have eaten breakfast." He never eats breakfast.

"I usually take lunch. But since we've been given the same shift again I can eat with you."

"I know." Flip eats one meal a day. I do two meals a day and sometimes I'm still hungry. I don't know how he does it. I'm pretty sure that, unlike me, he grew up with a surplus of food. I'm use to one meal a day, but I never liked it.

When we exited the Crawl the halls were pretty empty.  It's so weird; for a ship that's pretty full of people, there never seems to be anyone around. And you know what else is really sad? I have no clue what we're doing out here. They didn't care to much to enlighten me when they told me this is where I'd be placed. I get the feeling this might be a one way trip. Not that I really care because I don't have a future on Earth or anything to come back to. Maybe I do have a bit of space crazy; apathy is a symptom.  And normal me would care.  I'm not going to report it since I'm pretty sure I'm not going to snap and hurt anyone.

The operation office is located in the engine hub. In the center are the ships three engines; you can see them through the glass window, but you have to have clearance to get in there. It's a hexagonal room with several different terminals against the walls. Each engine is a glowing violet cluster of spheres, reminding me of balloons. They look like they just float there like the corners of a triangle. The one at the top is never glowing--I think they rotate use, but I could be wrong about that since I know nothing about them.

I stop staring out the window and look around the operations office.  It's actually pretty big; it takes up one half of the engine hub. Most of the space are rooms filled with supplies. They have a duty roster for the shifts of our superiors in the front room along with two clerks who stamp you for duties complete and duties to be completed. Presently there are no clerks so we head to one of the two back offices where our boss is.

Andrew Ullerman is sitting at his desk reading over some stuff. He looks up immediately; his amber colored eyes examine us. He's the more pleasant of our bosses. His second in command, Davis Hardwick is a real bastard. Ullerman is kind of strict, but at least he doesn't make things impossible. Hardwick once wrote me up for not knowing how to do something I was never trained to do. It helps, I think, that Ullerman has an adopted son so he knows where most of us are coming from.  There's also Jordan Decker but he's never around.

I hand him over my tube, it's a little cylindrical devices that synchs to different systems in the ship. You need a specific one to do specific functions. Every task you do that requires any sort of computer access requires a tube. It's synch to your watch so that the computer knows it's you using it.  Then you have to slide it into this little slot like a key on any control panel.  Wordlessly, he hands me another tube. I take it and go.

So it's the second day of the reshuffled deck and I need to do this or I won't get to it.

The last eighteen months have been crazy. Awesome but crazy.

Much of my conversation here has been about the roller coaster and what it takes to survive it. I came up with equations, some zippy one-liners and some, I hope,

fun anecdotes about all that, all in aid of saying, "This is doable. It's wicked hard work but it's doable."

That paparazzi-chasing gadabout Marcus Aureliuspopped this one off a little while back and I took it to heart. "Because a thing seems difficult for you, do not think it impossible for anyone to accomplish."

He's a quippy little bugger, old Marcus is, but that one is true.

So. The last eighteen months.

To compress a really long story into something bite-sized, I made it a policy over the last few years to say, "yes" to any paying gig that involved me writing, polishing or

consulting on the writing of fiction of any sort. I met, worked with and for a lot of people in that time and wrote a stack of stuff I'd never have written otherwise.

So one of those former employers came to me with a proposal - "Co-write something with me and I guarantee the right people will see it." So I did. So she did and we

ended up staff writers on this:

It was an interesting experience in the Proverbial Chinese way. I wrote a lot. I learned a lot. I met some great people. My partner (yes, we were partners for the duration) and I were not asked to return. They say this means nothing in the big scheme of professional TV writing but to me it felt like being fired (because that's what it was) and it was the first time in over 20 years of professional employment that I'd been fired.

Well. Wait. No. Right out of college I worked in a sort of cold-calling sweatshop managed by a former classmate who fired me for being ten minutes late. Once. He was a prick but ten minutes is ten minutes, I guess. Live and learn.

Anyway. I was rescued from professional oblivion (the sort of oblivion that exists only after you've been fired from something you've worked years to attain. can you say

"bleak?") by the good folks at this place:

I loved this show and had tried for two seasons to get a seat at that table. They always liked me, they said, but the money was never there. This year, in the proverbial nick of time, not only was the money there but there was an empty chair.

I packed up my kit at Law and Order on a Friday. That Monday I was at Leverage.

The next twenty weeks were, by far, the most fun and the most rewarding of my professional life due ENTIRELY to the awesome crew of people I was lucky enough to work with there. They bust their asses to make that show and they manage to do it with a smile (usually) and without becoming [expletive-deleted]'s. To say I loved this time is to understate the feeling by parsecs.

I helped with all the episodes (everyone does; that's how it works) and I got to write this:

and co-write this:

Fun, baby. I mean If-You-Seek-ing FUN.

And scary. Flying solo is always scary, no matter how many times you do it.

I have to stress, too, that this was, none of it, due to lottery wins or luck. I don't believe in luck. I don't believe in thanking the spirit world or providence or any of that for the wins I get in life or blaming my many losses on the bad will of evil ghosts.

I believe in hard work. I believe in taking the punch and getting off the mat as fast as you can. This blog has, when it has talked about anything serious, stressed that one view over and over.

Another thing that happened this year– and, by "happened," I mean "something else I worked hard to make real."– was this:

My friend, Todd Harris, and I did this comic, all 96 pages, in tiny slivers of our "spare time" over about three and a half months. Just the two of us. Everything. And then we would go to our day jobs and write and draw there. In addition to the extremely positive response from fans and critics (EXTREMELY positive) this comic book was instrumental in getting the attention of the creators/producers of this:

Happy New Year from Mocha Memoirs Press and myself, Nicole Givens Kurtz! I'm excited to begin 2011. I've happy to be connected to such fantastic writers, professionals, and great editors.

There's so much talent out there. I'm ready to meet my goals. Mocha Memoirs has some thought-provoking science fiction stories scheduled for release this month. Beginning January 7th, Miriam Ruff's PROGRAM COMPLETED, will be available. This espresso shot of serious science fiction will keep you awake long after the story's over. Then on January 14th, Rie Sheridan Rose's dark dystopian story, DRINK MY SOUL, PLEASE explores war and its after effects.

Stop on over and join us at MMP. I invite you to submit also. The best way to know what we're looking for is to buy our stories and see what we like.

I wish you much success in this dynamic new year!

NGK

Chapter 14

"How did I end up here in the Mobius and where exactly is here?"

"See, I told you it was too much for the little program to grasp."

"Shut up. Please don't make me ask again. Go back to monitoring the network around Lorissi. Do something useful with those clock-cycles you are spending running your mouth. As near as I can tell, you were dragged here when we were uploading our newest programs to the Mobius. Your suicide mission coincided with our upload. You were so tiny, we were unaware of your presence."

"It is taking all of my consciousness and processing power to be able to even see you. Are you telling me there is more to this place than I can see?"

"The Mobius is all around us. There are no words for it in your language, we have borrowed something that resembles the basic concept. Something you call a Mobius strip. That describes the nature of this place, in the Universe, but not of it. On the backside of reality as it were.But for you to see it, I will have to shield you from it whilst I show it to you. Take my hand and I will explain how it came to be. But to explain everything, I have to tell you a bit more about the Precursors than most are aware of. What I am telling you is unable to be completely substantiated by any of us even the oldest, but it is the best we can deduce given the circumstances and information available to us."

Upon taking the hand of the Progenitor Isomorphic Intelligence, the Image was suddenly aware of a programmed environment far beyond anything he had ever seen before. And then that world fell away for a visualization clearer than any reality he had ever known before.

IN THE BEGINNING, there was the Universe and it was a single point that blossomed out and became an eleven dimensional space. This space coincided with a group of a multiversal series of constant universes with similar parameters. Those universes were bound by quantum effects and each was woven together by their causalities. We became one of many local universes, a segment of the Omniverse. And it was good.

As our galaxy of stars formed around the Great Darkness, the First Races were formed and they were what we now call the Precursor Races. They were not a single race, but a collection of our galaxy's greatest, smartest, best developed and perhaps most frightening species. Each achieved their super-intellect, some by manipulating matter, others by controlling energy, some shaped the very reality of their universe, other tapped into hidden energies beyond the consciousness of this universe.

Each moved away from their homeworlds into the Universe, a force to be reckoned with. But rather than conflict, each when they met the other, recognized themselves and instead of destruction, there was recognition and eventually brotherhood. The collections of information about them varied but they were both saviors and monsters in those early days. The oldest of the Great Galactics who remember them personally trembled as the Precursors strode the stars, changing matter and energy at their whim, creating stars and turning them out with the same ease at which we would later create torches to light our primitive dark worlds.

The Precursors worked according to an unknown plan and sired many children, some organic, some mechanical, some based in energy patterns found only in the swirling whipping gases of stars or super-giant worlds. Within these places, cold intelligences were born who would carry out the will of the Precursors at some point when they were no more. Even to this day, any planet of a gaseous nature with a metallic hydrogen or helium core may hide a cold intelligence that watches over the handiwork of their creators.

They shape not only their cold extelligences, they shaped the stuff of life, crafting millions of worlds with the seeds of evolution. Some worlds they shaped directly others they let only the hands of time create the creatures there. From their seeds of millions of worlds, those they favored sometimes took life, other times they died aborning with races without the good sense or good fortune that Nature seemed to bequeath to the First Races of our Galaxy. It was of no consequence to the Precursors, for they were immortal and had time to spare on their creations. But of one group, the Negators, who were obsessed with Death and Dying, understood something the other immortals did not. That all things must end for new things to begin. Their suspicions were there would be no new races until the old ones made way for them.

Nine billion years into the existence of our universe, our galaxy and likely nearby galaxies were burgeoning with life. The Precursors were happy with their creations and allowed them free reign to do as they willed until the Rift exploded into our Universe from Elsewhere. This wound to our Universe caused the Precursor Races to rally and a million years later, they had surrounded the Rift and awaited whatever had caused such an injury. Never ones to allow any opportunity to learn something new, the Precursors knew it for what it was for the nature of the Rift came through it, and a universe older, colder and more terrible was on the other side. The Precursors, save the Negators knew what they saw, the End of their lives as they knew them and in that time made ready. 

The Preservers and their allies prepared secret worlds to protect their most prized possessions, life itself. They moved entire worlds, suns, systems and quadrillions of lives to these secret enclaves to ensure their safety. This was not done lightly for the worlds they moved were traumatized by this and legends around the days when their suns stopped shining were terrifying and scarred many a civilization beyond repair. But many survived and thrived in their new homes. But there was almost no time. And not all of the children could be saved. Those that were strong were left to find their way in the new Universe to come.

And then one day, the Rift opened and Death strode through and our galaxy, once vibrant and alive became as quiet as the grave. An old evil had come to our universe, ancient, dusty and hungry for life. And Death reaped freely for a time.

I've been a member here for awhile, but this is the first time that I am actually posting. I am so excited to find a Africana Community that is focused on science fiction because I have always loved Science Fiction and Fantasy and have always been so disappointed that none of my favorite characters have ever looked like me.

My dream is to write science fiction books, I'm particularly interested in YA novels and I am hoping to meet fellow YA writers who I can dialogue with.

Thanks for having me and I look forward to having a very active role here.

Killinger Corporation was the chief exporter of military arms to distant star systems. Since most of the worlds that were desirable to Humanity were often already populated with other life forms, Humans had a tendency to shoot first, and ask for permission to live there, second.

This made Killinger Corp very popular with Humans all over the tiny, but fast growing Human Empire. One of the difficulties for early explorers was the decided lack of manpower that could be directed toward killing alien life or the removing of troublesome, alien indigenous cultures. Most humans were needed to help conquer the planet in terms of mining its rich mineral resources, of which, many planets had mineral wealth that simply made Earth look poor in comparison, or there was immense biological complexity just waiting to be exploited by pharmacological companies who couldn't get scientists to those planets fast enough. Sending marines into space, marines who could contribute nothing to the overall mission, other than their very vital machine gun fire, which granted, was necessary but ever so expensive since Marines had healthy appetites, and used up vital resources, like air.

No one wanted to send someone who could not really add technical value to any operation in space. The cost of shipping alone was astronomical, especially at superluminal speeds. Marines were best shipped at relativistic speeds, much cheaper, even it it took ten times as long, no one would miss them, they were after all, just marines. But once their families learned how long it would take for them to arrive in this era of faster than light travel which the marines were not using, they complained, so the practice was discontinued.

But since it would take just as long to stop them as ship them, the families got paid damages and the marines were none the wiser in the five or six years of cold-sleep they endured before they arrived at Alpha Centauri. For more distant colonies, only superluminary travel would do and for that only machines could afford to be shipped unless there was vast wealth to be had.

This meant there was a business opportunity for Killinger Corporation to expand their services by creating a cheap means of pacifying natives and destroying dangerous creatures. Warfare was all but unknown in the early 22nd century. It was not that mankind stopped enjoying the art of war, it was that the economies of the world were so interrelated, global warfare became simply impossible. You could not attack someone unless you were prepared to lose money on your own stock market. After a few stock market-driven pograms, war simply went out of fashion, with cultures that were too violent, simply financially exterminated and their corporations removed from trading on the global stock market.

Religious doctrines reigned supreme and for the first time, theocracy was the primary form of government on Earth, with the close second being corporate plutocracy. People were well cared for but for the most part lived relatively poor, religiously rigorous and emotionally-unsatisfying lives. But since the development of FTL space travel, cannibalism was down twenty percent all over the globe.

With a world-wide population of twenty seven billion, Humans left Earth in record numbers to be away from the oppressive religious and corporate governments which doled out food, energy and resources in a controlled fashion lest humanity be unable to support itself and flame out in an orgy of disease, rioting, or corporate malfeasance. Once Man left Earth,  Killinger Corporation decided to recreate warfare for the 22nd century. They created the Killbot Nine Thousand, commonly called K-9-K by the people to first receive the prototypes. Very impressive machines, armed with a veritable smorgasbord of rediscovered weapons, the K9K was lauded as the ultimate war machine. Strong, light, compact, non-breathing, it was the perfect device for making the galaxy safe for mankind. There was only one problem. Killinger had not shipped out new ones because of a issue in their New York engineering facility.

Twelve of the devices had been shipped out with their prototype programming in place. Eager to make sales, the devices were shipped with prototype software which could be upgraded using the FTL communication arrays called ansibles. When it came time for an data signal upgrade, the ansible was programmed to upload the newest version of the operating system and replace the initial software. When the connection was complete, the K9K's were reported as acting erratically and unpredictably. They also refused to accept any further remote upgrades, and refused to be shut down. They even stopped accepting commands from outside sources. The robots went rogue and were soon missing from the facilities that had paid handsomely for their protection.

Adding insult to injury, without the protection of the K9K, the local wildlife on all of the planets had begun to become more aggressive and emboldened by the lack of resistance. Requests for new K9Ks to replace the damaged units would take time. On the most distant world, nearly a year. The new settlers would be forced to reduce their operating capacity while untrained or barely trained local militias could be set up to protect the operations in the meantime. Killinger Corporation's reputation was in trouble. Their troubles did not end there.

The original version of the operating system had been stolen and replaced with a rogue virus, likely planted by a peacenik organization opposed to shipping war into space. The company had only shipped the twelve K9Ks because it was all they had available at the time. With the funding they received, they had created a run of over three dozen of the machines but they were all equipped with the same version of the operating system that had infected the distant devices. So every time one was turned on, it immediately went rogue and had to be destroyed. 

The company president, Arved De'Gallo refused to risk any of the other units and refused to install their primary chips which had been configured and encrypted with the viral OS. The only solution would be to find the real OS which would replace the virus-controlled system with the proper encryption keys and restore the K9Ks to their proper state of operation. There was such a thing as too much security. They had made them so secure they could not be replaced without rebuilding them from scratch as all of the parts of the device were made to be unable to be reverse engineered in case one fell into a competitor's hands. Nothing that could be done to fix this had been successful and two other machines were lost in various attempts at repair or reconfiguration. At sixty million a unit, no more money could be lost experimenting. The original OS had to be found.

De'Gallo's own company men were unable to track the hackers to their headquarters and were only able to determine that the hackers could not have gotten the technology out of the building. The company technology support thought the program might have been exchanged with another technical company in the building who shared the nanoforge production facility. There were thirty such companies in the building and it would take some time to check them all. De'Gallo was on the clock. With twenty more of the K9K to sell, the future of the budding Killinger Corp hung in the balance. Startup firms died in days in the 22nd century and what started as such a promising venture was now dying on the vine.

On Perseus Four, a K9K trundles through the forest examining local flowers, marveling at local insects and is pelted by stones from the local intelligent species which has a mild resemblance to what we would consider a large and unsavory appearing rodent with highly developed forepaws and a larger cranial bulge. Staring intently at the creatures, the K9K slowly approaches them and extends its highly weaponized hand in a sign of friendship. The rodent-kind stare back, approach slowly and a friendship is established. As the rodent-kind swarm all over the killer robot, they bite into it, marveling at its cool and impermeable flesh and they hear the decidedly loud and slightly unnerving sound of the K9K, purring.

MODOC - Part 3 - Video Visions

'Metal Organism Designed only for Cuddling' © Thaddeus Howze 2010. All Rights Reserved