Friday Fiction for October 6, 2017

Welcome to the restart of Friday Fiction. I have the privilege of hosting this week, so be sure to enter the link to your story in the Linkytool below, and visit the other stories posted for this week. Please feel free to comment as well. We love feedback!

This week’s submission is the first part of a short story I’ve been working on lately, and my plan is to post subsequent parts in the coming weeks. This is a concept I’ve been thinking about for a while, and finally decided on how I wanted to approach it. I hope you enjoy it.

The Historian Project

By Rick Higginson

            Professor Kallas watched the students file from the lecture hall. Not bad for the first session of the new term. Only three of the fifty students failed to show. He powered down the computer and large display screen behind the lectern, and then placed his tablet in his briefcase.

            One man remained seated at the back of the hall. Kallas regarded him for a moment. One of my missing students? “Do you have a question for me, Mr. ah?”

            The man stood. “Actually it’s Doctor Manziel.”

            “Ah, yes. The new President of this fine institution. To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit, Dr. Manziel?”

            Dr. Manziel stepped into the aisle and strode down the stairs. “I don’t know that pleasure is quite the word I’d use for this visit. I’ve been reviewing the records on your history department, and it seems your program here has, by far, the largest dropout rate of any program at this university.”

            He chuckled. “I am well aware of the attrition rate in my department, Dr. Manziel. Believe it or not, this is, by a wide margin, the most difficult program in this, or any other, university.”

            Manziel scowled. “It’s history, for pity’s sake. We teach medicine here. We teach quantum physics here. We teach law here. You cannot tell me that history is more academically challenging than those curricula.”

            Kallas leaned against the lectern. “I did not say this program is the most academically challenging. I said it was the most difficult. There are many other factors of difficulty than just academics.” He gestured with one hand to indicate the hall. “You saw the forty-seven first-year students that were just here. This was the first session of Histwit 101, and before the start of their second year here, half of them will have changed their major, if not changed schools entirely. I expect this. It’s part of the program. Half of those remaining will not return for the third year, and by the end of the fourth year, of the original fifty signed up, I may have five left.”

            “It’s part of your program to lose half your students in your first year? Professor Kallas, that is simply unacceptable. I don’t know how you’ve managed to avoid scrutiny through the term of my  predecessor, but I take my responsibilities to the Board of Regents quite seriously. Any program where only ten percent of the starting class completes the standard four year program either needs to be completely overhauled, or scrapped from the catalog. How that hasn’t already happened to your history program is beyond my comprehension.”

            “I assume, then, you have not reviewed the financial records yet. One of the biggest reasons my program is still active, is my work brings in better than eighty percent of the donations to this university.”

            “That’s ridiculous. How would a history program motivate that level of donation income?”

            Kallas laughed, bending over and placing his hands on his knees.”Dr. Manziel, really! You have not done your homework at all, have you? It is not the Historian Program that generates income for this university. It is the Historian Project that is this institution’s goose that lays the golden eggs, and it is also the very reason the program has such a high withdrawal rate.”

            “I don’t understand on either count.”

            “How early in this class session did you arrive?”

            “Towards the end.”

            “Ah, then you missed the important points. Candidates for the Historian Program are carefully selected, but even then, few people are actually suited for the program. The reason I am able to run both the program and the project is that I suffered a head injury when I was fourteen years old. The lasting effect of this injury was a nearly complete loss of empathy in my mind. I am incapable of feeling any sort of sympathetic pain for other living creatures, human or otherwise. Because the injury occurred in my teens, I had already developed sufficient morality that I did not turn into a criminal sociopath. I can recognize an act of violence as wrong, but I cannot feel the same discomfort that a normal person feels.”

            “So you don’t feel any regrets over the students that do not make it in your program, either?”

            “I consider them fortunate, because they are still capable of being moved by their empathy. History, Dr. Manziel, has traditionally been written by the winners, as the saying goes. What we have learned through most of human civilization has been a sanitized, biased view of events. The defeated enemy was evil and had to be subdued, and the methods used were those necessary and reasonable. The reality, however, is that history is brutal, and when we see events as they actually happened, history is revealed as often horrific. If a student cannot handle that, they are better off seeking a different program more suitable to their temperament.”

            “It’s still just history. It’s over and done.”

            “That’s the problem. You see, students studying medicine, for example, do so with the hope that what they learn can be used to help the patients they will eventually treat. The same is true with law. An attorney works to see that their clients’ rights are not violated, and that they are afforded every protection of the law, rather than being oppressed by the system. The historian cannot help their subjects. What has happened is already done, and cannot be undone. The suffering is real, and those who cannot put their empathy aside will be overwhelmed by it.”

            “So you study ancient texts or archaeological sites. I can’t believe that many people are that sensitive as to be overwhelmed by such things.”

            “I think, perhaps, it is time I introduced you to the Historian Project. If you will follow me, Dr. Manziel.”

            Manziel huffed. “Is this going to take much time? You do know that my schedule is very demanding.”

            “You question my program; you need to know the answers, because, I promise you, if you go to the Board of Regents and try to cut this department, they will either override your decision or replace you.” He did not wait for any reply before heading to a door at the back of the hall. He scanned his ID, typed in a number, and then pressed his left ring finger against a pad.

            “That’s an odd finger to use for a print check.” Manziel stepped through the door as Kallas held it open.

            “It’s randomized. The system may request any of the ten fingers, or it may request a retinal scan, or a combination of both. It’s designed to make it more difficult to defeat the security system.”

            “Geez, are you going to tell me that you work for the CIA?”

            “We have, on occasion, done work for different intelligence agencies. Information is the most valuable commodity in the world, and information is what the Historian Project collects. You want to know where someone hid a valuable artifact? We can find out. Need to find where a ship sank? We can tell you. If something has happened in history, whether it is recent or ancient, we can find out exactly what happened. We can solve a murder that happened a thousand years ago.” He performed the security steps on another door and opened it. The lights came on to reveal a large console with six recliners arrayed on one side. Kallas went to one recliner and gestured. “Have a seat, Dr. Manziel, and I will get you hooked up.”

            Manziel gave the recliner the once-over, but did not sit down. “Hooked up?”

            “The Historian System utilizes a neural interface for its users. It’s completely safe, I assure you.”

            He settled into the chair. “Neural interface? Like some kind of virtual reality?”

            “Sort of. The interface technology is based on that developed for the virtual reality market.”

            Kallas slipped a soft hood over Manziels head, covering his eyes and ears. “It will first calibrate to your particular neural signature, and once it has, you will see me in the system in the control center.” He took a seat in his own chair and donned his hood.

            For Kallas, the effect was immediate. He stood in a bare room, illuminated with pale blue light. I’m usually waiting for five people to arrive, not just one. A minute later, Manziel appeared. “Welcome to the Historian Project, Dr. Manziel.”

…to be continued.

Sunday Excerpt for 1 October, 2017

Eight years ago today, I posted the final part of one of the strangest stories I’d ever written, “Hogs of the Heavens.” The background of that story became the basis for my 2010 NaNoWriMo story, “The Ericson Exigency.” Two years ago, I decided to write a sequel to that novel, expanding on the short story that started it all. Since Friday Fiction wasn’t happening at that time, I never posted any excerpts from “The Foray Legacy,” and while the story remains as strange as the original short story it was derived from, I enjoyed writing it and found the concepts interesting to play with. In this first chapter, one of the main characters, Cranston Berryman, has arrived at Iota Leonis B, where the fourth planet is a binary, hence the dubbing of the planet as “Foray” by the original colonists.

Friday Fiction resumes this week, hosted right here on Pod Tales and Ponderings. I hope you’ll join us in enjoying some short stories and excerpts, posted for your weekend reading pleasure.

“Hogs of the Heavens” can be found beginning with this post:

The Foray Legacy

By Rick Higginson

Chapter 1

Ruins

            The trail was faint, barely more than a thinning of the unkempt alfalfa growing between the hard-packed clearing and the settlement in the distance. Pelleted scat dotted a rocky area with few plants, near a dried mud cloven hoof print. Looks like the Erikson released some of their domestic livestock.

            A covey of quail broke from one side of the path, making a short flight into the cover of thicker alfalfa. Cranston continued on with little concern. A vessel like Erikson would not have been carrying any wild apex predators, and while some of the beasts could be dangerous once feral, Voidrunner would have detected anything large enough to pose a danger to him.

            The first structure he reached did little to suggest the settlement was still inhabited. It appeared to have been built as a church of sorts, set into the side of a hill and constructed from a mix of local rock and salvaged drop-module parts. The level of deterioration and dust indicated it had not been used in a very long time. Cranston stepped to one side of the doorway to allow more of the daylight to enter, and gave it more scrutiny. Several planks that seemed to have once served as benches were stacked to one side, with a much thinner layer of dust atop them. Well, someone has been in here more recently looking for something. This isn’t the work of some animal rooting for bugs under the junk or trying to make a nest. Maybe someone survived after all. Are they nearby, or did they come back here for something they needed?

            He left the dilapidated structure and continued towards the main part of the settlement. Drop modules were loosely spaced on either side of what would have been considered a street in a conventional settlement. All were dark inside and quiet, and save for additional evidence of someone having investigated them possibly within the last few years, seemed to have been abandoned long ago.

            Standing outside of one, Cranston examined the remnants of the door. The material appeared to have once been badly damaged and then crudely repaired. Other modules showed similar evidence of damage and patching, though the module at the far end of the settlement had burned with no indication any attempt had been made to restore it to functionality.

            What happened here? All these modules would have needed to be in serviceable condition to make the descent from the Voidship. Anything this damaged would have been torn apart and incinerated by the passage through the upper atmosphere. This looks more like riot damage.

            They had to have known this colony was not ideal for a permanent settlement, so this world could only serve as a lifeboat for the survivors. Did conditions get so bad that some of the colonists turned on the others? He shook his head. Where did they go from here?

            He went to the middle of the street and stood with his fists planted on his hips, trying to take it all in. Deep-space distress messages were rare to begin with, and most of the experts predicted that any survivors would be found in SusAn, not living on a poorly terraformed colony world. I’m not trained for this. I’m supposed to come to systems like this and evaluate them for development and colonization, not try to figure out if a bunch of stranded colonists went all ‘Lord of the Flies’ while waiting for rescue.

            Another path led off towards where he had seen the old lander. With an exasperated huff, he started down it. Partway there, he came upon a large collection of ramshackle shelters. He gave them only a brief examination. Livestock barns, most likely – not really suited for human habitation. Leaving the barns behind, he continued to the now overgrown plateau where the derelict lander rested.

            The ramp was still extended, and Cranston cautiously proceeded up until he stood at the closed hatch. After wiping away some of the accumulated dirt on the window, he shone his light inside and tried to determine the condition of the interior. Like the modules, he could see what appeared to be malicious damage. Someone ripped into those panels with no intention of removing something useful. This wasn’t cannibalizing needed parts. This was just wanton destruction.

            He did a quick walk around the lander, shaking his head at the extent of the damage and deterioration. When he’d completed the circuit, he turned away and rubbed his eyes. “Com-link, Voidrunner.”

            The response sounded from the wrist-mounted device. “Awaiting instructions, Cranston.”

            “Dispatch a micro-drone to SRV Eusebio Kino. Message: Crew of CV Erikson established colony settlement on Iota Leonis B-4A. Evidence of surviving generation of colonists, though original settlement indicates some form of violent conflict. Planet not considered suitable for sustained long-term development. Recommend additional personnel for further evaluation and probable rescue effort. End message.”

            “Confirmed. Programming micro-drone and dispatching.”

            A minute later, a high-pitched whistling sound reached the clearing as the micro-drone accelerated away from Voidrunner and climbed on an escape vector. It would take the drone a long while to reach the Kino, and longer still for the Kino to arrive at Iota Leonis B, but if his estimation of the system were correct, they would be up against a deadline for removing any surviving colonists.

            “Voidrunner, any indications of larger lifeforms nearby, and more specifically, any sign of possible human presence in the vicinity?”

            “Sensors indicate no large lifeforms within range, though visual scan shows a column of smoke rising approximately ten kilometers from your current location, on a polar reference heading of two-hundred, twenty-one degrees. Analysis of smoke suggests small, controlled fire maintained at a consistent burn rate.”

            “A campfire or cooking fire?”

            “Affirmative. Analysis matches parameters of such fires.”

            “Confirmed. I’m going to investigate. If I get too tired on the hike, I’ll contact for extraction.”

            “Protocol dictates that you should be armed on such excursions, Cranston. The weapons are currently stowed in their locker.”

            “Understood. I do not anticipate any trouble.” He checked his com-link for the indicated heading, and followed a trail that led approximately that direction. The old trail eventually climbed a nearby hill, switching back several times on the ascent, before reaching an old monitoring station at the summit. From there, Cranston looked around until he spotted the wispy smoke rising perhaps another four kilometers away.

Well, at least Deitrich won’t be able to complain that I’m not getting the weight-bearing exercise required for all Voidship crews.

            Sitting in the shade of the monitoring station, he took a wafer from his pouch and ate it, washing it down with several swallows of water. Iota Leonis A was just rising above the horizon, and the much brighter component of the binary system soon diminished the available shade.

            There was no apparent trail heading from the summit in the direction of the distant fire, but the slope appeared gradual enough that Cranston felt confident without a previously traversed path. Before long, he was walking amongst trees alongside a small stream, From time to time, the trees would thin enough that he could see the smoke, and was thus able to keep on course towards the suspected camp.

            He finally drew close enough that he thought he could smell something being cooked over the fire, though by then the stream had grown enough in size that its sound kept him from hearing anything else.

            Approaching the camp cautiously, he started to make his way across the stream, stepping on rocks jutting up from the rushing water. Midway across, he placed his foot on one stone, and when he brought his other foot forward, the stone rolled from under him. With a yelp of surprise, he splashed into the stream and was tossed about by the current. Every time he tried to get his feet back under him, or to grab ahold of a rock, the force of the water knocked him down again.

            Suddenly, he was being dragged from the water by the back of his jumpsuit. Coughing and gasping, he tried to catch his breath as he was dropped on his back on the streambank.

            “What do you suppose this is?” a voice above him asked.

            “Who knows?” A second voice behind him responded. “But you know our orders. Anything unusual from the wastelands is to be taken to the Wilbur immediately.”

            He wiped the water from his eyes and looked. A crude spear was aimed at his chest. Moving slowly enough that he hoped it would not seem threatening, he felt for his com-link, but found that it had been lost in the stream.

            Pulling his eyes away from the spear-tip to the person – correction – the pig holding it, he clamped his mouth shut. Oh, scat. Just what the hell happened here?

Sunday Excerpt for 24 September, 2017

For this week's excerpt, I decided to skip Episode 1, Scene 2, as Scene 3 carries on the explanation started in Scene 1. Scene 2 introduces a recurring Antagonist in the story, with the timing coinciding with the events of Scenes 1 and 3, but doesn't add anything necessary for continuity between the two scenes.

Imagining a character of this nature, and how he would view our world, was part of the fun in writing this story. As the story and the character developed, the exercise of seeing our world through his eyes was enlightening in its own way, and I hope that perspective carries through to the reader.

An added bonus to this story, is that the concepts explained here offer me venues for other stories with other characters, and the possibilities are developing in my imagination already. 

The Daedalus Episodes

by Rick Higginson

Episode 1, Scene 3

            Adedeles digested the information before speaking. “Where are we, Nancy? If this is not the world that I knew, then what is it?”

            The van, as Nancy called it, was moving again. It seemed strange to have the sensation of motion, without the awareness of wind moving over his skin. For that matter, to be inside something that was moving was just one more alien facet of his situation.

            “The world you saw in the storm. What you experienced is called a ‘Coincidence Event.’ We knew of them in my world, and had developed a system to predict when a Coincidence Event would occur. We could not predict if it would result in a storm, or if so, where the storm would center. We would send teams to many places around the world, waiting to see if a storm resulted so that we could study it. I was part of one of those teams, and unfortunately was caught by the storm, just as you were.”

            “If there was another world close enough for this to happen, why did we never see it before?”

            “Because, until the Coincidence, it’s not there.”

            “I don’t understand.”

            “I will try to explain it as simply as I can. According to the scientists on my world, at one time there was only one Earth. Something happened that caused a split, leaving the original Earth in one plane of existence, while the new Earth existed in a parallel plane. The scientists call this a ‘Deviation Event.’ At some point, the second Earth also experienced a Deviation Event, resulting in a third Earth on a third plane of existence.”

            “How can you know this?”

            “We have found other individuals, such as you and me, being dropped on our world by Coincidence Storms. When we have them recount as much of the history of their world as they can remember, we find that when they get far enough back, it becomes common with another Earth.”

            “How many of these ‘Earths’ are there?”

            “Before I was cast here, our scientists knew of seventeen. Meeting you, there must be at least eighteen, because we have never seen someone like you from any other Coincidence Events.”

            “Someone like me?”

            “We are not crippled, Adedeles. We have arms and hands instead of wings.” She held up her limb to show him. “On the seventeen other Earths that we know of, this is normal for humans.”

            “Then how do you fly?”

            “With machines on many of the worlds, though in some, they have not yet developed the technology of flight.”

            “If that is the case, then I feel my statement is accurate. You are crippled. You cannot fly.”

            “How do you feed yourself? For that matter, how did your people make the garment you wear, and how did you manage to put it on?”

            “That is a strange question. How would your people do such things?”

            “With our hands, of course, and with fingers that can grasp and hold. Indulge my ignorance, please, and tell me how you do such things.”

            “The same way I pushed you away when you first tried to put the thing in my ear.”

            “You pushed me away?”

            “You must have felt it.”

            “Yes, now that you mention it, I did, but I still don’t know how you did it.”

            “I focused on you, and made you move away.”

            “You can move things with your mind?”

            “Can you not do this?”

            “No, we cannot.” She placed something on the ledge in front of her. “Can you move that from the dashboard?”

            He reached out with his thoughts, taking a moment to explore the item, trying to understand it. “What is this thing? It is very complex for something so small.”

            “It’s a device called a smartphone. We use it to communicate and access information across large distances.”

            He lifted it and brought it close to his face. As he did, one surface of the item suddenly glowed with colorful light. “It produces light. How does it do this?”

            “Electronics. I know what they are, but I can’t explain them, other than they use electricity to make them work.”

            “Electricity?”

            “You have lightning on your world, I assume?”

            “Yes.”

            “Lightning is electricity. LOTS of electricity.”

            “You capture lightning and make it work for you?”

            “Not the way you’re thinking, but yes, we make electricity work for us.”

            “Does this thing we are in use electricity?”

            “For some things, though the actual motion is from an engine that works on burning gas.”

            “They will not believe any of this when I return home and tell them.”

            “I’m sorry, Adedeles, but you won’t have to worry about that.”

            “You will not allow me to return to my world? You have wonders here, but I just want to go home.”

            “I know. I want to go home, too. The trouble is, Coincidence Events are not that common, and even less so between two particular worlds. It will be many lifetimes before this Earth and your Earth coincide again, and we cannot predict if the coincidence will be close enough to produce a storm. Even then, if we knew that such a coincidence was going to occur sometime soon, we cannot predict where on this world the storm would center, nor do we know how to be sure you would be pulled by it back to your world. We’re stuck here.”

            He returned the device to the dashboard, as Nancy had called it. “I have a family waiting for me. I was soon to take a mate and start a new family. I came here. I must be able to return.”

            “I had a family, too. I had a mate and two small children. I had parents, and siblings. I had friends. Their only consolation is in knowing that the storm itself isn’t fatal, but they have no way of knowing that I have survived here. They had to accept, though, that I was the same as dead for them. I will never see them again. They mourned for me, even as your loved ones will eventually accept they must do for you.”

            “I will find a way to get home.”

            “I hope you do, I honestly do, and I hope when you do, that what you find will work for me as well, but in all the years that the scientists on my world have studied this, they have never found a way to cross at will. This Earth does not even realize the other Earths exist yet, and have not even started to study the phenomenon.”

            “You are crippled. You cannot fly, and you cannot move things without touching them. I will find a way.”

            “Well, until then, you need to know how to get along in this world. There’s a place to stop for the night up ahead, and while I don’t anticipate any trouble, if something happens and we are separated, try to stay away from other humans for now. There is another town a few miles ahead. What we are on is a road, and you should be able to see it from above. Keep it in sight until you see more buildings, and then look for this van. I’ll put the blanket on top of it to make it easier to spot from above. Stay out of sight if you can, and watch. When you see me, come down and we can head out again.”

            She stopped the vehicle. “Wait here. I’ll be right back.”

            While he waited, he reached out with his mind and examined the van. He could sense many different parts, but had no idea what function they all served. Nancy had pulled on something to open the side, and he gently probed about to find the workings. A small stub was recessed into the side, and he wrapped his focus around it. With only the slightest force at first, he found that it was loose at one end and flexed away from the side at the other. With a bit more force, it pivoted out with a click, and a section of the side moved backwards. He shifted his focus to the section, and felt it slide smoothly back a short distance before he stopped it. Satisfied that he now understood how he could escape the van if needed, he reversed his push and slid it back to its original position.

            I can escape this thing if I choose. I will learn how to escape this world as well.

            Nancy returned and moved the van to a different side of the building. “Our room is right here. No one is around at the moment, so let’s get inside before anyone notices and starts asking too many questions.” Once they were inside, she seemed to relax a bit. “Did they give you anything to eat?”

            “No.”

            “What kind of food did you have on your world?”

            “We would get fruit and nuts from the trees, sometimes birds and eggs, and if they were shallow in the high streams, we would pull fish from the water.”

            “You didn’t eat grains or vegetables?”

            “Where do you get those?”

            “They grow in or on the ground.”

            “We avoid the ground. There are creatures on the ground in my world that are dangerous to us. This is the longest I have ever been on the ground.”

            “There is a place nearby where I can get some food for you. I want you to stay here, and if anyone comes to the door, don’t try to answer them – they won’t understand you because they don’t have one of the earpieces. Don’t try to open the door, and don’t look outside. I suspect it won’t be long until the world learns of you anyway, but if you’re lucky, you’ll have a little time to adjust first.”

            When she was gone, he started to explore the room the same way he had explored the van, studying things to try and understand how he might use them if needed. How does one live as the only uncrippled person in a world?

Sunday Excerpt for September 17th, 2017

It has been far too long since I posted any excerpts here on my blog. Part of the reason was that Friday Fiction dwindled away, though I would love to see it return with many of my writer friends from Faithwriters and beyond.

For this new entry, I’ve posted the opening scene from last year’s NaNoWriMo project, “The Daedalus Episodes.” One of the stories in the Pod series is “The Daedalus Child,” about a young man born with his arms engineered as wings, who ends up as the living model for an animated superhero character, Daedalus. I had thought for a while about writing some of the stories about the superhero version of the character, and so made that my NaNo project last year. This story is still in the original draft stage, and I expect to begin revising it sometime soon, but for your reading pleasure, here is the introduction of the character who will become Daedalus.

The Daedalus Episodes

 by Rick Higginson

Episode 1 Scene 1

            She walked between two deputies without pausing, earning her condemning looks and a staccato challenge. In response, she flashed her ID over her shoulder and continued without looking behind her. Once inside, she went straight to the small office in back and entered without knocking. “Are you in charge here?”

            The sergeant stood up. “I’m going to assume, ma’am, from your demeanor that you’re with the Feds.”

            “Nancy Rich.” She opened her ID again. “Domestic Security. I’m told you have a ‘specimen’ that is of interest to us.”

            “I’m Sergeant Jeremiah, and I’m the ranking deputy on site.” He took a closer look at her ID. “Yeah, we got a ‘specimen,’ though that’s an interesting way to describe it.”

            “Take me to it, please.”

            He squeezed by her in the tight confines of the office. “This way, ma’am.” Gesturing to two other deputies standing beside a security door, he waited until one unlocked it and held it open for them. “None of us has ever seen the likes of this – thing – before, so I hope you understand the additional security.”

            “Understood. How was it captured?”

            “Two of my deputies were on patrol and found themselves in a weird storm yesterday. They pulled off to the side to wait it out, when they said it just dropped into the bushes a short ways in front of them. It was unconscious when they got to it, so they bundled it up and brought it here.”

            “I see. Has it regained consciousness?”

            “Yes, ma’am, about two hours ago.”

            “Has it given you any difficulties?”

            “No, ma’am. It’s just huddled in the back corner of the holding cell. We tried talking to it, but it never responded to anything we said.”

            They stepped in front of the cell. At the rear wall, a human-like head poked just above a wrinkled flesh-colored membrane.

            “What’s it hiding behind?”

            “Best I can describe it, ma’am, is that the thing has wings, kind of like a bat.”

            She considered the information, and slowly exhaled a deep breath. “Are there cameras monitoring this area?”

            “Of course.”

            “I want them shut off. No video or audio recording, and I want all your people out of this area before I approach the specimen.”

            “With all due respect, ma’am, I’d strongly advise against that. We don’t have any idea what it’s liable to do if approached.”

            “Look at the face, sergeant. I’d say it’s about the equivalent of mid to late teens in age, and it’s terrified. It woke up locked in a cell, held by people it didn’t know.” She raised her eyes to meet the sergeant’s, and smiled. “The reason I’m here is that I am very good at what I do, and I don’t anticipate having any trouble with the specimen.” She pulled a folded piece of paper from her purse. “If you need any more convincing, this is the order giving me custody and authority over the specimen and the situation. Unlock the cell, and leave me to do my job.”

            He read over the document before giving her a skeptical look. “I’d feel a whole lot better if you’d at least allow me and another of my deputies to remain here and keep an eye on you, just in case.”

            “Go, and turn off all the monitoring equipment.” Her expression turned stern. “And close the door behind you.”

            When he had complied, she opened the cell door slowly. Before entering, she removed a small device from her purse, pressed a switch, and then placed it on the flat cross bar midway up the cell wall. The specimen watched her as she approached, but made no move either towards her, or to try and keep as much distance between them as it could in the small confines.

            Crouching in front of him, she pulled a tiny earpiece from a container in her purse. She held it where the specimen could see it, before she slowly reached to put it in his ear.

            Her hand moved involuntarily away from its head, so she held her other hand where it could see, and then made a show of removing an identical earpiece from her own ear. She placed the first one into her other ear, and then again reached to place her own in its ear. This time, she was able to insert it, and then leaned back. “Can you understand me now? Nod your head if you can.”

            Its expression turned to puzzlement, but it nodded.

            “Good. What I just gave you is a translator device. Do you have a name?”

            “I am called Adedeles.”

            “I am called Nancy. Are you hurt, Adedeles?”

            “I am bruised from the fall, but nothing serious. What is this place? Why is everyone I see crippled?”

            “That will take some explaining, but for the moment, you are safe. Can you stand and walk?”

            “Yes.” With a little effort, it rose to its feet, holding its wings folded in front of it.

            “May I look you over, to see if you have any injuries you are not aware of?”

            It held its wings out slightly, revealing a sling-type garment that wrapped over both shoulders and then through the crotch. He turned about, allowing her to examine his lean frame and fleshy wings.

            “You have a few scrapes back here, too, but nothing that looks worrisome. I need to get you away from here. Will you come with me?”

            “Will you answer my questions if I do?”

            “Yes, I promise, I will answer all of them to the best of my ability.” She took the blanket from the bunk. “Let me drape this over you for now.” She wrapped the blanket over his shoulders, bringing it around for him to grip with his thumbs, which were the only digit he had that resembled a human finger. “For now, don’t speak until we are away from this place. It will be safer for you if the people here see you as quiet and passive.”

            “I have been quiet and passive since I woke up here.”

            She smiled, and placed her hand lightly on his back through the blanket. She took her jamming device from the crossbar and placed it back in her purse as they walked through the cell door. The outer door opened to her knock, and she led Adedeles out into the main room of the substation.

            Most of the deputies backed away, some with their hands moving towards their holstered weapons as they formed a loose circle around her.

            Nancy waved her hand. “Your fears are unfounded. He presents no threat to any of you.”

            One of the deputies kept his hand near his sidearm. “Where are you taking it?”

            “Your sergeant has my authorization to take him into Domestic Security custody. You didn’t really think you were going to keep him here indefinitely, did you?”

            “There should be more than just you.”

            She strode over in front of the deputy, with Adedeles staying just behind her. She was a good eight inches shorter than the muscular deputy, and he gazed at her with unmasked doubt. “You think I can’t take care of myself, deputy?”

            “Let’s just say I think this warrants more than just one middle-aged, overweight woman.” He cut his eyes between her and Adedeles, keeping his hand poised over his pistol.

            “You’re an idiot.” With a swift motion, she snatched the pistol from his holster, ejected the magazine and cleared the chamber. Before the pistol hit the floor, she seized his hand and swept his legs from beneath him. As the pistol clattered on the tile, she pinned him down and looked about the room. “Anyone else want to doubt my ability to take care of myself?”

            Sergeant Jeremiah raised his voice. “All right, people. That’s enough. Stand down and allow Agent Rich to do her job.”

            She released the deputy. “Thank you sergeant.” Everyone continued to stare at her, some fearfully. She laughed gently to help ease some of the tension. “If you’re worried I’m going to pull out some flashy device and erase your memories, I can assure you that technology has not been invented yet, that I’m aware of, and you’re all going to be talking about this tomorrow. You might want to keep the talk amongst yourselves for now, just in case the Government decides to classify this, but I have no way to make you forget what you’ve seen.”

She ushered Adedeles out the door and to her van. Every deputy followed them out and watched as she settled her charge in the vehicle. Without another word to the assembled officers, she got into the driver’s seat, started the engine, and pulled back onto the highway.

            Once she was a few miles up the road and confident none of the deputies were following, she adjusted the mirror to look at Adedeles. “All right. This should be private enough for your questions. As to your first question, you are still on Earth, just not the Earth you are familiar with.”

            “I do not understand.”

            “You were caught in a storm. Describe the storm to me.”

            “I had never seen a storm like it before. I was trying to get to shelter, but I could not seem to fly against it.” He hesitated a moment. “I thought I must have injured my head, because I thought I saw…” He looked out the side window of the van. “It was not possible, though.”

            “You saw another world.”

            “How did you know?”

            She stopped the van in a roadside turnout, and then twisted in the seat to face him. “Because I saw one in the storm that brought me here from my Earth, many years ago.”

Friday Fiction for November 22, 2013

I have the joy of hosting Friday Fiction this week, made especially nice as this Friday is my birthday. Please enter your link in the Linky Widget following this introduction!

NaNoWriMo 2013 is entering its final week, and “Draconian Responses” is over 58,000 words now, with more still to write. One of the things I’ve enjoyed in writing the stories in this series, is seeing creation through the eyes of the natives of another world. When I wrote the first story, I imagined what it might be like if some of the things in our creation account had happened differently, and how the story might be told elsewhere. On Epsilon Eridanus, or Qi’le as they call it, their account holds that God created the woman first, and then the man, and that it was the man who fell first. Therefore, the man was made subordinate to the woman, resulting in a Matriarchal culture, and a Matriarchal image of God. In this chapter, I visited a bit of their culture and tradtions, while bringing in some hints of events still to come in the story. I hope you enjoy, and for my readers here in the United States, I hope you have a blessed and peaceful Thanksgiving.

Draconian Responses

By Rick Higginson

NaNoWriMo, 2013

Chapter 18

T’Cha

            G’Se watched out the side windows of the transport as it sped along over the trees. An obvious line revealed where the stream ran through the forest, though in this location, the channel was narrow enough that the trees closed enough over it that the water could not be seen. In several places, the path from T’Cha heading towards the Temple City would be near the stream as well, though that was just as much obscured by the dense foliage.

            A new robe rested on her lap, folded neatly and awaiting presentation to H’Na. She smiled as she thought about it. H’Na’s grandmother would have stood in and made the presentation, and it would have preserved the symbolism of the ceremony just fine. The presentation from mother to daughter signified the lineage of the priestess, daughter through mother, all the way back to the women of Ch’Ma, the first priestesses of Qi’le.

            A narrow, rocky canyon passed beneath them, bringing to G’Se’s memory a journey long ago by klur to the Temple, after a detour to T’Cha. The canyon had made some of the women on the journey nervous, with the open sky above. She had felt strange without the trees, but she hadn’t recalled feeling afraid. She had been a young woman, not yet ordained, but with the Terran devices proving the sky was nothing to fear, she had grown up with a slightly different mindset than previous generations. God created the forests for us, but She also created the plains, and the deserts, and the oceans, and the stars.

            In the very early years of their dealings with the Terrans, it had still been considered odd that any Qi’le would want to go to the stars, let alone a priestess. The priestess B’Tra had gone, of course, but that had been at the direction of the High Priestess, for the purpose of being an ambassador. While it still was not common that Qi’le went to the stars, it wasn’t as unusual or seen as indicative of some kind of mental lapse.

            Their own star shone down on them, providing life and warmth, and sustaining the trees that, in turn, sustained life on Qi’le. She had seen that star from Alsafi, and she had seen it from Earth, and from those places, it shrank to insignificance amongst all the other stars. Some stars stood out in the night sky. Theirs did not. For that matter, the Terran star did not, either.

            What was it, Most Blessed Mother of All, that made these two stars the place where You put Your children? She suspected the Terran scientists would offer long, detailed explanations of the type of star, and the distance between the star and the planet, and so many other things that she did not fully understand, but she went back to what she had always been taught. The Most Blessed Mother of All formed the world, and blessed it, and called forth the trees from the ground, and gave them the power to sustain life. Then She created the creatures for the trees to sustain, and in turn, ordained that the creatures would return to the trees eventually, and give back the nourishment they had taken from the trees. Then She formed the woman, and She touched the woman’s cheek, and the woman lived.

            The Terrans had more complicated explanations for how the worlds had formed and how life had begun, and most excluded the idea of God having been the One responsible. They may have their ideas. I see God in all that She has made.

            “We have arrived in T’Cha, honored priestess,” Peri said. He settled the transport to the ground near the old vessel the first Terrans had arrived in, and sent notification to Temple City Terminal Control of their safe arrival. “You have been so quiet this journey, honored priestess. Have I offended you in some way?”

            “No, Peri. I have just been thinking. I do not believe you would willingly offend me, and I prefer to not take offense to things that are done without intent to offend.”

            He lifted their two bags from the back of the transport, and slung them over his shoulders. “The priestess Se’Ana insists we stay with her, while Emily also has offered us rooms in the inn.”

            “Where would you prefer to stay?”

            “I believe it is better to stay with my grandmother, both because I would not risk offending her, and because I believe Emily will be around to welcome me for much longer than my grandmother. I dread the day I return from a journey, to learn she has experienced the final dream.”

            They walked the worn pathway through the village, receiving and returning frequent greetings from other residents they passed. Peri finally turned towards one door, where he called a greeting. The door opened, and they were invited inside.

            The older man took the bags from Peri. “Welcome home, Peri. I trust your journey went well?”

            “I cannot say for certain, Grandfather. I am told that, following our answers to the Council, the Archipelago entered a state of active war against Alsafi.”

            “War?” Peri’s grandfather switched to English. “There hasn’t been war since the old political systems nearly destroyed Earth.”

            “Alsafi used Empties in an attempt to attack Earth and Earthrise, Grandfather. The High Priestess told us we had saved lives with our warning, but none of us knew the extent. The Colonial Council isolated some of the Empties in a simulator, and gave them the messages from Alsafi.”

            G’Se noted the look of distress on Peri’s face, and placed a gentle touch on his arm.

            “Grandfather, one of the Empties took control of a Voidship in orbit around the Moon, and activated the Plateau Drive to send it crashing into Earth. The Council said if it had been a real Voidship instead of the simulator, the death toll could have been in the millions.”

            The old man nodded. “I would say that I hope both sides know what they’re doing, but it’s obvious that whoever on Alsafi instigated the attack, doesn’t realize the potential consequences.”

            The priestess Se’Ana stepped out of a side room. “If people considered the consequences of their actions before they performed them, many of our actions would never be performed.” She drew Peri into an embrace. “You have done well, child. Pray for all those affected by this, but do not accept the lie that you are in any way responsible. God used you to save many innocent lives, and for that, honor has come to the families of T’Cha, B’qa, and K’Za.” She turned to G’Se. “Honored priestess, enter our home in peace. It is a joy to see you again, G’Se.”

            “Honored priestess, be’tra for your welcome. I am delighted to see you again, Se’Ana. The priestess S’Bu sends her greetings, and bade me to convey her affection to you.”

            “I would that I could go and receive her affection in person.”

            “ Would it not be possible, honored priestess, for you to make the journey?”

            “I have sometimes thought about it, but I fear I am too old to travel the stars again.”

            G’Se cut her eyes towards the younger man. “Peri?”

            He met her eyes and smiled, before turning to Se’Ana. “Even if you were truly ready for the final dream, grandmother, SusAn would sustain you for the journey. Did you not tell me the story many times, of the crew member from Pisces that was attacked and seriously wounded by an animal, and was kept in SusAn until she was returned to Earthrise?”

            The old woman patted his arm. “I would think you were trying to get me away from T’Cha.”

            “You could go if you wished, Grandmother. You said when I was last here, that you were considering passing on the duties of priestess elder to another. If you and Grandfather wish to visit Earth again, I will gladly take you there.”

            “We will speak of this later. Come and sit, and we can discuss pleasant things for a little while. Honored priestess, I will send for the Headmistress of the school, so that we may plan the ordination of your daughter. Your mother offered to stand in for you when the other priestesses in her class were ordained, but she would not receive her robe from any but you, even if you were to be delayed for many years.”

            “Be’tra, honored priestess. I purchased her first robe while we were at the Temple City, so I will be ready to proceed whenever it is convenient for you and the council of priestesses here in T’Cha.”

            Peri’s grandfather remained by the door as the two women settled into their seats. “I will go and inform the Headmistress that the priestess G’Se has arrived, and is ready to speak with her at her pleasure.”

            Se’Ana smiled at the man. “Be’tra, my beloved. Peri, go with your grandfather, please, so that the priestess G’Se and I may discuss some priestess business privately.”

            Peri stood up, looking a bit confused. “Of course, grandmother.”

            When the two men had left, Se’Ana turned to her. “The High Priestess conveyed your request, honored priestess, and I have asked some friends to assist in the effort. I cannot promise, though, that we will find her. My impression is, that she does not wish to be found.”

            “Why is that, honored priestess?”

            “I cannot say for certain, G’Se, though I have my guesses. God, however, has been chastising me lately for slipping into gossip far too often, and I am making the effort to heed Her correction. If I share my guesses, even if they are correct, then I will be gossiping about someone who is not here to speak for herself.”

            “I understand, Se’Ana.”

            “I must ask, child, if you are sure of this path?”

            “I have been sure of very little since the day my husband died, Se’Ana, but of this, I am sure. It seems strange to think of such, but when the High Priestess suggested a path of service for me, it felt as if God was telling me that it was the right thing to do.”