fallslikesnow

Anne had found that there was a point where the complexities of a plan and the events it tried to influence collapsed to a short lived node of potential. All that could be done was to hope for the go signal before the node evaporated and a secondary plan had to be used. The go signal arrived two hours before the Earth viewing in 4Dome, the optimal time for plan one. *** Over the years on standby in Cylinder3 John and Sarah accreted bits of personality like an old ship accreted barnacles. They interacted with their co-workers, a group of social misfits themselves on the verge of forcible personality surgery. They went out eating and drinking, went to gaming parlors loud with the clatter of steel balls and the shimmering noise of sub3Dome strings. Their monitors allowed this, approvingly watching shallow cover become deep. Potentially useful roots were put down in a disaffected community. "Simon, Erica, we need your help." "Sure, what do you need?" Different g...

Anne and Thomas transited from Jovian to Lunar orbit in a years long slow sleep. Their weaponry and other dubious tech was removed or downgraded. Their brain augments were present but still empty. However, the mesh of Holes within their skulls, between them and across the system, allowed them to restore what had been taken from the last back-up. The Holes were the reason for their traveling as cargo, rather than simply stepping across to Luna. Pass a hole though another Hole and both would disappear in a cloud of hard radiation. Pass Anne or Thomas through a Hole and their entirely artificial mentalities would vanish, followed shortly by their biological brains. It was probable that their soul-spheres would survive. The question was, how far would their soul-sphere back-ups even make sense, given the highly distributed and non-local nature of their psyches. Jenkins was drip-feeding them the original contents of their optical networks. However, by the time they boarded the Slowship Bulk...

On Cylinder1 Anne and Thomas had their appointment at 1902 Spinward, Three Outward. A largish piece of real-estate mostly taken up with ceremonial hedges, low hills topped by wooden gazebos, winding gravel paths and the omnipresent water features. Gentle rippling light from the sea on the other side of the cylinder lent the scene a sense of peace. They both felt appreciation of an artfully reconstructed piece of Earth style total defense. Especially one that originally contained a very large, very dirty nuclear device as its centerpiece. The central house consisted of plates of creamy white fake limestone hanging from an umbrella of compacted Lunarian dust. Their new employer, Mike Jenkins, knelt on a cushion, a circle of important looking icons slowly circling him. He made a stylized gesture to Anne and Thomas who obediently knelt, dropped into Jenkins personal lagoon in Ocean and immediately drowned. *** John and Sarah reflexively started to destroy the terrible image and eve...

Mid Twenty-Third Century Later, when they could think of the boat trip dispassionately, it would be clear to both of them that the whole vacation had been set up as R&R before the task ahead. They looked over the side into the startlingly deep water, depth upon depth, shading to turquoise or jade depending on how far the river bed had been burned. They easily caught a nearly tame trout and cooked it whole in the sand box, leaving the sand to produce something edible out of the fish. Before they could eat, however, they were summoned by 3Council4Dome for reassignment. The boat stopped pretending to sail and the pretty blue tiller rattled loosely as they pulled alongside a narrow pier. It was Johns’ turn to be chivalrous so he got out first and helped Sarah onto the fake limestone slab. They were met by a small wheeled drone that called itself 4HumanCompliant1028Drone3Council4dome. “And for short?” asked Sarah. “No,” said the drone, leading them up the slope towards the edge of 4Dome...

Above is a sneak glimpse of the probable cover for the sequel to Bubbles, called Jasmines. Look for it at the end of this year or early the next.

"The Rose of Desire" and "Bubbles" anthologies are available for free on Amazon right now! You know you want them. Go get them. http://www.amazon.com/The-Rose-of-Desire-ebook/dp/B0060MK1P6/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_1 http://www.amazon.com/Bubbles-Fragments-Shoal-Wars-ebook/dp/B0061E1KDU/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_2

I've uploaded another anthology to Amazon and Smashwords - Bubbles, two stories set in my Shoal Wars universe. Bubbles - after the Earth has been destroyed by enigmatic aliens the remnants of humanity spiral towards civil war. Jasmine – a pre-pubescent astronaut discovers the truth about her mission and vows revenge. Available here .