BS: New Story Thread - Yonderworks of Wonder

Subject: RE: BS: New Story Thread - Yonderworks of Wonder
From: Geoff the Duck
Date: 04 Aug 09 - 06:28 AM

As Solo and Link arived in the control room, Inman held up a palm, requesting silence. He was listening to white noise coming over the radio, but the two others had seen him on occasions past deciphering signals which had them stumped.
Inman looked up. "
"There's someone on that ship", he said. "Seems to be in trouble. Say's his name's Juicy. Some sort of wild beast has him trapped in the observation lounge.

After a brief discussion, Link and Solo headed to the arsenal, found a skiff and headed across to the drifting ship. There they found a huge but dead animal trapping DewC' in the observation lounge.
It was a heavy job moving the beast, but finally they got the door open They were hot, bothered and exhausted. Both Solo and Link were used to heroic exploits, but this was just donkey work. They were not impressed.
This "Juicy" character was going to need a good story...

Subject: RE: BS: New Story Thread - Yonderworks of Wonder
From: Geoff the Duck
Date: 04 Aug 09 - 05:47 AM

A ripple passes.
Does anyone notice?
What does a ripple do?
Does it have a lasting effect, or is it's passing simply transient?
If anything changed, would anybody know?

                      ********************

Inman's reverie was broken by a siren marking their return to normal space. He looked out of the view port.
About 100 yards in front of the thankfully stationary Dreadnought, there was a smaller vessel. According to the computer, it was drifting slightly, but not a danger to the integrity of the Dreadnought's defenses.

                      ********************

"Weird!" thought Inman. His data storage system was as efficient as it is possible to programme. He had not had a memory outage since his initial activation, but this was something else entirely. His senses told him that he was experiencing reality as it was happening, but his memory told him that this had already happened. Of course, it couldn't have, but if that was the case, why should he have a memory of the Dreadnought materialising next to an identical small craft?

                      ********************

Link was in the Multivator timing random journeys when the alarm for return to normal space blared out. He was just noting down a transit time of 2.46 seconds from galley to arsenal when he heard it.
"Strange!" thought Link. "This all seems so familiar!". He had a half recollection of noting down a time, then a siren. "Why do we sometimes get these feelings of Deja vu," he wondered...
He asked the Multivator to take him to the control room and arrived a second before Solo slid in.

Subject: RE: BS: New Story Thread - Yonderworks of Wonder
From: Geoff the Duck
Date: 24 May 09 - 03:36 AM

(I read DewC'arc a bit like actress Olympia Dukakis but using a diferent spelling system - heard over a bad signal would sound like Duke Ark. I am going to be missing from the Mudcat for a few days, so will have to drop out from story. I am happy for someone else to borrow Inman and company, perhaps we could hear the meeting from DewC'arc's point of view??? I assume he was trapped by a Quarry, but my crew have no iddea what they are or wher they come from.)
Quack!
Geoff.

Subject: RE: BS: New Story Thread - Yonderworks of Wonder
From: katlaughing
Date: 23 May 09 - 12:15 AM

(Oh! Here I was wondering who "Duke" was! Just sussed it out. I've been calling him "DEW-see-ARK" in my mind!**bg** No worries, Duke is fine. Maybe I'll put together a Cast of Characters and Places for reference. I LOVE what you all have done!!:-)

Subject: RE: BS: New Story Thread - Yonderworks of Wonder
From: Geoff the Duck
Date: 22 May 09 - 05:42 PM

[ come on folks - give me some clues...
I haven't a clue how Duke got there, or why? ]

Quack!
Geoff the Duck.

Subject: RE: BS: New Story Thread - Yonderworks of Wonder
From: Geoff the Duck
Date: 21 May 09 - 06:53 PM

It took quarter of an hour, but once the door was clear, Link with his usual flippancy gave it a gentle knock and asked if it would be too much of an imposition for them to join him in the lounge..
DewC'arc wondered if he had escaped from his fate, or if it had just called up reinforcements.

Subject: RE: BS: New Story Thread - Yonderworks of Wonder
From: Geoff the Duck
Date: 21 May 09 - 09:10 AM

Inman was still monitoring the wireless and relaying data to Solo. They had safely got through the aft airlock of the troubled ship and were making their way towards the control area. Inman presumed that after a short fight, Solo and Link would return withthe usual tales of difficult odds and precarious positions overcome by their skill and understated courage.
He was trying to question Duke about the layout, but it appeared that he was calling for help via the shipboard closed circuit com, which was only designed for extremely short range. Although Inman, with enhanced accoustics could isolate Duke's voice, the flow of information was only in that direction.
"It's been quiet for the past few days" said Duke, "but I still can't open the door, I think it must be laying against it"...

Iman heard a slow, long whistle over the regular com. "Well! Doesn't that take the biscuit!" muttered Link. They had entered the control room to find it quiet. The beast lying against the observation lounge door was large, hairy, all teeth and claws and looked ferocious, or at least would if it hadn't been dead. The amount of fur suggested a cold origin. Perhaps it was heatstroke or dehydration in the waterless control room. Whatever the cause, it still took both of them to move the corpse before they could reach this Duke person trapped behind the door.

Subject: RE: BS: New Story Thread - Yonderworks of Wonder
From: Geoff the Duck
Date: 21 May 09 - 08:04 AM

It is millennia since Jaleesa's people became the benevolent collectors thay now are. Once they were simply acquisitive, without the conscience to respect the rights of those who an object belonged to. Their incredible longevity gave a longer perspective than most of the shorter lived races in the Universe, and an attitude of superiority over existence is, in a way, understandable.

In the end, they almost tore their own planet apart. Different museums and private collectors argued that the beauty of the cosmos should be theirs by right of their age. The ephemerals might produce an outstanding work of art, but would be dead in a few hundred years, whereas they, inhabitants of Wonder that they were, would love and cherish it far beyond the timespan of civilisations.
Once, collectors ranged across galaxies, bringing back the glories which defined other races, with no thought to what losing that glory would produce in it's true owners. In reality, rather than being Custodians of the Cosmos, they found that they had become thieves.
Eventually, museum fought against museum for their exhibits and the society of Wonder began to collapse.
The Chief Curators finally called a truce when they realised their folly. Some of the finest pieces from the Universe had been fried or evaporated in cross Campus blitz raids. They finally accepted that if someting wasn't done, there would be nothing Beautiful left for Anyone...
In the following Centuries, attempts were made to restore treasures where they could. Some civilisations had succumbed to their own troubles, and it was too late. Others had simply moved on and no longer appreciated their earlier loss. Some were grateful for the return and blossomed in the light.

The current phase of collecting became possible following the chance discovery of an obscure property of matter. The uncertainty of atoms had long been known but this was something else. It was not simple to achieve, but with enough power you could persuade an uncertain sub-particle that it was elsewhere for a nanosecond. It became possible for an object to be where it was and simultaneously in an "Uncertainy Field" on the planet of the Custodians.
Thus began the renaissance of the collector and the creation of Yonderworks, in reality the largest Uncertainty Field generator ever concieved. Although each object had to be processed within the Field, they were now returned to their original location, but if the original should be destroyed, the uncertainty field could persuade quarks and gluons that Yonderworks was their permanent residence, so no treasure could ever be permanenly lost...

Subject: RE: BS: New Story Thread - Yonderworks of Wonder
From: Janie
Date: 21 May 09 - 12:51 AM

"Nevermind. Fare's back" was the terse response Chapei made to the dispatcher before terminating the connection. She thought quickly, then spoke again, "Looks like I'm headed to -" the communication abruptly ended as she deliberately shorted out the transmitter/tracer. She could still hear and see the dispatcher as IT advised her it could pick up either her vocal or locator signal, but she, and the Chystal Cab, were now invisible to CONTROL. She figured it would be 48 hours before IT instituted search and recover protocols, and no more than 10 hours after that before the cab was sussed and transponded in. So she had, say, a maximum of 2 1/2 certain earth days to work within. If she had any hope of emerging intact once found, she would need to find a way to make the short appear accidental.   

"I'll worry about that later," she said into the dead transmitter, as she keyed the door open to allow Greeny and the Bitch to enter the cab. Nothing in her demeanor hinted at the trembling of her heart at the nearness to the orb as her fares settled into the guest chamber.

She opened the speaker portal. "Where to now?"

"Huntington Gardens," said the Bitch. Chapei was startled by both the warmth and the anxiety in the voice of one who appeared so cold and composed.

"That's a lovely place," Chapei replied as she moved away from the curb. "I used to work there." The Cab quickly lifted, turned, and headed south toward Pasadena.

Chapei sighed with relief. It would have been very, very tough to have flown out of the dome and remained incognito. She reflected on her impulsive decision to take these risks, and decided she could have done nothing less. Maco had never found a body.   In her mind she knew her son must be dead and devoured by the Quarry, but Maco had not seen it happen, and no trace of Silman had been found. What if he also had found his way into a mythical chamber such as Maco had stumbled onto....

She needed to know. The prophesy orb could reveal his fate to her if she could somehow engineer a little time with it. And she was, after all, an engineer.

Huntington Botanical Gardens glowed green like an emerald as they approached. Chapei remembered that she was going to suggest to William that they meet there soon. Such a nice man....

Subject: RE: BS: New Story Thread - Yonderworks of Wonder
From: Amos
Date: 20 May 09 - 06:44 PM

Thread Master stretched his rusty form and rolled out of the webformaire mesh that neutralized the weight and the amplified, exaggerated signal mesh of his physical form. Caring for bodies was by now an old habit, learned over many lifetimes, but still a nuisance. He moved with the grace of one who operates from Without, but even so, his movements seemed gawkish and stilted to Catawbus, and always had. The man just had no flow to his bones! But, she thought fondly, he is still Good. And she uncurled, too, and pattered after him through the double-layered pneumatic portals of the deep interior core of their moon-retreat, down the long senso-foam corridors--like walking on water, she thought, and wondered where such a concept would ever have come from--and up the flowing lift-trail to a large domestically organized space nearer the surface, ensconced behind the rugged faces of a dormant ice volcano. From the walls, portals tuned to normal visible light for the moment showed sweeping vistas of blue frozen granite and sweeping clouds of white frozen methane-powder blowing over the craggy surfaces.

The man, tall for his kind and lean, leaned into an ancient antique leather covered box-like thing he called poppachair, and sipped thoughtfully at a plasti of smoothall he had dran from a cooldrawer in the wall. His keen blue eyes wandered across the snowscape, and then drifted to another time and space which she could not see. She waited patiently. He was gone longer than usual. When he stirred again, she thought him a question.

"When you go away like that, Threadman, where is it that you go?"

"I go back to a world I once lived on, Catawbus. Inward toward the Solstar, A water planet. It was very dear to me, long ago, long before I took this form."

"A WATER planet? Where? Wasn't it awful? Were you...were you wet????

"About 29 point nine units that way," he replied, waving his hand toward a distant glimmer in the frozen sky. As I say, it was long ago. In that life, we loved water more than anything." Catawba shuddered at the thought.

"It was where I first learned the mastery of threads, even so long ago," he went on. "You have no idea how different it was then. No-one knew about attentionemetics or meme-flows, except on a crude intuitive level, and we used huge things called electrons to signal each other using a code--like cavemen with signal fires!" He laughed.

She could not absorb it, having been too offended by the notion of loving water.

"You loved water??"

"Oh, yes, indeed. We had more water there than you have ever seen anywhere-- flows, billows, miles of it, rolling in the dawn. We would put on special equipment and go under it, moving like so many fishes, delighting in the taste, the smell and the way it felt. It was like homecoming in greens and blues, and it touched the very soul."

"Mraagh!!", she cursed. "Why would water mean so much? What could possibly be the appeal?"

"It was historical," Thread Master smiled. "Very few understood the reason, but no-one could escape it at some level of their makeup. Even if they didn't know, they resonated to it."

"What reason?"

"It was in the forming of water that the secret of human tears was born. It is one thing we have never left behind."

Catawbus purred skeptically, and curled up on his lap to ponder the ways of men.

Subject: RE: BS: New Story Thread - Yonderworks of Wonder
From: Amos
Date: 20 May 09 - 03:47 PM

Catawbus, curled in the toastiest corner of the operations room, noticed Master's intensity with interest and excitement. She licked the tip of her rich flowing tail andheld it up into the air for a moment, sensing the sparkle and the effervescence of attention gathering and reaching, coming and going out, like the tell-tale wind-gusts that tell of coming weather on water-rich planets. There was a sense of play and drama in the aether, and Cawtaba twitched her long silken whiskers in anticipation. In a transient lull, she sent a curling whisper of thought into the pulsing tide of golden light that was, for her, the foremost impression of Master.

"Sssssomething interesssting has appeared?"

"Indeed, dear Catawbus, interesting indeed; if my nose does not fail me we will have an adventure unfolding well worth the telling."

"What isss expcccted?"

"Visitors, my friend. Ready ship for visitors."

Catawbus purred, and sent a quick mental assent. She knew the drill, and needed no further orders. She turned her finely-tuned intentions to the interior UI panels, using her delicate tendrils of intent to fire sensors, set switches and servomechanisms, bring up lights, start things defrosting, change sheets, vacuum corridors and clean observation ports throughout the wandering acreage of Triton's interior. It would not take long to make ready. She knew, too, that anything could happen, and saw to the readiness of a number of devices of a less hospitable nature--trapdoors, laser-popups, and a few pitfalls only sh eknew about, just in case things got unfriendly.

Subject: RE: BS: New Story Thread - Yonderworks of Wonder
From: katlaughing
Date: 20 May 09 - 03:06 PM

(No kidding! Jaleesa is going to be SO amazed!)

Subject: RE: BS: New Story Thread - Yonderworks of Wonder
From: Amos
Date: 20 May 09 - 02:57 PM

(Aw, bloody hell, Ernie. Ya done good, very very good...shee-it, ya done good!)


A

Subject: RE: BS: New Story Thread - Yonderworks of Wonder
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 20 May 09 - 02:41 PM

And that is the story of how the Orb of Pitarinius Light was created. There is much more to tell, of how the light was harnessed to bring heat to the great underground world, of how eventually great furnaces were built in the Overworld, to shed light and heat upon the land. Of how the people eventually returned to the surface, where the snows were at last melted and the shoots of long-dormant crops, bushes, and even the great trees sprung back into life. And of how the catalyst that enabled all of this became the most precious commodity on the planet.

For it was that essence of man's emotion, of his joy and of his pain, which enabled the amalgamation. It was the tears of Maco, falling upon the spearhead which he held upon his knees, which was the catalyst. And it was the Old Alchemist's tears as he thought again upon his wife, a distillation so powerful that only one tear was needed to bring life and heat to the Orb itself.

Subject: RE: BS: New Story Thread - Yonderworks of Wonder
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 20 May 09 - 02:25 PM

The Alchemists of Pitarina studied the strange glowing rock, and the transformation of the spearhead. After Maco told them his story, they followed the obvious avenue of deduction and tried many amalgams of the Glowstone, as they called it, and iron. Nothing yielded the transformation in color and temperature that distinguished the spear tip, which even after several months retained enough heat that much caution had to be taken with it. Once, an alchemist who was attempting to scrape residue from the point had his robes burst into flame, and was badly injured. But the amalgams of the alchemists created no heat, and the iron only succeeded in taking on a feeble green glow.

One alchemist leapt from his bed in the middle of the night, convinced he had unlocked the riddle. He spent hours meddling with iron, Glowstone, and plest, which was the potent poison used by the hunters. Obviously, this had been present on Maco's spear on the night of the discovery. Nothing changed. Even a second insight, that the blood of the Quarry, which had also been present on the spearhead, might be the catalyst, was tried and discarded.

These failed attempts to create heat as well as light did not slow down an industry that quickly developed and transformed the underworld of Pitarina. A great mining operation was established at the entrance to Bentz's Cave, as it was now called. More formations of Glowstone were discovered, and the material was broken into ore, which rode in great carts through a new portal into the towns. It was crushed and combined with a cement material, and used for paving and building. The streets, buildings, even the clothing of the Pitarinians soon shone in phosphorescent green, and darkness was banished from their underground world. Only their sleep chambers seemed to be free from the everpresent glow. And yet their world grew colder, though brighter.

It was the Alchemist Sandrocar, an old and feeble man who lived alone with a crew of felines, who finally unlocked the secret. He had seen Maco walking past his home, invited him to stop for hot tea, and listened to the old story of the discovery of the Glowstone once again. After Maco left him, the old man sat thinking about the Great Cavern of Light, and of his favorite part of the story, the beauty and solitude of the place and how Maco wept for his friend. At last, he rose from his chair and went to the kitchen, and took an old iron pan from the cupboard. This he took to the tiny laboratory where he worked his arcane experiments. From a jar he took a small amount of Glowstone. Placing this and the old pan in a great crucible he began the amalgamation.

It was several days later when the old man approached the Place of the Alchemists. Dangling from a stick that he held upon his shoulder was a decorative ceramic device, like a cage. At the center of this cage was a fist-sized round orb, bright golden and lustrous, that rolled around the inside of the device. Several people stopped to wonder at this sight, even as, from ten feet away, they felt the heat.

Subject: RE: BS: New Story Thread - Yonderworks of Wonder
From: Geoff the Duck
Date: 20 May 09 - 08:02 AM

To most people the voice would have been hidden within the envelope of white noise acompanying it, but Inman had enhanced filters built into his hearing. He could not only hear a pin drop in a crowded room, he could also tell you if it had landed head or point down but, in the interests of professional anonymity, wouldn't.
Solo and Link reached the control room within seconds of each other to find Thomas concentrating on what sounded to them like static. They had, however, past reasons to thank Inman's hearing, so stayed quiet until he finally looked up from the wireless panel.
"There's someone on that ship", said Inman. "Seems to be in trouble. Say's his name's Duke and is stuck in the observation lounge. Some sort of wild beast has him trapped there".
Link glanced at Solo and rolled his eyes... "Anyone checked the small arms store recently?"
"Couple of hundred zap guns, some belts of flash caps and a few crates of stun grenades" replied Solo, "Oh! And some serious gear as well".
"Best tool up and check this out then" commented Link. "Tinman - can you keep us up to speed on messages while we get over there?"
"No Sweat" replied Thomas. Just because he was incabable of sweating, didn't mean he couldn't joke!
Link and Solo disappeared into the multivator...

Subject: RE: BS: New Story Thread - Yonderworks of Wonder
From: Geoff the Duck
Date: 20 May 09 - 07:22 AM

Sometimes the Universe seems like it has purpose, following a pre-determined, if somewhat tortuous, path towards an ultimate conclusion...
Thomas Inman was considering the concepts of metaphysics whilst waiting for the ship to regain it's place in the physical universe. Was there really anything to suggest that an ultimate creator had ever existed? Of course, as a part bio-mechanical construct himself, he know his origin in the axolotl tanks, but was there more than biochemistry and physics to the problem of existence?
Of course, he knew that Solo was a sceptic. If you tried him with old chestnuts such as the Solar System being "like a mote of dust in the eye of god", he would take great lengths to describe how painful was the last mote of dust in Solo's own eye...

His reverie was broken by the siren marking their return to normal space. Inman looked out of the view port.
About 100 yards in front of the thankfully stationary Dreadnought, there was a smaller vessel. According to the computer, it was drifting slightly, but not a danger to the integrity of the Dreadnought's defenses. Inman smiled. It was one of those coincidences which, if writen in a novel or 'vid would be laughed at as overly contrived, but he had observed during his short existence, that in the real world they happened all the time. He had yet to find a believable theory to explain it, but that didn't prevent the situations happening.

He was just calling Link and Solo when a weak, crackling call came in over the wireless...

Subject: RE: BS: New Story Thread - Yonderworks of Wonder
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 20 May 09 - 02:36 AM

Maco had time to glimpse a blood trail leading from the pack into the depths of the tunnel before Bentz snapped the cap down on the lamp, again submerging them in blackness. Now he could hear the sounds again, low groans and snarls from far ahead in the cave. Not far enough, thought Maco. He now knew there was no hope for Silman, and little hope of he and Bentz making it out either.

The sounds were distorted by the reverberating walls of the cave, the utter silence and darkness. He whispered to Bentz "back to the entrance...keep your right hand on the wall," and they began their slow escape. He could hear Bentz' breathing, his own heart throbbing in his chest. The sounds of feeding grew more distant. They both froze for seconds after Bentz stumbled over a stone. Ahead of them Maco could now detect the sound of the wind outside the cave.
He turned, whispered "just a few more feet and we're out" turned and took a slow step forward, when he heard it...something was running toward them in the darkness, a series of dull thumps behind them that grew in volume.
"Run!!" shouted Maco and they began to sprint toward the opening, an opening, Maco thought, that they must be silhouetted against in the eyes of the Quarry. When it pounced, Maco was struck solidly in the back by something, either Bentz or the creature or both, and he was knocked sprawling. Bentz screamed, and Maco turned on his back, his spear raised, seeing nothing, afraid of impaling Bentz. The screaming stopped, then Maco felt himself being gradually, irresistably dragged back into the cave. The Thing had him by the waist, but he was wrong...it was the tether that bound him to the body of Bentz. He found the rope, sawed at it with the spearhead until it snapped. He crawled quickly to the opposite side of the cave, staying low and under the threshhold of the opening.

All sound had ceased. Then he heard the cautious padding steps of the Quarry, heard it stop and sniff the air. It must have passed within three feet of him as he lay still. Then he saw a shape move into the lighter darkness of the cave opening. It turned slowly from side to side, its tail elevated slightly. He saw the long tounge flicker into the air. Then, somewhere in the darkness behind him, another creature approaching. He attempted to wedge himself against the wall, felt a hollow just behind him, crawled slowly into it, then discovered it was another branch of the cave, low and narrow, too tight for the creatures to pursue him through. He might, he thought, find that this led to the outside. At the least, it should give him shelter until dawn. He squeezed forward until the walls became so close together that he felt the fabric of his coat catching and tearing. He removed the coat, shivering in the darkness, pulled it behind him through the meager opening.

The walls at last opened, and he was able to stand and walk. He had nearly given up hope that the tunnel would lead out, when he realized he was seeing shapes in the darkness. A protruding mass that loomed ahead of him was indeed an irregularity of the stone in the wall. It was growing lighter. He must, he thought, be nearing another entrance to the cave system. He could now see that the tunnel ahead made a sharp left turn, the light seeming to come from that direction. He strode forward, made the turn.

Before him was a vast cavern, glowing in a yellow-green phosphorescence. The cavern walls were high, perhaps 200 feet, and they seemed to be composed of dark stone and crystal, mortared with some material which was the source of the preternatural glow. In some areas, this material had formed stalactites, eerily bright, or had seemed to pour or stream down the wall leaving a glowing wash that pooled on the floor of the cavern. The material was cold to the touch, and hard as stone. He chiseled at it with his iron spear point, at last breaking some of it loose in several chunks. These he held in his hands, the luminosity intense, lighting his arms, chest and face. He opened his pack, wrapped the pieces in some cloth, and sealed them inside. He gazed at his arms, the sandy residue shining on his skin like stars.

He walked the circumference of the chamber, and found there was no egress other than the tunnel from which he had entered. He found a boulder in the center of the cavern and sat down heavily upon it. Around him, the room shone otherworldly, as if he were sitting within some glowing domed net, with the vast night sky beyond it, and only him left alive. He slowly pulled on his coat, for it was very cold in the chamber, and as he did so his fingers tangeled in the rope that still looped about his middle. He began to weep, first softly, then loudly, and the echoes of his sobs came back to him from those vaulted walls, as if a chorus of souls wept with him.

At last, he took up his spear, donned his heavy pack, and started back down the tunnel. When he reached the main passageway, it was dawn, and dull light showed him the opening. He went for a brief distance into the cave but saw nothing, no remnants of Bentz or Silman, no blood, nothing.

Maco emerged into the dim morning, found the path to the portal, and soon encountered a crew of outbound hunters. They were both pleased and amazed to see him, said nothing when he spoke of the fates of Bentz and Silman. He did not mention the cavern. "Look!" one of the hunters suddenly said. Maco turned to see the spot where he had lain his spear. The spearhead lay on a flat rock, the snow melted entirely from beneath and around it, Maco gripped the shaft and moved the spearhead through snow, watching the snow melt, the moisture hissing and spitting from the tip. He gazed at it, and could see that the spearhead had taken on a slight golden luster.

Maco made his way to the portal, and down the stone steps into the ground. As he strode along the roadway, intermittantly lit with torches or fires, the spearhead retained its glow. This he took, along with the strange rocks from the glowing cavern, to the Place of the Alchemists.

Subject: RE: BS: New Story Thread - Yonderworks of Wonder
From: katlaughing
Date: 19 May 09 - 10:36 PM

(Aside: Now we are cookin'! Whoo-hoo!)

Subject: RE: BS: New Story Thread - Yonderworks of Wonder
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 19 May 09 - 08:09 PM

"The sun of Pitarina was nothing more than a silver sphere on the horizon. The small group of hunters huddled together under a bulging ridge of snow, crouched, their backs turned to the increasing wind and the ice crystals which rattled against their heavy coats. They clutched long spears, iron tipped, black with poison and crusting with ice."
Maco leaned into the hood of the figure to his left and shouted into his ear. "We're missing one!" The hooded figure, Bentz, bobbed his head, counting. "Son of a bitch!" he shouted, "it's one of the new kids!"
Maco yelled back "What the hell?! You were tailing us, you didn't see him drop out?!"
"I haven't seen shit for the last mile and a half after the wind came up! Bad luck, Maco!" Bentz pointed at the setting star. "Be pitch black in a few minutes!"
Maco stood up, walked back along the path for a few feet, then returned, and shouted "Take them to the portal! I'm going to trace back and see if I can find him!"
Bentz shook his head and said " Not leaving you! Polter can take them in! What the Hell Maco...not the first one we've lost!"
"I know" shouted Maco. "Kid's Mom is a friend of mine! Come on if you're coming!"
After a quick exchange with Bentz, Polter led the group on down the trail, heavy packs swaying, vanishing instantly into the roaring darkness.
Bentz could barely see Maco three feet away from him, slapped his shoulder and said "let's tie up!" Maco unraveled a line and Bentz tied it around his waist. "Hey Maco!!"
"Yeah?"
"This is stupid!!"
"Yeah! I know! Let's go!"
Maco had the Hunter's Gift, the ability to see in the bleak Pitarinian darkness. Edges of snow ridges, overhangs, caves were visible in his peripheral vision. Unfortunately, the wind had obliterated any sign of the hunters' passage, and the snow was already six inches deep in the track. They had gone almost a mile when Maco saw the dark aura of a Quarry cave, long vacant, but a likely shelter for a frightened and confused novice. They stumbled upslope until they reached it. The cave was quiet, darker than outside, and Maco's vision did him no good. He felt Bentz gripping the back of his parka.
"Screw this!" whispered Bentz,"let's go back, Maco."
Maco called "Silman!! Are you in here?" There was no reply, but a sudden increase in the wind's volume sounded like a muffled scream. This was followed by something...like a voice calling deep within the cave. "Bentz, strike a light" said Maco.
Bentz fumbled in Maco's pack until he found the striker, mumbling "yeah, that outta bring every stinking taildragger within sight.."
"You're right," said Maco. "There's a corner here. Lets go in deeper before you strike it." They shuffled farther into the complete darkness, Maco trying to remember if there had been anything like a giant hole in the floor of the cave. Soon, the sound of the wind was lost entirely, and Maco said "OK, light it Benny," as Bentz plunged the piston into the sparkbox, Maco again called out "Silman!" The wick above the light box sputtered and ignited, and the two gazed upon a vast tunnel crusted with sparkling crystal that blinked and shimmered in the lamplight. On the floor before them lay a pack, empty of its cargo of meat, the straps severed as if by a razor slash.

Subject: RE: BS: New Story Thread - Yonderworks of Wonder
From: katlaughing
Date: 19 May 09 - 03:58 PM

Jaleesa was floating, free and easy, through all manner of the Universe, all receptors open and streaming, filtering out the nonsense, watching for one tiny glimmer of DewC'arc, the rat who would be krelbatted if and when she ever got her talons on him.

Part of her layered brain was busy dreaming up ways of doing great bodily harm to him while the other came to a crashing halt, focussing intently on an anomaly...a sense of Something out There. Jaleesa immediately concentrated, linking up with the Collectors' Main...she could just see a name forming in her mind, something like "dread" or "thread"...no, it was gone. Krelbat! Now she was completely out of drellum, disconnected, tired and not safe. She quickly came back to her body, mentally closing the Pathways of Drellum. Slowly, slowly, she flexed her wings and arms, shrugging her shoulders up and down. She was wan, almost grayish and appeared to be much smaller than usual. When she tried to speak, to call Angrodean, only a small croak come out of her throat.

Angrodean was a faithful one, though. She'd heard and was ready with a soothing drink of Drellum Balm...a re-invigorator which would bring her mistress's colour back to life. She hated when this happened. IF anything ever did her mistress in, that would be the end for Agrodean, too; she served at her pleasure for her life span, then Agro would be recycled into some other useful part of the Collectors' realm, but she could never serve another mistress and her memstix would be completely wiped, so she guessed it wouldn't really be that bad since she wouldn't remember any of her life. Still, she actually loved her mistress and strove to serve her in any way to her best ability and she really didn't want that to end.

"Thank you, Agrodean," Jaleesa said after taking a long swig of Balm. "Suit up. We will be leaving immediately. We've got to check out some place called Triton...do you know it? I got some weird vibes from there. Last I knew it was just a cold hunk of nothing!"

Subject: RE: BS: New Story Thread - Yonderworks of Wonder
From: Amos
Date: 19 May 09 - 02:35 PM

The Threadmaster, deeply relaxed in a webformaire, closed his eyes and listened to the threads of the local continuum. Aided in part by the specialized filters of his expensive abode hidden deep inside the frozen shell of Triton, he nudged the channels of consciousness, tracing their fields like thin golden strands across the invisible landscape of shared and unshared thought. A longtime veteran of the realm, he shifted easily through the membranes of confusion generated by perspective collisions, translated across assorted fields of emotional vulcanism without a moment's uncertainty, allowing them to be in their fullness without aid or hindrance. Clouds of infatuation, a myriad greedy or frightened concerns, passels of passing prayerstuff, slid by with a simple acknowledgment of their creative energies, and nothing more. He had more telling things to search for.

On th eedges of his keenly tuned, questing awareness, a thought formed that did interest him. He did not, yet, know why; he sensed intuitively that one insignificant form of thought from the entire sea around his probing consciousness held promise, and he focused closer on it. Images formed and melted, concepts grew and faded, languages ebbed and flowed in an endless map of conceptual bursats of created energies. He focused closer. An orb, the kind called "prophecy orb" by the Chthalians. A worried, tired feeling, a sense of escape. Overriding these, a conceptual stream with some kind of impalpable urgency enclosing it: Sidlewait has come to naught. A brief glitter of importance which then vanished in a haze of mis-direction, some sort of screens being erected by someone who knew what they were doing.

The Threadmaster smiled with satisfaction. This was getting interesting. He formed a tightly focused beam of attention, and moved further into the Thread.

Subject: RE: BS: New Story Thread - Yonderworks of Wonder
From: Geoff the Duck
Date: 19 May 09 - 01:59 PM

Instantaneous though the travel may have been in a Euclidian Universe, for those inside the field generated by the Dreadnought's experimental Intergalactic Drive, it seemed like a relative eternity. The portholes did not give a view of hyperspace, as the field around the ship was like a silvered ball. Each of the three crew members found their own way to lighten the journey.

Link had finally bored of re-reading the ship's manual, still no wiser about the time shift. It didn't seem to be documented. Perhaps there would have been a supplementary section if they had waited until closer to oficial launch date, but Solo had been impatient to clear planetside. One paragraph which had intrigued Link was a description of the Multivator system. It was superficially like an elevator, but claimed to go in any direction and, following a verbal command, would reach any part of the ship via the fastest route. Link was passing time by trying to catch it out, calling out random (or imagined) destinations and timing the transit with a small watch.

In the recreation area, Solo was staring out of the viewport, watching the distorted reflection of the ship in the silver field which enveloped it. He was reflecting on the first time he crossed paths with Inman, in the bar on space station Mudcat 5. He had a instinct for trouble, and it had drawn his attention to Link slipping out of the door despite an entertaining brawl. He had followed, but collided with Inman before they reached the exit. It was months later when they found themselves supporting a revolution on Islene. Strange how fate throws the like minded together.

Suddenly sirens sounded! The Dreadnought had returned to real space, but where?

Subject: RE: BS: New Story Thread - Yonderworks of Wonder
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 19 May 09 - 12:10 PM

That's the spirit! Maybe I will try another turn at this.

Subject: RE: BS: New Story Thread - Yonderworks of Wonder
From: MMario
Date: 19 May 09 - 12:04 PM

William 02563dashBsub12 twitched an eyelid and checked the latest timestamp on his calander file. He wondered if he should web another message to Chapei; but decided that would most likely be taken as y-base behavior. Sure, she hadn't virtualed into the weekly Xeno-Horticulteral Society's garden-along, but there could be a lot of explanations for her missing a session.

And it was totally possible he had mis-read Chapei incorrectly. He thought that there was more to their friendship then a shared interest in the latest extra-terran flowers and foliage plants. Not that he didn't ENJOY that aspect of their relationship, but two weeks ago when they had virtualed together to a relaxzone after the meeting...

And she HAD given him the co-ords for her threedee address as well as her direct maildrop address. They'd been planning on a realtime meet for some time now. And Chapei hadn't withdrawn her offer after he confessed he was a vat-baby.

Subject: RE: BS: New Story Thread - Yonderworks of Wonder
From: Crow Sister (off with the fairies)
Date: 19 May 09 - 11:00 AM

Ditto your thoughts Azizi. Such a lovely Mudcat phenomenon - first time I'm witnessing it. Would love to jump in as I have a strong teenage attachment to SciFi genre...
But think I'll sit it out and watch to see what happens!

Subject: RE: BS: New Story Thread - Yonderworks of Wonder
From: katlaughing
Date: 19 May 09 - 10:55 AM

(Aside: LOVE IT!!)

Subject: RE: BS: New Story Thread - Yonderworks of Wonder
From: Geoff the Duck
Date: 19 May 09 - 08:39 AM

It was a month now since they had borrowed the ship. They had left in a hurry, and the original owners must have been pleased with their decision as they had escorted the Dreadnought with an honour guard of warships, space cannons saluting the departing vessel. In fact, if the Dreadnought had been slower, it might have been saluted to smithereens.
The escort fleet was gaining rapidly when someone pressed a button on what they thought was a standard Hyperdrive, both Solo and Link were still accusing the other, but wherever credit might lie, the outcome was that the fleet disappeared.
When the navigation system had finished hiccupping, it identified star patterns as a match for exactly the same location approximately 257 years earlier. All in all, they had hit a point in history where paranoia and xenophobia were the two main political parties in that cluster. Link took time to read the instruction manual for the main drive and then set a random jump to get them clear. They were still trying to figure out what had caused the time-hop, and in the meantime looking for somewhere worth a proper visit.
Inman was simply bemused that on current counting, he would now have 260 years in which to complete his Five Year Mission.

Inman tossed a handful of credits into the air. As they landed on a hand drawn grid, Inman entered their resting co-ordinates into the navigation computer. It was as good a system as any other when you had thrown your destination into the hands of Fate.

He hit the button...

Subject: RE: BS: New Story Thread - Yonderworks of Wonder
From: Geoff the Duck
Date: 19 May 09 - 08:04 AM

Deep in the Doldrums sector, a tiny speck of reflected light was barely discernable from the outpost on the third satellite of a dead planet. At the control of the speck was Thomas Inman, erstwhile creation of a brilliant but deluded genius. The speck itself was not small once you got close, in fact it was a "borrowed" Dreadnought Class prototype which would be designed and built a couple of hundred years hence.
Although Inman would be regarded by anyone who actually noticed him, as a "sidekick", his designated purpose was to observe and assimilate human behaviour. In this role, he had become so outwardly bland as to virtually disappear from people's memory as soon as they saw him.
Inman's companions were elsewhere in the depths of the ship. They had decided there was nothing of interest in this system, so had abandoned the control room, leaving Inman to decide when to initiate another random hop through the fabric of the cosmos.

Subject: RE: BS: New Story Thread - Yonderworks of Wonder
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 18 May 09 - 04:27 PM

Pretty good, Amos! You know, if this story-thread takes off, it'll give me new hope for the economy.

Subject: RE: BS: New Story Thread - Yonderworks of Wonder
From: Amos
Date: 18 May 09 - 04:20 PM

There is a small moon circling an unimportant gas-giant planet on the perimeter of a minor system in the backwaters of a second-rate galaxy somewhere in an obscure cluster most folks have never visited, and many never heard of. The surface of Triton, as she is known to the nearest semi-conscious species, looks like canteloupoe rind, with ice volcanoes scattered here and there spouting a mixture of liquid nitrogen, methane and dust. When this stream ejects from the ice volcano, it forms a plume some eight kilometers high which then immediately freezes and drifts back to the surface in a long, meandering slope. It travels 80 miles ovber the barren syrface before it settles to the ground in an icy, wind-driven frosting. The outer surface of Triton runs around -350 degrees Farenheit on a nice day. This contributes to the moon's reputation as a cipher in the universe of possible objects of interest, a place no-one could find anything interesting or attractive about. And that is as the designers intended.

Triton has another peculiarity. It circles Neptune in a direction opposite to the planet's rotation; it is is the only moon in the local system that does this, which leads the superstitious life forms a few planets away to invent theories about its once having been a free object that was captured in passing by Neptune.

The pundits who offer these speculations have no idea how close they are to the truth. But this exceptional pattern -- only seen in thirteen other planets through all of known space -- is also much as the designers intended.

Deep beneath the frozen, pockmarked surface of Triton, the designer pursues the various purposes and designs for which all this was brought about. He is isolated from any fields of psychic interference, and his place in spacetime is uniquely free of field turbulence, because of the extremely low temperatures on the shell surface, and because of the peculiarly idiosyncratic rotation. Supported deep within this secure and comparably noise-free shell, the Threadmaster is free to focus his mind and his intentions anywhere he chooses to place them, and to place his intending energies where he decides to place them without hindrance. And this is very much as he designed it to be. At such temperatures, flux does not rattle its high-frequency harmonics the way it does on ordinary planets. Without the attention of a thousand cross-connected nodes of so-called civilization trying to include it in their endless chattering, cajoling and calculating, the psi-space permeability from Triton is crystal-clear, and never noticed or interfered with.

Under these conditions, much good can be accomplished.

Subject: RE: BS: New Story Thread - Yonderworks of Wonder
From: katlaughing
Date: 18 May 09 - 03:47 PM

Azizi, I am suer he wasn't referring to you; your post was most welcome, too. Thanks!

LeeJ! Get thee to writing and leave puir ol' Bseed alone!**bg**

Subject: RE: BS: New Story Thread - Yonderworks of Wonder
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 18 May 09 - 03:24 PM

You may forgive him if you will, Kat, but for me, my heart cries out for retribution against BSeed, and I shan't rest until I am avenged on him!



And I used spell-check on this, so don't bother.

Subject: RE: BS: New Story Thread - Yonderworks of Wonder
From: Azizi
Date: 18 May 09 - 12:03 PM

Charles, I hope that you aren't referring to my 08 May 09 - 09:07 AM post.

I didn't mean to imply that I had a problem with other people's comments about the story. I just meant that i found the science fiction story itself to be interesting reading. I still look forward to reading more of that story.


Best wishes,

Azizi

Subject: RE: BS: New Story Thread - Yonderworks of Wonder
From: katlaughing
Date: 18 May 09 - 10:56 AM

What in the aitch are you talking about, Charles? I thought we had FUN playing off of what you posted and it was perfectly fine for you to have done so.:-) Silly goose...just come play and turn the genre into anything else. As I told LeeJ, turn it around and make it a detective story or whatever else suits your fancy. I have NO ideas about where it is headed, so it's wide open. Thanks for being so thoughtful, but don't you dare stop jumping in!*smile*

Subject: RE: BS: New Story Thread - Yonderworks of Wonder
From: bseed(charleskratz)
Date: 18 May 09 - 07:36 AM

Kat, I'm sorry about my stick-in-the-mud posts to your story thread... I have no grasp of the idiom of this genre of literature, and should have just kept quiet, but because of our friendship I felt I had to jump in somehow--but the way I did was unpleasant and dismissive, and you and Leej don't deserve that.

Charles

Subject: RE: BS: New Story Thread - Yonderworks of Wonder
From: katlaughing
Date: 10 May 09 - 12:24 AM

(Great stuff, Janie, thanks for coming in!)


Jaleesa read the psy-com message again, focussing on her internal retina where it was stored for privacy. Sidlewait has come to naught. That was it. She shook her head in frustration. Krelbat! Those idiots in Comsun were supposed to be the ones to crack any code they came across, but this one! This one they kicked upatmos'fere to her! Silently she mouthed the words to herself...Sigh-dull-wait?? Well, ol' Sidlewait must've been a complete flop whoever or whatever it was.

She had been waiting for a promised communique from a certain Acquisition rat calling itself DewSee'arc or something like that; someone she'd never worked with before, but recommended by a mutual "friend." Supposedly it had something really special she as a Collector would want. So far all she had was this message which may or may not have come from one DewC'arc. Jaleesa had reached the end of her patience. A Collector has her limits, afterall, no matter the millennia.

"Angrodean!" she yelled. "Get in here now!"

A small woman came running into the room, "Yes, Collector?" she asked.

"Get that little rat DewC'arc in here now! Krelbat, what a mess! Do you know where he is? I was promised a solid lead from him two months ago. Krelbat!"

"Collector, I regret to inform you the acquisition unit, DewC'arc, has been missing for just over a fortnight now with no known location."

"What?! Why wasn't I informed? Do I always have to work in the dark around here? No, don't answer that with your literal sense, Agrodean! Nevermind, I shall require a period of NO interruptions. Nothing, no one, do you hear me? I will be in DeepSus. Maybe I can figure out this krelbatted message in there."

As she spoke, Jaleesa strode around the room, flashes of light sparking from her eyes and fingers, anger elongating her form and emphasising her feathery shoulders. Agrodean scurried out of her way, murmuring words of acquiescence. She had never seen the Collector so angry and unable to decode a psy-com message and she had been with Jaleesa all of her very long life. She carefully made her way to the door, assuring her mistress the door would be secured and no one allowed to enter. She, Agrodean, would be just outside in Dobe-mode to make sure of it.

Finally, Jaleesa quit pacing, ashamed of her momentary loss of decorum. Just as Agrodean went out the door, she called after her, "Agro..thank you. You have never failed me." With a slight wave of her hand, her aide shut the door and all was silent. Jaleesa drew in a deep, long breath and began a calming spell.

Subject: RE: BS: New Story Thread - Yonderworks of Wonder
From: Janie
Date: 09 May 09 - 11:31 PM

56 hours she had been sitting here. Meter running or not, this was getting a bit ridiculous.

Chapei observed herself in the monitor, then sniffed her armpits. "Jaysus, I'm as grimy as I used to get out hunting/dodging Quarry, but without the excitement and the company."

She decided to radio the dispatcher for permission to to take leave, at least long enough to clean up and get something to eat other than the gluon sticks she had been munching on periodically.

Just as the dispatcher came on, she saw the green being emerge from the building and head toward her. He was carrying a prophesy orb in a sling that swung from his left shoulder. HIs right arm was extended over his head, the hand clasping the elbow of a tall, elegant looking woman who stared straight ahead, a displeased expression on her face. The couple walked swiftly toward the Chystal Cab.

Subject: RE: BS: New Story Thread - Yonderworks of Wonder
From: bseed(charleskratz)
Date: 09 May 09 - 02:52 AM

Azizi, check out the following old threads:

http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=11455

http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=11741#88765

There were a few others, but these two are the best. The first isn't exactly a story thread; the second is the best of the real build-a-story threads. Both attain high hilarity.

Charles

Subject: RE: BS: New Story Thread - Yonderworks of Wonder
From: katlaughing
Date: 08 May 09 - 10:53 AM

(Thanks, Azizi! I've had my thinking cap on and will try for another installment this weekend. BTW, feel free to give it a try; I didn't think I'd ever write half the stuff I have in the story threads. Something about this place sparks abilities we may not be aware of.:-)

Subject: RE: BS: New Story Thread - Yonderworks of Wonder
From: Azizi
Date: 08 May 09 - 09:07 AM

I'm just popping in to say that I really like the story as begun before the conversational exchanges.

I hope to read more of it. (In other words, more! more! from katlaughing, Lonesome EJ, Janie and others).

If I had the skills to join in the writing I would. I love reading certain science fiction books, but I can't write them.

Subject: RE: BS: New Story Thread - Yonderworks of Wonder
From: bseed(charleskratz)
Date: 08 May 09 - 12:15 AM

Oh, I can't Baer the rejection. I may Louis my mind.

Charles

Subject: RE: BS: New Story Thread - Yonderworks of Wonder
From: katlaughing
Date: 06 May 09 - 11:16 AM

Yes, boyz, do bear all!

Subject: RE: BS: New Story Thread - Yonderworks of Wonder
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 06 May 09 - 01:48 AM

It doesn't bare questioning. I can bearly spell, you know. So shut up and write something, barebreath.

Subject: RE: BS: New Story Thread - Yonderworks of Wonder
From: bseed(charleskratz)
Date: 06 May 09 - 01:28 AM

What I'd like to know, Leej, is why did they bare the carcasses? Did the surface dwellers wear such heavy, thick garments that the troglodites cut down the carcasses' weight by baring them, or did they bare them not wanting the stench of the never-washed garments down in the poorly ventilated sub-surface chambers, or maybe out of a desire to shame the souls of the hunters. Or--and the elders shuddered when cynics suggested it--was it prurient obsession?

Just curious,
Charles

Subject: RE: BS: New Story Thread - Yonderworks of Wonder
From: katlaughing
Date: 04 May 09 - 10:37 AM

(Yes!!! Brrrr! You are on a roll, LeeJ! Thanks. Now we are cookin'!)

Subject: RE: BS: New Story Thread - Yonderworks of Wonder
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 04 May 09 - 01:15 AM

Alchemy. On some worlds it has always been called magic, pseudoscience. Those who know little of alchemy think only of bubbling cauldrons and mercury-blue flames flickering on the faces of mad old men, whose greed and madness has driven them to seek that thing which changes lead to gold. They know little of the true power and aim of alchemy.
On a world far from Earth, as far from Earth as another planet can be and still dwell within the Milky Way, alchemy was no pseudo-science. It was the force which saved that planet from encroaching cold and darkness.
For years, a dying star had given what light and heat it could still manifest to Pitarina, but it had been millenia since that star had shone with the strength to bring forth crops upon the land, or to warm the shelters of those who dwelled there. Legends were told of great trees that had stood upon the ridges now barren and covered in snow and ice. The people even celebrated a festival at the same time of their year, which commemorated the renewal of their planet, the return of the warmth that brought living things from the soil, or so the legends said. The children would dance, bedecked with shreds of colored paper which were called by them "flowers", though no flower had they ever seen.
The day on Pitarina would seem to us only the dim twilight before a winters evening. In bitter cold, few could be seen to be moving on the surface of the planet. Their roads, their town squares, lay beneath the surface, where the great ancient roots of the primeval forest were harvested for the fuel that gave their underworld light and heat. Creeks and rivers of icy water ran through this subterranean world. Great fields of fungus plants lay near these rivers, and from their harvest the people survived. From this harvest, and what the hunters could provide. For there were those who prowled the snow-covered surface in search of meat. These were those young, brave, and foolish enough to challenge the freezing winds, the great drifts, the tumbled fields of upthrust ice ridges. Each night, some would fail to return, to be lost in the great darkness above, perhaps victims of the harsh cold, perhaps killed by their own Quarry.
The Quarry could be found in the caves where they hid and slept during the Pitarinian day. These creatures were found in pairs, and a hunting group of a dozen or so could surprise and slay them with luck, and bare the carcasses back to the underworld before the sun slept and the winds began. For it was then that the Quarry stirred within their dens, and the hunter became the hunted.
But the days were growing shorter. The streams that fed the underworld grew clogged and choked with ice.
The alchemists, whose charge was to monitor such things, told the leaders and the people that their sun was in it's death throes.

Subject: RE: BS: New Story Thread - Yonderworks of Wonder
From: katlaughing
Date: 03 May 09 - 05:42 PM

(Yeah! Thanks to both o'youse! Good starts!)

Subject: RE: BS: New Story Thread - Yonderworks of Wonder
From: Janie
Date: 03 May 09 - 05:09 PM

Her visor pulled down over her eyes, Chapei dozed behind the control stick of the Chystal Taxi, hovering at idle against the curb outside of Yonderworks. The short, green being had told her to wait, and wait she would. As long as the meter was running she was getting paid, and that was all she cared about.

Subject: RE: BS: New Story Thread - Yonderworks of Wonder
From: Donuel
Date: 03 May 09 - 11:45 AM

The message "Activate by qualified OPL technicians only in zero gravity. No servicable parts inside. Expiration date 1-23-35billion, Keep away from EMP*"










*egotistical meglomaniacal people?