The days following John’s introduction were quiet. People in town were still getting a feel for what they could get away with now that a new authority figure had arrived.
John ignored most of the minutia of everyday life within Ember Creek. While it was important to establish a rapport with the city, that wasn’t his true goal here. Daniel Novarez had sent him here to figure out why hi...
2024-04-24 23:51:24 +0000 UTC View PostThe next few weeks were much the same for Alexander. His only customer was the same guy from before. At first, he didn’t mind. Work was work and he was still making money, even if it wasn’t much.
But after the man came in for the sixth time with a completely different component, Alexander started to get suspicious. So he paid to look up the component numbers. Every single item the man...
2024-04-23 23:50:48 +0000 UTC View PostIt was a strange feeling knowing he was free. Sure it had taken over two years, but it had come far faster than Alexander had predicted or even planned for. The fact that he hadn’t foreseen this possibility was a good reminder that he was still out of his depth in this new reality.
He barely even understood daily life on the station, let alone the complexities of their laws or bureaucra...
2024-04-23 00:37:35 +0000 UTC View Post“Now what?” Deputy Seline asked.
“Now you go back to the jail and wait for our illustrious Sherrif to come around.”
“Are you sure? Aren’t you worried about what Pappy Klein will do after what you did to Big D?”
John stopped, almost causing the Deputy to run into him. “Big D? Really?”
“Don’t look at me, that’s what he goes around calling himself....
2024-04-22 00:13:01 +0000 UTC View PostWhat is your name, Deputy?” John asked as the pair walked through the town.
“Seline, Mr. Smith.”
“Call me John. Tell me, Seline, what are the major issues you deal with here?”
“Mostly the occasional drunk or fight. Usually, those two go together.”
“What else?”
“The occasional attack by the Harc’otti that are native to this area,” She sounded...
2024-04-21 23:53:33 +0000 UTC View PostThe nervous foreman led John to a wrought-iron fenced-in two-story house. The fenced-in area around the house wasn’t large, but it was telling. Especially since no other house in town sported a similar design element. He looked up at the iron arch over the padlocked gate. It read ‘Novarez Estate’.
This surprised John. Not because he couldn’t picture his boss doing something like t...
2024-04-21 00:43:43 +0000 UTC View PostAs John approached the broken train car, he got a few odd looks from the people milling around outside. It seems people had been curious about what he was up to. The only person to approach him was the same worker from before.
As soon as the older man spotted the full box of dynamite John was carrying, he stopped in his tracks. “…Um. Two sticks would have been enough.” The man said,...
2024-04-21 00:21:02 +0000 UTC View PostAfter his eventful delivery on the fifth ring, a few weeks went by in blissful peace, where Alexander’s only concern was reading more technical documents and moving about scrap along with other deliveries. Not that he minded. The work was dull, sure, but every day brought him closer to his goal of freedom.
That bliss was shattered as a hurried set of steps neared the entry. It was a goo...
2024-04-20 00:08:44 +0000 UTC View Post
Got some temporary covers for when both books go live on RR. Let me know what you think.
2024-04-19 11:49:06 +0000 UTC View PostLOCATION: PETROV STATION
SYSTEM: GLIESE 667
DATE: 2397
The days kind of just blurred into one another for Alexander. At least he wasn’t still stuck as a passenger inside his own body. Not that he told anyone of his ability to act independently, especially not Yuri. With his situation uncertain, he decided to take a cautious approach so he didn’t draw undue attention to his...
2024-04-19 01:03:01 +0000 UTC View PostBy the time John walked back to the train, most of the people who had fled into the surrounding forest had made it back. Quite a few of those were milling around outside discussing something.
A few gazes came his way but the people quickly averted their eyes.
That was fine with him, he had other matters to deal with. John made his way to the front of the train and found the engineer...
2024-04-18 01:17:16 +0000 UTC View PostJohn was trying to read a book when he was rudely interrupted by the whistle of the train and the shouts of panic from the other passengers.
He wasn’t the smartest man around but it didn’t take a genius to figure out the train was getting robbed. He sighed and closed the book before glancing out the window.
The train was still moving so he knew he had time. He quickly got out of...
2024-04-17 01:42:23 +0000 UTC View PostLOCATION: PETROV STATION
SYSTEM: GLIESE 667
DATE: UNKNOWN
Alexander stared at the lights and soon another image flashed by. He noted it and mentally started counting the seconds. He wasn’t sure if his sense of time was accurate in this place, but he got to the count of ten when the next image flashed by.
It was the same count as the previous one and the one before that...
2024-04-15 23:51:06 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 1
LOCATION: PETROV STATION
SYSTEM: GLIESE 667
DATE: 2392
The aging recycler smiled and stood from his chair to greet his newest customer. “Viktor! It’s been far too long. I don’t see Svetlana around. Has she finally wised up and found a real man?”
The captain of the Amophor rolled his eyes and clas...
2024-04-15 00:53:03 +0000 UTC View PostCale Dawkins watched the horizon through a looking glass as he chewed on the tough jerky in his mouth. He wanted to savor the flavor because it was the last of their meat. If this job didn’t pan out, it was back to hard tack until they made a profit. Hopefully, his employers' information on this train was accurate.
He thought he saw something and adjusted his view back toward the valley...
2024-04-13 17:02:29 +0000 UTC View PostJohn quickly buttoned his shirt, then threw on a grey pinstripe vest over it. It took him a moment to tuck the tie in behind the vest but he took the time to make it look good even though he was in a hurry.
A courier had stopped by over half an hour ago to let him know the boss wanted to speak with him. John had been sleeping at the time, just having come off his protection detail only fi...
2024-04-12 22:28:44 +0000 UTC View PostHello everyone. I know it’s been a while, but the wait is almost over. Before we get to that, some changes.
The first change some of you might notice is I have gotten rid of the $3 tier. As much as I would like to continue offering it, Patreon’s fees make it unfeasible. So if you are on this tier and wish to continue getting content, you will need to upgrade to at least the $5 tier. T...
2024-04-06 21:01:00 +0000 UTC View PostAlrighty! It is time to help me decide which new series to focus on. My goal is to write both of these concurrently, but one will take precedence over the other. The first two chapters in the rough draft are attached below. But first a bit of information on each one.
Book 1: Sci-Fi series. Little to no combat. This story will be focused on the characters so it could be considered a slice ...
2024-02-17 23:48:12 +0000 UTC View PostMany of you asked what happened to everyone else, so here it is, Enjoy.
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“How is she?” Eugene asked as soon as Nolia stepped outside the bedroom.
She turned toward the door before motioning for Eugene to follow her down the hall. “She is doing better, but she still needs time.”
...
2024-02-11 13:00:07 +0000 UTC View Post“Soo, slow down,” Ranthall called.
Soo grumbled under his breath. “We have hardly begun this expedition, Ranthall. How do you expect us to complete it if every five minutes, you expect us to stop and have tea?”
The Raigen family retainer bristled at his words. “Master Raigen, I only have your best interests in mind. You are far too reckless and need t...
2024-01-31 13:05:01 +0000 UTC View PostNorman whirled around, trying to find the source of the voice. But there was nothing except the chain of planets.
Then he tried to respond, only to realize he had no mouth. Then it dawned on him that he didn’t have a body at all. How was he even perceiving this place without eyes? More thoughts and questions swirled through his being before being arrested by the voice once mo...
2024-01-31 13:00:10 +0000 UTC View Post“You have no idea what you are dealing with. If you unleash that amount of energy, it could be catastrophic,” Norman tried to reason with the man.
“More catastrophic than the end of the world? I don’t think so. But either way, I won’t be here to witness the aftermath. If it fails, you and your little kingdom go down in flames. If it succeeds, well… I get to claim credit for sa...
2024-01-29 13:00:10 +0000 UTC View PostThe Admiral shook his hand before motioning for Norman to take a seat. “Sorry for asking you to come all this way. I know it’s a hassle with the expansion. But I thought this was better done in person. How’s the family by the way?”
The Admiral looked to have aged twenty years in the last seven. Considering how much stress he was under, it was no surprise.
“They’re good, ...
2024-01-26 13:00:09 +0000 UTC View Post“This is the last one?” Norman asked.
Saliu flipped the page on the clipboard he was holding and scanned down it with his finger before tapping it. “Yes, this is the last one we are scheduled to build.”
He wanted to sigh in relief, but he restrained himself. It had been a rough two years. And the last collapse, less than five months ago, had been brutal. A full ten percent o...
2024-01-24 13:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostNorman appeared in the middle of a small copse of trees. He looked around and found a helpful sign pointing in the direction of the array. He sighed and tromped forward. This was the seventh array he had visited and four of the previous ones needed to be fixed due to earthquake damage. One even had to be completely rebuilt because the ground split open where it had been placed, breaking the ent...
2024-01-22 13:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostThe workers went about laying out the array with rapid but precise movements. It wasn’t the first time they had done it, not even close. Norman had lost track of how many arrays his people had set up over the last three months.
He wasn’t even sure where he was at the moment, or at least where his golem body was. Just some random zone that was proving to be extremely dangerous. The tec...
2024-01-19 13:00:08 +0000 UTC View Post“Drop your gun and go stand over by your sister, and don’t try anything dumb. I have no reason to keep you alive.” Toby glared at Norman but put his gun down and slowly walked over to his sister.
Anna grabbed onto her brother's arm like a drowning woman as she too glared at him. At least she wasn’t still harboring feelings for him.
“Why is it every time I interact with you...
2024-01-15 13:00:10 +0000 UTC View PostThe much smaller group stepped through the portal. It was quite a bit different than using a teleporter. With a teleporter, you didn’t experience the time between points, but you did feel the after-effects. At least with the crude ones Normenia was able to produce.
With the portal, it felt like his entire body was twisted and compressed down to a fine point and then shot through a railg...
2024-01-12 13:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostNorman stepped out of the stairwell into what felt like the icy fingers of death itself. That was pure hyperbole, he had died enough times to know what death felt like.
The creeping cold crackled against the enchantments in his armor, the magic not managing to harm him. Yet he still felt the cold, his breath icing and falling to the ground as soon as it left his body. When he breathed in,...
2024-01-10 13:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostAs Eugene waited outside the conference room, he occasionally heard someone cry or beg to be let go from the other side. He did his best to ignore what was going on behind the doors as he orchestrated the rest of their forces in California.
A few runners came and went as he handed out updated orders. He also received more up-to-date intel on the evolving situation outside. Which pretty mu...
2024-01-08 13:00:10 +0000 UTC View Post