Showdown With Hyperspace
Pish squeezed my hand. "It'll be okay, Simon."
I squeezed back and tried to chuckle with nonchalant confidence. Instead I coughed. "Of course it will, Pish. I'm sure it's...perfectly safe. Isn't that so, Jeremiah?"
"Sir," he said.
Descended from the Annapurna Hyperspace Gate Hotel, we stood in a row of three at the end of a long arcade whose terminus was a two-storey bank of little round doors flanked by helpful robots in hotel colours. Neat queues of travellers ranged themselves before the ports. Every few moments a group were led through one of the doors. None emerged.
Announcements echoed off the tiles. "Passengers bound for Nsomeka are asked to check in at gate eight. Gate eight, please, for all passengers bound for Nsomeka Star, including Maja, Mahuea, and all Ninurtan destinations."
"Well boys," I declared jauntily, "that's us."
We had crossed the final barriers: we were standing before the gates, tickets in hand. We moved across the arcade too briskly. I felt I could sense the weight of the great dish above us, yawning at the sky. A cold sweat broke out on my back. What if I should step inside, and awake erased again?
Dear readers,
It's finally happened: the free version of this science-fiction novel has been taken offline in order to make room for the hard-cover printed edition from Ephemera Bound Publishing, on sale in stores and online beginning Valentine's Day, 2008.
I regret any disappointment. I kept the free version available as long as I could. Please be sure to check out the new edition! See Cheeseburger Brown.com for more information and updates.
Love,
Cheeseburger Brown
P.S. You can read more of my free fiction via my weblog or in the complete story achives.
posted by Simon of Space at 01:35
21 Comments:
Oh, no! I hope Pish is alright! And something is fishy about how the authorities found out. Jeremiah?
As always, I wait with bated breath for the next installment.
Prana
Aw, I was hoping "tomorrow" would come! I really want to see the meeting (although I'm starting to think of it as a showdown) between Simon and his family...
Nice, CBB. I particularly liked the use of the word "dude." :)
I'm feeling more and more sorry for Simon. He's been to such an ordeal (as a child), and nobody seems to want to give him the answers he needs. Corinthia Tag was there, and she helped him, but now she's away.
I can almost imagine how it feels; growing up inside a person, growing up to become a person who (as far as the rest of the galaxy is concerned) already exists.
I don't think Duncan is Terron Volmash, personally. It's virtually impossible (I'm taking Greskin Mile's point of view, now) to be both the greatest chef and the greatest nemesis of the universe.
However, there remains the link to Terron Volmash, in the person of Jeremiah, the nearhuman protector robot.
Perhaps Dunchan Menteith is Volmash' science officer (or equivalent), and is he... supposed to be the caretaker of... a Volmash clone? Pish? Who Terron's own robot, Jeremiah, is supposed to protect?
I went wild there for a second, but it's possible.
(If this theory has already been posted, my apologies, I tend to confuse my processing with my input).
Ack! Blocked at the gate!
Chemical bath and anal probing. Lovely. Poor Simon!
Cool that Greskin Mile came to his rescue. :)
Shit. I know what the hole is. It's for oxygen! Volmash is "more machine now than man", but he was apparently already "twisted and evil". :)
Hmph. Funny we've never seen Jeremiah eat or drink or defecate or urinate.
Ok, nevermind. :P
Good chapter, as usual, CBB! :)
Here's what i've got:
i think Duncan Menteith and Terron Volmash are two seperate people. Jeremiah, however, may not be. possibility: Terron Volmash stored his consciousness in the robot Jeremiah ("We are all of us animals", although a robot is not only grammatically perfect but also not an animal), or perhaps this: "Property of Hellig Apples" is usually shortened to "Hellig Apples" as robots would not normally, i assume, have names of their own. "Property of Terron Volmash" becomes Terron Volmash? regardless, i think it was actually Jeremiah that set off the nightmare cannon. Duncan likely was just wanted for making false identities or something of the like. anyhoo, that's what i've got.
TRH
www.xanga.com/dvd_pirate
Just when I thought it was kinda winding down, it picks right back up!
Great work as usual CBB!
I've worn paper undershorts before. They. Are. The. Worst.
1) Robots are only as grammatically perfect as their programmers allow. Also, the statement in question does not represent a deviation from accepted forms.
2) Robot names: what the...?
3) I've never worn paper undershorts, but I shudder at the prospect.
4) The Pish-as-clone theory is interesting. Funny how Simon suggests that the captors were not necessarily the real militia... like the rest, I wanna know who squealed on our heroes this time.
5) Are we ever going to figure out why C. Tag thought Duncan was Volmash? So far we, along with Simon, have had to take her word for it.
6) LOVED the "Greskin Mile to the rescue" scene -- but how did he know?
Keep it coming; this stuff is more addictive than... some really addictive stuff.
Anyone else remember Crushed Head Faeda?
I believe CBB promised we'd see more of her.
Publish and be huge I say. Then I can get some vicarious pleasure from saying "I was one of the first to read it." When you're a household name in the world of speculative fiction I will spread the good word to all my friends and family, hell I'm doing it now but they're not keen on reading off a screen, neanderthals.
Dear all,
Small note: today's installment is a tip of the hat to Canadian sci-fi Grand Master A.E. Van Vogt's classic of pulp, THE WEAPON SHOPS OF ISHER.
...Is someone keeping track of this shit? We need a reading list.
Love,
CheeseburgerBrown
CheeseburgerBrown, we do need a reading list. I just purchased a copy of The Stars My Destination. I saw this was one of your favorite books somewhere. I am about 1/2 way through it and love it, it is a really interesting book, sometimes hard to believe it was written so long ago.
Just to add to the thanks, I really enjoy reading Simon! Thanks for all your work!
Jay
Blocked! Bummer! Add me to the list of folks asking, "Who narked him out?"
I sure hope you have some time to continue VERY soon, as this is a bummer of a stopping point!
I also hope we're not even to the halfway point in the story...
Line of the day:
I closed my eyes and composed this recounting, hoping that I would be able to render it into my little blue diary the next day with the help of Greskin Mile and his stalwart staff of hungover legal aces.
You rock CBB! I've been reading this since it started, and I did the same with Darth Side. Keep it up.
Thanks so much.
*cough*
um....
is it tomorrow yet?
Signed,
An Impatient Fan.
p.s. Where is your tipjar, again?
I suspect that Greskin Miles was able to swoop to the rescue because he is the one that tipped off the police. Who else on the planet knew Simon's real identity? And Greskin certainly knew Simon had plenty of money he wasn't afraid to spend.
I do agree with Greskin that it would be hard for Duncan to be Volmash--two well known public figures, and no one notices they're the same person? That would be like failing to notice that Superman looks a lot like Clark Kent... It seems certain that Duncan was involved with Volmash in some way, but he's not the same person.
The tipjar is on the right; just scroll down until you come to the Paypal "Donate" button.
Tsk. A better theory about Greskin: It's very common for "legal trouble" to crop up before being allowed to leave the planet.
Why else would a taxi driver be a lawyer, dudelings?
Cheeseburger Brown wrote:
today's installment is a tip of the hat to Canadian sci-fi Grand Master A.E. Van Vogt's classic of pulp, THE WEAPON SHOPS OF ISHER.
...Is someone keeping track of this shit? We need a reading list.
Cha! Well, since we are keeping track... the gun culture of Annapurna reminds me of that in Robert Heinlein's 1940's pulp novel Beyond this Horizon.
Dude!
I've been trying to get on with my work all day, but somehow I keep finding that I'm reading SoS again.... I'm so glad that I started reading this just a few days ago - I don't think I could have borne waiting between chapters!
Post a Comment
<< Home