I have just moved this blog to a new host, from our internal server here at the office. The site is showing off a lot of wear and tear and suffering from moving from a Windows Server to a Linux on. I also noticed that it is running an antiquated version of Wordpress. In the coming week I will start sprucing up the place and then start posting regularly again. In the meantime, bear with me until I find time to clean up this site as I am in the process of also moving a dozen other sites…

Lucito

When I became conscious, there was absolute nothingness. There was no light, no sound, no substance, nothing. The universe was not empty. Emptiness would infer the absence of something. There was absolutely nothing.

Slowly, after a timeless interval,  I became aware of my essence, of my consciousness. It dawned on me that there must be a reason for my presence. I pondered the concept for a while. I finally realized that I had to find out about my environment. I grasped about the concept of seeing where I was, but I could not see. Something whispered in my mind; that to see, I needed some light. The concept seemed interesting. I thought about it for a while; and then, there was light.

Long Island, New York, August 1981 

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Back in 1989 I took a sabbatical to sort some things happening in both my personal and business lives. During that period of reassessment I also sat down and wrote a fantasy novel that was called “One way ticket to Talenthar”. Strangely it was mostly written by going to bed at night thinking of the plot of the story and my subconscious mind would fill in the plotline and character dialogs overnight and during the following day I would tediously write the story by hand as I was computerless during that period. The entire process repeated itself over a period of some months and then I borrowed my young cousin’s computer during his summer vacations while he was not using it for school, and I typed in the entire thing using my trusty old DOS WordPerfect floppies.

The original manuscript is still in storage somewhere in my uncle’s basement back in Canada and I have the original WordPerfect documents in my backups here at the office. I had some interest of publishing it at the time and I sent the story out. Through a friend some British editor showed some minor interest, but the story stood mainly untouched for all of those years as I lost interest of the endless cycle of sending proposals and waiting for refusals.

For many years I have wanted to edit the story again and flesh up the last third of it, as the plotline was rushing to its conclusion and was lacking details. I started a few times to do it, but never was in a situation where I could give it the time it needed. Most recently last summer I wrote a completely new version of the prologue based on a totally different point of view, to better give life to the world of the story. I really liked that new version, but time constraints yet again did not permit me to continue rewriting the story. The worse is that due to a combination of things totally outside my control (losing my writing computer’s hard drive and the network storage unit of the office on the same day) all of that work was lost. I found out this morning when I went looking for the new documents.

I still have an inkling of what I had written there, even if it is just a general idea, and I plan to start the rewrite yet another time. This time, to make sure I stick to my ideas I will first publish the original work followed by the rewritten one bit by bit or chapter by chapter, whatever fits my schedule best. I will start the project in the coming days and try to stick to a fairly regular schedule as best as I can humanly, or better sassquatchly…

Until then…

Lucito

This is the first post in many years, and hopefully it will be the start of regular posting again. A lot has happened in my life in the last few years, including a few moves including one following the first one by 3 weeks as we had moved into the house from hell. Our doggies celebrated their second anniversary a few weeks back and when I posted last they were just a few months old. Now they weigh more than 65Kg (~145 pounds) and they are our pride and joy. 

This blog started as a place on the Web to post my writing and had somewhat evolved into a once in a while diary of things happening in my life. In the last few days I had started thinking about fiction writing again, and I thought about reviving this blog. The goals of the new version would be to publish some of fiction I had written ages ago, and new stories that has been circling in my mind for years. I read the ‘About Lucito’ entry here and it was almost exactly what I have in mind now, and what I had in mind when I first started. I guess that now I will have to finally deliver on it. 

In the coming weeks I plan to remove the cobwebs from the blog, a task I started today by removing all the posts that were not related to what I want this blog to be. What are left are a few very old stories and some general entries. What I plan to do is first research what happened in blog technology in the intervening years and bring the backend of the blog into the modern world, and then do a bit of sprucing up to the looks which were temporary when I did them years ago. I will then start publishing, chapter by chapter, a fantasy novel I wrote back in 1989.  I hope that all the friends and family that were faithful readers in the old days will like what I will do now, and that new friends will become regular readers. Thanks for the patience… 

Lucito 

I have just posted on a page accessible by the ‘Short Stories‘ link on the sidebar, the original short stories that have been published here so far. They are in PDF format and can be downloaded from that page. This page will continuously be updated with all the short stories published here.

 Lucito

  Bill regained consciousness a few hours later. He was hanging sideways from his broken harness. Around him he heard soft moans of pain emanating from the lips of his crewmates. He struggled helplessly to extirpate himself from the remains of his harness.

 Suddenly, a massive arm draped in coarse fibrous cloth easily pulled him up to his feet. He turned toward his benefactor. Bill choked in his own fears. He was looking directly into an alien face. The creature was bipedal and stood taller than himself. It was of more massive proportions. Its physiognomy was definitively of saurian origin.

 Bill could not believe what he had done to his world. It dawned on him that all that he had known and loved, including Sheila, were now gone.

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  To Bill, who was on his third launch, the feeling accompanying time travel was expected, if not comfortable. It felt as if you were flattened out of existence then inflated back to life. As usual he felt somewhat disoriented after the jump. They stood in the emptiness of space in another time. After taking a bearing Rudder contacted Dr. Osbourne, they were on track. They would only have to set course for the black hole to collect it. He punched in the coordinates. The control panel in front of him came alive. The powerful thrusters hissed loudly as their jet of ionized matter propelled them to their destiny.

 After a few hours of monotonous travel, alarm bells broke the silence that had set amongst the crew. They were near the black hole. Dr. Hillzinger went to his equipment, that had been installed in the large cargo bay. He quickly set his machinery in action. The drone of the ships mighty fusion generators increased in pitch under the load of the containment system. Bill looked out the window and did not notice anything unusual going on. He said, to no one in particular.

 ”I do not see the black hole. Are you sure it is there?”

 Dr. Hillzinger replied. “It is of very small size, only a few centimetres in diameter. Though its mass is tremendous you will not see its effect due to the lack of matter entering it. If we were to collide with it, it would neatly bore a hole through the ship. When the containment field will be established there will be emission of high energy x-rays as the stray particles from the field enters it. Any matter in its vicinity will become ionized by the x-rays. You will see a glowing aura around the black hole.”

 Hillzinger turned back toward his equipment and Phil joined him to calibrate the field. Everybody were busy around Sven and Bill. They felt somewhat left out as they watched, with interest, the activity around them. Soon the drone of the fusion generator reached a climax and a crackling ball of energy stood in front of the time capsule. Phil, using an electromagnetic traction device, skilfully captured the black hole and stored it in a containment cell in the cargo bay. He cheerfully slapped his thighs and turned toward Bill. He said.

 ”See, there was nothing to it.”

 Bill smiled. He asked. “Do we have time to go have a look at earth before we set our plan into motion? I would like to have a look at what we are trying to preserve.”

 Rudder, from his command seat, yelled at the men assembled in the cargo hold.

 ”If you want to go to earth first, we should go right now. We only have a few hours before our appointed meeting with the asteroid. We will go and have a quick look.

 The thrusters throbbed back to life and they were on their way to earth. The view of the planet, as they approached was familiar to the crew. It had not changed drastically in the intervening eons. They touched down in a lush tropical area. They observed the scenery through the ships monitoring systems. They did not have the time for a full blown outing. Animal life teemed in the lowland area forested with massive fern trees. They caught the occasional glimpse of a massive sauropod lumbering through the tall plants.

 Bill was amazed at the sight of the fauna and flora untouched by man. This was a dream come true. He wished that Sheila was with him to enjoy the experience. Their stay was too short. Their senses had just been teased by the complexity of the Late Cretaceous ecosystems, when they had to leave. Bill hoped that one day they would be able to study this unspoiled habitat at leisure. But a more pressing engagement awaited them. They reluctantly left the planet’s surface, the thrusters at full blast.

  The trip to the rendez-vous point with the asteroid was a short one. The crew got busy calculating the coordinates for the release of the black hole. Bill felt somewhat left out of the process. He anxiously looked on as they worked. Soon the machinery was set in motions. Phil used the electromagnetic traction beam to manoeuvre the black hole outside the cargo bay. After double checking his computations Dr. Hillzinger instructed Phil to use an impulse beam to propel the contained black hole towards the asteroid.

 After a few wrenching minutes, the crackling ball of energy, containing the black hole, collided with the asteroid. A fiery release of energy ensued. In the aftermath of the collision the asteroid lost part of its mass. This matter was absorbed by the black hole. The result was a deviation of the asteroid’s path by a few degrees. Due to their distance from earth, this was enough to prevent a direct impact with the planet. The tidal forces from the close miss would create havoc with the earthly environment, but it would be a lot less destructive than a direct hit.

 With the tremendous release of energy from the collision a great deal of static prevented communication with home base. It did not worry the crew who had been expecting it. Rudder Rudigast, with the help of Gina Lesage, set the coordinates for their return home. There would be a short delay before the capsule’s capacitors would reach full charge. At that point they would return to the Institute.

 Bill spent this time thinking about his future with Sheila. This last week had been one of the happiest of his life. The woman he had always dreamt about, loved him after all. It had only been his shyness that had prevented them from hitting it on earlier. His new work association with Sven Blomquist and Sheila opened so many new possibilities that it would take a lifetime to unravel all of them. Both his personal and work life were at their zenith.

 Bill’s ruminations were interrupted by Rudder’s voice. “We will be proceeding with time transfer in thirty seconds. Please brace yourselves.”

 The crew experienced the now familiar sensation. When they emerged at the other end of the time warp, they were greeted by billowing clouds of noxious smoke. They were caught in a tremendous storm raging over an immense active volcano. Rudder controlled their position. He yelled in a high pitched hysterical voice, as he fought with the capsule’s controls.

 ”According to my instruments we are directly over where the Institute should be. I don’t know what happened while we were gone, but a massive volcano lies in its place. I will try to set us down.”

 While Rudder and Gina were busy at the controls, the remainder of the crew prepared themselves for the worse. They buckled their safety harnesses tightly. All were tossed and buffeted as the experienced pilots tried to find a proper spot for a landing. A brief respite from the storm permitted them to locate such an area. Rudder aimed the capsule toward it, as the storm doubled in intensity. Any attempt at a soft landing was futile. Rocked by the storm the ponderous mass of the shuttle hit the ground with a terrifying crash. Only its great strength prevented it from rupturing. All aboard were knocked unconscious by the impact.

Part 7, the conclusion, to follow soon… 

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  The morning of their flight was suddenly upon them. All had been checked and double checked. Tension filled the air. The scientists paced the floor nervously while the technicians attended to last minute details. Beside the regular crew of Rudder Rudigast and Gina Lesage, Dr. Hillzinger, Phil Redbird, Sven and Bill would be passengers of the capsule. Sheila Osbourne would remain behind to monitor her equipment from the Institute’s control room.

 She cornered Bill before he was ready to embark. She kissed him deeply and said.

 ”Now that the experiment is almost over I am looking forward to spend more time with you. And I do not mean work time. Though there is some research that I would not mind doing with you.”

 On that she hugged him suggestively and escorted him to the capsule’s narrow hatch, where they parted company. Bill joined the rest of the crew in the cabin where everyone was already preparing for the time flight. He buckled himself in a comfortable seat. While the flight crew was going through the final checklist Bill leaned toward Sven. He said.

 ”Do you think that we are doing the right thing? I feel somewhat like god. I hope that we are not playing with something that we cannot handle.”

 Sven answered. “It sound to me like you are getting cold feet. You know as well as I do that we are doing this for the good of mankind.”

 ”I know…, it’s just that I am anxious to get going. Actually I am more anxious to come back to Sheila.”

 Sven laughed heartily. He replied. “It is nice to see that the shy Dr. Livingston is finally coming out of his shell. Don’t worry we will be back in time for supper. You will be able to go out with your cherished Sheila.”

 Their discussion was interrupted by Rudder’s voice. He was saying. “We are about to disconnect the umbilicals. There will be a short period of darkness before we go to internal power.”

 The lights blinked on and off a few times then stabilized. A soft hum enveloped them. Rudder’s voice came back on.

 ”Please get ready for time transfer. We will be going in one minute.”

 Bill looked out the small aperture in the shuttle’s side. He caught one last glimpse of Sheila, standing behind her console, before his vision became blurry.

 From Sheila’s point of view the jump appeared normal. First the outline of the time capsule became blurry, then it flattened itself into nothingness with a loud clap. She hoped that all was as well as it appeared. She had more riding on this launch than usual, Bill was aboard.

Part 6 to follow soon… 

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  The next morning Bill awoke in his apartment with a broad smile on his face. Last night had been one of the best of his life. Sheila had been a brilliant conversationalist. They had talked until the wee hours of the morning. He had accompanied her back to the house where they chatted some more. They had made plans for the future. For now they would concentrate on their secret project so that all their energy would go towards its completion. Afterwards they would start a life together. With the celebrity and funding that would surely come from bringing back the dinosaurs, they would have all the opportunities to do the research that they both wanted. Their common goal was to make earth a better place to live in.

 Bill slowly showered and dressed. He met Sheila in a park near the Institute of Advance Physics. They hugged tenderly. Sven was already at work to finalize the details with Dr. Hillzinger. Sheila escorted Bill through a service entrance. They arrived at her laboratory undetected. They were met at the door by Rudder Rudigast. Technicians were busy working around the large time capsule.

 It looked like a giant cylinder with rounded ends resting on a gigantic pancake. It always reminded Bill of a colossal fried egg with a cylindrical yolk. The test pilot said.

 ”Dr. Blomquist is waiting for you in the office with Dr. Hillzinger. They have some good news for you.”

 Sheila turned toward Bill. She said. “It is nice to have good news for a change.” She led Bill to her office’s door.

 Behind the glass partition Bill could see the tall Swede discussing emphatically with a short grey haired man. He presumed that the older man was Dr. Hillzinger. Sheila confirmed his suspicion. When she entered the room, she turned toward the man and said.

 ”Good morning Dr. Hillzinger. It is nice to see you. I hear that you have good news for us.”

 The man answered in a raspy voice, the result of a lifetime of too much good living.

 ”I have located the ideal black hole to deviate your asteroid. With a few more hours of computations, I will have the exact coordinates for the transfer and interaction. My containment equipment should be installed in your time capsule within two days. Now the only thing that I need from you is the rigorous location, in time, of the interaction, so that we get the results that you want of it.”

 Sven put his arm around Bill’s shoulders and brought him in front of a large wall terminal. He punched a few buttons on the control unit and said.

 ”This is the theoretical results of the asteroid’s interaction with earth, after a close miss. We will have to decide what ecological consequences would best serve our goals. I suggest that we do not create too drastic a change to preserve as much of the habitat as possible, on a large enough scale, to be effective.”

 The two men worked for several days on their theoretical model. They finally agreed on the parameters needed to preserve part of the Late Cretaceous ecosystems and end up without too much drastic changes in the modern ones. From these parameters they calculated the precise timing of the interaction with the asteroid. The experiment was scheduled for the following week. In the meantime they would examine all the data and scrutinize the equipment.

Part 5 to follow soon… 

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 Later that afternoon, Bill was pacing the floors of his apartment. He was impatient to know what Sheila wanted to tell him. He already had changed clothes four times in anticipation of the meeting. He had finally selected a comfortable sport suit that fitted his body better than what he usually wore. It actually flattered his silhouette.

 When the time had come to leave for his appointment, he felt uneasy. He doubted that Sheila wanted to meet him for himself. She must have a business proposition for him.

 He entered the travel link at his apartment and programmed it to reach the posh section of town where she lived. As the small private capsule sped soundlessly, Bill nervously twiddled his fingers. He felt as if he was a teen-ager going on his first date. He new that he did not have any reason to feel nervous, but knowing this did not help the sensation.

 Soon the scenery changed from the endless agglomeration of massive residential buildings where he lived, to a scattering of luxurious residences on the side of a knoll overlooking the sprawling extent of the city. The dazzling array of emerging lights starting to battle the dusk, fascinated Bill. The thought of millions of people living so close together always unsettled him. Though he did live in a apartment complex where upwards of twenty thousand people lived, he barely new any of them and felt strangely isolated, when he was not consciously thinking about it.

 Bill’s daydreaming was interrupted by the slowing down of the capsule. He had finally reached his destination. Sheila’s house was of modest size and stood in the middle of a small but impeccably maintained garden. The house’s lights gave it a cheerful look. When the capsule stopped on the small landing pad, Bill exited with a purpose in his walk. He had finally decided to ask Sheila out, whether this was a business meeting or not.

 He walked the narrow path to the front door. He rang the old fashioned brass bell. His new found confidence was quickly shattered when a tall, handsome, blond man answered the ring. He said in a thick swedish accent.

 ”Dear Dr. Livingston, Sheila and I where waiting for you. Please come in.”

 In a quivering low voice, echoing his hurt spirit, Bill answered. “Thank you. Are you not Dr. Sven Blomquist, formerly of the EEC’s ecological council?”

 ”Yes, I am. Please call me Sven. May I call you Bill?”

 ”Please do.”

 The tall Swede took Bill by the shoulder and dragged him towards the living room. Bill finally noticed the cheerful surroundings. Sheila’s house was brightly decorated, in keeping with her sunny disposition. When they entered the room, Sheila greeted him with a warm embrace. Bill’s heart started pounding at her sudden closeness. She was dressed in a loose fitting, silk blouse and a pair of tight jeans that enhanced her figure. With a smile on her face she said.

 ”I am so glad to see you. You look as if the events of this afternoon have not affected you too much. May I introduce you to a good friend of the family, Sven Blomquist?”

 The lanky Swede said liltingly.

 ”We have already introduced ourselves. I am familiar with Bill’s work. I hope that he is familiar with mine.”

 Bill hesitantly answered. “Did you not do some work in radical ecosystem management leading to the salvaging of many important species?”

 Sven laughed. “It also led to my dismissal from the EEC council, because my method were not traditional enough. But let’s not talk of the past. I am tired of dealing with politicians, as, I am sure, you are. I have an interesting proposition for you that will make all the politicians take notice our cause and ultimately allocate the budgets that we deserve.” He smiled broadly and continued. “Remember that at the end of the Secondary period, about seventy million years ago, the dominant species disappeared from this planet almost overnight, in geological terms.

 The most common theory, as you well know, is that a large asteroid collided with earth and the ensuing clouds and darkness caused the extinction of the most dominant species of the period. With the help of Sheila’s equipment we have confirmed the veracity of the theory and the actual date of the asteroid’s collision.”

 Bill was astounded. His mind was racing ahead of the scientist’s words. He interrupted Sven and said. “Are you trying to say that based on my experimental work with the whales and your work on ecosystem management, your are planning to bring back and resurrect one of the ancient giant sauropod? This should get the politicians to take notice.”

 ”This, as you say, would get the entire world’s attention. But I want to go one step further by extrapolating on our joint research. I actually want to prevent the extinction of the dinosaurs by intercepting the asteroid before its impact with this planet. Sheila has a friend that is an expert in electromagnetic containment of black holes. The impact of one such black hole with the asteroid, at a great distance from earth would be enough to deviate the asteroid and prevent the impact. There would still be some radical changes in the ecosystems but I think that the species would have enough resiliency to adapt. Thus we would have some of the dinosaurs surviving to this date. What do you think of my plan?”

 Bill sat in silence for a long time. To bring back an extinct species was one thing, but to actually prevent their extinction opened some incredible possibilities that he had not even thought of. He slowly shook his head and said in a solemn voice.

 ”Since I do not have a regular job anymore I would be glad to join you in your work. If the world parliament does not take notice after this, there is no hope for mankind. Everybody should see that man should do its utmost to preserve any living organism’s place on our world. It is our ultimate duty.”

 ”I am glad that you see my ways. We shall start the final phase of our work, in complete secret, tomorrow. Sheila has agreed to sneak us up to her lab. I now have to leave you for a meeting with Dr. Hillzinger. We will discuss his containment system. I think he also has found a black hole that we can use in the period and vicinity where we want to intercept the asteroid. I bid you farewell and will see you both in the morning.”

 The tall Swede shook Bill’s and Sheila’s hands. He showed himself to the door. Bill’s mind was so preoccupied by the work ahead, that it took him a short time to realize that he was still standing in Sheila’s living room and that she was looking at him with anticipation. He nervously coughed. He said in a quivering voice.

 ”Have you known Sven for a long time?”

 ”We go way back. We both studied in France. We have been good friends ever since. His father was an associate of my dad. But enough about him. How are you doing?”

 ”Well…, I have a new found purpose for my life’s works that I hope to share with those dear to me.”

 ”Who might they be.”

 Bill blushed at her directness. He reached deep inside himself for courage. He took both her hands in his own and said. “I do not know who they might all be, but I know for sure that you are one of them.”

 It was Sheila’s turn to blush. She had not expected him to answer her question. Loosing his job might have been the most beneficial think that ever happened to him. He already looked more confident and outspoken. She took him in her arms and kissed him deeply before he could move away from her.

 For once in his life Bill did not shy from her proximity. He returned her embrace with vigour. After what seemed like a long time they pulled apart breathlessly. They both felt dizzy from their new intimacy. She pulled him by the arm and said.

 ”Let’s go out for a bite to eat. I am famished. We will be able to discuss our joint life projects.” She coyly winked at him at the last words.

 Bill, for a change, did not feel embarrassed. He followed her out of the house the happiest and luckiest man in the world.

Part 4 to follow soon… 

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