All text and other materials on this Web page not specifically designated otherwise are Copyright © 2015 by John R. Patin
"A rip-snorting, non-stop, crash-land on an alien planet adventure!" - J. R. Patin
TfT #8 cover Epsilon Express; 'overanx32' Copyright © 2014 S. P. SMITH
TfT #7 cover DREAMBONES; 'They're coming!' Copyright © 2013 S. P. SMITH
TfT #9 cover Soul Matter; 'Captured' Copyright © 2015 S. P. SMITH
More Omega Files
TfT #8 Omega File Archive
Welcome to Tales from TOMORROW #8. We have two pieces for your reading enjoyment this time. The first is the oddly named ‘overanx32’. If you don’t know what that means yet, read the spoiler alert, above, one more time, slowly and carefully. Read it out loud if that helps. Then give yourself a little comprehension test, because you are in the wrong place. Read the story, then come back here and we will all be in our happy place. (Does anyone know if there is a Pulitzer Prize for snark?)
Where were we? Oh, yes, ahem, ‘overanx32’. Believe it or not, what became a 29,000+ word novella and very well could have grown into a minimal novel (40,000 words according to the SFWA), started out with the intent of being a short fill in for TfT #6.
Obviously, that didn’t happen.
Before my very eyes it just kept growing. And growing. Then it sort of mutated sideways. Really, the odd title was meant to be the lead in for what was intended to be a quickie with a crack-me-up one-liner ending. Instead, I found myself typing away and these characters kept walking into the story, and those characters had back stories (oh, did they have back stories). As I often do, I let it happen because it looked like interesting material that I could cut out and paste into my notes as background or scenes in a later story. Sorry, but in my case, creativity never seems to work in straight lines. Most of the really good stuff just wells up out of my subconscious and when the muse is in, it pays to listen and sort out the details later. In this case, the whole thing just kind of jelled into something bigger than my conscious self originally intended.
Much bigger.
Originally, the story was meant to end with Dani, Ringer, and Cliff realizing that they were heirs to an entirely new, really big warehouse full of stuff (and all the concomitant adventures that promised). Then I asked myself a fatal question; what kind of stuff? Like a kid before Christmas, I couldn’t leave it alone for later. I had to take a mental peek under the wrapper.
Oops. Starships. Oh my. What’s more, they were cargo ships.
At that point I had to learn more. The old cub reporter questions - Who, What, Where, When, How and Why - jumped up shouting ‘me, me!’, but no immediate answers were forthcoming from my aforementioned muse, who was apparently once more out. Fortunately, the story had reached a spot where I could put it aside for a bit (meaning, I was up against a wall), so I bumped it to issue #7 (or so I thought). #6 already had enough material that it would survive without a funny little short. But then, ‘overanx32’ developed growing pains. Answers to the above questions began drifting up out of the lower regions of my subconscious to wrap their tentacles around my synapses like so many children of Cthulhu. Soon, I had so much material for the story that I had just been dumping at the back end for later sorting, that I ended up with a textual Gordian knot to untangle.
The bulk of issue #7 was the conclusion to my novel Dreambones and I didn’t want to hang up my faithful readers (all three of them) again, so I shelved ‘overanx’ once more. I still needed something else for that issue, but I got lucky. I had always wanted to write a sequel to ‘Aid Station’ back in TfT#1 (the original Two Tales from TOMORROW) and the muse had decided to show up for work again (for a limited engagement). ‘First Aid’ was born. It came together with comparatively few problems and TfT#7 got out the door.
So here we are. Remember, we started this article talking about issue #8. See why it sometimes takes me so long to write something? My brain keeps wandering off on tangents and then the tangents develop tangents and then…
Sorry. Sometimes I just have to hit the reset button (using the application of direct force with the heel of my hand to the left temporal area of my cranium).
Anyway, I finally got ‘overanx32’ sorted out and thought I had an ending when, during an edit, it happened again.
Sandoval.
Sandoval had been sitting around for quite some time in my notes. She was one of those middle of the night inspirations that I just had to get out of bed to jot down.
(SEGUE)
A note to aspiring writers. I don’t know how many times I simply rolled over in a warm bed, thinking; ‘That’s a really great idea. Surely, I’ll remember that one in the morning.’ Yeah, right. Get UP and WRITE it DOWN! Immediately, warm bed or no. There is no more disgusting way for a writer to start a day than knowing you had a great idea, but it is gone now.
(un-SEGUE. You see? This is the sort of thing I am talking about. Ideas pop out randomly in my head like fireworks in a burning pyrotechnics factory.)
Anyway, I had this really great opening scene sitting in my notes with Cliff and Ringer, concerning Sandoval, and I had no idea who the hell she was. The scene told me that they had serious issues, just shy of open warfare, yet there was a hint of something more between her and Cliff. And there it sat until her name popped up in ‘overanx32’. Dani was having her emotional scene about the last day on Kinkus. Something extra was called for and Alessandra Sandoval, call name ‘Sandy’, stepped in to provide that ‘something’. And suddenly, her whole story was unfolding in my mind.
Where was it all coming from? I can only surmise that, somewhere in the labyrinth of my id, that ofttimes missing muse had been stitching it all together without telling me. But it is great stuff, and you will be hearing more from Sandoval. It turns out she is a linchpin that ties a lot of things together. I don’t have it all yet (I think the lines of communication between my conscious and subconscious sometimes fall victim to sunspot activity or something), but it will surface sooner or later. Maybe that muse I mentioned will have to hand carry it to my frontal lobes, but it will show up, I’m sure.
By the way, that original scene will appear in the next story featuring Sandoval. I will have to tidy it up a bit because it takes place in the Epsilon Express offices and my original description had the place looking a bit shabbier than currently described. After all, Cliff got in all that new furniture…
Anyway, ‘overanx32’ supplies a lot of potential future storytelling. I hope you enjoyed it and consider that it had enough of a ‘wrap’ to not bring howls of frustration. I think I managed that while leaving enticing clues for upcoming Tales. Believe me, I hate cliffhangers, and that last scene was meant to be more of a sneak peek than something meant to frustrate my readers. If you feel I came down too far over that nebulous line, feel free to e-mail me. I have yet to start that letters column and you could become a part of the marvelous world of self-publishing. :>
One last note: Bolos. As noted in the story, bolos are the creation of the great and much missed Keith Laumer. I give him full credit for the term, and my use of it is an homage, though his bolos are usually somewhat larger than those in my ‘Havener’ universe. I truly expect that his legacy will one day be so honored in real life. AI tanks are coming to a future near you, and they will be called bolos. Laumer’s works have been an inspiration to me since I was a kid. If you have not read any of his Bolo, Retief, or Imperium series, your Science Fiction experience has been sadly lacking.
The second story in this issue is ‘Ping’. It is sort of a first-contact story without the contact, at least not directly. It allowed me to have a bit of fun with crew interactions, while developing a greater story arc that will introduce an entire race to the Havener universe. ‘Ping’ takes place in the last decade of the wild period of exploration and colonization known as the ‘Great Expansion’ that runs from 2090 AD, right after the flight of the Far Quest in 2089, and which ends with the NeDan attack on Dogwalk in 2170. Humanity considered the galaxy to be their oyster until then, and explored and colonized without trepidation. Our only problems during this period were with each other. Buncha party poopers, those squids, spoiling people’s fun. The Great Expansion is an interesting, freewheeling time, and ought to generate some fun tales in future issues.
On your way to this page you may have noticed a new feature this issue; Recommended Reads. These will only be books that I have read myself and give my seal of approval to, for whatever that’s worth. But, if you liked what I wrote, then it stands to reason that you might like what I like to read. Have a look-see.
Sic Itur Ad Astra
TfT #9 Omega File archive
My thoughts on the stories you have just read (and anything else that pops into my head). This is a mental free-fire zone (or maybe just a mental zone), so don’t expect a lot of coherence.
SPOILER ALERT – read beyond this point AFTER you have read the stories in this issue, ok? It will just work out so much better for you that way.
Welcome to Tales from TOMORROW #9. Again we have two stories for your reading enjoyment plus a couple of odd bits that have rattled loose from the weird place my mind calls home.
On your way to this page you may have noticed a recently added feature; Recommended Reads. These will only be books that I have read myself and give my seal of approval to, for whatever that’s worth. But, if you liked what I wrote, then it stands to reason that you might like what I like to read. Have a look-see. For more of my own stuff, check below.
A NEW (occasional) FEATURE being introduced in this issue is ‘Between the Cracks’ – You will see in paper magazines the odd little item or bit of drivel that they use to fill the white space between articles, ‘between the cracks’ so to speak. A digital publication has no need of such since there is no wasted space. Yet, I feel something is missing from my little e-zine without such items. Luckily, my brain has lots of its own cracks, out of which small, half-baked, ideas sometimes tumble. Often these ideas are orphans, stunted at birth and nothing more can be done with them. Others are born fully formed in their diminutive size. The name ‘flash fiction’ has been coined to identify these short shorts (100 to 1000 words). ‘Micro fiction’ defines stuff under 100 words.
Either way, they are what they are, as the annoying idiom goes, and I shall pass them on to you as a sort of interlude between the ‘real’ stories. The first such example appears in this issue. Unless my readers complain (and I have yet to hear from a single one of the three of you), I will persist in dropping these unpolished gems before your perplexed eyes whenever one strikes me as qualified (you should see the unqualified stuff). Don’t get too excited about them and start looking forward to them or anything. Their appearance may be a spotty thing. Like Calvin said to Hobbes in one of his comic strips: Sometimes an idea not only never gets into the air, or even onto the runway, it simply explodes in the hanger. Brace yourselves; ‘Afterlife’ is likely to be one of the better ones. And ‘The Interview’? Well, it is what it is. :/
As for how Afterlife came about, I haven’t a clue. It is one of those things that just shook loose, as I mentioned above. What triggered it could have been anything from a TV commercial to a bad piece of cheese. No excuses, but I’m leaning toward the cheese theory.
Soul Matter – Oh boy, where to begin with this one? Its back story is a saga in itself. Suffice to say that the original version was pre PC – that means Personal Computer, not the Politically Correct thing, but it was before that too. That means that it has been floating around my house on paper (remember that stuff?) since… well, a long time ago, so long that I thought I had lost it. It had made the rounds of all the SF mags of the day and accrued a file folder full of ‘It looks nice, but it’s not what we’re looking for…’ rejections. I have some pretty impressive signatures on those rejection letters. Maybe I can sell them on E-bay someday. :>
Anyway, the thing surfaced again a while back and I did wince at some of the typos, but I realized there was still a good story in there, so Soul Matter got a rewrite and an upgrade to the digital age, though the OCR software seems to have buried a few random control codes in the text. I think I have hunted them all down now, but different Kindle models and e-readers seem to react to submitted texts differently. If your copy of Soul Matter is doing strange things in your reader, please let me know.
If you think the story is a bit grim, you ought to see the original version - it reads like act III of Hamlet. The story was my first use of the NeDan, who became the stock bad guys in my Havener universe (actually, there are worse things out there than the NeDan, but I’m saving them for a really boring day). I realized the story deserved resurrection if only as a handy way to put a ‘face’ (or two, given their physiognomy) on my perennial squidlike foe. It also begins to explain a few things about their motivations and sets up a rationale (from their point of view) for their hostility toward humanity. I intend to go into that more deeply in future Tales, not just as an exercise in alien logic, but because there is some great story material in there (I think).
Arms Race is a follow-up to an incident in my SF action adventure novel Dreambones. If you have gotten to this issue (#9) without skipping TfT #4 thru 7, then you are familiar with it and the chapter titled Birdmen of Dirdan, in which the escape of Rice and Jaxx from their Saarian captivity takes place. It occurred to me some time after publishing the book that the Imperials got quite an eyeful and might start tinkering. It isn’t like a hang glider is such a complicated device. Had ancient Romans ever seen a bicycle, for instance, there would have been little in the way of them building their own. The ride might have been bumpier without pneumatic tires, but it would have been doable. Think of Roman Legions on bicycles… Now think of Saarians with aerial reconnaissance. As if they needed another edge in their war of conquest. On the other side there is Jaxx, a young man with a lot of anger and drive to do whatever it takes to stop the Saarians. He also has a young man’s urge to seek new thrills. Certainly, jumping off a two-kilometer high cliff without ever having considered the possibility of human flight must have been an eye opener, if not a life-changing event.It is funny, but I was having so much fun writing the scene in the book that I didn’t think of the ramifications until much later. Arms Race is the beginning of an attempt to tell the story of those complications and their effect on the war between the Saarians and Highlanders. As I mentioned in the lead-in to the story, I hope I gave enough background for those who had not read the book to follow what was going on. Still, I think those who read Dreambones will enjoy the story a bit more. I hope to write other such follow-up stories. Maybe they will one day jell into another novel based on Dirdan, but in the meantime I will try to keep each such tale self-contained, so each can be enjoyed by itself.
Sic Itur Ad Astra
TfT #6 cover Epsilon Express; 'Milk Run' Copyright © 2013 S. P. SMITH
TfT #6 Omega File Archive
Welcome to Tales from TOMORROW #6. As seems depressingly usual, we are late again. Tardiness appears to be the only predictable part of our publication schedule so far. But sometimes, the good stuff takes a little longer, and I hope you found the contents of this issue to your liking. Please, if you haven’t read it already, go back and enjoy the issue before reading further. I may have a few spoilers below.
There are only two pieces in this issue; the continuation of my epic SF adventure ‘Dreambones’, and another Epsilon Express story that grew into a novella, of all things.
In Dreambones, Eric Rice gets to meet the Saarian Emperor and learns way more than he ever wanted to about the silk trade on Dirdan. As might be expected, gathering silk from cranky spiders the size of wolfhounds is a tad more exciting than feeding mulberry leaves to caterpillars on Earth. He exceeds Jaxx’s expectations concerning his supposed wizardly powers when he subjects the young man to a little exhibition of the properties of flight. Unfortunately, the bad guys also got an eyeful, something I had not fully considered when I wrote that sequence. I may have to explore the ramifications of that in the future.
The dragons of Dirdan come out of the closet when Fleetclaw loses his temper and the humans of that world begin to realize that some very old stories may not all be fairy tales. There are new (old) players on the field. This, too, is something that warrants further exploration. Fortunately, I think I know a certain e-publication that might be receptive to such stories. Don’t hold your breath, though. I think my next major project may take place in an entirely different universe. But maybe something will slip through between chapters from time to time.
The Epsilon Express story (excuse me, novella. You know, I once almost got laughed out of a high school English class for using that term? Apparently it is not utilized much outside SF circles.) …anyway, ‘Milk Run’ sort of grew on me, and grew, and grew… The problem was that I wanted to tell my readers all about this fascinating place called Far Haven. I could have dribbled that description out over several more stories, but like the place itself, I thought it would be more impressive if you got the whole picture in one huge sandbag of a description. I know, I broke the rule and used a bit more ‘tell’ than ‘show’ (ok a lot more), but the Havens have been spinning around in my head for a lot longer than you want to know. It had to come out. Call it an info dump. Sorry to those whose eyes glazed over. I understand that there are readers who actually skip over such stuff and just go on to the ‘action’. Hey, I like action too, but isn’t it more exciting when you know the terrain?
Yeah, I know, Comic Books are passé. Who in the future is still going to be reading them? Talk to a collector and find out. And the Underworld? Chalk it up to some mobster with a sense of humor who couldn’t resist reviving the term when the Havens already had such places built for them. (Well, maybe, but more on that some other time. Really, I could have told you a LOT more about the Havens. Do you know what is in the 4K section Forward of the Core? Again, later.) Well, there is always going to be an underworld as long as there is someone to make rules other people don’t want to live by. Like someone once said; ‘every time they make a new law they create new business for criminals.’ Without government, the Mob wouldn’t exist. That is why the criminal element on the Havens like to export their business to places like God’s Acres. It is hard to corner a market in an environment where anybody can go into competition with you legally. It is also hard to get too pushy about it when people can push back. After a hundred years of warfare, there aren’t too many genuine civilians around anymore. Most people in the Havens have a pretty good idea how to handle the surplus hardware that is available, and there is a lot of hardware floating around. And (as it turns out) some of that hardware doesn’t even need a human to push its buttons anymore. Another area to explore in upcoming issues.
Which reminds me to make an acknowledgement for the inspiration Keith Laumer’s Bolo stories provided. I grew up reading those stories, and loved them, as I did all of Laumer’s stuff. When I started to introduce warbots to my own stories I thought ‘What would people of the future call such Machines?’ I could think of no more evocative name and no better tribute to the memory of Keith Laumer, than to have them perpetuate the legacy he created with his Bolos. My bolos may not be Continental Siege Units, but hey, Machines evolve too.
I hope you enjoyed this issue and look forward to the next.
Sic Itur Ad Astra
Tft #7 Omega File Archive
Welcome to Tales from TOMORROW #7. Ok, ok, I know… late again. Aarrg… Maybe I should have written a pirate novel. No, I’m not even going to try to explain, and nary a hurricane in sight to blame it on. It’s here. Just be happy.
SPOILER ALERT – read the rest AFTER you have read the stories above, ok? It will just work out so much better that way.
We have two pieces for your reading enjoyment this issue. The first is the nail biting, nay, thrilling, conclusion of Dreambones! I’m pretty proud of it and I think you will find it leaves you satisfied. Eric Rice and S’Seekio Re finally meet and have a meeting of the minds… so to speak. Both of them have commitments off planet and take their leave; not to say this concludes their stories, but I think it is safe for the reader’s peace of mind to at least conclude this novel that way. I don’t mind books that leave the reader hoping for more, I just don’t care for cliffhangers that leave the reader hanging. That is especially true when you are dealing with a writer (like me) whose rate of output would make George R.R. Martin look like a Barbara Cartland (723 novels in a 77-year writing career, and she isn’t even in the top FIVE). Though to defend George, I think everyone finds his stuff worth the wait. Hopefully, in time, (wince), my own readers will at least give me similar credit. Oh, wait, that’s what I need – READERS! Anyway, let’s just call Dreambones a good start while we all work on our patience, huh?
Some of the characters in Dreambones have continuing stories that all but demand telling. When? No promises, but there will be more from them. Some are obvious such as the two Rissan; Fleetclaw and Dreamer. They have seen the past and want more, starting with a future for their people. Having seen the stars, they want them. It is their heritage, after all. I think the story of Syn DaNeel needs to continue as well. How successful will his recruiting effort in Modath be?
Jaxx started out as a foil for Rice and other characters, and developed into something more as well. It turns out he has some issues to sort out. Then there is Stentor and King Ens’ rissriders in Longfork. Strategically, they hold the key to the entire war with the Saarian Empire. Something ought to be made of that too.
Finally there is the Rescued Woman. Who is she? To be honest, I don’t know, and that frustrates me. Believe it or not, she simply started out as a prop, a hand sticking out of the gravel to emphasize the Highlanders’ total victory in their breakout from the gap.
And then her fingers twitched.
Honest to god, that wasn’t in the script, but something told me that not everyone buried by that landslide was dead… yet. I couldn’t leave them like that. Neither could tough guy, King’s Man, Stentor. Especially since, to make the scene more poignant, I’d made it a woman’s hand. It twitched, and suddenly I was asking myself, who was this woman?
That is the sort of thing about writing that makes it interesting to me. Believe it or not, sometimes a writer’s own creation can surprise its author. The story develops a life of its own and, in my opinion, the writer is wise to let it go and see where it leads. Sometimes you can wind up in the damnedest places. Of course, other times it can be a dark and blind alley with a big, ugly mugger (plot knot), standing between you and the way out. That happened to me while writing First Aid and the solution was to excise an entire twelve-hundred word segment and start a new story with it. You will see that… sometime.
The Rescued Woman demanded a somewhat different approach. She needed to be there to do the job assigned to her hand (poignancy, remember), but it was too late to be introducing an important new character to Dreambones, and like I’ve said, I don’t know who she is! What I do know is that in the middle of some night I’m going to sit up in bed saying “So that’s who she is!” and then I will be able to write her story, and Stentor’s... sometime. Keep looking in Tales from TOMORROW and find out… sometime.
Which leads me to the subject of how to deal with these odd bits and pieces of loose plot string. Do I roll them all into another ball and call it a novel or do I just let them play out as individual stories in the electronic pages of this magazine? Right now, I am leaning toward the latter, though who knows where it might all end up? At least that way you, my poor, patient reader, will have a chance to see a bit more of these characters without having to wait until… whenever (which is a somewhat longer time span than sometime).
Well, (figuratively dusting off my hands because a writer never does that literally, you might drop a good story idea) that wraps up Dreambones… for now.
Oh, last but absolutely not least, let me thank my artist, Sean P. Smith, a talented guy and friend, who has contributed two covers specifically for Dreambones issues (TfT#4 and this one, #7). Actually, he has done ALL my covers so far and is even working on the next one for TfT#8 which will be out… you got it… sometime in the future. What is gonna be in it? I ain’t sayin’. It seems that every time I make a promise the odd gods of the galaxy start focusing Entropy in my personal corner of the place. Hopefully, one of them will feature Dani and Ringer, our intrepid delivery folks, but NO promises. The story I am thinking of is already a novella and still growing. It is one of the reasons that… no. NOT going to talk about it.
Back to this issue:
The second piece in TfT#7 is called First Aid. It is a direct sequel to the story, Aid Station, which appeared in TfT#1. Aid Station has always been a favorite of mine and always begged to have more of its characters’ stories told, especially that of Meskio Sen. Here you have that story (at least, the beginning of it). The strange thing about it is that it somehow mutated into a bit of a romance. I mean, nobody even gets shot in it – not even once! Go figure. See what I mean about writing surprising you? Still, even without my normally requisite level of mayhem and violence, I think it worked out pretty well. Maybe I ought to give up on SF adventure and take up writing Romance stories… ??
*
Nah.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this issue, all of it, and look forward to the next one… whenever.
Oh, a note on punctuation. Several times in First Aid, I make use of a double punctuation mark (!?). It is called an interrobang ( which maybe means it ought to be typed ?!). My editor pointed out that no one ever uses the damn thing and most would think it was some sort of weird misprint. Nevertheless, the thing exists. Look in Wingdings. Actually, the more I think about it, the more I like using the ! and ? marks discretely, especially since I seem to prefer the bang before the interro. Maybe we can call my version a powque and start a fad.
5 STARS
"Great Story... The author has a fun writing style." - Matthew W. Steiner