I recently discussed my 2014 goals, which included my goal to continue writing one free story here each month. 12 stories costing you nothing more than the time to read them. What a deal, right?
I've decided to upgrade that goal. (A little Cyberman terminology for you.) I've decided to do a 12 episode serial for the year. Each month will deliver a new chapter in the . . .
Well, I haven't figured it out quite yet. I'm leaning toward a space opera, maybe superhero in space, or some kind of space cop series. Maybe some kind of mixture of it all. Hopefully have the first one out later this week.
Be sure to subscribe (links in top right of website) if you wish to follow the story.
Until then, keep reading!
So be watching for it. If any of my readers has a preference on what kind of tale to tell, speak up soon!
Showing posts with label superhero. Show all posts
Showing posts with label superhero. Show all posts
Monday, January 13, 2014
Monday, November 4, 2013
Free on Kindle!
Virtual Hero, my collection of four superhero, space opera short stories set in the Virtual Chronicles universe, is now available for free on Amazon Kindle!The collection has been free for some months on other sites, but I'd been waiting for Amazon to price match. They finally did so within the last few days. So if you've been saying, "I want it--oh do I want it--but I'll wait for it to be free on Amazon first," well, your wait is over.
Go to Amazon to download your copy today.
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
The Call of Nature
Since a lot of my early short stories/flash fictions were on sites that are no longer active, I thought I would post them here. This story was my first accepted story, back around May of 2006, and was published in Raygun Revival on February 2007. I've also included in my anthology, Ethereal Worlds. Enjoy.
~~ R. L. Copple
The metal hanger, which housed the Z-14X prototype space plane, shined in the moonlight just beyond the barbed-wired fence. The moonlight reminded John of the sun. He couldn't wait to see it against the blackness of space.
The security fence gloated, "Just try to get through," but it hadn't counted on someone who could simply fly over. It hadn't counted on—Moth Man.
The only real ability John possessed: he could fly using the soft wings on his back. That and the fact if someone ate him, they would die of toxic poison. "A lot of good that would do me. Why couldn't a radioactive spider have bitten me? Why a moth?" he had often wondered.
Yet now the wings came in handy. He lifted himself into the air. Wind flowed through his hair as he bounced though the cool night over the compound. Soon he sank to the ground beside the hanger.
John peered into the window and saw the craft bathed in dim moonlight: a black shell, adorned by four wings well back on the craft, spread out in an "X" pattern. Just as his web research had revealed. Touted as the first plane to fly successfully out of earth's gravity and into space, it looked the part.
A growl sounded. He swung around to see a German Shepherd baring its teeth. He froze. I could probably fly away before he reached me. He prepared to launch.
"Freeze!" A uniformed man swung around the corner, brandishing a rifle pointed straight at John. He froze again.
I might be able to escape the dog, but not the bullet. "Sorry, can you tell me how to get to the Hilton? I seem to be lost."
He didn't buy it. "Up against the wall, hands high." The dog threatened with a low rumbling growl.
John complied, what else could he do? As he followed the officer's orders, his black and gold tiger-moth wings came into view.
"What the…" The officer moved closer and felt the wings. He rubbed the wing dust off his hands with a grimace and then patted John down for weapons.
John saw his opportunity. He swung his wings hard, hitting the officer in the head. The hit and wing dust disoriented him. John's fist landed a hit squarely on the back of his neck. The guard dropped unconscious. John launched himself into the air before the dog could reach him. The Shepherd's snapping jaws just missed John's dangling foot.
The barking dog now broadcasted the fact that an intruder had penetrated the compound. John no longer had time for subtleties. Landing on the roof, he kicked in the skylight. It shattered open, and he winged his way inside.
Now, where did they store the plutonium fuel rods? John swung around and spotted them, in a box labeled as such along the wall. He grabbed a handful and flew to the cockpit. Once inside, he inserted all but two fuel rods into the power receptors and initiated the injection process.
By now, several guards filed in the door, guns encircled the ship. The engines had power, so John increased the throttle. The plane lurched forwards. Gunfire echoed in the hanger. Warning shots, hoping it would scare John into stopping no doubt. They didn't want to riddle their craft with holes. Not until they had no other recourse.
Doing a standard take-off would take too long. John thought about going right to the nuclear escape engines. Such force, designed for airborne ignition, could tear it and him apart from a near-dead stop. He had only one viable course of action.
He braced himself, then hit the ignition switch. The Gs slammed him into the seat. He struggled to maintain consciousness. The metal groaned under the strain. The plane shot forward and ploughed through the hanger doors. Scraping metal sounds echoed through the cockpit. It bounced along the ground. A fence raced toward the plane. John pulled back on the stick, already speeding past 200 knots. The prototype shot upward. The Gs squished him as if a giant hand pushed on his head.
As the plane cleared the buildings and the land quickly receded, John cut the ignition and switched to standard fuel. His field of vision returned and his face reshaped to its rounded state like a baby fresh out of the womb.
John glanced at the escape-engine fuel gauge. The stunt had expended a third of what he needed to escape earth's gravity. He inserted the other two rods. The solar panels should keep life support going as long as needed. John didn't expect to return anyway.
John released manual control to the computer. The escape engines fired. Again he sank into the seat. The craft angled higher. The blue sky receded. The stars brightened, looking like white sand dusting a black void. The horizon shifted to a curved surface rimmed with the sun's golden silhouette.
Suddenly, a ray of sunlight broke over the earth's rim, bathing John in awe. Its beauty filled his mind. The light entranced John; its song called to him.
Time suspended, the shinning light against the blackness of space filled all desire. Before, John had flown as high as his wings would let him but the sun remained out of reach. Now, he could soar until he soaked in all of its beautiful light.
John pulled a disk from his pocket and held it before his eyes. He had pre-programmed the flight path: a one-way trip to the sun. His gaze moved back to the enveloping fireball. He could hold back no longer. John slid the disk into the ship's computer. It responded with beeps and a message reading, "program accepted." The engines adjusted the trajectory.
Did John know it would kill Him? Yes. But he didn't care. He could not rest until he took in all the glorious radiance his body could endure.
"Why couldn't I have been bit by a radioactive spider instead?"
Check out Ethereal Worlds for more short stories.
Thursday, June 6, 2013
Power Hungry: A Virtual Chronicles Short Story
This short story is set to happen shortly after the events in Hero Game. This story does not appear in any of the books.
Bridget snapped her eyes open. She'd almost fallen asleep. She peered across their bedroom and examined her brother, Jeremy. The moonlight filtering through the blinds gave enough light to illuminate his face. Yes, he had fallen sleep, and yes, he didn't have his mask on.
He'd declared tonight a night off from virtual superhero patrolling. Saving people seemed minor in comparison to saving two planets. Besides, Jeremy said we made only a small dint in the number of crimes around the globe. Earth would get along without them for one night.
Jeremy may have seen this as an opportunity to relax, but that made it a prime chance for her to do her own thing without worrying about Jeremy or Mickey looking over her shoulder. Being nine, they tended to treat her like a kid. She would show them.
She slid her mask from under her pillow and pulled it over her head. She glanced at Jeremy to make sure he hadn't woken up, then pulled her covers over head, just in case he got up in the middle of the night.
"Suit, appear as Comet Girl," she whispered. Darkness overtook her for a couple of seconds before the control room on Titan materialized. Banks of screens, five rows high and twenty across, flashed images of live TV news feeds from across Earth.
She skipped to the control panel extending along the width of the screens and seated herself. She wiggled her fingers over the buttons in anticipation. "First, I want to see what new superhero I can use." She pushed a button and the screen in front of her lost its feed and a computer desktop appeared.
"Computer, display superhero list for Bridget Goodhue."
A list scrolled up the screen and stopped. Bridget slid her finger down them as she read. "Buggy." No, she'd tried that one before. Being a superhero gnat had limited advantages. "Duster." Being able to turn into dust and reform was cool, but got old real quick. Throwing dust in people's eyes was the worst she could do. How lame was that.
She scanned further down. Most of the options she'd seen before. They're weren't many choices. None of them had guns, rays, or such. Comet Girl came the closest to having any kind of real crime-fighting power.
She flopped back in her seat and crossed her arms. "No fair." What she needed was access to the programing and add in some features, but she didn't know anything about programing. Especially in Zorian.
She sat up. "Robert. He's a help robot. Maybe he. . . " She leaped from her seat and sped out of the room, down the stainless steel hallway, and into the bay. She picked an Eagle-class ship and entered. She stopped in the middle of the ship's control room. "Help!"
A door slid open and Robert rolled out of his bay. Flashing lights dotted his metallic chest. Accordion arms extended claws into the air. The glass bulb atop him sparked with electricity as he talked. "Robert is here to help. State your question."
"Can you access the programing of my superheroes?"
The flashing buttons sped up for a couple of seconds. "Affirmative."
"Can you add a feature to one of my superheroes?"
"Negative. I'm not programmed to build virtual features."
Bridget stomped her right foot. "How can I get more powers then? This sucks."
Robert retracted his claws back into his body. "Transfer."
Bridget met Robert's globe. "Transfer? What do you mean?"
"Move established superheroes from one account to yours."
"Move!" She smiled. "You mean, I can transfer Astro Man to my list?"
"Affirmative."
She clapped. "Then do it. Move Jeremy's superhero to my account."
A claw extended and touched his bulb, ever so slightly tilted. Lights flashed. He pulled his claw back in and straightened up. "Files are moved to Bridget Goodhue's account successfully."
"That's more like it." She closed her eyes. "Suit, appear here as Astro Man." Light dimmed to black and back again. Except now she stood taller. "Thank you, Robert. You can return to your bay."
She gasped. Her voice. It sounded like Jeremy's. She raced to the sleeping quarter and found a mirror in the bathroom. She swallowed. She looked exactly like her brother. "I'm a boy!" Her hand brushed against something on her side. "A boy with a raygun!" She slid it out and examined it. A sleek barrel widened to cover a stock. A cutaway section on the back held several buttons, with tiny code written under them.
How am I supposed to know what these do? Bridget holstered the gun. "Looks like I need a crash course on Astro Man's gun." She sped out of the ship, noticing how stronger her muscles pushed against the floor and longer her leaps. She returned to the control room and settled down into a chair to review Astro Man's bio and weapons specs. Minutes ticked by as she attempted to memorize the button codes.
She pulled the gun out and stared at the buttons. "BL for blinding light. R for ray gun. G for gravity ray. Not hard."
"Hey, Bucko! I see you couldn't stay away either."
Bridget jerked out of her chair. She spun around, her heart racing. "Mickey?"
Mickey, suited up as Blue Nova, frowned. "What's the matter, Bucko? You're as jumpy as Bridget? And what's with the formality?"
Bridget sucked in a deep breath. Did she tell him the truth? She didn't want to get caught. "Huh. . .you surprised me is all. Mick. I was. . .focused."
Mickey glanced at the screen. "On Astro Man's info? You know that superhero inside and out. He's your favorite."
Bridget shut the screen down before Mickey could notice it was under her account. "It had been a while since I looked at it. You never know if you've missed some little detail that. . . ," How would Jeremy say it? ". . .you've overlooked before."
Mickey slapped Jeremy on the back. "Always studying the instructions. I think you're addicted to them." He laughed.
Bridget feigned a half-smile.
A beeping penetrated the room. Bridget found the monitor whose light was flashing. "There." The news cast covered a mine opening that had collapsed in India. A group of miners, trapped inside, struggled to live.
Mickey glanced at Bridget. "We'd better act. What's the plan?"
"The. . .the. . .the plan? Uh, what do you think?"
Mickey focused on Bridget. "Bucko, you're always barking out orders."
Bridget shrugged. "I know. How rude of me. I think it's time to not hog all the authority around here. Suggestions?"
Mickey shook his head. "Sometimes you surprise me, Bucko. My suggestion would be Astro Man uses his gravity ray to lift the rocks up. I'll zoom in as Blue Nova and carry them out in less than a minute."
Bridget smiled. "Good idea." At least she'd identified the gravity ray. This sounded simple enough. "Let's go."
She entered the coordinates. "Suit, appear at coordinates as Astro Man." The control room faded to be replaced by the bustle of emergency workers scurrying to remove rocks from the opening.
One man noticed them, pointed and began chattering in his native language. Some men clustered around a table looked up, then headed their direction.
Mickey glanced at Bridget, as if expecting her to do something. He faced the men. "Any of you speak English?"
Two men raised their hands. One of them stepped forward. "We know who you are. Are you here to help?"
Bridget nodded, realizing she needed to take charge like Jeremy would. "Yes. Have everyone stand back from the opening. We'll take it from there."
The man nodded and communicated her message to the others. Men barked orders and the workers around the opening cleared away.
Bridget grinned. Seeing everyone obey her as the authority sent a surge of energy through her. Have ray gun, will save the world!
She turned to see Mickey staring at her with a frown. "Anytime you're ready, Astro Man. I'm sure those men don't mind waiting a few more minutes while you bask in your glory."
"Oh, yes. Of course." She forced the grin off her face as she pulled the raygun out. She pushed the button labeled "G" and pointed it at the rocks.
Mickey zipped next to the rocks. "I'm in position."
Bridget pulled the trigger. A blue ray erupted from the barrel and hit the pile of rocks. They quivered for a moment, then collapsed. More of the entrance crumbled down and onto Mickey. Mickey fell unconscious onto the ground as a pile of rocks pinned him onto the dirt.
Bridget gasped and let up on the trigger. Gravity ray meant more gravity. She'd not read how to reverse it. She ran over to where Mickey lay. What do I do now?
"I thought you know what you doing!" the Indian man shouted at her.
She raised her visor to wipe tears away. "I did too."
"What you plan to do about this? Fix it or get out of the way."
"Maybe I can help."
Bridget knew that voice. Jeremy, dressed in blue jeans, sneakers, and a tee-shirt, stood before her. "Uh oh."
"You better believe this is uh oh. Now, give me that gun." Jeremy held out his hand. Bridget placed the gun in his palm. Jeremy hit a button on the gun and pointed it at Mickey. "First, we need to kill Blue Nova."
The Indian man jumped in front of him. "Who are you? You can't kill Blue Nova!"
Jeremy sighed. "I'm not really killing him. He'll reappear in a few seconds if I shoot him."
The Indian man focused on Bridget. "Is this true?"
Bridget nodded. "Yep."
The man moved out of the way. "I hope you know what you doing."
Jeremy pointed and pulled the trigger. Mickey's body vanished in the flash of a red ray.
Bridget stood. "How did you know?"
"You never sleep with covers pulled over your head. Not to mention all my superheros are gone. That's why I had to come here as myself."
Bridget widened her eyes. "But I thought I only moved Astro Man over. Robert must have misunderstood me."
Jeremy cracked a smile. "So that's how you did it. Smart, Sis. Though I'll have to have a talk with Robert about authorization protocols."
Blue Nova appeared beside them. "Bucko and Bucko? What's going on?"
Jeremy laughed. "You think that's strange. I've been having a conversation with myself." He punched a button and moved a slider bar at the top, then handed the gun back to Bridget. "I don't need to attract attention to myself. You'll have to do the honors."
Bridget received the gun and stepped back.
"That's good. Now aim and keep the trigger pulled until Blue Nova can get everyone out."
Mickey backed away from the entrance. Bridget shot the gun. A green ray, wider in radius, engulfed the entrance. The rocks rose into the air. Bridget kept the ray aimed on the rocks.
Mickey disappeared, then reappeared every two to three seconds carrying a miner. Medical personnel scurried to attend to them. Once Mickey indicated everyone was out, and the entrance was clear, Jeremy told Bridget how to lower the rocks safely.
Once done, they hurried behind some trees and returned to the control room. Bridget hung her head in preparation for the rant.
Jeremy sat and crossed his arms. "Why, Sis?"
"I don't know." She huffed. Yes she did. "Just, everyone treats me like a kid."
Mickey laughed. "You are a kid."
She stuck her tongue out at him. "Am not!"
Mickey pointed at her. "Case closed."
Bridget huffed. "I wanted a superhero with punch, like Astro Man. Do you know how much stronger you are than any of mine?"
Jeremy run a hand through his hair. "Sis, you'll have superheroes with more punch eventually. But you may not be ready for them. Do you think you were ready to be Astro Man today?"
She bowed her head. "No."
"You'll be ready in time. Meanwhile, you're an important part of our team."
Mickey nodded. "You've saved my butt a few times."
Bridget smiled. "I have to admit, Comet Girl is easier to control. I just think what I want the dust to do, and it does it. No buttons and dials to figure out."
Jeremy rose from his seat. "Now that we've got that settled, I want my superheroes back. Time to pay Robert a little visit."
Bridget smiled. "Suit, appear as Comet Girl."
Bridget snapped her eyes open. She'd almost fallen asleep. She peered across their bedroom and examined her brother, Jeremy. The moonlight filtering through the blinds gave enough light to illuminate his face. Yes, he had fallen sleep, and yes, he didn't have his mask on.
He'd declared tonight a night off from virtual superhero patrolling. Saving people seemed minor in comparison to saving two planets. Besides, Jeremy said we made only a small dint in the number of crimes around the globe. Earth would get along without them for one night.
Jeremy may have seen this as an opportunity to relax, but that made it a prime chance for her to do her own thing without worrying about Jeremy or Mickey looking over her shoulder. Being nine, they tended to treat her like a kid. She would show them.
She slid her mask from under her pillow and pulled it over her head. She glanced at Jeremy to make sure he hadn't woken up, then pulled her covers over head, just in case he got up in the middle of the night.
"Suit, appear as Comet Girl," she whispered. Darkness overtook her for a couple of seconds before the control room on Titan materialized. Banks of screens, five rows high and twenty across, flashed images of live TV news feeds from across Earth.
She skipped to the control panel extending along the width of the screens and seated herself. She wiggled her fingers over the buttons in anticipation. "First, I want to see what new superhero I can use." She pushed a button and the screen in front of her lost its feed and a computer desktop appeared.
"Computer, display superhero list for Bridget Goodhue."
A list scrolled up the screen and stopped. Bridget slid her finger down them as she read. "Buggy." No, she'd tried that one before. Being a superhero gnat had limited advantages. "Duster." Being able to turn into dust and reform was cool, but got old real quick. Throwing dust in people's eyes was the worst she could do. How lame was that.
She scanned further down. Most of the options she'd seen before. They're weren't many choices. None of them had guns, rays, or such. Comet Girl came the closest to having any kind of real crime-fighting power.
She flopped back in her seat and crossed her arms. "No fair." What she needed was access to the programing and add in some features, but she didn't know anything about programing. Especially in Zorian.
She sat up. "Robert. He's a help robot. Maybe he. . . " She leaped from her seat and sped out of the room, down the stainless steel hallway, and into the bay. She picked an Eagle-class ship and entered. She stopped in the middle of the ship's control room. "Help!"
A door slid open and Robert rolled out of his bay. Flashing lights dotted his metallic chest. Accordion arms extended claws into the air. The glass bulb atop him sparked with electricity as he talked. "Robert is here to help. State your question."
"Can you access the programing of my superheroes?"
The flashing buttons sped up for a couple of seconds. "Affirmative."
"Can you add a feature to one of my superheroes?"
"Negative. I'm not programmed to build virtual features."
Bridget stomped her right foot. "How can I get more powers then? This sucks."
Robert retracted his claws back into his body. "Transfer."
Bridget met Robert's globe. "Transfer? What do you mean?"
"Move established superheroes from one account to yours."
"Move!" She smiled. "You mean, I can transfer Astro Man to my list?"
"Affirmative."
She clapped. "Then do it. Move Jeremy's superhero to my account."
A claw extended and touched his bulb, ever so slightly tilted. Lights flashed. He pulled his claw back in and straightened up. "Files are moved to Bridget Goodhue's account successfully."
"That's more like it." She closed her eyes. "Suit, appear here as Astro Man." Light dimmed to black and back again. Except now she stood taller. "Thank you, Robert. You can return to your bay."
She gasped. Her voice. It sounded like Jeremy's. She raced to the sleeping quarter and found a mirror in the bathroom. She swallowed. She looked exactly like her brother. "I'm a boy!" Her hand brushed against something on her side. "A boy with a raygun!" She slid it out and examined it. A sleek barrel widened to cover a stock. A cutaway section on the back held several buttons, with tiny code written under them.
How am I supposed to know what these do? Bridget holstered the gun. "Looks like I need a crash course on Astro Man's gun." She sped out of the ship, noticing how stronger her muscles pushed against the floor and longer her leaps. She returned to the control room and settled down into a chair to review Astro Man's bio and weapons specs. Minutes ticked by as she attempted to memorize the button codes.
She pulled the gun out and stared at the buttons. "BL for blinding light. R for ray gun. G for gravity ray. Not hard."
"Hey, Bucko! I see you couldn't stay away either."
Bridget jerked out of her chair. She spun around, her heart racing. "Mickey?"
Mickey, suited up as Blue Nova, frowned. "What's the matter, Bucko? You're as jumpy as Bridget? And what's with the formality?"
Bridget sucked in a deep breath. Did she tell him the truth? She didn't want to get caught. "Huh. . .you surprised me is all. Mick. I was. . .focused."
Mickey glanced at the screen. "On Astro Man's info? You know that superhero inside and out. He's your favorite."
Bridget shut the screen down before Mickey could notice it was under her account. "It had been a while since I looked at it. You never know if you've missed some little detail that. . . ," How would Jeremy say it? ". . .you've overlooked before."
Mickey slapped Jeremy on the back. "Always studying the instructions. I think you're addicted to them." He laughed.
Bridget feigned a half-smile.
A beeping penetrated the room. Bridget found the monitor whose light was flashing. "There." The news cast covered a mine opening that had collapsed in India. A group of miners, trapped inside, struggled to live.
Mickey glanced at Bridget. "We'd better act. What's the plan?"
"The. . .the. . .the plan? Uh, what do you think?"
Mickey focused on Bridget. "Bucko, you're always barking out orders."
Bridget shrugged. "I know. How rude of me. I think it's time to not hog all the authority around here. Suggestions?"
Mickey shook his head. "Sometimes you surprise me, Bucko. My suggestion would be Astro Man uses his gravity ray to lift the rocks up. I'll zoom in as Blue Nova and carry them out in less than a minute."
Bridget smiled. "Good idea." At least she'd identified the gravity ray. This sounded simple enough. "Let's go."
She entered the coordinates. "Suit, appear at coordinates as Astro Man." The control room faded to be replaced by the bustle of emergency workers scurrying to remove rocks from the opening.
One man noticed them, pointed and began chattering in his native language. Some men clustered around a table looked up, then headed their direction.
Mickey glanced at Bridget, as if expecting her to do something. He faced the men. "Any of you speak English?"
Two men raised their hands. One of them stepped forward. "We know who you are. Are you here to help?"
Bridget nodded, realizing she needed to take charge like Jeremy would. "Yes. Have everyone stand back from the opening. We'll take it from there."
The man nodded and communicated her message to the others. Men barked orders and the workers around the opening cleared away.
Bridget grinned. Seeing everyone obey her as the authority sent a surge of energy through her. Have ray gun, will save the world!
She turned to see Mickey staring at her with a frown. "Anytime you're ready, Astro Man. I'm sure those men don't mind waiting a few more minutes while you bask in your glory."
"Oh, yes. Of course." She forced the grin off her face as she pulled the raygun out. She pushed the button labeled "G" and pointed it at the rocks.
Mickey zipped next to the rocks. "I'm in position."
Bridget pulled the trigger. A blue ray erupted from the barrel and hit the pile of rocks. They quivered for a moment, then collapsed. More of the entrance crumbled down and onto Mickey. Mickey fell unconscious onto the ground as a pile of rocks pinned him onto the dirt.
Bridget gasped and let up on the trigger. Gravity ray meant more gravity. She'd not read how to reverse it. She ran over to where Mickey lay. What do I do now?
"I thought you know what you doing!" the Indian man shouted at her.
She raised her visor to wipe tears away. "I did too."
"What you plan to do about this? Fix it or get out of the way."
"Maybe I can help."
Bridget knew that voice. Jeremy, dressed in blue jeans, sneakers, and a tee-shirt, stood before her. "Uh oh."
"You better believe this is uh oh. Now, give me that gun." Jeremy held out his hand. Bridget placed the gun in his palm. Jeremy hit a button on the gun and pointed it at Mickey. "First, we need to kill Blue Nova."
The Indian man jumped in front of him. "Who are you? You can't kill Blue Nova!"
Jeremy sighed. "I'm not really killing him. He'll reappear in a few seconds if I shoot him."
The Indian man focused on Bridget. "Is this true?"
Bridget nodded. "Yep."
The man moved out of the way. "I hope you know what you doing."
Jeremy pointed and pulled the trigger. Mickey's body vanished in the flash of a red ray.
Bridget stood. "How did you know?"
"You never sleep with covers pulled over your head. Not to mention all my superheros are gone. That's why I had to come here as myself."
Bridget widened her eyes. "But I thought I only moved Astro Man over. Robert must have misunderstood me."
Jeremy cracked a smile. "So that's how you did it. Smart, Sis. Though I'll have to have a talk with Robert about authorization protocols."
Blue Nova appeared beside them. "Bucko and Bucko? What's going on?"
Jeremy laughed. "You think that's strange. I've been having a conversation with myself." He punched a button and moved a slider bar at the top, then handed the gun back to Bridget. "I don't need to attract attention to myself. You'll have to do the honors."
Bridget received the gun and stepped back.
"That's good. Now aim and keep the trigger pulled until Blue Nova can get everyone out."
Mickey backed away from the entrance. Bridget shot the gun. A green ray, wider in radius, engulfed the entrance. The rocks rose into the air. Bridget kept the ray aimed on the rocks.
Mickey disappeared, then reappeared every two to three seconds carrying a miner. Medical personnel scurried to attend to them. Once Mickey indicated everyone was out, and the entrance was clear, Jeremy told Bridget how to lower the rocks safely.
Once done, they hurried behind some trees and returned to the control room. Bridget hung her head in preparation for the rant.
Jeremy sat and crossed his arms. "Why, Sis?"
"I don't know." She huffed. Yes she did. "Just, everyone treats me like a kid."
Mickey laughed. "You are a kid."
She stuck her tongue out at him. "Am not!"
Mickey pointed at her. "Case closed."
Bridget huffed. "I wanted a superhero with punch, like Astro Man. Do you know how much stronger you are than any of mine?"
Jeremy run a hand through his hair. "Sis, you'll have superheroes with more punch eventually. But you may not be ready for them. Do you think you were ready to be Astro Man today?"
She bowed her head. "No."
"You'll be ready in time. Meanwhile, you're an important part of our team."
Mickey nodded. "You've saved my butt a few times."
Bridget smiled. "I have to admit, Comet Girl is easier to control. I just think what I want the dust to do, and it does it. No buttons and dials to figure out."
Jeremy rose from his seat. "Now that we've got that settled, I want my superheroes back. Time to pay Robert a little visit."
Bridget smiled. "Suit, appear as Comet Girl."
Read more about Mind Game and Hero Game, along with sample chapters and where they can be purchased.
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Monday, March 25, 2013
A Dose of Virtual Reality
A bell rang through the classroom. The black-haired teacher stood from her desk and straightened her snug, blue dress. "Today class, we will study the female anatomy."
Mickey stopped thumping his pencil against his desk and sat up. About time. Maybe we'll get to see some pictures.
Sirens wailed in the distance.
Mickey frowned. Probably nothing. Surely the authorities could handle it. Not like he could be everywhere at once. Well, almost, but not quite.
The teacher pulled down a graphic of the female reproductive organs. "First, we will go over the names of the parts."
Mickey sighed. What if it was something? What if Blue Nova could make a difference? Mickey rubbed his forehead before slipping his hand into the air.
"Okay, class. Repeat after me. Urethra."
"Urethra," the students echoed back like robots.
Mickey waved his hand. Did this woman think she was teaching kids instead of teens?
The teacher breathed in to say the next part when she turned her head. "Mickey, do you have a question?"
"Yes, ma'am. Can I be excused to visit the restroom?"
Snickers echoed across the classroom. Robert said, "I think he's scared of girls."
Laughter erupted across the classroom. Mickey's face grew hot.
The teacher snapped her pointer stick across her desk. The laughter died as fast as it erupted. "Class, that is quite enough." She frowned at Mickey. "You're excused. Don't be gone long or I'll send someone to check on you."
Mickey hopped up from his seat and headed to the door. "Yes, ma'am. Thank you." As soon as the door closed behind him, he raced to the bathroom, entered a stall, and seated himself on the toilet. He pulled his mask from his pocket and pulled it over his head.
"Hero game time!" He snuggled his body against the side wall and hoped he didn't fall over while out. "Suit, appear here as Blue Nova."
The stall faded out and then back in, except he now stood over himself, apparently asleep on the toilet. "Blue Nova to the rescue. Fast as light and just as bright!"
Blue Nova sped out of the stall, bathroom, and the school doors in less than a second. He zipped along the roads until he arrived at a row of flashing patrol car lights around an office. A group of officers huddled behind one car while individual ones pointed pistols at the office over the hoods of their vehicles.
Mickey stopped beside the group of officers. They jumped upon noticing him. He forgot from their perspective, he had appeared out of thin air. "Sorry, officers. Didn't mean to frighten you."
One of them gritted his teeth. "Get out of here, son. This is no place for you to play."
Play? Really? "What seems to be the problem, officer?" He'd always wanted to say that.
"You're becoming the problem. Do I need to escort you away?"
Mickey put his hands on his hips. "Officer, I'm Blue Nova."
"Is that supposed to mean something to me?"
Mickey's face fell. "You mean, you haven't heard of me? Fast as light and just as bright?"
The officer pointed at one of his men. The man reached out to grab Mickey. Mickey flashed around him to his back.
The man grabbed thin air. "What. . . Where did he go?"
A man holding a gun to a young girl's head appeared at an open window of the office building. "You have one minute left, officers, to give me passage out of here, or the girl gets it."
Mickey smiled. "So that's the problem. I can take care of this guy."
The head officer pointed at him. "Don't you dare do anything. This is a delicate situation. We're trained for this. Now leave or I'll have you in jail."
This guy didn't understand what he could do. He'd have to prove it. "Just watch, sir. I'm faster than a speeding bullet too." Mickey cupped a hand around his mouth and yelled, "You might as well go ahead and shoot her. We're taking you down."
The officer's face turned beat red and he ground his teeth together. "You idiot! You don't know what you're doing."
The man poked his head out the window of the office building. "Have it your way, officers. I have plenty of hostages to go through." He ducked back in and the beginning sound of a gunshot hit Mickey's ears.
Mickey raced for the door. From his perspective, every movement slowed to a bare crawl as he fled through the door of the office. He saw the girl on her knees, hands tied behind her back. The man who had talked with the officers stood over her, a gun pointed at the back of her head about four feet away. A bullet inched its way toward the back of her skull.
Sweet. I'll just knock the bullet up toward the ceiling. Don't want to put my hand in front of it. He sped to her, stopping as the bullet neared her neck. He only had one shot at this. He swung his hand underneath the bullet to meet it about an inch from her neck.
He didn't connect in the middle of the flying metal, but only nicked it, causing it to wobble up toward the top of her skull. "Blast it all!" He only had one option left.
Mickey snagged the base of the bullet with his right hand, clamped down as hard as he could, and braced his right arm with his left. Then he pulled as hard as he could.
The bullet neared her skin. Mickey yelled as he pulled back, throwing his body into it. He could feel the bullet slipping from his fingers. I can't let it go! Mickey bore down and grunted. He could feel the edge of the bullet moving across his fingertips. No! It escaped his grasp.
Mickey watched as the projectile pierced her skin. Blood slowly shot out, though he knew in normal speed it was spewing. The bullet stopped moving. It didn't go into the head. He must have slowed it down enough it didn't totally penetrate!
As the girl's head reacted to the impact, Mickey raced to each of the armed men, pulled the gun from their hands, and gave them a blow to the back of their heads, collapsing them onto the floor in slow-mo. He threw the weapons out the window, then scooped the young girl into his arms and fled out of the office building.
He exited speed mode by a waiting ambulance. "She needs attention. A bullet is lodged in her skull."
The medics jumped into action. Mickey laid her on a rolling bed and they examined the wound.
"Is she going to be okay?"
One of the medics glanced over his shoulders. "Won't know for sure until we get some x-rays, but from the looks of it, the worst it might have done is fracture her skull."
The other medic shook his head. "But she must have one hard head to stop a bullet like that. Never seen the likes of it before. By all rights she should be dead."
Mickey's gut churned. A hand rested on his shoulder.
The head officer stood beside him. "Sorry, Blue Nova. I guess I was wrong about you. You did know what you were doing."
Mickey stared at the young girl as her eyes blinked open. "No, sir. I didn't."
"I'd like to get your real name, to give you a commendation."
Mickey realized he had been holding his breath. He sucked in air. "Exit, suit." The business district faded away to be replaced by the bathroom stall.
"Mick. Are you in here?" Robert's voice sounded as stall doors opened and shut.
Mickey yanked his mask off and stuffed it into his pocket. The stall door opened and Robert stood before him. Mickey sat up.
Robert put a hand over his mouth and tried to hold back a laugh, without much success. "I see your problem, dim wit. It helps if you take your pants off first."
Mickey knew he'd never hear the end of this. "Not enough sleep last night, I'm afraid." He yawned. "I must have fell asleep."
"Whatever. But the teacher sent me in here to get you. Are you going to come peaceably like or not?"
Mickey stood up. "Let's go."
"By the way, you missed all the cool pictures."
Mickey figured he toyed with him, but it peeved him off anyway to think it might be true. He followed Robert back to the classroom and settled into his seat.
The teacher stared at Mickey for a moment before continuing. "Now class, we will have a pop quiz over the parts of the reproductive system.
Mickey grimaced. A piercing pain grew in his bladder. She would never believe him now. He lifted his hand.
With Mickey's body safely in bed, he virtually sat in the control room at the Titan base as Vulture, watching blankly the bank of monitors displaying TV feeds from all over Earth.
"Hey, Mick." Jeremy as Astro Man sat in a seat next to him. "How goes it? What adventures are on tap for tonight's hero game?"
Mickey jerked his head around. "Those are real people, Bucko. Not some non-existent video game characters who will never care."
Jeremy backed away. "Hey. I know that more than anyone. What gives?"
Mickey returned to staring at the monitors. "Let's just say, I realized our 'game' isn't one to the people we're saving. We shouldn't treat it that way either."
Jeremy nodded. "I agree. But what brought about this realization?"
Mickey moistened his lips. "Knowing I can fail."
Jeremy patted Mickey on the shoulder. "Welcome to reality, Mick."
Read more about Mind Game and Hero Game, along with sample chapters and where they can be purchased.
Mickey stopped thumping his pencil against his desk and sat up. About time. Maybe we'll get to see some pictures.
Sirens wailed in the distance.
Mickey frowned. Probably nothing. Surely the authorities could handle it. Not like he could be everywhere at once. Well, almost, but not quite.
The teacher pulled down a graphic of the female reproductive organs. "First, we will go over the names of the parts."
Mickey sighed. What if it was something? What if Blue Nova could make a difference? Mickey rubbed his forehead before slipping his hand into the air.
"Okay, class. Repeat after me. Urethra."
"Urethra," the students echoed back like robots.
Mickey waved his hand. Did this woman think she was teaching kids instead of teens?
The teacher breathed in to say the next part when she turned her head. "Mickey, do you have a question?"
"Yes, ma'am. Can I be excused to visit the restroom?"
Snickers echoed across the classroom. Robert said, "I think he's scared of girls."
Laughter erupted across the classroom. Mickey's face grew hot.
The teacher snapped her pointer stick across her desk. The laughter died as fast as it erupted. "Class, that is quite enough." She frowned at Mickey. "You're excused. Don't be gone long or I'll send someone to check on you."
Mickey hopped up from his seat and headed to the door. "Yes, ma'am. Thank you." As soon as the door closed behind him, he raced to the bathroom, entered a stall, and seated himself on the toilet. He pulled his mask from his pocket and pulled it over his head.
"Hero game time!" He snuggled his body against the side wall and hoped he didn't fall over while out. "Suit, appear here as Blue Nova."
The stall faded out and then back in, except he now stood over himself, apparently asleep on the toilet. "Blue Nova to the rescue. Fast as light and just as bright!"
Blue Nova sped out of the stall, bathroom, and the school doors in less than a second. He zipped along the roads until he arrived at a row of flashing patrol car lights around an office. A group of officers huddled behind one car while individual ones pointed pistols at the office over the hoods of their vehicles.
Mickey stopped beside the group of officers. They jumped upon noticing him. He forgot from their perspective, he had appeared out of thin air. "Sorry, officers. Didn't mean to frighten you."
One of them gritted his teeth. "Get out of here, son. This is no place for you to play."
Play? Really? "What seems to be the problem, officer?" He'd always wanted to say that.
"You're becoming the problem. Do I need to escort you away?"
Mickey put his hands on his hips. "Officer, I'm Blue Nova."
"Is that supposed to mean something to me?"
Mickey's face fell. "You mean, you haven't heard of me? Fast as light and just as bright?"
The officer pointed at one of his men. The man reached out to grab Mickey. Mickey flashed around him to his back.
The man grabbed thin air. "What. . . Where did he go?"
A man holding a gun to a young girl's head appeared at an open window of the office building. "You have one minute left, officers, to give me passage out of here, or the girl gets it."
Mickey smiled. "So that's the problem. I can take care of this guy."
The head officer pointed at him. "Don't you dare do anything. This is a delicate situation. We're trained for this. Now leave or I'll have you in jail."
This guy didn't understand what he could do. He'd have to prove it. "Just watch, sir. I'm faster than a speeding bullet too." Mickey cupped a hand around his mouth and yelled, "You might as well go ahead and shoot her. We're taking you down."
The officer's face turned beat red and he ground his teeth together. "You idiot! You don't know what you're doing."
The man poked his head out the window of the office building. "Have it your way, officers. I have plenty of hostages to go through." He ducked back in and the beginning sound of a gunshot hit Mickey's ears.
Mickey raced for the door. From his perspective, every movement slowed to a bare crawl as he fled through the door of the office. He saw the girl on her knees, hands tied behind her back. The man who had talked with the officers stood over her, a gun pointed at the back of her head about four feet away. A bullet inched its way toward the back of her skull.
Sweet. I'll just knock the bullet up toward the ceiling. Don't want to put my hand in front of it. He sped to her, stopping as the bullet neared her neck. He only had one shot at this. He swung his hand underneath the bullet to meet it about an inch from her neck.
He didn't connect in the middle of the flying metal, but only nicked it, causing it to wobble up toward the top of her skull. "Blast it all!" He only had one option left.
Mickey snagged the base of the bullet with his right hand, clamped down as hard as he could, and braced his right arm with his left. Then he pulled as hard as he could.
The bullet neared her skin. Mickey yelled as he pulled back, throwing his body into it. He could feel the bullet slipping from his fingers. I can't let it go! Mickey bore down and grunted. He could feel the edge of the bullet moving across his fingertips. No! It escaped his grasp.
Mickey watched as the projectile pierced her skin. Blood slowly shot out, though he knew in normal speed it was spewing. The bullet stopped moving. It didn't go into the head. He must have slowed it down enough it didn't totally penetrate!
As the girl's head reacted to the impact, Mickey raced to each of the armed men, pulled the gun from their hands, and gave them a blow to the back of their heads, collapsing them onto the floor in slow-mo. He threw the weapons out the window, then scooped the young girl into his arms and fled out of the office building.
He exited speed mode by a waiting ambulance. "She needs attention. A bullet is lodged in her skull."
The medics jumped into action. Mickey laid her on a rolling bed and they examined the wound.
"Is she going to be okay?"
One of the medics glanced over his shoulders. "Won't know for sure until we get some x-rays, but from the looks of it, the worst it might have done is fracture her skull."
The other medic shook his head. "But she must have one hard head to stop a bullet like that. Never seen the likes of it before. By all rights she should be dead."
Mickey's gut churned. A hand rested on his shoulder.
The head officer stood beside him. "Sorry, Blue Nova. I guess I was wrong about you. You did know what you were doing."
Mickey stared at the young girl as her eyes blinked open. "No, sir. I didn't."
"I'd like to get your real name, to give you a commendation."
Mickey realized he had been holding his breath. He sucked in air. "Exit, suit." The business district faded away to be replaced by the bathroom stall.
"Mick. Are you in here?" Robert's voice sounded as stall doors opened and shut.
Mickey yanked his mask off and stuffed it into his pocket. The stall door opened and Robert stood before him. Mickey sat up.
Robert put a hand over his mouth and tried to hold back a laugh, without much success. "I see your problem, dim wit. It helps if you take your pants off first."
Mickey knew he'd never hear the end of this. "Not enough sleep last night, I'm afraid." He yawned. "I must have fell asleep."
"Whatever. But the teacher sent me in here to get you. Are you going to come peaceably like or not?"
Mickey stood up. "Let's go."
"By the way, you missed all the cool pictures."
Mickey figured he toyed with him, but it peeved him off anyway to think it might be true. He followed Robert back to the classroom and settled into his seat.
The teacher stared at Mickey for a moment before continuing. "Now class, we will have a pop quiz over the parts of the reproductive system.
Mickey grimaced. A piercing pain grew in his bladder. She would never believe him now. He lifted his hand.
-----------------
With Mickey's body safely in bed, he virtually sat in the control room at the Titan base as Vulture, watching blankly the bank of monitors displaying TV feeds from all over Earth.
"Hey, Mick." Jeremy as Astro Man sat in a seat next to him. "How goes it? What adventures are on tap for tonight's hero game?"
Mickey jerked his head around. "Those are real people, Bucko. Not some non-existent video game characters who will never care."
Jeremy backed away. "Hey. I know that more than anyone. What gives?"
Mickey returned to staring at the monitors. "Let's just say, I realized our 'game' isn't one to the people we're saving. We shouldn't treat it that way either."
Jeremy nodded. "I agree. But what brought about this realization?"
Mickey moistened his lips. "Knowing I can fail."
Jeremy patted Mickey on the shoulder. "Welcome to reality, Mick."
Read more about Mind Game and Hero Game, along with sample chapters and where they can be purchased.
| |
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Hero Game Ebook Now Available!
Yes! The sequel to Mind Game is now here. Here's the blurb:
Book 2 of the Virtual Chronicles - Being virtual superheroes gives Jeremy, Mickey, and Bridget all of the glory with none of the danger. Using Zori's virtual engine, the trio can become any number of superheroes to right the wrongs on Earth. But Jeremy hadn't counted on Lorian arriving in the Solar System, the brother of the alien Jeremy helped kill to save Zori. With revenge on Lorian's mind and the invasion of Earth in his plans, the super trio find the odds stacked against them. Earth's armies are defenseless before a virtual fleet they can't kill. The three superheroes are all that stand in the way of Lorian enslaving Earth before retaking Zori. It will take more than super powers to save Earth and Zori again.
The print version will be available in the future. I'll announce it here and on Facebook when it is ready. But it may be a month or so, depending on how sales of the ebook go.
You can buy it on Kindle, Nook, or from Smashwords in any format your reader needs. Go to my published page to get the links.
Be sure to read the first book, Mind Game, if you've not read that one yet. It is an exciting space opera adventure, and leads into this story. If these two books do well, I'll be prompted to write more in this series, as the possibilities are endless.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Mothman Rides Again!
A new short story of mine has gone public at ResAliens! Ship to Ship Rumors is a space opera/superhero spoof of an old spoof. I'll say no more than that, you'll have to read it to find out for yourself what it is.
This one has some unique literary tactics, which under normal circumstances I'd not do. But spoofs give you more latitude in that department. See if you can figure out which writing rules I've broken and report back here with your guesses.
This story is also included in my recent anthology release, Ethereal Worlds. If you like this one, you'll enjoy reading more craziness that I've created over the past five years.
Thanks for reading!
This one has some unique literary tactics, which under normal circumstances I'd not do. But spoofs give you more latitude in that department. See if you can figure out which writing rules I've broken and report back here with your guesses.
This story is also included in my recent anthology release, Ethereal Worlds. If you like this one, you'll enjoy reading more craziness that I've created over the past five years.
Thanks for reading!
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Book Review: Tales of the Dim Knight by Adam and Andrea Graham
Pull on your tights and hang that cape around your neck, we're going for a ride. What kind of ride, you ask? A superhero spoof ride, a dysfunctional family ride, a marital struggle ride. A ride into redemption.
When mild-mannered Dave Johnson ends up with a alien symbiont enabling him to imagine reality, what does he do with this power? Years of reading comics comes to his aid, as the kid at heart and his naivety lead him to take on the persona of a superhero. Dave is a little dim, but his heart is in the right place, despite the temptations of power and the best ways to use it, especially when the symbiont intends to use Dave to take over the world. Yet, Dave isn't stupid either. He has a head on his shoulders.
But despite this fact, he finds success as a superhero, but not a lot of success as a father and husband. While superhero action abounds, there is minimal tension created by his fights. His power allows him to dispense justice all too easily that few villains have a chance, though a couple of times they make some valiant attempts. But the superhero part is mostly for spoofing anyway, not for creating a thrill ride.
Rather, the the real tension of the story evolves from the complications Dave's secret job has for his wife and children, not to mention his enemies. The heart of the novel revolves around family, right and wrong, the misguided ways we tend to deal with our hurts, and grace, all wrapped in a light-hearted story that will have you chuckling and smiling.
The writing is solid. The characters while at first appearing stereotypical (what do you expect with a spoof?) take on depth as the story progresses. The personal struggles are easy to identify with and provide the strength of the story. It is an easy and enjoyable read.
I found two areas primary that I felt the story could have done better. First, the superhero adventures themselves didn't feel like an integral part of the full plot. They felt somewhat random at times, appearing to exist more to cause problems with the wife and kids than to be an complete story arc themselves. Mind you, I'm not saying they didn't have some story arc. One of the villains who comes in and out of the course of the book has his own character arc, and some stories have their own mini-arc, but as far as each adventure fitting into a complete novel arc, it was hit and miss. I think the story would have been better if that could have been developed as a more complete story arc.
The second is that while the resolution is believable, and the motivation of the characters not totally absent, I felt the resolution to be a little too quick and needing a slower development, especially on one of the characters. What happened is not unrealistic, and happens in real life. But for a story, it appeared to arise abruptly.
Despite those two issues, this book was a fun read. If you like spoofs of superheroes, with a story of redemption against the evil Dave faces not only on the streets of the city, but also in his family and within himself, then this is the book for you. The story gets a solid 4 out of 5 stars for me. I enjoyed it.
Note: I was provided an electronic copy of this book by the author.
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