So, pursuant to a conversation I’ve had with a handful of people in the last couple hours, I’m going to try posting chunks and works in progress here, for you to get tastes, see how things are coming, …etc.
*Musing* To be frank, I don’t know how this is going to work out, but, objectively, every time I feel my work isn’t good enough for people, people keep insisting they love my work >_> so maybe I should just shut up and show you some stuff
Oh, and…. FYI a couple things:
1: There will probably be plenty of things for which you won’t understand the context. …You’ll get it over time, I assume. And from what I’m told, I give enough at-the-time/in-scene context that you don’t need to go off and read a wiki page about my work for it to make sense :p
3: Just a general info update, I am working on finishing the first novel in a (currently 4-part, will likely expand) series. it is about 1/3rd done so far, and, health permitting, should be done soon. Every detail has been planned out, so, it’s just a matter of fleshing out and polishing. I also have a good idea for another standalone novel, and another trilogy, all in my ‘Slipgates’ universe. I also have plans for about… 8 graphic novels and 2 comic series, but in the last 8 years I have gone through 15 artists, none of whom would actually commit to making product so… yeah, those’ll have to wait. I also have an idea for a musical, and a radio-drama style podcast (though, it’ll be a comedy. more on that later.)
okay, so… Here’s a first chunk for you.
This is a random scene from book 2 of that series I mentioned. About 2/3rds of the way into the book. however, I showed it to a few friends who really liked it, so, I figured it’d be a good place to start with this chunk-sharing idea.
Raven hurried out of the rain into the little shop, her long coat billowing behind her and then hitting the back of her legs with a wet slap when she stopped moving inside the entry room. She brushed her damp black hair out of her face and looked around. The shop was larger than she had expected, but very cramped. Inumerable shelves were jammed in anywhere they would fit, and seemed to have little sense or pattern to their layout. Each was jammed full of every weapon she could possibly conceive, and many she wasnt even clear how they functioned. Boxes of amunition, spare parts and modifications were mixed into the shelves and some just piled on the floor. The room itself was also rather dim, and she was careful not to step in anything that might explode as she made her way to the counter near the back.
As she approached she could just see the top of the alien owner’s head over the counter. “Excuse me.” She said flatly once she had made it all the way back, getting her boot stuck in a box only once along the way.
The alien waved a hand, possibly a paw and growled something. “Hey, sir.” She said, a little forcefully this time, annoyance mounting. “Customer here.”
“I heard you, Terran. Give me a minute.”
Raven took out her badge and gun and slammed them on the counter under her hands with a loud thud. The alien turned around and stood up finally and looked down at the counter top. “I don’t do patience well, pal.” She said, her eyes narrowing slightly.
She took a moment to size up the alien. A niyaro, he was only really humanoid shaped in the way a dog can look humanoid if it stands on its hind legs. There was a torso, two legs on the bottom, arms on the sides, head on top, that was all there sure but it was hunched over, not erect like most of the typical humanoid species. Further, it was covered in fur and had a long fuzzy tail, and looked something like a cross between a cat and a monkey, with big golden slit eyes (though one was robotic) and a little triangular nose and comically large ears, one of which appeared to have a bullet hole in it. He wore very torn and beat up leather clothes, but something told her it was supposed to look that way, like a punk fashion statement. He was also only about a meter tall, and he looked at her gun and badge, and then back up to her face.
“Well, Terran. What seems to be the problem?” He asked, with a friendly shop keepers’ voice.
Raven narrowed her eyes further, suspiciously. “Problem?” She repeated. “Is there something I should know about? Expired license perhaps?”
“No, everything is fine with me.” He said calmly, his big yellow eyes sizing her up as she loomed over him.
“Then why ask if there is a problem?”
“Because we get two kinds of customers in here. Hobbyist collectors, and people with a problem that has a particular solution.” He said simply. “And you don’t really strike me as a collector.”
Raven frowned slightly. “Wait, ‘we?’ Who else is here?”
Just then she supressed a scream as a furry hand dropped down in front of her face from above. She recoiled and looked up to see another Niyaro dangling by her back feet and tail from a pipe in the ceiling. This one was female, and had a big friendly smile on her animalian face. After a shocked second, raven shook the offered hand, and then shook the shopkeeper’s. “That’d be my sister, Miip. Im Grar, the owner. My sister helps out around the shop these days. So, what can we do for you, terran?” Grar said, picking up her badge and looking at it. “Sorry, ‘special agent raven,’ is it?”
“Yes. ‘Raven’ is fine. Well, youre right. Im not a collector. And I do have a problem.”
“Namely?” Grar said curiously, placing thr badge back on the rough plastic countertop with a clink.
“My side arm here is government issued. So it can be tracked.”
“And you dont want to be.”
“Exactly.”
“Hmm. Well, any terran made weapon can be tracked by a clever terran. Up to a point, of course. If you used some ancient musket or something I doubt that would have a broadcast serial implant. But all modern terran weapons transmit a passive tracking signal so they can record when they were used and where.” Grar explained.
“Yes, I know. So what can I do about it. Can you remove the chip?” Raven asked impatiently.
“Sure. In about ten seconds. But it won’t work.” Grar said with a shrug.
“And why not? Can they still track the bullets or something?” Raven said, slightly confused.
“Hmm, possibly,” grar mused, “but I meant it literally wont work. The gun wont fire without the chip. Technically, I suppose you could just trick it into having the wrong ID tag, but theyd still know you were coming.”
“I came here because you people are natural criminal types. Come on, I need a criminal solution… so incan stop criminals. Look, it’s complicated. Can you help or not?” Raven demanded.
Grar gave her a cold stare with his robot eye and golden slit. “Maam. I deeply resent that. Just because were anarchists doesnt mean we lack ethics. We just dont think you need a government to enforce them. On your world, i follow your laws, true. Bjt just because we dont have laws doesnt make us criminals.” He said, his tone icy.
Raven hesitated. She looked down at the little alien man, and then up at the other one still hanging from the ceiling rearranging boxes on a top shelf. Then she sighed. “Im sorry. That was a rude assumption. Im kind of… on edge lately.”
“I can see that. If youll be nice about it, im happy to help you be the good guy. That is your job, isnt it? I like helping people out of bad situations. Why the hell do you think i opened a gun shop?”
“Profit?” Raven suggested.
“Ha! Barely.”
Raven smirked slightly. “I know the feeling.” Grar smirked at her too, and there was an awkward silence for a moment. “So… im sorry, and can you help me now?”
Grar considered this. “Well, I think so. Miip.” he said, and his sister turned to look at him. They talked in their own growly mewling language for a moment before grar said, “so you dont want to be detected. What about after you get to wherever youre going? Do you need stealth then too?”
Raven considered this. “Probably yes, but an alarm is bound to go off after the fighting starts anyway so as long as they dont know im coming at first, that should be all the edge I need.”
Grar said something to miip and she wandered off into the maze of shelves, swinging from pipes like a monkey and running on all fours like a cat. A moment later she returned with a heavy squat black box and plopped it on the counter top. Raven watched curiously as grar opened the clamshell lid and spun it around so she could see inside.
There, resting on a bed of foam was a…gun?
“So… what is it?” Raven asked, picking it up. It was more or less pistol shaped: it was like the letter L, with a barrel on top and a grip on the bottom. It had a trigger, it was indeed shaped like a pistol. But it sure didnt feel like one. For one thing, it was surprisingly heavy, and for another it was quite bulky, maybe twice the thickness of her standard handgun.
“This is a Le’saa XR88: a Telha made medium range plasma pistol.” Grar explained as raven examined the weapon.
Her eyebrow arched as she looked up from it to him. “Plasma weapon huh? We dont use those.”
“Exactly my point. And it has no terran ID tracker. So even if they detect the energy signature of the battery, they wont think youre a terran cop.” Grar said with a grin.
Raven smirked. “Clever little kittens arentcha?” She looked back at the gun and held it out as if ready to fire, feeling its remarkable weight in her hands. “You said medium range?”
Grar growled acknowledgement. “Yes. Because ‘short’ range for them is literally point blank, its designed to be pressed against the target, like a melee weapon. This one should give you at least, oh, 20 meters or so though.”
“that should be plenty. Magazine size? Anything i need to know? Ive never used one before.” Raven said, looking down the top of the barrel, noticing a lack of sights.
“Magazine size is 22 shots, a little less than half of your pistol now. So if yourr used to using that whole mag, I suggest bringing a few extra for this.” He considered this for a moment and then his sister piped up, “yeah but with terran sluggers you tend to put a few rounds in each target. This you should only need one.”
Raven looked sceptically at the girl and then the weapon. “One shot kill? Seems unlikely.”
“Ha! Youll see. Trust me. So, how will you be paying? And how many extra batteries did you want?” Miip asked, dropping down from the ceiling to stand next to her brother behind the counter.
“Personal account. And make it… 4 spares.” She said, and pressed her hand to the display that appeared on the plastic surface. “Oh, two grand doesnt seem so bad, for a foreign import.” she commented mildly.
Grar shrugged. “Technically, it should be three. But i get them for five hundred and younsay youre one of the good guys, so, eh, I dont mind cutting into my profits for one sale for a good cause.” His tail twitched and he grinned, showing big pointy teeth. “Just dont tell anyone.”
Raven smirked. “I wont. Thanks.”
Grar snapped his fingers. “Oh, yes, and,” he dipped below the counter for a second and popped back up with a tiny plastic baggie. “On the house.”
Raven arched an eyebrow. “Ear plugs? But normal guns dont bother me enough to use those, why should a little pocket of hot gas?”
“Because it super heats and ionizes the air as it goes by. Ever heard a lightning bolt? Up close? BOOOM!” Miip said, her eyes wide as she threw her hands apart to mime the explosion of sound of a thunderclap.
Raven pocketted the ear plugs. “Huh. No ‘pew pew’ noises then?”
“No. Boom noises.” Grar agreed. “Intimidating as fuck though, I can tell you that.”
Raven snorted with laughter. “The telha are not exactly a subtle people, are they?”
“what, the hedonistic sex fiends who run into battle jacked up on drugs, half naked, swinging axes and swords instead of firearms in the space age? Yeah, they’re the height of class.” Grar rolled his eyes. Well, one of his eyes. “Gotta hand it to them though: the tend to get what they want. Loudly.” He added.
Raven smiled. “Well, thanks grar, miip. Assuming I survive this shitstorm ive gotten myself into Ill be sure to come back again.”
“Hope you do!” Miip said, waving as raven left.
“No discount next time though! That never happened!” Grar shouted after her retreating back.
Raven waved at them over her shoulder and went back out into the rain.
Wandering Skull 