rice

​White and fluffy

With a side of carrots. 

Please eat your rice.

Cauliflower and butter chicken,

On the end of a fork. 

Please, please eat your rice.

Cake in the fridge

The rice on the floor.

The Train Ride

Jacob hadn't been on a train before. It was unusual for someone from his town to even venture beyond the walls of their small village. 

Uneasily he fastened the seat belt that had previously hung across the  dirty seat he was now sitting on. Outside, through the frost fringed windows he could see the lights of Trabanath faintly through the snow. 

By now the watchmen would have closed the gates and the night guard begun prowling the perimeter. Unless you were a wraith, you didn't want to be outside. 

Jacob had never really spoken to a wraith before, though he had heard the stories. Every kid in Trabanath had. Wraiths were the only humans among them who could venture outside the village.

He then logically assumed that even now it was wraiths that were commanding the train he was currently about to travel on. 

The doors to the terrible weather outside hissed shut, not before a few flakes of snow drifted through the door and onto the worn steel floor of the train. This cabin, likely salvaged from the

Dawn

The lid it opens

light streams in

colours dance, movement swirls

a void expands, and air rushes in 

undulating mountains, covered in tiny little black hairs 

 rise and fall like waves on a beach

another day. 

Fragile precept

old words

old values, 

 

their weight ....

like 

 

fingers on clay

 

 

can ... shape the soul you know

its sad that such a gentle breeze, 

like that of a single syllable 

 

can render any form and any shape

no matter how wonderful 

 

 

 

to dust. 

clenched teeth

A knee that wont stop jigging 

a nervous energy 

thoughts darting back and forth

 

<Scream> 

 

a racing heart

no solution

<scream> 

So ... damn ... tired ... 

oh to sleep 

but sleep wont solve it 

will it ? 

time 

that will heal it 

surely? 

The oil tanker

its there on the horizon. 

the land is in front of it. 

its not there yet. 

 

proud is the the captain

his eyes are the best 

their jobs he tells them to do

He expects them to be as good as him. 

in front of it the land gets closer. 

Jobs are not being done 

yelling 

its not good his ears are not working

DO YOUR JOB! he yells

But sir!? 

The engines are ordered into reverse

slow and lumbering 

its fate inevitable. 

Its course long ago set 

blinded by hubris and pride

nothing will change it now. 

Over the sides everyone leaps

but the captain stays 

alone

his fate soon to arrive.

Petrichor

The rain started to fall. 

the smell was wonderful. 

the windows let in cool air

like the drums of tiny gods 

 

and then it was gone. 

 

Too soon, 

 

Come back rain. 

the work that needs to be done

Ugh, 

the work

The work that NEEDS to be done, 

Does it ? 

Do I have to ? 

I HAVE TO. 

why? 

The stars are above me, 

desolate. 

No work there, 

shall i go ? 

ants crawl over my feet. 

Working

Working ants

nothing else to do but work. 

 

anything but this is..

better than work ! 

Ugh, it needs to be DONE.

Small things are important things.

I looked at the stars,

so far away, 

yet really so close ...

comparatively,

to the scale of the universe. 

Cool wind hit my face, 

a bird chirped. 

Out there was so big, 

but down here I felt small. 

Lips trying to frown. 

 

<pause> 

 

A small smile, 

it was just a bad day, its not a bad life. 

gosh how those stars sparkle. 

Tiny footsteps, 

Tiny hands, 

Silence broken. 

My world, my universe is at my feet. 

How lucky am I :)

Interstellar Handbook Entry: Husks

From the Interstellar Handbook, the universal compendium

"Husks" is the term given to the majority of human settlers who took refuge on the new planet following the interstellar exodus aboard the Astraeus Pioneer. These individuals fall into two broad categories: those who have come into contact with the local life forms and suffered severe neurophysiological alterations, and those who remain unexposed, living in guarded seclusion to avoid such a fate.

Lifestyle and Communities

Husk communities are typically small, secluded, and hermit-like, spread across the desolate regions of the new planet. They are heavily dependent on a network of trains for their survival. These trains, commandeered by Wraiths and built primarily from salvaged sections of the Astraeus Pioneer, form the lifeline of the Husk villages, providing essential supplies and enabling limited mobility.

While these humans are free to leave the safety of their villages, the looming threat of transformation into an affected Husk keeps most within their guarded boundaries. Fear and awe of the Wraiths vary across generations, with children viewing them as mystical, fearsome beings, while older individuals often regard them with a mix of jealousy and contempt.

Affected Husks

When a human comes into contact with the local life forms, they undergo a profound and irreversible transformation. The exact process is not fully understood but is suspected to be linked to a neurophysiological response. The local life form's biochemistry, when introduced to the human nervous system, appears to trigger a synaptic overload, akin to an electrical surge, that "fries" the neural circuits. This essentially burns out the personality and cognitive functions of the affected individual, leaving behind a living shell - hence the term "Husk".

Affected Husks retain basic motor functions and can follow simple instructions without question, but they lack volition, purpose, and the ability to engage in complex tasks. Exploitation of these individuals varies between communities. Some villages, exploiting their docile nature, employ them for menial labor, while others, seeing the transformation as a form of death, hold symbolic funerals and guide the affected Husks to walk off a cliff, a stark testament to the tragic cost of survival on the new world.

See also

1. Astraeus Pioneer
2. Wraiths
3. Interstellar Travel Consequences

This entry was last edited on 13 May 2023, at 00:00 (Interstellar Time).

References

[1] Singh, R. & Kim, S. "Husks: The Unintended Consequence of Interstellar Travel." Interstellar Medicine Review, Tau.2.2603.14. [InterstellarNet]

[2] "Life Among the Husks: A Glimpse into the Secluded Villages." Cosmic Chronicle, Sol.5.2604.15. [InterstellarNet]

[3] Chen, L. "Neurophysiological Impact of Alien Life Form Exposure: The Husk Syndrome." Interstellar Neuroscience Journal, Vega.2.2605.3. [InterstellarNet]

[4] "Wraiths and Husks: The Dichotomy of Humanity in a New World." Interstellar Anthropology Quarterly, Vega.1.2604.6. [InterstellarNet]

Interstellar Handbook Entry: Wraiths

From the Interstellar Handbook, the universal compendium

The Wraiths represent a unique subset of humanity that emerged following the interstellar exodus aboard the Astraeus Pioneer. This transformation, triggered by exposure to a peculiar form of radiation within the wormhole, has allowed these individuals to interact freely with the life forms on the new planet, a capability that unaffected humans, termed "Husks," lack.

Origins

The term "Wraith" was coined to describe the individuals affected by the selective radiation exposure during the journey through the wormhole. The transformation was selective, likely influenced by a combination of genetic variations and environmental factors aboard the ship. This unexpected metamorphosis marked the birth of the Wraiths, a new chapter in human evolution.

Physiological Adaptations

Wraiths exhibit several distinct physiological traits. They possess an enhanced resistance to the local life forms of the new planet, enabling them to coexist and interact without adverse effects. This adaptation is believed to be an epigenetic response triggered by the wormhole's radiation, although the exact mechanism remains a subject of ongoing research.

Societal Role

In the new societal construct, Wraiths perform a crucial role as intermediaries between the Husks and the planet's indigenous life forms. They possess a unique ability to withstand the planet's biota, which has been instrumental in establishing and sustaining the human presence on the new world.

Wraiths have assumed leadership roles in many communities, tasked with exploring, understanding, and navigating the complexities of the new environment. They often serve as scouts, diplomats, and scientists, their unique abilities making them invaluable assets to the human colonies.

Legacy

The Wraiths symbolize humanity's adaptability in the face of unprecedented challenges. Their emergence has raised new questions about human evolution and potential, spurring a wave of research and philosophical debate. Regardless of these debates, it is undeniable that the Wraiths have played a pivotal role in humanity's survival and adaptation in this new interstellar era.

See also

1. Astraeus Pioneer
2. Husks
3. Wormhole Radiation

This entry was last edited on 12 May 2023, at 00:00 (Interstellar Time).

References

[1] Alverez, J. "The Emergence of Wraiths: A Genetic Mutation or Evolution?" Galactic Genetics Journal, Alpha.3.2603.7. [InterstellarNet]

[2] Liu, Y. "Physiological Adaptations of Wraiths: A Comparative Study." Interstellar Biological Review, Sirius.2.2604.5. [InterstellarNet]

[3] "Wraiths: The New Leaders of Humanity?" Cosmic Chronicle, Sol.4.2604.21. [InterstellarNet]

[4] Singh, R. & Kim, S. "Husks: The Unintended Consequence of Interstellar Travel." Interstellar Medicine Review, Tau.2.2603.14. [InterstellarNet]

Interstellar Handbook Entry: Astraeus Pioneer

From the Interstellar Handbook, the universal compendium

The Astraeus Pioneer, previously a class of interstellar mothership conceived by SpaceX, the Earth-based aerospace manufacturer, represented a seminal point in the history of human space exploration. Named after Astraeus, the ancient Greek Titan of the dusk, stars, and the winds, this vessel was initially intended to ferry humans to other planets within the Solar System and was designed for dismantling upon arrival to maximize resource use.

Design and Evolution

Following the cataclysmic events in the Solar System triggered by the appearance of a wormhole, the Astraeus Pioneer underwent a transformation that no engineer on Earth could have foreseen. The survivors, forced to adapt and innovate, retrofitted the vessel for interstellar transport. They essentially fused together multiple units of the Astraeus Pioneer class, creating a single, colossal spacecraft capable of enduring the journey through the wormhole. This retrofitting process was carried out with remarkable ingenuity and desperate hope, reshaping humanity's destiny.

The Exodus

With the Solar System's society collapsing, weary humans boarded the Astraeus Pioneer, ready for a chance at life beyond the familiar skies. The voyage through the wormhole was fraught with uncertainty, but the promise of a new world spurred them on. Upon arrival, they discovered a habitable planet in a distant solar system, a testament to the human spirit's relentless pursuit of survival.

The Emergence of Wraiths

A surprising consequence of the wormhole travel was the transformation of a subset of humans into what became known as the Wraiths. During the voyage, certain individuals were exposed to a peculiar form of radiation emitted by the wormhole. It appeared to have a selective effect, perhaps influenced by genetic variations, environmental factors aboard the ship, or a combination of the two. These affected individuals underwent a profound metamorphosis, acquiring resistance to the local life forms on the new planet.

Unaffected humans weren't as fortunate. Upon exposure to the local life forms, they devolved into a state referred to as "husks" - living but devoid of purpose and soul. The Wraiths, however, could interact freely with the local life forms, establishing a bridge between humanity and this new world.

Legacy

The Astraeus Pioneer, from its inception to its unexpected evolution, symbolizes humanity's adaptability and persistence. From its roots as an ambitious project by an Earth-based company, it became the ark of humanity, the vessel that carried survivors to a new beginning in a distant solar system.

The Astraeus Pioneer and its passengers, the human settlers, and the Wraiths, represent a new chapter in the saga of human existence, a testament to the undying spirit of exploration and adaptation.

See also

1.     SpaceX
2.     Elon Musk
3.     Interstellar Transport System
4.     Wraiths
5.     Husks

This entry was last edited on 11 May 2023, at 00:00 (Interstellar Time).

References

[1] "SpaceX's Interstellar Journey: The Making of the Astraeus Pioneer." Cosmic Chronicle, Sol.3.2601.23. [InterstellarNet]

[2] Elon Musk. "Humanity's Second Chance: The Retrofitting of the Astraeus Pioneer." Stellar Reflections, Mars.3.2602.11. [InterstellarNet]

[3] "The Exodus: Humanity's Leap through the Wormhole." Interstellar Times, Proxima.4.2602.18. [InterstellarNet]

[4] Alverez, J. "The Emergence of Wraiths: A Genetic Mutation or Evolution?" Galactic Genetics Journal, Alpha.3.2603.7. [InterstellarNet]

[5] Singh, R. & Kim, S. "Husks: The Unintended Consequence of Interstellar Travel." Interstellar Medicine Review, Tau.2.2603.14. [InterstellarNet]

[6] Chen, L. "Astraeus Pioneer: The Ark of Humanity." Interstellar Anthropology Quarterly, Vega.1.2604.6. [InterstellarNet]

 

Astraeus Pioneer -Wikipedia Entry

The Astraeus Pioneer is a class of interstellar mothership designed and manufactured by SpaceX, the American aerospace manufacturer founded by Elon Musk. Named after the ancient Greek Titan of the dusk, the stars, and the winds, Astraeus, the spacecraft is integral to SpaceX's ambitions of enabling the human colonization of other planets.

Development and Design

The development of the Astraeus Pioneer began in 2023, building upon the technology of the successful Starship and the lessons learned from the Artemis missions to the Moon. The spacecraft was designed with a dual purpose in mind: to transport settlers to other worlds and provide the initial infrastructure upon arrival.

The Astraeus Pioneer, with its colossal size, is capable of transporting a significant number of settlers, provisions, and necessary equipment for setting up a new colony. The ship was engineered to be harvested for parts upon landing, ensuring the valuable resources carried by the ship are fully utilized.

Missions

The first mission of the Astraeus Pioneer was launched in 2026, targeting Mars as part of SpaceX's vision for a self-sustaining city on the Red Planet. The mission was a success, marking a critical milestone in the history of human space exploration and settlement.

Since then, Astraeus Pioneer has been involved in multiple missions, primarily focused on Mars but also including planned missions to further targets in the Solar System.

Legacy

The Astraeus Pioneer has been monumental in pushing the boundaries of human capabilities in space, embodying the spirit of exploration and the human endeavor to expand beyond Earth. The spacecraft, along with its crew and settlers, has become a symbol of a new era of space exploration.

Shane Knox

The scream of the jetskis supercharger broke serenity of dawn. Had any morning walkers been out, they wouldn't have seen much other than the white fountain of spray in the middle of the otherwise smooth water. Shane Knox gripped the yoke of the jetski and floored it. Behind and above him were two stealth choppers their blades cutting silently through the cool morning air.

These choppers were not friendly. Slung on either side were two rocket pods fully armed with about sixty high explosive warheads. While they were not guided rockets, the area that they could effect was large enough that aim did not matter.

Strapped to Shane’s chest was a small bag, its contents, top secret. Well they were top secret while they were in the lab, few knew that the device even existed and those that did know likely didn’t even know how it worked – or even where it came from.

Shane was not one of those people until only a few weeks ago.

The lead chopper now caught up with the jetski  fired its first its first round. The heat and flash of its blast were quickly deadened by the enormous wave of spray that drenched him as the rocket missed.

In the far distance behind the screaming jetski was the Island from where the helicopter had taken off from. The island where the device currently strapped to Shanes chest was previously hidden from prying eyes. For a package as valuable as this it was fair to say that it was  was well defended for a otherwise secret location. Aside from the two gun ships that were now persuing him, the island had about 100 commandos. These commandos, currently armed to the teeth, were currently showing Shane just how royally pissed off they were that he had managed to slip past them all.

Hot, angry and powerful .50cal rounds broke through the air, their mismatched red and green tracer rounds smashed into their destination with a singular and deadly purpose, destroy.

A conga line of small white jets erupted from the ocean around him as the rounds walked their way across the bay towards him.

Another blast from the rockets struck the water just behind him. The heat from the explosion evaporating the water on Shanes face. The next round from the helicopter was unlikley to miss. The choppers were only a few hundred meters from him. If by some mircale the rocket did miss, the soldiers in their fast boat and their angry machine guns were certain to catch him.  

Shane swung the jetski around hard to the left, killing all his forward speed, going from about 100kph to nearly 0 in about 20 meters, the choppers already matching his speed, were not expecting this and quickly overtook him. The large metal birds immediately yawing hard to swing their nose around to try and take out the target from close range. Their large tail rotors screamed as the lumbering gunships banked high expecting to settle on where their now stationary target should have been.

Shane now back up to speed, aimed directly for the wake waves he had just created, placing his legs to the rear of the ski he bounced the stern hard has he hit the first wave, causing the ski to gain half a meter of height, then he rapidly pushed the nose down. Diving the ski underwater just as the lead chopper unleashed ten of its deadly missiles.

Multiple points of impact, and large mushroom clouds of water, fire and hot shrapnel lept from the ocean. By the time the clouds began to clear, both helicopters began to swarm around where they last saw Shane and his stolen prize.

As the motor boats caught up to the scene one pulled in front, a lone solitary figure could be seen standing on he bow.

Oliver Vernon didn’t look particularly happy. While he knew that the object that had been stolen from him would likely be intact, the one sided battle had taken place over the deepest part of the atol. The bottom of the bay was easily 200ft deep and retrieving it would take time.

Time he didn’t have.

Already displeased with the progress of the soldiers, he scowled at them to get the underwater ROV ready.

Racks of robotic underwater submarines swung to the sides of the fast boats and started ejecting the underwater drones into the salty water.

Originally designed to hunt and seek underwater divers threatening US Navy ships while in port, the robots were upgraded over the years to include powerful computers running the latest iterations of the Navy’s hunter AI.

The REX program was Vernon’s brainchild. Adaptable, innovative and lethal, Vernon joked that the fictional Skynet wouldnt have stood a chance against it. Able to be uploaded into nearly any device capable of housing the briefcase sized computer that was required to run it, it had revolutionised the battlefield.

While boots on the ground was still required to really hold any territory, the REX program was slowly being installed in almost all military hardware. Even the helicopters circling above had REX units installed behind the pilots seat. Each one learning from the pilot in front, suggesting control inputs, to the meat bags piloting it, soon they would be able to control anything on the planet, but for now the senators who wrote the cheques, were gun shy about allowing the software to control the million dollar assets that traditionally humans had always flown. Humans in comparison were expendable!

Below the waters surface Shane, was swimming as hard has his legs would propel him, the rebreather strapped to his back would only give him a few minutes of air. Below him lurking in the depths of the Atol was his target. Once the men above figured out that there was a nuclear submarine hiding in the centre of the bay, they would quickly move to cut it off at its only exit.

Turning back to look at the fading sunlight from the surface above he saw multiple splashes as the ROVs entered the water. He knew these would not be the slow ones often seen in nature documentaries and suspected their danger.

This was quickly confirmed as an ear piercing and organ jumbling scream hit his body. The active sonar from each of these ROVs began searching for their foe.

Him, a human meat bag with flippers and a wetsuit while each of them had high speed motors and the latest non cavitating propellor designs. It wouldn't take long for the on board computers to identify his body from the scatter of the ocean bed below.

While it was unlikley they would spot the sub below him, it was simply too large and could have been mistaken for the sea bed while he was exposed to hide from their incessant sonar.

Sonar is a curious thing. Long gone are the solitary pings we have grown used to hearing in movies sonar is actually a spectrum of frequencies, and depending on the type of sonar being used, often swings from a low pitch and quickly whips its way up to a high pitch shrill whine.

While the range on the ROVs was only limited to a few hundred meters, US Navy warships often had Sonar system many thousands of watts in power, so powerful in fact it could make the water boil around them. Incidentally in port the ROVs were found to be less effective than just simply leaving the sonar systems on. Any diver within 10 Km of the ships were likely to find their insides scrambled by the sheer power of the sonar systems. Yep Sonar could kill you.

This Sonar wasnt about to do that, but it was certainly beginning to grate on Shanes nerves. Each cascading wail from the ROVs struck his skull and shook his inner ear. Until suddenly the tone changed. They had locked on to him, the warbling sound made his stomach churn.

Behind him the sleek torpedo shaped robots spooled up their thrusters and persued him. Long spikes like that on a marlin protruded from the front. Designed to impale enemy divers they were extremely effective.

Shane had actually worked with these before, back in Australia the robots had been trialed to patrol the waters around the nuclear submarine bays on the western coast. While they didn’t have the REX computers the simple targeting computers were still very effective at hunting moving targets.

With the absence of hostile divers on the remote western coast of Australia, the other operators used to use them to spear fish food for weekend BBQs. From this experience, he knew that once the ROVs had a lock they would immediately aim for their target and accelerate.  

Shane stopped dead in the water and swung his body around. He could see the fast moving sillouette of the first ROV moving towards him at a great speed. He knew he had only one chance. Pulling the reserve oxygen canister from his webbing he stabbed it hard with his diving knife.

A jet of O2 Spewed from the side of the bottle, its high pressure contents thrusting him laterally faster than if he had tried to swim it himself.

The ROV commited to its trajectory by its sheer mass and speed couldn’t react in time whizzed past with only half a meter to spare. It would take several minutes for it to slow down, turn around and reaquire him. However it wouldn't take that long for the other remaining ROVs to do the same.

The warbling of the other ROVs shook his skull indicating that another one had now locked onto him. Out of spare O2 bottles he again dove for the murky black object that was now only 50 ft from him.

A crack of light appeared from a hump on the top of the object and suddenly several things happened in rapid succession.  

The ROV now only a few tens of meters away hit the brakes, its powerful engine swung into reverse, the REX Ai wasnt about to make the same mistake again.

A large cylindrical object appeared from within the opening chamber, silver annodised marine grade steel glinted from the murky lighting of the chamber, its sudden intensity blinding Shane.

The ROV Yawed  from left to right in the water, following Shanes every movement, by now the ROVs plan was clear, it was going to close the remaining distance much slower and try to impale him from much closer distance. REX didn’t like making mistakes and it wasnt about to do it again.

A meter long spear of titanium shot out of the cylinder and impaled the ROV directly in the sonar array on the front of it. Embedding itself like a giant tooth pick sticking out of its face.

Two sets of gloved hands grabbed Shane and dragged him inside as the giantic chamber began to close. A loud scraping noise could be heard as the first ROV and the third tried to breach the armoured sides of the chamber.

When the US navy had sold the virginia class submarines to Australia, they hadnt envisaged the australians designing and buildign their own ________ compartments. Protruding like the hump of a camel behind the sail of the giant lumbering submarine the pressurized compartment meant that Australia could deploy fighters from underwater and many kilometers from the shoreline.

Inside the compartment were four other divers. Bruce Kingsbury, the teams gunner, Billy Sing – who was drying off the stainless steel harpoon gun that had just saved his life, Keith “The Doc” Payne and the short and stocky Alec Cambell, their engineer and all round tech expert.

As the still rapidly empting itself, Shane took off his rebreather and took a large breath of the metalic air inside the submarine.

There were no hugs of victory, or high fives, Alec was already on the intercom to the ships captain.

“Go GO GO! We have the package aboard!”

The sudden acceleration caught all of them off guard, water still covering the deck sloshed hard against the rear of the chamber as the nuclear submarine accelerated as fast as it could. The time for stealth was over, this was make or break, if the solders or REX units above figured out that it was an Australian that had stolen the package, then all bets were off.

A loud metalic twang shook the walls as the submarine collied with the remaining underwater ROVs.

Once the floor was clear, a hatch to the inside of the submarine opened, all of the men quickly slid down the ladder, Doc last as always sealed it shut behind them.

Making their way through the submaine they entered the __Center of operations in a submaine is called what? __________

The Captain Teddy Sheean was talking to Allan Cuthbertson. Both men were gesturing wildly in the air in front of them. Much like the vaunted F-35 multi role fighter of the 2020s submarines employed their own version of situational awareness. Large goggles like that of a Dakar rally driver were beaming a three dimensional overlay of the Atoll straight into their retinas. Red blips slid slowly across the surface above the submarine – the attack boats. While higher still the helicopters flashed in and out of existence as the military satellite above relayed the surface information to the submarine.

Donning a similar pair of goggles Shane joined in, the scattered remains of the ROVs could be seen behind the submarine, grey and motionless, no longer a threat. To the east a large rectangular object could be seen making a slow but rapid arc swinging towards the only exit to the atol.

It was unlikely that they yet knew that there was a large nuclear submarine below the water, the idea was as absurd to them as it likely was to their persuers above. Still it made sense that they would move to cut the exit off even if they didn’t know what they were blocking.

Allan glanced at Shanes chest and the package he had strapped to it. Raising an eyebrow simply asked “Intact?”
“Yes sir”
Turning to the Captain he said, “Then they are probably quite fucking pissed off and thankfully quite disorganized right now, are we going to be able to get out of here without a shooting match?”

“If that blasted cruiser doesn’t turn on its sonar we should be OK,” replied the captain.  
As if on que the sonar operator sitting on the console behind him let out a yelp, “Active sonar above us captain!”

Yellow waves began emminating from the surface in their AR goggles, the helicopters had dropped bouys. Like the ROVs sonar they wouldnt take long to figure out that there was something large and moving below them. The shrill warble of their sonar could be heard shreeking from the small speaker on operators consol.

While Shane wasn't a sonar operator himself – it was clear that the bouy hadnt yet locked onto its target. Likely it was looking for something smaller, but even then, with active sonar it was pretty hard not to miss the football field sized submarine rapidly moving below the water.

Alec still dripping from his swim was already sitting at the Electronic warfare console. His fingers nimbly dancing across its keyboard. “Sir I can apply physical or electronic countermeasures your choice” Also wearing goggles you could tell that Alec also well understood the danger of the situation.

“Save the physical for once its clear they know what they are dealing with”

Subtly Nodding, Alec began queuing up a playlist of other sounds as well as recordings of the bouys the system had already made.

In the hours before they had pulled off their heist other divers had placed robotic sonar emitters at various locations across the bay. At staggered intervals they began blasting false echos of the sonar and mating calls from a pod of whales they had overheard as they entered the bay.

Above them, Oliver was cursing. All but one of his ROVs was still talking to him, but it was blind and unable to see. Its sonar array was spewing red errors across the page.

He had hoped that he would be able to patch in the signal from the helicopters buoy to enable the REX unit aboard to continue to hunt for the diver. But that was failing to do any good. It was as if its gain was wildly out of tune. Echos of the underwater walls of the atol were overlapping themselves on his display, and a pod of wales seemed to be right in the middle throws of some sort of mating ritual.

His only option which seemed unlikely to work was to turn on the ROVs camera. Normally they didn’t bother with the camera. Silt and a lack of light usually made it useless, only good for inspecting stationary objects up close when the ROVs intense LEDs could break through the milky darkness.

The static of the analogue transmission flicked onto his tablet. He could see the silver of the harpoon protruding from the nose of the ROV. Its silver shaft reflecting off the intense lighting that was now swtiched on.

He spoke to the microphone strapped to his wrist. “REX download all footage from the moment the the ROV entered the water and analyse what you see”

The watch converted his request to plain text and the large language model that sat below REXs tactical neural net began analyzing and pulling together an assortment of plugins to tag and analyze the footage. Server fans a continent away ramped up to full speed as REX applied its full network to its creators task.

The slowest part of the whole process was the retrieval of the footage from the ROV that was drifting below the surface of the water.

Much like a microwave finishing a cooking cycle, Olivers tablet let out an audible “Bing!” Two key frames alternated back and forth. One dark and grainy and the other a diffused crack of light just before the sonar array went offline and something struck the ROV. The harpoon.

Oliver understood before even REX could finish writing its report. They had a freaking submarine!

“Cut off the bay! He is still alive and there is a Submarine down there!”

---

Down below the effect of Olivers order was nearly instantaneous. The cruiser instantly turned on its Sonar Array. Much more powerful than the helicopter dropped buoy, it began boiling the water around the hull of the boat and its towed sonar array.  Thousands of watts of sound shook the water and started bouncing off the hull of the submarine.

The crews AR goggles adjusted themselves to filter the yellow simulated sonar emissions that suddenly overwhelmed the tactical display.

“Shit, get those physical countermeasures ready Campbell! We are going to need them pretty much right now!” The shrill emanating from the sonar console was filling the room, everyone tried hard to ignore it. Alec, focused on his task pulled his headphones on, drowning out everything going on in the _____.

Alec much younger than the other operators on his team found he worked best when listening to music. When not diving underwater, if it wasnt for his short size you could pick him from the group by the headphones always wrapped around his neck.

With the stress and sounds of the ___ now drowned out Alec was in his element. The virginia class submarine was first and formost an attack submarine, Designed to hunt and kill other submarines and marine vessels. Unlike many american subs whos main purpose was to deter anyone from launching a nuclear attack by carrying up to thirty ICBMs the virginia class held most of its ordinance in the bow.

While the sub was very good at hiding, a feature that they had taken advantage of over the last few days as the Sub had snuck into the atol, it also found itself in a situation that was very much not in its favor. With one exit the cruiser could both sense any torpedoes and use its own countermeasures. Worse they would be able to use the torpedos to identify the submarine.

The Americans had made it for the australians afterall. Instead, the Australians had removed the normal ordinance of one of the tubes and installed ….



---=== Break the story here to write about the other characters then pick back up again once they have been fleshed out==---

Bruce kingsbury, Grew up on farms, - tough as nails as good on a motorbike as a horse. Gunner!
Affectionately called the gun Teddy (IRL he took a bren from another soldier called lindsay “teddy” bear.)

Billy Sing – sniper 150 – 300 confirmed kills IRL WW1

Allan Cuthbertson – stern officer type in movies

Alec Campbell – young but fiercy loyal – Tech/engineer

Keith Payne – The doc (

Some other names that could be used.

Teddy Sheean – Boatsman (captain of the sub ? )

Clive Caldwell – aviator also a bit of a lover of the piss :) Was courtmartialed for liquor transactions !


--=== Ideas for the physical countermeasures==---

it has to be launched from the torpedo bay.
C                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    
It has to be fast and it has to overwhelm the sonar systems on a navy warship.

How will it be fast enough to get through the water?

Hypercavitation, supercavitation – followed by a laser – a rail gun ? Quite a super weapon!

Underwater poses a problem. Combo of the german (steerable head)  and russian (stream of gas injected at the front of the design)  designs. 400Kph,  Range is 10 to 15km . If its a rocket – how is it able to return or how is it undetectable?

Maybe its massive – it skims past the target – and then rail guns it ? Rail gun ? Or does it drop smaller micro drones in its wake? Can it deliver a payload like a soldier underwater? Why would australia develop something like this ? Why keep it a secret from the USA?

- Suspicion about compelled use of the submarines that arose in the 2030s following the “something wars”

It started with a Murder. Dialogue Experiment

• I started writing this story on a new keyboard that I bought for a Raspberry Pi.
• I wanted to experiment with dialogue. beyond that I was writing with no plan. 

All good stories start with a description, a character reveal and a setting.

Mine … started with a murder.

Mine specifically.

I don’t really remember much, one minute I was alive, and the next, well I wasn’t.  

I am pretty sure I wasn’t the intended target, least from what I can recall, I don’t really know any good reason for me to be “made dead” by someone.  

It could have been a random attack, or it could have been a past girlfriend, hell bent on revenge, or just my mum because I didn’t make my bed one day…  

 Truthfully, I really don’t know. See when your dead, you are still “you” so to speak, just … well you don’t really remember much from before.  

 
 I think I was a good person, least I feel like I should have been. Like I don’t get angry and want to hurt people if I don’t get my way, so … it kind of makes sense that I would be good … right? 

 When your dead there isn’t a whole lot to get angry about anyways, eternity kind of does that too you. When you have all the time in the universe, other realm/whatever, getting angry is a bit of a waste. When you have all the time, spending any of it being angry is just … well a downer, and no one likes a downer.

I met some other really cool people too! There was Jeff, he was a bit of a weirdo, kept trying to remember the past by doing all sorts of weird mediations. Katinka was also a bit “out there” she/he/they well, most days they couldn’t really work out what they were, I am pretty sure Katinka had a bit of a troubled life. Like, I think other people would have found them really difficult to be around. Mostly because of all the self-doubt.

But when your dead, there really isn’t anything that can hurt you anymore so doubt and risk taking … well it’s a bit stupid to be worried if you ask me.   

“Oh no, I shouldn’t do this scary thing… I might get hurt.”  

Well, the math’s just doesn’t add up right?   

Death > broken bone.

Still, she was good company, she liked most of the stuff that Jeff and I liked and given that the only stuff to like was the stuff that we found … well that was a good thing.

No shops in the afterlife … least none that we have found.

But there WAS a lot of stuff. Kind of like things that had fallen through the cracks of reality.   

Like one day you could be wandering along and find a sock … just one … never two (somethings never change right?) and another you could find a really old ancient textbook, covered in what appeared to be the skin of human sacrifices.   

Jeff had been wandering along with his eyes closed, humming some bizarre pop song he found a while back trying to remember what had happened before he died when suddenly he fell over.

Katinka – who floating behind Jeff, bumped into him. The eye liner pencil in their hand slipping and stabbing their eye.

“For f**** sake Jeff would you bloody well look where you’re going in the future!”  

Jeff didn’t respond.   

“Jeff your dead, get over it and get up, you’re in our way!”  

Jeff still didn’t respond. In fact, Jeff, already dead, was completely still. Almost as if he was more dead than usual, but since being dead is kinda “the end of the line” in terms of being dead being more dead than dead didn’t make sense.  

It was almost as if he was frozen in time. The sight, so unusual, so bizarre it completely freaked Katinka out.

I was, as I usually was around that hour, writing in my notebook. I was keeping a sort of diary, mostly just dot points. Writing long sentences was boring and being bored when your dead and eternity on your hands is definitely something you wanted to avoid.  

Katinka found me just as I had finished writing my notes for the day.

·         Found a pink sock, still no sign of an Orange one to make a good pair 

·         Tried remembering when I last needed to blow my nose. Being dead – can’t get sick – no snot. Weird. 

 
 Really important stuff.

 
 “Monty, where the hell have you been?”   

“Right here, where I always am.”   

“Oh, for Fucks sake, would you just shut up and come?”  

Katinka if you have not already guessed, had quite a potty mouth. When they were not painting their nails black, or brushing their hair, or simply contemplating how to make themselves look darker, and more emo than a dead person has any right trying to look – they were usually swearing.

“Can’t, gotta finish my notes.”   

“Your blasted notes can wait, this is important, Jeffs gone and killed himself deader than he was before.” 

Now this was interesting, you can’t really be more dead than dead after all. So, grumbling for the sake of it I followed her.

Jeff was exactly where Katinka had left him, his lips mid syllable, even the spittle coming out of his mouth seemed frozen.

“Whoa! I haven't seen this happen before”.   

“I know right,” said Katinka.

Walking over to Jeff its clear he wasn’t faking it. The guy was lazy at the best of times but holding this position would have been a herculean task.

In hindsight, being dead kinda made you careless. It wasn’t as if you were likely to ever do anything that could jeopardize your heath. Like, I know this is ground I have already covered with you, but I think it’s important for you to understand just the sort of thinking we were dealing with at the time.  
 

It wasn’t as if anything worse than death had happened to us, in all of the eternity that we had been dead already. So naturally none of us could have predicted what came next.
 

NEW chapter.

“Oh shit! Something is glowing under his foot!”  

For the last, dunno say five minutes I had been walking in circles around Jeff, who deader than dead had still not moved at all.

The scene was fairly innocuous, around us were the usual remnants of the land of the living that seemed to have fallen through the cracks of reality.   

Imagine a scene from your favourite John carpenter movie. Think, Escape from New York, desolate and worn buildings, rubble littering the foot path, except that the usual flaming 44 Gallon drums were empty – no one around to light the fires right. The crap that fell into our realm was usually junk.

 Like we didn’t exactly know how it ended up in our realm, but one thing we knew was that just about all of it was stuff that its owners would have most likely forgotten about or didn’t give a hoot about anymore.  

So, you can understand Katinkas delight when she spied something interesting under Jeff’s foot. The problem was, of course Jeff’s foot. Frozen in time and firmly on top of it.

Katinka pleaded with me to help them move Jeff. She ended up agreeing to trade with me several X-Men comics she had stored in her stash.

We ended up needing to wedge a plank between one of the many 44-gallon drums and Jeff. Picture a horizontal seesaw only on one end with the frozen form of Jeff and on the other the two of us pushing against the time worn timber.

It took quite an effort but after a few well-placed heaves we managed to topple Jeff’s frozen form off of the object.  

 The effect was near instantaneous, the moment Jeff had been pushed over, it was as if his timeline had caught up with the present. Now with the added momentum of our levered shove and his existing falling momentum, he slammed into the ground. Had he have been alive, he would have surely broken something, such was the impact he had with the ground.

“OW! Just what the fuck are you guys doing!??” 

“It’s your fault Jeff, you were not watching where you were going!” replied Katinka.

The two of them continued to bicker, used to it, I immediately began to tune them out.

My interest had turned to the glowing object that was now fully revealed and laying on the grubby footpath.

Squatting down beside it, I had to shield my eyes just to even look in its general direction.

 

“How the heck did you miss this, Jeff?” I asked.  

The two of them, stopped bickering and glanced in my direction. Immediately both of them also began shielding their eyes. The glow was intense, like nuclear bomb intense, like the kind where you could almost see your bones through your skin intense.

It was surely getting brighter, a moment ago it was barely glowing under his feet, and now we had a second sun only a few feet from us.  

Katinka screamed, as did Jeff and me being the closest actually felt real Bonafede pain. This was horrifying. I had never felt anything like it since the moment I realised I was dead.  

And …  

 And…  

 IT WAS AWESOME! My eyes screamed in pain, the tips of my fingers, my chest and face felt like they were on fire. But oh! To be feeling something again. I didn’t care that it was pain. It was wonderful!

 It was as if the light was reaching out to find my soul and tear it from my dead flesh. The pain was agony, it was horrific and yet it was bliss!

My eyes rolled back towards the back of my skull. Behind me I could hear the gurling screams of both Jeff and Katinka also feeling what I had been feeling. None of us had felt anything from the moment we arrived here.

I guess for an average person you probably thought us to be sick. But MAN, to be able to feel anything again, even this horrific, skin being scraped off your bones, flesh burning pain was just, well it was just wonderful!

The light was now so bright we couldn’t see anything. Our ears, suddenly ringing with the sound of thousands of bicycle bells began to protest their very existence – and suddenly, overwhelmed with the newfound feeling and the realisation that the pain was indeed actually not quite pleasant the three of us fell to the ground, hands clamped over our ears.  

Imagine listening to your favourite song, while sitting in front of the speakers only they were of the kind that might be dragged along to a stadium concert, your favourite band belting out their lyrics, the drummer executing their solos perfectly and the guitars singing like angels but … all while suffering from the worst possible flu you can imagine, then you might have some idea of what we were experiencing.  

I was vaguely aware of Katinka and Jeff vomiting as I too began to heave my stomach uncontrollably.

Have you ever needed to vomit, but found that there was nothing left in your stomach? That’s basically what we were doing. We hadn’t needed to eat anything for as long as we could remember, and that, considering everything, was a pretty long time. 

Our vison so overwhelmed with the light, began to turn grey ... then white … then unbelievably it just stopped.

Like everything stopped. No light, no sound, no vision. Just nothing. It was if my two eyes were floating in an inky blackness, while still being attached to a functional brain.

I couldn’t feel my arms, my hands, heck I didn’t even know if I was standing anymore. I had no idea where Jeff and Katinka were, but something in my soul told me that they were nowhere near me.

Have you ever stumbled through your house at night, or been standing in the dark and somehow, you just knew your younger brother, or your wife was there near you? Like not touching you, not making a sound, but you just knew.

In that same way – while I knew it wasn’t Katinka nor Jeff, I knew that I wasn’t alone. Something was in this darkness. Pacing, swirling, menacing … old.

In a weak voice I managed to murmur a pathetic “Hello?” 

The otherness, froze. Almost as if it too was now suddenly aware of my intrusion. I say intrusion because I just knew I was not supposed to be here. This was not the realm of the dead; we were somewhere else.

Suddenly I was aware of my arms again because all of the hair on them was now standing on end.  

In the darkness I could HEAR the smirk that followed. Smoky lips curled upwards, their corners lifting as a wider grin formed. What my eyes couldn’t see, my soul knew to be true.  

That something gathered itself, its mass began to gather itself in the darkness its mindless pacing ceased. Twisting, coiling, my greeting gave it newfound, yet long ago lost purpose.

It saw me even when I could not see it. Its giant immense bulk, twisted, and contorted until it came back together. Like smoke boiling off a fire in reverse, it revealed itself as one giant grotesque and indescribable mass. 

And then, it too, for a few brief seconds was as still as everything else. Its entire and malevolent intellect focused itself towards me. 

With its form now gathered I could see myself better, black soot smeared my hands, and ash filled the sky. I was actually perspiring. This place was hotter than anything we had experienced in the realm of the dead.

I slowly exhaled. My eyes squinted. Powerless in front of this thing. 

What now? I thought to myself. Your move creep.

The deep reverberating laugh caught me off guard. It came from deep inside. Almost as if it was thousands of different people all laughing slowly and in sync with each other. Slowly the laughing grew in cadence, the thing grew in size, then like a wave about to break it bent over and rushed towards me.  

In horror I threw my hands in front of my face. With what should have been the force of a freight train it slammed into me. My head filled with impish laughter, the howls and cackles of bigger things, unspeakable things bounced threw my skull.

The tips of my fingers bored into my skull as I tried to stop it. I could feel my lungs emptying in what should have been a scream.

The voices, shifted again, like a radio getting close to a station they suddenly snapped into perfect resonance and in one roaring all-encompassing voice I heard it say the one thing that I had been dreading it say.

It started small, like a young child figuring out how to blow out a candle and as it grew in confidence it became unmistakably clear.

FffffffffffffFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEE