First of all, I have to say that the superhero fight scenes in this are arguably the best in any comic book movie ever. Zach Snyder really figured out the “movie physics” and force waves these massive fights would generate and they were visceral, punchy (literally), and extremely exciting. The collateral damage was unimaginable but you got the feeling that it was also a pretty accurate portrayal of how much destruction a battle like this would produce.

The acting as well was top flight (pun intended). Henry Cavill truly embodied the man of steel, both the quiet goodness and the massive power. Amy Adams absolutely embodied Lois Lane. Russell Crowe and the rest of the Kryptonians all sold even the most outlandish of the sci-fi elements. And Kevin Costner and Diane Lane were both sweet and heartbreaking as Superman’s adoptive parents.

Overall I think the story was well thought through and held together. It was a science fiction movie rather than a crime movie, which works well for a Superman film. I think between Goyer’s well written character and Amy Adam’s excellent acting this is my favorite Lois Lane anywhere. We get to see her being the crack reporter she’s supposed to be, we see her being a tough girl not afraid to get her hands dirty, and we see her compassionate side.

My main criticism is that like Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight movies, Man Of Steel is afraid to have fun with the superhero genre. The moniker “Superman” is only used once in the movie, and then almost apologetically. The theme of “is the world ready to accept him” is appropriate and handled “realistically” but it is also quite somber. Other than when Superman first experiments with flight and is thrilled by it, this is a movie that goes for hours without anyone cracking a smile or joking around. The movie lay the groundwork for more humor in the sequel, but it would have been nice to see a lighter side to our hero.

Anyway, it should be clear that I enjoyed the movie and would recommend it to fans not just of Superman but action and science fiction movies in general. The acting is completely believable, the look and action sequences are breathtaking, and unlike many sci-fi or superhero films while the story isn’t hole-free the plot holds together very well. Be prepared for a fair amount of exposition (this is an origin story after all) and for the somber tone, and you will walk out with a huge smile on your face, just as I did.

The post The Man Of Steel flies again appeared first on Ramblings.

Like the new site design? I decided to change my theme away from The Deviant (my first novel) to Skye Entity, because Skye Entity is now available as an eBook in Kindle, Nook, and Google eBook formats!

The price is $4.99 in the following US eBookstores:
Kindle
Nook
Google Play

If you don’t see your favorite eBook format above, don’t worry, those will be coming soon, also for $4.99. All eBook editions are DRM-free, so you can load them into any eReader you like.

Remember, you can read the first 7 chapters for free in either PDF, ePub, or right on my site, by following the links on the dedicated Skye Entity page.

If you prefer print books, those are coming soon too, don’t worry!

And if you enjoy the novel, please spread the word and tell your friends!

The post Skye Entity: Kindle, Nook, and Google Play edition now available! appeared first on Ramblings.

Skye Entity —first seven chapters in ePub format
Skye Entity—first seven chapters in PDF format

Please link to these samplers of Skye Entity and to share them with your friends far and wide. I made these to be freely available, for people to enjoy and hopefully get them interested in the entire book.

Thanks, and of course stay tuned for information on the official release date!

The post Skye Entity—download first 7 chapters free! appeared first on Ramblings.

The first step is that later this week I will collect what I’ve already published on this site into easily downloadable PDF and ePub files for you to freely download and distribute to anyone you feel might like it.

Thanks for being interested this far, and more soon!

The post Skye Entity—the complete novel arrives next week! appeared first on Ramblings.

This is part 2 of chapter 7 from my forthcoming novel, Skye Entity. You can read more from the novel here.

To read part 1 of chapter 7, click here.

Eli inhaled deeply. “Okay,” she exhaled. “Use my left ear. I have an earpiece in my right ear…”

It nodded, and held a finger an inch away from her left ear. Rapidly, it’s finger elongated, and stretched into her ear canal. It’s substance became as thin and gentle as a liquid and slid past her ear drum, into her skull cavity.

Eli gasped.

“Eli!” Colonel Thomas yelled in her earpiece.

Everyone at Edwards and watching the feed held their breath.

“I’m okay!” She said hurriedly. “I’m fine…just a bit of a shock, like water in my ear. It doesn’t hurt at all. It just feels a little…weird.”

The alien held his right hand up to his chest and twirled his hand around.

“You want me to…continue?” Eli asked.

It nodded.

“Continue talking you mean?”

It nodded again.

“Um…okay…So…are you scanning my mind as I talk?”

It nodded.

“I think this sentence—the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog—has every letter in the English language. Does that help?”

It nodded. It twirled its hand again.

“Okay, keeping talking…um…well…let me see…as an astrobiologist, I can’t wait to talk to you about…oh wow, your skin texture…are you learning how to appear more human from me as well?”

It nodded. At the same time, it’s smooth metallic features began to take on the pores and wrinkles of a clean-shaven man in his early forties. His clothes also lost their metallic sheen thanks to the formation of wrinkles and a more cotton-appearing texture.

“That’s amazing…you really do look like a human now, except for your eyes…I’m guessing that you kept the eyes from your home world?”

It nodded.

“They’re really beautiful…I’ve never seen coloration like it before. None of us have. Then again, I’m not sure what’s more surprising, the iris coloration, or that you have eyes that resemble ours at all, considering how different you are.”

It smiled, then held out its right hand, palm extended.

“Okay, I’m waiting…” She took a deep breath as she felt the sensation of liquid sloshing around in her head again, then her ear, and finally out. She exhaled rapidly, her eyes wide as she processed what just happened to her.

“Vocal chords, Dr. Reuben,” the alien figure said, offering her a serene grin. “That’s what I was missing. I’d formed constructs internally to mimic lungs, teeth, a tongue, and lips, but I’d missed vocal chords. That, and the proper lip/tongue formations for English letters. Thank you for your assistance.” Its voice was not low-pitched, but still comfortably within the male register.

“You’re welcome. I’m glad I could help. That was…a memorable experience.”

“For both of us,” it said.

“Are my eyes acceptable to you?” It asked President Francis and Secretary General Barizón. “As Dr. Reuben surmised, I have kept the iris pattern from the biological beings on my home planet. If this is too distracting, I can just as easily present you with a human brown or blue iris.”

“I agree with Dr. Reuben, your eyes are beautiful—unique and ‘other-worldly,’ in a very pleasing way. Please keep them, if you would like,” President Francis replied.

“Thank you.”

“And once again,” Secretary General Barizón said, “on behalf of all of us on planet Earth, welcome to our home, for as long as you stay.”

“Thank you very much, Secretary General Barizón. Thank you for allowing me to land. I promise you, I would never have disturbed your people if there was any way I could have returned home without your help.”

“You are the first extra-terrestrial being to officially make contact with our species—far from a disturbance, this is an event many human beings have wished for their entire lives,” President Francis said.

“I understand,” the being answered.

“So,” Secretary General Barizón continued, “may I…may we ask…who…what are you? Are you a robot or a living being?”

“Please,” the figure said. “I understand you have never seen a being like me on your world before. I am an independent, conscious, living entity. I was created by biological beings who designed me with neural pathways to learn, to think. I have free will, and it is my will, not a programmed response to stimuli, that determines how I chose to respond. If my physical components cease functioning, I can’t be ‘plugged-in’ and resurrected; I will be dead, just as your biological bodies die.”

“Forgive me,” the Secretary General gave a slight bow of his head and upper torso, “I did not mean to imply that you weren’t alive, or to insult—”

“No need to apologize,” it interrupted. “I realize that you had no intention to offend me.”

“So…may we ask your name?”

It paused. “Where I am from, we have both aural and empathic emotional communication. We always know who another is referring to telepathically, so we rarely use aural names.”

“When you do communicate verbally, what are you called?” President Francis asked.

“Beings like me are referred to generally as Entities, or Healers, as that is our main role in our society. Our aural names are not ‘verbal’ the way you think of it, my name would not translate into a human language.”

“Could you try?” President Francis asked.

“We aurally communicate by plucking an internal vibrating membrane. Our language consists of a series of high pitched tones with complex stops and rhythms—not unlike your morse code, but with far more nuance, pitch and rhythm, even melody. Proper names are more like musical themes than words.”

“It sounds lovely,” President Francis said.

“It is,” it agreed.

The alien turned to Eli. “Dr. Reuben…would you please name me?”

“Excuse me…you want me to name you?”

“Please,” it said. “You have already given me the ability to speak with your species. If you would, please give me a name that your species may use to address me.”

“I…” Eli swallowed hard. “Wow…I am…you’ve rendered me speechless!”

“Forgive me, I—”

“Oh no, it’s not you, it’s me,” Eli insisted. “It’s not every day that an Entity from another world lands thirty feet in front of me and asks me to give it a name, you know? The leaders here and the people out there are all waiting…it’s a bit overwhelming!”

“I understand,” it replied.

“Let me see…” Eli looked at the being, then looked around Edwards to try and find some inspiration. She thought of her family names, her favorite names in science fiction novels, her favorite movie star names. She looked up, looking for inspiration from the heavens.

“Hey…how about ‘Skye?’” she asked. “You did fall through our sky to get to us, right? But the name ‘Skye’ is of different derivation than the air above, the name Skye comes from a region in Scotland.”

“Ah yes…” it thought for a moment. “The Isle of Skye, in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland.”

“You…know Scotland?” Eli asked in amazement.

“Not until now, but I have just retrieved information on it. Skye…I like the sound of that. I think everyone on my world will like the sound of that. The word has a very musical tone. That shall be my name. Thank you, Dr. Reuben.”

“Please, call me Eli,” she said.

“Thank you, Eli.”

“Let me introduce you to the rest of our welcoming committee, Skye,” President Francis smiled. “Please, follow me.” She gestured him to stand by her side.

Skye nodded. He placed himself between President Francis and Eli, with Secretary General Barizón on President Francis’s other side.

The two secret service agents both walked to the side of Secretary General Barizón. Then the six people turned around and walked towards the three people who had not moved from their original positions.

President Francis introduced Skye to Dr. Lee, Minister Zhu, and finally to General Robins.

“Glad you could make it,” General Robins said and he tipped his head to Skye.

“You are the military authority here?” Sky asked.

“I’m one of the people, yes,” he acknowledged.

Skye raised his arms from his sides and outstretched his hands, palms toward the sky and spoke to General Robins:

“I surrender.”

The post Skye Entity: Chapter 7, Part 2 appeared first on Ramblings.

We are coming to the close of how much of the novel I will serialize. This is part 1 of Chapter 7 from my forthcoming novel, Skye Entity. To read more from the novel, click here. After finishing chapter 7, I will be releasing the entire novel!

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2025. 10:00 HRS. PACIFIC TIME. LANDING.

Eli tried to gaze directly above her but the blazing desert sun scorched her retinas. She shut her eyes and turned away. She tried again, eyes squinting and tearing, to see if she could spot the sphere as it descended towards them.

After a few attempts, she glimpsed a dark round speck far above her. As she strained to see it more clearly, she felt Dr. Lee’s open, shaking fingers against her hand, probing for support. Without taking her eyes off the sky she interlaced her fingers with Dr. Lee’s.

The sphere plummeted its final few thousand feet in what seemed to Eli like seconds. The sphere made no noise as it descended. It left no powerful wake of displaced air. The instant before it would have slammed into the earth at 671 miles per hour it came to a dead stop, two feet above the tarmac. Nearly everyone jumped, startled breathless by the sphere’s abrupt arrival.

The sphere appeared to be perfectly round and smooth, a silvery-white metallic orb with no surface features. It’s half-hour long decent through Earth’s atmosphere didn’t leave any visible debris, heat, or condensation. Only occasional purple sparks dancing across the surface of the sphere gave any indication of the power of this object.

For a few heartbeats, nobody moved or made a sound. Eli and Dr. Lee looked at each other, their wide eyes expressing what they didn’t say aloud. Eli looked past Dr. Lee to the rest of their line up; everyone was rendered similarly speechless.

A final burst of static electricity jumped from the sphere down to the runway two feet below, and then the sparks stopped completely. Almost simultaneously, a small aperture about four inches in diameter opened in the underside of the sphere. From the opening a thick, silver-white metallic substance poured onto the ground and began to spread out into a wide, flat puddle. As the viscous material kept pouring from the sphere, the puddle it formed on the tarmac glided one foot toward the eight humans closest to the sphere and began coalesce. The substance kept streaming from the sphere until it formed a mound five feet high and two feet in diameter. Finally, the hole in the sphere closed, its surface again completely smooth with no trace of it’s former opening.

The mound slid a few more feet toward the waiting politicians and scientists. Dr. Lee swallowed what little saliva was in her dry mouth and tightened her grip on Eli’s hand. At this, the mound stopped moving. In extremely rapid succession, the mound formed into the external shape of each of the six people in line. The mound matched not only the physical outline of each person, but matched the skin tone, eye color, hair style, even the clothing of each individual, although its surface maintained a smooth and metallic texture. The effect was that of the mound forming a painted metal simulacrum of each delegate.

Once the mound had cycled through all six members of the welcoming committee from left to right, it took on a new human shape, this time more deliberately. It formed into a six foot tall human male, with features culled from the six of them. The figure had brown hair, white skin, and a very soft, effeminate but male face. The figure also formed over its torso the shape of a button-down white collared shirt, not unlike Secretary General Barizón’s shirt, although the figure did not duplicate the Secretary General’s tie. It also shaped the brown dress slacks and shoes of General Robin’s military outfit onto its legs and feet.

Two striking details immediately betrayed the new figure’s non-human origin, however. The first was its obvious metal texture. But even more striking were the irises of its eyes. Rather than a usual human color, its irises were mixed with blue and red streaks that seemed to glisten and even oscillate in the desert sun, around pinhole-sized tiny pupils.

The figure stood motionless, twenty-five feet in front of the eight human beings, arms relaxed by its side, with a warm, friendly expression. It gave the people a minute to get used to its new shape, and then began walking towards them with a slow, casual, non-threatening gait.

When the figure had walked to within fifteen feet of them, it stopped approaching.

“Bio-meter one. Negative biological or organic readings registering from the sphere or figure,” everyone heard over their earpiece.

“Bio-meter two. Negative readings.”

“Bio-meter three. Negative readings.”

“Bio-meter four. Negative readings.”

“Thanks everyone,” Eli said softly.

President Francis turned to Secretary General Barizón. “Showtime,” she said, trying to force a smile. The Secretary General pursed his lips and nodded slightly. The two leaders broke the line and began walking toward the figure, with two secret service agents walking five feet behind them. When the President and Secretary General approached to within five feet of the alien figure, they stopped.

Barizón inhaled deeply, adjusted his posture to maximize his height, and spoke. “On behalf of all the human beings represented by the United Nations, I would like to welcome you to our planet, Earth. I am the Secretary General of the United Nations, Carlos Barizón, and this is the President of the United States, Margaret Francis.”

With a genial expression on its face, the figure opened its mouth and began to move its lips.

President Francis and the Secretary General, the two secret service agents, the four people lined up behind them, the soldiers on standby, and everyone watching the feed either behind the barriers a mile from Edwards or in their homes, waited with baited breath to hear what the alien’s first words would be.

After a nearly thirty seconds of standing silently with its mouth open and lips moving, the alien figure closed its mouth, then opened it again. President Francis and Secretary General Barizón could clearly hear that it was pushing air out of its mouth and moving its tongue behind its teeth, but it didn’t speak, only allowing air to escape.

The figure’s smile began to fade.

“Are you…is everything all right?” President Francis asked. “Is there a problem?”

The figure’s expression went blank. It opened its mouth again, but with the same results. Its entire form began to take on a decidedly yellow hue.

“Are you having issues with our planet’s atmosphere?” President Francis asked. “Is it affecting your speech and coloration?”

The figure shook its head, and quickly reverted to its previous coloration. It then put on an exaggerated expression of frustration, jutting out it’s lower jaw and curling its lips like a cartoon character.

“Are we upsetting you?” Secretary General Barizón asked.

“I think…I have an idea,” Eli chimed in from the line behind the President and Secretary General. “Color is emotion where you’re from, isn’t it?” Eli asked loud enough to be heard by the figure fifteen feet in front of her. “Yellow means frustration, right?”

The figure looked past the President and Secretary General to Dr. Elisheva Reuben. It cleared it’s expression and nodded. Eli sighed with relief.

“Please, Dr. Reuben, come join us,” President Francis motioned to Eli.

Eli swallowed nervously, released Dr. Lee’s hand, and walked toward them. “Hello…I’m Dr. Elisheva Reuben,” she said to the figure.

It nodded.

“So…I’m guessing that you expected to be able to speak to us…and you are frustrated that you can’t. Am I correct?” Eli asked.

It nodded again.

“Can I bring you something to write with?”

It shook its head and held up it’s hand, it’s palm flat to Eli.

“You want me to wait?”

It nodded.

“Okay…” Eli said.

It pointed at itself, then at Eli, and then touched the finger of one hand with a finger from its other hand.

“Okay…you’d like to touch me with your finger?”

It nodded. Then it stuck one finger in its ear.

“You’d like to touch me with your finger…in my ear?”

It nodded.

The blood drained from Eli’s face. For a moment, she worried she’d faint. “And after this…you’ll be able to speak?”

It nodded.

“So…you want to…probe my mind somehow?”

It nodded.

President Francis turned to Eli. “Eli, please. This can’t be safe.”

Eli nodded to President Francis, then turned back towards the figure.

“Will it hurt?”

The figure paused for a moment. It shrugged its shoulders, then shook its head.

“You’re saying that you don’t know…but you don’t think so.”

It nodded.

“Will you leave any traces of…well, of anything inside of my head?”

It shook its head.

“What is the potential for lasting harm coming to me? Brain damage? Confusion? Bad headache?”

It pointed to itself, then flattened its hand and swung its forearm across its chest in a definitive negative.

“You won’t let that happen,” Eli swallowed.

It nodded.

Eli sighed very slowly. Every bit of her scientific training demanded she not do this. But the little girl that wanted to touch an alien demanded something else. Fear danced with excitement as confused thoughts twirled around in her mind.

“Eli,” she heard Colonel Nate address her from her earpiece. “Please…Seth is probably wetting himself, screaming at the screen right now…”

Eli’s mouth curled in an anxious half-grin for an instant. “Thank you for reminding me. But I think…” she looked into the multi-colored gleaming irises of the figure. “I can think of so many reasons I shouldn’t do this…but…I guess I trust you.”

“It’s up to you,” President Francis told Eli with a concerned sigh.

“Thank you, Madam President,” Eli answered.

“I can’t believe that you traveled all this way just to fry my brain,” Eli quipped to the figure, her chin quivering slightly.

She took a step forward.

The figure also stepped forward, until the two were face to face.

The post Skye Entity: Chapter 7, Part 1 appeared first on Ramblings.

He’s already getting up there in years, but his personality hasn’t changed much. He always acted cantankerous, terrified of nearly everything, and he’s a fussy eater to boot. But he’s also a “people cat” who will greet you at the door, sit on your lap or lie on your chest when you’re on the couch, etc. So as much of a pain in the ass as he can be (and trust me, he can be), he’s just too damn cute to hold it against him.

I must admit to feeling wistful that our two pets, purchased when we were together but before we were married, are now comparatively “older” in their own lifespans than we are. Both have slowed down to some degree, and have become arthritic. Time does march on, doesn’t it? But Shadow got to enjoy a birthday egg (raw egg is one of his most passionate pleasures in life) and is still enjoying life as a cantankerous and cute little beast, so all the best for another year!

The post A baker’s dozen years for our Shadow cat appeared first on Ramblings.

This is part 2 of chapter 6 from my forthcoming novel, Skye Entity. You can read more from the novel here.

To read part 1 of chapter 6, click here.

The assemblage spent the next hour engaging in chatter, visiting the bathrooms, walking over to ask the scientists and Air Base servicemen about what they could determine from their stations, and drinking copious amounts of water from a water cooler outside of the main control room. As the sphere kept racing toward Earth, they were all becoming more and more nervous.

“Wow!” Dr. Connor exclaimed, startling half the people in the room with his sudden outburst. Everyone turned toward Dr. Connor.

Amir scooted over to look at Dr. Connor’s monitor. Dr. Heglund leaned in to get a closer look.

“What is it?” President Francis demanded.

“It…It just stopped cold,” Dr. Connor gaped, running his hands through his already messy shock of reddish blond hair. “I mean, full stop. I…Nothing should be able to do that and not get ripped apart! It’s just…sitting there.”

“Can you tell us where ‘there’ actually is?” Secretary General Barizón asked.

“Just a moment…” Dr. Connor started looking at coordinates.

Dr. Heglund behind him reached over and typed some numbers on the tablet in his hand. “Right above us,” he said, double checking his data. “671 miles straight above these coordinates.”

“Ole’s right,” Dr. Connor affirmed. “If our eyes could see tiny objects in space, you could walk outside, look straight up through this cloudless desert sky, see it yourself.”

“Can we tell if it’s doing anything at all?” Eli asked. “Is there any activity, radiation, anything?”

“I’m getting a really intense microwave reading alongside of it,” Amir replied. “So it might be doing something.”

“Doing what?” General Robins asked.

“No idea, sir. But we’ll certainly ask when it gets here,” Amir shrugged.

“Okay…” Dr. Connor gripping the sides of the console in his excitement, “I’ve detected movement. Really slight, but definite movement.”

“Movement to where?” President Francis asked.

“Down,” Dr. Connor breathed, his eyes wide. “Straight down.

“How fast?” General Robins asked.

“Not fast,” Dr. Connor replied, tightening his brow. “Really slow, actually. It’s an extremely controlled descent.” He turned around to some of the Edwards Air Force staff. “Hey, can you guys triangulate a speed for me?”

“We’re on it,” Major General Steve Reiter answered, and directed his men monitoring the terrestrial radar dishes to focus on the sphere.

“Looks like 671 miles per hour,” one of the Air Force personnel announced.

“So there you have it,” Eli shook her head with a slight grin. “Its schedule was accurate all along.”

“Why would it want to descend that slow?” General Robins asked. “Don’t our space transports come in at thousands of miles an hour?”

“They do,” Amir nodded. “But the sphere is still coming in faster than a jet plane. I’m not sure why it wants to come in slowly. Maybe to show it’s not hostile? To give us time to prepare? Also, General, at 671 miles per hour, it won’t build up the sort of extreme heat that a fast moving object will. Let me see…” Amir typed some numbers into the tablet in front of him. “At a rough estimate of one Kelvin for every meter per second of speed with which it enters the atmosphere, at 671 miles per hour, the sphere will only heat up to about…80 degrees Fahrenheit. Maybe it can handle incredible G-Forces, but not incredible heat? Or maybe we’ll need to pry the being out of the sphere, and it wants to make sure it’s not too hot for us to touch it.”

President Francis nodded. “Thank you Mr. Saadin. Very helpful. At this point we can all agree that we have another hour before the sphere lands.”

“That’s correct,” Dr. Connor affirmed. “And it also means I won’t need the Tennents lager after all,” he cracked a wry smile.

“If this goes off without a hitch, I’ll treat you anyway,” General Robins said.

“Thank you, sir,” Dr. Connor replied.

The phone in Sergeant Major Simms’s belt crackled to life. He removed it from his belt and looked at it for a second, then leaned into Colonel Thomas’s ear and whispered to him. Colonel Thomas turned and nodded.

“Madam,” Colonel Thomas said as he and Sergeant Major Simms rose, “please excuse us. We’d like to oversee final preparations personally.”

“Good idea,” General Robins tipped his head at the two soldiers.

“Thank you,” President Francis said. “We’ll follow right behind.”

The two men tipped their heads to the President, then the two men walked over to speak to Major General Reiter. After conferring briefly the three men left the tower together.

Eli, Dr. Lee, and Secretary General Barizón took their final trips to the toilets, then joined the rest of the welcoming committee and headed out to the tarmac themselves.

“Here’s your earpiece,” Colonel Thomas told Eli as he placed a tiny earbud in her outstretched right hand. “Place it in either ear and let’s give it a quick test.”

“Thanks,” Eli nodded. She clumsily maneuvered the earpiece into her right ear, afraid that if she failed to insert the earbud perfectly it would tumble out of her head at the most the most inopportune moment.

“Okay, Colonel Nate, it’s in.”

Colonel Thomas nodded and took a few paces backwards. “Dr. Reuben, can you hear me in the earpiece?” Colonel Thomas asked.

“Loud and clear,” she answered. She swallowed back her anxiety and looked up at Colonel Thomas. Colonel Thomas had an aura of authority and command that comforted her. He offered her a sympathetic smile as he stepped toward her.

“Excellent, thank you doctor. Bio-meter one, can you hear us?”

“Both of you, loud and clear,” Eli and Colonel Thomas heard a voice tell them over their earpieces.

“Bio-meter two?” Colonel Thomas asked.

“Check,” came the reply.

When all four bio-meter operators had checked in, Colonel Thomas turned back to Eli.

“Okay,” Colonel Thomas began, his tone serious but still calm and friendly. “A minute or two after you make contact with whatever is coming out of that sphere, the bio-meter stations will start reporting in. If there’s any problems, or if you have any questions, just speak normally; we’ll all hear you.”

Eli nodded.

“If you’re not comfortable with anything—if you want us to secure the area for any reason, just say ‘safeguard.’”

“If that happens, what do I…”

“I’ll be going over that procedure in just a second.”

Eli nodded.

Colonel Thomas stepped away from Eli towards the other people standing to her left. “Now a quick safety review, Madam President, if I may have your permission.”

Colonel Thomas proceeded to instruct President Francis and the other VIPs on the emergency procedures they had in place. He pointed out all their security installations, where his troops and where the Chinese Honor Guard would be positioned, and how much force they would use depending on the perceived threat. Colonel Thomas apprised each person individually as to the location of the bullet proof screens, which direction to evacuate, whom to keep on their right or left as they made for safety. Colonel Thomas maintained a calm, even tone as he engaged the welcoming committee, even as inside he was getting more and more nervous.

“Okay, our F-16s have visual,” Major General Reiter’s voice sounded over the earpieces. “It just fell past them, straight down to the pre-arranged location. Good luck and God bless…God bless us all.”

“Amen,” General Robins said.

Eli inhaled deeply and closed her eyes. She mouthed the words ‘Shema Israel Adonai Elonheynu Adonai Echad.’

Just in case.

The post Skye Entity: Chapter 6, Part 2 appeared first on Ramblings.

This is part 1 of chapter 6 from my forthcoming novel, Skye Entity. You can read more from the novel here.

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2025. 08:00 HRS. PACIFIC TIME. 2 HOURS BEFORE LANDING.

“Okay, one more time; are we sure it won’t be early?” President Francis asked. She, the six individuals who had been selected to welcome the sphere, along with Lt. Colonel Nate Thomas and Sergeant Major Jeremy Simms, sat at a long rectangular table in the observatory of the control tower at Edwards Air Force Base. Major General Steve Reiter and his staff, along with the Goldstone and ESA teams, manned the monitoring equipment lining the perimeter of the round tower.

The sphere insisted that it would land at Edwards at 10:00 AM Pacific time. All the calculations by the ESA astronomers, however, pointed out that it was only one hour away at it’s current speed, with no signs of slowing down. This was a cause for serious consternation among the team.

“If it hit the earth at its present speed,” Dr. Connor explained, “it would either burn up or slam into the earth so hard that it would blow itself—and us—clean away.”

“Do you think that’s its intention?” the President asked.

“Realistically, I don’t think so,” Dr. Connor shook his head. “I can’t imagine that this sphere is on a suicide mission. If it was, it wouldn’t have needed to do…well, to do any of this.”

The president nodded. “So what do you think, Dr. Connor?”

“I can’t help but wonder if its calculations might be wrong. I mean, we make mistakes, right? Especially if the vessel needs repairs, and the being inside is relying on it for complex calculations of fuel, trajectory, and so forth. Maybe I’m being a hardheaded knob, pardon my language, but physics is physics.”

“If it’s early, we’ll get some warning, right doctor?” General Robins asked.

“Well,” Dr. Connor breathed in, “I guess…it depends how fast it’s going. If it’s coming in at speeds we can’t even dream of, we may only have minutes.”

“Then I’d better run to the ladies’ room again while I have the chance…” Eli’s anxiousness betrayed her light quip.

President Francis turned to Eli with a maternal, concerned expression. “Are you okay?”

“Well, I feel like if half the world comes down with space measles it will be all my fault,” Eli swallowed. “But other than that, I’m fine…”

“Hey…” Colonel Thomas intoned from across the table. “I can’t imagine anyone here more thorough than you,” he offered with a warm grin and confident tone. “I’ve been completely impressed as I’ve worked with you over this last day or so. Your instructions have always been comprehensive and easy-to-follow.”

“And we’re ready, Dr. Reuben, whether our space faring friend shows up in two minutes or two hours,” Colonel Nate insisted, stabbing the table with his index finger for emphasis. “My men have set up the bio-meters all around the landing perimeter, and know how to use them. We’ll know if anything organic originates from that sphere within seconds, alive or dead. And trust me, my men have the entire perimeter hermetically sealed. Over the last two days my men have erected twenty-foot high electric fences surrounding the entire base, and now they’re walking the fence line. I’ve even got guys stationed on towers every fifty feet with water cannons in case large numbers of people try to breech the mile-deep empty corridor around Edwards. And for the truly worst-case-scenario, all the anti-biotic, pro-biotic, and anti-viral stockpiles you asked for are in cold storage in the Main Building. We’re ready—thanks to you. Relax, and enjoy the festivities.”

President Francis smiled. “Besides, I know you have to focus on the risks, but try not to be too nervous to enjoy this moment. As our premiere astrobiologist, I expect your life will be quite crazy after this event—enjoy the relative inactivity now!”

Eli laughed and nodded. She tried to relax. “Thanks guys. Thanks Madam President.”

The post Skye Entity: Chapter 6, Part 1 appeared first on Ramblings.

After a short break for (most of) the holiday weekend, time to continue! This is part 2 of chapter 5 of my forthcoming novel, Skye Entity. To read more from the novel, click here.

To read part 1 of chapter 5 click here.

“Give me a good Scottish brew and I can do that myself!” a young, freckled, red-headed colleague of Dr. Heiglund quipped in a heavy Glaswegian accent. Everyone laughed.

Dr. Reuben smiled at the young astronomer, then continued. “You see, Dr. Vishnu, for so many reasons I can think of—and even more importantly, for reasons that I can’t think of—having a quarantine in place is extremely important, at least at first. We need to make sure that whatever lifeform lands is not going to disrupt our environment, and a fenced in air base, with a ring of soldiers to keep other excited people out of what might be harm’s way, is imperative.”

“Thank you, Dr. Reuben,” General Robins tipped his head. “And, uh, Dr. Vishna—”

“Dr. Vishnu,” he corrected.

“Excuse me, sir. I apologize. Dr. Vishnu” the General continued, “please keep in mind, we’ve got a fair number of our own home grown wackos. You’ve read the feeds, haven’t you? Some folks feel that this sphere is here to bring the end of the world. For every crazy preacher who thinks this is Jesus in a bottle, another one is terrified that they’re wrong about God, and that freaks them out. As much as keeping our population safe, my mission here is to keep our guest safe from those nutjobs.”

“Then perhaps the smartest thing to do is the exact opposite of all…this,” Dr. Vishnu waved his hand. “Not have any dignitaries, any scientists. Just have the ship land in a field and quarantine it and run tests. Keep all of our people safe, all of our leaders safe, surround the vessel with soldiers privately, and don’t put on a show.”

“Perhaps it’s smart,” President Francis said. “But it’s not feasible. Everyone knows that this being is coming, and people are at a fever pitch. They want the show. Frankly, world morale is so low right now thanks to the Shia Uprising and world debt crisis they need the show. And even if it’s not the smartest or safest course of action, I feel we’re obliged to give it to them, even if that entails some personal risk.”

Dr. Vishnu leaned back and sighed. “I just don’t want this to turn into The Day The Earth Stood Still, you know?”

“Come again?” General Robins asked, turning to Eli and tightening his face in confusion.

“It’s a very old black and white science fiction classic,” Eli explained. “A peaceful alien lands on Earth and he’s accidentally shot by an overzealous soldier.” Eli turns back toward Dr. Vishnu. “Trust me, I don’t want that to happen either. We have to greet our visitor as a friend. But we can’t forgo security.”

The member of the Chinese delegation who previously leaned in for a translation, now leaned in again and spoke. Minister Zhu then leaned forward. “The Chinese government would like to add that we consider security paramount to this operation. We are willing to help, if this will smooth things over.”

Colonel Thomas turned and whispered to General Robins. They leaned back and whispered among themselves for a few seconds. General Robins nodded approvingly and then motioned with his head toward the table.

“I’m Lieutenant Colonel Nathan Thomas, I’ll be in charge of security,” Nate leaned into the table and spoke. “I’ll be happy to keep my men on the perimeter of Edwards, with only a very small number of troops visible at the landing site itself to protect the welcoming dignitaries.”

Nate turned to the Chinese delegation. “If the People’s Liberation Army would like to include an honor guard at the landing, just let me know. I’d be happy to coordinate that.”

Minister Zhu smiled and nodded. “Deeply appreciated.” He leaned towards the other Chinese delegate and spoke to him. The man then leaned forward to President Francis, smiled and bowed his head.

Nate turned to Dr. Vishnu. “Our troops behind the welcome delegation will all stand with weapons down. Nobody will be aiming at the sphere, so there’s no chance of an accidental shot.”

Dr. Vishnu shrugged. “I know I’m not going to talk you out of this,” he sighed. “But just think about it…how would you feel if you ask for help from a strange species, they say sure, we’d love to help…but when you arrive, you find all these weapons surrounding you?”

“So let’s make sure the being knows what to expect,” Eli suggested.

All eyes turned to her.

“It doesn’t even need to be a question, so it doesn’t need to burn energy to respond. We can just explain that we’ll have security at Edwards.”

“I think that’s a great idea,” President Francis said. “We can explain we’ll have security, and more importantly, why we’ll have security. If we do this in the next couple of hours, it will still have two days to get comfortable with the idea before it arrives.”

“We can do this easily,” Dr. Lee nodded. “I have 24-hour team in Space Center, Beijing. I can contact them anytime.”

“Perfect,” President Francis smiled. “So let’s assume this message will be our last until it lands. What do we want to say?” she directed her question to the entire table.

Eli turned to Dr. Lee. “We want to inform the being that we will secure the area both for its safety, and for a short-term quarantine. In fact…I think it’s worth asking if it knows if there are any biological hazards.”

Dr. Lee nodded and started typing on her tablet.

“What about fire control?”

Everyone turned toward the speaker.

“Yeah…Hi again. Dr. Ian Connor. We should ask about re-entry. It might come in hot.”

“Can’t we just give you a few Scottish beers?” General Robins grinned good-naturedly.

Dr. Connor and the others around the table all laughed. “Very good, sir! Three bottles of Tennents Lager and I’ll take care of it.”

“It’s a valid point,” Dr. Heiglund added once he stopped chuckling. “We don’t know if this sphere will gently float down like a feather or smash into the ground like a bullet.”

Dr. Lee nodded and kept typing.

“Anything else?” President Francis asked.

“Dr. Reuben,” Secretary General Barizón asked in a very heavy Portuguese accent, “do you think we will need biohazard suits?”

“Good question. We’ll know more once we get the answer to our final question,” Eli explained. “Hopefully the visitor will let us know if there’s any potential airborne danger to us or our environment.”

“What if it doesn’t tell us, or lies to us?” Vice President Godin asked.

“Then you’ll be extremely happy that the 62nd will be at Edwards,” the General said.

The Vice President swallowed hard and tried to grin.

“Okay, so we’re definitely getting somewhere,” President Francis announced. “Dr. Lee, have you got all that?”

Dr. Lee smiled and nodded. “I may need some assistance with the Morse Code, I think.”

“I can help with that. Jim Stringer from Goldstone.”

“Oh! Hello Jim, yes, you’ve been assisting us all along. I’m glad you’re here.”

Jim smiled.

“Can you two start immediately?” President Francis asked.

“Of course,” Mr. Stringer said.

“Yes,” Dr. Lee agreed.

“Good. Lisa?” President Francis turned around as Lisa stopped typing and stepped forward. “Please escort Dr. Lee and Mr. Stringer to an empty, secure office so they can work on sending our final pre-landing communications to the sphere.”

Dr. Lee turned to the member of the Chinese delegation who never spoke to the assemblage in English. She carried on a short, hushed conversation in Mandarin Chinese. It ended when he smiled and nodded to her.

“Thank you, Madam President.”

“Why don’t we take this opportunity to stretch our legs for a moment?” Vice President Godin suggested. “I could use a little more coffee.”

“Sure,” President Francis said with a half-grin. “After the break, let’s start talking about the actual logistics of the landing, both security and ceremonial. Dr. Lee, we’ll fill you in on anything you miss when you return.”

“Thank you.”

The group rose from their chairs and began chatting with each other while sauntering toward the beverages. Dr. Lee smiled and pressed her hand affectionately into Eli’s arm. Eli returned the smile. Lisa approached Dr. Lee, and the two women collected Mr. Springer and left the conference room.

The post Skye Entity: Chapter 5, Part 2 appeared first on Ramblings.