Escape From Cordis

Posted on by Jack Hael

Greetings, lovely internet folk. Sorry it’s been a while- my discipline as a writer is still under development. And I’ve been working on back-end things for the site as well as other behind-the-scenes work here at Verbal Realms. Anyhow, the following is for your enjoyment and perhaps your edification:

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Ben Dulgoon woke slowly- stretching his arms above him and lowering them a few times before opening his eyes. The ceiling panels in his cell and in the hall were slowly flickering to life. Part of the flicker was the lights coming online one at a time, while part was provided by the shimmer of the transparent door. The doors weren’t force fields (too expensive to waste on prisoners), but they did carry a current and a decent punch if you ran into them on accident. He stood up slowly and relieved himself in the toilet by the corner. A few stray flecks hit the sides, and a small, wiry bot hurried out of a narrow panel in the wall and proceeded to sanitize the area vigorously. Ben hated those things.

It had been five years- give or take- since he had been interned at Cordis Detention Center. That was before war had broken out, or at least before the Confederation had recognized it as such. The Confederation had a long history of pretending things were different than they were, as far as Ben was concerned. He thought back to his home, to Gemini II. The moon and its twin had been terraformed centuries past into rich, tropical biomes which were excellently suited for year-round, small-scale farming and harvesting.

The dream behind the Gemini project had been far more optimistic than that of Beatrah Major. Beatrah had undergone minimal modifications due to its habitable atmosphere and ozone and, even more importantly, the ready accessibility of mineral resources. The Confederation had designated it as an industrial moon with a focus on shipbuilding. However, by the time Ben’s grandparents had been born, the Confederation had essentially crumbled due to infighting among the core worlds. A few well-placed fission explosions were all it took to wipe out the Council, Commissioners, and anyone who cared about what happened on the latest, now-forgotten colonization projects. And yet, leaders in Beatrah saw themselves as the Confederation in this system and purported to be the continuation of lawful governance.

    What a farce, thought Ben.

Continue reading Escape From Cordis

The Colony 7!

Posted on by sorinherling

It has arrived!

Tah dah!

This is Jack, posting on behalf of Sorin. Enjoy.

January 8, 1CR

Minerva

    I waited outside the temporary dormitories for my brother. I had arranged for him to take me outside the colony walls, despite his protests. The last week had been difficult to say the least. Marius was available only infrequently, and even the poverty of the refugee sector had not prepared me for the spartan lifestyle imposed upon the people of the colony. Tomorrow I would have to start my job, running the small first aid clinic during the previously unstaffed night shift.

There were three nurses, including myself, and a doctor who had been a general surgeon at the local hospital. We were well equipped in terms of bandages and disinfectants, but as in the “refugee sector”, there was very little good medicine. Despite that, the other nurses seemed fairly nice, not that I would work with them for more than an hour every day, and Dr. Krantz was a really nice guy. Then there was the pay. I swear Linne went almost literally green with envy when she handed me my ration card. As a nurse, I was entitled to 3 large meals a day and double weekly credit towards luxury items. I didn’t get it entirely; I only knew that Linne said I was in the top portion for rations.

Either way I couldn’t say I was overly impressed with it. Even in the refugee sector, nursing had paid decently, but here my double portion would be enough for about one book a week. I didn’t mind so much that I had to expect less, though I will say that anyone looking with envy on the ability to purchase a single book was living a far harder life than I had ever had. Marius was the real high earner of the bunch though. Because he had two jobs, Marius got the rights to five meals a day, two of which he brought to the injured hunters in the clinic every day to try and help them regain their strength. His luxury item credit was the real stunner around here though. He got three-and-a-half credits. Apparently, he used some up on fresh flowers every week. Given that they had to be brought in from the refugee sector this time of the year, they were more expensive than books in winter.

Continue reading The Colony 7!

the Colony 7

Posted on by sorinherling

Firstly, before anything, I want to apologize for not uploading immediately. I have had the worst writer’s block for some time now. Anyways, as hinted at in the last chapter, this chapter begins to explain the hunters. It is very short, some of the whys and whats are deliberately left out, to make later chapters more interesting. as a result, and in trying to post something – anything really – I left this chapter incredibly incredibly short. Now, scheduling, I am going to try to get new Colony chapters posted every Monday and my new story will, as promised, begin this month. originally, I was going to post it on the first, but that didn’t work (writer’s block is tough when the intention is to get 20 pages per chapter, as in the new story) so I will post at the end of the month instead. please continue to bear with us!!

Sorin Herling

June 1, 5 years prior to the Fall

 

I surveyed the room in front of me. There were about forty or so college students in the room, along with a few who appeared a bit younger. I knew most of the college students, they were students from the classes I taught. Among the younger kids, there were many I knew with my interactions at various local high schools. One of the college boys, a lazy kid by the name of Edward, was sitting close to a bored looking boy I placed at about high-school age. Most of the kids in the room were here to boost their personal image, and they therefore fit the mold of the traditional punks and outcasts that had come to follow my various ideals. Many of them had piercings and tattoos, oddly colored hair and dark clothes. Everywhere I looked there were Union Jacks and the A for anarchy. Some of the kids here meant it, others were fakes. Either way, I could use that sentiment.

I had called together this meeting of young men and women to form an anarchical society; not that I really believed in anarchy. I was here informally, myself, the various captains I had gathered about myself were mingling with the others, telling them my “vision” of the future in deliberately unstructured fashion.

Only the boy next to Edward looked different from the others. As I examined him it occurred to me that the boredom in his expression did not quite reach his eyes, which flashed around the room, examining and sizing up everyone in sight. This kid was studying every facet of the room with intensity. Unlike the others, he looked fairly normal. In fact he looked almost too prissy to associate with the people around him. Hair cropped in military fashion and wearing a polo and khakis, the kid looked like he had had a very proper upbringing of the kind so stifling that he looked down upon those around him.

He sat in the corner, his head resting on one hand with the other hand gripping his bag with intensity. It was clear that he was primed and ready to bolt. The way he bore himself, supplely and with a comfort foreign to the obvious tensing in his muscles, reminded me of some of the undercover agents who sometimes trailed me. Speaking of which, I needed to leave. This was the first convention of the Order of the Hunters, but I, Drake, their leader in the shadows, could not be among them. I needed to get back to my office now, before the authorities noticed that I was missing.

the colony 7

The Colony Chapter 6

Posted on by sorinherling

Alright, another week, another Colony entry. This time around, I tried to give everyone a feel for the way in which Marius interacts with everybody. Hopefully this week’s chapter is as enjoyable for you to read as it was for me to write. It’s also the last chapter in a row written for the initial story concept. Anyways, next week we get into some background story, which will lay the final groundwork for the plot-line.

The Colony 6

Continue reading The Colony Chapter 6

New update, late once more…….

Posted on by sorinherling

the Colony 2

Hey guys, Sorin again! So, it isn’t Wednesday, and that is entirely my fault. The good news is that as I next week is Koeleth, things should start to run smoother. This week’s The Colony is more introduction, this time to  girl named Minnie. I tried writing from her perspective, but it was really hard!!! so I was only moderately successful. Anyways, part of the reason it was late is that Word was giving me issues with formatting, I think I fixed it, but please bear with us if there were technical issues. Jack tells me that the timeline is confusing……………..please understand that some information is not going to be given until later for effect! I think there are about three chapters before the direct explanations begin. Having read some of the original proofs of my story, Matthew has assured me that it should be okay to make a small amount of frustration for the next few chapters as I lay the groundwork for the plot of the first big storyline. Anyways, that’s it for today, just posting ASAP for now so not as much commentary this week. I’ll see you all next week when I post some interviews we did with each other for fun!