lochar

Interlude: An Alien Perspective

Ten thousand mortal lifetimes ago, he had been but an individual warrior, toiling under the auspices of Heaven, striving to honor ancestors and gods alike as war raged across his homeland.  Many others fell to his blade and skill.  He had trained to the peak of his strength and won some minor accolades from the commanders of his people for his daring.

Finally, the small recognitions had piled up and he was presented with a great prize.  The weakest of the energy pills, cr...

Chapter 30: Data Gathering

April 16th

Danny was up in his office, interviewing the first of the two people Brent had suggested. Probably just a formality considering the source, but Danny was in charge of actually knowing them all. I’d gotten a look at the two possible new hires and they really did both strike me as similar to all the people we’d seen at Fort Leonard Wood, just not in uniform.

Instead of interjecting myself into that process for the moment, I’d retreated to my own office to continue t...

Chapter 29: Correcting Misunderstandings

April 15th

Overnight, the blackberry canes had bloomed out of the root system, curling three feet up the makeshift trellis we’d created out of PVC yesterday. Green berries peeked around leaves, some already hinting at darker color. The lower vines that had already existed yesterday held berries ripe and ready.

“Seriously, can I get a clipping and bring it over to the college?” Karen asked from where we both stood under the stretched painter’s tarp, keeping us mostly dry an...

Chapter 28: Healthy Growth

While the blackberry bush was unassuming in that it looked like any other berry plant, it had an almost four foot diameter root system that had lots of little shoots broken off, likely where it’d already been eaten. The still large remainder of the bush with berries on it was still fairly impressive on it’s own.

“Planting it outside here is just asking for the entire thing to get washed away in the rain. It’s one thing in the woods where there’s plenty of other plants...

Chapter 27: Spiritual Growth

It was back in Rolla, back in the Dantian Seeker offices, as I helped carry the several hundred tightly packed MREs in shipping boxes, that Ash asked the question I was trying to figure out how to phrase.

“Are we just supposed to live off MREs and pray everything else is taken care of before they run out?” He dropped the box he was holding onto the stack of others. “Because I really feel like we’re just pantomiming life still working. Even if the alien gave up right now and left...

Chapter 26: Military Supplies

April 4th

Fort Leonard Wood was like small town of its own, apparently built to solely support the activities of itself.  I hadn’t come with the original group of people Brent had set up to get CT scans, so this was my first time dealing with getting onto a base.

Watching out the rain slick window from the visitor’s center, I could see a lot of armed gate guards watching over everything. Though there weren’t many vehicles driving up, each time one did someone looked int...

Chapter 25: Reality Ensues

I waved to the others as they started running towards me, trying to get my thoughts in order. That glimmer faded as I calmed, excess energy no longer tracing through me and it.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a flip from a handstand go thirty feet long and nearly to the ceiling before.” Melissa looked at me with a little disbelief. “That was a hell of a block, apparently.”

“Two.” I said distractedly, getting up. “I need to go write this down.”

“Wait, two?...

Chapter 24: Birthday Breakthrough

April 3rd

“Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday dear Nicole. Happy Birthday to you.”

Really, I was touched as everyone finished singing to me.  The Seeker office was closed as we all gathered in the conference room for what I thought was a meeting, only for Karen to spring an honest to god strawberry cake with candles on me.

I blew out the mismatched cake candles before looking around. “So, where the heck did you get a cake from? I don’t ...

Lava rifts, post Chapter 22

White is undersea veins, creating steam and dangerous waters until cooled. Red is above-sea rifts. Some locations where they meet the sea may create inlets miles deep.  At this resolution, the two-pixel wide veins would be about 20 miles across, so actual size would be slightly smaller.

Image courtesy of Thamerlin on Spacebattles.

Chapter 23: The Interview

I tapped nervously at the desk in my office, trying to figure out what I should be doing with myself while I waited. It really wasn’t much of an office, just a full-sized desk and a couple of chairs. I didn’t have any degrees to hang from the wall or additional research papers to show off. I did at least have a full computer, which had its advantages over my tablet and screen keyboard. Pulled up currently was Brent’s list of things to remember and a cheat sheet of questions to ignore. 2021-11-16 22:24:33 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 22: Aftershocks

March 31st

For three days, the Earth heaved and bled magma onto the surface. Three days of absolute terror and fear the world was falling apart without any control. Activities that should have happened on a geological timescale happened instead in a geological blink. Lakes of lava flowing up from the interior of the earth that seemed to have all the heat drawn from them, only to shatter as more material broke them up from below.

A rather large portion of everything had shut down a...