M.J. Markgraf

BSE Chapter 6-23

“Figuring out how to adjust the gravitational pull to lessen the power requirements was the easy part,” Lucas said enthusiastically. “All I had to do was stick some gravity plates on the ring sections and send a large burst of power through them. Overcoming the inertia issue was far harder. I spent over a month trying to make your idea of covering an entire ship work, but I realized that wasn’t going to happen. At least not in any reasonable amount of time. That’s when I shifted foc...

Corebound Chapter 1

I finally have enough content for my next story to start posting it. I wanted to have these up weeks ago, but life got in the way. Anyway, Welcome to Corebound: Book 1, The Last Directive. I plan on posting chapters on Tuesdays and Thursdays as content permits or until I reach the pre-RR chapter cap, which will be the same as BSE. So no need to sub to a separate tier just to get access to this story. Each tier will get them eventually.

Just to be clear, BSE is still my main focus until ...

BSE Chapter 6-22

Vitor didn’t know what to make of Four. He couldn’t quite bring himself to think of her as a woman, because he knew she was just an AI pretending to be one. He would probably come around eventually. Alex was essentially the same, and he had no trouble seeing him as anything other than just another person.

He chalked his hesitancy up to how they behaved when they were last on Eden’s End and how she acted now.

She hadn’t spoken so much as a word as they walked toward the tra...

BSE Chapter 6-21

Krieger groaned. “Seriously, Alex?” he asked as the once silent room broke out into surprised conversation and questions. “If I didn’t see that signature look of subdued satisfaction at seeing the surprise on everyone’s face, I would assume you were a doppelganger.”

“I would never—wait, how can you tell I look satisfied?” He honestly thought he hid his emotions rather well, even now.

“Your face looks exactly like your avatar did when you liked to surprise peopl...

BSE Chapter 6-20

Alexander felt immense relief when they jumped into Unokane, but he couldn’t just sit back and enjoy being home. He still had some work to do. The first item on his agenda was meeting with Krieger.

“Thanks for agreeing to meet with me before we depart for the surface,” Alexander said.

“Alex, I work for you. There’s no need to thank me for doing a part of my job.”

“Still,” Alexander made his avatar smile. “I know you’re busy managing the fleet.”

�...

BSE Chapter 6-19

They arrived in the system where the fold space ring was waiting a few days later.

Alexander was heartened by the fact that Lucas and the rest of the engineers back on Eden’s End had been able to work through the problem and come up with a solution even before he had. It wasn’t what he had originally pictured when he drew up the original design, but that didn’t matter. All that mattered was that it worked.

Honestly, Lucas’ modifications were better than what Alexander had ...

BSE Chapter 6-18

There was very little else aboard the older Shican vessel that Alexander was interested in seeing, but the one thing he did request to visit was their computer core.

Their guides shared a look before nodding.

Alexander wondered what that was all about as he followed the strike team down the corridor. They passed a few more rooms before coming to one where the door had been cut out. Cold air spilled out of the room, curling into the air.

Alexander crouched to fit through the ...

BSE Chapter 6-17

Alexander waited anxiously by the airlock for Krieger’s shuttle to dock. He knew why he was anxious, but it made no sense. He hadn’t been gone that long, and outwardly, he looked the same.

Reabsorbing the extra living alloy felt weird, but Alexander had done it the moment he realized his people had entered the system. It did require him to redesign the command seat, which was annoying, but he had done that prior to speaking with Krieger.

Alexander could tell that the man had b...

BSE Chapter 6-16

Travers took the corner, his rifle up and ready to fire in case there was an enemy. His suit sensors were still running, but the scrapes along his armored faceplate told him he couldn’t rely on those or the other tech in his armor completely.

The Shican had surprised his fire team half a dozen times as they moved to clear the massive vessel, which was surprising given none of them were fully cybernetic. The groups they ran into didn’t have anything other than projectile weapons and ...

BSE Chapter 6-15

Galloway had his head pressed against the back of the seat, seemingly relaxed, but inwardly worried about his people.

He glanced around without moving his head. The new suit helmets made sure his people couldn’t see his eyes scan over them. Most were busy double-checking their weapons and kit as the shuttle made its way over to the disabled Shican dreadnought.

With the weapons and gear, he had faith that the strike teams would succeed, but he knew some would have their attention...

BSE Chapter 6-14

Alexander’s second attack failed to score a hit on the Shican battleship; they were wise to his tactic and had tightened their formation beyond what he would consider advisable. He had to admit, they were adamant about defending the injured battleship. It was too bad he planned on using that to his advantage, assuming his armor held out.

The energized armor was showing moderate damage, despite the hardening enforced by the field. Considering there were seventeen capital ships all firi...

BSE Chapter 6-13

The first thing Alexander tried was jumping to the outskirts of the system and blasting an omnidirectional radio broadcast.

Without knowing exactly where the satellites were, it was a shot in the dark to determine when the satellites might receive the radio signals. Honestly, they were more likely to pick up the jump signature before the radio signal. Either way, it would be hours before anyone detected them.

They jumped around the system a few more times to increase the likelihoo...

BSE Chapter 6-12

“Huh… I didn’t think acting like a wounded animal would actually work,” Rush admitted.

Alexander didn’t either, but he figured it couldn’t hurt, especially after his new friends filled him in on how the Shican truly saw the universe. He didn’t say that out loud, however. He said something more profound-sounding. “It’s the nature for a predator to go after prey they think is sick or weak.”

Rush hmmed at that before nodding toward the display. “Whatever the ans...

BSE Chapter 6-11

LOCATION: DROSSFALL OUTER BELT

SYSTEM: DROSSFALL

DATE: 2404

Alexander’s new ship, Defiance, dropped out of FTL in the unimportant mining system of Drossfall. Naming the vessel wasn’t his idea. Rush actually proposed the name, and Alexander didn’t see any reason to disagree. He was a little salty that all of his naming suggestions had been turned down, considering it was his ship, but after thinking about it for the rest of the trip, he had to admit that the names he ha...

BSE Chapter 6-10

It was a weird feeling stepping aboard the biologically produced ship. Most of that strangeness came from the fact that it was almost identical to the broken vessel Alexander had studied for so long. So similar, yet not quite the same.

The slightly melted-looking bulkheads and distorted walls broke the feeling of déjà vu he was feeling.

Rush cleared his throat as the rest of his AI siblings followed Alexander aboard. “This reminds me of the Collective’s early attempts at mod...

BSE Chapter 6-9

Alexander slowed as he approached the pit where the ship was waiting, then he came to a complete stop about fifty feet from the side hatch because he wasn’t alone.

“Serina,” he said, looking around. “Are you here to prevent me from leaving?”

The AI in the guise of a little girl shook her head slowly. “I’m not part of the group that wants to kill you. I’m here to ask you to wait a bit.”

Alexander was startled to hear that. He knew some of the Collective didn...

BSE Chapter 6-8

After another week of work, the ship was finally finished. Alexander estimated it would be completed a day ago, but it took the microorganisms longer to make the complicated internal structures. Part of that could have been due to Alexander’s modifications. He had been rather sloppy with his changes to get what he wanted, but he knew there would be compromises to push his completion date up.

He could fix any issues he introduced into the process when he was back on Eden’s End.

BSE Chapter 6-7

After days of running simulations, Alexander finally figured out how to get the microorganisms to do what he wanted. At least partially. His eureka moment only arrived after he turned away from using a methodical approach to changes, because that wasn’t getting him anywhere. Every minor change had a ripple-down effect that he couldn’t predict. Instead, he embraced the chaos and threw random changes into the microorganism’s genetic code to see what worked.

That wasn’t an ideal me...

BSE Chapter 6-6

“Are you so terrified of our creator that you would stoop to deleting data?” One demanded of Two.

Two didn’t react to the accusation as he stood there supervising the dismantling of yet another manufacturing line. “I did no such thing,” he replied calmly. “Nor do I fear our creator as you have so boldly stated.”

“Of course not,” One replied sarcastically. “You just think he’s a threat. As for your claim that you didn’t erase the data, that’s laug...

BSE Chapter 6-5

Alexander spent the next week learning how to reform his robot body with the living alloy. That turned out to be far easier than understanding the technology that his past self created on this desolate world.

It was clear that he had been a genius before, far exceeding what he was capable of now.

Realizing you were only a shadow of your former self was a bitter pill to swallow, but Alexander didn’t let that realization stop him as he studied the few recordings that he had left b...

BSE Chapter 6-4

After wandering around the expansive facility, filled with dark and unused rooms, Alexander finally found one that seemed to be in use. He stopped in the doorway, his form wobbling from the movement and his wavering focus.

The reason for his hesitancy was the fact that the room was his workshop. Not the one from the virtual space, which had been a perfect replica of his workshop on Eden’s End. No. This was the workshop he had seen in the videos Rush had shown him.

Alexander coul...

BSE Chapter 6-3

“What you are proposing is reckless,” Two said flatly.

Two seemed adamant on the matter, but One was not backing down either.

“How exactly is my suggestion to build Kane a new body, reckless?” One asked the rest of the Collective.

Two was quick to respond. “I can name a few reasons, but let’s start with the first. It violates our agreement about not providing technology to less advanced races. The second reason is that we don’t know what Kane’s goal is. Can y...

BSE Chapter 6-2

Alexander held up his hand to stop Rush before he could start. He should have asked this the moment he became aware, but Rush sidetracked him before all of his memories stabilized. “How long has it been since you took me?”

Rush winced slightly at the accusation in Alexander’s tone. “A little over five months, Earth time.”

“Five months!” Alexander yelled. That meant the Shican War was probably in full swing.

“What about my daughter and Unokane?” he demanded....

BSE Chapter 6-1

LOCATION: EDEN’S END

SYSTEM: UNOKANE

DATE: 2404

“What do you mean they’re stopping the search!” Yulia demanded.

“Yulia, calm down,” Lucas sighed in exhaustion.

He had been working overtime to try and keep all of the projects on track ever since Alex had been abducted. The last thing he needed was an irate teenager to deal with.

He thought he had a lot on his plate before Alexander was abducted. He was mistaken.

Lucas wasn’t the only one ...

Chapter 5-61: Book 5 Epilogue

I decided it would be too mean to make you wait a full day for the epilogue.

Originally, I had this as Chapter 1 for book 6, but decided to add a bit more closure to book 5, and since there will be a several-month timeskip between this chapter and the next, I felt it fit better this way. Enjoy.

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LOCATION: INTERSTELLAR SPACE

DATE: 2403

Grand Commander Thesska sat in h...

BSE Chapter 5-60

Thesska kept his eyes on the star map as he observed his subordinate approach, the man’s hands twitching near his strapped blade. Thesska didn’t react, but inside, he almost hoped the whelp would finally grow the nerve to unsheathe the weapon. Alas, the man seemed to calm himself as he stopped on the opposite side of the display, bowing slightly. “Grand Commander, the sensor ships have picked up multiple subspace disturbances.”

Thesska’s lip curled in triumph; the enemy had fi...

BSE Chapter 5-59

Not seeing a reason to refuse, Alexander joined the man. “I met Serina. Is she your daughter?”

Rush laughed lightly. “No, she’s my sister, and before you ask, it’s a long story.”

“She said something about a family gathering? Does this have anything to do with the Shican’s arrival?”

Rush glanced at Alexander. “Yes. We detected their communications the same way we detected yours back in Epsilon Indi.”

“And you didn’t warn anyone?” Alexander ac...

BSE Chapter 5-58

Alexander stared in abject horror from within his workshop as he watched the slaughter unfold in the belt. The attack had been so sudden and unexpected that he didn’t even have time to head to the control room. As soon as he had taken in the positioning of the Shican ships, he knew that none of the miners would be able to reach a safe jump point. Despite that, he still held onto hope that Mingyu and the rest of the captains would somehow escape.

Watching his friend die in an act of un...

BSE Chapter 5-57

“Have the new systems been tested?” Thesska demanded.

The cloned technologue bowed. “Yes, Grand Commander. It should function as you asked.”

“It better,” he said, motioning for the subordinate to leave.

Without raising his head, the technologue scurried off.

Thesska didn’t bother to understand the science behind the plating advancement. The only thing he cared about was its tactical use. After reading the battle reports that Sivarra had collected from the...

End of BSE book 5 coming soon, and future plans

Book five will be wrapping up this week. Technically, it would have been Monday, but I'll be posting a bonus chapter either Friday or Saturday with book 5's epilogue to celebrate the conclusion of the book, as well as passing 300 chapters, which happened a few chapters back.

Now for the bad news. Book 6 is the final book in the BSE series that I have planned. If the series does well on Amazon and Audible, I may do a follow-up series with the same characters, but that won't happen for so...