And it was DuQuesne who'd left Wu alone, wasn't it? Where was *he* when all this went south? ------ Chapter 19. One Sky Gate located,DuQuesne thought in satisfaction. And if we didn't just get lucky at the opening gun, we might have quite a few Sky Gates leading to a bunch of places. It was true that there was some danger inherent in that, but overall it was probably a good thing; more options, more possible places to explore. As long as one of them doesn't lead to the Molothos homeworld [ Continue reading... ]
Spheres of Influence: Chapter 16
July 17, 2013 By 5 Comments
Time to be out and about a bit... ----- Chapter 16. "Are you sure this is okay, DuQuesne? I mean, I really really want to go with you, but you want me to guard Ariane, and—" "Relax, Wu," DuQuesne said, smiling. Already talking a mile a minute. "We all agreed you needed to be able to get out and about." "Quite so," agreed Simon absently, as they made their way along the broad corridor towards the elevator to the Outer Gateway. Low, flat tracks of shaped superconductor now lay [ Continue reading... ]
Spheres of Influence: Chapter 15
July 15, 2013 By 2 Comments
Both the reader, and our new arrivals, need a bit of a briefing... ----- Chapter 15. "Challenges," Carl Edlund said, "are the heart of Arena political maneuvering." The entire group was gathered in one of Humanity's briefing rooms. Well, DuQuesne thought to himself, everyone except Tom and Laila, who're on the Sphere because someone's got to stay there, and Simon, who thinks he's close to finishing his design so he's not letting anyone interrupt. Something else was bothering the physicist, [ Continue reading... ]
Spheres of Influence: Chapter 12
July 8, 2013 By 7 Comments
So, our expected... guests... from Earth system had arrived... ----- Chapter 12. DuQuesne grinned as he saw the three figures crowding together – just as he, Ariane, and Simon had the first time they'd stepped through to Transition. Nothing really prepares you for that. Not when it's real. Oh, sure, simgames have stuff just as impressive in its own way, but you always know in the back of your head it's just a game. Somehow I even knew, in the end, about Hyperion. But this is no [ Continue reading... ]
Spheres of Influence: Chapter 9
July 1, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Orphan had a problem... ----- Chapter 9. DuQuesne studied Orphan carefully. He's good at playing the game. But I don't think he's doing much of that right now. He means it. "You can't do this yourself? A one-man ship or something like that?" As Orphan's hands flicked outward, Ariane answered. "I don't think that would be practical – not if he's going into the, what did they call it, Deeps, the areas away from settled Spheres." "Alas, exactly correct, Captain Austin." Orphan's [ Continue reading... ]
Spheres of Influence: Chapter 6
June 24, 2013 By 2 Comments
Well, Our Heroes had arrived back in the Arena; it was time to head to the Embassy and meet up with the rest of the group... ----- Chapter 6. That's Wu, DuQuesne thought with a fond smile, even as he and the other three followed the impulsive Monkey King through. Even when he's on-duty, he's still a kid in so many ways. As they arrived, he heard Wu give an exclamation that meant roughly "wonderful!" . In a single flurry of motion Wu Kung streaked up the Gateway, reached the very crest of [ Continue reading... ]
Spheres of Influence: Chapter 2
June 14, 2013 By 3 Comments
DuQuesne had finally gotten a friend to wake up... ----- Chapter 2. Ariane stood unmoving in the doorway, afraid to break the magic of that moment. Her own heart had leapt when Wu Kung's hand moved to stop DuQuesne, but the incredible light that had seemed to shine from Marc's face was something she'd never even imagined possible. She had heard tears of sadness being blown away in a wind of relief and happiness that she'd never thought Marc would ever feel. She just watched, holding her hand out to keep [ Continue reading... ]
Spheres of Influence: CHAPTER 1
June 12, 2013 By 2 Comments
And so we begin the snippeting of Spheres of Influence, leading up to the release of the novel in mid-August! ------ Chapter 1. The slender blond man glanced up from his desk, startled – DuQuesne had, of course, been suppressing the station security systems. Couldn't take a chance that someone would be warned, if things had gone bad. The startled look immediately gave way to caution. "Stop right there, please." DuQuesne stopped immediately; Ariane did the same. He saw [ Continue reading... ]
HYPERION ORIGIN: Chapter 1
March 27, 2013 By 1 Comment
This is a chapter from a partially-completed story which basically tells us how Marc DuQuesne (from Grand Central Arena) came to be the way he is -- how Hyperion MADE him that way. I think I previously posted these on my Livejournal a couple years ago, but they should really be up on my main site, here. I'll probably post what I have of this story; whether I'll FINISH it I don't know; it gets AWFULLY grim for my taste, even if the main character is going to survive. HYPERION ORIGIN By Ryk E. Spoor i. He pushed his way [ Continue reading... ]
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