Now we come to the end of this adventure.. and the end of the snippets of Paradigms Lost! I hope you've enjoyed them. If you can't wait to read the rest, the eARC is now available at Baen Books! ----- Chapter 46: Explanations "I must confess, Jason, that there are a few things which remain unclear to me." Rebuilding Verne's mansion was taking some time. It had also taken a lot of fast talking to keep Jeri from poking her nose too far in; even though the mansion was relatively isolated, the battle between the [ Continue reading... ]
Paradigms Lost: Chapter 45
October 22, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Jason had one more idea to try... ----- Chapter 45: That Future is Past Morgan opened the door, startled as I pushed past him without so much as a "hello." "Master Jason… ?" I looked around, shrugged, jogged into the living room and climbed up on a chair. Verne was in that room, staring at me curiously out of hollow eyes set in a leathery, lined face and framed by pure white hair. "J… Jason," he said slowly, as I mumbled a curse to myself and dragged the chair over a bit, "what… are you [ Continue reading... ]
Paradigms Lost: Chapter 44
October 20, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Jason has to do a bit of political outreach... ----- Chapter 44: Paternity and Possibility "Senator MacLain?" The voice on the other end was as distinctive over the phone as it was in public address or on television: precise, educated, a pleasant yet cool voice that carried both authority and intelligence—it reminded me somehow of Katharine Hepburn. "This is Paula MacLain. Mr. Jason Wood?" "Yes, ma'am. I don't know if you know who I am—" "Young man, if I didn't, I wouldn't be speaking [ Continue reading... ]
Paradigms Lost: Chapter 41
October 8, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Jason had made a rather startling discovery... ----- Chapter 41: Worries and Joys Verne and Kafan stared at the reprinted articles, while Sylvie peeked over their shoulders. "H'alate," muttered Verne. "This is most inconvenient." "Maybe not quite as bad as it seems." I said. Verne had looked like Death warmed over when he came in, but that might have been the yellow street lights. He looked a little better, here in the office, than he had yesterday. I hoped that meant he was taking it easy. "With [ Continue reading... ]
Paradigms Lost: Chapter 40
October 6, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Jason had some sleuthing to do... ----- Chapter 40: Solve One Problem, Get Two Free! I frowned at the faces on my screen. One was definitely nonhuman; Tai as he'd be if he changed. Seb's inhumanity was less obvious, though it was still there in subtle ways. The other two were how the children looked in their human guise. This was my first look at the pictures with a really clear head; after going over the details with Kafan several times, I'd wandered around my house sort of in a daze before finally going [ Continue reading... ]
Paradigms Lost: Chapter 39
October 1, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Time to stop the flashback and get back to the present... ----- Chapter 39: But Wait, There's MORE! "I wonder if I would have thought that," Verne concluded, "had I known what would come to pass." For the second time that night, I was speechless. After battling vampires and werewolves, I'd thought I was ready for anything. Even Kafan's story was, well… modern. Elias Klein had been a thoroughly twentieth-century vampire. Virigar, the Werewolf King, was at home in this world of computers and automobiles. Kafan's [ Continue reading... ]
Paradigms Lost: Chapter 37
September 24, 2014 By Leave a Comment
So, the first big bomb had been dropped on Jason... ----- Chapter 37: Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast I rubbed my temples, trying to take this all in. "Okay, let's see if I have this straight. You are some kind of genetic experiment? And this wanted-poster stuff about you is all lies made up by the Evil Government Conspiracy?" If Kafan had been a cat, his fur would have bristled; as it was, he did a pretty good imitation by glaring at me. "I don't like your tone of [ Continue reading... ]
Paradigms Lost: Chapter 36
September 22, 2014 By Leave a Comment
And now the first of the two chapters responsible for >90% of the times the original DK was dropped in the middle.... both for the "WTF you have got to be kidding me" reason... ----- Chapter 36: Fleeing From Frankenstein He looked around and smiled, satisfied. Despite his oddities, the village accepted him. His children were growing up strong and healthy. His wife took care of them all. In a country torn by civil war all too often, this village had managed to keep itself isolated and [ Continue reading... ]
Paradigms Lost: Chapter 35
September 17, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Jason and Syl had had a very scary idea... ----- Chapter 35: A Test of Trust "Good evening, Master Jason." Morgan said, opening the door. "Evening, Morgan." I answered, glancing around. There were still lots of pieces of clutter around from the work that was being done on the house. "Verne around?" "He and Master Kafan are in the library at the moment, sir." I opened my mouth to ask who "Master Kafan" was, then remembered Verne calling Tai Lee Xiang "Raiakafan." "Thanks, [ Continue reading... ]
Paradigms Lost: Chapter 33
September 11, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Let's get Jason to do some work... ----- Chapter 33: Who's Your Daddy? The man sitting across from me was small. Oriental, handsome (at least that's what Syl told me later; I'm not much of a judge), average-length hair just a bit shaggy. He was dressed in fairly casual style, but that wasn't much indication of his job or resources; people come to WIS in different guises than their coworkers usually see. "Okay, Mr., um, Xiang—that right?—okay, what can I help you with?" Tai Lee Xiang [ Continue reading... ]
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