shadow nation: future shock , part two…
Part two of the sci-fi experiment featuring a space opera built around this blog's favorite themes...
After posting the first five chapters of my attempt at sci-fi writing, the response I received was very positive, so I thought I'd post the second installment of Shadow Nation to see how well the story fares in later chapters. At the end of our introduction, we left the enigmatic but seemingly friendly group of cyborgs and their machines of malice settled comfortably in orbit around Earth in the year 3507.
The commander, Ace, is waiting for a duo of humans send by Councilor Grey and the International Council to observe the Nation at work, and for a fleet of insectoid aliens to assault the planet one more time. The battle for Earth is just beginning and there are far more alien invaders headed towards the rocky blue marble. Hopefully, the cyborgs and their fleet are ready. If they fail, the humans below them sure aren't equipped to fend of the massive hordes of otherworldly bugs…
In this part, you'll be introduced to some of the inner workings of the Nation's technology which relies on using the power generated by artificially created black holes and harnessing the Hawking radiation which starts to manifest itself when you warp space and time. As you can probably imagine, I had to take a few liberties when it came to making these engines and reactors work because if I thought I had them figured out, I would be submitting the relevant equations to peer-reviewed journals and asking for seed money to build prototypes and put my ideas to the test.
Another concession to storytelling over science had to come in the form of faster than light communication via a quantum phenomenon that doesn't actually carry information faster than light. I'm sure one could argue that it would be an interesting twist to include the huge delays in communication we would encounter in deep space, but hey, since it's my story, I get to make my own rules and I didn't feel that a thousand year break between each major event would make for a dynamic plotline.
So if you want to know what happens, download chapters 6 to 10 and let me know what you think. If you like it and want to read more, help spread the word about Shadow Nation. Send a link to your friends, or favorite it on the Weird Things Facebook page. The more readers and reviews I get, the better I can gauge the interest and either keep the chapters coming, or just stick to my usual science and skepticism posts.
