Archive | February 15, 2018

Purchased: Negotiation

Feb15

First: http://www.lynthornealder.com/2017/12/03/negotiation/

Previous: http://www.lynthornealder.com/2018/01/26/bodyguard/

💰

Five

The car ride lasted longer than he thought it ought to, winding through the city and into a neighborhood where there were actual lawns, through a gate they had to buzz through and into the detached garage next to a big house or a small mansion.  “All right.  No orders on behavior but I’m going to warn you, we do have a cat, she liked jumping on people, and she is often far too sharp.”

“Sir.”  Leander raised his eyebrows.  “A cat?” Continue reading →

Poaching in the Bear Empire

Feb15

First: Running in the Bear Empire
Previous: Dying in the Bear Empire

🐻

They left the wagon near the front of a farmhouse, making sure the horses were comfortable and had plenty of grass to munch on, and set off on foot, each of them carrying a bag.  As soon as they reached an intersection, they turned off the wagon-road, heading towards the foothills.

Dusk came on them sooner than they’d have liked, the air turning cool as the sun ducked behind the mountains. Deline began looking for a reasonable place to stop for the night. Continue reading →

The Haunted House: Expectations

Feb15

“MDom Not Asshole” continues, now with a name

First: A story featuring a male keeper and a female Kept.
Previous: After a Warm Meal

🌳🏚🌳

Jasper stared at her.  “Mélanie, I promise you, it is not a joke.”  The air shivered with the feeling of his oath and the house seemed to shift minutely.  “I swear it to you.  I intend to treat you like an associate, not like a slave, and if I have given you any indication otherwise, I sincerely apologize.”

“You… you bought me,” she pointed out, in a whisper that was barely a breath.  “And you-” Continue reading →

Tootplanet: Another Viewpoint

Feb15

Star Log, Sec. 7, Sub. 16-4 – another viewpoint

It had been Slek’s turn on the sky-scope, so it was Slek who saw the spaceship settling above their atmosphere and Slek who noticed all of the readings of a determined scanning. Not the Periln; the instruments read differently, enough that Slek was pretty sure they noticed there were people left on the planet.

If the Periln had noticed, they would have sent down a cleaning crew.

This ship… just scanned, scanned again, and left. Slek swore and cursed many of their ancestors and descendants before writing it all down in the log.

 

Tootplanet: Another Viewpoint

Feb15

7-16-3–another viewpoint

The greeting probe was bland. It spoke in a monotone that seemed to carry no inflection at all.

Lior(red-phasing-to-blue/greenish tips) listen/watched 3 times but there was nothing of hue or shade. How to understand it, then? Lior took it to the [green-on-the-water-blue place], but even there, they were baffled.

They began to prepare a reply, shaded as neutrally as possible.Sending it back was easy.  But how to communicate with such BLAND people?

 

 

Tootplanet: Captain’s Log

Feb15

Star Log, Sec. 7, Sub 17-1

This planet looks so much like Earth from a distance that I checked all our readings 3 times.

And, indeed, it is inhabited – the continent we had to keep resisting calling Africa shows signs of dense population and industry, as does all of the southern hemisphere.

We caught a few video transmissions, and they seem remarkably humanoid, although with little-to-no cold tolerance.

We sent three polite greeting probes and took more photos than was strictly necessary.

Star Log, Sec. 7, Sub 17-2

On the far side of Sub17 we found a smallish planet teeming with life and sparkling with silver speckles.

The mountains, the water, even the animals seemed to glitter, and much of the plant life is a silvery-drey.

There were more animals on this planet than we had ever seen in one place, but no signs of civilization.

We sent down a team with a well-armored settlement pod.  Some of those animals were definitely carnivores.

7.17.2

     

     

    Tootplanet: Explorers’ Logs Planet 7-14-2

    Feb15

    Explorer Log Planet 7-14-2

    The landmasses here are small, but that makes sense: the planet is small.  By all rights, it shouldn’t have a breathable atmosphere, but it does, and we will take that.

    We landed on a continent that is about twenty square miles in a rough comma shape, and in five days have explored much of it.  It’s separated at the tip by a channel we can almost jump across to another landmass of similar size, and there is even a lake about an acre across.

    I keep expecting to discover this is a practical joke.

    Planetary Date 26

    We’ve been here nearly a month and I am fairly sure nothing is a joke.

    We’ve been mapping this as seriously as if we think it will take us our entire tenure, and we continue to find interesting anomalies.

    There was the chain of volcanoes, for instance.

    Or the tiger-like creature that came up to our knees but was very sharp and had not one but two rows of teeth.

    It might be a tiny planet, but it’s still trying to kill us.

    Planetary Date 92

    The short days and nights on this planet are a little distressing, but it is to be expected on a planet this small.

    We have cataloged no fewer than 100 species of animal and 50 plants, although many of them are variations on themes.

    The pocket tiger has a cousin, a pocket wolf.  This one is even more violent, albeit smaller.

    And did I mention the hawks?  These things are like rocs to this planet, despite being only a little larger than an Earth eagle.

    Our habitation is steel-reinforced and cement-roofed.  I’m still worried about the two pregnant women.  Around here, the birds might really steal the baby.

    Planetary Date 192

    We’ve moved our settlement to the other side of the planet, a trip that took us three days and ended up with us nestled on the side of the tallest mountain here.  

    We’ve made book-standard accommodations to our habitat, including blasting a cave in the mountain for storage, but considering the footprint of this place, we are trying to limit out modifications.

    Here, we are better protected from the small but deadly animals, and we have set up a pen in which to breed some of the more tame herbivores.

    Planetary Date 292

    We’ve moved our settlement to the other side of the planet, a trip that took us three days and ended up with us nestled on the side of the tallest mountain here.  

    We’ve made book-standard accommodations to our habitat, including blasting a cave in the mountain for storage, but considering the footprint of this place, we are trying to limit out modifications.

    Here, we are better protected from the small but deadly animals, and we have set up a pen in which to breed some of the tamer herbivores.

    The planet might be trying to kill us, but it’s also feeding us very nicely.

     

    Tootplanet: Captain’s Log

    Feb15

    Star Log, Sec. 7, Sub. 14

    We came out of superspace almost in front of this planet, and from the looks of it, we were not the only ones who had.  Circling the planet, we counted at least ten landing stations, flying all sorts of colors, in all sorts of styles.  None looked like Home, but several looked like we could probably fit in with minimal effort.

    We made a note to visit on the way back. Sailors always enjoy a bit of shore leave, after all.

    Star Log, Sec. 7, Sub. 14

    We explored more of this sub-section than we’d originally intended, but it was surprising to find so many uninhabited planets so close to what we’re calling the Spaceport planet.  Or maybe not: nobody wants the campsite next to the bathroom, after all.

    Three long days’ plainspace travel from Spaceport, we found a small but entirely habitable planet. And by small I mean tiny: This thing is almost approaching Little Prince status.

    Nevertheless, we sent down a small team.  If they have not explored the entire planet by the time we return, I will be surprised and disappointed.