On the Beach

Culture, Writing, ,

Contains MASSIVE spoilers for the Silo stories and the Silo TV series.

The Silo series by Hugh Howey is a modern masterpiece of post-apocalyptic SF. The books form a trilogy with Wool, Shift and Dust. In addition, there are a trio of short stories included in the Silo Series eBook: “In the Air,” “In the Mountain,” and “In the Woods.”

It’s fair, I think, to say that Mr. Howey has a somewhat dim view of humanity. So dim, in fact, that one almost wonders why anyone in the story would bother trying to save humankind.

I did mention above that there are massive spoilers, right? So here goes.

The end of Dust gave us a bittersweet ending, in which most of the characters we’ve come to know are dead, but those who survive, including Juliette Nichols, find their way to a natural paradise.

The story “In the Woods” takes that away from us, and Juliette is seemingly killed by a pair of survivors who, filled with blind hate and anger, have mistakenly assumed that Juliette is the author of humanity’s destruction.

That’s where I said, “Nope.”

So, I’ve written a brief coda which gives me back a more hopeful view of the future in the world of Silo. I hope you enjoy it.

On the Beach

“So, how fast could they fly?” Jimmy, still known as Solo by much of the community, sat next to Charlotte scratching his head. 

“About mach 12 was the fastest that I know of,” Charlotte explained. Kneeling, she had been drawing diagrams in the sand. She found Jimmy surprisingly conversant with the basic principles of flying through his reading. The practice, or rather, the stories about the practice, seemed to perplex him. 

“What does that mean?”

“Mach 1 is the speed of sound. The speed at which sound travels through the air from point A to point B. When a plane flies faster than Mach 1, they used to say that they broke the sound barrier. You’d hear a loud ‘BOOM’ in the sky.”

“People must have loved that. Or did they get used to it?”

“There were rules about flying near cities—”

Charlotte was cut off, however, by a different kind of sound. A gunshot. She and Jimmy sprang to their feet, and, with horror, saw that Jules was going down. A woman with a gun stood in front of her. 

They ran. 

As they ran, they saw Elise notch arrows, bringing down the woman and then the man beside her who’d tried to pick up the gun. 

Charlotte and Solo stopped short, breathing heavily, shocked by the blood spurting from Juliette’s chest. Then Charlotte’s military training kicked in. She knelt down and pressed her right hand against the wound. 

“Find her father,” Charlotte said to Elise. Elise nodded and took off at speed. 

“Jules,” said Charlotte. “Juliette!” Using her left hand, Charlotte lifted each of Juliette’s eyelids. 

Jimmy was kneeling on the other side of Juliette, holding her hand. “She’s non-responsive and losing too much blood,” said Charlotte. “She shouldn’t be moved, but we need to get her to medical.” 

After scanning his surroundings, Jimmy said, “There’s a wheelbarrow. We can put her in there and get her to the doctor.” 

“Do it,” said Charlotte. 

Jimmy dashed to the wheelbarrow and back again. They loaded Juliette in. Jimmy took the handles and started off at a jog to the medical tent while Charlotte kept pace, trying to maintain pressure on the wound. 

#

Peter Nichols, Juliette’s father, had set up a clinic of sorts in a tent in the center of the settlement. He and Rickson formed a two-person medical team. Rickson had been learning by apprenticeship, and was now capable of applying first aid, setting broken bones and other simple tasks. They’d been back to the concrete tower for more of the supplies that Peter thought essential, including bandages, antibiotics and antivirals, surgical equipment, and more.

In the nearby woods, Peter Nichols and Rickson were treating a child who’d fallen from a tree. Peter stood back while Rickson examined the girl, touching her head, asking her to follow his fingers with his eyes, checking for anything broken. The girl winced when he touched her ribs. 

“You’ll be fine,” Rickson said. “You gave yourself a small bump on the head, and your ribs are bruised but not broken. Just rest for a couple of days and be a bit more careful climbing up trees.”

“Thanks!” said the girl as she got to her feet. Before Rickson could say another word, the girl dashed towards the river. 

Peter Nichols chuckled as Rickson packed the medical bag. “Some things never change. And thank goodness for that.”

A loud retort rang out, and they looked around for the source of the sound. 

“Hunting?” said Rickson. 

“I’m not sure,” said Dr. Nichols. “I hope so.”

They headed back to the settlement, walking quickly, their faces lined with worry. 

Elsie almost bowled them over. 

“Easy,” said Dr. Nichols. “What is it?”

Too winded to speak right away, Elsie pointed and then said, “Jules.”

“Oh no…” And with that Dr. Nichols ran faster than he would have believed possible. 

#

They met in the medical tent. Charlotte and Jimmy transferred Juliette to the table. 

“Oh, Jules,” said Dr. Nichols. To Rickson he said, “Let’s turn her over.” A quick glance confirmed the presence of an exit wound. 

“The shot was through and through. It doesn’t look like any vital organs were damaged, but it must have nicked an artery. We need to open her up and apply suture.”

Charlotte and Jimmy stepped outside of the tent, where a throng of people were gathered. “Juliette’s been shot,” reported Charlotte. “Her father is operating. All we can do is wait. And hope. Best to get on with what you were doing. We’ll let everyone know when there’s news.”

An hour later, Dr. Nichols emerged from the tent, wiping the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief. 

“How is she?” said Jimmy. 

Dr. Nichols shook his head. 

“Oh no…” said Charlotte.

“What?” said Dr. Nichols. “No, it’s not that. The bleeding has stopped. She’s weak, still unconscious, but breathing regularly. It’s just that I’ve never seen the like. I scarcely had to do anything. Her body… it was like it was busy repairing itself.”

After breathing a sigh of relief, Charlotte said, “It’s the bots. Like I told you. The nanobots. They must have been pumped into Silo 17 at some point. That’s what they do: repair damage, keep you healthy.” 

“Well, for whatever reason, I think that Jules will make a full recovery.” After a pause, Dr. Nichols said, “Someone should stay with her. I’m needed elsewhere for a time.”

“We’ll stay,” said Jimmy. “We’ll take shifts if we have to.”

It was dawn the next day when Juliette’s eyes fluttered open. Jimmy, who’d been nearly dozing as his shift came to an end, reached for her hand. 

“Hey,” he said. “You’re back. Just a second.” With that, he dashed to the tent opening and called for Charlotte. 

“Here I am,” said Jimmy. “And here comes Charlotte.”

“How are you feeling?” said Charlotte, taking a seat on the other side. 

“Like I was shot,” mumbled Juliette. 

#

“Blood pressure’s still a bit low,” said Peter Nichols. “But your pulse is strong and regular and your wound has healed nicely. I’d say you were ready to get out of here.”

“Thanks, Dad,” said Juliette. “I think this is the longest I’ve been off my feet in years. It doesn’t feel right.”

“Well, just don’t overdo it. You know, with being the mayor.” 

Juliette nodded. “Not to worry. And Dad?”

“Yes?”

“Thanks. For everything.” With that, Juliette gave her father a kiss on the cheek and exited the tent… only to find the people from the settlement gathered all around. At the sight of her they started to cheer.

With a smile, Juliette held up her hands for silence. 

“Thank you so much,” she said. “I love you all. But I think it’s time that someone else became mayor in my stead. I can think of a couple of candidates…” and she cast a glance at Jimmy.

“Oh no,” said Jimmy. “Not me. I’m happy to help the mayor, but I’ve no desire to be the mayor.”

“In that case,” said Juliette. And she turned towards Charlotte. 

Bowing her head and sighing, Charlotte said, “If I must.”

“You have so much to teach everyone,” said Juliette. “And you’re a trained leader. You’ll be perfect. Let’s confirm it at a Town Hall tomorrow. Until then, Charlotte is interim mayor.”

There was another round of cheering. When it quietened, Juliette continued. “We have an enemy still. It’s hate. Hate that blinds you so you can’t see what’s right in front of you. There will always be people finding their way to us from the silos. Some of them will be angry. We have to help them to put aside their anger and hate, and give them a view of a future filled instead with love.” 

After a long round of applause, Juliette concluded. “And now, if no one minds, I’m a bit tired, so I’m going to get some rest while our new mayor gets ready to guide us into the future.”

Tipping the Time Scales

Culture, Writing, , , ,

So a few days ago Grego Keith contacted me and expressed interest in having a chat as part of a collection of interviews on the Time Scales YouTube channel. The Time Scales is a website where users can comment on and rate, well, all sorts of things, including Doctor Who TV and audio episodes.

Me being me, I first checked who else Grego had been speaking to. When I saw that the list included Gary Russell, my first reaction was, well why does he want to speak to me? There are a lot of other well known faces there, including Sophie Aldred. My second reaction was to say, sure, let’s chat.

Grego was extremely welcoming and put me right at ease, which was great because I get awfully nervous about this kind of thing. The last time I’d been interviewed was around the time that Big Finish announced “Battle Scars” back in 2019. Before the world changed.

We ended up having a great chat and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. We covered my writing journey, starting with sketches I would write as a kid, to my fan fiction, to Big Finish, and to the collections of original fiction I’ve self-published. We also touched on the two Alternative War fan audios that were recently released by TT Productions 23.

I hope you give the video a watch when you get the chance. And be sure to check out the other content in the Time Scale’s channel. I’ve just finished the first part of the Gary Russell interview and am looking forward to parts two and three.

Oh yes. Happy Doctor Who Podcast Day!

The Alternative War – Reprieve

Culture, ,

“Reprieve” is the second and probably last in the Doctor Who Alternative War series. In the first, simply called Doctor Who: The Alternative War, the Alternative universe diverges from the TV Doctor Who universe when the Eighth Doctor regenerates. In the Alternative universe, the Doctor regenerates into another Doctor, a woman, who meets fellow Time Lord Aliana and sets out to find a way to bring the Time War to an end.

In “Reprieve”, the Doctor has recently regenerated and is now a version of the Tenth Doctor that we know and love. But this time, he’s ginger.

The backstory behind the regeneration didn’t make it into the script, but here’s a synopsis: The Doctor sets out to gain intelligence on Dalek plans by infiltrating a Dalek ship. She is unable to penetrate the Dalek shields with the TARDIS, but finds a way to transmat inside. She finds that the Daleks have been hunting down a so-called Doomsday weapon. Whispers have hinted it is being developed by the Time Lords. Before she can finish, she is spotted by a Dalek and is shot. Meanwhile, Aliana has been furiously working to find a way past the Dalek shields and finds a means that should work just as the Doctor is shot. Throwing caution to the winds, Aliana materializes the TARDIS around the Doctor and they escape.

The Doctor and Aliana have had numerous adventures since the first episode, and Aliana has grown and matured. As “Reprieve” takes place, she and the Doctor have almost reversed roles, Aliana being the steading influence on the impulsive Tenth Doctor of this universe. We also learn of Aliana’s backstory, and how she was able to find the Doctor just at the moment he regenerated on Karn.

As with many of my stories, “Reprieve” is mostly character-based. More character, less running down corridors. And in this story, there are more Doctors than usual. Three, specifically: the tenth, eleventh, and third. Ten and Eleven are played by the ever-brilliant Jack Reeves, and Three is played with love and gusto by the inimitable Jaspreet Singh. As for villains, well, there are three of those as well: The War Master, as well as … well, let’s not spoil it. They’re original characters, so you won’t know them, but as played by Chelsea Lagan and Sam Cybichowski I could listen to them all day.

What else will you find in “Reprieve?” Well, there are loads of references to classic sci-fi and fantasy. And the Third Doctor gets to reverse the polarity and drive some pretty hot wheels.

Really, what else could you ask for in a Doctor Who story? Especially when played by such an amazing cast, and with such great sound design courtesy of the indefatigable Abi Louise, who seems to be a master of just about everything. Basically, Abi and TT Productions 23 are awesome.

Doctor Who: The Alternative War can be found here: https://youtu.be/NaREhegyddw

Doctor Who: The Alternative War – Reprieve can be found here: https://youtu.be/q_if3Z5HKWc

The Debut of “Reprieve”

Culture, Writing, ,

The debut of the new Doctor Who (fan fiction) audio play is on Wednesday, July 5th, at 7 PM UK time. Doctor Who: The Alternative War — Reprieve is a light-hearted, multi-Doctor story set in an alternative universe during the Time War.

Hope you’re able to join us and that you enjoy it. We have an amazing cast and a stellar production so I’m looking forward to hearing what you think of it.

You can find it here: https://youtu.be/q_if3Z5HKWc

Plotting Backwards and Forward

Culture, Writing, ,

Contains major spoilers for Star Trek: Picard

In the commentary for Serenity, the movie follow-on to the short lived and much beloved series Firefly, Joss Whedon became particularly animated at the pivotal moment when we see River posed with a pair of axes while, strewn around her, lay the bodies of fallen Reavers.

This moment, it seems, was the starting point, the inspiration for the entire movie. And it was the climax. From that moment, Whedon worked backwards, answering for himself the question, “What led to this point?”

I suspect the plot for Star Trek: Picard S3 was similarly driven by the moment when the reunited TNG crew exited space dock in a newly reconstituted Enterprise-D. This was the moment the writers had to get to. Now, what led to it?

There would have been many questions. Why would they need an old, Galaxy-class starship? Well, they would need it if there was a problem with the newer models. What problem? And so on. The Enterprise-D launches in episode 9 of 10, and I would argue that, no matter what happens in episode 10, this represents the climax of the story. The rest — stopping the Borg attack, expunging the Borg portion of the young drones, rescuing Jack — is part of the tidying up that has to happen before we let our heroes go forth to Live Long and Prosper.

All this to say that a good story doesn’t necessarily stem from a vision of the start of it all. You might think of a moment that occurs at the end of Act 1, Act2 or near the end of Act 3. It doesn’t matter. From that moment, you can work backwards and forwards until your story is complete.

One last comment about Star Trek. I was never a huge fan of TNG (he says to the sound of collected gasps). But there certainly were some classic episodes, in particular, “All Good Things”, “The Inner Light”, “Yesterday’s Enterprise”, and “The Best of Both Worlds.” Star Trek: Picard S3, meanwhile, all of it, is a Very Good Story. In fact, I would argue, as of episode 9, that it represents the best that Star Trek has ever been. Why is that? Because of the story. Because of the script. A because the cast has matured into actors who can believably portray complex emotions and pull us along with them.

The Unravelling

Writing, ,

One of the reasons for the success of Doctor Who over its nearly sixty years of history is the variety of stories the show presents. The stakes can be small or potentially universe-ending. The setting can be the past, present, or future, or a combination thereof. And within a given story, the tone can change from light-hearted to deadly serious in a pair of heartbeats.

I have a particular fondness for the third Doctor’s era, and as a writer, I enjoy writing in a variety of styles, from serious character studies to light-hearted affairs. Recently, I wrote a light-hearted, third Doctor story called “The Unravelling.” What I was going for here was to provide an amusing, in-universe explanation of why the walls at UNIT HQ were occasionally prone to wobble. And, why it was that the quality of light indoors was quite different from outdoors.

It’s been published by The Doctor Who Project, which posts two kinds of stories. On the one hand, they continue the adventures of the seventh Doctor past the cancelation of the series. These can be considered to take place in an alternative universe. The Doctor has regenerated several times in this universe.

The other stories are tales of the classic Doctors under the umbrella, Brief Encounters. Herein you’ll find “The Unravelling” among many other Doctor Who short stories.

Please give it a read and let me know if you enjoy it. And do check out the other fine stories collected here.

The Time Conspiracy

Writing, , ,

For a long time now, I’ve been itching to take my four-story fan fiction saga that linked the Firefly, Castle, and Doctor Who universes, and combine them into a single volume. It’s called The Time Conspiracy.

It all started back in 2012 with my fanfic story, “Goodbye.” In that story, I introduced time travel to the Firefly universe because—hey! It’s me. After the events of the movie Serenity, Mal and company meet up with someone from their past who should be dead. And they’re not the only ones who have been seeing ghosts. Something is wrong, and it’s up to the crew of Serenity to put it right.

This story led, inevitably perhaps, to a couple of Firefly–Castle crossovers. In “A Firefly in the Castle”, Mal visits Castle’s Earth. In “Castle Serenity”, Castle and Beckett find themselves in the far future and join the crew of Serenity. In these stories, we learn that Mal and Castle are clones, inserted into their respective time streams to nudge events in a direction favourable to the Alliance.

The conclusion of the saga came with “Miranda” in 2016. This story brings the eleventh Doctor and Clara to the Firefly universe to get to the bottom of why the Alliance is meddling with time.

It’s interesting and gratifying to see how my writing improves along the way. And there are other things. The closing scene of “Castle Serenity” is, I think, the most touching thing I’ve written. To this day, it continues to makes me misty-eyed. And from a plotting perspective, “Miranda” is the most complex story I’ve written, telling its story while fitting into the events of “Castle Serenity” and the movie Serenity.

I also have to say that I’ve really enjoyed reading this adventure. I hope you do too.

To get your hands on the EPUB file, see my blog page, The Time Conspiracy.

Mysterious Photograph

Uncategorized, Writing, ,

Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine has a great monthly contest. They print a photo and your job, as contest entrant, is to create a short crime story around the photo. And by short, I mean 250 words or less. I submitted for a story for the Nov/Dec 2022 photo but wasn’t selected. I like the story though, so I’m going to post the photo and the story here.

Mysterious Photograph

“Was it just yesterday that we hiked to the summit?” said Ellen Mordew. “We were so foolhardy.”

“Perhaps,” said Ajay Singh. “Or perhaps we were celebrating life, as Stuart would have wanted.”

Wiping away a tear, Ellen said, “Nothing was too crazy for Stuart. You knew him longer than I did.”

“Best friends since high school.”

The pair sat in silence as the lava descended the slope, steam rising as it meandered towards the surrounding flatlands. 

By now the lava would have melted the gun that Ajay had buried under some rubble on their descent. The police hadn’t found the murder weapon, and now they never would.

Ajay smiled as he sat in companionable silence with the woman he’d loved in secret for years.

Vampire Justice

Culture, Writing, , ,

If you watch The Rookie: Feds, you’ll have finally caught a glimpse of character Brendon Acres playing Vampire Cop. This was the titular character of a defunct TV show in which he starred prior to joining the FBI.

We all want more.

Sadly, I can’t give you more, but it turns out that in my short story, “Don’t Ever Change”, there is a similar story within a story. It concerns actor Alan Fitts playing the justice-dealing vampire Charles Wardell.

Here it is. I hope you enjoy it.

#

A slow knock at the door. Angelika Labelle’s eyes widen. She is seated upon a divan in front of the hearth, her face illuminated by the blazing fire within. The camera pulls back, and we see that the apartment is lit with candles, yielding areas of light and shadow. This is accentuated by the stark black-and-white photography. Decorations include antique cabinets and clocks, a hand-woven Turkish carpet, an intricately carved coffee table, and small Renaissance-era oil paintings. Another knock and she stands, adjusts her close-fitting dress, and sashays to the door. 

She opens the door slowly. There is a man standing in the corridor, hands folded behind him. He wears a black suit with a dark-grey shirt and a grey-and-black-striped tie. The corridor light is garishly bright, causing the woman to blink and raise her hand over her eyes.

A smile comes to Angelika’s face. She lowers her head slightly and looks up at the visitor, eyes half lidded. “Well this is a welcome surprise.”

“May I come in?” says Charles Bardell. 

Angelika steps back and waves her arm. Charles enters, and she closes the door behind him.

Stepping in front of the hearth, Charles regards the flames; the light dances in his dark eyes. 

“Wine?” asks Angelika, moving to the buffet. She reaches for a decanter filled with red liquid. 

“No,” says Charles. “No, I’m here on business.”

“Business,” says Angelika, as she moves towards Charles. “Well now I am intrigued.”

Charles turns rapidly and grasps Angelika by the forearm. 

“Charles!” Angelika’s eyes widen. “What are you doing?”

“You killed them. Those men. Why?”

Angelika blinks and her mouth opens slightly. Then, composing herself, she looks away. “I’m sure I’ve no idea what you’re talking about.”

“You seduced Doctor Boreanaz and blackmailed him. He provided you with the insulin and syringes you needed.”

“My, you are fanciful. Why on earth would I do such a thing?”

“They uncovered the truth about your past. As have I.”

Charles lets go of her then, and Angelika backs away, eyebrows raised. “What are you going to do?”

“Deliver justice.”

Angelika laughs. Moving to the buffet again, she pours a glass of wine, giving away a slight tremor in her hand, and takes a sip. “So,” she says, “you’re a policeman now?”

“I’m no policeman.” His words sound like a low growl. Approaching her once again, his face is dark with both anger and sadness. And something else. Hunger?

Angelika tries to back away but bumps into the buffet. Setting down her glass, she rests her shaking hands on the surface behind her. Charles approaches and bends so that he is very close to her neck. The camera closes in, showing the pores of her skin and his open mouth with its white teeth. 

“Charles, this is hardly the time,” Angelika says weakly, her body trembling.

“This is the only time,” Charles whispers.

His canines grow, and when they reach full length, Charles bites down on her carotid and drinks deeply. The camera moves to his eyes. They’re alight with energy. The camera pulls away and focuses on the roaring fire in the hearth. 

#

In “Don’t Ever Change,” people are inexplicably dying after meeting Alan Fitts, and someone starts to wonder if he mightn’t actually be some kind of vampire. You can find the story in my collection, Something Special, available at Amazon.