“Yes, please.” Gemma pushed her china forward. High tea parties were seldom now, and she enjoyed Trudy’s peculiar stories, not told anywhere else these days. “Indeed, I suppose. So very odd how things turned out in the end, don’t you think…”

***

“Down, bring her down.”  A group of builders on the site were preparing to release the space tower’s first platform. The site was off limits but for occasional family visits, usually granted upon request to the administration.

The operator on the air glider looked out to make sure the target was aligned correctly. “Hey, what’s that?” he pointed a gloved finger at a green spot beneath the vehicle. He couldn’t tell from the glider’s altitude whether the sprout was a budding tree or a future flowery bush.

The discovery was most unfortunate.  The anti-pollution technology that fed government neo-concretization policy encouraged corporate giants to enter bidding wars that led to lucrative contracts, but eco-terrorism interfered with the business.  While there was no winning against the oligopolies, smaller subcontractors, like the operator’s employer, could eke out a living by riding their coattails and getting some of their crumbs.  Purification technology was big business. And planting trees in urban zones was now illegal.

The operator landed and powered down his glider. The board of directors would most likely want a formal investigation into the incident, which meant freezing the project without pay for the workers. His son’s tuition was due in a week. Deep Space Training Division didn’t care for delays. What a headache, he thought heading home, not knowing what to tell his wife.

By morning, the sprout grew several more inches and its trunk thickened. The inspector took samples for the lab, while field techs combed the entire site. They found evidence of an intrusion, but without clear prints or other physical clues. Somehow someone paid the site an unauthorized visit and planted the seed under all that foamy neo-concrete, using DNA homogenization to cover his tracks.

The operator could not return to the site the next day, or the day after that. While he waited for a work recall, he feverishly searched for the solution to this uncalled for crisis. He couldn’t have his son suspended, but being angry wasn’t helping anyone and he only kept nodding to his own restless thoughts.

***

Gemma examined the tea stains at the bottom of her cup. “I don’t understand how she got away with such an offense.”

“Well, my dear, we—women, that is—have always been pretty resourceful,” Trudy winked mischievously as she cut a slice of lime.

***

The lab results showed that the sprout, now a tree of six feet, was an exotic plant with an acceleration mechanism in its makeup. The tree didn’t need food or water, and would grow to match the space tower’s height in a matter of days. A disaster! The board of directors unanimously voted to uproot the tree and catch the troublemaker.

The operator got off his transmitter. His brother agreed reluctantly to lend a sum, just enough to cover his son’s tuition. Momentarily relieved, he turned his thoughts to the tree. He didn’t like when his life plans were interrupted, even for a greater good. He could think of a dozen other ways of getting the message out without damaging roustabouts and other workers who couldn’t afford to get involved. Since losing his position as the prosthetic architect and having to plough in manual labor, the operator held a grudge against these protesters – they were to blame for the accident that got him fired. Now he wanted to have a face-to-face talk with the thoughtless fool. Thinking that his friend in the lab might know more, he dialed up.

By the time his wife got home from her shift at the power station where she was employed as a consultant biologist, the operator had the “when” and the “how” of the incident. Investigation of the “who” was ongoing, but the DNA homogenizator made discovery unlikely. Based on smudged satellite images, they could confirm the perpetrator was a woman, but for all intents and purposes, she was anonymous and would remain so forever.

“Darling, I had a very curious encounter at work today. One of the inspectors from your company…”

 The operator drew a neurotic smile at her last words. My company? Doesn’t she know who runs everything these days?

“You know how I’ve been freelancing for this sustainability advocacy, the movement against neo-concretization?” Trudy continued, “That female intruder of yours created quite a buzz! Turns out they can’t uproot the tree and need to know the key to the plant’s genetic code to destroy it – they can’t quite crack the code on their own. Isn’t that odd? Oh well, they won’t find anything, trust me…” she almost whispered. A naughty sparkle in her eyes gave the operator a tic.

Camilla Stein ©2011. All rights reserved.

‎

SPACE  SCRAPERS is now available on Amazon Kindle

Space Scrapers is an adventure series about a trio of bounty hunters who are driven by a renegade sentiment in opposition to the recognized power. While chasing artifacts and collecting various items of interest, they are being led to discover the threat to the Galaxy and possibly to the entire Universe, and to fight back. They don’t come as perfect heroes; instead they grow into their new identities.

Setting: Solar System, Milky Way, parallel Universe

Condition:
Approaching the XXXth century, human race was on the peak of its power, then followed by a downfall that lasted for about 300 years. A lot was destroyed in the time period. In the next millennium, Earth has re-established its presence in the Galaxy but is struggling to maintain order, reconnect with its past glory and define new horizons. Humans scrape far corners of space to collect remnants of lost technology and rebuild a once great civilization, now in the face of an unknown threat to their very existence.

Timeline Stretch: 2,000+ yrs since modern era.

Main Characters:

Ava Nagoya is an orphan. She is highly altruistic, will help everyone but herself, and at some point her unbalanced life style starts catching up on her. She has an attachment issue and lands a severe depression after losing a loved one. Accompanied by a preceding trauma that gave her PTSD, she sees no resolution to her condition other than turning to a phenomenal (totally sci-fi!) equivalent to drugs. That soon becomes a case of a terrible addiction. She decides to end her life. But this is not how her story line in Space Scrapers ends…

Ian Vanderbilt is an Aspie, highly intelligent, socially challenged, individualistic, fanatically devoted to his intellectual pursuits often at the expense of his friendship. He has his own vision of how things should be done. Ian rebels against a commonly accepted authority and breaks away from their military grip, subsequently turning into a bounty hunter. This is where his path begins for real. He needs to become aware of his higher purpose, resolve his inner conflict between ‘Ian the taker’ and ‘Ian the giver’. He is being led on a journey of self-discovery that he needs to complete if he is ever to defeat the ultimate enemy.

Mbwana Luo Akamba is Ian’s best friend. Highly charismatic, independent and self-absorbed, he is a techie, a genius. He often makes compromises with his own consciousness, has generally flexible values and is nomadic. Sometimes he surprises people who know him with unexpectedly humane gestures, although he never truly cared about anyone but himself. This, however, is about to change when he meets Sarah. He experiences a touchdown with his soul and goes through an incredible transformation.

Supplementary Characters:

Aaron Vanderbilt, Ian’s father
Maya Vanderbilt, Ian’s sister
The Overseer, monk
Jade, Patrol Officer 1
Li Chen, Patrol Officer 2
Karo Teig, medical examiner
Anton Teig, MD, Karo’s father
Ava’s Grandmother

Other elements:
Aliens
The Guard
Central Command

Technology: FTL starships, cyber network, robots, man-operated mega-control systems, etc.

Join Space Scrapers Facebook Community to recieve updates!

Camilla Stein ©2011. All rights reserved.

     Savannah wondered about his priority message earlier this morning. She couldn’t make much of it; technical noise jammed the transmission. She looked out again.  Something was not right.

     While she was about to close the window, a frantic cry came from around the corner and a distressed woman in her mid 30’s ran through the street as if she were being chased. A sleeve of her bloodstained coral dress was torn and her brown pumps were missing a heel. She was deliriously waving her blaster to no effect.

     A mighty roar in the distance caused the woman shrug and draw nearer to the wall. The roar closed in as its echo shook the neighborhood. The woman was looking for someone, knocking on doors and screaming.

     Savannah froze behind the blinds. Her door was next so she decided not to wait-in one grab she pulled the fugitive inside.

     “Shhh… Not a sound! Keep to the floor.” The woman exhaled, terrified. “It’s here!”

     “What are you running from? Who are you?” Savannah whispered back, shaking off angst. Whatever had happened to her uninvited guest, it must have been very bad-she was getting weaker by the moment.

     “I’m a tracker.  I just got back from Andromeda, worked on a station there, undercover. The Aurorans have insurgents everywhere. Not that civilians are supposed to know that…” The woman coughed blood at an attempted laugh. “My last assignment was to investigate disappearance of two female officers on the station. That case led me to many more…Now my partner is dead and I will be too, soon, but not before this…” Savannah noticed a tiny silver sphere in the woman’s hand. The woman forced herself to stay awake. Her coral dress was soaked-she was bleeding out.

     “You’re wounded. Hang in, I’ll get the kit.” Savannah crawled into the kitchen to fetch first aid utilities. When she returned, the woman was barely conscious.

     “Don’t waste your time, I can’t be helped anymore. Here, take this.” The sphere slipped into Savannah’s palm. “It’s the Auroran memory chip. The data is encrypted. Nen is the only one who can crack the code and deliver the list to the High Council without compromising the entire operation. Maybe it’s not too late.”

     “Wait a minute…Nen? My brother?” Savannah’s head was spinning. “He’s not here. I’ve been trying to reach him all morning.” So, the woman’s ending up in Savannah’s home was no coincidence. Nen indeed knew someone who knew someone in the High Council, but he didn’t like talking about his connections.

     “Yes, him.  His profile is in our system. Yours too.” Savannah’s eyes widened. She reckoned there was more to her brother’s life, but didn’t fancy finding herself in the middle of an espionage thriller.

     The woman gasped for air and continued in a fainting whisper. “Listen carefully. I need to leave immediately. Use your neutralizer. You have one in the kit, don’t you? It should be sufficient to erase evidence of my ever being here. They sent a neuro-robot to follow us…me…He killed my partner and is now sniffing through town. I managed to burn a part of his matrix, but Auroran technology is highly sophisticated.  He’s adapting as we speak. Whatever happens, he should not find you.” She pulled out a pill from a secret compartment inside her belt.

     Savannah heard rumors of such inventions. The drug was said to put a person in some sort of a temporary hypnotic state, inducing a nerve block and causing rapid recuperation. The catalyzed abnormally high energy level was enabling subjects to work through pain and injury, but would wear off quickly. The effects were lethal and the drug’s application was restricted to military personnel, to be used in terminal cases.

     The woman got up, gave Savannah a brave look and stepped outside just as another powerful roar spread through the street so close Savannah had to cover her ears. She then reached for the first aid kit where she kept her neutralizer.

    Nen parked his capsuloid on the roof and hurried to transport down to Savannah’s place. He doubted that his sister got his message; there was so much interference on every channel. He managed to alert several friends, and they, in turn, exercised necessary precautions. By the time Nen arrived, the entire town was locked down.

     Savannah’s worried face startled him the moment his body materialized out of the tube, but instead of making a scene, she handed him the sphere and sat down.

     After Nen’s manipulations with the Auroran code, the two were looking at a cryptic list of names.

     “Terminated, I suppose…” Nen pointed to the crossed ones. “And those with red dots next to them are due, scheduled for. Do you understand?” He turned to Savannah.

     “Why only women? And what are these symbols?” She was shocked and confused; her stomach was curling from nausea.

     “High Council speculated that the Aurorans were behind nasty bio experiments on humans, but there was no hard evidence to go with.” Nen continued. “A large number of female residents with infertility problems went through artificial insemination in our clinic on Andromeda’s station. Seventy percent of them disappeared in the third trimester.”

     “The insurgents!” Savannah jolted at recalling the tracker’s warning.

     “Indeed. The symbols must be names of Auroran infiltrators. Impregnated and carrying alien fetuses, the women became disposable after the extraction. This here is the proof.” Nen shut down his decoder and was now inspecting his blaster.

     “What will happen when we deliver this list to the High Council?” Savannah looked up at her twin brother, seeking to confirm what she already knew-Earth was bracing for an interstellar war.

Camilla Stein ©2011. All rights reserved.

Written in 2008, Camilla Stein’s post-apocalyptic story takes place a thousand years into the future when a new generation of young scientists sets out to investigate what really happened to their home planet. The year is 3145…

‘Gaia’s Children’ is planned to become available in 2011 as a bonus to  a series of short stories in eBook format.

The story is also currently undergoing fiction-to-script adaptation.

Cover Art by Janna Ali

Camilla Stein ©2011. All rights reserved.

Gaia’s Children is a bonus selection to the Space Scrapers series now on Amazon Kindle!

Support Gaia’s Children on Facebook, visit our page

____________________________________________________________________________________________

You’d think they’d  learn to build  real hospitals by now…  Ah, those bipedals… At least they have cute nurses! Sweet time, sweet indeed, sadly it all should end someday. I remember, back then my saucer got caught in the loop. Those magnetic fields here can be very annoying. What an adventure, I tell you. I was alone, just a passerby making an emergency landing. They liked my drawings! I didn’t know then, saw later on those, yes, yes, pyramids. It is indeed flattering to see my art so widely used, although they have lost the skill really quickly. They liked me, they even adopted my name. 

“It’s time for your afternoon injection, sir. Let me roll up your sleeve.”

She is nice.

“All done, sir. Do you wish anything? A snack, maybe?”

Too nice if you ask me.

“No, no, please do not do that. Doctor’s orders.”

She has a soft touch.

“You should be resting.”

She thinks I am old.

I suppose I am, by their standards;  what has it been—five thousand Earth years, give or take a few? But my suit is still pretty well attached, so it won’t be anytime soon that they find out. They now think I have anemia. Maybe one day they will know. Imagine the looks on their faces when that happens… My daughter didn’t want me to leave; the young generation doesn’t understand our sentiments. Let them think what they want, no trouble. I wanted to see this planet again, I liked it here back then. Walking on two legs was very new for me… adjusted quickly. Now suits are much better designed, no discomfort at all. My tail is fixed on the inside, and my claws are hidden into what looks like somewhat unusually long fingers with pointy nails. They have five fingers here, very amusing. Our anthropologists say they evolved from apes. Intriguing, never seen apes on my home world. Can’t help feeling amazed here, so much to learn… My wife thought I was insane for coming back here. She too, thinks I am old.

“Sir, you have a visitor.”

 She smiled!

“Please, come in, he is ready to receive you.”

 Her light hand on my pillow.

“If you need anything, press this red button.”

 Doors closed behind her back…

“They said I’d find you here.”

Who is he? Seems like a new suit, I don’t recognize him. Maybe someone from the recent wave; I heard they were dropping off frequently now after me… And then again, maybe not.

“I have good news.”

Did my wife send him??? She has connections, I know.

“We had problems with our launch sequencer, but it is solved now. In 2012, with the upcoming solar storm, it will be safe for you to leave.”

Say what you wish, I am not going with you. I came here to explore, I like it here. You cannot make me leave, not now when I am enjoying it so much. I even learned to like their food… Can’t you see?! This is my life now.

“D May’A, your family is expecting you home.”

Look at me again, suit. Who is my family, where is my home? You punished me for exposing our culture! Outcast, I had to resign, end my career, move to some forsaken moon, then wait to see if the effect was damaging to us. It wasn’t, but no apology to me followed. Now it’s history. Their history. I guess my grandchildren will now have to carry on without me. Annoyed, they said I talked too much. Wouldn’t anyone when there’s no one to listen? How ironic, true freedom of speech… Can’t blame that on us too, but you keep saying it is the side effect of our presence! One—I was one—what could I do? I watched them, how they grew and developed. I never knew this would be possible but I learned their ways! Look again—they like me here. They read my books, they watch my shows, they accept me, and love… Now you see where my home is?! Where’s that damn button?!  

“He hasn’t spoken a word.” The visitor looked upset.

“He is tired.”

 Her voice is soft, too. She always takes such a good care of me.

“I should come back again.” Visitor insisted.

“Doctors do not want him to be disturbed; he needs rest, plenty of rest.” She firmly led the guest out of the room and something in her voice made D May’A think he wouldn’t be seeing this visitor, or anyone like him, again.

She returned to puff up D May’A’s pillow and draw the curtains. Her soft hand touched his. She then mischievously winked at the alien and took off her latex gloves, flashing her what looked like somewhat unusually long fingers, with pointy nails.

Camilla Stein ©2011. All rights reserved.