Geron Kees

Science? Was there some of that? It's mostly science fiction. But it is fun! Pleased to have you along!

Yep. Or, one of them. More to come for all the guys, I think.

Thanks for coming along. It's always more fun with friends!

Yeah, the last chapter. I could have gone on, but it would have wound up a whole new story. I talk enough as it is!

You stayed up for this? Wow. That's pretty nice! 😍

Say, didn't you used to write those rhyming beer commercials?

Yep. Maybe we can talk to Myr?

Yep. And while Kip and Adrian are right now mostly supporting Charlie, they have a few things new that will be cropping up in the future, too!

Shhh! Be vewy, vewy quiet!

They're on their way!

Haha. You are the second person to mention 'The Sword and the Stone' to me. I didn't even think of that! But yes, it is similar.

Exactly that. If you had to teach someone to think in a pattern that was slightly unnatural to them, you would need an experience that highlighted that difference. Learning to fly is a little obvious, but I was sitting out back one day while writing the story, and the dog was sleeping nearby, and the birds were coming and going, and I got to wondering how different life was for them, because of their different physical forms, different minds, and different priorities. Ricky's role will become apparent. The thing right now is that even he doesn't know what it is. Like Charlie's new ability, it won't awaken until it's needed.

Nope. It was a thought exercise in learning to experience new things. Sorry if it seemed pointless!

They had all slept, and eaten, and were ready to make the attempt to rescue Pacha and the others. They returned to the sofa in the control center and made themselves comfortable. Kippy and Adrian took places on either side of Charlie, feeling that the ability to touch him would add emphasis to the power support they intended to give to him. Ragal, Casper, and Max sat in a line, also feeling that touching would add strength to their missions. Ricky, after giving Adrian one more kiss, was the only

I'm sure Max would be embarrassed to be hugged. But also that he would enjoy it!

Charlie sat on the roost outside the big barn, and stared around at the countryside. It could have been any farm in his own state, or one nearby. The rolling landscape was utterly familiar, pleasant and green, and lined with trees to either side. He cast a quick look to his rear. The structure at his back was a deep, weathered red, with white doors and white trim around the windows, also utterly familiar. Just like home! Far off, he could hear the pleasant, summery sound of an engine; a trac

I won't spill the beans by telling you, then!

New game, new rules!

Thanks. It never pays to give up hope until the fat guy pays the bar tab. Um...or something like that!

I won't tell. Next chapter at midnight, the last at 8:00 tomorrow morning!

Actually, it's Murcha, the artificial shipmind, that makes a pretty good pizza. What do you want from a guy with no tastebuds?

Ah. If the translators were removed, that might be a problem. Most captors would wish to converse with their captives, so would leave them in place. But they might not understand the function of those little blobs, and so remove them just for reasons of security. If they even spotted them! I had in mind that Charlie hearing Mike call at the start of the story was more a birthing of Charlie's new talent than any talent on Mike's part to call. But I agree that being around Pacha so much would spark any latent talents that Mike might have. Not just that, but he's been present in several tales where magic was tossed about quite a bit. I think that is something for a future story to consider. Hmm. TWO Charlie's making love to Kippy? Well, Charlie can currently maintain his magic for only a limited length of time. Kippy doesn't do quickies, and Charlie hates to start something he can't finish. So for now, we'll stick to a happy one-on-one, okay?

Yep. There are seven chapters in this story. Due to the restrictions in posting here (only 2 chapters per day), chapter six will post at midnight on Saturday (tonight), and the last one at 8:00 AM Sunday, July 5th. Sorry. That was the best I could do!

"Scan forty-six. No results." Charlie paused, a spoonful of cereal halfway to his mouth, and nodded. "Thanks, Murcha." They had reached the center of the void known as the Kyrtma the day before, and begun searching immediately. Murcha would drop Lollipop into normal space, take a quick infrared scan of a section of the space around them, and then pop them back into the Cooee while he analyzed the results. While it was a far faster process than could have been managed with the less develo

Kontus would be wearing his translator simply because he was with the others, and they would be wearing theirs, as we have Mike and Bobby with both Pacha and Kontus, speaking three different languages among them. So Charlie speaking English would not be a problem. Each suit is able to pick up outside sounds, and we'll say that the little AIs that run the suits are smart enough to let in conversations originating outside the suit. Actually, I did not address this issue as a detail, just by now figuring that readers have the general idea that the guys deal with each other so much that they are always prepared for things like that. You make an excellent point that Charlie might have trouble understanding Kontus, but remember that Charlie's real self back on the ship is dealing with both Casper and Ragal, and so is obviously wearing his translator. His second self, being an exact representation of his physical self, would also be so-endowed. Sound is simply a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave through some medium. We'll stipulate for the sake of argument that, in order for split-presence magic to work completely, it must allow for some method of converting the thought impulses in Charlie's mind into vibrations that can be heard by others as language. Considering that his second-self body is visible to others, and that it's apparent solidity is a factor of the power Charlie (and, in this case, Kip and Adrian) can put into it, it must be solid enough to allow for some source of generated vibrations resulting in sounds that others can hear. Charlie is there, but he is obviously not there PHYSICALLY, not his primary self, as he is not wearing a suit and could not withstand the cold and the surely hydrogen-polluted atmosphere inside the crushed ship if he were there. His other self is a projected component of his human make up - a duplicate, perhaps, but one so connected to the original as to provide a genuine duality of mind. Charlie can see and hear what his second self is experiencing, but also can still sense what is going on around his original self. I would guess that all the characters would pick up elements of the each other's languages over time. But given the utterly dependable nature of galactic technology, I am willing to believe that the failure rate of same is so low as to be virtually non-existent. I haven't even considered the idea that the translators might fail, because the technology is beyond the point where lifespan is even a consideration. When I was a kid in the late 70's, if you bought some electronic device, you had a small chance that you would plug it in or put batteries into it, and it simply wouldn't work, brand new, right out of the ox. That was the level of our technology at that point, with perhaps a one in one-hundred failure rate, right from the get-go. And sometimes, your new device would work for a few days, or a few weeks, and then just as suddenly die. Another component of average failure rate. When was the last time you bought any technology today that didn't work right away, and work well, and work for years? Yes, there are still failures, but the numbers have dwindled to nothing (although China has been somewhat reinvigorating old failure numbers with their cheap knock-offs these days). Our level of technology has improved HUGELY since the seventies. One aspect of that advancement is reliability. By the time (if we even make it) that we have a society capable of star travel, I can see reliability of technology being a given, with failure rates so low that people would be astonished if it happened. So for our story, the translators cannot fail! And, bottom line, it's magic, and as a science and technology is just capable of things we cannot imagine. Surely enough to fill the small holes in the author's narrative! 🙂