Pagasus (Part 84)

Seeing that the food was similar to my home habitat was a pleasant surprise. I ordered turkey and ham for myself, whereas Tabitha ordered some salmon.

“Why salmon?” I asked.

“Actually, I’ve never tried it before. But I’ve heard about it. Might as well give it a try.”

I felt an urge to say more.

“It was a wild fish that once roamed the seas of earth before being wiped out by the change in climatic conditions. But fortunately for them, and us there are specifically built habitats just to breed them for our palates.”

“Oh, they are so lucky,” Tabitha replied smiling.

“Oh yes, so very lucky.”

It took some time for the food to arrive and our conversation turned to more pressing matters. Top of the list was that we were already running short of money and were nowhere close to accomplishing our end goal.

“We need to work or do something,” Tabitha said, looking down at the table.

“There might be work with artifacts that we can do here. There are so many people here, some of them must want something.

The meals finally arrived after nearly an hour.

“So, sorry,” the waitress nervously blurted out.

Tabitha took one bite of the salmon before her facial muscles tensed up.

“You don’t like it, do you?”

We quickly swapped dishes.

End of 2024 update

Hello my dear readers, happy new year to everyone! Hope it goes well for you all. Just a quick update on myself and my writing plans for 2025.

2024 was a relatively good year, but my blog views are down somewhat from the previous year. They have gone from 1,922 views to 1,741 views. This is the first year I’ve had a decrease. I put it down to the new job mostly, and not having as much time to put into it.

On a more positive note, I will try to publish two new works in 2025. “Wheelchair Wars” and a collection of romance short stories. Yes, I probably said this before but fingers and toes crossed that I’ll actually do it lol

I’m really enjoying writing Pegasus at the moment. It should be completed over the next year, nearly halfway there.

Changing the subject entirely, I watched the “Carry-on” movie on Netflix earlier. I reckon it could become a new “Christmas” movie. It’s a new action thriller by Netflix with Taron Egerton and Sofia Carson playing the central characters.

It’s fast and energetic and you are never quite sure what will happen next. Keep an eye out for it and don’t forget to like and post! Please also share any thoughts you may have about the above.

Pegasus (Part 83)

As we approached closer, it became clear that the festival was in full swing. What started as a small noise became a cacophony as we drew closer. It was a low-rise town; most terraced buildings were only two stories at most. The wide streets were thronged with mostly older people, a couple hundred Earth years old.

“What madhouse have you brought me to?” I jokingly asked Tabitha.

“Yeah it’s crazy, what will we do now?”

“Well, I don’t know about you but I’m starving. It’s been a while since we had something to eat. Let’s find somewhere to relax for a while. Then we’ll decide the longer-term plan”

“Sounds good to me.”

We continued along the long street until we came to a crossroads. On one of the corners, I could see an entrance to a pub advertising food, so I grabbed Tabitha’s hand and went straight for it.

It was dark inside and people were packed closely together like sardines. We pushed our way to the rear, where finally there was some space. We sat down and waited to be attended. After a few minutes, a flustered waitress with bright blue eyes and long jet-black hair heaved her way through several people and took our orders.

Pegasus (Part 82)

The trick seemed to work. A few moments later, the ship was taken over by a docking device which gently landed us on a grass surface after travelling through a thin atmosphere. We landed in what seemed to be the outskirts of a town. It was dark apart from some street lights. I surmised that the habitat rotated giving day and night cycle.

I opened the overhead hatch and we both climbed out. We were met by the most beautiful vista. A shining Earth stood overhead. It was a beautiful mixture of blue, purple and white. I could make out the great white deserts of Africa and South America, the toxic purple patch of the mid Atlantic and the blue where the seas were less contaminated.

Then you could make out some of the larger habitats surrounding the Earth. The enormous and the ones that could only only just be made out. I thought of the billions of lives encapsulated in that one view.

Underneath it all, were the tall buildings of the town. The air was crisp and carried a whiff of flowers. The nightmare of the previous habitat was laid to rest. I looked knowingly at Tabitha and we started what looked like a relatively short walk towards the town.

“Why artifacts?” I asked Tabitha.

“There is some sort of festival on,” she replied.

Pegasus (Part 81)

“Any idea, where we can head to?”

Tabitha talked over a com link –

“I’m not aware of any rebel bases in the vicinity. But I wouldn’t have been made aware of all in case of capture. Let me think for a second. There should be some habitats where people are at least sympathetic to our cause. I’ll search for the names of habitats where I remember the empire carrying atrocities and cross-reference them with distance on the onboard computer.”

After a couple of seconds, she continued.

“I’m sending you the coordinates.”

The coordinates flashed up on the screen in front of me and my craft joined a long line of others, a space jam is what I liked to call it. This would make us inconspicuous to long-range radar. I was feeling confident that we had escaped for some time.

It took us a couple of hours to reach it. From the distance, it looked like a small moon.

A message came up on my console.

What is the nature of your business?

“Eh, Tabitha what is the nature of our business? Any ideas?”

“Give me a moment.”

The message began to flash an angry red.

“I have it. Tell them you trade in artifacts”

I typed in the response and the message disappeared.

Pegasus (Part 80)

The small craft propelled itself forward and went straight under the sand like I had hoped. But now, I was facing the ultimate dilemma. Pull up too fast and be spotted by the Emperor’s fleet or stay too long underground and eventually hit something and die. I reckoned though that the pirates would have considered this and made sure there was no debris in the way. I never thought I’d have to rely on the thoughtfulness of pirates but there you go. Another thing that I had to take into account was the thick, toxic atmosphere that should hamper visibility.

After what seemed like an age of inner thoughts but in reality, no more than twenty seconds I pulled the craft up and out of the sand. Not a moment too soon either as we would have hit ruins if I waited a few seconds longer.

I stayed close to the ground of the habitat to avoid detection. The rest of the habitat was more of the same. Sand and ruins of cities. I kept on expecting to see some plant life but to no avail.

We reached the edge of the habitat and I now flew out back out into space and round to its underbelly.

Pegasus (Part 79)

The Empire is seeking two terrorists. We know that you have them in your possession. Release them and you can go free. Glory to the Emperor!

This message then went on a continuous repeat.

I was right. They were after us. Suddenly, the ground stopped shaking. We didn’t have much time. They were giving the bikers a chance to bring us to them, I reasoned.

The tunnel led us to a large hangar with an array of ships. They looked old and beaten, and most exhibited marks from being previously hit by laser fire. There was no point in being picky so I went straight for the nearest one quickly getting into the cockpit.

“Will you be able to fly this?” Tabitha asked wide-eyed, in an excitable tone.

Its controls looked very familiar apart from a peculiar set of buttons off to the right that I hadn’t seen before. Then a ship buzzed passed us. Rather than going straight up, it propelled itself under the sand. I understood and pressed the top right button.

The leader and her cronies now entered the hangar and opened fire with small lasers.

Tabitha put on her belt as did I. I pushed on the accelerator.

Pegasus (Part 78)

I felt the ground shake or did it? Then it happened again. I opened my eyes and was hit by a cacophony of sounds. Our captives were under attack by aerial bombardment. They seemed very disorganized. This didn’t happen too often from their faces of astonishment. Then the thought struck me. It was us they were after and not them.

Tabitha was already taking action.

She was marshaling the other prisoners to try and push down the cell railings. I quickly got up and added my weight. At first, I thought it was hopeless but then I felt movement. I urged all those around me to keep going.

Then I suddenly lost my footing as the railings finally gave way. I looked up and saw the bikers had not noticed. But that wouldn’t last as other escapees ran right through them. Sure enough, some of them started collapsing to the ground under laser fire. I grabbed Tabitha’s hand and motioned for her to follow me.

The gang must have some of its own ships somewhere. And they were nowhere to be seen on the way in. So, we go deeper.

A hair, round biker suddenly appeared in front of us but realizing that he had no support, he let us scurry past. The ground continued shaking as we hurried down a tunnel.

Then we heard chatter over speakers that must have been installed in the tunnel.

Review of “War Bodies” by Neal Asher

First of all, one very big Happy Christmas to all my readers! I just love this time of year and hope you got lots of presents. If you haven’t already done so, please don’t forget to subscribe.

This novel is a real gem for sci-fi lovers. It is set in the Polity Universe. Piper has grown up in Founder’s World. It was created by a faction that rejected AI and left the rest of humanity many thousands of years ago. Still, they idolize machines and like to replace their body parts with machine parts. Many of them have only a few human parts left. They are ruled by a despot called Castron and as a people, they have somewhat stagnated having a much lower level of advancement and population than would otherwise be expected.

However, recently the Polity have made contact. They are made up of the humans who remained on Earth. AI was totally embraced, and now they even count AIs among their citizens. They are much more advanced and numerous in the Universe. They are also fighting against a great enemy called the Prador who threatens all of humanity.

Piper suffers a work accident that almost costs him his life. However, it unleashes a series of events that come thick and fast. You see, Piper has been created as a weapon using technology beyond even that of the Polity. He never knew but his parents were rebels. What follows is great science fiction and a journey through the entire Polity Universe. The story unfolds beautifully and you’re never really sure who can truly trusted until right up near the end.

The descriptions of space and land battles playing out are brilliant. It also makes you ask interesting questions like whether should AIs be counted as war dead. I’d strongly recommend you give this a read with four stars out of five.

Have you read anything by this author?

Let me know in the comments section below.

Pegasus (Part 77)

Then a bald, fat faced woman took center stage.

“What do you want?” Tabitha roared.

She and the rest of the crowd laughed in response. Then she began to speak.

“Well, well look what we have found. A pity about the ship but this fiery one should fetch a fine price in the sex slave markets. And then there is him of the Emperor’s lineage. Many will pay to watch him die as horrifically as possible.”

“I promised you riches, when I became leader. And riches you will have.”

There was a huge roar of approval.

“Take them to the cell.”

One more, we were pulled forward by the neck. Fortunately, the destination was to the rear of the large chamber, so our legs didn’t give up. The nooses around our necks were removed and we were pushed into a cell that swiftly clanked closed behind us.

It was dark, but we immediately sensed being surrounded by other bodies. A putrid smell hung in the air. Probably, other poor souls captured for the slave market. I clasped Tabitha’s hand and held it tightly as much for myself as her.

“What next?” she whispered.

“No idea,” I replied faintly.

I wished I could have replied something more hopeful. But I could not.

An armed guard was keeping watch so we decided it was best to try and rest,