Desperate Defense Snippet 2

First off, the usual sitrep:
I finished the rough out of Act II of Waking the Sleeping Giant yesterday, despite the insanity going on all week... and today. I'll be lucky if I can get a sentence in today. :)

Also, Goodlifeguide.com put DD in the queue and told me it will be back in my hands by March 7 or sooner. So, just letting you know. :)

I just ordered an airbrush a moment ago. I've wanted one for 20+ years. Hopefully I can figure it out. It should be fun.

On to the snippet!

Still in chapter  1:

Jack, Max, and Menolly remained quiet as they returned to town. Jack looked over to see Max with his head out the window as usual, enjoying the breeze. He snorted. Menolly saw where he was looking, shook her head, then her left hand caught his right and squeezed.

A few minutes later, he pulled the truck up to the hospital's front door and insisted on opening the door for his wife. Menolly murmured he didn't have to, but they both knew she liked it when he was a gentleman. She ducked her head as she dimpled and then ran a hand over his chest. He pulled her in for a hug and then kissed her goodbye. “See you after work?” he asked teasingly, already knowing the answer.

She smiled to him. “Don't be late,” she accused, shaking her finger under his nose to him.

He was tempted to snap at the finger but instead held his hands up in supplication. “I'll behave. Him though,” he indicated Max.

“That goes for you too. And you can keep him honest fur face.” Max whined at her, then nodded. “Right. No chasing rabbits and you better not come home all muddy again. If I have to give you another bath, I'll use the lye soap, bub,” she growled, turning to shake her finger at him.

He gave her his best puppy expression.

“I mean it. Stay away from porcupines, and this time stay away from skunks!” she scolded.

Max rolled his eyes but nodded emphatically at that order. Once was more than enough for that experience, plus the cleanup afterward.

~~*^*~~

Jack returned to the colony's administration building almost reluctantly. After passing through security on the way to his office, he snagged a cup of coffee. He caught a doughnut from an unguarded box on his personal assistant's desk. He saluted Jasmine with it in passing when she looked up to protest. She opened her mouth to protest, then shook her head repressively.

Max took a sniff of the box, but Jasmine's growl made him back off hastily.

Jack shucked his jacket and tossed it on the coat rack, then flopped into his chair. He quickly worked through the basic inbox and then checked on the thing that really mattered.

He had already gotten a download of his mail and had gotten hourly implant updates about the incoming ship. It only took a moment to scan the latest report about the incoming colony ship. She was the Susan Constant, one of the latest Lagroose ships built by his son on her maiden voyage. Captain Ed Siever was her skipper and had already sent seven emails to his inbox.

It boiled down to the usual; the captain wanted a fast turnaround. Jack shook his head and checked the latest video. He watched it patiently, taking notes. “Everyone had been medically cleared in Sol before we took them on board. We can transmit their clearances when we are in orbit,” the captain offered.

Jack hit the pause and then recorded his response.

“We're still going to check everyone, including your crew. We don't know if they have a bug that our people don't have. The last thing we need is another influenza outbreak,” Jack said with a growl. “We have had that twice already. I've made it clear we will not accept any colonists unless they both pass medical muster and have signed the Pyrax charter.”

He finished recording a few of his notes and then sent it off to be transmitted.

He puttered around with minor emails and such before he got the captain's response ten minutes later. Jack hit play and then watched the man.

 The captain grimaced but then nodded. “Understood. I know it was in the general orders, but …,” the captain waved a hand. “We'll do anything we can to make this transition as quick and smooth as possible.”

Jack nodded and recorded a second response. “We'll transmit our medical history to you as well. No sense your people picking up a locally-brewed bug during shore leave either,” Jack said, relenting a bit.

When he got a response back, he was amused. The captain's image blinked and then nodded. “We'll have inoculations ready. Now, about the ship's resupply. Obviously, we need fuel and provisions; fresh provisions would be nice. We'd need to check everything, no offense, but they need to be cleared of bugs and be safe for consumption,” the captain said.

Jack leaned back and nodded to himself.

“We have an authorization for payment from the company. I understand there is an issue there,” the captain said. “So, we also have credits and some trade goods we can offer if the authorization isn't acceptable,” he stated flatly.

It damn well wasn't, Jack thought with a sour growl. Max looked up from where he'd been reading his tablet. Jack flicked his fingers for him to ignore him. Max flicked his ears and then went back to his reading.

Wendy had gotten cute when he'd begun to offer resupply on his end. The new ships hadn't expected it so they hadn't had anything to pay for it. He hadn't charged port fees, though he'd been tempted. What he'd accepted was an IOU.

And that was where Wendy had screwed him. Since they hadn't had an agreement in advance, she refused payment. She'd also stiffed him on the bill for the crew's shore leave. So, he'd refused fuel for the next ship to come in. He'd ended up negotiating a deal for a bit of fresh provisions from the crew, but they had been a bit put out over not getting what they wanted.

They'd returned to Sol with instructions from him to Athena and others to work on banking issues. The third ship that had come had brought along bank authorization files. The crew had been debited for their charges on the planet. The debits had been encrypted and sent to Sol's banking aboard their own ship. Credits had come back on the following ship and so on. It was tedious and slow, but it was at least a functional economic exchange. Having Athena in his corner helped immensely. When she died … his thoughts slithered to a halt briefly. Even after eight years, her “death” still bothered him. He'd thought of her as immortal. He shook himself and then brought himself back on track.

Getting repayment for the fuel and provisions had been a bit tougher, but he'd finally worked that deal out. But that was when he'd run into another issue, Wendy had retaliated when he'd tried to order equipment and goods from Sol. She'd charged him a premium on shipping the freight, plus all sorts of handling fees. Since only Lagroose ships had the data to get to Pyrax, she had him over a barrel.

Which meant he learned to buy data as much as possible. She hadn't started to charge him for the mail services or data transfer … yet.

He didn't like the tit for tat between himself and his daughter, but it was what it was. Apparently, time nor distance had cooled her ire for him and his method of departure. To be scrupulously fair, he still hadn't forgiven her for her coup either.

He dickered a bit with the captain on the resupply until they both got bored with the process and passed it on to the ship's cargo master and Jack's spaceport manager. He decided to let them hash out the final details now that he and the captain had a basic understanding.

“I miss Castill,” Jack said to Max when the calls ended. “They couldn't carry as much people and weren't in a hurry to get home. This guy … I bet he gets paid a bonus to move people like freight,” he said with a shake of his head.

~~*^*~~

Desperate Defense Snippet 1

Okay, first up, Sitrep:
  I am 21 chapters into Waking the Sleeping Giant. (In other words I'm half way done the book, past the first Act) Progress is about to slow however, I have family and stuff happening all this week. :P
  
   Also, Rea got DD back to me today. I've added the TOC and stuff and sent it off to Goodlifeguide.com for final formatting. I've got my fingers crossed I'll get it back by the end of the month.

  If you haven't noticed, Ransom, Wayne, and I think Duncan have been having fun at the Wiki. They've done some really good work updating it. Check it out!
http://federation-datanet.wikia.com/wiki/Federation_AI_Historical_Datanet_Wiki

If you'd like to lend a hand, let them know. I'm sure they'd love the help!

   I'm still printing stuff, with 2 printers I've worked through a lot of projects faster than I expected, but not without some hiccups along the way. Yesterday sucked, a full day of printing and only 1 item turned out half as expected, everything else was junk. I hate days like that.
  

   I've got a lot of stuff I want to print, but the stuff I'm making I've had to hold off. Some of it is because I'm still learning how to deal with the holes. The software has a fit about normals, the orientation has to be perfect. Even when I get it right sometimes it doesn't like it. It also doesn't like it when I add pieces together. Mechmaster has recommended I try Meshlab. I downloaded it, but I haven't given it a shot yet.

  My foot is getting better for those of you in the know. The swelling is almost gone and the bruise is mostly faded. It is still painful to touch though. The family is after me to get it checked but I'm too pig headed. :D

   I've considered a go-fund me page again. I'm putting that off as usual. I'd love to do that for donations but then I'd feel like I need to do something more to earn it. I've had a few of the betas and fans suggest it, especially for projects like videos, games, 3D models, comics, and such. But if I got into all of that I wouldn't be writing!

   Believe me, it is so tempting to pick up the new Facegen Pro program from Daz3D and use it. I've tried other freeware programs like it over the years. I'd get a kick putting someone's face in a 3D model... and maybe printing it out. Anyone wanna be a Marine? lol No, I'm not doing it anytime soon but it is tempting!

Okay, on to the snippet!

Chapter 1

August 2232

Planet Eden in the Pyrax Star System

“Such a beautiful world,” Menolly Lagroose murmured as she sat in her husband's arms and looked out across their rustic porch to the setting sun.

“Yeah, it is,” her husband murmured as he kissed her on the top of her head. She looked up and smiled at him, aware that he was more interested in what was in his grasp over the view.

“Hedonist,” she teased, stirring under the blanket. They'd oriented the porch swing and windows to get that gorgeous view whenever they wished.

He snorted and kicked the swing a bit to rock it a bit more. She reached up and wrapped a hand around his head to pull his lips down for a kiss. It was awkward for him, but he didn't complain.

“Now who's being hedonistic?” he asked as she released her prey, for the moment.

She snorted and poked him, then settled down to look out at the view. “I miss times like this.”

“I know. Enjoy it while you can. Once the little one comes …,” he shook his head.

“That bad?” she asked softly, clearly amused by him.

“Bad enough,” he said as he looked over to a sleeping Max. He shook his head. Despite the rejuv the two of them had undergone while in stasis, Max was aging faster than he should. His muzzle was graying and he was moving slower. The doctors said he had trouble with his hips. He was prone to sleeping more and more.

Jack felt for the pooch. The Neodog had been through hell and back with his late son Zack.

“Hey,” Menolly murmured, poking him harder.

“Wha? Sorry,” he said, blinking and looking down at her.

“Don't get maudlin on me, bub,” she warned.

“Am I that obvious?” he asked as he stroked her hair and shoulder with his free hand. The other arm was currently in use as her pillow.

“To me and to those close to you,” she murmured.

“Sorry.”

“No, you aren't. But I'll forgive you if you behave.”

Jack opened his mouth to say that he would, but he saw Max snort and then flick his ears and tail. “Shut up you,” he growled, looking over to the dog.

Menolly looked up at him in surprise, a little hurt, but then saw who he was looking at. She turned to look at Max. “Playing possum?” she asked.

“Something like that,” Jack grumbled just as Alan called.

“Duty calls or at least Alan,” Jack sighed.

“It was inevitable. I wish he'd wait until Monday, but he's probably got something cooking,” Menolly said as she let him up. She stretched and then smirked a little as she saw her husband's admiring gaze. “Like what you see?”

“Don't I know it!”

“Go answer Alan's call. We both know what happened the last time you didn't,” she said, voice darkening as she got up carefully.

“Now who's being maudlin?” he accused. She rarely ever brought up those dark times when they'd met.

“I'm not. I'm … you know what, never mind,” Menolly said as she padded off sans shoes to the house. The screen door opened. “I'll get dinner started while you get a SITREP.”

“I can help,” he protested.

“Sure you can. You get the cleanup,” she said with a grin through the screen at him as she went inside.

He chuckled, acknowledging his defeat. He saw Max's tail flop a few times.

“Don't get cute, bub. You can dry the dishes too,” Jack said as he stretched and opened the call. Max whined just as Alan's voice cleared. “No, you don't get to wash! The last time you did that you licked the plates clean and called it good!” Jack growled. “Hey, Alan,” he said in a different tone of voice as his implants blinked Alan's portrait on his HUD.

“Talking to the mutt again I see,” Alan chuckled.

“Yeah,” Jack said as he folded the blanket. It had been knitted in town, another local product. It was nice and rustic, with a deer knitted into the center. It wasn't quite perfect, but he was fine with it. Menolly liked it. It wasn't quite as warm as the fleece-lined blankets or their comforter, but it was nice for outside to keep the chill off.

“What's up?” he asked as his fingers flicked the blanket into approximate folds and then flipped it over the back of the swing. He was aware Menolly would come out and fold it her way later. She was like that, into little details now that she was pregnant. That and odd cravings, demands for massages, and a bit klutzy. He was still nursing a few bruised toes.

At least the morning sickness was over he thought. He'd rarely experienced that with Aurelia and their three kids he thought with a brief pang.

“Just thought I'd check in. We've had a minor crime wave, but we caught the culprits. Kids again.”

“I see. Well, glad they were caught. Orestes handled it?”

“As always, so you don't need to be involved. The families were a bit upset. Two were on record with prior warnings for antics. Kids these days …,” he sniffed.

“We all got into some mischief growing up. It's the quiet ones that can get into the most trouble; they get egged into things that frequently sink them over their head. No one was hurt?”

“Nope.”

“Good,” Jack said with a nod of approval.

“We've had thirty births since this morning. A bulk of them are Neos as expected. We've got our own mini baby boom going on it seems, especially in some of the Neo enclaves,” Alan reported.

“Just as long as they understand they have to feed and educate those kids. We might need a social services department soon to check in on that.”

“Spare me more intrusive government agencies. There is a reason I went to space. And a reason I signed on here,” Sheriff Tupper growled.

“Sorry. I'd sic someone else on it, Alan, you know that.”

“I do. But my people would be the ones enforcing things.”

“If it comes to you, then you know it is going to be serious,” Jack said. “But, we're currently borrowing trouble so let's not go there. Anything else?” he asked in a different tone of voice.

“No. Well, yes, we've got another ship coming in.”

“That makes number seven?” Jack asked eyebrows up in surprise.

“Yes. They transmitted their clearances to us this morning. They've got fifty thousand people on board, Jack,” Alan said.

“Well, I'm sure we'll find some place to put them,” Jack said with a shake of his head. He had a team working on prepping for incoming colonists. They had temporary housing in Landing, big apartment complexes, plus additional apartment complexes in some of the other growing cities. Most of the people on the planet liked to spread out on to their own homestead.

“Whoops! Gotta go. We've got a claim dispute. Another one … looks like a border dispute. I'll have to send someone out in the morning if I can't resolve it remotely.”

“I guess we need to lock that boarder down hard. Send in another survey team?” Jack asked.

“I don't know if it will do any good. Someone's bitching that the survey markers have been moved,” Alan said, reading the report out loud. He swore.

“We need more GPS in orbit then. Mark the survey with waypoints so no one can get cute like that,” Jack said. “And use identifying markers that they can't move. Like rock formations.”

“Right, since some people get cute and cut down trees,” Alan sighed. “Okay, I'm on it.”

“We'll be in tomorrow morning,” Jack said as he heard Menolly start to sing softly to herself as she cooked. “But not too early,” he said with a grin.

“I know what that means,” Alan chuckled as he hung up.

~~*^*~~

~~*^*~~

Desperate Defense Cover

Okay, I've been a bit lax on updating the blog again.

I finished the rough draft of DD last weekend. It is now in the hands of the betas. I did the cover art Monday and Tuesday. There are some minor things going on with it I'm debating on fixing in post.

I'm not that picky though, so I might leave it as is. (IE lazy)

   I've been working on various print projects including a big one all week. And yes, Duncan's gremlins struck a few times, including yesterday. (thanks! grrr) I had 2 days of blissful near perfect printing days before they showed up to rain on my parade.
  I fixed it though, it is back up and running. I've learned a lot in fixing this thing, and my confidence in making repairs (bush fixes) has climbed steadily.
Here is the first big project "completed". It is an animatronic Sabertooth cat. I am using it as the basis of another project. I built the original to test the printer and to get a handle on how it works.

   Some of the sharp eyed folks in the audience might notice that there is a strut sticking out the front. That's because the press fittings hate me. (the feeling is reciprocal) Upon finally getting it together (after weeks of trying and breaking it each time) I broke it again as I tried it. The handle broke, the stand leg broke, and a couple fittings popped out or broke.
  It has taught me to not use press fittings. I hate them with a passion now. Real hardware is in, press fit parts are out.

It is neat seeing it all together though. We'll see how the big project looks and turns out.

I may have shot myself in the foot and bought another printer last night. I dunno. I am trying to cancel the transaction now that I've had time to research it. (buyers remorse is only part of the problem)
See, I was cooking dinner last night and went to fill out another Warranty request when the wiring harness broke (I said I fixed it today though right?)... well, I saw this:
http://us.store.xyzprinting.com/us_en/campaign/dv10Promotion2017?_ga=1.42770860.844178823.1486084636
I want a printer that can print flexible filament and according to what I saw on the flex filament page that printer does the job. So, I got ahead of myself and went with the deal.

... only to find out that the printer is:
1: refurbished. Because it is not popular
2: older design than mine, not newer as I'd thought.
3: it can ONLY use their filament. Period.
4: it has no WIFI!! I need that. My printer is in another room. That one has to be in that room or the garage! I have a desktop!
So, yeah, bad Chris. Bad. Sigh. And they refuse to cancel the transaction. Ugh.

Oh, yeah, anyone know what FedEx's problem is? The print manufacture sent me a replacement part. They are 50 miles away. FedEx took the package to LA, then flew it to Memphis TN, and now it is on a truck back here! Yeah, seriously not kidding here. It is too stupid to make that up...