Anyway, sitrep: I have finished The Hyperspace War and the cover. And I have the cover for The Gaia Project:
Here is the cover to The Hyperspace War:
Consider The Gaia Project as a side story in parallel to the main Founding storyline. Yes, The Hyperspace War is the last in the series, though I will have another Anthology for it. Maybe more than 1, I dunno.
The Gaia Project is short and is currently in Rea's hands. So expect it to be published by the middle of the month.
In other news, I'm still picking up stuff for covers and the graphic novel. I haven't tried making the graphic novel again. With the heat of summer upon us it is not wise to push my PC to try to do long renders at the moment.
On to the snippet: (yes I realize it is the same as a scene from We the People. It is a crossover event)
Chapter 1
August 25, 2285
Epsilon G9-11438A8 star system, also known as
Biosphere Mall
As the Confederation expanded, in some cases
explosively after the last war, the corporations began to explore following
Lagroose Industry's example of owning corporate star systems.
Trappist-1 had been a
major candidate despite being only 39.6 light years from Earth. However it had
been discovered to harbor life so the star system and its habitable worlds had
been put off limits.
Pavilion Inc, Radick
Industries, and Nova Biotics banded together to purchase the rights to a star
system and terraform its one habitable world. They formed a conglomerate called
the Biosphere Mall to allow their labs free reign to work on various projects
and sell them to potential terraforming customers.
The public saw it as a
rare act of solidarity between competing genetic engineering industries. The
truth was actually far more complex. It was true that they had set up in the
distant star system to be able to work on projects outside of the restrictive
laws and regulations in Sol. They had transplanted their labs and researchers
at great expense to the star system.
Each company had a series
of discounts with the major terraforming companies. They did everything they
could, both above and below board short of a major crime to get the business of
a client while undercutting the competition.
There were enclosed labs
in on the colony world as well as in habitats in space and on the moons. Each
of the 3 companies had labs all over the planet, plus preserves to grow biota
and draw from. Some of the preserves were enclosed to protect the contents from
cross contamination. Many of the more restrictive labs were of course in orbit
or on a lunar colony.
The trio still had offices
in Sol but that was mainly administrative and sales offices. The real work
happened on the frontier, behind the scenes for the most part.
And of course Pavilion and
Radick had ulterior motives for going in on the project. The old adage, keep
your friends close and your enemies, or in their cases, competition closer was
still paramount. Both companies were not about a little corporate espionage or
employee poaching to get ahead of things.
Being outside of Sol means
they can use nanotech and other tools to get the job done. It meant they had to
have some of the best techs in the business to monitor things. That included
hiring A.I.
Smart A.I. were in the
mainframes managing the labs and ecosystems. They monitored them, supervised
some of the workers and robots, and ran virtual sims. Some of the A.I. were
specialized enough to also break down gene codes and create simulations of what
something would be with different alterations.
There were 4 major markets
in colonization, finding the worlds and selling the rights to them,
terraforming them, and bioforming them for the client. Finally, there was the
actual colony movement but just about anyone could do that.
The market of gene forming
and selling entire biospheres was a lucrative one. Each world was different,
different metal, gravity, and atmospheric things to take into account. Many
species had to be genetically engineered to match the environment. Everything
from protozoa to apex predators and species. Keystone species were of a
particular headache to the scientists.
For years before
starflight, genetic engineers had been into making designer plants and animals
for industry, entertainment, farming, and as usual, profit. The fad of reverse
engineering animals had come and gone twice. So had creating entire animals
based on specific ancient science fiction or fantasy, like dragons, unicorns,
and Pokémon?
For years the genetic
engineering companies had existed in Sol until the laws pushed them out. The
local law loophole allowed the companies to create new products to be used on
terraformed planets though. They still couldn't violate certain laws, like
engineering intelligent species or tampering with Neos.
Due to their services in
the defense of humanity a series of law packages had been passed banning the
tampering of the Neo genomes for anything other than cosmetic or medical
purposes. It extended to their fallow cousins, felines, canines, and other
species. That made for a big headache with environmental scientists since many
were keystone species and apex predators.
They could still transport
fallow species but they could not be bred or tampered with. The politics were
still being worked out on that.
The corporations still
bitterly opposed the ban, calling it unfair for the Confederation to limit them
due to gratitude for the Neos service in the last 2 wars but they kept the
griping purely internal.
It just meant that the
gene engineers had to be creative with filling the voids.
Birds, reptiles, and
mammals that had not been uplifted had become very popular.
Scientists found that they
couldn't engineer insects much larger, their muscles and endoskeletons had
limits. They also needed lungs since most insects breathed through their skin.
There were also problems
with species control. Pet, animal, and plant trade was an issue. Some species
managed to get off a designated world and caused havoc on other habitats as
invasive species.
Contamination with the eco
systems were a constant headache for the scientists. The corporations finally
got a series of laws passed to sterilize plants and animals that were exported
unless they were specially licensed. Monitoring that was a problem though, many
colonies saw it as a way for the corporations to control things maintain a
profit.
Which was true, not that
the corporate public affairs were going to be stupid enough to admit it.
A common side business was
to maximize animal growth. Bioforming beef and dairy cattle and other species
like bison into mega bison and others for New Texas and other worlds had
started a trend. Of course those animals required much more nutrients in order
to survive and thrive.
Nadine Lightfoot, head of
marketing for Nova Biotics shook her head as she considered all that. She
looked at the icon of the ship coming in. A new client, actually 3. And they
were not committed to any 1 company; they'd made it clear they were here to
shop around to all 3.
Well, Nova would just have
to dazzle them as always she thought with a smile.
She knew they had funds
but not a lot. They obviously didn't want to do much of a layout, which was
typical.
Some startup colonies went
for a basic canned biosphere and hope for the best. They would then import
additional species as needed. They constantly had problems with such tweaking
though; sometimes biospheres were fragile and could be easily upset and
unbalanced by the slightest addition.
One of the first things
clients asked were why keystone species were so important. Keystone species
like apex predators were vital to any healthy long term survival of an
ecosystem. The challenge was to get it right.
Replacing many of the big
mammalian predators and omnivores with lizards and birds helped to solve some
of the problem. Terror birds were making a comeback, as were retro dinosaurs
and komodo dragons. They weren't popular though; there had been many incidents
of a colonist getting killed by them.
In the seas they only had
to hold off on pinipeds and dolphins. Piscine species were thankfully free to
all to use. The same for squids and just about every other animal or plant that
was water bound. The entire Terran ecosystem could be transplanted if required.
Porcinis and enlarging
small mammals were popular. Porcinis were an issue though, they were omnivores
and could fulfill the role of a bear but they were highly destructive to an
environment and ecosystem.
Sharks were not popular
but necessary to any ecosystem. Much like predators on the land, sharks served
a necessary purpose in the seas, keeping the populations healthy by eating up
the dead, sick, and young.
She shivered. She still
remembered the fiasco where a startup trying to make a splash had attempted to
gene engineer sharks into land or at least amphibious species with horrifying
results. The entire affair had been hushed up but it was whispered about and
used as a gory reference. She was pretty sure Pavilion had bought them out.
~<(O)>~
Captain Petrov considered
his good fortune as he checked the day's feeds. The schedule had a new arrival
as expected, the small liner carrying 3 delegations for prospective colony
worlds had arrived. No surprise there.
Engineering had locked
down the problem with the number 3 starboard emitter. They'd also gotten the
software bug out of the port side, or at least said they had it fixed. They'd find
out for sure the next time he ordered a series of drills.
Babysitting rich people
sucked. He understood the logic; they had to protect them because it was a high
profile location with a lot of corporate and Confederation secrets. He still
didn't like it. It wasn't like some alien species could get through the lines
to him. No, it was babysitting.
But, he had to admit there
were worse assignments than the mall. He could be stuck babysitting a damn
colony in the back of nowhere, or running a circuit.
The Mall was one big
glorified zoo but at least it had an ansible and was prominent enough of a
posting for him to get some extra brownie points in the future. If she did make
the Confederation News his cruiser Dorfman might be seen or mentioned.
As long as it was in a positive light he was all for that.
If engineering had gotten
the software bug handled he might sign off on the chief's request for more
liberty. He could see the chief using it as an incentive to run the bug down.
He was curious if it had come from the last round of firmware updates. He
wouldn't be surprised if it had.
Just about everyone in the
crew loved to visit the mall. The worlds, colonies, and habitats were
beautiful. It was like one big zoo and resort the size of a star system. The
only problem with it all was the price. Food and drinks were cheap but lodging
could be expensive. It was stupid, they didn't have that many guests, but it
was how the damn corporations played the game.
Many of his people were
wistful when they came back. He was pretty sure at least a half dozen were
considering a corporate posting of one sort or another once they completed
their tour. Some might even be considering becoming a colonist. That was
tricky. He'd heard stories of 1 person or another letting their interest slip
in an attempt to get the marketing people to wine and dine them. The theory was
that the marketing people needed the experience.
He'd also heard that a
couple of them had gotten wise and sent a bill afterward. That had nixed that
little stunt when the con artists had fainted at the bottom line of the
itemized bill they'd generated.
He chuckled softly to
himself.
What the place needed was
a real colony. Not just places for the various company people to live but real
towns and such. And someone to get them to drop the damn high prices! He shook
his head. He knew his sailors could be destructive while on liberty but come
on!
He considered talking to
the XO about it but then decided to leave it for now.
~<(O)>~
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