Happy Holidays!

 So, I'm a known reindeer fanatic. I bought another reindeer from Daz set last year but ran out of time to use it.

This year I tried to work on my animatronic one and didn't make it. But I was determined to make the 3D model work. I tried several renders but they failed in Daz. I ended up porting the basic model over to Cinema a moment ago and came up with this.

I've been inspired by Blacmore's Night Christmas Eve video.

I'm not a big fan of AI art but I did like the reindeer and some shots and the song is cool.

So, there is that, I survived another Christmas Eve dinner, with help, and I am taking a break from cleanup.

Oh, Rea asked me to write a Christmas story but I ran out of time. (That has been happening a lot!) but I did have fun butchering a famous poem:

A Visit from St. Nicholas
By Clement Clarke Moore modified by Chris Hechtl

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Only one creature was stirring, Ember playing with her a mouse;
(“That better be the mouse Ember!”)
The stockings were hung by the DVD shelf with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;
(Bark, Bark, Bark outside)
(“Rocky! Shut up!”)
The children were nestled all snug in their hotel beds;
While visions of sugary drinks danced in their heads;
And Dad in his boxers and I in my briefs wishing the neighbor’s dog would shut his yap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter's nap,
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
(Bark, Bark Bark! Outside)
I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the curtains and looked out in a dash.
The moon on the breast of the black gravel below,
Didn’t give much of a lustre of midday to bestow,
When what to my wondering eyes did appear,
But a miniature sleigh and eight tiny rein-deer,
With a little old driver so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment he must be St. Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name:
"Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! on, Cupid! on, Donder and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"
(Bark, Bark, Bark! Outside)
As leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky;
So up to the housetop the coursers they flew
With the sleigh full of electronic toys, and St. Nicholas too—
And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As Ember dived under the bed, and I was turning around,
Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.
He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;
A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a pedler just opening his pack.
His eyes—how they twinkled! his dimples, how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard on his chin was as white as the snow;
The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke, it encircled his head like a wreath;
He had a broad face and a little round belly
That shook when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly.
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;
A wink of his eye at my briefs and a twist of his head
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;
He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
(Bark, Bark, Bark outside)
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight—
“Rocky Quiet! ...And Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!”
(Crash in the living room)
(Groan. “EM---BER!”)

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays!

Academy has Published!

 

About:

   Have you ever wondered what it was like to experience the academy in the Federation? Six very different officers swap stories about their experiences at the start of their careers…

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CNL7B7TL

B&N: Academy @ B&N

Academy Snippet 4

Sitrep:  Goodlifeguide stated they'll try to get the manuscript back to me by this weekend. We'll see.

Rea also dropped a broad hint for me to write a Christmas story and post it here or in another book. I'm thinking about it but it isn't a priority. Right now it seems like I'm being pulled in a half a dozen directions all at once. (multitasking!)

Anyway, the next story snippet:

What’s Up Doc?

 

“Why not?” a voice asked behind her.

Dorothy Gayle twitched her ears as she finished reading the chart of the patient and then turned to the lead nurse.

“Okay, I’ll bite,” the small Neodog asked. “Why not what?”

“Why not go for it?”

“Go for what?” she asked, this time in a testier tone of voice. She had to scramble down the steps behind the nursing station until she hit the floor. Sometimes it really sucked to be only a meter tall.

At least she wasn’t an elf. They really had it bad.

“Go all in. You have the education, right?”

“I’m still not following.”

“ET.”

“What about it?” she asked.

“Your training.”

“I was an AN there,” she said patiently. “Assistant Nurse, remember? They yanked me out of training and threw me into the trenches,” she said.

Raina nodded. “I know that. But when the plagues were over, you were an RN,” she said.

“Yeah, and they saddled that damn ensign rank on me too. So what?” Dorothy asked.

“So, you want to be a surgical nurse still, right?”

“It is a thought,” Dorothy said with a sniff. She was actually considering resigning her commission in order to go into civilian practice. Only the regular work, good pay, and free education kept her from doing that. That and she was supposed to have some retirement in the pipeline whenever she did retire.

If she resigned before a set period, she wouldn’t get much at all or so the scuttlebutt experts insisted.

“Why not go for the full experience?” Raina insisted as she crossed her arms.

“And that is?” Dorothy asked as she checked the medical cart. It was robotic; all she had to do was follow it and make sure it administered the right medication to the right patient. Some of the patients were a bit wary of having a robot mist them or give them a small paper cup with pills in it.

“Go full medical. Become a surgeon,” Raina said.

Dorothy paused and turned to her. “Are you serious?”

Raina studied her. “As a heart attack. You’ve got the grades, right?”

“Sure.”

“And you’ve got the background. Your family eats and breathes medicine.”

“That’s the family. And that doesn’t exactly translate over,” the Neodog said. She was a mutt, a small Neodog that had so many mixed breeds in her ancestry they all sort of blended together. She had floppy ears that still bothered her. Her friend Katya had saddled her with Toto on her for a nickname. Only when she’d found the reference had she been ready to strangle the pilot.

Katya of course had loved it. She shook her head slightly.

“I’m serious. I’ve seen your bedside manner. I’ve seen you close wounds and you caught a few things that the doctors miss. You could do it,” Raina insisted.

“That eager to get rid of me?” Dorothy asked as the cart began to move out.

“No, but I want you to live up to your potential. Right now you are just filling a slot. I know you can do better.”

Dorothy blinked, looked back to the senior nurse but another had distracted the woman. Instead, she sniffed and went on her rounds. It did stick a bone in her mind to gnaw on for a few days though.

<<<*>>>

Raina thought about it and then checked Dorothy’s credentials. The Neodog had an ensign rank but had been stuck in that rank for three years. She finally realized why when she noted that the Neodog had never completed the officer training courses mandatory for nurses.

She knew the hospital administrator was a prick about such things. She decided to get on Dorothy’s case and get her to at least get that squared away by the end of the fiscal year.

<<<*>>>

When Dorothy woke the following morning, she had an email in her work inbox. She grimaced and checked it and then her grimace turned into a ferocious scowl as she noted the heading. Apparently, someone had noticed she hadn’t taken the courses for the navy and were now requiring it. Damn.

Like she needed the distraction.

She was still fuming at the injustice in the universe when she got to work. She checked in and got another email with a text to report to the educational administrator’s office. She sighed and handed her duties off to her partner and took off to find out what the problem was.

“Ah, Nurse Gayle. Interesting name,” the Veraxin stated when she knocked on the office door. He scuttled and tilted his odd head until all four eyestalks looked at her. “Ah, there you are.”

“You wanted to see me, Director?”

“Yes. It has come to my attention that you have been remiss in updating your credentials.”

“Sir? I am up to date on all certifications.”

“Except your naval career.”

“I’m in a navy hospital, sir,” she reminded him. The director was a civilian contractor, one of the rare civilians in the hospital. He was so good at his job that the navy had accepted his services and had not forced him to become an officer.

“I understand that. But the navy wants all of the I’s dotted and T’s crossed as the metaphor goes. Which means we need to carve out some time for you to get that sorted out. And I understand you applied to become a surgical nurse?”

“I was undergoing classes for the upgrade before I was reassigned to Antigua,” she said stiffly.

“Well, that is on hold until the military gets its way. Unless you are considering resigning?”

“I did think about it,” she admitted.

“Well, if you did, you would be missed here,” he said offhand.

Her eyes narrowed. “And what is that supposed to mean?”

“It means you would be unqualified to work in this hospital. You would no longer be a naval officer. You would have effectively quit your job. Of course with the capital expanding so explosively, you would find work elsewhere in our industry. The resignation might serve as a cloud over any prospective employers though,” he warned.

She frowned, clearly unhappy. She hadn’t quite gotten that far into gaming out her possible life paths. Now that he mentioned it, the idea of a resignation in her record would not look good. There would be questions as to why. Her answer of not wanting to get qualified to be an officer would make them wonder if she tended to skip over critical details, which would mean some juicy jobs might pass her over for patient safety.

Which wouldn’t be good on her record either. Word like that got around.

“I can take the online courses,” she sighed.

“I’m afraid it is a bit more involved than that,” he said.

“Excuse me?” she asked as she blinked.

“You are an officer who never attended the academy. You have served in that capacity for some time. Makeup classes can be taken but you also are required to attend in person classes.”

She frowned. “I took a few basic courses on ET. The mandatory ones.”

“Which are in your record. But to be an officer, especially a medical officer, there is a lot more involved I’m afraid.”

She growled softly and wondered if Raina had set her up. She wouldn’t put it past the senior nurse to try to push her out of the nest just when she was getting comfortable.

“What are we talking about here? I’m not willing to run around a track or play soldier,” she growled.

“Your ignorance of your naval career is one reason you need this educational experience. I suggest you take a tour of the academy and look into your future more deeply. To that end you’ll be reassigned to half-day shifts three days a week. The rest of the time you are to get your credentials up to date. If you need to adjust that schedule, let me know.”

She opened her mouth to protest and then closed it slowly. Half-day shifts were nothing. Nurses worked full twelve- or twenty-four-hour shifts. Being on half day would make her a fill-in. She didn’t like it.

“I realize it is not optimal to your current schedule. But this must be rectified,” the Veraxin said sternly. “I suggest you consider your options carefully.”

“Am I still going to be paid to train?” she asked.

“Of course.”

“Fine, I’ll look into it,” she growled, clearly unhappy.

“Excellent. This is, after all, a teaching hospital, so we encourage all of our staff to continue to better themselves. Please avail yourself of the educational opportunity here.”

She sniffed and then left. It wasn’t quite a storm out but it was as close as the diminutive nurse could get to it.

<<<*>>>

Academy Snippet 3

 Happy Veterans Day!

So, Rea sent me the manuscript back yesterday. I finished the edits and shot it off to Goodlifeguide. Fingers crossed it will come out before T-day.

Speaking of which, I was asked to throw a second T-day (today) for family who surprised us by coming into town. So, I'm about to run around like a chicken with its head cut off some more. (oh, wait, that's the turkey! never mind)

On to the snippet!

This is from the second story:

Straighten Up and Fly Right

 

Katya followed the directions she had been given and walked down the corridor on her assigned floor with her gear. She tried not to look too closely, aware of the line of other students behind her. They had a very short window to get into their dorm rooms, get squared away, and then ready for an inspection. She saw a group of cadets being balled out by another cadet, possibly an upperclassman. She was a bit confused about that distinction; she initially didn’t understand that the upperclassman was acting as an instructor. The guy was in their face, chewing them out while brandishing something she couldn’t quite see yet.

When she got closer, she noted it was a crumpled-up wrapper from a candy bar. There was a balled-up bag for chips too. More debris was on the ground. The deck she reminded herself. The room looked like a bomb hit it, strewn and torn apart.

One of the cadets, a human girl, was damn near in tears. She wanted to intervene but was shocked by the tableau and slowed her stride.

That was a mistake; it drew the attention of the predator in the form of the senior cadet. He turned his glower her way and she stiffened. “Problem, Larva?”

“Just ah … passing through,” she said carefully, swallowing her pride. She should know better than to make waves and draw attention to herself.

He sized her up and down. “You new here?”

“Yes … sir,” she said. She didn’t know what instinct told her to call him sir but she knew better than to ignore it in this instance.

“Keep moving!” a voice said from the back of the line.

“You haven’t learned to report at attention, cadet?” he asked icily.

She frowned but put her gear down and braced to attention. Others following behind her were suddenly blocked. There was some mumbling but then they too dropped their gear to see what the holdup was.

The senior cadet sized her up and then the group. His brown eyes trailed to them like knives. Katya glanced at the duo of girls who had been his original prey. They seemed to be regaining their composure during the momentary distraction.

“Name, cadet?” the voice said, making her snap back to attention.

“Katya Budnova,” she replied.

“That’s Cadet Katya Budnova. Didn’t they teach you anything, plebe?” the senior cadet demanded.

She thought about how to respond and then just decided to be honest. “There is a first time for everything,” she replied with a shrug.

He glowered at her. Some of the other cadets looked surprised at her insolence.

“Put yourself down for two demerits cadet. Then get out of my sight. Get your gear squared away and read the in brief pronto.”

“Yes, sir,” she replied as she gathered up her gear and got into motion once more. Prick, she thought as she paced him. He had already turned his back to her. She gave the girls a roll of her eyes and kept going. The group behind her quietly moved to their assigned quarters as well.

<<<*>>>

She had just enough time to find her quarters and start to put her gear away before the senior cadet arrived in the doorway for a snap inspection.

Her roommate arrived behind him and blushed as she ducked past him and stood by her rack.

He examined the room and then sniffed. “You two better get squared away. You are in the kiddy pool now, but being in the navy is not for kids. Learn the ropes fast or get yanked.” He glowered at Katya. “I have a feeling you won’t last long,” he growled before he about-faced and left.

Katya felt her spine stiffen but she didn’t say anything. She looked at her roommate who was sagging a little.

If she couldn’t hack that, she was in for a rough ride, Katya thought. “I’m Katya. And you are …?”

“Sorry, Norma Jean.”

“Ah.”

“Are you from Syntia’s World?”

“No, ET.”

She wrinkled her nose in confusion. “ET?”

“Epsilon Triangula.”

Her eyes widened. “Oh! The place with the mob and big cities?”

“Yeah,” Katya drawled. She turned and finished putting her stuff away. She compared it to the image on her HUD. So far so good.

“Um …,” the girl was just putting things into her press willy-nilly.

“Follow the inspection list,” Katya warned. She was used to checklists and inspections from her time as a pilot.

“Excuse me?” the girl asked defensively.

“The inspection sheet in the manual. They’ll come back and check our stuff. If the socks aren’t right, they’ll throw them on the deck and make us redo stuff. And we have to pay in demerits later.”

The mousy brown haired girl blinked.

“You may want to get a haircut too. They can ding us for a lot of stuff. Hair, nails, uniform, bed …,” she indicated the racks. They were still clean and neat. “Dust,” she indicated the single desk and chair. “Anything.”

“Oh. Was that what that was about? Those kids getting balled out for having food?”

Katya nodded. “Yeah.”

“Oh. Damn,” the girl bit her lip. “What did I get myself into?” she muttered before she got to work. “Can you ah … help me?”

“You don’t have the implant module?”

“Um, I’m not sure how to access it. What was your name again?”

“Katya. Here,” the older woman pulled up her HUD and sent the girl a text. She had to patiently explain how to access the implants while they exchanged contact information. Along the way, she got a bit of the girl’s backstory. Norma had been a wet merchant officer on a ship on her homeworld before jumping at the chance to join the navy.

They bonded a little as they got squared away. She learned a bit about how it was important to share knowledge and help each other. You could know everything with your implants but if you didn't share that information or know how to access it then it wasn't worth spit.

She also learned that they could be penalized for infractions that were collective. If one failed, they all failed, just like on a ship. It was a bit hard to take in. There were a lot of concepts to absorb, and they definitely liked to leave the plebes to flounder and find their own level.

A female senior cadet came around and did an inspection. They could see outside the door where a pair of males were getting balled out by another senior cadet across the corridor. The girls were nervous but resigned to what was about to happen.

“Been through this before?” the woman asked.

“Pilot, ma’am,” Katya volunteered.

That earned a bit of side eye. “I didn’t ask for your life history. Very well. Which of you got the demerits?”

“I did, ma’am,” Katya sighed internally.

“You’ll have to work them off Friday. Don’t let Brian or Ferris catch you looking bad. No food in the dorm rooms obviously,” the woman sniffed. “Make sure your room and appearance are clean and neat at all times. Regs are regs, stick to them. If you get dinged, don’t offer an excuse, just accept the punishment. If you try to fight it, you will just end up sorry and sore. This is the navy—right way, wrong way, navy way. You have the rules in your implants. Read them and live by them or be sorry.”

“Yes, ma’am,” the two ladies responded in unison.

“Trying to stay under the radar works for some. You get by better if you remember to work as a team, just like on a ship. Get mouthy and uppity and you’ll pay for it,” the woman said as she leveled a look on Katya again. Katya didn’t rise to the bait and kept her own counsel.

“Seriously, familiarize yourself with your implants, regs, and honor code, all of it. You need to be a sponge, quiet but absorbing everything. Eyes, ears, and no mouth unless required. Can I get a read back?”

“Be a sponge, ma’am—eyes, ears, and no mouth unless required,” the two women replied in ragged unison. Norma Jean hesitated a little but fell into place with Katya’s impersonal tone of voice.

The senior cadet nodded curtly.

“Protocol too. I know it is a lot. Sir or ma’am is fine. Right now you are Larva, the lowest of the low. A plebe. Get used to it. The only way out is to quit or upwards. Figure your path out. If you can’t hack the class load, well, there are tutorials, and there are cadets who can help. Don’t drown.”

Katya noted Norma Jean ready to ask something but the woman’s eyes shifted to her. The girl gulped and straightened up, swallowing back her question instantly.

“Don’t get stupid and raise a sexual complaint unless you record it. If you do file one, all hell will come down on you so be careful. No one has time for that crap so don’t be too sensitive. Some of the guys will press you just to push a button. They’ll be recording too. Get a reputation as a tattletale and you’ll make yourself a target. So don’t.”

The two didn’t know what to say so they remained silent.

She gave them a few more looks and then left.

Norma Jean sighed and sat on the bed. Katya noted it instantly ruined the sharp folds but said nothing. She just shook her head.

“What have I gotten myself into?” the other woman said with a sigh.

Katya was wondering the same thing.

<<<*>>>