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SMAC Fiction
Alternate Future Chronicles, Comments Thread III
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Alpha Centauri Forums
SMAC Fiction
Alternate Future Chronicles, Comments Thread III
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| Author | Topic: Alternate Future Chronicles, Comments Thread III |
| Borodino |
posted 02-25-99 05:05 PM ET  
Again, it seemed time for a new one. Read the last posts in the other if you haven't yet, then continue here. |
| jsorense |
posted 02-26-99 07:06 PM ET
Well guys, I meant to post something today, but I got sidetracked at the I Club. I have got to stay away from there. It's a bad influence. It gives me a headache too. Anyway, my next bit will include Sister Sara at the "end of the universe" Peacekeeper outpost named Canalburg, or town or city or something like that. I don't think she is going to like it much, or the people she has to work with. Can you give anymore details about that armpit of a base? |
| Borodino |
posted 02-26-99 10:26 PM ET
It's Canaltown. Temporary base, no permanent structures. Take what a layman might think of as a prototypical archeological camp, adapted to an alien enviroment. Several tents, [Croft would proably have her own small tent.] a portable utilities core [computer, sewage, atmosphere, power, etc all in one structure], some tent-warehouses, a trailer-lab... Figure a basic crew of fifteen [including Markum and Albanese]. Need an atmospherist, a coupla base equipment workers, and some more scientist and research engineers. Also, most of the crew of the Nicosia, lacking anything better to do until they get that blasted canal working, are also working on this. I'd suggest that Croft's most hated part of this assignment is the paperwork. All of these contact reports [the Council's would see this as a prime intelligence situation with her in contact with the head of the PK navy [Jamison] and the head of the General Engineers [Albanese] and possibly -- if you wish -- a chance to have encountered Lal for several hours [he was in the region for a while]]. I think that's it for now... Oh, I think the solution will lie in the chroma-audial alternators. Just got figure out where to flash the darn things! |
| jsorense |
posted 03-03-99 02:31 PM ET
Borodino, Concerning the alien structure you call a canal: what's it look like and what is it suppose to do? Is it a sea level canal or are their locks? I guess I need a little more context before I can do much more for Sister Sara. |
| Borodino |
posted 03-03-99 08:26 PM ET
Well, it was origanally just a plot device to get around the fact that there is no apparent connection between the Sea of Poseidon and the World Ocean. [Plus I figured that if you and legoean got to mess around with alien technology, so should I  ]I now regret that decision because I have been totally brain-dead as to how to approach solving it. [Your last post was absolutley perfect. We know nothing!] Anyway, yes, there are locks [else I would think that the Nicosia would have no problem sailing down the canal]. I was thinking five, stretched out along however long this thing is. I figure that it is Panama-Canal-esque. Beyond that, I'm hopelessly over my head. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. This whole headache with my conceptual problems with the canal [plus a very busy schedule for the past few days] is the reason I've not posted anything. I will try to sit down and hammer something out. [Probably a Minister Borodino post]. PS. Which of your characters is involved in the ship building story again? |
| jsorense |
posted 03-04-99 03:49 PM ET
Hi Borodino, The Believers involved with the ship project will be Brother Rahjiv and the militia's Delta Squad. The canal locks: I guess we have to assume that the aliens left the mechanisms "On" when they disappeared. That means we have to figure our how to initiate an activation. It stands to reason that something has to approach the structure from one of the ends, emitting something like a coded message or chemical signature. Or, we could keep it simple and have the first lock activated by an approaching vessel of a specific minimum mass. The lock sensors would "feel" it approaching through the water and assume it wants to travel the length of the canal. All we have to do is find something big enough, or trick the sensors somehow, to get it movin'. My .02 credits worth for today. |
| Borodino |
posted 03-07-99 05:18 PM ET
Hello all. I finally got over my "blah" week of non-inspired-ness and should be back to normal for the next week. I posted a new ... well ... I hesitate to call it an episode. It introduces Lord Darnley [created in "the People" a while ago and finally establishes where exactly Borodino goes when he goes to work. See y'all soon. Borodino |
| Shining1 |
posted 03-07-99 06:43 PM ET
I'm gonna declare a vendetta on people who post stupid threads in every forum. Whatever you do, don't reply to these threads. (Though I don't think this advice is really desperately needed. |
| Borodino |
posted 03-07-99 08:13 PM ET
Shining1, when it comes to this forum, I'm very protective. They ain't getting any response out of me here! [Stupid idiotic jerks...] }: |
| Shining1 |
posted 03-07-99 08:37 PM ET
Oh, the Horror, the Horror! Varsity has begun. If I can post once a week, I be satisfied. Hopefully I'll be able to get something with the UoP done on Wednesday (Tuesday in the slow places). Heh. And I've just watched the Lewinsky interview. *sniff* Poor wee thing... |
| jsorense |
posted 03-09-99 03:39 PM ET
Hi Borodino, FYI, the official name for the Believer ship will be: Bodhisattva. However the crew, for some unknown and unknowable reason, will refer to her as the Millennium Falcon, or just MF. Do you want to haggle some more about the cost of the hull? Shining1, Brother Legoean, |
| Shining1 |
posted 03-09-99 06:10 PM ET
Jsorense: No, probably not. I'm not sure if that was a sarcastic post, but the point is well taken if it is. And I'm serious about the Aussie beer thing. Do you know WHY they call it XXXX bitter? Because it would be illegal to put the word 'beer' in the name... |
| jsorense |
posted 03-09-99 06:24 PM ET
Hi Shining1, Yes, I was being seriously sarcastic. Please concentrate on school (and football?) and leave these fora to idiots like myself. Good luck and thanks for the Australian beer warning, although Brother Greg guarantees they're safe. ;-) |
| Shining1 |
posted 03-09-99 09:01 PM ET
Jsorense: I wouldn't dream of doing otherwise - the forums are something I do enjoy, however, especially the occasional bit of writing. As it stands, I don't think I'll be playing Rugby this year though > And thanks for your concern. |
| Borodino |
posted 03-09-99 09:38 PM ET
Hello all, jsorense: what means "Bodhisattva"? Cost of the hull? Hmmmm. I just want some refined petrol [not the plastics -- Mt. Lessing means we have plenty of those Shining1: See you when you're here next. Good luck with all your endevours. [You too, jsorense. Wouldn't want you to feel left out in the well wishes, would we? |
| jsorense |
posted 03-10-99 04:35 PM ET
Hi Borodino, I see your religious education hasn't delved into the realm of Buddhism yet. Why don't you do a little research and have a five page essay on the life of Buddha on my desk by 4:00 pm Friday(pst)? Then you can tell me if it is an appropriate name for a Believer ship. Don't you just hate it when someone does that? :-) |
| jsorense |
posted 03-10-99 05:18 PM ET
Hi Borodino, OK, refined petrochemicals for fuel. Are you sure? You run the risk of getting Deirdre mad at you. Well, for the amounts you are talking about we will need either a pipeline, highway/tanker trucks, railroad/train or sea going tankers. At this stage I don't see the possibility of constructing any of these. That leaves us with the possibility of setting up a cracking plant/refinery somewhere in Peacekeeping territory. I know you have some producing wells somewhere, the MOU provided some of our expert drilling technicians to you. What you don't have is a genius petrochemical engineer like Sister Cecilia McCoy. Maybe she can help you out . . . . . . for a price. P.S. How's the weather out there? As I recall, snow in March was always soooo depressing. 8-( |
| Borodino |
posted 03-10-99 05:49 PM ET
jsorense, I'm a winter person. I enjoyed all twenty inches! No, I know nothing of Buddhism -- although I did know that the ship's name was derived from that religion. Well, I know nothing save that his real name was Siddharta Guatama [probably mis-spelled.] About the oil: well, I was just trying to come up with a reasonable amount of energy. My only purpose for it right now is run my two fishing boats. Again, I am hampered by a lack of knowledge about ship-fuel consumption. How much fuel do you think it'd take to run two rather small ships? I figured that the amount I was requesting could be transported by one of our shuttles. We can drop down the amount requested if this fits the general level of developement better. Oh also, the Haber Processor and the H2O Processor that I begin somewhere back about 20.0 -- I think -- are now complete. So the PKs can now create decent amounts of ammonnia, hydrogen fuel for the shuttles, and oxygen for ls. |
| jsorense |
posted 03-12-99 04:09 PM ET
Borodino, That should provide a number of possible plot lines for you. Have a nice weekend. BTW, where's that essay? |
| jsorense |
posted 03-16-99 03:40 PM ET
Hi Borodino, Yes, the Believers will accept the Minister's counter offer. We could use the shuttle fuel, I guess. Anyway, our refinery capacity is up and with less environmental damage too. :-) I guess I had better return to Canaltown and tie up some looses ends there. Anyway, we got a significant snowfall in the mountains above Santa Barbara yesterday. It snowed 1 inch an hour for a while and they had to close the roads up there. It is still quite beautiful see the snow capped peaks through the veil of palm trees. |
| Borodino |
posted 03-16-99 05:47 PM ET
Snow-capped mts through palm trees. Now I know why people live in California. <sigh> Also, I did look up Bodhisattva. Sounds good to me. I don't really have to do the report, do I? See you later. |
| Shining1 |
posted 03-17-99 07:29 PM ET
Bugger. Gonna have to take a rain check on the Hive UoP storyline. Maybe I can do something on Monday... |
| jsorense |
posted 03-17-99 07:41 PM ET
Shining1, Now watch your language, there are Believers listening. Don't worry about posting. We can all imagine what insidious social/economic/biological/sexual/psychological experiments that must be taking place in the dank, dark, cold, hopeless labyrinth that is the Human Hive and the humanist/libertine/god-less/hedonistic Ivory Tower cesspool know as the University of Planet. Have a nice day. :-) |
| Borodino |
posted 03-17-99 07:50 PM ET
Chuck Berry! Thanks, jsorense, I needed that; it's been a miserable day. |
| jsorense |
posted 03-17-99 07:57 PM ET
Yes, Borodino, The venerable I Club at Tycho Base is a great source for comic relief. I imagine it as being a cross between Nick's Caf� Am�ricain from "Casablanca" and some sleezy L.A. dive out of "Bladerunner." |
| jsorense |
posted 03-17-99 07:58 PM ET
Errrrrrrr! That's Rick's! |
| jsorense |
posted 03-18-99 04:22 PM ET
Markael Peacewood, Thank you for another thoughtful and well-written contribution. Please keep them coming. |
| absimiliard |
posted 03-19-99 11:23 AM ET
Markael Peacewood: WOW!!! Outstanding work! I must admit I found chapter 1 a bit slow, but chapter 2...whoah. As an aside, I did a bit of roleplaying in one of the TI threads that has me thinking. I'm thinking I'll post a series of documents/speeches/and communiques detailing the progress of the Spartans in a game I'll start up soon. Probably nothing till this weekend, but I'll start a new thread with my offering then. (I used to be military so I think I can get the feel of military communiques right, but if anyone spots glaring problems please point them out to me here) -absimiliard |
| jsorense |
posted 03-19-99 06:35 PM ET
absimiliard, I am looking forward to your communiqu�s. What I hope your documentation shows is rapid rout and surrender of the Spartans. The prisoners will be welcomed into the Lord Believer's fold if they submit to a glorious religious conversion (and an insignificant little tiny almost painless operation). ;-) You see, Sister Miriam was totally dedicated to the original Unity mission (see the background story) and she cannot forgive Santiago for her treachery, mutiny and murder. |
| absimiliard |
posted 03-20-99 01:15 AM ET
Jsorense: It should be interesting to see what happens. I probably will end fighting Miriam, but even on TI I am a pretty good player. I can probably take her, I've done her as Zakharov, and Yang on TI, and even as Morgan on LnoI. I have no reason to believe I can not take the Believers.  But we'll see how it goes, the story will be based on that. Actually that is an issue, I'll not make this AFC if ppl don't mind. I have a feeling the Spartans will win. Analyst is fond of and does well with them. I will title it 'Formative documents from New Sparta: The Early Years' (oh come one, everyone has to have one of these. -absimiliard |
| absimiliard |
posted 03-20-99 01:32 AM ET
Whew, that's done. Now I can play the next 10 turns. (uughh, grog say too much work. Ouch, DO NOT HIT GROG. grog will work.)  -absimiliard |
| jsorense |
posted 03-22-99 03:07 PM ET
Howdy absimiliard, I like! Keep it coming, please. What difficulty level are you playing? What size map? What other rules? I hope you meet Yang first. ;-) Adios hombre. |
| Borodino |
posted 03-23-99 09:06 PM ET
Hello jsorense [and S1 if you're around ],Sorry for my abscence here for the past few days. That poem refused to let me do much until it got out of my head [never tried serious poetry before...]. Ummmm... Legoean is going to have a truely long voyage. Poseidon [w/ the shipyard] is on the western coast of the Sea of Poseidon, which is connected to the Central Oceans by the famous Canal. So he has to go south, pass through the now opened Canal, up east around the southeast coast of Pangaea, then up to the Greater Jutland [and depending on where he's heading, perhaps around it into New Hudson Bay...]. Just wanted to remind ou of the geography -- this all struck me the second time through your post... |
| jsorense |
posted 03-24-99 03:00 PM ET
Yeah Borodino, It will be a long haul but it will be a voyage of exploration so they can get into all kinds of trouble. I don't think Brother Legoean will be in charge though. He is needed to continue training the rest of the Believer Militia and defend the motherland. BTW, what triggered the poetry? Absimiliard, Shining1, |
| Borodino |
posted 03-24-99 04:17 PM ET
The poem began perculating last Thursday, and after a disappointing loss in a tournament Saturday, I came home to write. "Nike's frown" was the start of the whole thing; the phrase gripped me. As for the J.A. Borodino connection, there really is none. I just decided to post it in the guise of his work. The Battle of Drummondville was never previously examined, though it was mentioned in my very first post in the AFC. I currently evision it as one of the few US defeats in the St. Lawrence campaign of the Quebec War... |
| Borodino |
posted 03-24-99 04:18 PM ET
BTW, what did you think? |
| jsorense |
posted 03-24-99 07:14 PM ET
"Nike's Frown" Well Borodino, it is certainly timely considering what is currently taking place in the Balkans. First, I was never an English major and second, the only poetry I ever wrote was for some English Comp class I took as a freshman (it was free verse too). Anyway, good content, though the wastefulness of war has been done before. But, for that matter, so has love and poets are still exploring that subject. I know it takes a lot of work to hammer out the meter and rhyme. At this time is sounds a little rough. I wonder if you read it aloud so that you could actually hear it. Poetry, I think, should be written to be heard, not just read. I hope that helps. SMAC poetry critic out. |
| Borodino |
posted 03-29-99 08:30 PM ET
Hello all, We're all kinda slacking here lately, huh? Well, I'm on break, so I should be able to write something soon. Also, my AFC website http://www.homestead.com/borodino has been updated. The full text of each of TAS's short stories and my Forbidden Journal is now available. I'll probably move on to the old first week Morgan posts next... |
| Shining1 |
posted 03-29-99 09:54 PM ET
Yay! Hols in a few days time. I can resume writing and drinking. Pericles: Fantastic. Some of the best writing in the forum. Jsorense: Not the only reason. You need something to talk about WHILE you drink. If you don't watch it, you can have four hour long arguements over who is the best New Zealand halfback. Which is Justin Marshall, by the way. |
| jsorense |
posted 03-30-99 04:02 PM ET
Hi Borodino, Hi Shining1, I just got back from a 3 day bender, I mean vacation. Glad to see you are both back and ready to rumble again. I will get back into it too as soon as I finish some IIIS business. BTW, you are both invited to send in your resumes. Rugby sounds like a good basis for a new faction, Shining1. |
| Borodino |
posted 03-30-99 09:53 PM ET
The early Morgan is up; moving on to BrendaH's posts; any requests? |
| Borodino |
posted 03-31-99 09:45 PM ET
Four complete threads down; [A Day in the Life of, The First Few Decurns, The Forbidden Journal, and 001/PD]. 1290 to go. [slight hyperbole... ]. |
| jsorense |
posted 04-02-99 01:44 PM ET
To no one in particular, I give myself credit for a pretty good imagination. However, the one thing I can't visualize is a mass of an ally's "tame" mind worms passing through one of my base on its way to a front. Wouldn't that be just too weird? |
| jsorense |
posted 04-05-99 05:14 PM ET
Don't give up on me yet. Maybe I can post something tomorrow. It is busy here. |
| jsorense |
posted 04-12-99 04:14 PM ET
Hmmmmmm, I seem to be talking to myself these days. I least this way I am guaranteed an intelligent conversation. ;-) Borodino and Shining1, |
| Borodino |
posted 04-12-99 09:56 PM ET
At least I've been posting in the story thread. I hope the evil IRS agent didn't take too much from you... I was getting a bit worried. I think I was starting to develope an abandonment complex. <sniffle, sniffle> |
| jsorense |
posted 04-13-99 03:05 PM ET
Hi Borodino, The IRS is winning the struggle. Hurry up and start paying some taxes so you can finance my retirement and medicare, will ya? ;-) Maybe I will cook up something for the AFC tomorrow. I think Arsinio will be next at bat. Too bad we seem to have lost Shining1. Maybe if I start killing off or converting his characters he'll notice and come back. :-( |
| Borodino |
posted 04-15-99 09:54 PM ET
Well, S1 didn't respond to my plaintive query... I'll be gone until, hmmmm, probably Tuesday [Fri, Sat, early Sun in Nashville; late Sun, Mon in DC]. Looks like we're going to need new threads for comments and chronicles soon -- fifty posts is about right -- so you may do the honors if you like. Later |
| jsorense |
posted 04-16-99 05:03 PM ET
Hola Borodino, At last, an episode that was fun to write. Have a nice trip. I'll be in D.C. most of next week. Adios, muchacho. |
| JB |
posted 04-18-99 05:29 PM ET
I think I can once again write consistantly, now that I have all 'that' behind me. But I need some definitive info: I'm reading the previous stuff right now, of course, but where can I get the maps and stuff? I need to know where everyone is, and where the UoP is. JB |
| jsorense |
posted 04-19-99 11:10 AM ET
Hi JB, Welcome back to SMAC Fiction. As you can see, we need some fresh ideas. The Planet Map the AFC is using is Brenda's. I think you can check in at Borodino's page and see where everyone is on it. I see that you posted your character Jonathan Sagan a while ago. Are you sticking with him? I cannot recall which faction(s) you prefer to write for. Borodino, |
| Borodino |
posted 04-21-99 10:17 PM ET
Good to see you, JB, and glad to pick up a new writer. WE never did quite settle down where everyone is; just the B's and PK's. We also know -- from the first few weeks of posting -- that the Morgans and UoP have a treaty of mutual assisstance, so they would presumably be neighbors, and are probably [again based on random references] on the same continent as the Bs and PKs, unless the paparazzi got to UoP territory by shuttle... Follow? That's good, because I'm not sure I did (: Is there any background information which you deem relevant which we may provide? I can try to get you the back UoP stories, although I won't be able to do that until next Monday at the earliest. jsorense, Trip went well. Only got to American U, though -- I misestimated the amount of time it'd take me to get to Gtown [walking -- I'm afraid of Washington cabbies ;-) ], so I would have been an hour late. It was just tour and info sessions at each, though. No interviews. Sigh, Gtown's financially impossible. It's down to two full-tuitions and my DC favorite. It's not even as simple as take the money and run -- which money? People just don't understand my problems. :-( Hope you're having fun in DC. Wish I had known you'd be there sooner -- we could have met... |
| Borodino |
posted 04-21-99 10:22 PM ET
Just read your post, jsorense. I was looking foward to some new equipment -- kinda a bummer on the dream thing. :-) Cool title for the new thread. I, unfortunately, am not feeling quite so creative -- but I am feeling constructive, so I shall be starting a new comments thread. So y'all over there. |
| Shining1 |
posted 04-23-99 12:46 AM ET
Finally. Another Shining1 Hive post for the AFC - JB, this directly affects the university, and has been in the pipeline for 'months' (though only because I haven't posted since the start of Uni). Naturally, I should apologise for the delay - as I've mentioned, there were a variety of extenuating circumstances, and AFC kept falling to the bottom of the pile. Sorry. (Especially for Borodino's abandonment issues. Jsorense doesn't seem to miss me much Anyway, so long as no one has PB'd the Hive, the continuation should work out okay. |
| jsorense |
posted 04-27-99 12:09 PM ET
Hi guys! I'm back. I will try to pitch in when I catch up at work. Adios. |
| jsorense |
posted 04-27-99 08:00 PM ET
Hi Borodino, It is quite a hike through Georgetown, and up hill too. Washington was very weird due to the NATO conference. Most of downtown was blocked to surface traffic and there were diplomatic motorcades speeding all over the place all the time. I had to ask Brother Greg what he would put in his secret cache. It is quite interesting and I hope to use it some day. For Minister Borodino, I think I'll use my own judgement and try to surprise and embarrass you. ;-) Hello Shining1, JB, |
| SnowFire |
posted 04-27-99 10:13 PM ET
This is blatant spam, but I know that some of you will read this: right now we have 3 active writers for the CPUB (me, Octopus, and Technocrat), a whole bunch of occasional writers (Giant Squid, MikeH, jsorense), and many inactive writers from the past (BigE, JB, Zorloc, outlyr242). If any of you occasional or inactive writers would like to post a bit more frequently, you're more than welcome; we can continue on with 3, but it's always nice to have more. Needless to say, we understand if you can't due to tax-problems, etc. But give it a look, new writers too, and try us out.As penance for this spam, I promise I'll write one or two guest columns for the AFC. The catch? It'll have to wait until after mid-May at the earliest. And I'd be much happier about doing so if I see all of you run over to the CPUB right now and start posting. Right? I can see the rush now. |
| Borodino |
posted 04-28-99 09:23 AM ET
Sorry for the AWOL -- Finishing up my last official week of high school, so I had to study for some finals. Also, you are all hereby warned that this comment thread is being condemned and shall be imploded forthwith. Please move on to AFC Comments IV. :-) |
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