Bob was reminded of a line he'd read in a Jim Butcher novel, Summer Knight. It had described how despite all the time and effort that had gone into making travel in a modern, jet propelled airplane possible, that people took it for granted. The fact that when on a plane you were basically hurling through the air b...
2022-09-20 08:13:45 +0000 UTC View Post"Madam President, you have a phone call from Robert Whitman."
Elania sighed and picked up the handset. "Mr. Whitman," she said.
"Ms. President," Bob began, "I just wanted to let you know that I was stopping by with a few friends, and that, uh, we're going shopping real quick."
Elania closed her eyes an...
2022-09-19 12:59:29 +0000 UTC View PostIn retrospect, Bob realized he should have told everyone before he portaled the IIDS Freedom into orbit.
That retrospect came in the form of Dave asking when they were going up, and his explanation that they had, in fact, already entered orbit, which generated a degree of outrage from Mike, Jessica, and Amanda ...
2022-09-19 09:16:29 +0000 UTC View PostAgain, sans Grammarly.
"I don't suppose we have eyes on Mr. Whitman?" President Elania Hartford asked.
"He was in Glacier Valley about three weeks ago? Maybe four weeks ago," Secretary of Defence Ed Heller replied. "May I ask why?"
"Because whenever there is a mess that is Thayland rela...
2022-09-19 05:36:28 +0000 UTC View PostI should mention again that Grammarly's betrayal continues. These chapters are raw, and showcase my love/hate relationship with the common comma, as well as my inability to spell.
High Priest Korldon Astraides awoke to find himself lying on cold stone. Blinking, he tried to sit up, but sp...
2022-09-15 08:44:30 +0000 UTC View PostI'm still alive! I haven't been feeling well, which when combined with the added responsibility of helping to take care of my mother's friend who has stayed with us for the past week after enduring a double mastectomy, and the death of one of my mother's two dogs, has sucked away my time like a shop vac. Still...
2022-09-15 05:43:23 +0000 UTC View PostBob looked at the blue print that was spread across the table. "This looks sort of familiar," Bob muttered, picking up one of the pieces of paper and inspecting it.
"That's because he's straight up ripping off the Serenity," Amanda sighed.
"It's a solid design!" Jack protested.
"If we weren't using man...
2022-09-08 12:07:26 +0000 UTC View Post"Honestly, I think that will work out for the best," Amanda began. "We're going to be doing a one day on, one day off rotation, although it might be three days on, three days off, or whatever have you. One of the nice things about having two people for every role is that we're going to be incredibly flexible."
... 2022-09-08 07:16:07 +0000 UTC View PostSo, Grammarly changed recently. I've tried to get used to it, but it's actually *introducing* errors into my text. Straight up cutting up words and smashing them together. It's infuriating, and it's added way too much time to the editing process. So, until I figure out wtf is going wrong, you're ge...
2022-09-05 11:11:16 +0000 UTC View PostIf you aren't reading the chapter title in your mind with the voice of the space marine from the Starcraft II trailer, you're doing it wrong.
Bob looked around the medieval village curiously. There were a dozen or so buildings, only one of which was two stories. That particular building w...
2022-09-05 08:42:53 +0000 UTC View PostThe next door that Sierra knocked on opened to reveal a young Adonis. The man was tall, maybe an inch and a half taller than Bob's six feet three inches, with a classically handsome face, square jawed, with high cheekbones. He had grey eyes, with slightest hint of laugh-lines, short trimmed brown hair, and the fai...
2022-09-05 02:53:59 +0000 UTC View PostBob had grown up in what could be, generously, termed an economically disadvantaged area. He'd had to skirt around junkies as a kid, and had been indirectly exposed to drug addicts who had reached rock bottom.
The drug den he was walking through carried notes of that same sickly sweet song of despair, but it didn'...
2022-08-30 06:52:42 +0000 UTC View PostRayouk should appear in your mind as the most excitable, fanatical, aggressive French Chef imaginable.
"What?" Bob asked, again.
"Ah, I saw that one," Cascadia said happily, "a trifle overdone, but still quite good."
"Hold up, what do you mean, my property?" Bob asked pointedly.
Yor...
2022-08-22 09:49:25 +0000 UTC View PostMike sat down in the chair on the other side of the table, reaching out to scratch Monroe's ruff.
"Morning," Mike offered with a grunt.
Bob nodded, his mouth full of scrambled eggs.
He'd asked Yorrick to relay to relevant parties that he'd head back to the Empire to finish his tour in three days, so it wasn'...
2022-08-22 06:31:35 +0000 UTC View PostBob ran the slicker brush through Monroe's thick coat, not only hearing but feeling the big cat's rumbling purr as he sprawled across his lap, accepting the kitty worship that was his rightful due.
They'd both nearly died.
He hadn't expected Torlin to attack them, despite the recent crash course he'd received in p...
2022-08-15 07:43:22 +0000 UTC View PostBob woke up suddenly, holding a spitting and hissing Monroe against his chest.
His chest which didn't appear to have a gaping hole in it anymore.
He looked up, confused, and found what could only be described as a Dark Angel looking down at him, concern etched across her beautiful face.
"It's alright," she s...
2022-08-11 07:25:49 +0000 UTC View PostThe stench was nearly palpable as Bob entered the barracks. It was a distressingly familiar combination of stale sweat and body odor, weighted with the heavy scent of despair.
Humans experiencing strong emotions produce pheromones and chemicals in their perspiration that other humans can detect. The most well-documented...
2022-08-11 04:45:45 +0000 UTC View Post"You had a film crew ready?" Bob asked as a microphone was clipped into the collar of his armor.
"I didn't think you'd actually say no," Yorrick replied.
Bob shook his head and sighed, then slid Monroe from his Makres, holding the super-sized floof in his arms as another microphone was clipped to the big Maine-coo...
2022-08-08 09:05:20 +0000 UTC View Post"Jason," Bob nodded.
In keeping with his resolution to face his problems head-on, he'd decided to go back to eating breakfast at the Adventurers Guild in Holmstead every morning. If nothing else, it would force him to address any waiting messages. He had a few ideas for trans-dimensional cellular service, bu...
2022-08-08 05:29:11 +0000 UTC View Post"That can't be right," Bob muttered. He refreshed his browser, but the number didn't change.
"Eh, it's half a million higher than it was yesterday," Dave replied, sipping his coffee. "This is really good coffee," he mused.
"The President sent it over a while ago," Bob said absently. &nbs...
2022-08-02 08:51:35 +0000 UTC View Post"Are you sure?" Bob asked. "You could do a lot of good here, as well as getting a headstart."
"While I'm not at all against popping over on the weekends to delve, I have hundreds of people relying on me back home, and while I'll be the first to admit that the administrative role I've found myself in is, without a ...
2022-06-30 11:04:09 +0000 UTC View Post"Madam President, Robert Whitman is here to see you."
Elania rubbed her temples. She was currently dealing with a minor crisis, namely that a fifty-ton explosion had detonated in an unimportant, uninhabited section of the Himalayas. China had a long history of playing dumb, diplomatically speaking, and they ...
2022-06-28 14:08:02 +0000 UTC View PostBob fell out of the portal and into the room, his mottled green leather armor cinched into place and his staff in hand, ready to deal with the assholes who had kidnapped him and his friends.
He was not expecting to find two cooling corpses. He'd seen his share of injuries at this point. People got tired and careless whe...
2022-06-28 09:05:39 +0000 UTC View PostBob woke up slowly. He almost felt like he was sick, his head was stuffy, and he was having a hard time opening his eyes. He also didn't remember going to bed. He'd been on vacation, visiting Alaska. He was going to go hiking through the Alaskan wilderness, leaving from Nome and just hiking out into th...
2022-06-27 10:44:37 +0000 UTC View Post"Even Ranks! Step out low!" A voice shouted across the battlefield.
In a wave of uncoordinated motion, half the front row of people stepped forward, keeping their shields in front of them, while half the second row stepped forward with them, thrusting low between the now open spaces. The rows folded back together messil...
2022-06-27 07:35:47 +0000 UTC View PostWe are almost done with the Empire, I promise. Well, almost done with the chapters specifically devoted to showing Ed's visit.
"Professor Kol'Geith," Yorrick said warmly as he entered the classroom, "it's always a pleasure to see you, however, I must again protest your use of my title when I'm out of uni...
The Warlocks Tower was located in the center of the city, although the name was ill-fitting. There were seven towers that surrounded an eighth in the center, joined together by covered walkways at a variety of levels, each tower to its neighbor and also to the central tower, which radiated walkways to the outer towers l...
2022-06-23 13:49:47 +0000 UTC View Post"This is the Black Cathederal," Yorrick gestured broadly as they walked up the steps.
Ed just nodded. After their visit to the wall, Yorrick had insisted that this was the next logical stop.
The Cathederal looked exactly as it had appeared in Yorrick's promotional video. Black marble flecked with gold,...
2022-06-22 04:41:37 +0000 UTC View PostEd struggled to hold in a sigh.
When he'd gone into politics, he knew that he'd signed up for a job that would involve long, boring meetings. Once he'd become the Secretary of Defense, he'd foolishly hoped that waiting for meetings to begin would become a thing of the past.
To a degree, it had been,...
2022-06-20 10:05:54 +0000 UTC View Post"That's everyone," Taylor reported with a sigh, "Except for Mr. Whitman and his little group, but they're unlikely to cause any incidents."
Elania nodded. The vast majority of the people who had sought refuge on Earth from the Tide had only been peripherally aware of Earth beforehand and hadn't caused any trouble....
2022-06-14 02:38:07 +0000 UTC View Post
