Part X – Spooked

This is Part X of the serial space western The Ghosts of Blackmoon Rift. It is also available for download in RTF format here. Or click here for a complete listing of episodes.

Scientists once envisioned that some future, galaxy-spanning civilization might build a spherical structure so vast that it would encircle an entire star, hiding it away behind walls of bonded neutronium. They would harness every last joule of energy from that star as it burned in its secret chamber, and it would power the untold wonders of their technologies. Science had it half right.

need a reminder?

Someone commented recently that they occasionally forget to check back here for new installments of the story.  I don’t know if that’s true for a lot of people, but I could definitely see how it might be.

If there’s a lot of interest, I could look into setting up a mailing list.  It would be completely ‘opt-in’, i.e., you would have to go to a web page somewhere and click ‘OK’ before you were signed up.  Then I’d just send out an email to the list every time a new installment was posted.  You could drop out at any time.

There are  some great tools out there for this kind of thing, so if there’s enough interest I will definitely set one up.

I should also point out that WordPress provides RSS feeds for all its blogs, so if you’re into those fancy feed reader / aggregator dohickies you can get new installments of Blackmoon served up hot and steaming the moment they’re posted.

If you’re interested in the mailing list or have questions about the RSS feed, please hit me up with a comment to this post.

Thanks!

Part IX – Their Own Devices

This is Part IX of the serial space western The Ghosts of Blackmoon Rift. It is also available for download in RTF format here. Or click here for a complete listing of episodes.

“I say, are we there yet?”

“No Professor. I told you, this ain’t no three hour tour.”

“And I told you that that sentence didn’t make any sense.”

“He means space travel ain’t like teleportation, Professor. You don’t blink once and you’re there. You blink a bunch of times, and you’re still here.”

“So might as well get comfy, Prof. Settle in and enjoy the ride. Have some GORP.”

“Ah, no thank you. I’m having a bit of trouble getting comfortable, actually. I think my seat is just a blanket thrown over, uh, some kind of machinery.”

“Ah, that’s the black hole-detector.”

“Is it okay that it’s beeping like that?”

“Oh, we’re probably just passing a neutron star or something. Dang thing’s on the fritz anyway.”

“Oh.”

“Professor?”

“Yes, Miss Kitty.”

“I been wondering some stuff. You know, about the universe ending and all.”

Part VIII – What Would Murphy Do?

This is Part VIII of the serial space western The Ghosts of Blackmoon Rift. It is also available for download in RTF format here. Or click here for a complete listing of episodes.

There were a lot of furious exclamations and terse demands for clarification on one side and a lot of hand-wringing and sputtering on the other. Murphy blinked back-and-forth from one side of the room to the other soaking it all in. Eventually, however, the story that became clear was that Wallace himself had appeared at the Ranch House three days ago. He had blown in like a thunderstorm, carrying several military-issue rail-guns. He didn’t explain where he had gotten them. Instead he’d loaded his sister onto a hoversled, told the aging caretakers not to look for him for a few orbits, and driven off.

Wallace wasn’t smiling now.

Part VII – Wallace

This is Part VII of the serial space western The Ghosts of Blackmoon Rift. It is also available for download in RTF format here. Or click here for a complete listing of episodes.

“You’re crazy, Wallace!” the redheaded man said loudly. It was a bright, windy day on Blackmoon Ranch hillside. At the top of the hill was the Wallace family ranch house. The redheaded man and his three friends stood between Wallace and the ranch house. They had just disembarked from the spacecraft parked twenty meters away and were surrounded by the luggage that proved it.

“You’ve got serious problems, my man,” said the redhead. “I’m here to take my fiancé somewhere safe, so wipe that stupid smirk off your face. Why are you smiling like that?“

Part VI – Plan B

This is Part VI of the serial space western The Ghosts of Blackmoon Rift. It is also available for download in RTF format here. Or click here for a complete listing of episodes.

“Black Dan,” said Miss Kitty scornfully. “I always knew you were a dirty dog.”

The pit bull yanked at its chain, and snarled with Black Dan’s voice, “You must be that pretty little cowpoke the boys been talking about. Well, I reckon two out of three ain’t bad.” The dog barked harshly, and it took Egan Torr a moment to realize it was laughing.

“Miss Kitty, what’s going on here?” he whispered.

“The explanation is simple, greenhorn,” barked the dog. “Since it’s so dang expensive to genetically reconstruct an entire dog, I just paid for the important parts, like legs and teeth, and the rest I built myself. I have eyes and ears throughout this junkyard. This dog is one of them. Well, two of them. Two of my eyes, I mean. And ears. So it’s like four eyes and ears, total.” The dog pawed the ground awkwardly. “Never mind,” it growled.

Part V – Tag

This is Part V of the serial space western The Ghosts of Blackmoon Rift. It is also available for download in RTF format here. Or click here for a complete listing of episodes.

Egan Torr had a number of compact pieces of equipment secured in the pockets of his conservative gray jumpsuit. Not least among them was a tiny-yet-powerful LED lantern. Still, afraid that its fifty-million candle-power beam might attract unwanted attention, he blundered forward in the dark. Jagged metal edges seemed to reach out at him from every shadow, and nameless things crunched and squelched underfoot.

Part IV – Plan A

This is Part III of the serial space western The Ghosts of Blackmoon Rift. It is also available for download in RTF format here. Or click here for a complete listing of episodes.

Standing in the darkened alley, Torr surveyed the junk yard with its ominous signage.

“One moment. Let me see if I’m following the plot here so far,” he said. “Captain Zero, you’re the only pilot in Ander’s Gap who will fly me to Blackmoon.”

“I wouldn’t trust anyone else who says they will, Professor,” said Crash seriously, “because they’re probably crazy.” Miss Kitty rolled her eyes.

“But,” said Torr as if he hadn’t heard, “your ship has been impounded by Federal Agents in this junkyard we see before us.”

“Hah!” scoffed Crash. “Those shuttle-monkeys call themselves Federal Agents?”

“And,” continued Torr, “the proprietor of said junkyard is one Daniel Black.”

“Are you alright, Professor?” asked Miss Kitty. “You ain’t blinked nor taken a breath in near a minute.”

“Who also,” Torr rattled along, “happens to be a very large man with a bristling beard who goes by the name of Black Dan and whom the Captain publicly humiliated several hours ago.”

“It really is kind of freaky how you aren’t blinking at all, Professor,” said Crash. “Makes my eyes tear up.”

“Furthermore,” squeaked Torr, “This being the lawless frontier, you propose to break into this guarded facility owned by the aforementioned extremely angry man and attempt to steal this spacecraft, an activity which I have no doubt is entirely outside the purview of my research grant.” Torr’s voice had been rising in pitch throughout this speech, and on the word ‘grant’ it choked off on a high note.

Kitty and Crash glanced at each other, and then said “Yep,” simultaneously.

Torr closed his eyes and fell over.