Another Sneak Peek: Chapter I

I've finished editing (at least the first rewrite) Chapter One of Noah's Custodian. I'll share it here.. the last piece I'll let out before publication. Recall that I posted the prologue last time.

Without further ado:

Chapter I

            The Custodian entered his sparse quarters and found something quite unexpected lying on the small table situated next to his bunk: a book. Setting that unusual fact aside, a small robot sat nearby, adorned with a few indicator lights that flashed in a slow, methodical sequence. Ned blinked a couple of times, rubbed his eyes slowly, then opened them and focused again.

            Still there: A brownish colored book with nine large symbols on its cover, lying on the small table, and a squat, square metallic box that looked much like a trash receptacle with lights sitting next to it. Ned could not fathom how these two objects arrived in his tiny quarters with its simple furnishings. An uncomfortable feeling arose within Ned as the robot sat still, appearing to study him and seeming to wonder how he would react. He understood- he wondered the same thing as his mind swirled in a growing maelstrom of confusion.

            Ned had never seen a real book before. Plenty of robots roamed aboard the ship, but no books lying around. He had seen pictures of books, and flipped through them in the virtual libraries he had access to, but never had his hands held a real book. Never had his fingers rubbed the pebbled leather or woven cloth of a hardbound book, nor had those fingers carefully turn over one page after another. He never owned a book, including the book on the table in his room. Ned blinked again and sighed, still unsure of what to do.

            Ned had no companions aside from robots and his virtual friends in the DivSim, and Noah, the computer that captained, monitored, operated, and maintained the ship. He thought he should probably tell Noah, though he probably already knew about it. Noah controlled all the robots, after all, and sensors of every sort filled the ship, even in Ned’s room. Ned thought that several of the sensors had sensors, too.

            His eyes flicked up to look at one of Noah’s many eyes embedded in the ceilings of the vessel, this one centered in Ned’s room. He blinked again- the camera’s power indicator no longer glowed red, as always did. He looked back at the robot, which still had not moved. Ned took two steps, bringing him to the center of his room, right next to the doorway. He looked up at the camera again- no light, iris closed.

            Ned heard the door slide closed behind him, and a mechanical sound emitted from the robot. Ned spun and put his back against his bed. The robot shuddered and a screen on its apparent front side lit up. A video of a bearded man’s amiable face appeared.

            “Greetings and peace be with you, Custodian!” Ned sat on his bed, staring. He gasped once he realized his breathing had ceased. He did not recognize the face- it did not belong to anyone in the stasis chambers.

            “My friend Cube, here- the robot playing this video- will assist me in preparing you for a very important mission. I realize this is all highly unusual, but I assure you my intentions are nothing but honorable, and if we succeed, you will be a hero whose like the world has never seen.”

            Ned looked up again at the camera- still off. The bearded man continued.

            “We have little time to get started, and this may well be the most important part of your journey. While you are indeed the Custodian of the ARC, that does not mean what you may think. The stated mission of the ARC has something missing. It is up to you and I to revise the goals of the mission and see it to fruition.

            “Don’t worry, I’m sure this is all very unsettling and confusing, but Cube can help clarify some things for you in a hurry. Please, take the vial and drink its contents. I realize it is a lot to ask, but our collective fate relies on a modicum of old fashioned trust.”

            A small door opened above the screen and an arm with pincers came out clasping a cork-stopped vial. Cube rolled forward as Ned leaned back, shaking, and eyes tearing up. His eyes kept darting to the camera in the ceiling.

            The robot’s screen flickered and the video shifted. The bearded man remained there but now a different recording played.

            “Please, Custodian, this vial contains a special compound that will aid in your comprehension of what I’m about to explain. We have little time before Noah intervenes, and that would be problematic in the least.”

            Ned shook his head as Cube extended the vial toward Ned’s chest. He stared at the face in the screen and he noticed the earnestness and warm compassion exuding from the bearded man’s eyes. He wanted to trust this man, wanted to embrace the humanity he saw there. Ned surprised himself when he noticed his own hand reaching for the vial. His other hand took off the stopper in another stunning development and his eyes widened in shock, as he tasted the fluid within, a fragrant liquid imbued with a flavor reminiscent of berries like those grown in the greenhouse.

            Cube backed away and the video shifted to another recording. The bearded man smiled now, nodding, and began to speak again.

            “We have a few moments before our little elixir takes effect. I’ll take the opportunity to reassure you that this is a critical time, and this first step will greatly aid our hoped-for success.

            “I know you and your predecessors were all born on the ship and were raised in a very focused manner. You spend your lives mostly alone, having only the knowledge necessary to perform your duties. The DivSim keeps you sane and your mind healthy.

            “So what I’m asking you to do will be difficult for you to grasp. But, as I said, it is vitally important that we succeed.”

            Ned began to relax. Memories stirred in his mind. He closed his eyes and allowed his thoughts to roam. Some of what the bearded man said sounded confusing, incomprehensible even, but he felt if he mulled it over long enough, it could start to make some sense.

            “The elixir is like that you were given daily as you grew up. It imparts memory, knowledge, and skills. My elixir will prepare you to expand your role, and give you the tools necessary to do something you would normally never conceive of.”

            Ned opened his eyes and stared at the screen on Cube’s body. “What do you want me to do?” Ned asked with some apprehension.

            The bearded man smiled, and the video shifted to another recording. The man looked serious now, leaning into the camera, and he said:

“We must take control of this ship.”

Sneak Peek: Prologue to Noah's Custodian

Here is your exclusive first look at the newly edited Prologue of my first novel, Noah's Custodian. I wrote it in answer to last November's NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month.

Just a quick aside on the editing: Many authors, especially novices- myself included- use too many words and a passive voice. David Gerrold, in his book Worlds of Wonder: How to Write Science Fiction & Fantasy, details this fault in the chapter "To be or Naught to Be". He advocates writing utilizing what is called E-Prime: banishing the word 'be' in all its iterations in your writing. To do it, you must eliminate these words: "am, is, are, was, were, be, been, being and become" from your prose. I would say it's still OK for dialogue- people use those words all the time in their speech. Try it sometime- it forces you to write better sentences.

If you notice, this post is e-prime.. until just then.. oops! Tougher than you think!

So, without further ado:

PROLOGUE

            In 2058, the governments of the world agreed to fund and develop a way to send enough material, digital archives, and genetic repositories to rebuild civilization as well as the natural world should disaster strike and extinction threaten mankind.

            The desire for indefinite survival of the species after an immense, climate-disrupting volcanic eruption drove the creation of the ARC program, so-named in homage to the biblical story of the Great Flood. The ARC’s design, incorporating the latest in quantum technology, space-time warping and other nascent innovations, enabled travel far from Earth, out of the solar system and into interstellar space. The idea: preserve Earth’s flora and fauna, along with massive digital archives of accumulated knowledge, by sending the vessel far from home and recalling it if civilization faced extinction. The ship also could seed a large settlement on a suitable planet should some cataclysm render Earth uninhabitable.

            Construction of the ship began in 2068 for a launch target of 2080. State of the art factories all over the world, orbital space docks, and newly constructed lunar industrial parks all ran around the clock building components. The ship itself slowly came together on a massive dock that orbited the Moon. Countless issues plagued the project, politicians played political games and engineers conquered myriad technical obstacles, but construction finally completed in 2086.

            Special equipment in the ARC allowed for replication of life from genetic material stored on board- including people. A wide variety of artificial wombs and incubators would grow virtually any animal, as well as humans. Other systems capable of mass producing microorganisms, algae, seeds, pollen, and lower classes of animals ensured humankind’s ability to recreate a huge portion of the ecosystem, either on Earth or another desirable planet. Heralded as the most advanced space vessel ever conceived and the crowning achievement of civilization, amazing technology enabled the storage of the sum total of humankind’s knowledge, arts, and innovation.

            Fully vetted crewmembers, scientists and technicians spent years training, success meaning that they would stay a state of cryogenic hibernation until Earth had need of the ARC, which would only happen if an extinction-level event threatened the planet, or if a millennium went by, what ever came first. Should some disaster destroy the Earth or render it unsuitable for life, the ARC would search for another planet to colonize.

            Many folks felt uncomfortable with only a supercomputer and its robotic personnel fully controlling the ship with no human monitoring, so the project leaders consented to having at least one soul awake, watching over the ship and its artificial captain at all times. Thus, one person would fill the position of ship's custodian, replaced as needed over the years by the baby-making artificial womb. The ship contained a training center and diversion simulator that would teach the children and young adults everything they needed to know, allowing them to fulfill their duties as custodians, with the simulator providing various entertainments and hyper-realistic avenues for social interaction to keep them sane and ward off the inevitable loneliness of their solitary existence.

            Early in 2088, after a massive worldwide tour that served as a hopeful and celebratory send off, the crewmembers settled into their hibernation chambers and soon slipped into a sleep as near to death as possible though still alive. The first ship's custodian, an unmarried loner named Ned, boarded the ship last. He shook hands with some dignitaries, waved at a small crowd watching from a galley within the lunar space dock, and entered the ship. The airlock closed behind him, the anchors released the ship from the dock, and the ship's autopilot (controlled by the ship's unique supercomputer, named Noah by its wistful creators) eased the mammoth ARC out of the dock.

            The dignitaries had suggested that Ned head first to the bridge to get one last glimpse of home, considering he would likely never see it again. Ned did so, standing on the bridge as the ship eased away from the dock, pulled back from the Moon and afforded the custodian a last glorious view of his home world.

            The ship began the slow acceleration out of Earth's vicinity and Ned went about his inaugural duties. The space-time warp drives engaged, a stable wormhole opened up, and the ARC vanished from the solar system.