It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time

[Maharg67]

It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time 58.3[80]

Hunting Down Conspiracies

 

They walked amongst the peoples with Amanda being introduced to some individuals including smart-androids and smart-robots. Only some of the androids were based on humans. The tasks seemed largely to do with taking modular sections, of structures or machines or vehicles, and to remake them in some way; some times this meant upgrading or specialising them with their old general purpose but often this mean fundimentally changing their purpose.

 

"The cubechamber is one kilometre high and wide." He indicated a big cradle where a MoonEagle was in its last stages of being manufactured. "That is a TypeA5 specializing as an ambulance. TypeA1 is general purpose, TypeA2 is special passenger, TypeA3 is special freight and TypeA4 is tanker while you know TypeA5 is ambulance. Those are the new designations, as far as I know."

 

She smiled. "I do know since I helped create them. TypeA6 is general mission defense security. TypeA7 is troopship. TypeA8 is gunship. TypeA9 is attackship. TypeA10 is command. TypeA1s to TypeA5s are lightly armored but can have armor plating added and can be armed with special modules and pods. TypeA6s to Type10s have heavier armor and are always armed but can be more heavily armed with pods. All TypeA MoonEagles can be quite quickly converted to other kinds or can be made more specialised, perhaps creating new designations."

 

He nodded. "With internal time here being faster than external time, we can do so much more than those in the outside. That is a basically upgraded version of a MoonEagle but that is all that was allowed. We intend to equip Lunavina with 100 MoonEagles and Moontown with another 100 MoonEagles but Moontown will get the first ten, Lunavina the next 10 and so on."

 

She smiled. "Give them all to Moontown. It will improve your reputation with your people. We have our own machines that are going to be used by Lunavina Havenlanders. They are MoonRavens. They are less heavily armored, sleeker, faster and have special deflector-reflector fields. They can easily work with MoonEagles."

 

When he showed her the great big MoonCondor, she was impressed. It looked like a MoonEagle enlarged twice over. It was multiple purpose with the capacity to carry huge general purpose, or special purpose, belly modules. All were moderately armored and defensively armed though they could be up armor-armed. So far no specific designations had been created for them, all being classed as TypeAs.

 

There was much more to look at but they had to return to where they were still standing together.

Edited October 4, 2014 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time 59.1[81]

Before Everything Changed; As Things Changed

Kaylee gave a happy manboy, Humphree, a hard plastic model of an Eagle Moonship from the computer graphics generated and live action mixed 3DTV show Moon 299AD. The air of the room was oddly harmonious and quiet, as all chambers in that amazing place were.

The manboy smiled at the practically dressed young woman who wore civil fatigues, boots and a work jacket along with a hat to help disguise the fact that she was an attractive young woman. "The first one duplicated is mine!"

In his colorful, much patched, coveralls and Tshirt he took the gift over to a metallic stone wall dotted with alcoves and, finding an empty one, put it in. At once the toy vanished with the shimmering but Humphree was not concerned. The small alcove filled with blue ice substance and a perfect copy of the toy appeared as a ghostly holographic type image; it would become more solid.

Martha, a mature, tough looking woman stood there in a practical dress, dotted with pockets, and was looked younger than her years thanks to that place. With a frown smile she spoke. "You do spoil them, you know. They will all want to have a copy of the toy."

Kaylee smiled. "They will soon get bored enough with them to share and sharing is more fun when involving games." She kissed Humphree on both of his cheeks. "Where are Aggie, Eggie, Iggie, Oggie and Uggie. Where is Snoots, Andie and the Trouble Triplets?"

Martha smiled. "The little ones are doing special classes with other special babies. Snoots, Andie and the Trouble Triplets are doing odd jobs at the markets."

Outside of that structure it looked like a big old, rather eccentric, mansion on a hill top that had supposedly been built in the late 1800s. It was in the metropolis of Ayers Rock City and from it one could see, in the distance Ayers Rock (Uluru). Truth was it was far older than that and was much bigger inside than outside. It was also from an alternative universe being a TARDIS (Time Alternates and Relative Dimensions Intrinsic to Space). It was damaged and the Timelords living in it were trying to fix it with mixed success. It had been dragged from its home universe, into that alternate one, by a great Timespace Transformation that had altered most of that universe drastically and which was continuing in a more subtle mode.

The GrandTARDIS was a grand transport designed to carry much, many people, and though over a million larger lifeforms dwelt actively in it, along with many other lifeforms, it was mostly empty. There were Timelords, Timelordites and other people from the Alternate Gallifrey that had been destroyed but those billion plus were mostly in deep status cubes, DSCs, at the very core of the GrandTARDIS. There were also others, not spoken of.

 

Martha sighed. "Professor Chronos detonated another H-bomb in the Nuclear Power Absorption Chamber. The GrandTARDIS is now fully charged again at least for another year, local time, while the secondary power reserves are full along with the emergency power reserves. He works so very hard for us all and yet even his great mind can find no real answer to the deep problems facing the GrandTARDIS."

 

Martha, like so many others, was besotted with Chronos. Kaylee, his daughter, considered him to be a monster at worst and an antihero at best. She was far from the only one but they were only a minority though a fair sized one. She smiled and nodded. Humphree did not like the 'Professor' and lost some of his smile. Animals and young children did not seem to like Professor Chronos much.

Edited October 4, 2014 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time 59.2[82]

Before Everything Changed; As Things Changed

Chronos was not the worst of the Timesages, a name she found to be very pretentious, but nor was he the best. Of the thirteen Chronos was one of the Three. The Prime was a mysterious figure known only as AlphaOmega that even other Timesages only got to meet sometimes. The Three got to meet him uncommonly while the Nine got to meet him rarely. All of the Twelve feared him but were also in awe of him though to different degrees. Many of the Twelve also hated him; it was a curious mixture of emotions.

Kaylee looked around the big chamber and at the mostly ornate but basic designed furniture, fittings, decorations and other items including utilities. There were over 4,000,000 Timelords, and other Timefolk, active inside the GrandTARDIS. They were on a world where the Timespace Event was yet to happen that would instigate the Timespace Transformation that would cause the GrandTARDIS to be there before the Timespace Event. It was a timespace dilemma that even the Timesages seemed to have trouble working out, except that is for AlphaOmega.

 

What, who, was AlphaOmega?

 

Did AlphaOmega destroy the original Timelords' home world of Gallifrey of that other alternate universe? If so, why and how? She had come to suspect that the official, common, story of a monstrous invasion was not the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Again, she was far from the only one.

 

Martha spoke. "Some of the wondrous Timesages are helping human cities across Australia and beyond. They have fixed up Perth's dome, have assisted with the flooding of Brisbane and the outbreak of plague in Sydney. They have helped to calm the big riots in Boston. They have helped with the freezing of the Scottish Highlands. Those microdrones are amazing."

 

Kaylee again smiled. What else were those 'amazing microdrones' being used to do?

 

Martha wandered off to do some work, whistling softly with contentment thanks partly to the suppression implant in her brain that stopped her from rebelling against the Timesages. There was only a large minority with the suppression implants and those with out for such implants stopped folk from being efficient law, paramilitary, security or military enforcers; all of those existed in the supposedly amazingly free GrandTARDIS society. There was even a great looking constitution but it had no actual influence over the Timesages and those that served as their immediate underlings. There were other kinds of implants in people, some being just as nasty as the suppression implants. There were others who did not have suppression implants because the implants would interfere with what they did.

 

Kaylee sat with Humphree, on a big comfortable couch, and read him from a picture book until he fell asleep with his head on her lap.

Edited October 4, 2014 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

The Writer

It is raining outside and across the drying, warming up, City every drop is grabbed up by a great network of trays, chutes, pipes and tanks. The ocean is lapping against the City's sea-walls that are being raised higher even as he pauses in his writing. The 3Dflatscreen flickers just a little but there is very little chance of it being replaced if it goes. There is a growing list of shortages even with large scale recycling, reuse and repair networks functioning. Land fill is being dug up and efficiently searched for resources. Even human corpses are not sacrosanct any more.

The City is slowly dying!

So why is he even bothering to write his silly story?

Soon he will go out and do some civil work to earn his meagre rations and emergency payments. As it is he gives some of his rations to his only neighbors, a woman with two children who has sex with him because she does not like to 'owe anything to any man'. Still, she seems to like him and her warmth to him seems to be growing.

He turns his swivel office-chair, picks up a half carved small block of wood and does some carving for a while as he creates another chess piece for the older child, a teenage girl with a love of chess. The piece will be a knight but made individually special.

Suppose there is hope? The new solar power desalination plants are cheaper, more efficient, than older kinds and protected from corruption. They are supplying much safe water for the public. The rising waters are often being piped downwards into special hydro-electric power generating networks that feed the desalination plants. The oceans are recovering life faster than expected now that many humans have died or have left the world or are in long term status waiting for the world to improve.

That is the very last city but it is the biggest city that has ever existed, on that world, or so it is believed.

The desk telephone rings. Mobile telephones are rationed and calls are monitored. He has an illegal one that he has hidden away for emergencies in the quite old 'minimansion'. He picks it up and is 'surprised' to learn that he has gained both a promotion and a wage rise with his civil work. He is never really surprised and his uncommon computer skills have at last been noted by the over worked, underpaid, generally not so efficient and often petty corrupt public service. He is to meet with a woman supervisor who will come to his minimansion home to give him the details; she is attractive, fairly young, and it is odd that she should come to his place but he just shrugs it off.

[Maharg67]

It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time 60.1[83]
Hunting Down Conspiracies

The Lifeship slipstreamed through space, barely seen as a semitransparent phantom of itself, and carried an important cargo from the Northern Polar Havenlands to Lunavina. It had visited the new Havenlander Terran Low Orbital Spacestation Liberty that was twice the size of either of the spacestationships. It was parked in a stable orbital position between Terra and Luna. The sudden, surprise, revealing of its existence had not pleased many people of the Known Ordered World.

The Empress, who was actually thirteen women of which Amanda was one of the Nine, in the great ancient Lifeship was one of the Three. She was ancient, though nowhere near as ancient as the Lifeship, and mindlinked with it as few could do safely. Both could 'sense' increasing danger.

Two blackships escorted the Lifeship being smaller, by about a third, but deadlier in some ways. They cloaked themselves totally. They also could detect Graytari in their lethal stalkerships that were dangerous to use just as they were dangerous to others. Few, such as the Graytari, were insane enough to operate the bizarre strikerships that slipped interphase through timespace, ever risking destruction from phase surges and other natural phenomena.

 

Yet five stalkerships came attacking, slipping interphase that made them harder to detect and to destroy, as they deployed drones that slipped out of interphase and into standard timespace. One blackship hurled a blast of energies that struck interphase so that a stalkership exploded-imploded. The second blackship fired off a volley of counter attack drones that destroyed the enemy drones with dramatic zigzag movements and strikes.

 

A stalkership exploded-imploded as a natural phase surge got to it.

 

From the lifeship came blasts of well aimed energies that quickly destroyed two more stalkerships but as this happened a sneak attack of pulsebeams struck a blackship, damaging it, even as the last stalkership was destroyed.

 

There were more stalkerships coming in two waves of five each.

 

Then it was there, a burning shimmering sphere of golden-white light that stabbed through the phases, that darted with amazing speed, that swept away the ten stalkerships into oblivion. It reached out and repaired the blackship easily and then it escorted all three Havenlander, elite quasiliving, vessels to Lunavina.

 

It was more than just a ship but was a thing of living-gods and that it had helped was good but that it could, would, intervene into mortal affairs meant that something very extreme was happening.

Edited October 6, 2014 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time 61.1[84]

Hunting Down Conspiracies

Jane Bond had gained important information that had its real importance because it filled in vital gaps with what was already known. The young man had already proven some real trust with the Cult Conspiracy and had known of a hidden AraAncient Complex found centuries ago by the conspiracy. The Maharg Foundation, who hired Jane Bond, had been hunting for it for a very long time but now they had found the location to be beneath the Vatican itself. It turned out that the Trifaith Church knew about the complex but had sealed it off as a 'site of the Devil'. Corruption, in the Trifaith Church, had led to a deal with the Cult Conspiracy that was a traditional enemy of the Trifaithful while the two had always had secret links.

Black clad Jane made her way, with a platoon of black clad supersoldiers, through ancient catacombs full of victims of the last of the Trifaithful Inquisitions, that is mass torture murders. It had turned into a secret war with megahumans, and allies, striking down Trifaithful fanatics in increasing numbers. A new Trifaithful Pope had ended the Inquisition, after the one before him was assassinated. She saw the need to cease an action that the Trifaithful were losing and that was turning many others against them, most who were not being targeted by the Inquisition. One of the few female Popes who ever sat upon the Holy Throne, Pope Savina made some important reforms to the church before she was badly wounded, in one of many assassination attempts, and forced to retire. After her came a series of moderate Popes, she being seen as 'radical', but then came the current Pope Karl who was very conservative and who saw Pope Savina's reforms as needing to be scrapped.

Why the FEAR Supersoldiers, the FTroopers? Because there were threats down there below the Vatican of more than one kind.

The catacomb tunnels had been made big to allow pony-carts, and big hand-carts, to be used in them with some maneuverability. This allowed Jane, and the FTroopers, some space to spread out into a proper battle formation. There were subtle signs that others had been busy in the area apart from large, well protected, groups of maintenance workers serving the Trifaithful Church. The 'workers' were fanatical monks-nuns who served much in exchange for very little but there were whispers of worse serving the Trifaith in such places.

 

She liked the netclones and got on well with them and they liked her in return but the First Encounter Assault Recon served the Maharg Family with fanatical loyalty. They worked through the Maharg Foundation and often with the service-support of the Maharg Corporation.

 

The five bodies, of Trifaithful Holyguards, were in gray combat fatigues and black body-armor except for two who had been stripped of the body-armor. They had all been looted of weapons and other items. Jane crouched amongst the five dead and utilised her esper abilities as a powermutant. She spoke. "The five were a roaming patrol killed by some kind of psionic mind blast. They were then looted by others dwelling down here that I expect are mutie Fringers."

 

Such Fringers had come from German Nazi experiments carried out back in World War Two in the amazingly big, and complicated, Roman Catacombs that dated way back before the Ancient Roman Empire to when Rome was just one small Citystate amongst many others. With strange abilities they were impossible to find in an environment that they grew up knowing very well. Trifaithful charity did help them survive for the Trifaith Church did do actual good works around the world though not as many as it could have afforded to do.

 

Jane led them further, carefully using her ESP to try to track other presences. The FTroopers were hard to track using psychic means. They had many stealth modes.

Edited October 4, 2014 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time 61.2[85]

Hunting Down Conspiracies

They came to a heavy metal security gate that had been heavily locked; it had been ripped open as if it was made of flimsy material, with apparent ease. It had been smashed open from the inside the secured off area. Beyond that the catacombs were much less maintained because very large, very well protected, groups went there only rarely.

 

Jane reached out carefully and the frightened muties came out, pale despite the use of UV-lamps given to them by the Trifaithful. Some of them looked surprisingly 'normal' for humans. All had special psychic abilities, were true powermutants. All were in various sets of clothing. Two wore looted body-armor and five carried AKM16A2 autorifles, including the two with body-armor.

 

Jane spoke out. "We would like your assistance. My name is Jane Stirling."

 

One of them, a tallish woman, shook her head. "Jane Bond is your name. You kill people."

 

Jane nodded. "Only when I have to. I kill those such as members of the Cult Conspiracy who would sacrifice muties and Neonazies who would kill you because you are muties along with those who would enslave you for illegal human circuses and zoos."

 

The woman nodded. "I am Tess of Roma Hiroo. The gate is open now but such gates never did fully secure the place where the AraAncients had their strange place. We Fringers know how to get there but it is dangerous to get there and we rarely go. Two of us will guide you in exchange for goods for our people. What the Trifaithful give us is helpful but never as much as we need so we have long ago found other ways to support ourselves."

 

Jane nodded. "Like illegal tours through forbidden parts of the catacombs."

 

Tess shrugged. "Stupid humans would part with good monies so that they can get cheap thrills walking actually safer parts of the forbidden area of the catacombs. We put in some false tricks for them such as made up deformed muties and such like."

 

Jane nodded. "We will give your people a large supply of top quality goods and services. We will follow you."

 

The group was soon moving on with two Fringers going with them. The others vanished to join a bigger group, of their kind, that Jane had 'sensed' had been close to the smashed gate. They were soon leaving that gate behind, were going into areas dotted with exotic statues from the secret past of the Trifaith Church. Considering the look of them, the naked vulgarity they often displayed, Jane could hardly blame the Tripopes for not wanting most to see them. One of the three religions, that had blended to become the Trifaith, had a worshipped a strange link between death, sex and birth-rebirth.

 

They came to the very edges of an ancient underground temple, in an area of just as ancient catacombs, where forbidden Roman Gods, and Goddesses, were shown doing depraved things in the form of statues and other forms of artwork. There were sacrificial alters for animals and humans along with a big stone stage for orgies of dark celebration, which would probably have been covered with matting of some kind and even cushions.

Edited October 4, 2014 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

For the sake of religious, social, sensitivities I am renaming the Popes in my stories to become the Tripopes.

[Maharg67]

It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time 62.1[86]

Choosing a Dark Path

 

Graham Maharg stood at the very spot where the former Cardinal, one Barringja, had vanished. The True Eternal did not have to crouch to examine the black marks there for he knew what they represented and that was much trouble. He knew it had always had to come to this despite all efforts to stop it from happening. The Timespace Event that should not have happened, should not be happened, should not happen in the future, was continuing though in theory in was but one moment in time and one place in space. Existence was both amazingly complicated and yet subtle.

 

The creation of the Known Ordered World, the barriers that contained it while safeguarding it, was meant to keep that kind of entity from intruding into the 'safe zone'. The great walls were but part of those 'barriers' for most were more than invisible to the mortal eye.

 

Triggered responses? There were exotic time bombs inside many 'things' of worlds that should not exist but did so anyway and in the worlds themselves. Not everything, thankfully.

 

The long prepared plan would have to be put into motion despite that a few were concerned it was not ready to instigate. Graham Maharg considered them to be perfectionists and those who feared who feared too much what would happen when the Salvation Plan was put into action; some were both. Yet the majority would support instigation for, even as he stood there, the Elder Council would be learning of what had happened.

 

It was ironic that it was linked to such a limited mortal as Barringja who was so full of hatred, arrogance and a profound lack of wisdom or even common sense. Except that such a choice made its own logic and the fool would not be the last to be chosen, taken, tested, transformed and perhaps returned. Not all would return for only a small minority would pass the tests and then only a small minority of those would pass the transforming processes. The failed ones would be used in other ways and that was a pity despite the dark natures of those who were of the choosing kind.

 

The Shadowman stood there, scowling. "This is not our doing though the ShadowEmpire is but a shadow thrown by the one that troubles you as it troubles us. The Shadowlords send word that they would not be willingly absorbed again by the Shadowgods. The ShadowEmperor, and ShadowEmpress, express concerns that we might not be given a choice in the matter."

 

Graham Maharg turned to the Shadowman. "Some amongst you would betray the others for they long to return to the absorption of the Great Shadow that is more than the Shadowgoddess and her Shadowgods. But you know that already. Be more straight forward with me in future if you want my assistance and do not test me again."

 

The Shadowman nodded. "I give forward my true name as a gesture of honesty." He whispered it quickly as if fearing that anybody else, other than Graham Maharg, might hear it. "I have some important information for you concerning treachery and cunning plans."

 

Graham Maharg did not bother to confess that he had already known the 'true name' of the Shadowman. "Speak, speak well, and I will grant your Shadowfaction important resources for your cause."

 

The Shadowman did though speaking honestly, straight forwardly, went against his nature.

Edited October 6, 2014 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

The Writer

 

The Writer applied his mind to sorting story directions, to making sure that the story plot was not becoming too complicated; he knows that this is a weakness of his that has shown up in too many past story attempts. So he considers what he has written and words emerge.

 

Overall Story is based on the mystery of the Timespace Event and the Timespace Transformation that came from it.

 

Overall Story is based on a deep secret conflict going on between very exotic and powerful forces but there are also exotic, powerful, balancing forces.

 

Only a few factions are of primary focus, importance, and there is a need to keep it so even if the focus shifts.

 

There must be a strong balance between the Overall Story and the Episodes.

 

The Writer pauses and sighs, wondering why writing is often so difficult. A story in his mind always seems 'perfect' but then the process of getting it onto paper breaks the illusion.

 

He sits back in his comfortable armchair with a large, friendly leapard curled up sleeping at his feet and two big ginger tabby house cats sleeping on his lap. Above him, through a skylight, a metallic silvery airship passes majestically overhead with big 3Dscreens advertising the mass production of new, cheap or free, highly nutritional food stuffs. Somehow he knows, in the back of his mind, that he had something to do with this.

 

He wishes that all of his influences, of the kind, had been as good; the Writer does not dwell on the meaning, the implications, of those thoughts but shuts out his past as he has so often done before.