Lorinda J. Taylor

#SciFiSat [no #raincoats but plenty of rain] #vss365

#SciFiSat [1/6] Soon the Wet Time would arrive; it was not the best time for waging a war, but if the shwei’na’vrun’zei| chose to fight in the mud and the downpours, the Marchers would show them how it was done!
#vss365

#SciFiSat [2/6] Fog made the enemy’s poison worse, but a driving rain washed it out of the air. That could be an advantage.
The Cohorts were deployed in the clearing all around the fortress. All we could do was settle in and wait for whatever might happen next.
#vss365

#SciFiSat [3/6] The inactivity was starting to strain the patience of the Commanders. There was not enough brush or easily obtainable stone or even a sufficient workforce to build shelters for the entire army and the rain was getting on everyone’s nerves.
#vss365

#SciFiSat [4/6] Zhu’zi’a’ro’a called a War Council where everyone wrangled over the next step. Some wanted to persevere for another 12 days, some thought all troops should withdraw until the rain lessened, and some thought part of the army should pull back to Vu’rak’vit’cha.
#vss365

#SciFiSat [5/6] It rained during the darktime, but dawn revealed a dappled sky and some misty sun. One eye of the Nameless One peeped between the clouds, then dodged behind a peak and disappeared. I had offered to serve as an Eye-Sentry on the wall…
#vss365

#SciFiSat [6/6] Then I saw Lug’tei’a posture up toward the sky and I took its sending. “Holy beloved Nameless One! I summon blessing from your sky!”
And as if in answer there came a flash of lightning and the ground shuddered with thunder! And it began to pour rain!
#vss365

#SciFiFri [A medical drill is underway.] “You’ll have to take off your clothes, tho. That doesn’t waste any power.”
“Goddam.”
“You want us to play our part, don’t you? You want to judge how your medical staff reacts to this kind of emergency.”
“Aw, I already know what you can do.”

#SciFiFri When Kibby popped into MedBay a few minutes later, he found his disgruntled commander installed in a scanning bed, clutching a blue-and-white striped blanket over a skimpy green gown. “Congratulations, Robbie!” said Kibby. “You figured out a way for the Captain to be truly off duty!”

#SciFiFri “Aw, phoo. This is a drill – only a drill.”
“And I’m in command. What’s next?”
“Don’t you wish you knew?”
“Do I dare ask who’s running the simulation?”
“Linna and Avi, down in Emergency Control.”

#SciFiFri Ian nodded briefly. “I’ll still have to come to MedBay every eight hours to continue the burn treatment and to make sure there are no complications from the concussion.”
“Makes sense. We’ve got the best Medical Officer in existence, what?”
“Definitely.”

#SciFiFri “It would sure be nice if Ens. Tampakis could come up here and fix the SS2000 and the bone regenerator for our Medical Officer. So now just keep cool, do your jobs, and let us Bridge Officers take care of our potential friends [i.e., Big Alien Birds!] out there. Captain out.”

#WedsStory [1/6] The exterior lighting was turned off early in the village to conserve power, so it was velvety dark in the clearing among the palm trees and the sky looked like a big game field on a port, with markers on it so thick the pointer would never be able to pick them all out.

#WedsStory [2/6] They were approaching the lights of the rail terminal, and Sterling stopped suddenly and crouched down before Robbie, taking him by the shoulders and looking into his face. “You’re going to have a new name now, too, my little son.”

#WedsStory [3/6] “A new name?” he repeated, feeling as though his whole world were heaving and dropping under his feet.
“From now on, you won’t be Roberto Vargas any longer. You’ll be Robbin Nikalishin.”
“Oh … Can I still be Robbie?”

#WedsStory [4/6] “Epsilon Eridani is the nearest star that they know for sure has planets around it. They probably aren’t like Earth, but just the same … And it’s only 10.5 light years away.”
“Ye know how horrible far a #light year is, Robbie?”

#WedsStory [5/6] “What sort of engines will the thing have?” said Kolm.
“Some kind of ultra-super physics thing that lets you travel faster than #light. I don’t think it’s been invented yet.
“Oh, well, then, it’s tomorrow we’ll be goin’, or the next day at the latest!”

#WedsStory [6/6] “The term with which you will all become intimately familiar is the Temporal Quantum Unit, or TQU. One standard TQU equals 1
#light year per sidereal day of real time. Thus, at a speed of 1 TQU, a star that is 10 light years away could be reached in 10 days.”

#1linewed The meal concluded with #spice cake frosted with delectable praline crème and decorated with Annemika Vandemier’s famous electric candles, which Emmie recycled for each birthday.

#1linewed Robbie turned into the empty Mess, which seemed undamaged except for overturned chairs and some scattered tableware. However, he detected an incongruous smell of cinnamon and he stepped into the Galley. “Emmie? What happened? Did your #spice cabinet break open?”

#1linewed [1/2] [Robbie returns to Eira for Krismess.] There were the candles and the garlands, and a big bowl of apples and pears on the sofa table, and a smell of baking bread and fragrant #spices coming from the kitchen.

#1linewed [2/2] “It’s gonna be goose tomorrow,” Joanna was saying. “Do ye remember how ye feared we’d cooked the goose ye’d made friends with?”
“Sure, I remember that,” said Robbie, “and I’m just as glad I haven’t met any of your birds this time around!”

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“So we triumph!” cried Lug’tei’a, with a shivering of wings and #clash of mandibles. “And so will we ever! The Sky Mother leads her loyal Warriors to eternal victory! She is great and terrible and crushes those who oppose her will!
#vss365

The Marchers had shielded the Nasutes from enemies to the south for longer than they could remember, and it was only in recent times that they had #clashed with the plains dwellers.
#vss365

Our Champion managed to keep Ar’dai aloft for the longest interval yet, even though it twisted and cursed wildly, #clashing its mandibles from side to side. It was as if the power being drained from Ar’dai was passing into its opponent!
#vss365

[A giant centipede guards the Holy Root] The mandibles consisted of plates hinged at the sides and both they and the labium bore rows of short, grinding teeth! These three jaws were #clashing and working furiously as it cast its head about and darted it at Ki’shto’ba.
#vss365

#MartialMonday [1/4] It was unlike any reptile I had ever seen. It had long, slender, muscular legs and a lengthened, flexible neck tipped by a narrow head. Slitted yellow eyes glared at us above a snout cracked open to display thin, sharp teeth.

#MartialMonday [2/4] This creature had finely grained #scales beautifully mottled with spots of green and yellow and brown, shading to a soft tan on its underparts.

#MartialMonday [3/4] It was a thap’ar’zei| – one of those creatures we had first seen attending to Bu’gan’zei’s speaking, only this was a much larger specimen! They have beautiful integuments, with small, fine scales mottled with yellow and green and tan, and even red and gold.