Science Fiction: Welcome to my Worlds

Father’s stasis capsule in one hour.”

A shorter pause, then, “We will be ready.”

Nate fought to repress a triumphant grin. It only took him forty five minutes to wake a startled junior engineer, load an empty stasis capsule with sand-filled bags approximating the mass of his father, and get it back to the ship. The befuddled look on the engineer’s face alone was priceless. He was really going to enjoy this.

When the ship was clear of the atmosphere of Silverstone, Nate dropped his next bomb. “Anon One, initiate random destination. Allow one week travel parameter at maximum speed.”

There was another pause then, “Random, sir? Maximum speed? Is that wise?”

“Must you question every order?” Nate was beginning to long for the company of Chives. At least he did what he was told, even if he obviously didn’t approve.

“Your father will survive if we emerge in the core of a star but you and I will not. Please confirm the command.”

“Er… Use all necessary safety protocols, of course.”

“Of course, sir.”


The X-Files: I Want to Believe (Single-Disc Edition)

manipulate. After all, why would it expect dishonesty from someone with high-level Silverstone authorization, even if he wasn’t quite the top?

“Cancel query. Time is pressing. Prepare Anon One for liftoff in one hour.”

“Present authorization.”

Nate knew that was coming. “Alpha One authorization is not currently possible. A threat has been made to his life so Father has been placed in a keyed stasis capsule as a protective measure. We must remove him to an undisclosed system a quickly as possible for his safety. I came directly to you because he always says you are the fastest and most loyal of the fleet.” A little butter-up never hurt even for disembodied A.I.’s, Nate figured.

There was a pause of several seconds. For an A.I. it must have been practically an eternity of agonizing thought. “I must perform a retinal scan to verify…”

“It is too dangerous to nullify the stasis even for the milliseconds required for a retinal scan. He must be moved off-planet as quickly as possible. My authority is second only to my Father.” True enough, since his Mom had died almost six years ago. “I invoke emergency over-ride of previous commands on my Alpha Three authorization. Make the ship ready to depart immediately. I will return with


The Road Warrior DVD

“I’ve already given you my authorization.” Was this A.I. a moron?

“Alpha One authorization required.”

Ohhh. A glimmer of light was beginning to dawn now. He’d been looking for the most average, least noticeable ship in the fleet and, apparently, his Father had at least occasional use for such a vessel himself. The sly old fox. Maybe he wasn’t quite the boring stuffed shirt Nate had always assumed.

Adrenaline raced through his veins. This was going to be a better adventure than he’d thought. Doing something you knew you weren’t supposed to was always more fun. But how to convince the ship to let him take it out? If it wouldn’t give him information on what the ship had been used for without authorization from his Father, then it surely wasn’t going to let him fly it out of the spaceport without his permission.

While the ship A.I. waited patiently for him to present authorization, Nate’s mind raced furiously considering, and discarding, possibility after possibility. He was no diplomat, because he’d never had the patience to master the art of tact, but he was usually quite good at persuading others to do what he wanted if he really put his mind to it. Hopefully an A.I. would be even easier to


The Time Machine DVD

outside, but he’d bet it was fast enough to do the job and almost certain not to have a back-talking A.I. nanny. It would do.

The ship identification code was smaller than usual and Nate had to walk halfway around the ship to locate it. He spoke into the voice receptor beside the airlock, “Ship Anon One open airlock for boarding. Authorization Silverstone Alpha Three.

A crisp robotic voice replied. “Voice print verified. Prepare for retinal scan.”

Nate was so startled he blinked as the low power laser beam probed his eye, causing an error beep that made him jump. Even his personal ship didn’t bother with that level of security. The hatch slid open and his flaring nostrils caught the scent of stale air with a faint whiff of a trace of ammonia. But the revealed view of the inside of the nondescript ship left him entirely speechless. It was far from average and gleaming new. Some of the equipment he didn’t even recognize. This was no freighter or even a normal corporate vessel.

“What is this ship?”

“Designation: Anon One.”

“I know that. What is it used for?”

“Present authorization.”


Knowing DVD

harness and, it felt like, bruising his eyeballs as they tried to pop out of his skull. Smart aleck A.I. He certainly hadn’t told it to do that. It could use some lessons in manners from his butler Chives. Nate raised his arm and almost spoke the words to summon the old family robot… then thought better of it. Chives would certainly try to talk him out of his adventure while he was at it. Not worth it.

Nate swung himself out of the flyer… and cracked his chin on the door as his legs collapsed under him. Whooo. That was fun, but probably not something he’d want to do again for a while.

Still a bit unsteady on his feet, he stumbled down the line of ships. He looked at his sleek and flashy personal ship and then, only a little regretful, decided to take one of the others. His would just be too conspicuous… not to mention having a built in A.I. ‘nanny’ that was worse than Chives. After all, they were all technically his. Or his Father’s anyway.

He didn’t want anything too clunky but… His eye was caught by a ship that was practically the soul of average. Not too old or too new. Not too big or too small. It could pass as a freighter, a passenger ship, or even a corporate cruiser. You couldn’t really tell from the


Firefly: The Complete Series [Blu-ray]

Rider
by Don (copyright 2009)

Prologue

What Nate really needed was a radical change of scenery and he was pretty sure how he could get it. “Transport,” he said in the general direction of his armband. Ten seconds later a silver egg-shaped hovercraft whooshed to a stop beside him.


The hatch clicked shut cutting off the hail of one of his female admirers. “Nathaniel, darling. I’ve been looking for…”


“Spaceport. Emergency speed over-ride. Maximum.” Real fun beckoned and he knew she just wanted him to help her make high-status rugrats anyway. The women of Silverstone were so predictable.

“Sir, that will violate several…” the car began its expected protest.

“Authorization, Silverstone Alpha Three. Execute now.” A crash harness snapped around Nate and he fought off the blackness as the acceleration drained the blood from his brain. He forced oxygen into his lungs in gasping heaves, in spite of the crushing heaviness on his chest.

The flyer slammed to a halt throwing him against the


Firefly - The Complete Series DVD