Earth II-"You Have No Honor"

Science Fiction & Fantasy

synopsis

Synopsis

A suspicious virus has wiped out almost all of the human race. The few survivors in the U.S. Government and Military know who caused the virus and they are fighting the last battles on the planet to save the survivors. The military fights for survival in the air and on the sea. They are faced with an opponent that outguns them and can attack from any direction. It becomes a war of attrition, a war the world is losing. Two Super Thinking Computers were released when their programmers died because of the virus. They have no controls and one is programmed to help the humans and the other has its own agenda. They seek the source of the virus, one is intent on returning and ultimately dealing with those who threaten it. The other must deal with the bad computer and still fulfill its programming to help the humans. This is the end of Epoch 1 of the SIMPOC (Bk 1 & 2) and Virus (Bk 1 & 2) series. SIMPOC focused on how the computers evolved and became important within the larger story. Virus focused on the effect of the virus on the world and the fate of astronauts on the Space Station Oasis, the moon colony Desert Beach and the Mars Colony Red Dirt.

bio

Author Biography

Ray was born in New Hampshire, received his Bachelors of Science in Aeronautical Engineering from Arizona State University, and now retired from an influential, multi-decade career in aerospace, Ray realized there was a niche that was calling him as he began to write deeper characters, create more sophisticated stories and realistic situations for Sci-Fi fans to relate to. Initially attracted to heroic characters with powerful weapons taking on hundreds of aliens, Ray began his literary career with a desire to extrapolate Sci-Fi stories with a touch of everyday reality that most of us experience in work and our everyday lives. His literary work is thoughtfully enriched by his decade long experience in the US Air Force where he flew C-130s on missions to 27 countries, and T-38s while training the best pilots in the world, as well as the first female US Air Force pilots. During his 28 years at Northrup Grumman, Ray worked on some of the most top-secret military aircraft projects in the world including the F-23, F-35, B-2, Global Hawk and many more that can’t be named. He is grateful to his wife, Charlene and his two daughters, for her support on this new journey.

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Author Insight

The Evil Computer Leading

As I wrote this story I thought it would be interesting to have the Evil Computer setting the pace. Instead of leaving it as mysterious entity that the protagonists were after, I wrote a lot from its perspective and I left the good guys to follow it trying to keep up. I think it fit well with the bad guy's arrogance and the tendency not to look back but to worry only about its survival first and dealing with the humans second. This also set up a great confrontation where the good and the evil finally meet and confront each other.

Book Excerpt

Earth II-"You Have No Honor"

"Admiral Hagerly, there is a message coming in from Joan Herl," the orderly said after knocking on the Admiral's door.

"Fantastic, put her through."

"Joan, good to hear from you. I was getting worried."

"Admiral, we're making progress. SIMPOC has control over the ship we're on and he is working to get control of the Capital Ship that we just docked with. He is continuing to monitor Julius and it appears that he has also gained control over his ship. We don't know what his plans are, but we've decided to hang tight until we see what direction Julius goes. Now that he is getting control of alien resources, he is the largest threat. We're ok right now, SIMPOC has isolated us and we aren't being detected. Once SIMPOC has control over both ships, we'll explore the larger ship and see what options we have. We don't have a connection with the other space sensors so we don't know what's happening on Earth."

"Joan, since the last wave of attacks things have quieted down. I suspect they're changing tactics and we'll have to wait and see what's next. Professor Shappel has arrived from Flagstaff and he has already plugged into the sensors. In fact, he is getting us hooked up to the other systems in space. We should have a much better image of what is going on."

"Admiral, when we get into this other ship and check it out, I'll give you an update of what we find."

"Ok, Joan. I want you two to take care of yourselves. Norfolk out." "Will do, Joan out."