Showing posts with label Sergio "ente per ente" PALUMBO. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sergio "ente per ente" PALUMBO. Show all posts
The Find
By Sergio PALUMBO ( nickname: "ente per ente" )
Facts are often weirder than fiction, and some finds are even more unpredictable than others…As an experienced Archaeologist, Bill well knew that. Soldier, Mercenary, Adventurer and Traveler, the man had been “playing” all those many roles during his life and finally he had learned how to gain a good outcome from that.
After completing his PhD at 26, the man had been spending some time out in various parks, surveying historic sites and sometimes excavating artifacts and other ancient remains. That way, he had stumbled on some very weird finds which had began making him think about the way to get the most from those…
Bill had always been an active scholar and enjoyed research so- as he liked to engage students in the process-among his many appointments, he had organized several courses about archaeological excavations in the desert and was almost going to become an Associate Professor at one important Faculty of Science and Anthropology abroad.But he was forty-six years old by then, his hair had begun turning white- even though he was still good-looking…- and he knew he had other roads to walk for sure… The man had had varied and amusing experiences on the field here and there,too: he had worked closely with American Indians, Australian Aboriginal, Japanese Ainu, and so on and many of his discoveries had made him well- off, even though not so famous, as they had been included into some private collections whose legality could be considered- at least- “dubious” ,indeed
After all, Archaeologists usually helped to study and preserve the history and cultural heritage from the past by making sure that important man- made features from ancient times were protected and could be understood, shared and appreciated from other people.Well, that wasn’t exactly what Bill did…he acted differently, in a way…much differently…
Many people were usually interested in Archaeology, as they thought it was continuously filled with constant excitement. In reality, however, the excavation process was commonly very slow and time- consuming, involving strenuous work in grueling heat. Many of them surely would have given up if only had tried anyway…
So,it had been a long excavation work which had taken him exactly to his place, where he was now, in the middle of nothing, within the Acacus Mountains mountain range,deep into Lybia, under the insufferable sun.Here he was, after sending to the tents all the personnel involved, just to stay alone, in peace.
Because he had something important to do…for himself…
The common legend has it that even the famous writer Frederick Pohl had found during the 50s some interesting and unexpected archaeological finds in Arizona and gave immediately news to a famous Museum which, on the contrary, made everything disappear then and arranged so that afterwards the access to that area was prohibited to everyone…True or not, such finds had never been heard of since then…
Who knows?Maybe the “impossible” object Bill was keeping in his hands at present would have been able to rewrite Mankind’s History in many ways…Whoever had built it? When, exactly? And what were those strange drawings on its ornate surface? They resembled a sort of regular, incomprehensible language, maybe even numbers with orbits and stars….
The Archaeologist had learned many years ago not to make too many questions about that sort of thing… money, and especially his personal income, were much more profitable and interesting, obviously… he had only to examine attentively the find, figure out its overall potential and the value it could get on the right market…then the next step was finding the appropriate buyer, of course…
He made a shot by means of his digital mini-camera, sent it to the appointed buyer via cell phone – just to prove its authenticity…- and kept waiting for some minutes under the sun which was inundating the site he was in at present…
The reply was fast at getting to him…Ok, the image sent was quite enough for the guy at the other end of the world…So the amount shown on the display as the price for doing what he had to do was adequate for him, too…
Soon after, Bill set fire to the object in order to destroy the drawings on it, broke the burnt thing into many pieces and placed them into an hole where he launched a hand grenade to be sure nothing from that could survive around…He meticulously filmed the whole process by means of his phone and sent the brief but accurate video to the buyer. A few minutes after, an alarm coming from the display informed him that his bank account had received the money agreed for his actions…
At times, it was more profitable to keep something secret and hidden forever or even to destroy that…it was only a question of finding the right person interested, of course…
Bill sneered. As the saying goes ”Speech is silver…” or as the man liked better "…but silence is golden…”
- - -
"I'm an Italian public servant who graduated from Law School working in the public real estates branch. I've published a Fantasy RolePlaying illustrated Manual, WarBlades, of more than 400 pages.Some of my works and short- stories have been published on American Aphelion Webzine,WeirdYear Webzine, YesterYearFiction,Another Realm Magazine, AlienSkin Magazine and will appear soon on Antipodean SF Magazine. I am also a scale modeler who likes mostly Science Fiction and Real Space models, some of my little Dioramas has been shown also on American site StarShipModeler or MechaModelComp and SFM: UK site.
By Sergio PALUMBO ( nickname: "ente per ente" )
Facts are often weirder than fiction, and some finds are even more unpredictable than others…As an experienced Archaeologist, Bill well knew that. Soldier, Mercenary, Adventurer and Traveler, the man had been “playing” all those many roles during his life and finally he had learned how to gain a good outcome from that.
After completing his PhD at 26, the man had been spending some time out in various parks, surveying historic sites and sometimes excavating artifacts and other ancient remains. That way, he had stumbled on some very weird finds which had began making him think about the way to get the most from those…
Bill had always been an active scholar and enjoyed research so- as he liked to engage students in the process-among his many appointments, he had organized several courses about archaeological excavations in the desert and was almost going to become an Associate Professor at one important Faculty of Science and Anthropology abroad.But he was forty-six years old by then, his hair had begun turning white- even though he was still good-looking…- and he knew he had other roads to walk for sure… The man had had varied and amusing experiences on the field here and there,too: he had worked closely with American Indians, Australian Aboriginal, Japanese Ainu, and so on and many of his discoveries had made him well- off, even though not so famous, as they had been included into some private collections whose legality could be considered- at least- “dubious” ,indeed
After all, Archaeologists usually helped to study and preserve the history and cultural heritage from the past by making sure that important man- made features from ancient times were protected and could be understood, shared and appreciated from other people.Well, that wasn’t exactly what Bill did…he acted differently, in a way…much differently…
Many people were usually interested in Archaeology, as they thought it was continuously filled with constant excitement. In reality, however, the excavation process was commonly very slow and time- consuming, involving strenuous work in grueling heat. Many of them surely would have given up if only had tried anyway…
So,it had been a long excavation work which had taken him exactly to his place, where he was now, in the middle of nothing, within the Acacus Mountains mountain range,deep into Lybia, under the insufferable sun.Here he was, after sending to the tents all the personnel involved, just to stay alone, in peace.
Because he had something important to do…for himself…
The common legend has it that even the famous writer Frederick Pohl had found during the 50s some interesting and unexpected archaeological finds in Arizona and gave immediately news to a famous Museum which, on the contrary, made everything disappear then and arranged so that afterwards the access to that area was prohibited to everyone…True or not, such finds had never been heard of since then…
Who knows?Maybe the “impossible” object Bill was keeping in his hands at present would have been able to rewrite Mankind’s History in many ways…Whoever had built it? When, exactly? And what were those strange drawings on its ornate surface? They resembled a sort of regular, incomprehensible language, maybe even numbers with orbits and stars….
The Archaeologist had learned many years ago not to make too many questions about that sort of thing… money, and especially his personal income, were much more profitable and interesting, obviously… he had only to examine attentively the find, figure out its overall potential and the value it could get on the right market…then the next step was finding the appropriate buyer, of course…
He made a shot by means of his digital mini-camera, sent it to the appointed buyer via cell phone – just to prove its authenticity…- and kept waiting for some minutes under the sun which was inundating the site he was in at present…
The reply was fast at getting to him…Ok, the image sent was quite enough for the guy at the other end of the world…So the amount shown on the display as the price for doing what he had to do was adequate for him, too…
Soon after, Bill set fire to the object in order to destroy the drawings on it, broke the burnt thing into many pieces and placed them into an hole where he launched a hand grenade to be sure nothing from that could survive around…He meticulously filmed the whole process by means of his phone and sent the brief but accurate video to the buyer. A few minutes after, an alarm coming from the display informed him that his bank account had received the money agreed for his actions…
At times, it was more profitable to keep something secret and hidden forever or even to destroy that…it was only a question of finding the right person interested, of course…
Bill sneered. As the saying goes ”Speech is silver…” or as the man liked better "…but silence is golden…”
- - -
"I'm an Italian public servant who graduated from Law School working in the public real estates branch. I've published a Fantasy RolePlaying illustrated Manual, WarBlades, of more than 400 pages.Some of my works and short- stories have been published on American Aphelion Webzine,WeirdYear Webzine, YesterYearFiction,Another Realm Magazine, AlienSkin Magazine and will appear soon on Antipodean SF Magazine. I am also a scale modeler who likes mostly Science Fiction and Real Space models, some of my little Dioramas has been shown also on American site StarShipModeler or MechaModelComp and SFM: UK site.
A Matter of Focus...
By Sergio "ente per ente" PALUMBO
-Nothing really exists- the young fair-haired technician said-Probably also all those instruments do not exist. This is the truth...-
-Yes, I see...- the psychiatrist nodded, taking a seat and placing his medical data-search tool on the table.A man of sixty precociously turned white, two perceptive blue eyes, Brent had been involved in a lot of very strange cases before, but that young worker in front of him seemed one of the weirdest, indeed- Then just try to explain to me your feelings about this…-
They were inside the interrogation room of the sickbay, deep inside the Scientific Labs within Base 14, one of the many colonized asteroids along the Mars-Jupiter Belt.The Humans had placed here one of the main off- world research centres more than twenty years ago, as an important facility and control station for the thirteen mining sites excavated on several rocky bodies across the Belt.The mineral deposits were very rich in ore, especially in some points, and the outcome of the (huge) investments had been fast at arriving for the Earth corporations which had been daring to spend their money in such an expensive project.
Unfortunately, as it sometimes happens, some accidents had occurred during the construction process and still everyday some bad episode could come true.The corporations had been very attentive at building a complete and well- equipped research/medical sickbay for all the mining personnel and the technicians, but at times it could prove pointless…as this case was just showing.
Yesterday there had been an unpredictable explosion inside a decompression chamber on A222 at 9:00 AM -local time- and many workers had been wounded cause of that…as a matter of fact, the emergency teams had been very good at reaching the place on time in their space suits, but that had not been enough for six people, already dead when they had arrived.And then there was this strange man, Bill…a technician working in Sector 1- the lowest part of the asteroid- who very likely would have been one of the first killed in the process, but nevertheless he was still alive- although a little scraped…- when the team found him.
-I don't know...I am different...-the young man answered.
-Let’s start again…how did you survive the poisonous gas in the tunnel?-
-I just explained to you!Simply, I started coughing and coughing and then I understood that was because of the gas…so I simply wanted that gas was no more around and it disappeared at once…-
The man looked at him amazed.It was the tenth time he had been asking the technician for a real answer and every time he had replied the same way-I see…but the air vent system wasn’t functioning at that time, so maybe you simply do not remember exactly…there was no way for the gas to be expelled from inside out of the tunnel…maybe something else occurred…just think of it!-
-Things went as I said!- Bill firmly insisted, his brown eyes wide open.
“No way, the answer is always the same…” Brent thought, dejected.At the time of the decompression disfunction which generated the explosion, there were many boxes containing Astreanium, a very valuable mineral spread deep within the Belt, which were on the way to be put in the cargo bay of the first starship ready to depart to Earth.Maybe that mineral had interacted -somehow - with the gas coming from the damaged structures all around and maybe that interaction had had some responsibility in saving the technician’s life in the end.Who knows?But that was the point, indeed…In reality, the corporations were very interested in any discoveries they could have done from that, as any substance capable of interacting with that gas( completely removing it from the tunnel) could prove very useful on the market…and that man was the key, he had to be more precise, so to let them know what had really happened…but anyway Brent, too, was very curious about that event…how did Bill survive the explosion and that gas in the tunnel?
-Ok, but something occurred, for sure…on the other hand, how could you have survived in a Sector full of poisonous substances? “You simply wanted that gas was no more around and it disappeared at once…”How do you think I can believe this?-
-Believe what you want!Things disappear when I desire that way…It happens just when you think of it. I’ve been experiencing it since I went out of Sector 1 with the emergency team…-
The psychiatrist gawked at the face of the technician.There was no way out of that cycle of questions and answers…maybe he only had to play along with him…-Are you really sure…?And how does it function…?Just let me see…-
-Yeah,I’ll show you!- the man said, his look pestered-You want that this window is there no more and it simply disappears…-
And, as soon as the technician turned to the dividing long window of that chamber, it dissolved at once.
Speechless, the psychiatrist looked at the open space where there had been the safety glass just a moment before, and then turned back to the man again.
-How did you make it…?It’s impossible…how did you…?-
-It’s easy…-Bill added-You have just to think of it…Just try!-
Brent was sure he was looking at something exceptional, some weird circumstance he would have never reputed possible…He didn’t want to give in to the technician, but anyway he knew he was to have a try, just to show the technician how pointless it was…so he stared at the glass and he did nothing else.And, of course, nothing happened…
-Do you see?Nothing at all!- the psychiatrist threw it in Bill’s face- It’s impossible, I can’t do it…You’re saying nonsense…-
-No, absolutely!You saw it! You didn’t concentrate enough…it’s only a matter of focus…- and, that said, he looked down on the table in the Chamber for a brief moment and that was no more there…
This time Brent was really terrified, forcing himself to consider only the present facts before his own eyes-Again!How did you…?-
-You don’t even concentrate…- the technician replied.
The psychiatrist tried to get a grip of himself, thinking of what he had just seen.He knew that Bill had been bruised, he remembered that the medical data about his genes had shown some little change,actually the whole team had thought of some damage caused by the gas and the lawyers of the corporations were already eager to set a pre- emptive defence to protect their interests from any legal action sued against them…but probably that poisonous substance had made something more, maybe it had penetrated inside the body, the blood or the organs of that man and so it had changed him, in an unpredictable way…but was it really possible…?They had to know more about that!
-What you had shown me is really amusing…unbelievable, in a way!So, you must consider our position…You’ll be taken into custody for further studies…-
-No!You don’t get the picture…I don’t want…I need to be released…I do not like to stay here anymore…-
-Please, calm down…- Brent said, gesturing to a brawny boy who served as an attendant on the other side of the Chamber to come in as soon as possible.
-I did it before when inside the tunnel…I did it before…-Bill cried out.
-Please…- the man repeated,hurrying up the attendant.
-I don’t want these seats exist…-and, that said, the seats disappeared- I do not want your tools exist anymore…and even that guy doesn’t exist!- and so the whole equipment around and the coming boy, as well, disappeared.Then Bill turned to Brent, looking attentively at him-Nothing here really exists...You do not exist!-
And the psychiatrist- simply- was no more.Soon after the entire chamber disappeared.And the Scientific Labs within Base 14,too.
The technician found himself just thrown into open space.He knew that soon oxygen deprivation, the extremely cold temperature outside and decompression would have killed him.He began fluctuating without direction, his breath taken away all in a sudden, the dark vacuum around seemed been enwrapping him in a deadly grip…
He looked for the last time at the obscure endless emptiness which was going to swallow him, putting an end to his own life…
If only he had been capable of focusing enough on the whole thing surrounding him, maybe he would have made it even this time… maybe…
- - -
I'm an Italian public servant who graduated from Law School working in the public real estates branch. I've published a Fantasy RolePlaying illustrated Manual, WarBlades , of more than 400 pages.Some of my works and short- stories have been published on American Aphelion, WeirdYear Webzine, YesterYearFiction and Another Realm Webzine. I am also a scale modeler who likes mostly Science Fiction and Real Space models, some of my little Dioramas has been shown also on the American site StarShipModeler, MechaModelComp and SFM: UK.
Just Glue it Contest on StarShipmodeler
"All this technology and no sign of my banknote ..."
http://www.starshipmodeler.com/contest/dio_01.htm
By Sergio "ente per ente" PALUMBO
-Nothing really exists- the young fair-haired technician said-Probably also all those instruments do not exist. This is the truth...-
-Yes, I see...- the psychiatrist nodded, taking a seat and placing his medical data-search tool on the table.A man of sixty precociously turned white, two perceptive blue eyes, Brent had been involved in a lot of very strange cases before, but that young worker in front of him seemed one of the weirdest, indeed- Then just try to explain to me your feelings about this…-
They were inside the interrogation room of the sickbay, deep inside the Scientific Labs within Base 14, one of the many colonized asteroids along the Mars-Jupiter Belt.The Humans had placed here one of the main off- world research centres more than twenty years ago, as an important facility and control station for the thirteen mining sites excavated on several rocky bodies across the Belt.The mineral deposits were very rich in ore, especially in some points, and the outcome of the (huge) investments had been fast at arriving for the Earth corporations which had been daring to spend their money in such an expensive project.
Unfortunately, as it sometimes happens, some accidents had occurred during the construction process and still everyday some bad episode could come true.The corporations had been very attentive at building a complete and well- equipped research/medical sickbay for all the mining personnel and the technicians, but at times it could prove pointless…as this case was just showing.
Yesterday there had been an unpredictable explosion inside a decompression chamber on A222 at 9:00 AM -local time- and many workers had been wounded cause of that…as a matter of fact, the emergency teams had been very good at reaching the place on time in their space suits, but that had not been enough for six people, already dead when they had arrived.And then there was this strange man, Bill…a technician working in Sector 1- the lowest part of the asteroid- who very likely would have been one of the first killed in the process, but nevertheless he was still alive- although a little scraped…- when the team found him.
-I don't know...I am different...-the young man answered.
-Let’s start again…how did you survive the poisonous gas in the tunnel?-
-I just explained to you!Simply, I started coughing and coughing and then I understood that was because of the gas…so I simply wanted that gas was no more around and it disappeared at once…-
The man looked at him amazed.It was the tenth time he had been asking the technician for a real answer and every time he had replied the same way-I see…but the air vent system wasn’t functioning at that time, so maybe you simply do not remember exactly…there was no way for the gas to be expelled from inside out of the tunnel…maybe something else occurred…just think of it!-
-Things went as I said!- Bill firmly insisted, his brown eyes wide open.
“No way, the answer is always the same…” Brent thought, dejected.At the time of the decompression disfunction which generated the explosion, there were many boxes containing Astreanium, a very valuable mineral spread deep within the Belt, which were on the way to be put in the cargo bay of the first starship ready to depart to Earth.Maybe that mineral had interacted -somehow - with the gas coming from the damaged structures all around and maybe that interaction had had some responsibility in saving the technician’s life in the end.Who knows?But that was the point, indeed…In reality, the corporations were very interested in any discoveries they could have done from that, as any substance capable of interacting with that gas( completely removing it from the tunnel) could prove very useful on the market…and that man was the key, he had to be more precise, so to let them know what had really happened…but anyway Brent, too, was very curious about that event…how did Bill survive the explosion and that gas in the tunnel?
-Ok, but something occurred, for sure…on the other hand, how could you have survived in a Sector full of poisonous substances? “You simply wanted that gas was no more around and it disappeared at once…”How do you think I can believe this?-
-Believe what you want!Things disappear when I desire that way…It happens just when you think of it. I’ve been experiencing it since I went out of Sector 1 with the emergency team…-
The psychiatrist gawked at the face of the technician.There was no way out of that cycle of questions and answers…maybe he only had to play along with him…-Are you really sure…?And how does it function…?Just let me see…-
-Yeah,I’ll show you!- the man said, his look pestered-You want that this window is there no more and it simply disappears…-
And, as soon as the technician turned to the dividing long window of that chamber, it dissolved at once.
Speechless, the psychiatrist looked at the open space where there had been the safety glass just a moment before, and then turned back to the man again.
-How did you make it…?It’s impossible…how did you…?-
-It’s easy…-Bill added-You have just to think of it…Just try!-
Brent was sure he was looking at something exceptional, some weird circumstance he would have never reputed possible…He didn’t want to give in to the technician, but anyway he knew he was to have a try, just to show the technician how pointless it was…so he stared at the glass and he did nothing else.And, of course, nothing happened…
-Do you see?Nothing at all!- the psychiatrist threw it in Bill’s face- It’s impossible, I can’t do it…You’re saying nonsense…-
-No, absolutely!You saw it! You didn’t concentrate enough…it’s only a matter of focus…- and, that said, he looked down on the table in the Chamber for a brief moment and that was no more there…
This time Brent was really terrified, forcing himself to consider only the present facts before his own eyes-Again!How did you…?-
-You don’t even concentrate…- the technician replied.
The psychiatrist tried to get a grip of himself, thinking of what he had just seen.He knew that Bill had been bruised, he remembered that the medical data about his genes had shown some little change,actually the whole team had thought of some damage caused by the gas and the lawyers of the corporations were already eager to set a pre- emptive defence to protect their interests from any legal action sued against them…but probably that poisonous substance had made something more, maybe it had penetrated inside the body, the blood or the organs of that man and so it had changed him, in an unpredictable way…but was it really possible…?They had to know more about that!
-What you had shown me is really amusing…unbelievable, in a way!So, you must consider our position…You’ll be taken into custody for further studies…-
-No!You don’t get the picture…I don’t want…I need to be released…I do not like to stay here anymore…-
-Please, calm down…- Brent said, gesturing to a brawny boy who served as an attendant on the other side of the Chamber to come in as soon as possible.
-I did it before when inside the tunnel…I did it before…-Bill cried out.
-Please…- the man repeated,hurrying up the attendant.
-I don’t want these seats exist…-and, that said, the seats disappeared- I do not want your tools exist anymore…and even that guy doesn’t exist!- and so the whole equipment around and the coming boy, as well, disappeared.Then Bill turned to Brent, looking attentively at him-Nothing here really exists...You do not exist!-
And the psychiatrist- simply- was no more.Soon after the entire chamber disappeared.And the Scientific Labs within Base 14,too.
The technician found himself just thrown into open space.He knew that soon oxygen deprivation, the extremely cold temperature outside and decompression would have killed him.He began fluctuating without direction, his breath taken away all in a sudden, the dark vacuum around seemed been enwrapping him in a deadly grip…
He looked for the last time at the obscure endless emptiness which was going to swallow him, putting an end to his own life…
If only he had been capable of focusing enough on the whole thing surrounding him, maybe he would have made it even this time… maybe…
- - -
I'm an Italian public servant who graduated from Law School working in the public real estates branch. I've published a Fantasy RolePlaying illustrated Manual, WarBlades , of more than 400 pages.Some of my works and short- stories have been published on American Aphelion, WeirdYear Webzine, YesterYearFiction and Another Realm Webzine. I am also a scale modeler who likes mostly Science Fiction and Real Space models, some of my little Dioramas has been shown also on the American site StarShipModeler, MechaModelComp and SFM: UK.
Just Glue it Contest on StarShipmodeler
"All this technology and no sign of my banknote ..."
http://www.starshipmodeler.com/contest/dio_01.htm
Snapshots of your thoughts...
By Sergio "ente per ente" PALUMBO
Keeedk used to take snapshots of his customers’ thoughts. Nothing strange, it was his job…
Actually, the device- apparently a sort of common holocamera- he worked with was a sort of technology coming from planet 77665 on Epsilon Tauri,within Hyades open cluster Sector. The species from that world had developed that mechanism more than 200 years ago, but no one elsewhere had ever been able to perfect it with the passing of centuries, so it had been finally relegated as a kind of Art.
In fact, given that it had become impossible to make it more useful so to have shots showing images of real or fictional places, characters and landscapes as seen currently in somebody’s mind while sleeping or still wide awake, that invention had ended up being regarded only as a weird genre of Modern Art.The gear, in frank words, took some beautifully vivacious holoprints in full colour, a sort of mixture of lines,circles and other unusual geometric shapes, portraying the thoughts presently on the mind of the customer who accepted to undergo this mechanism. At times, it was some tourist or even a citizen who was looking for something to take back at home and put on a digital picture holoframe, just to have a new attraction to impress his guests one day or another.
And that was good for Keeedk. He could do a lot of money, especially during the Feast of Temples,which occurred twice a year on Miltreh ( Keeedk’s world ), as many people just came here for business, study or some other religious matter ( he had never really understood…).
But there was another reason because that job was so good for him: in fact he was a secret agent, too, the one dealing with information about aliens in transit, their business and interests. Well, he was not a so important secret agent, after all, but he kept it seriously as a responsibility. Of course, if anybody just thinks of it, that’s obvious it was very important for every government to know all it could about strangers, especially if you live in or are forced to work for a semi- dictatorial system- like Miltreh- which wants to keep track of such things, looking obsessively on every newcomer prowling nearby- who knows- maybe committed to discover some secrets or the disposition of military sites within a specific area.
So, every day, Keeedk took several snapshots of his customers passing by- who were very attracted to that strange thing, given its very low cost- and then he did collect them on appropriate data storage just to send it to the high- ranking brains for their future evaluations.
That morning, he had already been asked for more than 350 snapshots, mostly from pilgrims going to the ancient temples built in downtown. He had put some of them on show on the cardboard wall at his back along the left bank of the King River, where his open air stall was placed, just to make the public more curious and interested in them.Maybe some among those guys would be attracted enough to spend the two e-credits necessary to have his work done…
Well, some of the pictures on show depicted very strange things, and he liked to put them in a peculiar order, for instance, the yellow sceneries on top, the group of images with black circles surrounded by triangles on the right and so on. For most people, those holoprints had no real meaning and you could tell them everything to make them interested in a particular holoframe instead of another. But in reality, all the images had their own story, as every type of colour, every single line possessed an important significance before the eyes of a practiced agent as he was, and mostly under his master’s examination, of course.
There was not much of a competition on that ground in the whole galaxy, of course, as the device itself was a sort of secret, so no other alien species could possibly figure out how it functioned. All because of a binding agreement made between the Miltreh government and the people from planet 77665 who built it first. So, nobody else was likely capable to use the same mechanism based on the same principles, until someone else somewhere had conceived again the same thing.
Actually, the device could depict all the thoughts the customer had on his mind when he put himself opposite to the holocamera. So, any worry, desperation or happiness had possibly to be on show when the holopicture was made.
Keeedk had a predilection for the blue circled lines he often was capable of looking at when he took his snapshots: they meant interest and awareness,as usually the customers were doubtful about the overall procedure and its outcome, but he liked them not for their real meaning, but because he counted them as a form of good art. Unintentionally, indeed.
That morning he had already taken a snapshot of a couple just leaving his stall, when soon another customer approached in a hurry. He was an alien from Indlllerh. Very hard to see more than two of them usually during the year, their planet was too far from that system. His very long nose, the furry hair on his own back and two round eyes had nothing to do with all the angular features and the four eyed undecorated head of a typical local from Miltreh - as Keeedk was- even though his height was almost the same. Anyway, he let him in his stall, set eveything for the work, but as soon as he had the snapshot done, he saw a very strange mixture of colours in it,a red circle full of black in a sort of haze…he had seen nothing like that before!
-Surprised at what you see?- the alien from Indlllerh asked Keeedk, his strange fixed gaze on him.
-I doubt I’ve ever seen such a picture before…strange to say…-
-Maybe because that’s the image of my deadly hatred…-
-How is it that.…?- Keeedk was caught unawares. What nonsense was he saying?
-Now I can tell you who I really am…-the alien uttered then-I was a businessman and came here for a meeting more than two years ago. I had a stop at your stall and had a try at this procedure, asking for one snapshot of my thoughts, as I was indeed very curious. So, you did your work and then you passed the file to your masters…-
At that point Keeedk felt worried. How could he ever know about that…?
-But, the morning after, I was taken in custody by the temple guards, imprisoned for one month and deeply scanned to search for any info I was possibly looking for…-
-Well, that’s an interesting…-he said, gesturing to hold off.
-Yeah, just do not move! You do not remember me, of course, as I had a physical surgery on me just to come back here again unnoticed. You know, after that horrible experience, my life turned upside down, so I decided to serve as a secret agent for my home planet, when I was released. And I was sent back here, as a first mission, just for you! I am full of anger and this makes my eyes pop out of my head, my mind thinks of red blood now…-
The red circle full of black in a haze, Keeedk thought.
-So, I’m here for my mission now, to take your life and end once and for all your business…-and, that said, the alien raised his hands and grabbed Keeedk’s neck with all his strength.
“The red circle full of black” he thought again” What a beautiful picture, never seen anything like that, a so deep feeling of hate...”
But the hands of the alien kept his hold on him and Keeedk’s sight was growing dim, his thoughts were getting lost…
And there was nobody around to immortalize them by means of his holocamera at present…
- - -
My biography: I'm an Italian public servant who graduated from Law School working in the public real estates branch. I've published a Fantasy RolePlaying illustrated Manual called WarBlades, which is more than 400 pages long. Some of my works and short stories have been published on American Aphelion Webzine. I am also a scale modeler who likes mostly Science Fiction and Real Space models, some of my little Dioramas have been shown also on the American site StarShipModeler or MechaModelComp.
By Sergio "ente per ente" PALUMBO
Keeedk used to take snapshots of his customers’ thoughts. Nothing strange, it was his job…
Actually, the device- apparently a sort of common holocamera- he worked with was a sort of technology coming from planet 77665 on Epsilon Tauri,within Hyades open cluster Sector. The species from that world had developed that mechanism more than 200 years ago, but no one elsewhere had ever been able to perfect it with the passing of centuries, so it had been finally relegated as a kind of Art.
In fact, given that it had become impossible to make it more useful so to have shots showing images of real or fictional places, characters and landscapes as seen currently in somebody’s mind while sleeping or still wide awake, that invention had ended up being regarded only as a weird genre of Modern Art.The gear, in frank words, took some beautifully vivacious holoprints in full colour, a sort of mixture of lines,circles and other unusual geometric shapes, portraying the thoughts presently on the mind of the customer who accepted to undergo this mechanism. At times, it was some tourist or even a citizen who was looking for something to take back at home and put on a digital picture holoframe, just to have a new attraction to impress his guests one day or another.
And that was good for Keeedk. He could do a lot of money, especially during the Feast of Temples,which occurred twice a year on Miltreh ( Keeedk’s world ), as many people just came here for business, study or some other religious matter ( he had never really understood…).
But there was another reason because that job was so good for him: in fact he was a secret agent, too, the one dealing with information about aliens in transit, their business and interests. Well, he was not a so important secret agent, after all, but he kept it seriously as a responsibility. Of course, if anybody just thinks of it, that’s obvious it was very important for every government to know all it could about strangers, especially if you live in or are forced to work for a semi- dictatorial system- like Miltreh- which wants to keep track of such things, looking obsessively on every newcomer prowling nearby- who knows- maybe committed to discover some secrets or the disposition of military sites within a specific area.
So, every day, Keeedk took several snapshots of his customers passing by- who were very attracted to that strange thing, given its very low cost- and then he did collect them on appropriate data storage just to send it to the high- ranking brains for their future evaluations.
That morning, he had already been asked for more than 350 snapshots, mostly from pilgrims going to the ancient temples built in downtown. He had put some of them on show on the cardboard wall at his back along the left bank of the King River, where his open air stall was placed, just to make the public more curious and interested in them.Maybe some among those guys would be attracted enough to spend the two e-credits necessary to have his work done…
Well, some of the pictures on show depicted very strange things, and he liked to put them in a peculiar order, for instance, the yellow sceneries on top, the group of images with black circles surrounded by triangles on the right and so on. For most people, those holoprints had no real meaning and you could tell them everything to make them interested in a particular holoframe instead of another. But in reality, all the images had their own story, as every type of colour, every single line possessed an important significance before the eyes of a practiced agent as he was, and mostly under his master’s examination, of course.
There was not much of a competition on that ground in the whole galaxy, of course, as the device itself was a sort of secret, so no other alien species could possibly figure out how it functioned. All because of a binding agreement made between the Miltreh government and the people from planet 77665 who built it first. So, nobody else was likely capable to use the same mechanism based on the same principles, until someone else somewhere had conceived again the same thing.
Actually, the device could depict all the thoughts the customer had on his mind when he put himself opposite to the holocamera. So, any worry, desperation or happiness had possibly to be on show when the holopicture was made.
Keeedk had a predilection for the blue circled lines he often was capable of looking at when he took his snapshots: they meant interest and awareness,as usually the customers were doubtful about the overall procedure and its outcome, but he liked them not for their real meaning, but because he counted them as a form of good art. Unintentionally, indeed.
That morning he had already taken a snapshot of a couple just leaving his stall, when soon another customer approached in a hurry. He was an alien from Indlllerh. Very hard to see more than two of them usually during the year, their planet was too far from that system. His very long nose, the furry hair on his own back and two round eyes had nothing to do with all the angular features and the four eyed undecorated head of a typical local from Miltreh - as Keeedk was- even though his height was almost the same. Anyway, he let him in his stall, set eveything for the work, but as soon as he had the snapshot done, he saw a very strange mixture of colours in it,a red circle full of black in a sort of haze…he had seen nothing like that before!
-Surprised at what you see?- the alien from Indlllerh asked Keeedk, his strange fixed gaze on him.
-I doubt I’ve ever seen such a picture before…strange to say…-
-Maybe because that’s the image of my deadly hatred…-
-How is it that.…?- Keeedk was caught unawares. What nonsense was he saying?
-Now I can tell you who I really am…-the alien uttered then-I was a businessman and came here for a meeting more than two years ago. I had a stop at your stall and had a try at this procedure, asking for one snapshot of my thoughts, as I was indeed very curious. So, you did your work and then you passed the file to your masters…-
At that point Keeedk felt worried. How could he ever know about that…?
-But, the morning after, I was taken in custody by the temple guards, imprisoned for one month and deeply scanned to search for any info I was possibly looking for…-
-Well, that’s an interesting…-he said, gesturing to hold off.
-Yeah, just do not move! You do not remember me, of course, as I had a physical surgery on me just to come back here again unnoticed. You know, after that horrible experience, my life turned upside down, so I decided to serve as a secret agent for my home planet, when I was released. And I was sent back here, as a first mission, just for you! I am full of anger and this makes my eyes pop out of my head, my mind thinks of red blood now…-
The red circle full of black in a haze, Keeedk thought.
-So, I’m here for my mission now, to take your life and end once and for all your business…-and, that said, the alien raised his hands and grabbed Keeedk’s neck with all his strength.
“The red circle full of black” he thought again” What a beautiful picture, never seen anything like that, a so deep feeling of hate...”
But the hands of the alien kept his hold on him and Keeedk’s sight was growing dim, his thoughts were getting lost…
And there was nobody around to immortalize them by means of his holocamera at present…
- - -
My biography: I'm an Italian public servant who graduated from Law School working in the public real estates branch. I've published a Fantasy RolePlaying illustrated Manual called WarBlades, which is more than 400 pages long. Some of my works and short stories have been published on American Aphelion Webzine. I am also a scale modeler who likes mostly Science Fiction and Real Space models, some of my little Dioramas have been shown also on the American site StarShipModeler or MechaModelComp.
When the Wind blows...
By Sergio "ente per ente" PALUMBO
I AM THE WIND.
I go up and down, to the East and to the West, over the continent, past the islands, across the seas, higher than the mountain ranges. To the end of the World…
But I can’t get any relief, any joy. I possess no freedom at all.
It all began many years ago. At that time I was the former Emperor of the Great Kingdom of Gerkkkk, the powerful country that, for the first time in history, did rule all over the continent, uniting by force every county, realm and fortified town within its wide territory. Our stalwart cavalry and the well trained infantry troops marched on and conquered all the enemies who ever dared to oppose us. I was the mind that made that happen, the man who set up everything, who built such an army and dictated the military operations, the leader who started the wars, the king that became an Emperor, the first Emperor and the Emperor of all the Emperors.
My middle-aged face, my blue eyes, my black shag over a long, pointed nose and my gold crown were an icon, a symbol of victory for my men and a sign of coming defeat for all our adversaries.
Then, during my advancing route to power and conquest along the endless steppes of the western part of the mainland, one day our troops came near to the town which was the gate to the sacred Temple of Jun. Well, indeed, it was sacred for the people who lived there, within the Republic of Junlehw. . . It was a religious state on top of a hard mountain range and was run by monks. They were prayerful, weaponless and peaceful, as far as we knew, but their religion was nothing for us, meaningless. We believed only in power, strength, primacy and fighting, so we did not value so much their ways, we did not listen to their prayers, we made fun of their way of living. We put our arms against their calmness, our aggressiveness against their weakness and there was no match. Our army proceeded anyway, no matter the resistance found, the lives taken, the dead left along the streets of the lower town. "To the riches of the Temple!” the men cried out "To the Temple of the monks!” and so I agreed.
Our soldiers were famished and weary, they needed prey to feed on at once, and the good opportunity given from that place full of gold, silver and precious stones was just the right target to reach at once. To calm them, to make them happy, to continue the war.
And so I agreed.
We lay siege to the Temple, our wait was brief, the conquest very fast, and the destruction we brought there was really impressive. The monks fought bravely, but they had no chance, so, when we entered the main hall inside the building, past the destroyed doors, the dead guards in armor and the many, many bodies on the ground, we finally faced the Altar of Jun.
The chief monks were still inside, ready to defend it by means of their own lives, but they were very few.
I gave them the opportunity to surrender, to join our cause, to fight our war, but they refused to worship our principles, even to worhip me! They even tried to threaten me; “If you try to defile this sacred Altar, terrible consequences await for you!” the chief monk told me, and so I became really upset. I had all of them put to death, the whole temple burned, and I kept watching it burning all day long, as it was a huge building all of wood.
But, as it was the Temple of an Air God of that (now forgotten. . .) people, it all began, and indeed a bad consequence occurred to me.
I never had any confidence in the words coming from the monks while they were sabered, counting them only as desperate cries by dying people, but indeed they proved true in the end. As their chief monk kept telling me, even while our swords left him bleeding, if I had the sacred Altar violated, the Air God would have taken revenge on me. I had a big laugh at that.
But soon I changed my mind.
In the following days, my well being began disappearing little by little. . . I was feeling strengthless,dubious, exhausted, and my men told me that I looked not strong as before, my paleness began worrying them, maybe I was ill…In fact, as the old chief monk had said, the Air God was upset cause of the destruction of his main temple, and made so that the air current blowing from the East keep away from me one piece of my being everyday, at first maybe even unnoticed, apparently unseen, but more and more consistently, day after day. So my strength went away, my body was weakened, my mind failed to work appropriately, my will diminished.
The air currents stripped away from me- hour after hour- all the many atoms, the particles we are told to be made of…
Until one day I completely disappeared, staying without substance, having no form or physical appearance. Without even a body.
And so I am now.
A Wind, strong, powerful but incapable of touching everything, of possessing a single good, of deciding how to act or where to spin my force…no freedom at all, no real power indeed, no riches at my disposal anyway. . . no more.
Once I was everything, the king made Emperor of the whole land,the Emperor of the Emperors, and now I am nothing, only a pale reflection of my past being, flying around according to current’s desire, not to my own.
So when it blows I go with it, by force, necessarily, as a part of it, driven by it, following its spin, its will…the will of the Air God! And so I pay for all my bad actions, my acts again innocent people, my bloody rise to power.
So, forever, I go up and down, to the East and the West,over the continent, past the islands, across the seas, over the mountain ranges.To the end of the World…
- - -
My biography: I'm an Italian public servant who graduated from Law School working in the public real estates branch. I've published a Fantasy RolePlaying illustrated Manual called WarBlades, which is more than 400 pages long. Some of my works and short stories have been published on American Aphelion Webzine. I am also a scale modeler who likes mostly Science Fiction and Real Space models, some of my little Dioramas have been shown also on the American site StarShipModeler or MechaModelComp.
By Sergio "ente per ente" PALUMBO
I AM THE WIND.
I go up and down, to the East and to the West, over the continent, past the islands, across the seas, higher than the mountain ranges. To the end of the World…
But I can’t get any relief, any joy. I possess no freedom at all.
It all began many years ago. At that time I was the former Emperor of the Great Kingdom of Gerkkkk, the powerful country that, for the first time in history, did rule all over the continent, uniting by force every county, realm and fortified town within its wide territory. Our stalwart cavalry and the well trained infantry troops marched on and conquered all the enemies who ever dared to oppose us. I was the mind that made that happen, the man who set up everything, who built such an army and dictated the military operations, the leader who started the wars, the king that became an Emperor, the first Emperor and the Emperor of all the Emperors.
My middle-aged face, my blue eyes, my black shag over a long, pointed nose and my gold crown were an icon, a symbol of victory for my men and a sign of coming defeat for all our adversaries.
Then, during my advancing route to power and conquest along the endless steppes of the western part of the mainland, one day our troops came near to the town which was the gate to the sacred Temple of Jun. Well, indeed, it was sacred for the people who lived there, within the Republic of Junlehw. . . It was a religious state on top of a hard mountain range and was run by monks. They were prayerful, weaponless and peaceful, as far as we knew, but their religion was nothing for us, meaningless. We believed only in power, strength, primacy and fighting, so we did not value so much their ways, we did not listen to their prayers, we made fun of their way of living. We put our arms against their calmness, our aggressiveness against their weakness and there was no match. Our army proceeded anyway, no matter the resistance found, the lives taken, the dead left along the streets of the lower town. "To the riches of the Temple!” the men cried out "To the Temple of the monks!” and so I agreed.
Our soldiers were famished and weary, they needed prey to feed on at once, and the good opportunity given from that place full of gold, silver and precious stones was just the right target to reach at once. To calm them, to make them happy, to continue the war.
And so I agreed.
We lay siege to the Temple, our wait was brief, the conquest very fast, and the destruction we brought there was really impressive. The monks fought bravely, but they had no chance, so, when we entered the main hall inside the building, past the destroyed doors, the dead guards in armor and the many, many bodies on the ground, we finally faced the Altar of Jun.
The chief monks were still inside, ready to defend it by means of their own lives, but they were very few.
I gave them the opportunity to surrender, to join our cause, to fight our war, but they refused to worship our principles, even to worhip me! They even tried to threaten me; “If you try to defile this sacred Altar, terrible consequences await for you!” the chief monk told me, and so I became really upset. I had all of them put to death, the whole temple burned, and I kept watching it burning all day long, as it was a huge building all of wood.
But, as it was the Temple of an Air God of that (now forgotten. . .) people, it all began, and indeed a bad consequence occurred to me.
I never had any confidence in the words coming from the monks while they were sabered, counting them only as desperate cries by dying people, but indeed they proved true in the end. As their chief monk kept telling me, even while our swords left him bleeding, if I had the sacred Altar violated, the Air God would have taken revenge on me. I had a big laugh at that.
But soon I changed my mind.
In the following days, my well being began disappearing little by little. . . I was feeling strengthless,dubious, exhausted, and my men told me that I looked not strong as before, my paleness began worrying them, maybe I was ill…In fact, as the old chief monk had said, the Air God was upset cause of the destruction of his main temple, and made so that the air current blowing from the East keep away from me one piece of my being everyday, at first maybe even unnoticed, apparently unseen, but more and more consistently, day after day. So my strength went away, my body was weakened, my mind failed to work appropriately, my will diminished.
The air currents stripped away from me- hour after hour- all the many atoms, the particles we are told to be made of…
Until one day I completely disappeared, staying without substance, having no form or physical appearance. Without even a body.
And so I am now.
A Wind, strong, powerful but incapable of touching everything, of possessing a single good, of deciding how to act or where to spin my force…no freedom at all, no real power indeed, no riches at my disposal anyway. . . no more.
Once I was everything, the king made Emperor of the whole land,the Emperor of the Emperors, and now I am nothing, only a pale reflection of my past being, flying around according to current’s desire, not to my own.
So when it blows I go with it, by force, necessarily, as a part of it, driven by it, following its spin, its will…the will of the Air God! And so I pay for all my bad actions, my acts again innocent people, my bloody rise to power.
So, forever, I go up and down, to the East and the West,over the continent, past the islands, across the seas, over the mountain ranges.To the end of the World…
- - -
My biography: I'm an Italian public servant who graduated from Law School working in the public real estates branch. I've published a Fantasy RolePlaying illustrated Manual called WarBlades, which is more than 400 pages long. Some of my works and short stories have been published on American Aphelion Webzine. I am also a scale modeler who likes mostly Science Fiction and Real Space models, some of my little Dioramas have been shown also on the American site StarShipModeler or MechaModelComp.
