I have had a story idea percolating in my brain the last month or so. Let me lay it on you and tell me what you think:


The story has three main threads.

1. In the not too distant future humankind sends out its first interstellar expedition. Radio signals are detected from a planet circling a star about 11 light years away. New technology is created so that a speed of around 50% the speed of light is feasible. Despite the new drive technology it will take about 50 years round trip. 22 years each way and 4 or five years to explore the distant star system. When our intrepid astronauts take off the world is, except for technology , little different from the world we know. At first just about everybody follows the progress of the ship. After awhile the public gets tired of the story and more mundane, closer to home concerns crowds out the expedition in the public psyche. To make matters worse after 50 years the ship does not come back. Everybody assumes they are lost. In time they are all but forgotten.

2. In the mean time back on Earth, computer technology advances at dizzying rate. It's Moore's law cubed. Computers get faster, smaller and smarter. Artificial intelligence exceeds all expectations. A new technology is developed that allows people to be literally downloaded to a virtual universe inside the new molecular computers. The computing devices are housed in solid blocks of diamond and are just about indestructible. The down loaded people are for all intents and purposes immortal. They can create virtual worlds, satisfy any desire. At first only the elite are allowed to be downloaded. Great scientists, philosophers etc. With all the time in the world, these godlike individuals are able to mightily improve the lot humankind. Soon war, famine and disease are just about wiped out. It's a new golden age for human kind.

But there is trouble in paradise. Rich people as they approach death buy their way in. Powerful people bully their way in. Nobody wants to die, everybody want to live forever in virtual heaven. There is a backlash, a group of hackers figures out how to download themselves on the cheap. Some surplus parts, an illegal piece of pirated software and suddenly the cyberworld is no longer the exclusive enclave for the super brains and the elite, "Joe Six Pack"has found the back door. Society begins to collapse. All over the world mindless bodies are found
'jacked in" to computer consoles. Soon there are more people in cyberspace than there are walking around in the flesh.

3. Not every one is thrilled with the state of the human race. After about a century the entire human population left in the flesh numbers only about a couple of hundred. Life isn't so bad for them, Technology makes life pretty easy compared to their ancestors and they still have the option of downloading themselves when they get close to death. There are a few that refuse to consider the idea because of philosophical or religious reasons. One day the president of earth gets a notice from an automated space sensor. Low and behold it's our old buddies from the interstellar space ship. It seems that the reception from our stellar neighbors was less than, well:stellar(sorry couldn't resist). Our el presidente gets an idea. We have our astronauts that are essentially visitors from the past, they haven't been contaminated with idea of a virtual paradise, he has at his disposal a whole world of resources, super advanced technology and whole lot of preserved personalityless bodies in cold storage. As the craft approaches from deep space he orders the ship's computer to keep the crew in stasis and puts the ship in a parking orbit.

Next he wakes up the all of the sleeping robots , A.I.s and automated manufacturing plants in orbit. He consults the big brains inside the big diamond block computer. Over the next few years he has a super space ark built in orbit. He has genetic samples taken from all of the "empty" bodies and proceeds to engineer a new human race, free of all genetic defects , stronger, smarter and more resistant to disease. He has the a big box computer chock full of super geniuses loaded up on the new ship. After all of his preparations he wakes up the crew of astronauts and flat out lies to them.

After he listens to their adventures he tells them that the human race is extinct, killed by a mutant virus. It is up to them to find a new planet and use the human seed stock to start a new earth. Only this time it's going to be done right and that they are charged with making it happen. At first our heroes are bummed, they didn't get a ticker tape parade or anything. Eventually they agree reluctantly. But there is a fly in the ointment(several actually,many potential plot twists possible). The big box brain has been infested with billions of our little hacker buddies. The elites consider them to be the equivalent of computer viruses. The hackers have there own ideas about how the mission should carried out or even if it should be carried out at all. Half of the way to mankind's new home virtual civil war erupts inside the big box. Who controls the ship and the mission is in doubt. Meanwhile our heroic astronauts are again in suspended animation blissfully unaware of the turmoil and when they get to their new home things get really interesting.

So what do you think?

Let me know.
(some rights reserved, if you steal any of my ideas, at least give me some credit)

Sincerely:

Emoose, head Mutant

Louise awoke with her mind remarkably clear. The bed she occupied was in a small or more correctly stated, compact room. It was bright but not overly so. The walls were a pleasant shade of blue that she found some how comforting. She could see a window from her vantage point but it looked as if it were made opaque and could see nothing through it. The next thing she noted was the absence of pain. She welcomed the relief, it was the first time in days she had felt comfortable. With a slight bit of panic she noticed that she could not move. She was lying in some sort of hospital bed unlike she had ever encountered in her world. She saw that her right arm was held down by a strap, the strap had a read out of some sort embedded in it as well as some sort of intravenous tube.

As she was attempting to will her limbs to move a musical note sounded in the air. It seemed to come from everywhere at once. It was obviously meant to gain her attention not to alarm her."Good morning Louise" a cheerful voice announce."Allow me to welcome you to my ship the Albatross" the voice continued. The voice was male and had a flat accent very much like the type she grown up with in the Midwestern United States. "By ship, you mean that zeppelin I saw before I blacked out?" Zeppelin?" he repeated sounding confused. "Oh of course, Count Von Zeppelin, he was the one that worked with dirigibles back before your World War One, no he did not design my ship." "You know about World War One?" Louise said more than a little surprised. "Of course, I have visited your world many times in my youth and I have even met your Von Zeppelin." the voice stated in a matter of fact tone.

Louise was beginning to doubt the sanity of the disembodied voice. His voice took on a serious tone. " We can reminisce about your world another time" he paused briefly, "I have discussed your condition with the ships doctor and I need to as they say on your world, 'fill you in' ". "Your prognosis is excellent, Most of your injuries are well on their way to healing" he continued. "Why am I restrained?" she interrupted . "To facilitate a speedier recovery it was necessary to temporarily paralyze your body he stated. "Our techniques are far more advanced than those of your world, your recovery will only take a fraction of the time it would take in one of your hospitals"he concluded. " what kind of techniques? " she asked suspiciously. "nanites" was his one word answer.

"Nanites are self replicating molecular machines about the size of a corpuscle and as we speak a large quantity of specialized nanites are committing voluntary suicide to heal and reinforce your broken bones much like small animals in your world's oceans leave their skeletons to make reefs." He explained. " You are being healed from the inside out". "I see", Louise said actually only understanding about half of what he was saying. ""I know that you have many more questions for me, but I would like to continue our conversation in person","I must warn you that my appearance maybe a bit disconcerting,but I assure you that I am as human as you are"he paused for moment . He continued in a manner that made Louise think he was choosing his words carefully. "I too have suffered at the same hands as you have, Yes I know that you were captured and tortured by the individuals that we call the Philistines" " Philistines is a cultural reference you might recognize from your world from a book you call the bible." "I'll explain all of that in short order, but first we must meet face to face for you to understand the peril you and your world are facing. "

With those ominous word still ringing in her ears a vertical rectangular opening appeared at the opposite end of her small room. The figure that strode into the room was covered from hand to hand and from head to toe in a loose fitting soft grey coverall. His hands gloved and his feet shod in soft leather boots. His face was obscured by a set of over sized seemingly opaque goggles and some sort of oxygen mask covered the lower half of his face. Louise had to strain with her restricted movement to take him all in. His head nearly touched the ceiling, a good 6'6" she guesstimated. He stood before her and uttered three words, he uttered them in such a way that it sounded like they might explain everything, but for Louise they only added more confusion.

He said"I am Zero".

NEXT TIME: Zero tells his story.

'

'

'

Consciousness for Louise faded in and out like waves lapping at low tide. The pain lost some of it's intensity in the time she had lain there. She thought of turning over in an attempt to lessen the pain. She decided not to even try, the rocky ground would be equally uncomfortable no matter how she was laying. During her current brief bout of alertness she took an inventory of her injuries. Her left eye would not focus and the sight was noticeably dimmer than the right. The blood from her head injury had coagulated she confirmed with her one functioning hand and arm. She was also certain that her right leg was broken. She didn't even bother to count the broken ribs.

Not too bad, a couple of days in a hospital,then six weeks in a cast she'd be as good as new. Better maybe considering the rest she would get. Of course lying helpless on the ground on an unknown alien world did not bode well for longevity. No food, no weapons and helpless, that about summed up her situation. While she was wallowing in her own self pity she noticed something with her left eye. She moved her head slightly so as to get a better look with her undamaged eye. She at first she could not put a name to the huge airborne object. It looked familiar. Finally the name came to her, a zeppelin! True It had no exterior engine nacelles like the photographs from her old history books and it was dead silent, but that's what it was.

Louise lost consciousness again, when she regained consciousness again she had another shock,she was so surprised she spoke aloud," look at all the baby dinosaurs". At that moment one of the diminutive dinosaurs pulled out a hypodermic and gave Louise an injection and yet another placed an oxygen mask on her face.

'Those are some pretty amazing little dinosaurs", she thought to herself groggily.

Next time: The tall masked stranger!

Commander Zero sat in his command chair on the bridge of his atomic powered dirigible that his saurian crew had affectionately dubbed the Albatross. The heads up display in his light intensifying goggles told him all systems were nominal. The trans dimensional transfer had brought him and his crew to yet another earth like world. This world seemed nearly lifeless. He detected only basic plant and animal life. Haliss his saurian second in command clicked his claws to get his attention. "Excuse me Zero" He intoned. "What is it?
Zero asked.

"We are detecting the signature of an atomic powered craft that was operating on this world less than eight standard time units ago" he intoned. Haliss maintained a posture that his people used to indicate that he had more to say and that he should inquire further. "What else Haliss?"he asked trying to keep his patience with his reptilian friend."Yes Zero, If you will turn your long range sensor read outs in your H.U.D. you will see what is bothering me"nodding slightly to indicate that was all the information he had for me.

Haliss' people used a wide range of postures, ticks, clicks and head movements to amplify their language. Their reptilian facial features allowed for little expressiveness. The U.T. did an excellent job translating their language word for word but it was necessary to be looking at them for complete communication. Zero touched the wrist control panel on his exoskeleton to activate the display that would relay the information from the main differential engine. He Immediately saw what Haliss was referring to. It was a life sign and what was more it was a human life sign. He had not come in contact with a fellow human in many cycles. "Haliss"I said,"bring us about". "Zero I recommend caution, it could be a trap"Haliss warned. "If it were a saurian life sign would you counsel caution?"I asked. "Doubly so"was his answer.

There was a brief flurry on the bridge as Haliss issued his orders to the crew. The navigator transferred the coordinates to the helmsman and touched the control on his panel that would give him full power from the super conducting motors. The engineer watched and nodded with satisfaction checking his displays to see that the impellers were operating at optimum efficiency. power was flowing from the mighty migma atomic pile to the six super conducting motors causing the the great air ship to surge forward.

Mookai the saurian tactical officer clicked claws to gain Zero's Attention. He assumed the posture of respectful interrogatory . Zero acknowledged him with a nod and a head bob that a superior would use for a respected subordinate. Mookai partially opened his mouth, the saurian equivalent of a blush at the compliment. "Commander should we go to battle stations" Mookai said with an emphatic head bob. "Yes" zero said with his own emphatic nod. "Weapons operators to their stations" announced the Tannoy system.

Active armor and the particle beam weapons came to life. And for good measure the recoilless rifle turrets came on line. Mookai's clawed hand flew across his panel. The engineer noticed the indicators for the weapons systems as they became activated, Mookai was not taking any chances. He had enough fire power to destroy a small planet at the ready. But as always, it's better to be safe than sorry. The gun crews barely had time to get to their stations before navigator announced that they were close enough to get a visual. So anxious was Zero that he did not wait for Mookai to throw up the image on the main display. Visually there was no mistake, it was a human.

Next week: A new ally?


.

Idea developement

The tale starts out fairly faithful to the Aladdin story. I'll make a few changes, for instance I'll place story in a total fantasy world not related to any actual historical period. I think I call my hero/victim Ari the  master thief. My heroin Princess Miranda, it has a nice fairy tale quality. Miranda's doting father will be King Malfus.  For the villains we'll have Prince Valin, Miranda's first cousin and would be usurper. Next we have Basir the wise, the discredited palace magician and Prince Valin's partner in crime. And last we we have Haseem the brutal, body guard and personal servant to Prince Valin. 

The setting is the great city of Agra. Agra has seen better days. At one time it was the capital city of great and wealthy empire. After years of decline and encrouchment from surrounding kingdoms, Agra is but a shadow of its former glory. Agra's king, Malfus the kind is beloved by his subjects and is content to rule over what was left to him by his fore bearers. Prince Valin is the ward of the king and was taken in after the untimely death of his father; the younger brother of the king . We find out later that the king's brother was killed by Valin and Basir as part of a plot to put the ambitous Valin on the throne. It is Valins dream to restore the kingdom to its former glory.  

Agra and the surrounding kingdoms are in what we would call a pre-industrial age. They know how to make steel and basic machines. Their alchemists are familiar with black gunpowder, but guns are unknown. Crossbows and swords are the standard military arms. The most potent offensive weapon is the calvary charge. The city is situated on the shore of a broad river that empties into bay. The city's protected by a thick high curtain wall and manned day and night by the king's guard. At the center of the city is the royal palace that overlooks the central market . The city has many narrow winding streets and alleyways. There are many temples and the populace worships a whole pantheon of deities . The people themselves are racially diverse becuse of the once wide flung empire encompassed  a wide range of different peoples. 

Next:

we flesh out the main characters.

My Idea

I don't know who said it originally, but I think I agree; Technology sufficiently advanced would be indistinguishable from magic. A common theme in sci-fi is the effect of advanced technology. Whether that technology is alien, from the future or cooked up by a mad scientist. Sometimes the invading alien horde wield unstoppable weapons, ala "War of the Worlds" or some other more subtle forms of technology. 

But did you ever wonder what some one like Archimedes would do with a HP pocket calculator? Or what if Hannibal had access to a few Gatling guns? Or how about some anti-phsychotic drugs for Caligula? Of course those technological artifacts would be "out of context". You would have to teach the recipients not only how to use them, but when and why. Archimedes probably didn't even have arabic numbers and the zero, you'd have to reeducate him before he could use his HP as an example. But what if the technology we're talking about was way in advance of anything in our age, say something that had an artificial intelligence. A product of a civilization more highly evolved than we can currently imagine.  Now hold that thought!

What if the magic talked about in some of our folk tales and legends wasn't magic but super science? For this tale I am planing to use as my inspiration  the classic story of Aladdin. In the story an evil sorcerer tricks the young Aladdin into retrieving a magic lamp from a booby trapped "cave of wonder". Our young protagonist ends up stranded in the cave, but figures out how to conjure the Djinn of the magic ring and later the even mightier Djinn of the lamp to effect his escape and to make himself rich and powerful and of course get the girl of his dreams. 

Now in my retelling of the story I'm giving it a bit of a twist as you shall see. Its going to be a little grittier, a little nastier. I'm going to give Djinn some teeth. Hi-tech teeth that is.