{"id":2903,"date":"2012-01-19T13:50:05","date_gmt":"2012-01-19T18:50:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.allandouglas.com\/blog\/?p=2903"},"modified":"2025-04-21T01:56:41","modified_gmt":"2025-04-21T05:56:41","slug":"sci-fi-dalotek-base","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/sci-fi-dalotek-base\/","title":{"rendered":"Sci-Fi Sample – Dalotek Base"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"moon,
Image from Space 1999 TV Series<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The doors slid aside and Doctor Forrester followed Colonel Stryker off the lift.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am truly impressed, Colonel, with your base. It is absolutely amazing what can be done with enough tax payer dollars!\u201d<\/p>\n

The stern faced Colonel just nodded.<\/p>\n

\u201cI understand now why you were so adamant that we keep our distance when we set up our own base here on the moon.\u00a0\u00a0 And I must say,\u201d he smiled, \u201cthat I\u2019m rather surprised that you not only took us in, but have been so open and forthcoming.\u00a0 I have truly enjoyed this tour.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stryker, a head taller than Forrester, trim with a military crew cut and steel gray eyes said, without emotion, \u201cLeaving you there to die when your base was damaged, didn\u2019t seem to be the thing to do, Doctor Forrester.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, I would hope not.\u00a0 Although, frankly, I would not have been surprised if you had.\u00a0 But I did expect the lot of us to be squirreled away in some storage room.\u00a0 This tour was so unexpected!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHmmm\u2026\u201d Nodded Styker.<\/p>\n

\u201cEspecially since you are obviously not happy about having my team and I here.\u00a0 But I assure you Colonel, your secrets are safe with me.\u00a0 I shall never speak of them with anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is quite true, Doctor.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n

Doctor Forrester\u2019s broad smile faded some, \u201cColonel, that sounds rather like a threat.\u00a0 Is there something you ought to tell me?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou won\u2019t be able to tell anyone about our moon base because you won\u2019t be leaving this base.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Doctor\u2019s persistent smile disappeared as he eyed the Colonel, \u201cDo you plan to murder us or hold us captive, Colonel?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCaptive?\u201d Asked Stryker, raising his eyebrows, \u201cWhat would be the purpose in that?\u00a0 You\u2019d be sucking in our air, consuming food and water and contributing nothing at all to the welfare of this base.\u00a0 No, doctor, prisoners \u2013 at least long term prisoners \u00a0– are not a practical consideration.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo\u2026 it\u2019s to be murder then?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we wanted you and your team dead, Doctor, we would simply have left you in your facility to asphyxiate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Forrester\u2019s heavy brows knitted as he blinked at Stryker, \u201cWhat then\u2026 we can\u2019t go, we can\u2019t stay, you aren\u2019t going to kill us.\u00a0 What\u2019s left?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI never said you couldn\u2019t stay, Doctor.\u00a0 I said it would be impractical to imprison you.\u00a0 But we have need of you as a member of our staff here at our base.\u201d<\/p>\n

Forrester\u2019s jaw dropped and his left eye squinted down as it did when he was faced with something perplexing, \u201cWe are not military, Colonel.\u00a0 Quite the opposite in fact.\u00a0 \u2018Radical eggheads\u2019 I believe is what you called us when the Dalotek Corporation announced its plans to establish a mining settlement on the moon.\u00a0 We are a geological team.\u00a0 This is a defense base, what possible use could we be to you? \u201c<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t tell you that, Doctor, unless you agree to stay.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s very unhelpful.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sorry, it\u2019s the best I can do. And the offer is extended only to you.\u00a0 Your colleagues are \u2018squirreled away in a storage room\u2018 awaiting an emergency transport to take them back to Earth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Forrester rubbed his face, his finger tracing along his cheekbone, wondering what he was missing. \u00a0\u00a0He had been trapped in a chamber apart from the others. \u00a0It would have taken several hoppers to get his group to Moon Base, and he was transported alone, in the last hopper to leave.\u00a0 It was possible his staff did not know he was still alive. \u201cAnd if I choose not to join you?\u201d<\/p>\n

Stryker scowled, \u201cThen we report that we were unable to locate you in what\u2019s left of your mining base, and we take you back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Forrester\u2019s eyes went wide, \u201cThe base is fractured, I\u2019d have only the air in my suit!\u00a0 You would<\/em> be murdering me!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI would, Doctor, simply be returning you to the situation you created for yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Forrester stared at him, his thoughts racing in a confused jumble, but over it all was the resounding recollection of his often expressed refrain, \u2018God I hate the military!\u2019<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

~~\/ * _ * ~~<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

My brain sneezed last night and expelled this bit of Sci-Fi sputum.\u00a0 It does that from time to time.\u00a0 I thought I\u2019d post it here and ask my fiction writing friends to pick it apart.\u00a0 If I were to turn it into a short story, what needs fixing to make it a good lead-in to a short story that might be worth publishing?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The doors slid aside and Doctor Forrester followed Colonel Stryker off the lift. “I am truly impressed, Colonel, with your base. It is absolutely amazing what can be done with enough tax payer dollars!” The stern faced Colonel just nodded. “I understand now why you were so adamant that we keep our distance when we … Continue reading “Sci-Fi Sample – Dalotek Base”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44,12],"tags":[43,28,13],"class_list":["post-2903","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-creative","category-muse","tag-brain-spill","tag-fiction","tag-scifi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2903","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2903"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2903\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21615,"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2903\/revisions\/21615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2903"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2903"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}