Sensurround's Storytime

  PART III WASHINGTON, DC The door to the SCIF beeped, and opeened.  General Fukawa Johnson stormed in angrily. "She's escaped, and in Sloughwitz's camp now." Johnson shouted. The General slammed a folio down in front of Congresswoman Gotard. "UGH." Congresswoman Gotard yelled.  "This entire operation is royally FUCKED.  How did she get out?" General Johnson grabbed the folio off the desk, and shuffled through several papers.  "Says here, since the phlebotomist's quit, the corpsman that administered the quieting pharmacuticals screwed up, and missed the vein." Johnson slammed the folio back down on the desk, the papers flying askew. "You've royally fucked this entire operation, and I can't allow that to continue." General Johnson said, flatly. "I'm bringing this to the Joint Chiefs.  I can't keep this quiet any longer" "Yes, you can." Gotard said, in a vaguely singsong voice.  Her eyes glo...

 INTERMISSION "Ok, try again.  right before I sing, I feel shivers in my spine.  You ever feel that?" Raidne asked. "Yeah, the first time I heard you sing, and I couldn't talk." Raidne shoved him gently.  "I'm serious." "So am I." "When I get really angry, I feel ... something deep in my core, right where my abs are." "Ok, good!  Focus on that, and try to bring the flames out." Yarrow scrunched his face in attention.  A small blue flame touched his skin, and immediately, both of them smelled charred flesh. "Damn!" Yarrow shouted, shaking his hand.  This time, the burn looked pretty bad. "Too bad you can't just magic up my ability to figure this out." Yarrow said, as Raidne turned on the cold water in the sink for him. "Why can't I?" Yarrow grinned evilly Raidne removed and dropped her coat, spread her wings and sang. 🎵 You have to believe we are magic.  Nothing can stand in our wa...

 Raidne woke suddenly. "Settle down, you're safe, just exhausted." "Where am I?" Raidne asked, sitting up quickly, displacing a tattered sheet. "You're at FST.  Private Yarrow and Slaughter brought you here after you're engagement." "What's an FST?  I'm not a soldier you know." "Forward Surgical Team.  You needed four bags of lactated ringers. When you're out there, you need to remember to hydrate." Raidne's head swam, and she steadied herself against the cot. "Yarrow's been chewing my ear off about you since you all returned, you know." Raidne sighed.  "Yarrow's an ass." "Yes, he is, but it's all an act.  They took his sister, you know." "Oh, shit.  And he's not an Active?  Usually it runs in the family." "He's adopted.  But I didn't tell you any of this, by the way." Raidne nodded. Sloughwitz knocked on the doorframe.  "Is she ok...

 Sargent "Slaughter" Sloughwitz looked over the bluff, the sun setting behind his section. "This is absolute madness." he said to himself. "This is PERFECT!" the lady said.  Sloughwitz didn't even know her name, but the team referred to her as "Raidne," and odd name for sure. "How is this perfect?" private Yarrow questioned.  "We're on an elevated position where the enemy will be sure to be watching for an approach!" "Stow that shit, Yarrow!" Sloughwitz yelled. "No, that's all right." Raidne said, softly.  "He's not wrong, if we were fighting your way.  Tonight, we fight MY way." she said. It was late in the evening, and the sun set slowly behind them, casting long shadows down the rocky cliff face. "What are you going to do, wave your magic wand and make them disappear?" Yarrow said condecendingly. "No.  I'm going to bring them outside and you're going to sh...

You need: 6 chicken tenderloins Parmesan cheese (grated works best) Mayo (DO NOT use lowfat or miracle whip)   Smother each tenderloin in mayo, then shake parmesan cheese on top.  Set oven for 375º Cook for 15-20 minutes, or until the biggest piece is at 165º Enjoy!     MACROS: 6 TENDERS CALORIES: 580 FAT: 22.4g    sat 5.8g    poly 8.3g    mono 8.4g CHOLESTEROL 242.4mg SODIUM 664mg CARBS: 1.4g PROTEIN 86.8g

 NOTE:  This short story was inspired by the Chris Zabriskie Album "Cylinders" which you can listen to,  here: She woke up and didn't know where she was. She was reminded of being outside on a spring day, but the walls curved upwards. She didn't recognize the flying animals she saw. They looked like birds, but didn't have beaks. Then she remembered. her spacesuit ran out of air, and she was screaming for help and passed out. Someone had picked her up and saved her life. But what? The first Cylinder was about half a kilometer long. She found a small stone and tossed it in the air, and it spirled away. "So, the gravity here is from centripital force" she thought to herself. Unsure what to do, she walked toward the other end of the cylinder. She opened the door and walked inside. The door closed behind her. The second cylinder was rotating much slower, and she felt much less weight in here. She looked up, and saw large, indistinct creatures, like ...

  Ephram blindly ran into the night, desperately pushing the feeling of hunger to the edges of his consciousness. "Oh God, please protect the innocent, and don't let me hurt anyone" the last dregs of his sanity prayed. A gunshot grabbed the attention of those last dregs of his sanity. Those last dregs had an idea, a hope. He ran toward the gunshot. Ephram turned into the alley, and saw a man in a hoodie, wearing a mask and pointing a gun at someone. He smelled the blood, and the victim wasn't moving. The man in the hoodie ran toward the downed victim and ransacked his pockets, removing his wallet, pulling out the cash and cards. "That doesn't belong to you." Ephram said, plainly.  "It does now." the man said, turning and pointing the gun at Ephram. Ephram slowly closed on the man; his gun shaking, panicked. "Imma get your money too, asshole" and the man in the hoodie pulled the trigger.  Ephram had been shot before, and it didn...

  Ephram Hoagston III stood in front of the Catholic Church as the sun set behind it, casting a gorgeous orange halo around it. As he walked closer to the entrance, he felt the heat and pain throughout his body catch his attention. He took a deep breath and kept walking.  He'd been working up to this moment for years, trying to acclimate his unnatural body to the church. It hadn't helped much. Ephram passed the tabernacle and genuflected, kneeling as was custom, and his knees exploded in pain. He grit his teeth, stood and continued to the confessional, walking in and kneeling, is knees screaming in pain.  He made the sign of the cross, and his wrist flared in pain briefly, and settled. Through grit teeth, he whispered. "Bless me Father, for I have sinned. It's been ..." He paused, almost explaining it had been 475 years, but didn't need to be tossed out at this point.   "It's been a very long time since my last confession." he finally admi...

 Allie Fox sat in her 50 year old truck and prepared herself.  She activated the camouflage body panels, which changed to vantablack.  She quietly slipped out of the truck and checked the custom fit of her body armor. She breathed deeply. "Rock and Roll" she said quietly to herself.  She removed her combat helmet from the compartment in the rear of the truck, and powered it up and put it on.  The helmet automatically connected to the rigjack at the back of her neck. Her perception expanded.  She could "see" 360 degrees around.  She could see in the infrared as well as in low light.  She attached the cartoonish Fox snout to the front of her combat helmet.   For luck. She checked the pistol at her hip.  It was ready.  Heads-up display showed it had 19 rounds of 9mmEXP ready.  The camouflage panels on her truck had about 30 minutes till they over heated.  She fingered the old wireless remote in her pocket, pressing the f...

 18 Standard years ago:   Captain Mack Hunter watched from the newly discovered moon as The Ichthys slowly burned up in the upper atmosphere.  "So, Autry, What's the final disposition of the Ichthys?" Autry looked away as he indexed the loadout database in his mind. "We got all the shuttles and midsize ships off, of course.  As well as all the heavy equipment.  We got the sixteen fusion reactors out of storage, as well as about 85% of the big one from the remaining operational engine of the Ichthys.  We can fabricate the few pieces left easily enough.  We have the pieces to build habitats on the second moon we need for gas, fuel, and metal drilling." Mack looked at the AI.  "Ok, so now tell me the bad news." "We have enough food for about a standard year, for all of us, including a small party on the 2nd moon to start fuel drilling.  Considering all this..." he swept his mechanical arm across the agricultural plain, "we should be able to...

 Pax'Del hummed the dancing tune from the speakeasy, a happy, jolly tune as he walked home.   "Help for a veteran?" a voice called out from a dirty streetcorner.  Pax turned around and waved. "I'm still in the service, friend.  Veteran of what campaign?" he asked the homeless fellow. "D'dendrx five.  I lost my right arm during the Vol offensive." He vaguely waved a stump. Pax, remembering the meal he had at the illegal speakeasy, palmed a ration coupon.  "Here, friend.  This one's on me.  Eat well tonight.  If you need anything, knock on my door.  I live just down the street.  I was in the Mobile Fleet on D'dendrx five.  I saw a lot of the aftermath of the Marine offensive." "Thanks, sir!" The veteran gleamed, grinning.   Pax was in a rare, good mood.  He had a good time.  He pushed on the control to open his front door, but it was already open.  His ears raised straight up in alarm.  "Zinn?!"...

 Pax'Del stepped off his ship at the old dockyards.  The Emperor's handmaiden was waiting for him. "How's The Emperor today?  Is he remotely lucid at all?" Sher'Dei stifled a laugh.  "Sort of.  He thinks it's 20 cycles ago during the conquest of the Deri.  He asked about the plans to take their Homeworld. Pax sighed.  "The backwoods system that the civil star patrol had cut around has been settled by an unknown intelligence.  They have weapons I've never seen before, but my importantly, they have more food growing on that planet than the homeworld of the Empire has seen in elevens of years.  Not to mention worlds like this one.  I was only able to do some basic research before they discovered me, but from what little I found, they grow a crop not unlike Keln." Sher'Dei gasped in amazement.  "I have not had fresh Keln in many years.  I do not even think the Emperor remembers what it tastes like.  I certainly don't, and I am...

 Pax'Del woke suddenly from a nightmare.  He was remembering his mate, and her painful death from an infection that used to be easily curable before the Hard Times.  Food was scarce, medicine was scarce, and economic ruin was slowly wrecking its havoc through The Empire.  His mate had succumbed to an infection while pregnant with his daughter, which caused her disability, and his secret shame. Pax remembered his mates cries of pain through her final days, and a tear came to his eyes. He missed his daughter terribly. He checked the timepiece on the wall, and saw it was late in the night.  Nightwatch was still on duty on the ship.  He dressed himself quickly, and headed to the small chapel in the rear of the ship. Del lit a small candle, and began the ritual. "Ancestors, I prostrate myself before you, begging for insight" he began the prayer to himself. "I have sworn myself to the service of the Empire, and yet, the Empire is allowing itself to fall into ruin...

Pax'Del's patrol group fell out of jumpspace near the twin star.  The prevoius patrol group had skipped past this system for the past 20 or so cycles, because it was far out of the way.  The laziness of the civil space patrol never ceased to amaze Pax. "Captain, we're getting scan results from the Duotex IV system, and it's as the Emperor had feared.  We have invaders.  Three of the moons have unidentified life on them.  We see evidence of advanced power systems, industry, and... wow.  They figured out how to farm on the abandoned, re-engineered moon. Del's ears flattened in shock.  Back when he was a 2nd LT, he was part of the failed attempt to start farming there. "Are the crops bioavailable to us?" Del asked. Science officer Gekto'zzl answered, "Hard to tell, sir.  We'd have to directly sample the crops and assay the chemical makeup.  From what I can tell, at least one crop is very similar to Keln.  But we'd have to sample it....

 Star Emperor G'Gerlian lept from his throne in anger. "The Terrans did WHAT?" "They dumped the shipment of terrillium into one of the waterways.  When terrilium gets wet it..." "I KNOW WHAT HAPPENS TO TERRILIUM WHEN IT GETS WET" The emperor roared. J'Jark shrank a bit. The Emperor grabbed his scepter in his third hand, and luched for the communications terminal. "Bring me the Grand Fleet Marshall.  I want that mudball LEVELED.  At this point, I'm open to waiting 200 cycles before we can settle it." J'Jark looked away a moment, and idly fingered the pendant his late love had given him.  The memory of her courage filled him, and he spoke. "Sire, I wouldn't normally speak out of turn, but I have to speak up about this.  It is only because my family has sworn a duty to you for 11 generations, my family is inextricably tied to yours.  If you were to, say, force elevens of colonists to a planet that had radiation weapons dumpe...

  "They do WHAT?" J'zigrath's ears stood up on end in surprise.   "Their entire technology set is based on harnessing explosions and detonations. IT's why we didn't detect any antigravity tech. They don't have any. All they have is explosions."   Zinda continued pulling the Human approximation equipment off of her face. The glue pulled at her scaly skin as she removed it. "The ground vehicles carry around a distilled liquid that explodes at a certain mix of oxygen. The explosions push mechanical levers which are geared to wheels."   J'zigrath stared blankly, his ears flattening.  "They race them. For entertainment." Zinda said, flatly.  J'zigrath found his voice. "But the orbital infrastructure? How did they get that stuff up without serious antigrav tech?"  Zinda laughed and smiled. "Explosions."   J'zigrath looked up at the taller female. "The mathematical precision required to ...