Friday Fiver

Too sleepy for a clever intro.

1. What is your nearest lake or river? Lake Almaden, which feeds into the Guadalupe River.

2. Do you believe in heaven? No. I don't think there is an afterlife, and if there is, I utter reject human conceptions of it.

3. What's your lucky number? 4

4. Ever know anyone who appeared on a game show? Yes. I know two people who appeared on Jeopardy!

5. Charades: good times or lame? Mostly lame, but when you get some real geeks playing it, the game can get interesting. I mean you try to pantomine a Type-II Supernova some time.

Because driving my route takes very little brainpower...

While at work today I mentally outlined a trilogy. The basic idea is that about 7,000 years ago a ship carrying a post-biological race failed in our solar system. Not being able to repair the ship, and help being out of the question, they located us and settled in to wait for us to develop a civilization that could build them a new ship.

The crew currently exist as nanoswarms. Most are dormant, but a few are active so that they can gage humanity's progress and send the wake up call when the time is right. Along the way, these aliens engage in subtle manipulation to steer mankind away from technological dead ends and extinction. Twenty years ago, the current "on-duty" crew member sent out the wake up call, and nobody replied.

My hero is an archaeologist working for a private museum owned by an elderly gent. When that worthy dies, his secret is revealed: he was hosting the active crew member, and opened the museum in order to collect likely hidey-holes of dormant crew. Now, my hero is possessed, and the search both for the missing crew and the cause of the wake-up failure is on.

The basic story line is Secret History, with a healthy dollop of Conspiracy and High Weirdness. As they investigate, they find that there are at least three other active crew members, one of whom is actively hindering the search.

I even have my titles picked out:

Clarke's Law

The Vasty Deep

Quantum Ducks

I actually am writing short story, which I'll post for comments when I'm done: Concerning the Tragic Demise of Sal's Taco Bar. It's a story on why theoretical physics should stay that way, and why people with the soapweed gene will cause the end of the universe.

Now I'm going to bed.