TA Lucas

This article starts with a short story, and then describes our solar system in the year 3572.  Click here to find out how you can contribute to the rabiki.com world building project.

297, AJJAJON, ODER, 2—SOLNET BROADCAST—MARS LOCAL NEWS CHANNEL 3912

Mike Smith was temporarily suspended from the University of Neopolis pending the investigation of missing nanites from the school’s science lab. What turned out to be a harmless prank could have been much, much worse. Now here’s Jackson with the story:

The first of his roommates to awaken was Sam. It started with a light scratching under his covers, and then more determined movements until he finally sat up in bed. “What is that”, his voice echoed through the room. He reached for the lamp, but Jose had already beaten him to it. The light came on. “Ahhhhhh!”, both men screamed. A solid grey mass that had covered Sam’s body from the waist down was working its way up the body. He jumped to his feet, kicking and screaming and brushing his legs, but nothing could prevent their march up the body.

By this time everyone in the room was awake. Sam and Jose were dancing madly about the room, and Erok was writhing under his sheets. Mike’s heart pounded within his chest…partly out of fear for his friends, and partly out of the excitement of seeing them get what they deserved. He didn’t want to seem unaffected by this mysterious invader, so he let out a few screams of his own, and flailed his arms and legs beneath his blankets.

A few moments later all was silent. Sam sat in the far corner of the room, his shorts twisted and his hair a mess. Erok lay on the floor beside his bed still scratching at his legs. And Jose stood in the center of the room staring at the large wet spot that had formed on the front of his pajama pants. For the longest time, nobody said anything and eventually all the guys made it back to their beds.

University officials say they won’t expel Mike, but they don’t want the incident to go undisciplined, and he will receive a time off.

The weather is up next. Low solar activity is expected for the Sol System this next kilocycle, and Sun spots are the lowest in gigacycles.…stay tuned for your local forecast.

Template by: TA Lucas
Title: Sol
Author: TA Lucas
Editor: TBD

Description: Sol is the home star to the human race, and is the focal point of their civilization. It is a G type main sequence star and is about half-way through its life span. It is a fairly calm star…except for its 11 year sun-spot cycle which occasionally wreaks havoc on unshielded electrical systems.

Location: Sol is located in the Local Bubble in the Orion’s Arm of the Milky Way galaxy. It orbits about 26,000 light years from the core (about ¾ the way out). It’s located in sector V16 of RabiKi’s coordinate map.

Star Info: Mass: 1.99 x 10^30, Diameter: 1990000, Mean density: 1.41 gm/cm^3, Escape velocity 617500 m/s, Rotational period: 25.38 Earth days, Orbital period 240 million years, Distance from core: 26000 LY, Spectral type: G2V, Absolute magnitude: 4.83m

Travel: The Sol system has eight large slip gates that connect it with the rest of the Bubble. Six provide access to the major star systems within human space, the seventh is a gate connected to Esoi space, and the eighth is connected to Avani space. The gates are the arteries that carry the life-giving communication, people, and supplies to the system, and are therefore heavily guarded. There is both a military training facility and shipyard located close to the gates. In the unlikely event of an attack, the base is brought to full alert, and the gates are closed to protect the human home world.
Planets/Dwarf Planets/Habited moons:

Mercury:
Mercury is both the first and the smallest planet in the Sol system. It lies close to the star and well out of the habital zone and is therefore void of life. The surface temperatures of the planet are extremely high, but range from -180 C to 430 C. Ice exists in the deep craters towards the poles. The planet was fully mapped in 2011 of the Information Age.

During the Solar Age mining stations were set up in the Polar Regions to excavate iron for starship production, but several large deposits of gold and rhodium were discovered. The planet has sat relatively untouched since. There are currently communication relays on Mercury…just like every other planet in the system.

Venus:
Venus, the second planet of the Sol system, is close to Earth in size, density, and composition, but is not a very hospitable place. It was fully mapped in 1990 of the Information age.

As the human race began to look for potential replacements for its dying Earth, Venus was considered for a terraforming project. Several massive attempts were made to change the atmosphere and lower planet temperature. In 2130 the atmosphere was seeded with nano-particles designed to trap the carbon dioxide and drop it to the surface. The process ended up not being feasible, although they were able to drop the overall planet temperature by 15 degrees.

In 2151 a few private companies who did not want the Venerian colonization proposition to die built Arcadia, a floating city. The city grew and prospered, but the idea never fully caught on. The majority of humans wanted a solid foundation for their new civilization, so Mars was chosen for the official new home for humanity. Since that time several more floating cities have been added…all boasting of their lavished get-a-ways, luxuries, and many indulgences.

Earth:
The human race got its start on Earth, the third planet of the system. They grew quickly, industrializing each continent as they expanded. As their cities grew, they took little thought as to how they were affecting their planet, and by the time they realized they were poisoning their planet, it was too late. The humans had wasted most of their natural resources, and trashed just about everything that could have been trashed. By the end of the Information Age, they began looking to other places in the Solar System to expand.

Earth was declared unfit for human life, and therefore has no government of its own, but is governed by the Luna establishment. In the 50 plus years since humans have left, Earth has started to recover, and wild-life has thrived. Some still use the planet as a place to hide, those that are brave, and those that are desperate. In recent years the Lunar state has petitioned Mars for help in managing the organized crime and gang population that has increased planet-side. Police raids are not uncommon, but don’t seem that helpful either.

Luna:
Earth’s moon is home to several large cities…mostly designed around the starship factories built during the First Expansion Age. Ptolemy, the capital of the Luna settlement, was built first, and is comprised of hundreds of thousands of independent interlocking habitat modules. Since there is no seismic activity, much of the city has expanded beneath the surface. Miles and miles of homes, businesses, and factories are buried underground.

The first inhabitants of the moon came late in the Information age. Many astronomy and science fans bought up large quantities of lunar soil from the Lunar Embassy….an organization thought by many to be a fake. But their faith in this organization was confirmed when the governments of the earth honored their legal purchases of property….some made the journey, but others sold their land and made huge profits.

The moon also has a Habitat Defense System (HDS) in place to protect against rogue asteroids. Most can be deflected years in advance, but sometimes more drastic measures are needed, and they’ll break out the big guns.

Mars:
Mars is the new seat for humanity. All aspects of the planet were thought out well before humans started moving. The location of cities and their layout, mass subterranean transportation, renewable power sources, etc. The humans have created the perfect planet…well at least on the surface. The old schisms of politics, religion, and race still exist.

The once brown planet has been changed…deep blue seas, and vast green forests now cover its surface. About 1/3 of the planet is now covered in water, and there are two large continents, and several large islands. The Valles Marineris is now one of the deepest watering holes on the planet, and a prized vacation spot.

Ceres:
Ceres is the smallest dwarf planet in the Sol system. One significant event for Ceres came in 2109 when an unmanned probe was sent to investigate the potential of microbial life in the water-ice that existed beneath the crust. Nothing of interest was discovered. Starov station was built in 3480 as a temporary housing facility for those who worked in the asteroid fields, but has grown into a large facility that gives miners a place to eat, sleep, and socialize.

Jupiter:
Jupiter the 5th planet is the largest in the Sol system, and probably the most studied. A number of unmanned crafts have been sent to investigate this behemoth down through the centuries. Early in the information age Pioneer, Voyager, Galileo, New Horizons, and a few others took detailed images and measurements as they orbited or passed by the planet. In 2091 Big Red was sent into Jupiter’s large red spot to calculate wind speeds and determine composition of gasses.

In 2083 Europa Deep Dig (EDD) landed on Europa and sent an ice boring machine through the ice into the oceans beneath. The waters were full of interesting life. Microbes, single and multi-celled creatures, and larger complex life-forms had developed outside of the Earth system. The initial response was one of shock. A few small animal rights groups formed under the premise of ‘No Contamination of Foreign Life’, and tried to stop further investigation, but humanity’s thirst for the unknown drove exploration deeper. About 5 years later a new base was built on Europa to study these new creatures. This spurred a massive search for life; humans sent out probes to every star within 10 light years of the Sol system.

Saturn:
The second of the four gas giants to orbit Sol is Saturn. It is made mostly of hydrogen, some helium, and has a small rocky core. One feature that has held the attention of many visitors to the Sol system is the rings of Saturn. It’s a fairly common practice for ship pilots to swing by the gas giant on their way out of the system, and you’ll often see passengers glued to their windows as they go by.

One other notable feature of the Saturn system is the moon Titan. In 2202 four large batches of spiders, tiny mechanical scouts, were released into its atmosphere. After a few months of crawling, the spiders had given scientists a very detailed map of the surface and sub-surface. This unobtrusive method has been streamlined, and is still used in planet mapping. Titan is home to several averaged sized colonies.

Uranus & Neptune:
There’s not a lot to say about Uranus and Neptune. They are the last of the gas giants, and therefore some of the largest and most massive in the Sol system, and both are very cold, and have high wind speeds. Uranus is odd in that its axis is tilted about 90 degrees from that of other planets.

Other Messier Objects:

Kuiper belt:
Pluto and its moon Sharron are two of the first objects identified to orbit in the Kuiper belt. Pluto was originally classified as a planet, but early in the Information Age it was declared a dwarf planet. Since then, thousands of Pluto sized objects have been identified orbiting in the outer regions. Haumea, Makemake, Eris are a few more of the named Kuiper belt objects.

Asteroid belt:
The main asteroid belt lies just beyond the orbit of Mars. This area of space is filled with particles ranging in size from grains of sand to rocks the size of mountains. In the short term, you’ll see many mining operations, but the region is too volatile for people to stay long. There’s a phrase often heard among pilots of this area, “Get in, get your rock, and get out.” Most of the metals needed for starship production comes from this area…it’s cheaper and easier than bringing it from the surface.

Due to its dangers and close proximity to Mars, you’ll often see adrenalin junkies in their personal crafts trying to navigate through it…they call it the Saxton Run. In the 3520’s Mike Saxton went a quarter million miles in and back in just under four hours, and people have been trying to beat it ever since. The younger generation likes shorter races where a pilot will fly in as fast as they can and see how far they travel in a cycle.

Abandoned asteroid station:
This is an abandoned space station built into a 16 kilometer wide asteroid that was found orbiting Sol just beyond Mars on the inner side of the asteroid belt. The station was created by some unknown alien species. It is currently in orbit around Mars, and is one of the most visited museums in the Sol system. The station led to the reverse engineering of FTL drives and several other technologies the Humans found useful. The creators of the station are believed to be an old extinct race, but it is still uncertain where they came from, or where they’ve gone.
Major Centers:

Ptolemy:
Ptolemy is located on Earth’s moon Luna. It is built mostly from interlocking habitat modules and underground tunnels and buildings. It was named after Ptolemaeus, the crater where it was founded. The first buildings were built in the center of this large crater with the plans to eventually expand to the edges, but growth was phenomenal and the city spilled over into the two adjoining craters: Alphonsus and Arzachel. Ptolemy is the capital of Luna, and is its largest city at about 515 sq km.

Neapolis:
Neapolis is the “New City” of Mars…or at least it was when it was named. As Humans began to plan their great escape from their dying planet, they started designs on a new city, a grand city, the perfect city….Neapolis. Architects from all the major countries of Earth came together to contribute. Everything from highways to power plants to sub terrain transportation to the perfect balance of city zones was laid out in advance. Lots of data were fed into super computers and a number of scenarios played out. They tweaked and adjusted variables until a plan emerged.

What was deemed the “New City” is in fact the oldest city on the planet. It is located between the south western point of the Valles Marineris and Lake Torem, and by no means should be considered old…it is probably the most advanced city in the Human expanse.
Major Races:

Human:
The Humans are the only native intelligent species in the Sol system. Down through the years the humans have been a multi-party government…ranging from two to five different parties. There are currently only two factions with any authority, the Terran Union and Solarian League. Both groups are fractured, and hold their own, but the Terran Union has been the ruling faction for the past 25 years.

One of the Humans greatest strengths and also a weakness is their curiosity. They need to know. This drive has fueled their expansion throughout the Bubble, and has also led to a very powerful intelligence agency.

Centaurian:
They’ve just recently began to develop as a species. When humans discovered them in 2333, they had just developed atmospheric flight and nuclear fission. They are still only a single planet government, but now have a strong military presence in the Centauri and Sol systems, and live in a variety of worlds spread across the Bubble.

There are several large Centaurian settlements on Mars, and Luna…the Centaurians are widely accepted in Human culture. There is one large rogue movement within the Centaurian species called the Centauiran Underground. This terrorist group is openly opposed to any dealings with the Humans, and claim responsibility for a number attacks.
Time Line:

1990 – Planet Venus fully mapped.
2011 – Planet Mercury fully mapped.
2078 – City of Ptolemy was founded.
2083 – Europa Deep Dig sent to study the moon, and vast life was found.
2091 – Science craft Big Red was sent into Jupiter’s big red spot.
2109 – Investigation of dwarf planet Ceres.
2130 – Venerian atmosphere seeded to reduce planet temps.
2151 – The floating city of Arcadia was built.
2200 – Mars fully mapped with experimental spider technology.
2202 – Moon Titan fully mapped with spider technology.
2720 – City of Neopolis was founded.
2873 – Lunar war of independence.
3017 – First colonization team sent to Mars (500,000 people).
3321 – Second colonization team sent to Mars (1,000,000 people).
3378 – Third colonization team sent to Mars (1,000,000 people).
3415 – Start of Human mass exodus from Earth for the colonization of Mars.
3480 – Starov station was built.

Have you ever thought about writing?  Well, now is the time to give it a try.  rabiki.com is hosting their first science fiction writing challenge.  The purpose of this challenge is to help writers work with others writers.  As you write, you’ll often be given restraints…write about this topic, make sure you reference this article, or go by this outline.  Donne said, “No man is an island”, and writing with others is an important skill.  Below I’ve listed the requirements for the challenge, and links to help you get started.  It’s free and it’s fun!

• Rules for the February 2010 Writing Challenge.
• Sign up on the rabiki.com world building forms to submit your idea.
• Contact me on Facebook, rabiki.com, or here on ta-lucas.com if you have questions.

Here’s another short I’ve been working on…..

EARTH YEAR 2333, ALPHA CENTAURI A SYSTEM, PLANET FIORA, SOUTHERN CONTINENT

Jerome Sax stood at the door to a new world. This was it! His team had been chosen to make first contact with the only other known intelligent species in the universe, and a million thoughts flooded his mind. Would they be friendly? Aggressive? Would they be able to communicate? He finished loading his pack then turned and faced the others. “You guys ready?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be.” Sam smiled as she spoke.

“Let’s do it,” Jeff said, his hand on the door switch.

They’d done their homework while in route to the planet. Fiora was just slightly larger than Earth making its gravity a little stronger. The atmosphere was similar, so no breathing device was needed. They’d spent the last week on a drug regimen designed to boost their immune systems preventing any foreign infections from starting. It was important to meet the aliens face to face; they didn’t want a space suit hindering communication. The benefits of meeting them, in their own environment, far outweighed the risks of bio contamination…at least that’s what they’d been told.

Jerome turned in time to see the door slide to the left, and a blast of air whisked past his face. The wind was warm, and carried with it the sweet smells of this new world. All three stepped out into the clearing where their ship had landed. The world looked much like the jungles found on Earth. The trees and plants were definitely different, but they were green and leafy.

There were a few simple structures about a hundred meters directly in front of the ship, and several bipedal creatures had stepped out of the buildings to investigate the commotion. The next few minutes seemed like hours, but we eventually stood face to face with the beings. They were a little larger than humans, and appeared to be a bit stronger too. The creature that stood in front made a few clicks and glottal sounds then offered us a basket filled with a yellowish food…possibly a fruit of some type.

We accepted the basket, and then offered a gift of our own in return. Some of the creatures in the distance were able to change their skin color to blend in with their backgrounds; they were hard to see until they moved. The group that had come out to meet us were brownish in color, very similar to human skin. Maybe they were matching our colors to make us feel comfortable.

The leader, however, was different. His right arm from the elbow to the tips of his fingers were green, perhaps a mark of authority. Customs in any society were important, and now was as good of time as any to introduce one of ours. I reached out to grab his hand…nothing quite like a good firm handshake to seal a friendship. At first he seemed to hesitate, but eventually responded. His grip was firm. His hands felt strange though, soft, but yet prickly.

—————————————-

Description:
Skinmoss is a plant that grows within flesh. The plant starts as a needle like seed that breaks the surface of the species skin. Once inside, the needle develops slowly, sending out a root system inches in all directions. After about a month, the plant pushes up through the skin in several places. The tops of the plants can be pulled off, but they grow back quickly, and will continue until the root system is removed. The tops are made of small green leaves about 2 millimeters in diameter, and tube-like shoots…these tubes send out seeds to others when the plant tops are brushed or bumped, so pulling them often infects other parts of the body. There are no practical purposes for the plant, and it’s usually just a minor irritant. There have been a few extreme cases where root systems have invaded vital organs and have caused death.

The plant uses photo synthesis like other plants, but retrieves its water supply from the body of its host. Darkness can slow the spread and growth of the infection, but will not remove it. Initial signs of infection are dry scaly skin, and slight thirst. Other symptoms include a burning or itching beneath the skin that doesn’t go away with scratching.

Treatment is by pill, and usually takes 2-3 weeks. One method used to keep the plant from spreading is to tightly wrap the infected areas. If left untreated, skinmoss can infect the person’s entire body. Even then, it’s not fatal….just a major irritant.

Availability:
The plant originated on a jungle planet in the Alpha Centauri A system. It was only found in that system until the 2330’s when humans discovered the Centaurians, then spread quickly to the Sol system, and it’s now fairly common within the Local Bubble.

Size & Dimensions:
Leaves are very tiny, only about 2 millimeters in diameter, and barely break the surface of the skin. Infections usually only cover part of an arm or leg, but can cover much more.

Reproduction:
The plant reproduces through needle like seeds that penetrate the flesh its victim. Once the seed enters the skin, it will germinate for about a month, then start sending roots out in all directions. The roots eventually create seed pods just below the surface of the skin.

I’ve been working on a few short stories for the rabiki.com world building forums.  It is a sci-fi writing site that I started about 2 years ago….thought I’d post one of the stories here.  If you’re interested in this type of writing, check it out at http://www.rabiki.com/forum/index.php.  The site is home to a great group of individuals who love scifi and writing.

Well here goes:

Captain Tom Bradock keyed the ships intercom, “The last transport has just docked in C15, the sub-light engines have been prepped, and we’ll make the jump to slip space in ten minutes. Please stop all non-essential ship activities, and make your way to a designated seating area. Once we’ve locked in our travel path, and reached our cruising speed, you may move freely about the ship. You are on flight 2117 Earth to Mars, and we anticipate our travel time to be about 36 hours.  Thank you for choosing the Venus.”

The bridge of the Venus was quite a bit larger than most transport ships–it had only been in service for 5 years, and still had that new ship smell, but the crew had already made it home, especially the captain.

Tom fiddled with the settings of his display–a large sheet of transparent glass in the center of the bridge viewable from either side. “Check this out”, he said as he tapped a control on the side of his chair.

The screen immediately filled with live video from the recreation lounge. One couple had just finished their dance, and were seating themselves in a large black leather couch along the side of the dining area, the drink attendant was putting away loose bottles that were left on the bar and table tops, and tidying up a bit. The jump to light speed was hardly noticeable, but it was still standard procedure for passengers to be seated during the transition.

Tom tapped the controls again and the screen displayed the entire port side of the ship. From this view the nose of the vessel was not visible, and the side of the ship seemed to go on for kilometers, before vanishing into a small point in the center of the screen.

One more tap brought up an image of the Earth below. The Venus was high enough to maintain a stable orbit for a ship of its size, but still close enough to make out the ruins of a few large cities. “It’s amazing what 20 years without people will do to a city”, Chris said as he pointed to Old Chicago on the screen.

The larger cities began the migration to Mars first, leaving only rural communities and scattered families to be transported during the last 5 years.

“Yeah! Well this is it”, Tom said with a sigh of relief. “No more trips to this godforsaken place”.

“What about those that are still here?” Chris felt his eye twitch, “Will they just be left to their own?”

This was Chris’ first assignment on a transport ship. He had just spent 5 years on the Bonappetit, a freightliner that hauled exotic foods between the Sol system and Alpha Centauri, and the promotion from tactical to first officer was a good fit for him and the Venus crew.

“We’ve been haulin people for 30 years. If they haven’t left by now, there gonna have to find their own way off this rock.”

“FIVE MINUTES AND COUNTING”, the ships A.I. spoke in a soft feminine voice over the comm system. “Please stop all non-essential ship activities and make your way to a designated seating area.”

Not sure if it was the soft sooting voice or the whole male ego thing, but most ship A.I.s were female……[more later]

Books, books, books….they’re everywhere!  So, just how do you get your news…from the local newspaper or on the internet?  With the development of the internet, we’re seeing much more content online, but I don’t think the printed word will disappear any time soon.  Nothing quite like a soft couch and a good book in your hands.

The printing press was invented in Germany in 1447 by Johannes Gutenberg, and has been thought by many as the most influential device ever.  Germany has been a leader in printing and is still known for their printing machinery. Heidelberg, both a city and a company, manufactures several multi-million dollar printing presses.

I worked for a publishing company for about 10 years, and got to know the ins and outs of the production side of publishing.  I had the opportunity to run address labelers, book binders, and printing presses….very interesting job.

One of the more common forms of printing today is offset printing.  Here’s how it works:

An image is burnt onto a photo-sensitive aluminum plate, other materials can also used, and then attached to a plate cylinder.  As the press runs, water is first applied to the plate cylinder and sticks to the non-printable areas.

Next the ink is applied…and since water and oil (ink) don’t mix, the ink only goes where there is no water–the printable areas.
As the plate continues to rotate, it comes in contact with the offset cylinder and transfers the ink as a reversed image onto it.  Then the offset cylinder continues on around until it comes in contact with the paper…the image is reversed again as it is transfered onto the paper.

The paper continues on, and is folded and cut into pieces that can be made into magazines, books, etc…

That is the process for printing one color onto a sheet or continuous web of paper…in the case of newspaper, this would most often be black.  It is however a bit more complicated to print a color image like a photo or drawing.  First a little about color.

So what are the primary colors…well that depends on the medium.  The three primary colors of light are red, green, and blue (RGB).  They are considered additive primaries–when you add a color, it adds to the final color.  You can see illustrations of this on the internet…just right click on most any website, and then click “view source”.  Most of what you see will look like gibberish, but occasionally you’ll see numbers like (#FFFFFF, #34F4C2, #111111, etc…).

I’m not going to go too in depth, but these are called HEX numbers.  The first two digits represent the red level, the second two the green, and the third two the blue.  So with our example (#34F4C2) red=32,  green=F4, and  blue=C2.  If you want to see how hex numbers work, check out the online Color Schemer, and play around a bit.  By the way….#34F4C2 is a light-blue color.  I use this website often to see which colors work well together.

The three primary colors of ink or pigment are cyan, magenta, and yellow, and they are considered subtractive primaries–when you add colors, it subtracts or absorbs the wavelengths of light you don’t see, and reflects the wavelengths of light you do see.  Check out the color chart.

SO….when printing a color image, the sheet or web of paper must pass through four different colors….(cyan, magenta, yellow, and black).  Black is added because it’s hard to make a true black by mixing the other three color pigments.

A memory conceived among many senses will not be easily forgotten.  The goal of communication is to deliver a message to a recipient in a way that it can be received and comprehended, but I think communication should go beyond that.  We should communicate to be remembered.  If it’s worth saying, it’s worth remembering….right?

Memories are more than words and concepts, they are life experiences.  Try thinking of an important event in your life, let’s say an argument you had…you probably remember it more in terms of how you felt, than the words that were said.

Have you ever gotten sick while eating a certain food?  Once when I was a teenager (about 14) I got extremely intoxicated.  I was so drunk that my mom gave me a bath, and I didn’t even know it…I still have no memory of what happened to me that night, but my point is I got really sick.  For several years after that, the smell of alcohol turned my stomach…even the smell of Nyquil would make me sick.  I remember that event so well, because it is tied to several senses…smell, taste, touch, etc.

I’ve had several opportunities throughout my life to speak before groups of people…sometimes in church settings, sometimes in community settings; sometimes to kids….one time I taught a beginner computer class to a group of seniors.  I enjoy teaching and helping others understand things.  When I speak to a group, I try to employ methods that will touch as many senses as possible.  I was speaking some years back on the topic of sharing–half-way through my speech, I had a pizza delivered.  I stopped for a moment, paid for the pizza, picked up a slice, took a few bites, and began speaking again.  Seven years later someone approached me and said…”Hey I remember that time you spoke, and gave me a slice of pizza”.  Why did they remember?  Because they heard, they saw, they touched, they tasted, and they could smell what I was communicating.

This same principle applies to us as authors…you may not be there when the reader picks up your piece, but you can trigger memories they’ve stored away.  Don’t just tell them what happened; drop your reader smack dab in the middle of a scene.  Let them experience your writing through their memories.

If you’re unfamiliar with the term “World Building” you might get a mental image of huge machines covering the surface of a dead planet carving rivers, planting forests, and pumping oxygen into the atmosphere.  Truth is—that’s not far from reality.  World building is the art of bringing to life an imagined world through descriptions, back-story, maps, drawings, and other creative means, and is one of the greatest tools a science fiction writer has for adding depth to a story.

World building is a huge topic, and there have been many books and classes discussing it, but in this article I plan to give you just a few brief thoughts on the subject.

First and foremost, let your world building be an enjoyable process…it should be fun.  Much of the writing you do will have several reads and rewrites.  The kind of stuff that you review, review, hand it to a friend to look over, and then review again, but your world building document can contain raw ideas.  You don’t have to worry about getting everything perfect; if you have some dangling modifiers, misused semicolons or run-on sentences it’s ok.  This document is yours, and nobody will ever see it, so give your eraser a break and let your ideas flow.

With that said, don’t go crazy.  You need to give your world building ideas some organization so you can find the information you need when you need it.  I like to keep my ideas in a three ring binder with tabs for subjects like: places, species, and organizations.  On some pages I have hand-drawn maps and diagrams, on others I have typed notes, and still on others I have tables full of terms and definitions.  This also allows you to shuffle your pages around, and add or remove them if needed.

Keep informed on scientific facts.  One thing that ruins science fiction quicker than anything else is incorrect or inconsistent information about the world your story takes place in.  For example, it’s probably not the best idea for your story to take place on a planet that orbits a pulsar; it would be difficult for life to exist in such a hazardous place.  Your readers will pick up on mistakes like this, and your story will lose credibility.

Make sure your facts are consistent.  If your planet orbits a yellow star at the beginning of your story, make sure that you don’t call it a brown dwarf later on.  Inconsistency will cause your story to fall apart, and the reader won’t be able to paint a coherent picture of your world.

Brainstorming often follows writing.  Sometimes as I put my ideas to paper, or the binary ones and zeroes of my computer’s storage system, I’ll have an idea for some new aspect of the world I’m writing about.  I’ll immediately jot that idea down along with all its associated facts to keep things consistent throughout the entire story.  Later on when I write of that idea again, I can review my summary and keep things straight.  It would be bad to have a species described with five legs in one place and four in another, or a character with no siblings at the start of a story, and an older brother half-way through.

Finally, be complete…think about things like culture, history, geography, languages, and why the world is the way it is.  The more content you put into the brainstorming document, the easier it will be writing the stories that happen there.  If you’re writing about a species that has three sexes, then describe the family unit.  What roles do they have?  Do all three work to support the family?  If two of the parents are allowed to work, how would that affect their income?

When creating your world-building document consider the butterfly effect.  If a butterfly flaps its wings on earth, does it cause a hurricane on Mars?  Things are deeply connected, and one tiny action may have large repercussions in other systems…so think it through completely.

If you’re interested in creating unique places and things check out rabiki.com and see worldbuilding in action.  Come be a part of a community of creative individuals and build your world.

My fascination with science fiction started when I was six—I’ll never forget the excitement I felt as I watched X-wings and TIE fighters scream across the screen, followed by the roar of engines and blaster bolts exploding against metal.  I wish I still had my Luke Skywalker and Momaw Nadon action figures.  They would probably be worth a lot today, but I think they gave me my money’s worth.

I’ve noticed a trend away from science fiction over the past 20 years, and a decline in quality movies for the genre.  I’ve been disappointed far too many times by poor quality stories.

On one occasion as I walked through the sci-fi isle of my local video store, a new movie cover caught my attention.  It had an image of an earth-like planet completely enveloped with jungle vines, and it was titled Savage Planet.  Sounds pretty cool huh?  I was excited.  I rented the movie, made some popcorn, put my feet up, and got ready for a nice movie.  You’ve heard it said, “You can’t judge a book by its cover.”  Well I say, you can’t judge a movie by its cover either.

This was one of the cheesiest movies I’ve ever seen.  It was about a group of people who discovered a way to transport to another earth-like planet.  When they arrived, they were all systematically hunted and killed by gigantic mutated bears.  Yes, you heard me right…bears.

I’m not sure what was worse, the horrible storyline or the cheaply filmed video.  With movies like that it’s no wonder some don’t enjoy sci-fi.

Science fiction is hard to define.  It has several sub-genres, and it covers a variety of topics like time travel, space exploration, cybernetics, alternate histories, etc.  I’ve heard it said that sci-fi is like pornography, it’s hard to describe, but you’ll know it when you see it.  My simple and broad definition of science fiction is this:  The stories built on or around undiscovered advanced technologies.  .

Good science fiction will always be based on good stories.  The Star Wars saga is not about light sabers, star destroyers, aliens, or the Death Star.  It’s a story about one man’s fall and his son’s struggle to save him.  Don’t mistake the setting as the story.  World-building is an important part of writing—create a separate document describing the world your story takes place in, and fill it with all kinds of detail.  Be specific.  I like to use a three ring binder with tabs for different topics like species, planets, history, cities, characters, etc.  This document is for you, and it’s not your story.  Use it to set the scene, but make sure the story never gets lost in the details.  Reveal only enough to make it believable, and let your story do the rest.

Another factor that makes writing sci-fi difficult is the rate of scientific discovery.  What we grok about our world has grown exponentially over the last hundred years.  There is only one constant…things will change.

Isaac Asimov, one of the twentieth century’s greatest contributors to the genre, was not exempt from this problem.  Several of the short stories in his book Robot Dreams are built around a super intelligent computer called multivac that filled an entire room, and used punch cards.  It was state of the art at one time, but who knew in 50 years a computer that powerful would fit on your wrist.  Things are changing much faster today, which makes it more difficult to predict the technologies of the future.

No…this is not the death of a genre…sci-fi will not disappear.  As long as we have children fly their imaginary rockets to the stars, as long as we have creative individuals willing to share their imaginations, and as long as we have people who can dream the impossible, science fiction will flourish. I love this genre and challenge you to be creative.  The possibilities are endless, and a canvas as broad as the night-sky awaits the aspiring galactic calligrapher.

I just finished updating my Novel Tab here on the blog.  That’s good news…an official start!  That said, a lot of work has been put into developing an overall outline for the novels, and the back story behind them.

RabiKi.com is really starting to develop. It’s been a slow start, but the aspects of the site that help us world-build are falling into place.

We now have a style manual–which is a document that helps a group of writers stay on the same page…it covers topics like capitalization, punctuation, paragraphs, and units of measure. So one writer doesn’t use pounds, while another uses grams…etc.

I’m currently working on a tech manual–its pretty much a glossary of technical ideas. I’ve not added much to it yet.

Also a good friend of mine, Enn from allforart.com, allowed us to use his writing tips on our website. Pretty good stuff. Check them out, and you’ll be well on your way to becoming a good author.

RabiKi.com is a snapshot of the future…it’s the year of 3572 and humanity has evacuated Earth for life on Mars. Hopefully we can we can get it right this time…as we reach further to the stars. What do you think life will be like in a few thousand years…come and add your ideas to our collaborative works…