Fire Goddess

Angela

A few weeks ago I began contemplating the possibility of starting the Exode Trilogy with the story of Trysta and Ekcolir. Trysta and Ekcolir are magically brought together from across 10,000,000 years and 15,000 light-years. From their union springs the means to put an end to the conflict between Earth and the alien Huaoshy.

On a parallel track, I've come to recognize the need to provide "the editor" of the Exode Trilogy with a collaborating "information conduit", Angela, one of the clones of Ivory Fersoni. I had to invent the "Atlantis Clones" in order to make it possible for the story of the Exode Trilogy to be told. Ivory is very protective of her clones, and there is no real reason for Angela to have a public role in Exode.

Save the Planet!

I've long been amused by the back cover of my copy of Assignment: Nor'Dyren. Large print implores: "Save the Planet!" From far across space, Tollan Bailey and Laarica Johns are brought to the world Nor'Dyren where they collaborate to save the planet. Tollan is given a vision of this alien world in the guise of a vast sentient being. In this dream-like vision, only Tollan is allowed to enter the goddess Nor'Dyren. Once inside her iron womb, Tollan can use his silver screwdriver to heal the dying world.

Laarica and Tollan are brought together on Nor'Dyren through the scheming manipulations of the chairman of CalMega's Serendipity Project. Tollan is a problem for the giant CalMega corporation: he is not satisfied to have a job. Tollan wants work, honest hands-on labor. Nor'Dyren is perfect for Tollan, a world full of work just waiting for him. Nobody on Nor'Dyren ever repairs the aging machines, so Tollan's skills as an experienced repairman are in need.

As soon as Tollan is on Nor'Dyren he is stricken with a strange illness. How could an alien virus stricken him? If not a virus, perhaps an invisible nanite probe enters his body and induces delirium. While his brain is in a hyperpyretic state, an "accident" occurs; he strikes down a citizen of Nor'Dyren, thus creating an excuse for Laarica to be sent out from Earth to join Tollan in his task of healing Nor'Dyren.

In a stroke of "luck", the first Nor'Dyren factory that Tollan visits is supervised by a Gonnegon who happens to be familiar with an Earthly philosopher. Coincidentally, some of the factory workers know Patt, who turns out to be a second generation revolutionary known to the head of Nor'Dyren's government. Perhaps the largest "coincidence" of all is that Tollan "just happens" to end up staying in the part of Nor'Dyren near the fantastic "burial chamber" that holds the secrets to Nor'Dyrenese history. Are all these happy "coincidences" just random chance or has some unseen power conspired to "save the planet"?

Cadwal Chronicles

Flitz

The planet Cadwal is a world so full of exuberant life that the Naturalist Society set it aside, for all time, as a nature preserve. However, after a mere 1000 years the world is in danger of being tamed and over-run by humans.

Can a planet defend itself? Miraculously, Cadwal gives birth to Glawen and Wayness, and the planet's natural beauty seduces Lewyn Barduys...between them, these three have the drive, connections and resources to rescue Cadwal from impending doom.

The fate of one additional thread of support for Cadwal, Lewyn's "associate", Felitzia Stronsi, hung on the outcome of a terrible storm that destroyed Bainsey Castle on the world Rosalia. Left an orphan, "Flitz" came into the care of Lewyn. Vance goes to considerable pains to depict Rosalia as a world full of native life forms with inexplicable powers.

Tourist attractions on Rosailia included trees that grow seven hundred feet tall. High above the tourists live "tree-waifs", nearly invisible creatures who make "stink-balls" which they drop on the gawking humans below. Glawan's partner, Eustace Chilke, explains that cameras fail to focus on tree-waifs. Chilke tells Glawen and their boss, Bodwyn Wook a story about a scientific study of tree-waifs. Working from a study platform settled into one of the tall trees, a team of scientists daily reported back to their central base. On a day when their messages suddenly stopped, investigators found the scientists three weeks dead in their tree-top observation station.

If we take telepathic and paranormal phenomena for granted, if we assume that telepathy is perhaps a feature of the universe not yet understood by humanity but widespread among life forms on the many worlds in our galaxy, then why not imagine a far-flung network of telepathic connections between worlds? Could Cadwal telepathically reach out to Rosalia and attract the attention of Lewyn Barduys, just the man who can save Cadwal?

Nemesis

In his novel Nemesis, Asimov shows Earthlings struggling to save Earth from the danger posed by a red dwarf star that is going to enter the Solar System. But in orbit around the dwarf star is the planet Erythro, home to a form of life that might be a billion years old. Is it the vast telepathic mind of Erythro that reaches out to Earth and creates the means for the Earthlings to "save their planet"? Might the human species be a "device" crafted by the telepathic mind of Erythro, a mechanism that is able to produce the technological means to save Erythro from destruction?

Did the telepathic mind of Erythro reach out and guide the evolution of primates on Earth, create the human species and even endow a few select humans with telepathic powers?

Exode
If Earth is embedded in a "paracosmos" of sedronic matter, a "sedronic domain" where the Huaoshy have access to a complete record of Earth's existence through time, could Grean be given the task of making sure that we Earthlings are provided with an account of the hidden history of Earth?

The third eye of Shiva.

Grean

On Nor'Dyren, when Tollan has his vision of a goddess dispensing heat to the worthy residents of an icy world, his feverish mind half imagines the broken water heater in his bath as this iron goddess of warmth. What if such a "religious vision" was not just the random construct of his over-heated brain, what if it was transmitted into his mind from outside?

For Exode I've been having fun imagining how cultural contamination might influence Earthly religions.

If the Kac'hin like Grean can exert some control over the sedronic symbionts that exist inside all humans, then they can exercise control over the fates of we "mere mortals" simply by exerting their will and using their thoughts to operate the bimanoid interface. How would primitive Earthlings interpret such power of the Kac'hin?

In older stories set in the Exodemic Fictional Universe I imagined that Overseers could send swarms of nanites into the brains of Earthlings and cause them to suddenly forget or stop moving or pass out. What if the Kac'hin are endowed with even higher powers such as the ability to activate a "bimanoid interface" for the sedronic domain and instantly teleport people away from Earth?

There might be times when a Kac'hin would want to intimidate primitive Earthlings. Rather than simply teleport away obstreperous folk, it might be useful to make a display of it. A flashing light emitted from the head, a flutter of ash where the unruly target was standing a moment before. Thus might be born tales of a god like Shiva.

Trysta and Ekcolir
Trysta presents both a challenge and an opportunity for Grean. At first, it is not clear that Grean will be able to contain Gohrlay and the positronic robots who have sent Trysta into the primitive era of Earth's history. It appears that Humanity will become just one more species that extinguishes itself through its application of advanced technologies. However, Ekcolir is crafted as the tool that can save Earth and allow humans a chance to spread among the stars.

The Huaoshy are willing to grant humans this opportunity because the time travel technology that was developed by Gohrlay gives the Huaoshy the means to shift the dimensional structure of the universe to a more favorable configuration.

From our human perspective, the Huaoshy are the true Fire Gods. Gohrlay makes the ultimate sacrifice in order to placate the Gods and win a future for Humanity.

The Huaoshy are remote from we primitive humans. Within their sedronic domain of existence, the Huaoshy have very little interest in the mundane affairs of our material universe. The pek recognize the importance of Gohrlay's revolt and craft the Kac'hin as an interface between Humanity and the Huaoshy.

Inevitably, humans are confused by the Kac'hin who seem so nearly human and mystified by their advanced powers. I originally imagined that Kach becomes bored with the Prelands on Hemmal, but it would be more fun to allow her to reveal something of her special Kac'hin abilities to the Prelands. The Prelands might begin to treat her like a prophet. Finally, Kach must depart from Hemmal, certain that she can learn nothing of value from the Prelands about the Creators.

Related reading. "Mud" by Kimberly Davis.

2015 blog post: Sentient Planets