Caffeine and Opinions

Chapter 60

Newer York, 8 Tammuz 2541 AS Captain Hannah bat Chaya of Alexei Leonov allowed herself to be ushered into Briefing One, willing herself to present a confidence she did not feel. She was the proverbial bearer of bad tidings, and dreaded facing the representatives of the TCTO she knew would

Things Fall Apart: Chapter 59

Once again, this is shorter than usual, and maybe I should have simply called it 58 Part 2. Newer York, 8 Tammuz 2541 AS Singer felt hairs standing up on the back of her neck as she realized what was appearing on screen. Knowing as she did that Georgette had

No chapter today

It may not surprise you all to learn that writing a funeral eulogy takes a lot out of you. But I'll be officiating my first funeral today, and while doing it off the cuff would have been on brand for this family, I decided I needed to know

Things Fall Apart: Chapter 58

Okay, folks, this is shorter than usual, and (spoilers) ends on a bit of a cliffhanger. It's really only about half the chapter as it should be, but there's a bunch of stuff going on right now. It was important to me, though, to get something

Things Fall Apart: Genuinely Inadvertent Skip Day

I had today set aside for writing a chapter. I spent it driving back into Wisconsin after spending Thanksgiving with family, there, as one of those family members has had a health crisis. There may yet be a chapter this week; just not on its usual schedule.

Things Fall Apart: Skip Week

Between having a cold and having some other things I needed to knock off my TODO list this weekend, a chapter did not get written this week. That said, I have some stuff to say! 6 November marked two years of posting this story (almost) every week. This is a

Things Fall Apart: Chapter 57

Newer York, 8 Tammuz 2541 AS While everybody seemed to be in agreement that they should continue as they had planned, nobody really seemed to know how to move matters forward. Worse, Singer found she was having a harder time than usual keeping other people's emotions out of

Things Fall Apart: Chapter 56

Newer York, 8 Tammuz 2541 AS The next morning was much like the morning two days ago when they'd first traveled to Government Center, except that there was no new report to occupy their minds on the ride. Also, of course, Alexander was with them, this time, zir

Things Fall Apart: Chapter 55

Newer York, 8 Tammuz 2541 AS Singer had briefly considered staying to see all the crew processed, but several factors made her reconsider. For one, she did not want to give any impression of distrust between herself and the local authorities. For another, the point of having Alexander come over

Things Fall Apart: Chapter 54

Newer York, Botanical Gardens; then Boarding Lounge 42, Aft Docks; 7-8 Tammuz 2541 AS The time spent in the gardens had been as restorative as the museum had been disturbing. Singer was aware that it had not been anyone's intention—least of all Ellison, who had proposed the

Things Fall Apart: Chapter 53

Newer York, The Starfall Museum, 7 Tammuz 2541 AS The Starfall Museum proved to be like the administration building, a structure within the core. This was explained easily enough when Ellison, who of course knew the place well, pointed out it predated the buildout of the rings. "They started

Things Fall Apart: Chapter 52

Newer York, 7 Tammuz 2541 AS With everything that had happened in the last two days, and everything still waiting to be discussed, Singer had not expected to sleep soundly. That she fell asleep quickly did not surprise her—she'd been exhausted, without doubt. That she stayed asleep