Farish's Freehold: A short post about a short story

Looks like spring is almost here. The porch is almost complete, thank you all who bought my books and made this possible. Little girls are out on it almost every night as am I. The Horror Novel with No Name continues. There was a little problem with the lab, and then everyone’s off to the final showdown, which I promise will be a mix of John Woo and The Red Wedding.

Now if I could just figure out a way to throw in the phrase “Blood for the Blood god.” Oh well, best to not mix genres I suppose. Here’s a bit for you to enjoy. Again, remember this is first draft stuff, may not make it into the final version, and will have been edited (by a professional who makes money editing) multiple times.

The brass coupling ‘clunked’ against the hood. Doctor Fitzroy held it fast pushing hard. The crystal shivered and then flowed around the end encasing it, like a fitting. With a nod and a quick tug to make sure the connecting was solid Doctor Fitzroy said, “ready.”

Doctor Simmons was madly typing away on the tablet, fingers smashing into it in a blur, “I’ve got interference,” he said. “Go manual.”

Parts of the boxes had melted and the red glow intensified.

Again, Doctor Fitzroy zipped across the room to where the hose connected to the wall. He turned a lever and said, “it’s on, stand clear.” His hand hovered over a large red button on the wall.

The red glow had intensified and the hood was bulging under the strain.

The hose whipped like an angry snake and carbon black fluid gushed onto the table. It started to fill the hood and lifted the boxes up until they were floating and bumping against the far side.

“Do it,” said Doctor Simmons looking like his puppy had just run away.

Michael Blackbourn likes his stories short, his concepts deep, and his narrators unreliable. I rather enjoyed Roko’s Basilisk.

Amazon - Rokos Basilisk

My only complaint was the story went by quickly. I wanted MORE. Without being all spoilery let me just ask you a few questions. Can you have a happy prosperous government that is not legitimate, i.e. tyrannical rule, one that is not elected or selected via input of the populace?

The threat of violence for failing to pay a fine or keep a secret, is extortion when done by an individual or a group, but is 'legitimate' when done by a government bureaucrat; what’s the difference?

Are apocalyptic zealots looking to be correct in their prediction, or are they looking for more people to convert?