Fiction: "Finding Faith" pt. 1 (long)
Bob Roland
would like to see more stories of culture on Chiron. One of the great
things about SMAC is that the (pardon the pun) "civilization" hasn't
been written yet. It's a tabula rasa that we can write upon. Anyways,
if you folks feel that this is wasting bandwidth, let me know. I'm not
quite sure where this story is going yet -Chairman Bob of the Peace
Keepers]
Father Byron Eduardo Gomez, his pale face illuminated by the computer
screen in front of him, turned suddenly to the sound of military boots
behind him. "Chris!" he shouted, warmly grasping the hand of his
friend.
Christian Anderson returned the handshake. Christian looked at his
friend through bloodshot eyes. Traces of blue could be seen on his
skin. A scar ran down the side of his face. "Father...it's been too
long."
"Two months" said Byron "We weren't sure if you were coming back."
Father Gomez pulled a chair up to his desk. "Was the fighting as bad as
they said?"
A nod. "Worse. Sister Miriam has begun raising mindworms. Her forces
ambushed us on our way to liberate U.N. Relief Base. The worms made a
soldier under my command lose it. Full metal jacket round into my
helmet. Breathe nitrogen for an hour or so...kind of clouds your
judgment."
Father Gomez fingered the silver cross he wore over his UN issued
jumpsuit. The tarnished metal felt greasy in his sweaty hands. "I
can't believe Sister Miriam would have taken her crusade this far...."
"You knew her once, didn't you?"
A smile passed over Father Gomez's lips. "I don't think anyone really
knows her. She was present when the vatican sent me and the ten others
as the Church's representatives." A tone of bitterness could be heard.
"She was allways...zealous. Over dinner she explained to me her vision
of Chiron. I didn't like it too much then in Rome. I like it less
now...after all that's happened."
Christian looked him deeply in the eyes. "Since you lost your faith,
you mean."
"The old discussion again?" Father Gomez sighed. This was a
discussion they had had ever since the accident. Christian had been the
one who pulled him from his depression. Some nights he could still feel
the cold dead flesh of the woman beside him. "What if I hadn't? Even
then I don't think I would have felt comfortable in Miriams colony pod."
"At least you would have been respected." He waved a hand dismisivly
around the former priests office "At least you wouldn't be stuck in Data
Recovery."
To Father Gomez, Data Recovery was not that bad a thing. When the
colony ship, UNS Unity, perished the main computer banks were lost. The
only information left was the data stored on the colonists personal
computers. 10,000 years of human knowledge lost in the cold reaches of
space. For those in Data Recovery, life consisted on sorting through
file after file of stored personal data, hoping to come across a
colonist who saved a favorite book, a favorite work of art. His task
was the recovery of theological works. Twelve versions of the bible had
been found, but what of the great works of theologians past? Only so
much of the writings of Thomas Aquinas could be found in assorted
reference books. Would this be lost forever?
"It's good work Christian. I don't hold it against the Chairman for
not finding a more priestly duty for me. The only bad days I have here
are days where I find a colonist saved 8 gigs worth of 20th century
cartoons rather than a copy of suma theologica. But tell me, we are not
here to debate this. What did you need?"
Christian had never before been a man to skirt around an issue. On
earth he had served the UN Peacekeepers in the Sino-US nuclear
exchange. He boarded the Unity believing wars to be behind him. Chiron
would prove him wrong. "What's the church position on xenoforms?"
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me. I need to know how a church would view an intelligent
alien being. Do they have souls? Are they to be saved by conversion?"
Father Gomez sat back in his chair, his fingers forming an arch in
front of his face. It was an old position from Earth. Another habit
from a dead planet he could not set aside. "In the Christian faith?
You ask allot. Obviously they are not formed in mans image, they are
not the descendants of Abraham, they formed no covenant with god, and
they are not born of original sin, one presumes. But why?"
Christian stood up and turned his back to Father Gomez. "Because
Father...the fate of the planet may rest upon this."
To be cont. in part 2
Scott M. Sutton
Scott
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Sub Hunter
Bob Roland wrote:
> [The following is a work of fiction. Feel free to ignore this post. I
> would like to see more stories of culture on Chiron. One of the great
> things about SMAC is that the (pardon the pun) "civilization" hasn't
> been written yet. It's a tabula rasa that we can write upon. Anyways,
> if you folks feel that this is wasting bandwidth, let me know. I'm not
> quite sure where this story is going yet -Chairman Bob of the Peace
> Keepers]
>
> To be cont. in part 2
Can't wait to hear the conclusion of this story. Cool idea of making fiction based
on the game.
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Bob Roland
> Can't wait to hear the conclusion of this story. Cool idea of making fiction based
> on the game.
Thanks. I know that fiction isn't something you normally see on a forum
for a strategy game, but SMAC is different. Hell, we all know how much
time we spent wrapped up in Civ and Civ 2. I expect SMAC will be the
same way. (from the demo, I can practicly garuntee it!) If one spends so
much time wrapped in a virtual world, it seems natural that we'll begin
thinking about the stories of people who we command. Unlike Civ, SMAC
is a new world, with a great deal of room for fiction.
I think this NG will be different from other game newsgroups in the
sense that we'll have fiction written or songs composed. Sure, we'll
still have great discussions on strategy and game mechanics, but we'll
have more than the "dry" subject as well.
I hope everyone writes something along these lines.
As for my story, I'm still not sure how long it will be. It may turn
out to be the equivalent of a short story, but who knows. After a while
I'll settle into a habit of posting one part per week.
Chairman Bob of the Peacekeepers
An invasion of armies can be resisted, but not an idea whose time has
come. —Victor Hugo
Colen 'Not Colin' McAlister
>I think this NG will be different from other game newsgroups in the
>sense that we'll have fiction written or songs composed. Sure, we'll
>still have great
<screech>
<back up>
>I think this NG will be different from other game newsgroups in the
>sense that we'll have fiction written or songs composed.
Fanfic, yes, fine. But songs? No. If anyone starts composing songs about
SMAC, I'll probably have to assassinate you. Be Warned. }:>
Skrills for the Skrill God!&%$# SKREEEEEEEEEEEEE!&*!%$!#@
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Colen 'Not Colin' McAlister, UIN 13168333 <brother...@geocities.com>
Colen's Warhammer Page: <http://surf.to/colen/> DiaChronos Software:
<http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Arena/4368/programs/>
1-2-3-4-5! Hey, that's the same combination as my luggage!