I don't normally post about my activities outside Second Life, but this has been a project decades in the making, and is finally up.
Those who know me well recall that besides having a longtime interest in current events, I've also been reading science-fiction and history. Most science-fiction stories involve aliens with either advanced or tribal technology. Technology in a Medieval or Colonial Age state? Not so much.
So introducing my first published story: The Corsean Encounter.
Theadore Smith, sentenced to a Soviet gulag, gets a second chance when the train he's on has a wreck in Central Asia. Making his way south with his companion Leonid Kakanov, they're ambushed by Muslim tribesmen, and have to seek shelter in a cave they stumble upon. Finding a strange machine, it teleports them to another cave. They emerge not on Earth, but another world. Running into some of its not quite human inhabitants, whom live under Medieval conditions, the initially friendly encounter turns hostile when they're captured by a local lord, whom turns them over to his superior.
After a period of time in which Theadore learns the local language, the overlord takes the two humans to his Emperor as a gift. At the Imperial Palace, they learn more about the land and it's people. They get attention from some people who see value in their knowledge. They also run into the ambassador of a nearby land which is somewhat more advanced and not an empire but a republic, Gideon. But some consider the humans little more than monsters, whose lives are of no real value. Can Theadore and Leonid convince enough people of importance that they deserve more than a lifetime in a dungeon, or worse? And what can they do for the Gideon Republic, which many in the Empire want to settle old scores with?
For now, the story is available only on the kindle version, though kindle apps can be used on computers, tablets, and some smartphones. The paperback version will be available soon.
And stay tuned for the sequel: "Prelude to War."
Update: "The Corsean Encounter" is now available on both Kindle and paperback.
Bixyl Shuftan
