Book 17. Part Three. 7

Funny to see Eloise put Aurie in her place like that. For the readers of Regent, y’all will know what “the second reason” Aurie had is.

I see several possibilities as to the next few scenes but it may take just as many days for me to work them out. The MS is at 42k and there is still Part Four, where I try to get all the players, including the Russians from Part One, back on screen. I wanted this done before Imaginarium but am beginning to have my doubts.

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Book 17. Part Three. 6

Apologies for the delay. Daughter #1 graduated from college (BS Animal Science) on Saturday. It was a few hours drive and then there was a celebratory dinner. Then the drive home…

Where I realized I felt insanely bad. My guess is being in several crowds, I picked up some bug. I was in bed all day Sunday and could not eat at all. Had some water and a piece of toast to make it into DayJob on Monday but was still a wreck. Monday afternoon it occurred to me to take some of our ivermecting 1% PO and then a nap. By 1800, I felt human again. That stuff is amazing and everyone in every Western government who opposed (and opposes) its use should be crucified.

Anyway, back to the story. Where were we? Ah: Aurie’s knocked up and Eloise is a drunk foreign spy. Got it. Let’s mix an angel into the batch, shall we? And said angel tosses Eloise a lifeline.

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Book 17. Part Three. 5

A lengthier addition as I’m travelling this extended weekend. Daughter #1 is graduating college with a technical degree and completely debt-free. I want to be there to honor her for her hard work. A week later she’ll be in Japan for an internship. I hope she’s been watching lots of anime for her language lessions.

Below… well, it’s not really a surprise to us, as we saw the end of Part Two. Still, Aurie’s announcement surprises everyone, even her husband who got her that way an hour before. I do wonder what Julian means about Eloise “being different” as she is entirely human. I might be misunderstanding what the lad means. When he said, “my family are scavengers,” I nearly spit-taked my Martini onto the laptop screen.

And as we have all seen, once you put a glass in Eloise’s hand, she doesn’t stop. Very cheap date.

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Book 17. Part Three. 4

Eloise thinks it is high time for her to have a word with her boss. She realizes she might be scaring him with her report, but also knows that he and the rest of high command should be at least concerned, if not scared, by what she has seen. Canada has a larger population and vastly more territory, all of which means nothing to the Hartmann family and the power they control.

The Empress’ second husband, much like her first, seems a very likeable guy. For a self-centered, stuck-up snot, Fussy seems to have luck picking men.

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Book 17. Part Three. 3

Politics, sure. How can there not be with a group such as this? But it is also a chance to see a simpler side of “normal” humans out for a walk.

As we have seen in some of my books, Empress Faustina has always been very careful to not let he first husband, and now her second, have, or even to be seen to have, political power. She is an autocrat and acts as one. That certainly does not mean she doesn’t love them, but power is power and too dangerous to share.

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“Trevor Goodchild”

Ideas come from the oddest places. On the social media site, Gab, there is a clever gentleman who goes by the name this post is titled. Some quick intarweb searching informed me it is from an animated series/live-action movie called “Aeon Flux.” I am not familiar with it nor does it sound as if it is something I’d like. Still, that’s his moniker. The man is astonishingly well informed – especially about medical matters – but also politics and culture. And he does not suffer fools. If, as the Left believes, words could hurt, he would have a body count in the tens of thousands.

For some reason, it occurred to me to incorporate that persona into Machine Civilization. Of the meatspace man, I know nothing and think it’s best to keep it that way. So, having read his posts for all these years, I wanted to construct an image of his image. That is what’s below. A mere 1500-word micro-story, but once someone is in, they are in. Hell, I tie Trevor to Arpad Rigó, one of the two most important families in my stories. Expect to see more of him as I keep writing. Until my liver explodes.

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Book 17. Part Three. 2

For the first time ever, the Empress’ second husband gets a speaking role. I don’t – yet – get into his background or why Faustina picked him, but I’m sure I’ll find out. Also, from Regent (now with a 5-star review), Eloise meets Aurie’s husband, too. Like El, he’s recently of Canada.

So, we have something of a meet-and-greet right now. I’m curious to see how all this develops.

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Book 17. Part Three. 1

Starting part three with the focus on Eloise Patel. We pick up the story just where Bob literally vanishes out of her arms. While Aurelia is in this scene, most of this part will involve humans, both in the imperium and in Canada. I know that sort of flies in the face of the whole “Machine Civilization” theme, but I like to mix things up now and again.

There’s not exactly tension in the plot as we already know Faustina and Edward are back safe, albeit six months from now. And we know that Eloise gets herself into trouble back home. Now we just need to find out what happened.

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Book 17. Part Two. 13 (end p2)

This is the end of Part Two. I’ve mentioned Part Three, currently underway, will be from Lt. Eloise Patel’s POV as she has been arrested by a faction of the Canadian government.

They, the Canadians, are realizing that things have turned against them. Riding high from occupying the former US Midwest ten years ago, they thought their problems of access to resources and – more importantly – a place to move as the ice and snow of the Maunder Minimum continues to come south, were over and it seemed to be champaign and roses. For a few years.

Then Yukon and British Columbia fell to the Russian Empire. A couple of meeting engagements around Winnipeg. Then Winnipeg under the ice; Edmonton under the ice and road and rail lines to their western provinces cut just as a Russian brigade shows up to claim it all. At the same time, with Canadians on the Ohio River, Empress Faustina incorporates Kentucky into a new imperial province. A few months later, she sends her niece, Aurelia, at the head of an army to bring the Northern Federation of Maine, New Hampshire, and surrounding communities into Friend & Ally status; Aurie goes even further, prompting the Archbishop of Montreal to reopen the matter of Quebec’s independence.

All of this, plus the imperium and the Russians have reactionless motors and fusion weapons. Factions of the Canadian government are now scared and scared governments do stupid things. How stupid? We’ll find out in Part Three.

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