Ran, p.1
RAN, page 1
Praise For
RAN: A Civilization In Hiding
Hard, Mind-Stretching Science Fiction of the Highest Order
Told entirely from the point of view of an incipient spacefaring reptilian race whose two Apollo-like astronauts were abducted by space aliens (Humans), The Third Oort Chronicle is hard, mind-stretching science fiction of the highest order. It centers on efforts to replace destructive reptilian tyrants with fair-minded leaders within an interstellar system. Thus, John Butler, Chairman of the Oort Federation, as well as lizard leaders of the planet Arcan, seek to oust Bopr Arclando, Leader of Ceffid and bring it into the Federation. It’s no mean task, and the same applies to Lieutenant Dombit, whose use of clever strategy against General Klarot of The Geroptic Nation is worthy of a novel in itself. For those who like tribunals, especially when they involve despots like these, The Third Oort Chronicle features two fascinating ones which only superficially resemble trials on Law and Order.
The novel portrays three intelligent species besides Humans, all of them ingeniously characterized. For example, Jocara, a lizard from Arcan, expresses happiness in a distinctive way. At one point, her “pale green, finely shaped saurian face scales rippled slightly with a faint lavender hue as she smiled joyfully…with no change in her mouth shape.” With differences like these, it’s understandable that achieving interstellar agreement and even peace would be difficult. To me, the novel’s greatest strength is that it provides a sense of what governing contentious species in the vastness of space might really be like.
– Professor John B. Rosenman,
Norfolk State University
Former Chairman of the Board, Horror Writers Association
Author of The Inspector of the Cross Series
In Ran: A Civilization in Hiding, Robert G. Williscroft takes on the challenge of writing a novel where the viewpoint characters are not only not human, they aren’t even mammalian. He does it convincingly.
Braxton Thorpe (whom we met in Icicle and revisited in The Oort Federation) and his team are on a voyage of exploration when aliens, on the brink of space travel themselves, stumble across them. The reptile-like aliens (they’re not exactly reptiles, either) inhabitants of the Ran star system (also known as Epsilon Eridani), have kept their existence secret from the outside universe—until now. As if dealing with the surprises when the first crewed Ran spaceship encounters Thorpe’s own ship weren’t enough, Thorpe’s old nemesis, Isidor Orlov, also makes contact and foments trouble trying to obtain exclusive trade deals. The resulting holy war between nations on the alien planet adds a disturbingly familiar scenario to an otherwise very alien world.
With plenty of Williscroft’s trademark intrigue and action, backed by hard science, this tale sets us up nicely for whatever the next Oort Chronicle brings. I’m looking forward to it.
– Alastair Mayer
Author of The T-Space Series
RAN: A Civilization in Hiding
The Third Oort Chronicle
Copyright © 2024
by Robert G. Williscroft
All rights reserved
Fresh Ink Group
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Edition 1.0 2024
Cover design by Stephen Geez / FIG
Cover Art by Anik / FIG
Book design by Amit Dey / FIG
Associate publisher Beem Weeks / FIG
Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976 and except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, no portion of this book’s content may be stored in any medium, transmitted in any form, used in whole or part, or sourced for derivative works such as videos, television, and motion pictures, without prior written permission from the publisher.
Cataloging-in-Publication Recommendations:
FIC028020 FICTION / Science Fiction / Hard Science Fiction
FIC002000 FICTION / Action & Adventure
FIC028010 FICTION / Science Fiction / Action & Adventure
Library of Congress Control Number: 2023921486
ISBN-13: 978-1-958922-59-0 Softcover
ISBN-13: 978-1-958922-60-6 Hardcover
ISBN-13: 978-1-958922-61-3 Ebooks
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Dedication
Author’s Note
Cast of Characters
Prolog
Phoenix Starship Andromeda
PART ONE
Chapter One
Arcan-One Space Capsule—Space Push Consortium Mission, Circum-Lodan Trajectory
Mission Control—Amred City, Amred, Planet Arcan
Arcan-One Space Capsule—Space Push Consortium Mission, Circum-Lodan Trajectory
Mission Control—Amred City, Amred, Planet Arcan
Chapter Two
Phoenix Starship Andromeda—Hovering Invisibly in Nullspace Beyond Lodan, Operations Center
Mission Control—Amred City, Amred, Planet Arcan
Phoenix Starship Andromeda—Hovering Invisibly in Nullspace Beyond Lodan, Conference Room
Mission Control—Amred City, Amred, Planet Arcan
Chapter Three
Phoenix Starship Andromeda—Hovering Invisibly in Nullspace Beyond Lodan, Conference Room
Amred President Binecot Katengi’s Office—Amred City, Amred, Planet Arcan
Amred President Binecot Katengi’s Office—Amred City, Amred, Planet Arcan
Amred President Binecot Katengi’s Office—Amred City, Amred, Planet Arcan
Chapter Four
Phoenix Starship Andromeda—Hovering Invisibly in Nullspace Beyond Lodan, Thorpe’s Office
Phoenix Starship Andromeda—Hovering Invisibly in Nullspace Beyond Lodan, Jocara’s & Kenred’s Quarters
Phoenix Starship Andromeda—Hovering Invisibly in Nullspace Beyond Lodan, Jocara’s & Kenred’s Quarters
Phoenix Starship Andromeda—Hovering Invisibly in Nullspace Beyond Lodan, Thorpe’s Office
Amred President Binecot Katengi’s Office—Amred City, Amred, Planet Arcan
Chapter Five
Phoenix Starship Andromeda—Hovering Invisibly in Nullspace Beyond Lodan, Hangar Bay
Amred President Binecot Katengi’s Office—Amred City, Amred, Planet Arcan
Ceffid Leader Bopr Arclando’s Office—Ceffidia, Ceffid, Planet Arcan
Amred President Binecot Katengi’s Office—Amred City, Amred, Planet Arcan
Chapter Six
Phoenix Starship Michael Collins—Andromeda Hangar Bay
Phoenix Starship Michael Collins—Cislodan Space—Ran Star System
Amred President Binecot Katengi’s Office—Amred City, Amred, Planet Arcan
Chapter Seven
Operations Center, Government Compound—Ceffidia, Ceffid, Planet Arcan
Ceffid Leader Bopr Arclando’s Office—Ceffidia, Ceffid, Planet Arcan
Amred President Binecot Katengi’s Office—Amred City, Amred, Planet Arcan
PS Alan Shepard, Cislodan Space—Ran Star System
Chapter Eight
Ceffid Leader Bopr Arclando’s Office—Ceffidia, Ceffid, Planet Arcan
Ceffid Leader Bopr Arclando’s Office—Ceffidia, Ceffid, Planet Arcan
Phoenix Starship Andromeda—Hovering Invisibly in Nullspace Beyond Lodan, Conference Room
Phoenix Starship Andromeda—Hovering Invisibly in Nullspace Beyond Lodan, Jocara’s & Kenred’s Quarters
Chapter Nine
Phoenix Starship Andromeda—Hovering Invisibly in Nullspace Beyond Lodan, Comm Center
Ceffid Coastal Village—Ceffid, Planet Arcan
Phoenix Starship Andromeda—Hovering Invisibly in Nullspace Beyond Lodan, Thorpe’s Office
Resistance Headquarters—Ceffid, Planet Arcan
Chapter Ten
Ceffid Leader Bopr Arclando’s Office—Ceffidia, Ceffid, Planet Arcan
Phoenix Starship Andromeda—Hovering Invisibly in Nullspace Beyond Lodan, Rejuvenation Lab
Ceffid Leader Bopr Arclando’s Office—Ceffidia, Ceffid, Planet Arcan
Capitol Building—Ceffidia, Ceffid, Planet Arcan
Phoenix Starship Andromeda—Hovering Invisibly in Nullspace Beyond Lodan, Thorpe’s Office
PART TWO
Chapter Eleven
The Great Assembly Hall—Dragon Temple, Dragon City, The Geroptic Nation, Planet Arcan
General Nirurian Klarot’s Office—Dragon City Army HQ, The Geroptic Nation, Planet Arcan
General Nirurian Klarot’s Comm Center—Dragon City Army HQ, The Geroptic Nation, Planet Arcan
Udachnyy Zvezdolet Sergei Krikalyov—Flashing In and Out of Warp at Lodan L4, Operations Center
Chapter Twelve
Twelve Military Posts—The Geroptic Nation, Planet Arcan
Prophet Dudengi Vrokhun’s Private Chambers—Dragon Temple, Dragon City, The Geroptic Nation, Planet Arcan
Udachnyy Zvezdolet Sergei Krikalyov—Flashing In and Out of Warp at Lodan L4, Operations Center
The Village of Cordan—Southeastern Corner of The Geroptic Nation, Planet Arcan
Udachnyy Zvezdolet Sergei Krikalyov—Flashing In and Out of Warp at Lodan L4, Operations Center
Chapter Thirteen
Phoenix Starship Andromeda—Hovering Invisibly in Nullspace Beyond Lodan, Thorpe’s Office
Phoenix Starship Andromeda—Hovering Invisibly in Nullspace Beyond Lodan, Bridge
Phoenix Starship Andro meda—Hovering Invisibly in Nullspace Beyond Lodan, Hangar Bay
Military Training camp—The Geroptic Nation, Planet Arcan
The Village of Cordan—Southeastern Corner of The Geroptic Nation, Planet Arcan
Chapter Fourteen
Phoenix Starship Neil Armstrong—Cislodan Space, Ran Star System
Udachnyy Zvezdolet Sergei Krikalyov—Flashing In and Out of Warp at Lodan L4, Operations Center
Phoenix Starship Neil Armstrong—Hovering over The Geroptic Nation, Planet Arcan, Ran Star System
Dragon City Headquarters—The Geroptic Nation, Planet Arcan
The Village of Cordan—Southeastern Corner of The Geroptic Nation, Planet Arcan
Chapter Fifteen
Phoenix Starship Andromeda—Conference Room
Dragon City Headquarters—The Geroptic Nation, Planet Arcan
Phoenix Starship Neil Armstrong—Hovering over Amred City, Nation of Amred, Planet Arcan
Dragon City Headquarters—The Geroptic Nation, Planet Arcan
Chapter Sixteen
Phoenix Starship Neil Armstrong—Hovering over Amred City, Nation of Amred, Planet Arcan
The Village of Cordan—Southeastern Corner of The Geroptic Nation, Planet Arcan
Udachnyy Zvezdolet Sergei Krikalyov—Flashing In and Out of Warp at Lodan L4, Operations Center
Dragon City Headquarters—The Geroptic Nation, Planet Arcan
Phoenix Starship Neil Armstrong—Patrolling the Skies over The Geroptic Nation, Planet Arcan
Chapter Seventeen
Phoenix Starship Andromeda—Conference Room
The Village of Cordan—Southeastern Corner of The Geroptic Nation, Planet Arcan
Dragon City Headquarters—The Geroptic Nation, Planet Arcan
Dragon City Headquarters—The Geroptic Nation, Planet Arcan
Amred & Ceffid—Planet Arcan
Chapter Eighteen
Phoenix Starship Andromeda—Conference Room
Phoenix Starship Andromeda—Engineering Spaces
Phoenix Starship Andromeda—Hangar Bay
Amred President Binecot Katengi’s Office—Amred City, Amred, Planet Arcan
The Village of Cordan—Southeastern Corner of The Geroptic Nation, Planet Arcan
Chapter Nineteen
Amred Battlefield—Outside Amred City, Planet Arcan
Stasis Sphere—Amred Battlefield Outside Amred City, Planet Arcan
Stasis Sphere—Amred Battlefield Outside Amred City, Planet Arcan
Amred President Binecot Katengi’s Office—Amred City, Amred, Planet Arcan
Chapter Twenty
Phoenix Starship Andromeda—Conference Room
Dragon City Headquarters—The Geroptic Nation, Planet Arcan
Phoenix Starship Andromeda—Conference Room
Chapter Twenty-One
The Great Assembly Hall—Dragon Temple, Dragon City, The Geroptic Nation, Planet Arcan
The Tribunal Hall, Major Teynal Dombit—Dragon Temple, Dragon City, The Geroptic Nation, Planet Arcan
The Tribunal Hall, Colonel Blozok Garlan—Dragon Temple, Dragon City, The Geroptic Nation, Planet Arcan
The Tribunal Hall, Bishop Klophut Gebala—Dragon Temple, Dragon City, The Geroptic Nation, Planet Arcan
Chapter Twenty-Two
The Great Assembly Hall, General Nirurian Klarot—Dragon Temple, Dragon City, The Geroptic Nation, Planet Arcan
The Great Assembly Hall—Dragon Temple, Dragon City, The Geroptic Nation, Planet Arcan
Epilog
Federation Headquarters—Oort Cloud, Solar System
Federation Detention Facility—Federation HQ, Oort Cloud, Solar System
Phoenix Starship Andromeda—Bridge
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Glossary for Ran
Acknowledgments
Several people contributed to the creation of this book.
Most significantly, my wonderful wife, Jill, pored over each chapter with her discerning engineer’s eye. She kept my timeline honest and made sure that regular readers could understand fully the arcane details of the nuclear and quantum interactions that play a significant role in this tale. She also reviewed my celestial mechanics—not to mention keeping track of space battle participants.
Prof. John B. Rosenman, bestselling science fiction and horror author who taught science fiction writing at Norfolk State University, reviewed the manuscript and made several suggestions that significantly improved the story.
Hard science fiction author Alastair Mayer reviewed the manuscript and offered his scientific, engineering, and editorial insight.
Others have contributed with their comments and observations, and I thank them. You know who you are.
It goes without saying that any remaining omissions, errors, and mistakes fall directly on my shoulders.
Robert G. Williscroft, PhD
Centennial, Colorado
November 2023
Dedication
For the women in my life, Margo,
Kate, Ginger, Daphne…Jill.
Author’s Note
I have employed some non-standard language usage in this book. Four sapient races play significant roles. Their names are all capitalized: Human, Arcan, Asterian, and Oort.
The home star and home planet for each race is capitalized: Sol-Earth, Ran-Arcan, Aster-Rogan, and Sol-Earth, respectively. The home star system for Humans and Oort is the Solar System (capitalized).
Although Arcans and Asterians use an indigenous system of weights and measurements, I employ the metric system throughout the book. Both the Asterians and Arcans have six-digit hands and feet, so they naturally count and compute in the duodecimal system. I use the decimal system throughout this book.
The Arcans and Asterians have indigenous names for their suns. I used the Human name for Ran, and I created the name Aster for HD20367 in the constellation of Aries.
The Saurian race on the planet Arcan displays emotions as scale colors. This chart shows those colors and their equivalent emotions.
The science and engineering behind the MBH and MERT Drives and portal technology is derived directly from current state-of-the-art physics research. Many of you reading this volume will likely see some form of MERT or warp bubble drive in your lifetime.
You saw it here first!
Robert G. Williscroft
November 2023
Cast of Characters
MAIN CHARACTERS
(alphabetically by first name)
Braxton Thorpe—The Icicle from Icicle: A Tensor Matrix
Thorpe—The downloaded version of eThorpe
eThorpe—The original uploaded Thorpe
Binecot Katengi—Amred President
Braxton—The download version of eBraxton eBraxton— The original Braxton split from eThorpe
Dale Ryan, PhD—Andromeda research scientist eDale—Upload version of Dale Ryan
Dudengi Vrokhun—Prophet of The Geroptic Nation
Isidor Orlov—Russian oligarch head of Udachny Enterprises
Jocara Porovik—SPC Astronaut from Ceffid
Kenred Zlaxiz—SPC Astronaut from Amred
Nirurian Klarot, General—The Geroptic Nation Chief Military Officer
Spajo Boszut—Ceffid partisan leader. Later, President.
Sudaro Ferron—SPC Director from Amred
Teynal Dombit, Lt.—General Nirurian Klarot’s Aid-de-Camp (later, Capt., then Major)
SECONDARY CHARACTERS
(alphabetically by first name)
Blozok Garlan, Colonel—Ramden Geroptic Dragon Army Field Commander
Bopr Arclando—The original Ceffid Leader
Brad Kominsky, PhD—Andromeda Senior Scientist eBrad—Upload version of Brad Kominsky
Daphne O’Bryan, PhD—Andromeda Chief Scientist. Companion to Kimberly. eDaphne—Upload version of Daphne O’Bryan
Darflam Baxerd, General—Ceffid Chief Military Officer (replacing Garkid Sudajos)
Edoetti Kaylambo, General—Amred Chief Military Officer
Garkid Sudajos, General—Ceffid Chief Military Officer (replaced by Darflam Baxerd)
Gregory Dobson—Andromeda Chief Medical Officer
Holon Mavik—CEO of Roganian L2 Group.
John Butler—Chairman of the Oort Federation
Judhee Groklet—Teacher in the Geroptic Village of Cordan. Later, prosecutor at the Geroptic Tribunal.
