The Martian (Trailer)

The trailer is out for The Martian.  Hopefully it turns out better for Matt Damon than in Interstellar.

Arms Control (micro story)

Xavier sat waiting at his table, a stone of apprehension in his stomach.  The plate of food served to him was getting cold.  He hated waiting, but being assigned as special envoy meant exactly that.  
"We welcome you all to the 10th Decadal Interstellar Armaments Conference" an announcer declared in multitude of unintelligible tongues.  
Finally he spotted his counterpart.  "Greetings" he said in the best Yian dialect he could emulate. 
"Greetings" replied the Yian envoy, a few others of his party looking at Xavier curiously.  "How was the flight?" Xavier reflexively inquired. 
"The usual" the Yian replied.  And by that he meant being frozen in a tube for a several years makes everything hurt. 
"Did you want something to eat?" Xavier offered his guests. 
"Yes, I have always wanted to try what you may call 'pizza’.”  I've heard rave reviews from your other visitors.  Xavier flagged one of the waiters and ordered pizza for his guest and some of his entourage.   He wondered which of the other ‘visitors’ the Yian may have meant.
As the waiter shuffled off, they all looked through the restaurant window facing out to the main exposition floor.   Just now they saw contractors from Lupus prime demo a black hole gun against a target.  Apparently , the weapon created multiple micro event horizons within the structure.  A meter diameter perfectly round cylinder perforated the target leaving empty space.  “Hmm, very  interesting”, the Yian remarked.  “no known shielding could withstand that.”
Just then, the waiter brought out a whole pizza pie.  Unceremoniously, the Yians stretched out arms and grabbed at it with what amounted to hands.  They each took a piece, closed a fist around a slice.  Seconds later, each fist unclenched now appearing empty.   “Delicious!” exclaimed the lead Yian.  He made a motion to order another.  
“Now down to business” Xavier sounded impatient.  “We are looking for some help with developing a Nomma-class weapon.”
"I see, a to-the-point kind of race you come from.  The arms control treaty after the Great Star War states all planetary-effects or above or ‘Nomma’ class weapons are to be banned."  the Yian said profusely .
"Supposedly" Xavier grinned.  At least this letter ‘Nomma’ was pronounceable. 
"Well, there are gray areas of course."  The envoy conceded. 
"Such as?" Xavier replied.
"Sub-planetary weapons which may affect a whole region but not a whole planet" the Yian clarified.  "If multiple of these are used in concert, then it might as well be a Nomma class weapon.”
"I see" Xavier muttered.
"But why so coy, my friend?"  "I know very well why you are here and what you want"
"What are you talking about?"  Xavier feigned shock.
"Seismic weapons are very imprecise as you well know." the Yian went on.  Xavier got red with perspiration.
"How do you know we want anything to do with that?  Oh, nevermind, I don't want to know."  Xavier corrected.
"And you want consultation on how to make yours better aimed, correct? We have noticed an uptick in high multitude earthquakes on your planet in recent years, no doubt an attempt to calibrate the aiming system."
Xavier stammered out, "Well, yes, that is quite observant of you." 
"We like to keep up to date with things despite what you may know of us." 
Xavier had been briefed on the Yians.  Humans didn't know too much of them and didn't think they visited Earth much since the Dominion defeated them in war around the year 1400.  They were reported to be the pre-eminent weapons engineers of the sector.
The Yian looked at Xavier "Why seismic weapons anyway?   Plausible deniability veiled as an act of nature, right?"
Xavier blinked.
 “Furthermore, why would we want to help you?  You are under Dominion hegemony.  They like to keep their planets’ populations divided and infighting.  It helps them to stay in control.”   
“A status quo some would like to change.”  Xavier added. 
Suddenly, the Yian smiled.  “Maybe we may be of help after all.”  The second pizza came out and even Xavier joined in this time around. And it was delicious.
Copyright 2015

The Battle Above from 60 Minutes

Interesting story from 60 Minutes on space conflict. 

Part 1:

Part 2: