Travel Review of Red Ares Resort and Spa (microstory)

July 23, 2143 Travel Review of Red Ares Resort and Spa, user rated as 4.5 stars

All I can say is that the last 14 days at the Red Ares Resort at Melas Chasma were nothing less than fantastic. It is perhaps the best vacation me and my husband have ever had. Upon arrival to the property, we were greeted with such an indescribable view of the canyon. We were shown to our canyon-side room. A beautiful bouquet of Geneticon snapping tulips™ was left in the room. Throughout our stay, the staff were impeccable and could almost read our minds. On our first day or “sol” as the locals call them, we just settled in and adjusted to the gravity. 
On our third sol at the resort, we made our first excursion to the canyon. The resort has an aerostat to take tourists on aerial tours of the canyon. To say this was the highlight of the trip is an understatement. The scale of the areography boggles the mind. My husband looked like he had a tear in his eye. Of course he denied it, by I knew better. 
On the sixth sol, we went to the ultra chic restaurant ‘Visage de Mars.’ The waiters explained that all the food was grown hydroponically and aquaponically in closed-system greenhouses. Even the vat grown meat was indistinguishable from the real thing. My husband could hardly keep his paws off of his filet mignon. He literally licked the whole plate. My rack of lamb was likewise delightful. Afterwards we went for a walk in the dome. The moons overhead moved fast but one was almost always a full moon. It was so romantic. 
On the eighth through tenth sols, there was a large dust storm. We made the best of it and took advantage of the spa and other accommodations. I got a relaxing massage and pedicure. My nails really did need it. I also got a haircut and bath. My hair was so much shinier for it. My husband even complimented me. He looked like he was ready to pounce. Down boy! 
I did look forward to when the sun shone again and I was able to see the moons flying past. Finally on the eleventh day, the storm subsided. Once the all clear was given, we went for a run in the dome. It was nice to finally stretch our legs. 
We made several other excursions but the most memorable was to the Olympus Mons Protected Reserve Park. The mountain was so high. Our expedition was to make an attempt to reach the rim of the calderas at the summit but I got sick as a dog so we decided to wait at the base camp while the others went ahead. 
The last few sols of our trip just glided by so fast I can hardly remember them. The people we met were so friendly and kind, we would definitely go again. It was a real treat. I would recommend to anyone on the lookout for a relaxing but certainly unique out-of-this-world experience. 
I rated the resort as 4.5 stars. I would have given 5 but for a small detail. Just too many humans for our liking. In my opinion, they are the real monsters but even werewolves need vacations too, right? 

Invitation (microstory)

“How is the new recruitment campaign working?” Admiral Xan’tur probed.   
Major Brwda’ answered her briskly, “We are finding better and better recruits every year.    Perhaps we are saved after all,” the major hoped out loud.   
“Now we can’t get ahead of ourselves,” she countered.     
“Thanks be to the Great Ranthox, we found them in time,” he replied.
“Indeed.” She switched to a monitor showing a promising one in action.    “Let’s add this one to the others.”

Jaida Dale looks at her cards again.    Two pair—not bad.    But certainly not a sure thing. She looks at her opponents for tells.    Mustache Boy throws a chip down stronger than usual.    No threat.    Baldy hemming and hawing a little too much.
'Hmm, a tough decision, Baldy?' she thinks to herself. ‘Yeah, right.’    “I fold,” she says nonchalantly. ‘Don’t be greedy,’ she repeats to herself揺er ever-present mantra.    The ante goes around; old Baldy suckers the rest into his trap.    He reveals a full house.    She has enough to pay the rent for the month. So she decides to exit the table, bidding “good luck” to the others. After taking her chips to the exchange she looks at the receipt.    “That’s strange.”    She looks at the bottom and it says, “Want to earn 1000 times more?    Go to room 543, bring Alex if you want.”    'How do they know about Alex?' she wonders.
“Don’t be greedy,” she says softly to herself over and over, pacing in front of the elevators.    Biting her lip, she calls Alex, an amateur boxer she’d been seeing off and on for three years.    Always up for an adventure, he arrives and smiles.
“What is big deal?” he murmurs in his Russian accent.    He looks at this strange invitation.    “Worth shot.” He winks.    Standing in front of Room 543, Jaida knocks on the door.   
A cheerful fellow wearing a cape answers the door.    “Welcome to the party!”   
“Why are we here?” Jaida asks.    The five others in the room all shrug their shoulders and hold up their cryptic invitations.
“Don’t know, we were hoping you knew,” answered a rather tough-looking man.    “I’m Eddie, by the way.”   
The others introduced themselves as well.    Jaida quickly found out Eddie was a trafficker of ‘in- demand products’ as he put it.    Cape Man was an aspiring magician.    The three others were a chef, a day trader with a penchant for sports betting, and a con artist.    The wet bar had been fully stocked and a sign told them to help themselves.   
Everyone offered a theory as to why they had been invited.    “This makes no sense.”    Jaida said aloud.    Angelo, the con artist, countered, “Well, in a way, it makes perfect sense.” He went on, “All of our jobs have an element of deception.”       They pondered that.    The Chef protested, “How does my job have anything to do with that?”   
Angelo replied, “I was wondering that, too, you do have to fool people’s taste buds, no?”
The Chef was about to retort, but someone they hadn’t noticed before spoke.  
 “Almost, but not quite.”    Looking directly at the Chef, the newcomer said, “You are here because ‘timing is everything.’”    “Some of you are here because ‘All warfare is based on deception.’”    The speaker then turned to look at the trader and trafficker. “And others are here because logistics and risk are also something to consider.”
“A fan of Sun Tzu, are we?” Angelo enquired.
Jaida interrupted, “This is crazy.    I’m outta here.”    Alex stopped her and said, “Let's hear his offer first?    It interesting, no?” Alex said curiously.
“Well, all right,” she relented.    She looked intently at the stranger, who now appeared to be a beautiful 30-year-old woman, but did not have that air about her. “Well, who are you and what do you want with us?”
“You may not believe me, but let me tell you anyway, and you can make up your own minds.    If you take up my offer, you will be handsomely rewarded.”    She went on, “I am Admiral Xan’tur, from what you know as the Epsilon Eridani system.”
“What the f...?    one of them whispered.
“Angelo made a very astute observation.    My people have evolved past the use of such concepts as deception.    Unfortunately, this leaves us at a severe disadvantage when we are at war with or negotiating with neighboring star systems.”
“Ya think?!” Jaida exclaimed.  “So what’s the offer?” 
Xan’tur replied, “We want to hire you as advisors.”
“We would have to go with you to your planet?”  Eddie asked
“No, but you would be with our fleet,” she replied.
“You’ve got to be joking,” Angelo sneered.
“No, that’s what we need you for, remember?” she replied.  “I’ll give you a week to prepare. My ship is not too far from here.” 
“Where’s your ship, Area 51?”  Jaida joked. 

“Precisely,” came the reply.

Combat (unofficial video) Deftones

Came across this unofficial video uploaded by "deftribute" to youtube.  Interesting animation style.

Space Deterrence

Here is a story on deterrence to protect space assets.  Interesting read. 

Heading out on the Space Oregon Trail

I came across a recently published post on Centauri Dreams on the The Spacecoach Equation.  The short story is that by using consumables (water, CO2, gasified trash) as propulsion fuel rather than traditional propellants, the total mass of a mission would be radically reduced.  The mass reduction would be more than an order of magnitude improvement above baseline designs which would use external fuel stages.

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.
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