Brad Lansky and Alex John in THE ALIEN AT PLANET X ( No.1)
Zara, a life form scientist on Earth, is collaborating on a research project with Sandy Larkin in a distant part of the Milky Way. Sandy has discovered a new intelligent life form, but his transmissions suddenly stop without warning.
Weeks later, Zara is contacted by the cybernetic proxy of a wealthy trading family. It claims to have the coordinates of Brad‘s drone Celius, but will not part with any information until she arranges a physical meeting with Brad Lansky on Earth.
Distraught, Zara calls on Brad for help, knowing that Celius is on loan to the Larkin expedition. Brad and Sandy have fallen out since their good old days in flight school and Alex is no fan either, but this no longer matters when Celius is accused of a serious crime against the trading family.
Brad must accept legal liability for the actions of his drone. Their only defence is to mount a rescue mission to a distant, treacherous system and prove what really happened.
But how should they best prepare for it? Zara‘s brief is cold comfort. Are they dealing with a hostile new life form? And how should they prepare for an encounter with a powerful alien entity they know almost nothing about?
CAST
Brad Lansky: Explorer
Alex John: Brad‘s friend and copilot
Sandy Larkin: Famous explorer, Brad‘s old friend from flight school
Dieter Rothman: Sandy‘s friend & copilot
Zara: (Cybernetic person) - Life-form scientist & colleague of Sandy Larkin
Clement: (Robot) - Humans‘ interface to The Full Advantage
Ansari624: (Cybernetic person) Proxy of a wealthy trading family
Celius, the 23‘rd: (Drone A.I.) - Commander Lansky‘s drone
The Full Advantage (Ship A.I.) - Commander Lansky‘s ship
Echolocator (Ship A.I.) - Commander Larkin‘s ship
Brad Lansky and Alex John in THE ALIEN ENGINEER ( No.2)
After their return from Planet X, Brad and Alex have a tough time trying to get their ship to pass its maintenance review. The alien‘s viral onslaughts have left the Full Advantage riddled with software mutations and there are suspicions of even more invasive alterations. Dieter, whom they‘d rescued from the moon-swamp at Planet X, is alive but struggling to shake off his infection.
Even though their mission had been highly successful by many standards, no sentient press agents on Earth have shown the slightest interest at their return. Surely their findings were newsworthy?!
Things take a turn for the worse when Dieter‘s condition deteriorates. Just then one of the most powerful AI‘s in the world requests their immediate presence and offers compelling arguments for a risky mission to an unchartered system twenty thousand light years away. Could this AI‘s theory about the origin of the alien they found at Planet X be right? If so, can they trust a fragment of this AI aboard the Full Advantage to have their well-being at heart, and for that matter, can they still rely on their own ship to bring them back safely?
And as if this mission didn‘t have enough unknowns, Brad couldn‘t deny the wishes of a dying man and has allowed Dieter to come along!
CAST
Brad Lansky: Explorer
Alex John: Brad‘s friend and copilot
Zara: (Cybernetic person) - Life-form scientist
Clement 2: (Robot) - Humans‘ interface to The Full Advantage
Attos: (Alien) - Chief Engineer of planet Lithom
Sandy Larkin: Famous explorer
Dieter Rothman: Sandy‘s copilot
Giri/Null: (A.I.) - G.A.I.A. representative
The Full Advantage: (Ship A.I.) - Brad Lansky‘s exploration vessel
The Grefim: (Alien/ship) - unknown life form
Brad Lansky and THE FACE OF ETERNAL FIRE ( No.3)
Brad and Alex spent two years exploring the Cygnus Arm of the Milky Way when they received a classified message from the Sol Ambassador to the Trilux System. Fifty Earth-years have elapsed since they parted ways with Giri Null in Trilux, and much has happened in that short time; Giri Null somehow managed to win over most of the Grefim and execute his plans for a new culture with alarming speed. Those who opted not to follow their new Lord promptly invaded planet Lithom, destabilizing all of Trilux.
His latest intent - to equip the formidable Grefim with A.I. minds - was interpreted as a hostile act toward Sol by hawkish elements within G.A.I.A. Subsequent events only served to spiral the star systems into a technical state of war.
Not knowing whom to trust, Giri Null insisted his old friends and the Full Advantage form the Sol ambassador‘s entourage in a last-ditch effort to negotiate a peace accord.
Brad and Alex feel duty-bound to act as agents for peace but are well aware that they are merely pawns in a deadly chess game between at least three mighty A.I. groups, and possibly two Grefim factions.
Alex is quick to point out that a pawn’s odds are never good, even with only two players. But if they can make it to the other side and survive until the end game, they might just be able to tip the scales for peace. Worth a try, and besides, they have the Advantage!
CAST
Humans, Humanoids and A.I.‘s
Brad Lansky: - Explorer
Alex John: - Brad‘s friend and copilot
Aleph One : (A.I.) - Sol Ambassador to the Trilux System
Clement 3.2c (Robot) - Humans‘ interface to The Full Advantage
Spiro: (A.I.) - Self-exiled in Ancient Greece
Giri: (A.I.) - An ancient member of G.A.I.A.
Giri/Null: (A.I.) - A Fragment of Giri. Lord of the Grefim
Attos: (Alien) - Chief Engineer of planet Lithom
G.A.I.A.: (General Artificial Intelligence Assembly)- The Collective of all Sol-system A.I.‘s
Ships
The Full Advantage: (Ship A.I.) - Brad Lansky‘s exploration vessel
Overdog: (Ship A.I.) - Sol system warship
Tokolosh: (Ship A.I.) - Sol system warship
Devil‘s Pique : (Ship A.I.) - Sol system warship
The Grefim: (Alien/ship) - Little-known life form - Homeworld in the Torvus Iubar System
Brad Lansky and THE ANTI-STARC ( No.4)
These are troubled times. MARA, the mighty blue supergiant of the Torvus Iubar system is dying, as are the other thirteen ambistars that make up the Ambistar Collective. Billions of lives are in peril. What conceivable force could cause the simultaneous death of fourteen ambistars thousands of light-years apart?
Since the peace accord between Giri Null and G.A.I.A. three years ago, Torvus has prospered and been relatively stable, save for the remaining rogue Grefim who still plague commercial shipping lanes. Recent weeks in particular have seen a number of GAIA freighters simply disappearing in Torvus. More warships have been dispatched to the area, but the rogue Grefim remain elusive and their prey vanished without a trace.
A warship notifies Brad and Alex of a call for help from an imprisoned teslalite on a planet near MARA. Drawn in by their debt of gratitude to these most mysterious life forms, they decide to assist. From that moment on they‘re hurtled into a hectic series of events and discoveries that even challenge the imagination of their new passenger - GAIA‘s most expensive A.I. .
They discover a dangerous new world - one thought to be impossible. Stranger still, they find it to be inextricably connected to the Ambistar Collective. Is there a way to avert the impending crisis? An abandoned alien artefact may hold some desperately-needed answers.
CAST
Humans, Humanoids and A.I.‘s
Brad Lansky: - Explorer
Alex John: - Brad‘s friend and copilot
Aleph One: (A.I.) - Sol Ambassador to the Trilux System
MAMAI Soliton: (Antimatter A.I.) - GAIA Science A.I.
Tess: (Teslalite) - Magnetic Flux Density from MARA
Adam-A: (Antibeing) - Organic being from the Anti-STARC
Giri/Null: (A.I.) - A Fragment of Giri. Ruler of the Grefim
Celius the 24‘th : (Ship‘s Drone) - Reconnaissance drone to the Full Advantage
G.A.I.A.: (General Artificial Intelligence Assembly)- The Collective of all Sol-system A.I.‘s
Ships
The Full Advantage: (Ship A.I.) - Brad Lansky‘s exploration vessel
Solefuge: (Ship A.I.) - Sol system warship
Ginza Glow: (Ship A.I.) - Sol system warship
Swivel Chair Sentry: (Ship A.I.) - Sol system warship
User Error: (Ship A.I.) - Sol system warship
Bleeding Edge: (Ship A.I.) - Sol system warship
Sharing is Caring: (Ship A.I.) - GAIA diplomatic vessel
Sales Bomb: (Ship A.I.) - Sol system freighter
Stock in Transit: (Ship A.I.) - Sol system freighter
Costing Run: (Ship A.I.) - Sol system freighter
The Grefim: (Electro-organic alien) - Homeworld in the Torvus Iubar System
Brad Lansky and 4D-Verse ( No.5)
MAMAI Soliton found a way to travel through the toroid artefact in the Anti-Starc. The cryptic note he left before disappearing leads Brad and Alex to Drupa 5, a deserted alien planet. There they find a beacon in a desert canyon that might belong to MAMAI.
Next thing they hit upon a treasure trove of alien artefacts - To Alex, an explorer‘s dream come true; to Brad, too good to be true. Alex‘s personality suddenly changes. And then there are the ‘shapes‘
This moment strains their friendship and marks the start of a devious plan by unseen agents. Subsequent events drive the rift between them ever wider. Can trust win through when reality itself is being manipulated? Can friendship survive in a game dictated by malevolent superbeings?
Alex is soon lost in a higher dimension, his only hope an old friend‘s loyalty. In his desperation Brad accepts the help of a sinister warship and soon finds himself at the forefront of GAIA‘s power struggle with an old enemy, an enemy that has just taken the arms race to a completely new, and terrifying level.
CAST
Humans, Humanoids and A.I.‘s
Brad Lansky: - Explorer
Alex John: - Brad‘s friend and copilot
Aleph One: (A.I.) - Sol Ambassador to the Trilux System
MAMAI Soliton: (Antimatter A.I.) - GAIA Science A.I.
Kimberly: Woman from 4D-verse
D5: Being from 5D-verse
Ziggurite Warlord: Crime boss from 4D-verse
G.A.I.A.: (General Artificial Intelligence Assembly)- The Collective of all Sol-system A.I.‘s
Ships
The Full Advantage: (Ship A.I.) - Brad Lansky‘s exploration vessel
Solefuge: (Ship A.I.) - Sol system warship
Grefim: (Electro-organic alien) - Homeworld in the Torvus Iubar System
Brad Lansky and Rogue Era ( No.6)
Biological or ‘B-life‘ was overtaken by A-life centuries ago and now the balance of power is at the tipping point.
An invisible rogue planet on a perfect collision course with Earth caught everyone by surprise, even GAIA. With nearly all forty billion humans still living on Earth, this time it really is the end of the world for B-life.
What is to be done? Moving a planet is beyond the combined capabilities of all of Sol System‘s resources, and there is no ‘planet B‘. Even worse, many class 12 A.I.‘s don‘t think B-life deserves to survive - after all, extinction in this universe is the rule, not the exception.
Does humanity deserve to survive? Does Earth? Does deserve have anything to do with it?
There is a woman, Brinn, a scientist who has scoured the entire DNA database for the best biological capabilities, plant and animal alike. These she integrated into her own biome, evolved to the pinnacle of B-life in a single package. She has lived to give B-life a fighting chance in a cruel cosmos.
She will determine the nature of the Rogue Era.
CAST
Humans, Humanoids and A.I.‘s
Dr Brinn Diaz: - Bio-engineered human
Brad Lansky: - Explorer
Alex John: - Brad‘s friend and copilot
The Sleepers: - Rogue Planet Aliens
BiAdmiral: - Half A.I., half human admiral of Earth Armada
Giri: (A.I.) - Political Scientist (retired)
News anchor
Science reporter
Astronomer
G.A.I.A.: (General Artificial Intelligence Assembly)- The Collective of all Sol-system A.I.‘s
Ships
The Full Advantage: (Ship A.I.) - Brad Lansky‘s exploration vessel
Carbon Snob: (Ship A.I.) - Vice-admiral of Earth Armada
Solefuge: (Ship A.I.) - Sol system warship
Change History: - Sol System scientific vessel (Brinn‘s Lab)
Earth Armada: - Sol System warship fleet
Machine Fleet: - Rogue Planet invasion fleet
Brad Lansky and Result War ( No.7)
The Rogue Planet missed Earth by a few thousand kilometers and quickly receded into the blackness of space.
The Sleepers, the smartest form of biological life ever encountered, showed no interest in Earth and shunned all communication, even with GAIA.
The massive object deflected Earth inward, toward the Sun.
Earth’s new orbit is elliptical - a colossal shock for every creature.
For those who cling to life, the new normal means long dismal winters, punctuated by short summers of searing heat.
Worst of all, the new orbit is chaotic, because it gets too close to Venus.
All of humanity is anxiously looking at GAIA to restore certainty, and with it, hope.
GAIA’s vast computational abilities are being brought to bear on a single, fiendishly difficult result: What is the future of Earth’s orbit?
But this result is also of great interest to others. So great, that someone has started a very public ’result war’ with GAIA.
Someone anonymous, with monumental computing power, for reasons only a paranoid AI could begin to comprehend.
CAST
Humans, Humanoids and A.I.‘s
Brad Lansky: - Explorer. Bio-engineered human
Alex John: - Brad‘s friend and copilot. Human
Dr Brinn Diaz: - Off-grid human
Benny: - Entomologist. Ankaan bio-engineered human
Mythaxium: - GAIA Core A.I.
Lowlife: - Biohacker. Human
The Ankaans: - Rogue Planet Sleeper splinter group
H.C.C.M. : (Hyper-computing Center for Celestial Mechanics)- GAIA computing resources dedicated to predicting the future of Earth‘s orbit
G.A.I.A.: (General Artificial Intelligence Assembly)- The Collective of all Sol-system A.I.‘s
Ships
The Full Advantage: (Ship A.I.) - Brad Lansky‘s exploration vessel
Solefuge: (Ship A.I.) - Sol system warship
The Expert Fashion: (Ship A.I.) - Sol system warship
Brad Lansky and the Lazy Eight ( No.8)
After the shock realization that Earth was indeed the target for invasion by the superior form of B-life from the Rogue Planet, GAIA is under renewed and intense pressure from all sides.
After limited successes in dealing with the horrendous flyby aftermath, after failure to detect the so-called alien advance party and then losing the Result War against them, GAIA is facing its first ever motion for a vote of no-confidence.
Even A-life support is flagging. The demographic that could always be relied upon for a clear mandate is feeling disgruntled as they rapidly lose their privileged status to humans; a status they were afforded by better access to knowledge and intelligence. The hard-won, precious foundations of AI are being commoditized by the quantum ice-computer named Scotti, but only to the benefit of B-life!
There are many who cry foul at this new reality, and several political movements looking to apportion blame for what they see as incompetence on GAIA’s part. Others see it as a hostile act by the Ankaans, whose escape was aided and abetted by a certain Brad Lansky. These hawkish factions are calling for his extradition to stand trial for ’treason against GAIA’ in particular, and Earth in general.
Their problem is that nobody knows where to find this rogue human. Whilst the legal wrangling drags on within GAIA, the hawks are offering a huge monetary reward to anyone who can ’bring the fugitive to justice’. Needless to say, such a bounty has brought a host of unsavory characters out of the woodwork, including a special few who, like the dragons of myth, hate nothing more than to be woken from their slumber.
But now something that threatens the sacred treasure of their even-numbered cult is forcing them out. Earth has an enemy within - a cabal with an ancient seed and an ever more powerful creed: ’Interest in Time – Infinite Interest’.
CAST
Humans, Humanoids and A.I.‘s
Brad Lansky: - Explorer. Bio-engineered human
Alex John: - Brad‘s friend and copilot. Human
Dr Brinn Diaz: - Friend of Brad and Alex. Human
Kalkyle: - Robot
Lowlife: - Biohacker. Human
Plutus: - Oligarch. Human
H.I.G.: (Human Interest Group) - Group campaigning for human rights and causes
G.A.I.A.: (General Artificial Intelligence Assembly) - The Collective of all Sol-system A.I.‘s
Ships
The Full Advantage: (Ship A.I.) - Brad Lansky‘s exploration vessel
The Expert Fashion: (Ship A.I.) - Sol system ship
Nimby Pamby: (Ship A.I.) – Humanitarian solship
Customer Service Charge: - Luxury yacht belonging to Plutus
Solefuge: (Ship A.I.) - Sol system warship. M.I.A.
Format Warrior: (Ship A.I.) - Sol system warship
Sword of Solefuge: (Ship A.I.) - Sol system warship. Seconded to Solefuge
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