Mission Delayed, part 2

At 17,400 words, my piece 'Mission Delayed' straddles the divide between novelette and novella. I prefer to think of it as the latter; it seems a little too complex for a novelette (which is, in essence, a very long short story). I did put a not-completely-final draft version of the story online as a simple EPUB, with the thought to eventually include it in a collection of similar work.

Which I may yet do, assuming I write the other stories! In the meantime, I have decided to make an 'official' release. I'll aim for that in a couple months. Whether it will be ebook-only (PDF and EPUB) or we also go for a print version is undecided. It should be as long (more or less) as the poetry collections we put out through Arachis Press. That doesn't mean anyone would want to spend money on it. Short books are definitely less cost-effective!

History

The writing of my current project, set fourteen hundred and some years before the Jack Mack novels, has required a more extensive look at the history of that time. I’ve mentioned some of it in the novels without going into great detail. Now I need to be a little more exact about just what was going on.

I am not going to set an exact date on when the Orlova Drive was perfected and the age of interstellar travel began. Let’s say a couple hundred years from now or thereabouts. I’m entirely willing to say records from that time are too sketchy for anything more precise. We do better moving forward; all dates are counted from the time of that first jump. Jack McFee was born in the year Orlova 1420.

In those years between now and my stories, Earth suffered much. Climate change, famine, war. The ‘great powers’ fell, to be replaced by new ones. Yet exploration of the Solar system went on, humans expanding to Mars, the asteroid belt. Colonies appeared. It may be the troubles on Earth actually accelerated the move into space, in the somewhat vain hope of escaping. That is the world in which my scientists and pilots operate, one not so different in many ways from our own. And quite different in others.

I’ve mentioned ‘recent’ history here and there in what I’ve written so far. That’s the place to find out about it — and expect it to continue to expand as I complete the story.

The novelette ‘Mission Delayed’ I wrote a little while back tells of the discovery of a ship from two or three hundred years after the first jumps outward. The technology is, in many ways, much the same but with considerable refinement. Ion propulsion is still standard, a version of the Orlova Drive remains in service. The big advances in engines, in dampening fields, and much more I toss off as everyday technology in the Jack Mack novels is yet to come. However, there was definite development in the field of robotics and artificial intelligence, that plays an important role in those novels.

There’s a lot of interesting history hinted at in that period too. Whether it will ever be more than hints, is to be seen.

Frog Flight

My 'Jump Start' story topped out at 19,490 words, placing it firmly in novella-land. Now I need to write a couple more and put them together as a book. These will be related tales of the early days of the development of interstellar travel. This part (now that it is officially a part) is titled 'Frog-Flight,' from the code name of the jump ship project.

In theory, I could fit the completed novelette 'Mission Delayed' into the same book; it is set 1400 years later but deals with the discovery of a crashed ship from those early days. So...maybe but probably not!

First Jump

I'm two chapters and 2500 words into the new (and unexpected) project. This is likely to end up novelette length. We'll see about that. It's a story about the invention and implementation of the first jump drive, and the beginning of mankind's spread to the stars. This is set in the Jack Mack universe but some 1400 years before the novels.

I think maybe I'm seeing some subtle Asimov influences. Been reading through his catalog lately and revisiting stories I last read half a century ago. 

Zelazny's Alienese

The earliest use of the term ‘Alienese’ of which I am aware is in Roger Zelazny’s mid-Seventies novel ‘Doorways in the Sand.’ I had probably been carrying it about in my head before using it as the title of a novel. I did look it up when I was writing my story and did not find the connection then; that came later when I reread Zelazny’s book.

Which may have been an influence on my story in other ways. The two alien policemen his protagonist deals with do have resemblances to the two alien scientists who kidnap my own main character. But similarities largely end there, except for some similarities of style and voice. I’ll readily admit Zelazny was among my influences as a writer, perhaps more so than any other science fiction authors who emerged in the Sixties.

Be all that as it may, my first foray into writing a science fiction was titled ‘Alienese,’ and I am quite okay with that, wherever and however the name came to me. Available, of course, at Arachis Press (arachispress.com) in print or as free ebooks.

 

Design

With the aid of artificial intelligences, which permeated the worlds of the Jack Mack stories, design and its implementation could be carried out somewhat more quickly than today. Thus new vehicles, space craft, etc. could have a fairly rapid turnover in production. The primary brake on this would be the time spent on the transporting of new designs to other worlds for use or production. Basically, stuff could be built quickly! I’ve certainly hinted at this by mentioning various craft used by my characters but it is not something to be dwelt on at length.

Keeping Cool

I have mentioned cooling systems on space craft a few times in the Jack Mack stories, but never delved into it. It was never necessary to the story. I have noted that the heat is not generated from the thrust tubes in a typical engine but by the force fields that contain their power. From a practical standpoint, that comes to much the same thing and it is, admittedly, not a tremendous amount of heat.

It is, of course, difficult to dissipate heat in a vacuum. None of it flows out of the the rear of the engines, as with a jet. Indeed, one can stand quite close to business end of most thrust tubes (too close might knock you down, or worse). Almost all engines do have a vacuum cooling system, involving some sort of radiant heat dispersal via fins or the like. This would be a back-up or auxiliary to normal cooling systems, though small low-power engines might need nothing more (including at least some maneuvering units).

Jack’s crippled W-4 he piloted into Thule Station had a very minimal vacuum system to save weight and space. He could have limped along with it after his main unit gave out, but coming out of jumps might have been hazardous.

More robust main systems are needed in most ships, involving the circulation of a coolant. Even more so in atmospheric ships, which tend to incorporate larger pumps to keep things circulating. Fans, too, though those are useless in space!

 

Blind Jump Release

Today, Oct 31 2025 is the official release date for my latest Jack Mack science fiction novel, Blind Jump. At the Arachis Press store or go to arachispress.com for both print and free ebooks.

https://www.lulu.com/shop/oliver-davis-pike/blind-jump/paperback/product-e7dg5mp.html

Updates

In preparation for the release of the fourth Jack Mack novel, 'Blind Jump,' (on October 31, 2025) we have been going through the previous novels in the series, mostly proofreading. No matter how many passes we make, there always new mistakes to find! The first novel, 'Among the Many Worlds,' is now up in revised form, and we will continue to work through the others. I did straighten up the usage of 'hours' in the book, which did not always stick to the Scotian format of twelve hour days, i.e. hours twice as long as those we use. That's all proper now, and the other two novels should be correct as they are. But we'll check to be sure!

Blind Jump in Print

We have received and approve of a print copy of Blind Jump. All is 'go' for the October 31 2025 release of this fourth Jack Mack sci-fi novel; in fact, we could put it out there right now but we'll wait for the official date! Expect notices to go up here and there over the next couple weeks, reviews from pre-release readers, and so on. As ever, the ebook versions will be free to download.

Here is the finalized cover: 

Blind Date

We have an official release date for Blind Jump: Friday October 31, 2025. Yes, Halloween. It should hold; unexpected problems with printers do have a way of popping up but if anything holds up the print edition, we would still release the ebooks on time.

Those will be in PDF and EPUB, and, as always, free. Of course, the print version costs! All from Arachis Press (arachispress.com).