TALES OF THE MASTER-BUILDERS
OF CRIMSON INDIGO: TALES OF THE MASTER-BUILDERS
By Grant Fausey
By Grant Fausey
A plot to assassinate the founder of the Industrial Empire’s mega-conglomerate is revealed on the remote water world of Oceanna, when Assemblymen John Creed is summoned to the governor general’s office after ITOL Warriors are deployed to the Eden sector. A new jumpship goes missing during its maiden test flight and is presumed to be part of a plot to rid the galaxy of Trithen Kellnar and his clones. Meanwhile. on the other side of the border worlds, deep in the Rampian plains, a pair of would-be explores head-off on a journey of self-discovery into the floating mountain ranges of the Gandee, destined to rendezvous with the master-builders responsible for the alterations to the future. But their journey goes array, when Relix is traumatized by the sheer spectacle of his worst nightmares come to life, and his counterpart disappears, leaving him face-to-face with the bad breath of a flying Mannukan Grizzly bear.
It is up to rookie temporal agent, Sarah Jolland, to upset the Grizzly’s dinner plans and alter the Trod’s objectives, before her disguise is ousted and her true identity is revealed. Meanwhile, faced with his own demise, Tee puts his life in the hands of his competitor, an uncanny bounty hunter who tips the scales in his favor, putting the Trod on a course that will ultimately lead to a place in history where mayhem rains supreme and both the future and the past coexist.
2: In the meantime, Alexander Bay, a grey skin alien scientist and his consort GEM, a temporal vortex researcher arrive at Barrier Station at coordinates OR-567-L, where all hell breaks loose, sending a shockwave through the chain-of-command. It’s all Gem can do to keep her mouth shut; but she can’t, she’s outspoken and has an unequaled disposition when it comes to the corporate executive responsible for her prospective on life, death, and the future of civilization. However, Trithen Kellnar has plans of his own for the blue-skin researcher. Intending to rid the world of her arrogance he orders her to be sent back in time via the Time Step Core. It seems he has influence over her life whether she wants him to or not.
In the interim, on the far side of oblivion, Relix and the Gandee chieftain, Jerolda Manchi run aground in the jungle, crossing the temporal convergence realizing they are in harm’s way. It’s only when the young temporal agent puts her faith in the man sent to rid the world of her that she sees her benefactors for what he is, discovering she is the catalyst for a plot to modify the course of her own history. Meanwhile, eluding a tribe of deadly Kel-fin man animals, Sarah finds herself in the hands of enemies on both sides of the temporal convergence. But when she recounts the memories of a previous existence with a symbiont assassin, she sets plans into motion that will spell certain death to Kristic Kaa, her doomed future host.
Kristic Kaa, however, is oblivious to her incantations and awakening the spirit of Indigo within him is the farthest thing from his mind. As far as he’s concerned transcending both time and space is for storytellers and soothsayers. But as Crimson and Indigo find their way to one another, summoning forth hidden abilities in the scheme of things, the true nature of the temporal assassin and her bounty hunter host are sure to reunite in a blending of hidden abilities through rites of passage, if not the consequences of such a reunion.
Meanwhile, the temporal runner catches up with his younger incarnation, discovering an old beam-rider starship, where his future host, Kristic Kaa resides with a group of ancient Trods and Shroom, a vindictive living machine monkey. For Sarah Jolland, however, life’s events unfold and she ends up in the hands of Samuel Nomad, an old runner come a calling on behalf of the Master-builder Rallumn. It’s up to Kristic to save her before the trail goes cold.
The Trods, however, have a plan of their own, powering up the old beam-rider, they watch their own departure from a place in the future. The Trods realizing there is more to their predicament than time travel; the group takes to the heavens, but not before awakening the cargo. Meanwhile, Sarah Jolland arrives at her destination, passing from the hands of Samuel Nomad to the master-builder’s bioengineered fortress. Rallumn defends his stature, drawing Samuel Nomad’s captive to him bargaining for all their lives. But there are others there, spirits in both the future and past. In a single moment of her life, Sarah Jolland experiences all of existence, finding a single point in time where she still exists as Crimson’s host.
10: Shaken by the awakening, Kristic sees himself as an old man, revealing their lives are all interconnected. Yet, remembering their previous existence takes a toll on the old freighter pilot, imagining the past, reunites him with his former alliances. And, for a moment, he awakens Crimson within him, communicating with her as Jake Indigo Ramious and, ultimately, as himself, Kristic Kaa.
But as Crimson awakens to Indigo’s existence, she is immediately reluctant to maintain the link and withdraws unable to face the changes in her. The universe grows smaller blending everything together in a mishmash of happenings that puts all of them in harm’s way. The future looks dim. Death surrounds them, one universe devouring the other. But for Jake and Krydal, the event marks the end of an era. Surviving the convergence seems unlikely, while the threat of unstoppable change drives fear through all their lifetimes together.
The starship Omar, with her gallant crew, beseeches the Barrier Station at OR-567-L with the help of Tiana Steppon and the crew of the starship Destiny as they rendezvous with the flight crew of the new Jumpship in preparation to intercept Trithen Kellnar’s star yacht. For Jake and Krydal, however, as they reunite with their alternate incarnations as Crimson Indigo, Jake finds himself drawn to Kristic Kaa and his Trod companions as they find themselves at the threshold of the Time Step Core surrounded by the elite fighting forces of the Emperor himself. Nevertheless, Jake pushes forward. There has to be a way to overcome the horror of it all before it becomes an obstacle they will all need to face in order to rectify. There has to be a way to set things straight.
Indigo reaffirms his commitment to Kristic Kaa, blending with him regardless of the outcome, he is willing to forgo any injury in hope of saving his loved ones, who stand at the threshold of whatever is to come. For now, however, his sets aside his emotional connection to his past lives in hope of finding the strength he needs to stop the treachery that is unfolding.
Tracking Samuel Nomad and Sarah Jolland to the Celestial Solar Conjunction
Platform at the heart of the Time Step Core, Kristic Kaa and the Trods seek refuge aboard the artificial world construction project make planetfall only to barely survive the landing. It’s obvious the Beamrider will never fly again; nevertheless, her antigravity ring makes a perfect lifeboat and Kristic sets out to locate Sarah Jolland, leaving the Trods behind to see what they can do to repair the ship. However, the Trods have ideas of their own and Relix and Tee leave the Trods, Treads and Houston, to figure out repairs while they set out across the landscape in search of the master-builder, Rallumn.
Yet, in the midst of his journey, Kristic Kaa encounters the waspers, a race of insect-like warriors who scavenge the countryside foraging for food and enemies. His first skirmish with the deadly flying insects goes by the wayside, as larger prey allows Kristic to escape, although he is wounded in the heat of the attack.
Retrieved by the local population, Kristic awakes to the faces of children, each surrounding him in the confines of a stone fortress, hallowed from the trunk of a gigantic tree. His options are less, the gauntlet closing, the villainous waspers ever present, he has no choice but to believe in him self; he’s already there and has to make a difference in his new companions lives. However, Kristic faces his darkest fears when the Waspers gain entry to the fortress ravaging the refuge and he finds himself at odds with the creatures. He ultimately surrenders to his fear, succumbing to his wounds and the loss of his companions, but the fight isn’t over.
Kristic mourns the loss of his friend, and his family. Yet, he stands his ground when Gayla is taken overcome by renewed spirit and he vows to accompany Avenall to the Wasper nest to find his friends family, and rid the world of the insect infestation.
Amidst the wonders of a world turned upside down, plagued by giant wasp-like insects, Kristic fights his way into the lair of the Acreens with Avenall in search of Gayla, where he is subjected to the deadly wonders of a manufactured alternate reality and the true nature of the mega-conglomerate no holds barred approach to artificially created life.
Slipping past the core of the lair, Kristic and Avenall reach the inner chamber, only to find themselves faced with the queen. The huge Wasper lies between Gayla and her rescuers. But at first, the ferocious insect defends her lair, drawing out the workers and warriors to defend the sanctuary. Avenall fights to reach Gayla, but is stung in the process, leaving Kristic to face the flying infestation alone. However, Kristic sees the creature for what it is, and his fear suddenly diminishes, hope renewed as he strikes out at the insect taking his place in the world, a master of both.
With Gayla in tow, he carries Avenall from the depths of the lair, setting fire to the place with each step he takes. The three of them stand beyond the towering trees watching the burning embers rise into the night sky, reunited with his companion, his emotional distress gone forever.
Gayla tends to Avenall, while others repair the fortress. They’re welcomed back to the fold, changed men and women, again a part of the community. It will take all the Trods can do to alleviate the threat of the multiverse and insure the return of Crimson Indigo.
It is up to rookie temporal agent, Sarah Jolland, to upset the Grizzly’s dinner plans and alter the Trod’s objectives, before her disguise is ousted and her true identity is revealed. Meanwhile, faced with his own demise, Tee puts his life in the hands of his competitor, an uncanny bounty hunter who tips the scales in his favor, putting the Trod on a course that will ultimately lead to a place in history where mayhem rains supreme and both the future and the past coexist.
2: In the meantime, Alexander Bay, a grey skin alien scientist and his consort GEM, a temporal vortex researcher arrive at Barrier Station at coordinates OR-567-L, where all hell breaks loose, sending a shockwave through the chain-of-command. It’s all Gem can do to keep her mouth shut; but she can’t, she’s outspoken and has an unequaled disposition when it comes to the corporate executive responsible for her prospective on life, death, and the future of civilization. However, Trithen Kellnar has plans of his own for the blue-skin researcher. Intending to rid the world of her arrogance he orders her to be sent back in time via the Time Step Core. It seems he has influence over her life whether she wants him to or not.
In the interim, on the far side of oblivion, Relix and the Gandee chieftain, Jerolda Manchi run aground in the jungle, crossing the temporal convergence realizing they are in harm’s way. It’s only when the young temporal agent puts her faith in the man sent to rid the world of her that she sees her benefactors for what he is, discovering she is the catalyst for a plot to modify the course of her own history. Meanwhile, eluding a tribe of deadly Kel-fin man animals, Sarah finds herself in the hands of enemies on both sides of the temporal convergence. But when she recounts the memories of a previous existence with a symbiont assassin, she sets plans into motion that will spell certain death to Kristic Kaa, her doomed future host.
Kristic Kaa, however, is oblivious to her incantations and awakening the spirit of Indigo within him is the farthest thing from his mind. As far as he’s concerned transcending both time and space is for storytellers and soothsayers. But as Crimson and Indigo find their way to one another, summoning forth hidden abilities in the scheme of things, the true nature of the temporal assassin and her bounty hunter host are sure to reunite in a blending of hidden abilities through rites of passage, if not the consequences of such a reunion.
Meanwhile, the temporal runner catches up with his younger incarnation, discovering an old beam-rider starship, where his future host, Kristic Kaa resides with a group of ancient Trods and Shroom, a vindictive living machine monkey. For Sarah Jolland, however, life’s events unfold and she ends up in the hands of Samuel Nomad, an old runner come a calling on behalf of the Master-builder Rallumn. It’s up to Kristic to save her before the trail goes cold.
The Trods, however, have a plan of their own, powering up the old beam-rider, they watch their own departure from a place in the future. The Trods realizing there is more to their predicament than time travel; the group takes to the heavens, but not before awakening the cargo. Meanwhile, Sarah Jolland arrives at her destination, passing from the hands of Samuel Nomad to the master-builder’s bioengineered fortress. Rallumn defends his stature, drawing Samuel Nomad’s captive to him bargaining for all their lives. But there are others there, spirits in both the future and past. In a single moment of her life, Sarah Jolland experiences all of existence, finding a single point in time where she still exists as Crimson’s host.
10: Shaken by the awakening, Kristic sees himself as an old man, revealing their lives are all interconnected. Yet, remembering their previous existence takes a toll on the old freighter pilot, imagining the past, reunites him with his former alliances. And, for a moment, he awakens Crimson within him, communicating with her as Jake Indigo Ramious and, ultimately, as himself, Kristic Kaa.
But as Crimson awakens to Indigo’s existence, she is immediately reluctant to maintain the link and withdraws unable to face the changes in her. The universe grows smaller blending everything together in a mishmash of happenings that puts all of them in harm’s way. The future looks dim. Death surrounds them, one universe devouring the other. But for Jake and Krydal, the event marks the end of an era. Surviving the convergence seems unlikely, while the threat of unstoppable change drives fear through all their lifetimes together.
The starship Omar, with her gallant crew, beseeches the Barrier Station at OR-567-L with the help of Tiana Steppon and the crew of the starship Destiny as they rendezvous with the flight crew of the new Jumpship in preparation to intercept Trithen Kellnar’s star yacht. For Jake and Krydal, however, as they reunite with their alternate incarnations as Crimson Indigo, Jake finds himself drawn to Kristic Kaa and his Trod companions as they find themselves at the threshold of the Time Step Core surrounded by the elite fighting forces of the Emperor himself. Nevertheless, Jake pushes forward. There has to be a way to overcome the horror of it all before it becomes an obstacle they will all need to face in order to rectify. There has to be a way to set things straight.
Indigo reaffirms his commitment to Kristic Kaa, blending with him regardless of the outcome, he is willing to forgo any injury in hope of saving his loved ones, who stand at the threshold of whatever is to come. For now, however, his sets aside his emotional connection to his past lives in hope of finding the strength he needs to stop the treachery that is unfolding.
Tracking Samuel Nomad and Sarah Jolland to the Celestial Solar Conjunction
Platform at the heart of the Time Step Core, Kristic Kaa and the Trods seek refuge aboard the artificial world construction project make planetfall only to barely survive the landing. It’s obvious the Beamrider will never fly again; nevertheless, her antigravity ring makes a perfect lifeboat and Kristic sets out to locate Sarah Jolland, leaving the Trods behind to see what they can do to repair the ship. However, the Trods have ideas of their own and Relix and Tee leave the Trods, Treads and Houston, to figure out repairs while they set out across the landscape in search of the master-builder, Rallumn.
Yet, in the midst of his journey, Kristic Kaa encounters the waspers, a race of insect-like warriors who scavenge the countryside foraging for food and enemies. His first skirmish with the deadly flying insects goes by the wayside, as larger prey allows Kristic to escape, although he is wounded in the heat of the attack.
Retrieved by the local population, Kristic awakes to the faces of children, each surrounding him in the confines of a stone fortress, hallowed from the trunk of a gigantic tree. His options are less, the gauntlet closing, the villainous waspers ever present, he has no choice but to believe in him self; he’s already there and has to make a difference in his new companions lives. However, Kristic faces his darkest fears when the Waspers gain entry to the fortress ravaging the refuge and he finds himself at odds with the creatures. He ultimately surrenders to his fear, succumbing to his wounds and the loss of his companions, but the fight isn’t over.
Kristic mourns the loss of his friend, and his family. Yet, he stands his ground when Gayla is taken overcome by renewed spirit and he vows to accompany Avenall to the Wasper nest to find his friends family, and rid the world of the insect infestation.
Amidst the wonders of a world turned upside down, plagued by giant wasp-like insects, Kristic fights his way into the lair of the Acreens with Avenall in search of Gayla, where he is subjected to the deadly wonders of a manufactured alternate reality and the true nature of the mega-conglomerate no holds barred approach to artificially created life.
Slipping past the core of the lair, Kristic and Avenall reach the inner chamber, only to find themselves faced with the queen. The huge Wasper lies between Gayla and her rescuers. But at first, the ferocious insect defends her lair, drawing out the workers and warriors to defend the sanctuary. Avenall fights to reach Gayla, but is stung in the process, leaving Kristic to face the flying infestation alone. However, Kristic sees the creature for what it is, and his fear suddenly diminishes, hope renewed as he strikes out at the insect taking his place in the world, a master of both.
With Gayla in tow, he carries Avenall from the depths of the lair, setting fire to the place with each step he takes. The three of them stand beyond the towering trees watching the burning embers rise into the night sky, reunited with his companion, his emotional distress gone forever.
Gayla tends to Avenall, while others repair the fortress. They’re welcomed back to the fold, changed men and women, again a part of the community. It will take all the Trods can do to alleviate the threat of the multiverse and insure the return of Crimson Indigo.
