Hoganthology Now Available in Print

In this 800 page collection of Neil A. Hogan’s stories you’ll discover ancient space battles, alternate dimensions, sentient dark matter, dinosaurs, robots, galaxy movers, planet-sized aliens and more. Expect many twists and turns along the way.

These stories throw you into many of universes of an SF craftsman – mad, mind-bending, marvelous and always alien. Find out more here: Hoganthology

Section 1 – Short Stories

A Little Matter
The Opposition
Gravity Locked
Still in Beta
Ancient Alien Dinosaurs
Japanese Martian Robot Souls
Oh My God It’s Full of Stars
Alien UFO Disclosure
Pyramids of the Moon
The Hydrofluorons of Krakon 7
Phases of the Moon Base
Interrelations
Surviving Mars
First Interdimensional Contact
Time Sheets
Mate
Robot Solitude
ExtraForestrial
Work After Death
Neko Girl
The Galaxy’s Driving Force
The Old Boys’ Club
Cosmic Joke
The Manipulator
Strange Lands
Layers
Life Choices
Moon Mine
The Secret of Bimini
Tutor Who: Heaven Cent

Section 2 – Flash Fiction

Child Safe
Evolution
Inter-View
Pocket Monsters
The Language Tutor
Controller
Gene-Reality
Rejuvenation
The Exchange
The Ugly Side of A.I.

Section 3 – Children’s Fiction

Alien Alexander – Alien Characters #55
Alien Hannah – Alien Characters #57
Alien Christopher – Alien Characters #60
Alien Alexis – Alien Characters #61
Alien Joseph – Alien Characters #62
Alien Daniel – Alien Characters #64
Alien Saya – Alien Characters #80

Section 4 – Space Opera Poetry

We’ve Been Wordsworthed, We’ve Been Poeed, and We’ve Been Quite Possibly Frosted
An Ode to Space Opera

Bonus Section – Excerpts

Alien Frequency – Chapter 3
The Andromeda Effect – Chapter 61
Temporal Incursion – Chapter 5
Tyrannosaurus Rex and the Cretaceous City – Dinory 1
Ida and the Planet Invasion – 2: Arrival
Gabriel and the Resurrection of Maldek – 3: 10:00am
Tiara and the Comet Apocalypse – Channel One

Bonus Section – The Future

The Robots of Atlantis (Preview) – Wednesday 22nd October 2053

Stellar Flash 2135 A.D.
-Plot Synopsis
-Notes on Location
-Character Biographies
-Extract 1
-Extract 2
-Some lines I’m working on

And more!

Hoganthology Print

Hoganthology Digital

Temporal Incursion. Stellar Flash Book Three. Chapter 4. By Neil A. Hogan

Temporal Incursion. Stellar Flash Book Three. By Neil A. Hogan

Available in Digital and in Print Formats from Amazon

Episode 1: The Hand Continued

Chapter 4

The triangular shape flickered green along one side, then settled into a new stable orbit around Saturn, just above the rings. The Stellar Flash was the flagship of the Earth Council fleet, and the best that human and alien engineering could provide. It was the ultimate in interfrequency and interdimensional travel, and also had the ability to travel in time, given the right coordinates.

The Stellar Flash had recently returned from 2.5 million years ago in the Andromeda Galaxy. Unfortunately, it had had to come back the long way around, and it was a bit worse for wear as a result.

The alien crew of 300, with a main Center crew of 8, were mostly on leave. Having taken a space-fold time jump back to the present, and found their cabins full of pieces of iridium, some had returned to their planets, some had decided to visit Space Station X-1a, and some, like Captain Jonathan Hogart, had decided to do what he could on the ship.

Hogart was a pinkish-white, muscular man in his early-to-mid 40s, with short, dark-brown hair, and a sparkle in his eyes that suggested he was always about to make a joke. A few days ago, he had moved to the Stellar Flash, intent on doing things that robots, other crew members, the A.I. and various software programs were capable of doing without him.

“Jonathan, just go to Earth,” Heartness had said. “Hug some trees. Smell some flowers. Take a break.”

“After my recent experience on the Floran homeworld, plants are the last things I want to see.”

His look had been enough, and Heartness hadn’t said another word. But now, after a day on the ship, he was beginning to think he had made a mistake.

“So, A.I., you’re sure this console needs my help?”

“Yes, Captain,” came the soft and feminine Japanese-accented tones of the A.I. “Analysis indicates that the bolts holding that screen to the floor are loose. In fact, all the bolts are loose on all the stands in the center. Please tighten them.”

Hogart held the wrench and stared at the consoles. “I don’t know, A.I. Surely there are other more important things that need to be done.”

“Other areas are about to be fixed by the repair system. Center bolts are at the bottom of the list, so they won’t be done for a couple of days. Your help will enable them to be done faster.”

Hogart smiled. “Well, if you’re sure. I’d be happy to help. This is a lot better than watching over Raj’s shoulder as he unlocks another door.”

The A.I. remained silent.

“Right, then.” He lay down next to the first panel and set to work.

Just then an alarm began blaring.

Hogart sat bolt upright and hit his head on the side of the panel. “Ow!” He yelled. “A.I. Did I activate something?”

“It is a false alarm from the space station a short time ago. Disabling now.”

“Well, that’s a relief.” He looked about the Center Control room, not quite wanting to lie down and tighten bolts.

Eight panels on stands were arranged facing outward to the wall and dome-ceiling screens. In the center was the flash drive – two columns like a stalactite and a stalagmite stretched downward and upward, not quite meeting. The space in the middle generated the flash drive field. Three exit doors were arranged equidistant around the circular area, and the surround screens were currently showing where they orbited above Saturn’s rings.

Hogart grinned at the sight of the colorful planet. It was hard to believe how huge Saturn really was. Even though Saturn’s day was a mere ten hours or so, it took them days to orbit it, and there was always something new to see.

Newslets and Mindshorts had indicated another of Saturn’s rings was about to disappear – the effect of their recent conflict with the Florans, or perhaps simply the aging of the rings. He supposed there would be an observation party at some point, but it meant Saturn continued to be interesting.

Just then, the door to corridor two dissolved, and a young-looking man with thick black hair and brown skin skipped into the Center. “We got door 347 open!” said Officer Raj Kumar, excitedly.

Hogart groaned. “Must you come running in here every time you get a door open? I mean, it takes at least seven minutes. Couldn’t your time be better spent? Besides, aren’t you supposed to be going back to Lahore for the reunification ceremony? It’s a Sunday in Punjab, as I recall.”

“Well, communications are still not that reliable. And, besides, why would I run? I just flash to the entrance and skip in! And in regard to Lahore, I sent a boff to rep me! I’ll watch it later.”

Hogart sighed. Sometimes it was fun hanging around people in their twenties, and sometimes it was just annoying. Raj was, what, 26? He shook himself and refocused. “What was the alarm about?”

“How should I know? I’m the door opener!”

Hogart put the tool he was holding in a box near him. If Kumar had not been assigned by Patel, Hogart might have had words about respect for rank. As it was, he just sighed again. “Just a moment.” He turned to the center of the Center. “A.I. Avatar please.”

An early thirties Japanese woman, in a T-shirt tied at her waist to reveal her midriff, and extremely tight blue pants with holes in them, appeared near the floor and ceiling columns. Hogart raised his eyebrows. “What happened to your kimono?”

The avatar grinned a big smile, her heavily coated eyelashes fluttering. “Costume program. I thought I’d try something from the 80s. Do you like it?”

“2080s?”

“1980s. I think it suits the shape you programmed. What do you think?”

Hogart looked at her clothes, quizzically. The blue pants looked difficult to wear, and made of some extremely thick material. Camping material? “Is that canvas? Like, for tents?”

The A.I. nodded.

“Well, it’s, um, nice, A.I.”

Why would she even think about changing? He had been reading some of the history that had gone on with a clone of himself in the Andromeda Galaxy, and the evolution of the ship’s avatar. While his clone had fallen in love with the previous incarnation of the Stellar Flash ship A.I., he wasn’t going to explore that option.

Perhaps the new A.I. had also read the reports, and was considering a future with him, or maybe he was just being narcissistic. He shuddered. He wasn’t ready for a digital relationship yet. “Back to my original topic. What was the ‘false alarm’?”

The avatar placed a finger on her cheek and closed her eyes. “Accessing,” she said, sweetly. “Official message from Admiral Wei Zhou. Nothing that should concern you. Continue with getting the Stellar Flash ship ready for her next mission.”

Hogart frowned. “Admiral Zhou is back on 1a already? It must be important. Tell me the details, unofficially.”

“You won’t like it.”

“A.I!”

“Confirmed.” The A.I. became unofficially official, staring directly ahead. “Admiral Victoria Heartness has been kidnapped by a robot officer owned by the Frequency Research Institute. She has been traced to a ship several million kilometers from Proxima B in the Proxima Centauri system. The corporation that has obtained her had previously offered several thousand…”

“Enough. I had heard about the bidder. I thought she’d turned it down. A.I. How quickly can we get the Stellar Flash to the system?”

“Flash drive inoperative,” the A.I. shrugged.

“Escape pods?”

“Storage centers still contain iridium stones. No escape pods have been maintained for over a million years. Hangar 27 will be the first, scheduled for tomorrow.”

Hogart stared at the almost empty Center, struggling to work out what to do next. A robot had taken Heartness. Was it a robot uprising, or was the F.R.I. seeing how far it could push its powers? Either way, tightening bolts wasn’t going to get him there faster.

“Ahem,” said Kumar.

“Are you still here?”

“Room 347?” Kumar stretched his arms out as though to say, ‘Are you coming or not’?

Hogart frowned. “I need to work out a way to save Victoria!”

“Admiral Zhou said not to worry. A robot officer took her to a corporation. Admiral Heartness is probably sipping champagne by now. Captain, the panels will fix themselves. Please, come with me.”

Hogart straightened his blue jumpsuit. “Why is 347 so important?”

Kumar danced back and forth on his feet. “Oh, come on Jonathan. Come and see. Live a little. You’ll love it.”

“I think I’m more likely to regret it,” muttered Hogart, but he followed after Kumar. As they exited into the corridor, Kumar clicked his flash band on Hogart’s, grinned winningly at him, and then they both disappeared.

Temporal Incursion. Stellar Flash Book Three. By Neil A. Hogan

Available in Digital and in Print Formats from Amazon

Temporal Incursion. Stellar Flash Book Three. Chapter 2. By Neil A. Hogan



Temporal Incursion. Stellar Flash Book Three. By Neil A. Hogan

Available in Digital and in Print Formats from Amazon

Episode 1: The Hand Continued

Chapter 2

Admiral Victoria Heartness got up from her desk at the darkening interior of her space station office and scratched at her newly extended long brown hair. Something was wrong, if the raised hair on the back of her neck was any indication. The shadows in the room were lengthening, and it had nothing to do with the reflected light from Saturn just beyond her window.

Unless it was more to do with science, she thought. Static electricity? An increase in electrons causing eyes to perceive a slight darkening of the environment?

She looked down at her arms and could see the hair on the backs of them rising as well. What could cause that? She walked around the room. Was it getting lighter in the center?

The only thing possible was the controlled formation of an isolation field of a personal flash jump. And the slow speed suggested a longer jump

Then everything became clear to her.

Someone was about to flash jump into her secure office, from outside the Solar System, illegally!

Florans coming back to get revenge?

Higher frequency aliens not realizing there are laws in Frequency Zero?

Doctor John Patel forgetting to forewarn?

Who or what else could it be?

Even her date had to meet her at the bar, and no one else was scheduled.

She went back to her monitor and quickly closed the file she had been working on, a secret services logo appearing on it before it disappeared. She briefly imagined white noise across her thoughts to erase anything related to the file, then she got up from her desk and walked around the room.

“Alright. Where are you? It doesn’t usually take this long to materialize. What are you waiting for?”

There was only one group that might be able slow the manifestation this much. The Frequency Research Institute. Those corporation types were highly likely to send a representative to beg. Nice of them to ring a doorbell first, she thought. She wondered who they would send. She hoped, if it was a he, then he’d be handsome.

She shielded her eyes as a bright oval of white light wiped the color from the room for a moment, and a chunky, one-meter-tall blue robot appeared.

To be more precise, a corporation’s leased robot officer.

She looked at it with dismay. Talk about a disappointment. “You sent a boff?” she said to whoever might be listening. “I guess you need to learn a thing or two about impressing someone.”

The robot swiveled its round eyes and cube head towards her. “Admiral Victoria Heartness identified. Your presence is required.”

“No. I already turned your request down. I have much more important things to do right now. There are plenty of other people in the System who can h…”

A piercing alarm began to sound across Space Station X-1a, and probably soon on the nearby bases on some of Saturn’s moons. Heartness swore as she remembered this kind of incursion would immediately activate any number of potential anti-foothold strategies. She quickly ran back to her desk and swiped her finger on the panel inset, canceling them. Then she spoke to the ceiling. “A.I. Broadcast the false-alarm message.” As she stomped angrily back over to the robot, she barely heard the placating message of the A.I. echoing throughout the station.

“Why are you here?” She faced down the placid face of the boff with her hands on her hips. “What possible situation could have occurred just over four light years away that needs my personal attention right now? You’ve broken quite a number of laws coming here already.”

The boff stared impassively forward. Like an ancient robot toy for children, its cube-shaped head with round metal eyes, a wide mouth with painted teeth, and even white marks on the side to indicate ears, suggested something that no one could take too seriously.

A spring of antennae stretched across the top of its head, and its head sat atop a rectangular body with additional oversized buttons and dials. When everything the boff needed to be able to function could fit into a few thin cylinders on stilts, this bulky dysfunctional throwback was almost laughable. Despite herself, Heartness marveled at the retro construction, and especially liked the large off-switch on the back.

The boff’s simplistic communications system began to explain in a tenor lilt, even echoing apologetically. Heartness frowned at the program’s attempt to appeal to her emotional side.

“I apologize, Admiral Victoria Heartness, ma’am. But my licensor says that it is urgent. 27 scientists have disappeared from our base on Proxima Centauri B. Your presence is required.”

Heartness looked at it, exasperatedly. She was tired of corporations leasing robot officers, then not programming them correctly. “Find the answers. Fix the problem. That’s what you’re programmed for. You don’t need me.”

The boff stood silent. It had delivered its message and now it was waiting on a response to that message. Nothing else.

A simple machine.

Heartness hmphed, then walked around it, while she thought. What was she going to do with it? Would it leave when she said no? Would it hang around until she said yes? Maybe she could get Watanabe in to look at its programming. Was there anything special about it? No weapons. That was a good sign. Soft plastic, though it looked metal. She could see the slots where its arms and legs were connected, and easily detachable.

Everything was easily replaceable, and some of the parts could even operate by themselves in an emergency. Heartness knew the boff also contained some organic components to ensure that at some point it would have to break down. All robots had these fail-safes to make sure there was no chance of a permanent robot takeover. Even so, it was likely an army of these mechs might just temporarily win, as everyone attempting to fight them would be doubled over with laughter.

There wasn’t enough memory or software for the boff to become sentient, and it just did what it had to do. She stared thoughtfully at the off-switch on the back. Should she…?

No.

“Go back to where you came from, and tell the F.R.I that I’m responsible for over 1000 beings and their families here. I can’t leave every time you can’t do your jobs.”

“This is your final answer?” asked the boff.

“Yes. Tell your people…”

Like lightning, the boff’s right hand snapped out and grabbed Heartness’ arm, then its left slapped an override on Heartness’ flash band.

“What?” she yelled. “You can’t do this.” She smashed her fist down on the arm, but it just bounced back.

She tried to pull the arm off from its side, but the boff was already activating the return journey.

“No!” Heartness yelled, as the flash field enveloped them, and they disappeared.




Temporal Incursion. Stellar Flash Book Three. By Neil A. Hogan

Available in Digital and in Print Formats from Amazon



Temporal Incursion. Stellar Flash Book Three. Chapter 1. By Neil A. Hogan

Temporal Incursion. Stellar Flash Book Three. By Neil A. Hogan

Available in Digital and in Print Formats from Amazon

Episode 1: The Hand

Chapter 1

2133/10/18/08:45 Sunday

The violet underside of the twelve-meter-sided, triangular interdimensional ship passed through the ceiling of the North Australia Space Port monitoring center in Darwin, and continued obliviously on its way. Admiral Wei Zhou watched it with awe, then smiled at the circumstances that had brought her there.

She had joined the Earth Council long ago and worked her way up the ranks. But as is the habit of Earth Council, once you’ve been a captain for ten years, you’re offered a promotion to allow the next recruits their chance at a captaincy.

She did miss it, but now she was monitoring the interfrequency and interdimensional ships that crisscrossed Earth’s orbit, ready to offer assistance if anything Earth was doing interfered with their journeys. If she couldn’t go out into space, then at least space could come to her.

Billions of ships passed through the Earth every day, and it was rare for one to pass along the surface of the planet, let alone through the actual monitoring station in Darwin. Most went through the upper atmosphere or through the crust of the Earth itself. Since Frequency Shift in 2033, most of these vehicles could be seen by the general population, and had long since become part of the background. But, occasionally, like this one, they were worthy of attention.

Now that it had faded through the wall, it was time to return to answering her staff. Admiral this, Admiral that. Sadly, that wasn’t as exciting, and she was tempted to flash back to Guangdong province for a quick cup of tea.

“Admiral,” called one of her assistants. Zhou looked up and recognized the brown hair, weathered skin and long beard. Bruce Jones, one of her Australian staff.

“Yes, Bruce, what is it?”

“Another delivery of powdered iridium from Saturn, just flashed into the base. Begging your pardon, ma’am, but, don’t you think we have enough now?”

Zhou raised an eyebrow. “You do know how much this stuff is in demand on Earth, right? All those people getting their mindview systems removed. That’s a lot of medical equipment.”

Jones frowned. “I do. It’s just that, there’s no more room in storage. Would you like me to organize storage in Sydney?”

Zhou had had no idea that they’d already filled all their storage areas in Darwin. The Stellar Flash ship must have brought back quite a lot. But she’d promised she would take it off their hands, and a promise is a promise. “Very good, Bruce. Yes, Sydney for the rest of it. Was there anything else?”

“Going to go fishing on the weekend. Was wondering, you know, if you’d like to come along?”

Zhou could tell he was trying to be casual about it, but his voice went a bit high at the end. She gave him a winning smile. “Thanks for the offer, but I’m strictly an indoors gal. Steel walls, lots of conveniences, and an A.I. not far away. Not sure what I’d do in an outdoor area. Probably get sunburned. I can’t even swim!”

“No worries!” he replied. He was about to turn away when he noticed something and pointed at Zhou’s left arm.

Zhou looked down to see that a light on her flash sleeve was blinking. “Oh! Thanks, mate.”

He smiled shyly, then turned back to his hologram.

She knew he had a thing for her. Not her type, though. She preferred her men to be a bit more feminine, thinner, hairless, and spend much of their time in space.

But now she had something else to attend to. She looked quizzically at her flash band. She usually got messages at her station stand. Why did it come directly to her sleeve? And who has that channel, anyway?

She quickly opened the message.

“Admiral Zhou, Admiral Heartness has disappeared. Please meet me at Heartness’ office on Space Station X-1a asap.”

Victoria had disappeared?

Again?

It was like anyone on Space Station X-1a would eventually disappear for one reason or another. She was beginning to think that the station was bad luck. Especially as it was being constructed with the number 1 on it during a snake year.

But she knew what she had to do, and quickly began getting ready.

She noticed the message was from Doctor John Patel and quickly understood the secrecy. He didn’t like to do things that were too public.

She checked her appearance in the mirror. No makeup smudges. Foundation was holding, short black hair shone healthily and didn’t need a comb, black jacket fitted well, long black pants were unlined. Should she put some bright red lipstick on? No. She grinned quietly to herself. She didn’t want to distract anyone else.

She quickly gathered some essential items into a handbag, set up a ‘called away on urgent business’ message at her console, then hit the relocation button at the bottom of the message.

A bright white light enveloped her, and moments later she was one billion kilometers away, inside one of the corridors in Space Station X-1a circling Saturn. She quickly stepped out of the way of a bloated blue balloon-shaped alien that floated past her, and did her best to adjust to the slightly different gravity, air pressure, and smells.

The coordinates she’d been given were directly outside Heartness’ office. She waited until another blobby alien squirmed and squelched past her, then reached out and tapped the door.

5:30pm in Darwin translated to 8:00am on the Space Station. Flashlag was going to be a bitch, she thought. Then she fell into a sneezing fit as her nose began to react to all the differences.

The door dissolved, and Patel appeared, standing in the center of the room. He handed her a tissue. “Wei, so good of you to come!”

Zhou took it gratefully and wiped her nose, before putting it in a pocket. “Sorry. You know it’s thirty degrees Celsius in Darwin. What is it here? Twenty?”

Then she realized that Patel was holding his hand outstretched indicating Heartness’ seat.

“Please,” he said, as though expecting no debate.

Immediately annoyed, Zhou threw her bag down on the table and turned on him. “Cryptic message, and I flashed here quickly, as agreed. But you can’t just expect me to take over the station at a moment’s notice every time. I have other responsibilities at the Space Port!”

Patel carefully lowered his arm and frowned. “Wei, I’m sorry. With Heartness gone, we need you here. You’re the best for this position.”

Zhou put her hands on her hips. “I’ve done research since then. Admiral Rasskator is best for this position. Pull her out of retirement.”

Patel shook his head. “I don’t want to sound sexist, but some delicacy is involved. And you have proven yourself time and time again that your feminine energy is superior when it comes to mediation. We haven’t forgotten your help with the Mars-Earth treaty. Basically, I need you to take care of this station of families, and any cultural conflicts that may arise. In fact, it is why I usually recommend a female for this role. I’m really not good at looking at anything other than the big picture, and males can be, how shall I put it, a bit too logical? We forget to allow our emotions to have a say.”

Zhou lowered her tattooed brows and stared at him. “Get that fabulous Admiral Klimova from the Russian outpost near Barnard’s star, then. He’s more feminine than I am! Even my muscles are bigger than his! And you should see his dance moves!”

Patel held up his hands. “I need you here. The station needs you.”

Zhou frowned, then walked around the table and slowly slid into the seat. “Fine. I’m here, again.” She sighed. “Fill me in. What’s happened to Victoria?”

Patel took the seat opposite and grinned as though the exchange never happened. “Excellent! Now, changing the subject. You know, I’m always tempted to take advantage of my power here, but I do my best not to let it get out of hand.”

Zhou almost laughed. “Really? Did you disable to cameras on the way here, again?”

Patel opened his mouth, then closed it again. “How did you… Never mind. Yes.”

Zhou smiled to herself. A point to her. Patel was the most intelligent person in the Solar System, but he allowed his hubris to get in the way – a lot. He did his best, but he could forget the little things. She’d feel sorry for him if he wasn’t so obliviously arrogant about it.

She took a deep breath, relaxed, and focused on the task at hand. “I guess the reason you needed me here so quickly is because you need something from this room before Earth Council sends its investigators. Something that only I can give as the admiral now in residence.”

Patel nodded again.

Zhou snapped her fingers. “You want me to officially access her files first! See if something is there that could tell you where Victoria went without Earth Council knowing you had looked!”

Patel sat back in his chair and steepled his fingers. “I’m impressed. You should be a detective.”

Zhou smiled, despite herself. “I might have been, if the A.I.’s hadn’t already taken all the detective jobs. Holographic scan of the crime scene, evidence analyzed in seconds, images sourced from recordings of wall reflections, DNA, fingerprints, faces located in the database in minutes, maybe two to locate the criminal, five minutes to arrest her, him or them and lock them up. That’s if the crime hadn’t already been predicted, or caught in the act first. Detectives disappeared decades ago. Not to mention the drop in crime since Frequency Shift.”

“Still, there are cold cases that the A.I.’s can’t help with.”

Zhou shrugged. “It’s all moot, now. In any case, Secret Services man. What are you hoping to find?”

Patel was silent, but raised an eyebrow as if to say, You’re smart. You work it out.

Zhou touched her chin with a finger. “Assuming Victoria was kidnapped from this room, and the investigation hasn’t started yet, then there might also be a recording.”

“Bingo!” exclaimed Patel.

Zhou looked at him quizzically. “Bingo?”

“Oh, sorry, it’s an old 21st century term for a gambling game. Before your time.”

“I see. So, like ‘Mahj!’”

“Mahj?”

“Oh, it’s from an old game from 2,500 years ago.” She waved a hand dismissively in the air. “Before your time.” Zhou looked at the screen, and it immediately unlocked for her. She peered at the processes. “The last complete room recording was half an hour ago. The current one is…disabled.”

She squinted at Patel and he shrugged. She let it pass, then looked up at the ceiling. “A.I. Replay room recording from the previous hour. Authorization Admiral Wei Zhou.”

“Confirmed,” said the A.I.

For a moment there was silence, and then a shimmer filled the room. In the center, a short, pale, dark-haired woman in a blue, short-sleeved jumpsuit, appeared to be looking for something while circling the floor.

“Can I get everything?” asked Patel.

“Pause playback. Everything?”

“I want to access her brain waves, thought processes, everything. I want to rule out any chance she has been mentally taken over. We have been working on something together that is still top secret. If whoever took her read her thoughts…”

“Accessing recordings of any person’s thoughts is usually reserved for extreme cases.”

“When not on a mission. All thoughts are recorded as standard on vehicle that has a flash system. We’ve got years of Heartness’ thoughts on record as Captain.”

Zhou stared at Patel with a look of distaste.

“Now, I know she’s a friend of yours,” he continued. “But flash jump records indicate a robot officer has taken an Admiral. If this is the start of another robot uprising, the whole of humanity could be affected.”

Zhou frowned at this new piece of information. “A robot? Any other nuggets I should know?”

Patel shrugged again as if to say, I don’t know what information to give you that you need to know.

She looked up at the ceiling. “A.I. Access entire recording of the appearance and disappearance of the boff and Admiral Heartness. Overlay reality with a holographic version, and give mental access to Heartness’ thoughts for me and… my guest. Brain wave vibration authorization Admiral Wei Zhou.”

“Confirmed,” said the A.I.

“Thank you, Wei,” said Patel.

Reality around them blurred and changed, and the recording began.


Available in Digital and in Print Formats from Amazon

Temporal Incursion. Stellar Flash Book Three. Print Cover.

Temporal Incursion. Stellar Flash Book Three. Prologue. By Neil A. Hogan

Available in Digital and in Print Formats from Amazon

Temporal Incursion. Stellar Flash Book Three. Prologue. By Neil A. Hogan

Prologue

2129/02/15/01:43 Tuesday

A bright object cut across a section of the Kuiper belt, broke apart a tumbling two-piece proto-comet, then shot out of the Solar System at high speed. Explorer satellites in the area reported it as traveling close to the speed of light.

*

An explosion rocked the little island of South Bimini, flattening palm trees, shorting out power cables, and collapsing buildings. A group of factories dissolved into a crater, then sank under a tsunami. A tiny object exploded from the center of the carnage, climbed quickly into orbit, then blasted past the moon. Luna satellites recorded a white streak but were unable to determine origin or destination.

*

Drone 478 detected the intruder as it sped past Saturn and immediately activated its staccato flash drive, materializing further along the tiny object’s estimated path. The drone recorded it as it passed, predicted its trajectory, then repeated this several times before the object entered the Oort cloud. 478 quickly flashed back to Monitoring Station Z and delivered its composite video.

*

The images faded to black, and the lights came back up to reveal a small, oval room, with a tiny porthole looking out onto a section of Saturn’s rings.

“Interesting, don’t you think?” Doctor John Patel scratched his short, graying moustache, and glanced across the leafy table at his colleague, Admiral Rasskator, an attractive, green, mantis-like being from the planet Preyos.

Rasskator remained silent, a slight movement of one antennae the only sign she had heard him.

“We’ve since been able to confirm the objects are heading to Proxima Centauri B,” Patel continued. “They’re mostly moving at light speed but pause whenever they encounter something. Best estimates suggest they’ll arrive in just over four and a half years’ time.”

Rasskator chirped quietly, and her translator Englished. “They will be in the F.R.I.’s jurisdiction, then. Why see me about these?”

Patel smiled thinly. “Admiral, you plan to retire in four years’ time. If these objects are likely to cause a problem around then, I’d like there to be a faster transition between you and the new person here, so that we have time to prepare for anything that might eventuate.”

“Always planning ahead, John. Don’t you ever get tired? Live for the now!”

“Not a detailed plan, just a, well…”

“You’d like a recommendation for my replacement in 2133?”

Patel nodded.

Rasskator, rubbed her claw across one of her long green antennae, twisted her bulbous eyes a few times, then chirped. “Well, firstly I recommend building a new and more powerful Space Station. I doubt this throwback is going to last much longer. Certainly, if there are going to be more of these particles passing through, we need to have some kind of research center nearby.”

Patel sighed, looking about at the tiny space, knowing the monitoring station was barely 500 meters across. “It’s in hand. The project will commence at the end of 2132. We’ve received enough complaints from, ahem, your station, to bring things forward.”

“Acceptable. I do recommend Captain Victoria Heartness. She will have been working as a captain for ten years by then. An ideal time to be considered for promotion, and as my replacement.”

Patel leant back in his chair and steepled his fingers. “Interesting choice. We’ll see how she goes, and maybe I’ll put in a good word. Anything else I should know?”

Rasskator pointed a claw at the time stamp at the bottom of the last video. “You might have missed something with the last recording. Hard to see tiny Earth numbers in a hologram.” Her proboscis twisted back and forth in amusement, knowing Patel knew Preyosians had much better eyesight than humans. “Let me play the images forward for you again. Watch the clock.”

The composite drone footage played again, and Patel’s eyebrows raised as he realized what he was seeing. “The image is forward but the time stamp is running backward? How did I not notice that?”

“You have billions of projects on your mind. Impossible for you to notice everything. That’s why you are always happy to get a second opinion. In any case, whatever that object is, it is surrounded by a reverse time field. If that hits a populated area, there are going to be many beings in a lot of trouble. You saw what happened to that island in your Bermuda area. You were lucky it wasn’t a lot worse.”

“Well, let’s hope it passes safely through the Proxibee system and keeps going,” said Patel. “Otherwise, it won’t just affect one world, it’ll wipe out the entire flash ship project.”

Introduction

It is the year 2133, just one hundred years after Alien Shift. Humanity can now perceive the trillions of alien races that live in the galaxy, having finally increased their frequency speed to Zero. Now a member of the Interdimensional Coalition, humanity works with alien races from all over the universe on Flash ships, exploring realities on higher level frequencies, and instigating First Contact with new alien races. The Stellar Flash Frequency Ship is the newest addition to the universal mission.


Available in Digital and in Print Formats from Amazon

Alien Dimensions Science Fiction Anthology Series Issue #16 Now Available in Digital and in Print

Alien Dimensions Science Fiction Anthology Series Issue #16 Now Available in Digital and in Print

Order Online:

Digital Version

Print Version

In this issue:

Blink by Gustavo Bondoni

The Clever Nature of Wool by Robert N Stephenson

Innocuous But Lethal by Mike Adamson

Moon Mine by Neil A. Hogan

Starbuck Billy Robert M. Walton

G.L.O.R.I.A. by K.L. Hallam

The Light of Thought by Jeffrey Freedman

 

The issue now has a 5 star review on Amazon for the stories, and I’ve received lots of great feedback on the cover, too!

 

Alien Dimensions Science Fiction, Fantasy and Metaphysical Short Stories Anthology Series Issue 12

In other news, Issue 12 of Alien Dimensions is about to be retired, so if you haven’t got a copy yet, you can find out more here:

Available in:

Digital Format

Print Format

Antlions by Elana Gomel
The Exchange by Neil A. Hogan
Hues of Living Green by Russell Hemmell
Home is Where Your Hearts Are by Danielle Davis
Touch by Nicky Martin
Old World Problems by Eddie D. Moore
Found on Proxima B by Priya Sridhar

The Andromeda Effect. Stellar Flash Book Two by Neil A. Hogan – Now Available in Digital and Print

The Andromeda Effect. Stellar Flash Book Two by Neil A. Hogan

Now Available in Digital and Print

Sent back 2.5 million years in time to the Andromeda Galaxy to investigate why there’s a record of them having been there, the Stellar Flash crew encounter a creature so powerful that it has taken control of the entire galaxy by thought alone.

With most of the crew unconscious, Captain Jonathan Hogart is in a race against time to defeat the plant-planet, save the galaxy, and find a way to return to 2133.

But another force is attempting to take control, to use the power of the creature from the past to take over the Milky Way Galaxy in the present. And, for this, Hogart has no defense.

How is the creature controlling an entire galaxy?

Who has the technology to transmit the creature’s power from the past to the present?

And will the Stellar Flash crew and the Space Station team be able to save both galaxies?

Available now at –

  

Amazon Digital  Amazon Print

Barnes and Noble Digital

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The Andromeda Effect: Stellar Flash Book Two Coming in August

The Andromeda Effect: Stellar Flash Book Two Coming in August

I can now happily confirm that I finished writing The Andromeda Effect. Last night was spent on formatting the ebook for Kindle and adding bookmarks to the 77 chapter links.

I also spent some time making sure there weren’t too many returns in the text, everything was left aligned, chapter headings were numerical and in the right place, and other tidy ups. The boring parts of finishing a story!

I probably wrote about 150,000 words which was then edited down to 78,000. A number of tangents were created that I might develop as short stories for the site later. Or include them in the next book.

I included as many science references as I could. It took me awhile to work out that all the math describing the 2018 size of the Andromeda Galaxy actually ends up being just 100 quadrillion kilometers wide. I thought it would be much larger. Correct me if I’m wrong. I might be out by an illion or two.

The Andromeda Effect is quite complicated. I sat here for an hour trying to summarize the multiple storylines into an attractive bitesized chunk and have kind of given up. Here’s my attempt:


Sent back 2.5 million years in time to the Andromeda Galaxy to investigate why there’s a record of them having been there, the Stellar Flash crew encounter a creature so powerful that it has taken control of the entire galaxy by thought alone.

With most of the crew unconscious, Captain Jonathan Hogart is in a race against time to defeat the plant-planet, save the galaxy, and find a way to return to 2133.

But another force is attempting to take control, to use the power of the creature from the past to take over the Milky Way Galaxy in the present. And, for this, Hogart has no defense.

How is the creature controlling an entire galaxy?

Who has the technology to transmit the creature’s power from the past to the present?

And will the Stellar Flash crew and the Space Station team be able to save both galaxies?

Find out more in The Andromeda Effect: Stellar Flash Book Two. Due out in August 2018

Approximately 78,000 words / 370 paperback pages


As a thank you for checking out my blog, I’m going to post chapters on a daily basis until the release date. I’ll add the Amazon link when it becomes available.

I’ll post them as separate posts so that I can easily link to them later. I hope you enjoy them.

Many thanks for reading.

Neil A. Hogan