Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    1
    1
    1
    Ebook189 pages2 hours

    1

    By Eero Tarik

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    A collection of the author's first ten sci fi short stories - challenging, humorous, visionary and thought provoking. This is science fiction short story telling at its best. From future worlds, to future humans, from the darkness of space to the darkness of human behaviour. Explanations of how time travel works, explanations of how multiverses work - this edition brings you science, and fantasy.

    ---------------------------------------
    About the author - Eero Tarik has published 400 works under a variety of pen names.

    Reviews of some of his other works include...
    *****OMG! That was the very best laugh ever! I laughed until the tears fell!
    *****This book is a classic Sci-fi tale of sex, loneliness and the human condition that will keep you turning pages - Highly recommended!!!
    *****This is a very clever sci-fi short story. It takes a bored and tired bachelor and puts him in an extremely strange and comedic position and we get to watch him struggle to get out of it.
    *****I love the way you published this book with Cyclone Sandy hitting the USA today. If human kind doesn't stop, then Mother Nature will stop it for you. Good work and was interesting reading especially today with all the events taking place.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherEero Tarik
    Release dateSep 25, 2013
    ISBN9781301030156
    1
    Author

    Eero Tarik

    A few years ago I started to write and publish short stories using a variety of pen names. In 2011, I wrote and published over a million words. I write using over a dozen pen names and have published over 700 titles that represent over 1,500 short stories, novellas and plays. My works cover 8 of the 10 categories of the Dewey Decimal system. If you had a list of the most prolific short story writers in all of human history I would easily fit in the top ten - and that is only from the last five years of my output as a writer. Recently I turned my hand to writing science fiction. I love imagining what might be in the future, but it may not always be rosy so you tend not to see the hero saving the world on the last page on my stories. For those looking for sci fi short movie ideas, why don't you try some of my ebooks? There are plenty of new and innovative concepts to discover. Speaking of discoverying... I recently discovered that I am genetically a Saami. I suspect part of that identity, and the thousands of years of isolation from humankind in my genes, also comes out in some of my stories. I write quickly, to tell a simple and entertaining story. I imagine we are sitting around the camp-fire in an era long gone. The story should be sharp and to the point so that it is memorable. I don't believe in filling 300 pages with mindless waffle. I don't plan my stories - I put my fingers on the keyboard and let them tell the story - the ending often unfolds from my fingertips without even thinking what it might be. My favourite sci-fi short stories of the ones I have published so far? I really enjoyed writing 2094, it had been forming in my mind for many years. In 2012, the cover of 2094 was sent to the edge of space on a hot air balloon and then returned - that was a great thrill. The Multiverse Traveler is another favourite and I am tempted to continue on with it into other stories. May I recommend, Androgyne, a recent addition to my bookshelf and a story I thoroughly enjoyed telling, and Avatar Gods which just felt amazing to write. I love the emotion it generates. It really adds to the atmosphere if you listen to the songs mentioned in the story. I also have experimented with putting music to my works, my series Fembot Wars has an album of music set to the theme of the ebook series. I have published the songs under the name of an avatar I created, a musical pen name. I recently began to write short plays for the ten minute play market, I hope you enjoy them. They are usually funny and to the point! Finally, I enjoy listening to music as I write, it provides the stimulation for moods. Here is my writing playlist on Youtube, for those interested... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3ir9HC9vYg&list=PLJhp5_YdP2W5elxXaHTxZVoUxDNmW_W89 For more information and to contact me, go to my website which is listed below.

    Read more from Eero Tarik

    Related to 1

    Related ebooks

    Science Fiction For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Chris Packham Versus The World

      Jul 27, 2023

      Chris Packham Versus The World
      6 min read

    • Article

      The Astrophysicists Who Faked It: The inside story of the gravitational wave signal injection.

      Nov 3, 2016

      At 2:40 a.m., my phone woke me up. At least one of us was always on shift, and that night in September of 2010, I had volunteered to respond to automated text messages from our alert system. As a graduate student at the time, I (Jonah) had helped bui

      13 min read

    • Article

      Where Is Everybody?

      Mar 21, 2024

      Where Is Everybody?
      8 min read

    • Article

      Why You Didn’t See It Coming

      Feb 2, 2017

      You don’t see it coming. You probably couldn’t if you tried. The effects of large changes in scale are frequently beyond our powers of perception, even our imagination. They seem to emerge out of nowhere: the cumulative effects of climate change, the

      7 min read

    • Article

      Five Veteran Scientists Tell Us What Most Surprised Them: Fifty years ago, who knew we’d learn to clone genes and find water on Mars?

      Sep 24, 2015

      Turn back the clock to 1965. Science appeared to be marching forward at an unrelenting pace. Biochemists had cracked the genetic code (how DNA translates into proteins), inspiring Life magazine to envision “superbabies with improved minds and bodies.

      7 min read

    • Article

      The Alien-Haunted World

      Feb 15, 2021

      The Alien-Haunted World
      6 min read

    • Article

      Kim Stanley Robinson Holds Out Hope

      Oct 7, 2020

      There’s something about stories. We cherish them. Teach them. Pass them down to the next generation. Stories create a sacred space that humans have always respected. And science fiction takes us one step further. It gives us the space to imagine what

      8 min read

    • Article

      The Sixth Extinction

      Jan 23, 2018

      The Sixth Extinction
      5 min read

    • Article

      Let’s Be Rational

      Oct 3, 2021

      Let’s Be Rational
      8 min read

    • Article

      The Moon Is Full of Money

      Sep 7, 2017

      I was slung in my favorite deck chair, drink in hand, having a gawk at the night sky. Andromeda, Pisces ... I trawled the constellations, mind abandoned, still aware in some curve at the back of my brain that the world is coming apart at the seams an

      14 min read

    • Article

      The Moon Is Full of Money

      Jul 18, 2019

      I was slung in my favorite deck chair, drink in hand, having a gawk at the night sky. Andromeda, Pisces ... I trawled the constellations, mind abandoned, still aware in some curve at the back of my brain that the world is coming apart at the seams an

      14 min read

    • Article

      Science

      Nov 2, 2023

      Science
      4 min read

    • Article

      If We Believe in Dark Matter, Why Not Extraterrestrial Life?

      Dec 12, 2019

      Avi Loeb doesn’t need to be a muckraker. As the head of the astronomy department at Harvard University, he sits in one of the most comfortable positions in academia. Nevertheless, he has repeatedly placed himself at the center of scientific controver

      15 min read

    • Article

      Tech

      Feb 6, 2023

      When I was five years old, I watched the Challenger shuttle explode. I remember running from the TV in the living room to the kitchen to tell my mum. It was astonishing. The first civilian supported by NASA, the world’s largest and most well-funded s

      3 min read

    • Article

      First contact

      Oct 12, 2022

      First contact
      7 min read

    • Article

      Extraterrestrial

      Dec 1, 2019

      Extraterrestrial
      7 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for 1

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      1 - Eero Tarik

      1

      Smashwords Edition

      * * * * *

      Published by Eero Tarik

      at Smashwords

      1

      Copyright 2013 by Eero Tarik

      This ebook MAY NOT be distributed through any file sharing mechanism. Any copy of this ebook obtained in such a manner is an illegal copy.

      All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

      Smashwords Edition License Notes

      Image licensed by Depositphotos.com/ kevron2002

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to an online retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author's work.

      CONTENTS

      INTRODUCTION

      THE LAST HUMAN

      FIRST STARMAN

      THE GUARDIANS

      FIRST HUMAN EMPIRE

      THE COMPUTER

      THE MULTIVERSE TRAVELER

      VISITOR FROM REALITY

      FINAL SOLUTION

      THE PROPHET OF NEW YORK

      MACHINE GOD

      1

      INTRODUCTION

      Hello, my name is Eero Tarik and for the past few years I have been writing and publishing ebooks. With something like 3 million words published over the last three years I have become one of the more prolific writers in the world.

      I write under many different pen names, as it frees me up to write as I please, on any subject matter.Under my own name, I have been publishing science fiction works, usually short stories.

      To give you a taste of my style, and my ideas, I have put together this collection of the first ten of my sci-fi short stories. I hope you enjoy them. I have named the volume, 1, as it is my first sci fi collection.

      --------------------------

      THE LAST HUMAN

      WHAT’S WRONG?

      They thought they were clever, as scientists are wont to do. Their smashing of particles in the collider was a tremendous scientific achievement; they hailed themselves as great achievers, they had found the elusive particle they had been hunting for.

      Except they didn't notice one minute little detail - they had created an undesirable object as a result of one of their tests. It was a little mistake with the ultimate consequence, and the price would be paid by all of humankind! Nobody knew about it at first. There was no obvious sign of their error, but that didn’t matter as they couldn’t have done anything about it had they been aware of their mistake from the beginning.

      It was only when the number of earthquakes around the world started to increase beyond the statistical norm that some scientists started to ask questions.

      Some wondered why there should be an increase in earthquakes. What was upsetting the balance of the crust? Was it just a freak of bad luck that so many earthquakes were happening around the same time, or was it something else that was at work here? When Tokyo disappeared into dust, and then was washed away minutes later by a massive tsunami after the world’s largest earthquake, some looked for answers. When Iceland experienced, weeks later, a massive volcanic eruption, the greatest in human history, all heads turned. When the Alps shook so violently soon after that Italy was devastated, the world knew there was something wrong. What was happening was too extreme and beyond statistical chance.

      Scientists around the globe urgently looked at the data, governments demanded answers, and the public were mortified that so many major earthquakes could occur in such a small timeframe.

      The planet continued to shake, the scientific community continued to look for answers.

      The more imaginative in society knew the end was nigh and declared it was the work of God, some decided it was the return of some mythical secret planet, some considered it was the end as predicted by Nostradamus. All around the world, groups of people were saying the end of the world was approaching – and they were mocked by the average person in the street.

      Then some urgent scientific research discovered a very unfortunate truth.

      The problems in the earth’s crust were being caused by a disturbance below Switzerland. The world’s scientists focused their attention on Switzerland to ascertain what could be causing this disturbance.

      Further investigation revealed that the disturbance was directly below the particle collider in Switzerland. This caused many to become nervous, the coincidence was too great. The world’s media grabbed the story and started pointing fingers at the scientific community.

      The world wanted answers but they were not forthcoming, not just yet.

      It took another two weeks of frantic tests to finally ascertain what the problem was, and the scientists could not believe it when they found out the results. The results were checked, and then double checked by all who wanted to look at the data, and then the scientists triple checked them. The scientists could not keep their findings from humankind; there was no time for secrecy, it was not possible to keep such a horrible truth secret. In front of an audience eager for information, eager for the truth, a small group of scientists, without the permission or knowledge of their governments, made the final major announcement in human history.

      The leading scientist, Ralph Pennington, stood before the media. He looked very uncomfortable.

      Ladies and gentlemen, he began, I have some information for you and there is no point in wasting any more time.

      We have analysed all the data at our disposal and our group of scientists has reached a unanimous conclusion.

      Below Switzerland there is a disturbance in the earth’s crust. That disturbance is a black hole.

      The media were stunned and immediately started a barrage of questions.

      Pennington held up his hand.

      We now believe that at some time in the past 12 months, during our normal research at the collider, an unobservable small black hole was created. It was so small it escaped detection, but it was quickly so heavy that it fell into the earth and settled in our crust. It has been growing slowly ever since and as it has grown it has begun to disturb our crust, hence the earthquakes lately.

      We have monitored its size the least few weeks and have no doubt it is still growing. We also have no doubt there is nothing that we, humankind, can do to stop it growing.

      We expect that it will continue to grow and life on the surface will become progressively more difficult. We believe in six months life on the surface of the Earth will be impossible. We believe in a seven months the planet Earth will be consumed by the black hole.

      We apologize unreservedly, but there is nothing we can do to change the inevitable. The Earth and all life on it is going to be consumed by the black hole, this year.

      At first the journalists were stunned, speechless.

      Then the cacophony of questions sprang forth but it was pointless and they soon settled.

      How long do we have, really?

      We believe that those living in Europe will find life impossible in a few months. In the USA, maybe you have five months. Perhaps in Australia you have six months.

      Then it will be over, no more humans on the planet.

      All around the world, the press conference was being picked up by the media and shown live.

      Humans could not believe it, how could life be over in six months’ time.

      THE DECAY

      For a few days there was no reaction, other than outrage, but after many experts came forward to confirm the findings, human society begun to fall apart - as it would.

      Why pay your bills, why go to work, if you had only a few months left?

      Why would a bank collect the mortgage payments if it wouldn't exist in a few months?

      And then families started to fall apart.

      Why would men and women remain together if they were soon to be dead? Many went their separate ways, some stayed together for comfort.

      The rape and murder started after a week, and the governments sent out their armies with no hesitation to shoot those involved in violent behaviour. After all, there would be no tribunals to face, no courts, so justice was swift and final for those who took the path of criminality. But then it became worse.

      Countries started to war. Countries exposed to high earthquake damage sought the land of neighbours that were more stable. As dams broke and lands flooded, nations fought wars for water resources, they fought the last ever battles.

      With no consequences for their actions, the crazed leader of Iran dropped his secret cache of atomic weapons on Israel, wiping out the small Jewish nation.

      Of course, Israel also managed to send off its retaliation in time, so that most inhabitants of Israel and Iran died on the same day in a nuclear war and didn't see the end of humankind. They were wiped out in hours and were spared a harsher end.

      A similar ending occurred in India and Pakistan with both nations unleashing their large nuclear arsenals on their neighbours.

      Whilst human society was falling apart at the seams, a small group of government officials tried to do the right thing by humanity and attempted to put together a small group of astronauts to blast off into space and survive. The fact that they would only have enough food and water for a six month journey to Mars was a problem, but they decided it was worth the chance. They didn’t also seem to consider that if the black hole swallowed the Earth, it might also swallow Mars one day soon.

      The hastily planned mission ended in disaster as the spaceship fell over on the launch pad when a massive earthquake hit.

      A week later the Chinese launched a single man into orbit, his task was to record the final moments of the Earth from a safe distance and then he would propel his nuclear powered craft towards Alpha Centauri.

      Of course, he would never make it there, but his job was to stay alive as long as possible and ensure humankind's history was being recorded and sent in all directions for safe keeping.

      The Chinese sent many craft into orbit to support their astronaut, his name was Fang Yang. He was going to be the last human alive.

      They sent a large nuclear engine to power his craft; he would be hurtling through space faster than any human in history. They also sent him ten years’ worth of food, just in case he made it. They didn’t have to worry about safety. This was all about grunt, with a massive nuclear engine sending his craft speeding through space at half the speed of light.

      There were more attempts by other nations to send people into space, some succeeded, but all they achieved was to see the final moments of the planet. Then they sat in space waiting to die.

      Time slipped by quickly and society became a complete mess when there were still two months left. Billions were starving, billions more had already been killed in wars or in their homes by marauding gangs.

      Humankind’s last moments were not very flattering; maybe it was best for it to die out.

      Of course, there were those who sought religion and prayed for salvation. They didn’t get any special favours, they died like everyone else.

      Suicide became the most favoured form of death; people took their own lives to avoid being murdered or raped or both. Bodies lay rotting everywhere, animals ate the bodies.

      By the time the black hole lay claim to the humankind, there were very few humans alive to be claimed.

      As the Earth was finally being ripped apart, a few humans sat aloft in space watching.

      On Space One, the six Americans watched on, and then they raped and murdered each other. One of them ate the others to try to stay alive longer, but it was futile.

      As the last person on Space One died, the last human, Fang Yang, fired his mighty nuclear engines and sat back - the throbbing of the craft increased as it moved towards its destination.

      With the red flag of China painted on the side of the spacecraft, the white ship moved off on its ten year journey, a journey that would be made at more than forty percent of the speed of light, and would be carrying a cargo of a single Chinese man, the last man from Earth, and the last human.

      It was the last burst of energy from the now dead species, a species which had managed to destroy itself in a very short period of time – thanks to its endless curiosity.

      FINALE

      For many years the loyal trooper, Fang Yang, attended to his tasks to keep himself busy.

      Many of the niceties of life had been dispensed with; this was a mission with only one objective, to get Fang Yang to the nearest star system. He didn't have to exercise to keep his legs and muscles in shape.

      He never expected to walk on a planet again. He carefully monitored his rations; he was always within the amount allocated. Then one day his computer told him it was time to apply the brakes. He turned his craft around and began the slow down to his destination.

      When he was closer to his goal he used the most of the remaining nuclear fuel in an impressive blast of nuclear power.

      One of the purposes of this display had been to let anyone in the solar vicinity know there was something alien in the neighbourhood. He was now the alien, the alien arriving at a new world, he wondered if anyone was looking.

      He looked on in fascination at this unique setting, his craft slid past the gas giants in the new solar system, and then he aimed his massive craft towards the one Earth like planet.

      Ten years after leaving Earth he had arrived, only to find that his destination did not carry a space faring society. As he scanned the planet he was dismayed to find only basic societies of sentient creatures on the beautiful green world below.

      Fang performed all the tasks asked of him and then he was alone, without work to achieve anymore. He now felt very much alone.

      He was resigned to dying quietly and alone above a beautiful green planet that had not yet generated the space faring society that he so desperately needed to be saved by.

      As Fang fell in and out of consciousness in his last months, a sentient society on a planet circling the twin star of Alpha Centauri sent

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1