The New Spartans Archives

March 9, 2007

Ted: Prelude

"Report, mister."

"I was trying to trace that seam of uranium ore when I heard something behind me. I didn't get a good look because it was running right at me. Fast too, at least 40 kph."

Stevens looked at the rating, trying not to show disbelief. This planet had showed no signs of any large animal life.

"Go ahead, son. Tell me the rest."

"Then somebody... ... just frigging appeared, with a spear, and ran the damn thing through."

"One of our people? With a spear?"

"No. Sir. It wasn't one of us at all. It looked like a girl."

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March 13, 2007

Ted: Prelude: Part II

Silea watched the man from her perch. He seemed slow, clumsy, and inept. He hadn't looked up once. Maybe his mask made it hard to breathe.

Of course, he didn't see the rutting snarl stalking him.

Killing the snarl was one of the standing orders for watchmen, but news of the stranger was important to the People also. So when the creature attacked, Silea dropped from her tree to meet it.

She let the beast impale itself on her spear, stole the stranger's mask, and eeled into the undergrowth. Back up the branches, she raced for her post to report.

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March 19, 2007

Stacy: Contact

Dotus spun out the nightly tale, firelight reflecting oddly on his painted face. They all knew the stories, had heard them since womb-time, but he was a born logios and held them enraptured.

Nidas shifted uncomfortably as Dotus drew the tale to a close, conscious of the furtive glances sent his way. He couldn’t help it if he were named for the Great One. The looks made him think they expected the same from him, a thought that brought no little terror. He was rescued from his discomfort by little Silea, breathless and tugging at his sleeve.

“Nidas, they’ve come…”

Sequel to Ted's New Spartans tale.

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March 27, 2007

Ted: The End of the Beginning

Nidas took Silea by the arm, roughly. Although she should have been having babies by now, he had allowed her to keep up her duty well past the customary age. Her extreme talent with the spear had saved many lives, so she was afforded certain indulgences by Nidas and his council. That did not give her leave to forget her manners, however.

"Who is here, Silea?" He couldn't help notice her matted hair or her chest, shiny with perspiration. She had to have come far and fast for her to be sweating so.

"The Sky-men, Nidas! The Sky-men have come!"

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April 9, 2007

Ted: Justice and Survival

Silea repeated herself. Nidas just looked at her. So she held out her hand, holding up the Sky-man's mask. "It's true, Leonidas. They finally came. It's our time now. Herotodus' stories are coming true."

Nidas took the mask. "He gave this to you?"

"No," Silea said; her eyes dropping, shame in her stooped shoulders. "I took it after I killed an attacking snarl ."

"You stole, Penthesilea. You know our law. It isn't for us to steal. It is for us to help. You must be punished. You are off patrol duty. You must offer up your genes. Pick a husband."

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September 17, 2007

Ted: Early Days

When Stefan Galikinoucous sent his vessel out to the black, he sent one hundred thousand people, livestock appropriate for an ark, and dogs. The dogs had been gene altered and tested to make sure they bred true for over a hundred years. The varied parentage made for a multiply intelligent and devoted dog with senses more keen than any ever seen in the wild.

The population of Sparta used them for everything from hunting, draft animals, bed warmers, even combed out the fine undercoat fur to weave into clothes. They and the humans were the only ones to survive Landfall.

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September 19, 2007

Ted: Early Days, pt 2

The first of the snarl came a month after Landfall. The Argo had already been gutted down to the beams, so there was no turning back. The higher than expected gravity and heat had already killed over half the colonists and livestock.

Galikinoucous ordered the survivors to split up into hands, each hand to send its fingers out into the countryside, to keep moving until the snarl migration was over. One finger was to be always on guard, protecting the rest of the hand, guarding the flanks, armed with the few rifles they had left.

Then came the rainy season.

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September 28, 2007

Ted: Full Grown

The Athena Project, the last, best hope for the North American Union, was the brainchild of Stephan Galikinoucous, commonly known in the press as Professor Zeus, even though he had never actually taught at the collegiate level.

His device was radical, yet it was as easy to use as all his other inventions. Once the Olympian Waste Liberators (OWLs) were in place, energy was practically free.

When the Shield came on line, Athena was complete.

"How did I think this up? It just popped into my head full grown and demanded to be let out," he told the assembled reporters.

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October 9, 2007

Ted: Early Days, pt 3

The floods took everything. The heavy heat and the snarl took the weakest and slowest. Within a year, the population was down to thirty thousand. Thirty thousand hard survivors.

Their children learned history and language, mathematics and geometry: everything that could be salvaged of Earth knowledge went into this new oral tradition.

But they had to stay hard.

By gen three, the younglings proved themselves ready to marry by walking to all ten hands, alone and naked.

The seven hundred mile circuit claimed less than half of the walkers. The elders tried to not let anyone younger than fourteen try.

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October 11, 2007

Ted: Choices

"Fine, Nidas. I choose him!"

"Him" was the man in command of the agcar that she had noticed coming over the trees. She could tell he was the commander because of his bearing: the solid stance of someone used to adversity but knew his own measure. Like a man used to being in charge.

The rest of the hand turned to look where she was pointing. Most stood mute, but made weapons ready. Some of the younglings murmured among themselves, a break in discipline that Nidas would deal with later, not in front of the strangers. The Sky-Men of prophecy.

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