I stopped working on "My Soul to Keep" when I realized I wasn't making any progress on it. I was just rewriting the same opening scenes over and over again. Since I like having two side projects along with the novel, I dug up a different project to work on. That led me to dig up this story that I hadn't worked on since 2009, titled "A Voice in the Darkness".
Before I tell you about this story, I have to tell you about another one, titled "With Eyes Open...", actually the first story I had accepted for publication (in an emag that went under not long after the story was published).
Ever be alone in a room but you see movement out of the corner of your eye? You look and don't see anything, so you decide that it's just your mind playing tricks on you. Suppose there really was something there but for some reason you can't see it directly. I speculated about a race of beings who are out of phase with the reality we know, making them invisible and undetectable. They arrived here on Earth from "somewhere else" and needed a physical anchor to remain here. When they arrived in the year 5 AD, they picked a Hindu man to be their anchor. One thousand years after that, they selected a woman named Robyn to be their anchor. In 2005, they selected a woman named Mira Frayne to be their anchor. Mira wants nothing to do with them. The creatures, named Adityas by the Hindu, will not be denied...
That's the basics of "With Eyes Open..." Which brings us to "A Voice in the Darkness".
I hadn't meant for "A Voice in the Darkness" to be a sequel to "With Eyes Open..." It had started with the main character being sent into an orbital station on which an experiment had run out of control. She had to stop the experiment and retrieve the research, which was conducted by her ex-husband. As I got into it, that basic story line stayed in place but before I knew it, my subconscious inserted Mira into the story. I figured out why they were there and moved on with it. Then, one day in 2009, I just stopped working on it. Why, I don't know. Now I aim to finish it.
I start "A Voice in the Darkness" with a quote from the Book of Job: "Behold, I go forward but he is not there; and backward but I cannot perceive him; on the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him; he hideth on the right hand, that I cannot see him."
The good thing about going back to stalled projects is a head start on the word count. After making a quick rewriting pass through "A Voice in the Darkness", it stands at 6,399 words.
The three main characters of the story are:
Mandalay Jones
Name: Mandalay Jones
Race: Human
Age: 46
Date of Birth: 10 June 2153
Place of Birth: Basingstoke, Hampshire, England
Citizenship: Mandalay is a citizen of Earth
Legal Status: No criminal record
Relatives: Matthew Carter (ex-husband), Mandala Jones (younger sister), Harrison Cox (brother-in-law), unnamed parents
Height: 5’8” (172.72 cm)
Weight: 136 lb (61.69 kg)
Eye Color: Brown
Hair Color: Brown
Religion: Agnostic
Intelligence: Above average
Strength: Normal
Speed: Normal
Stamina: Normal
Durability: Normal
Agility: Normal
Reflexes: Normal
Profession/Rank (Current): Unemployed
Profession/Rank (Former): Research assistant, pilot
Current Alias: N/A
Former Alias: N/A
Personal Weaponry: Various, as needed
Usual Base of Operations: Mobile
Friends/Allies/Confidants: Mira Frayne
Enemies:
Skills: Mandalay is an excellent researcher, who is very much aware of everything going on around her. She is a keen observer who is very rarely shaken by what goes on around her.
Special Abilities: N/A
Source of Special Abilities: N/A
Interests/Hobbies:
Mira Frayne
Name: Mira Frayne
Race: Human
Age: 236
Date of Birth: 20 March 1963
Place of Birth: Baltimore, Maryland, United States
Citizenship: Mira is a citizen of Earth
Legal Status: No criminal record
Relatives: Unnamed parents (deceased)
Height: 5’6” (167.64 cm)
Weight: 130 lb (58.97 kg)
Eye Color: Hazel
Hair Color: Brown
Religion: Agnostic
Intelligence: Above average
Strength: Normal
Speed: Normal
Stamina: Normal
Durability: Normal
Agility: Normal
Reflexes: Normal
Profession/Rank (Current): Physical anchor and ambassador for Aditya race
Profession/Rank (Former): Empathic therapist, counselor
Current Alias: N/A
Former Alias: N/A
Personal Weaponry: None
Usual Base of Operations: Mobile
Friends/Allies/Confidants: Matthew Carter, Mandalay Jones
Enemies:
Skills: Prior to joining the Adityas, Mira was a proficient counselor and therapist, using her empathic skills to help people overcome mental and emotional problems. Since joining the Adityas, she has become a driven advocate for the insubstantial race, ensuring their secrecy is maintained.
Special Abilities: Mira was born with a strong empathic sense, allowing her to easily sense the thoughts and emotional condition of her clients.
Source of Special Abilities: Unknown
Interests/Hobbies:
.
Matthew Carter
Name: Matthew Carter
Race: Human
Age: 52
Date of Birth: 27 September 2147
Place of Birth: Carson City, Nevada
Citizenship: Matthew is a citizen of Earth
Legal Status: No criminal record
Relatives: Mandalay Jones (ex-wife), unnamed parents
Height: 6’3” (190.5 cm)
Weight: 160 lbs (72.57 kg)
Eye Color: Blue
Hair Color: Blonde (thinning)
Religion: Atheist
Intelligence: Genius
Strength: Normal
Speed: Normal
Stamina: Normal
Durability: Normal
Agility: Normal
Reflexes: Normal
Profession/Rank (Current): Senior Research Fellow, MilSci, a division of EarthGov
Profession/Rank (Former): None
Current Alias: N/A
Former Alias: N/A
Personal Weaponry: N/A
Usual Base of Operations: Bowen Research Station, Earth
Friends/Allies/Confidants: Mandalay Jones
Enemies:
Skills: Matthew is a highly skilled physicist, able to run the most complicated calculations in his mind. He also has an active imagination, allowing him to take leaps and make connections others might miss. He sometimes appears to be the stereotypical absent-minded professor, and sometimes appears to obsess on the most trivial of details. These are really just defense mechanisms to protect his formidable intellect. Matthew holds a PhD in high energy particle physics, earned at the University of Manchester.
Special Abilities: N/A
Source of Special Abilities: N/A
Interests/Hobbies:
.
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