The first draft (sort of) of my work-in-progress, Starlines I: Beyond the Sky. If you like reading amateur work, go right ahead:
Sann stared incredulously at the man standing in front of him. "Vacate? Now? You do realize what you're requesting will wreak havok with our tests, don't you?"
The tall, suit-clad man lifted his hands apologetically. "I'm sorry, Mr. Thares, but the most recent government mandate--er, excuse me, one of the most recent government mandates--includes a new and quite strict laboratory building code, and, to put it bluntly, your archaic establishment is rather lacking in several vital areas, and since Sterwill industries will have a new facility up and running within a few weeks, we recommended to your superior that the company proceed ahead of schedule to avoid any legal issues."
Sann stood up, turning to face the large window behind his desk, grumbling to himself. "The United Global States, a worldwide country of advancement," he said sarcastically. "If they would stop putting out so many mandates and start getting some actual work done, I might actually believe it." He turned to face the man once more, placing his hands on the back of his chair. "This is unacceptable. We have several major tests being performed, tests that could revolutionize cybernetics, and moving to the new facility is impossible without scrapping them. Your humanitarian government wouldn't want to stand in the way of life-saving technological advancement, would it?"
"All mandates are final and immediate. You have one week." With that, the man turned, scooping up his briefcase near the door on his way out. Before leaving, he turned to add, "I wouldn't push your luck. Our government may be 'humanitarian', but they don't abide untimely obedience any more than they abide lawlessness."
Sann slumped down into his chair, gazing glumly out the window at the sprawling city of [city name here]. During his better moods, he still found himself amazed that the smooth, towering skyscrapers and endless urban areas had once been a gigantic graveyard of collapsed buildings and poisoned air. The only evidence of the devastation of World War III was the Radiation Restoration Center, a large yet low-lying complex slightly removed from the city, easily identified by its huge air-intake vents, the only part of the building that was more than 3 stories tall.
And yet, despite the marvel before him, all he could think about was 6-month tests becoming obsolete; how much he hated the worldwide government; how much he wished he had been born 50 years earlier, and had never become Mr. Sterwill's EXO.
The beeping of his office's communicator brought him back to his office once more. He reached over and pressed a button on his desk. "Yes, Jesi, what is it?" he asked wearily.
The voice of his secretary replied, "Sorry to disturb you, sir, but a package just arrived for you."
"A package? From who?"
"The name on the return address is 'John Emmerson'. Friend of yours?"
Sann frowned. "No, I've never heard of him. But go ahead and send it up."
"Right away, sir."
He stood up and walked over to the mail distributor on one wall of the room. After a few moments, the indicator light began flashing. He pulled open the mail bin, revealing a rather small cardboard box with a letter taped to the top. He lifted the package out, and was surprised to find it was very light. He brought it to his desk, and began fumbling through drawers. Finally withdrawing a letter opener, he cut open the letter.
He withdrew a piece of paper, as well as several pictures. He leaned back, and began to read the letter.
Mr. Sann Thares:
Since writing in a professional way isn't exactly my strong point, I'll skip the pleasantries for now. My name is John Emmerson, and I'm an inventor. My brother, Kyse, and I (first picture) have been developing advanced technologies for quite awhile now, and are finally moving out of the theory stage and into testing. But, being short on money at the moment, we're in need of a sponsor to help pay for our prototypes, and maybe even share information to get these advancements off the ground (literally speaking, in some cases). The reason we haven't given our information over to the government is because, frankly, we don't believe they'll do nearly as much with it as an independant company would.
Now...having said all that, I'd like to explain what we've got so far. First off, we've been coming up with a more efficient spacecraft engine. (On paper, the engines increase maximum speed by around 500% over conventional engines. We included a basic sketch of the engine's components, but, for safety reasons, we left out the more specific things. The sketch should give you a basic idea of how it works, however.)
Secondly, we're working on smelting together an energy-conductive, super-strong metal by fusing a variety of metals. Again, we can't say anything specific, but we've managed to create a sheet of it, about the size of a piece of paper. We took it down to a military base and tested it against a variety of weapons, including assault rifles, thermal weapons (pistols and rifles), sniper rifles, armor-piercing rounds, explosive rounds, and even fired at it with a tank. As you can see in the third picture, the dent was amazingly small. In addition, with the help of your scientists, we think we can apply the shielding techniques used for military buildings could be applied to this material, by running a current of energy through the metal to make it anti-magnetic.
The third thing we've come up with, and the one we're most excited about, is the corridor generator. It may sound strange, but this device is actually capable of creating a wormhole tunnel in a straight line -- the more energy used, the longer the distance. This is all theoretical, and we're still trying to figure out how to make it practical energy-wise, but if we figure this out, it could very well be the key to interstellar travel. With biosphere technology improving rapidly, we could even colonize other solar systems.
Please give us a call if you find this worthy of your attention. Our communication line is 28-7359-20315.
I hope you find this worth your while. Sterwill Industries is the fourth company we've offered to partner with, and I can't think of many others who'd be able to help us.
Sincerely,
J. Emmerson
Sann sat, staring at the ceiling, lost in thought. After a moment, he slid his chair forward, pressing a series of buttons.
"Hello, who's this?" a voice asked from the speakers.
"Is this John Emmerson?"
"No, this is Kyse. I can get him if you want."
"If that's necessary. I just wanted to let you both know I've decided to present your offer to my CEO. If he agrees, you'll be partnering with Sterwill Industries."
"That's...that's great!" said the voice in disbelief. "We can't thank you enough. Would you like to discuss things with my brother?"
"Certainly."
"I'll go get him," Kyse replied, his voice fairly bursting with excitement.
Sann chuckled. "You do that."
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