Zen Master

Zen Master: the Man and the Legend

   ZM is in his 60s, which means that he's been retired from the US Navy for longer than he served in it.  That, in turn, means it's possible that things have changed from the way us old-timers used to do things.
   ZM served as a Submarine Nuclear Power Mechanic for 11 years.  This does not mean he was actually standing at a reactor control station for 11 years, he spent two years in school before they trusted him with one, and then three years later on as an instructor.  If you run the numbers, he only has 6 years of actual submarine operations.
   After ZM and the boats parted ways -it's always the OTHER guy's fault- he bounced around the Navy for 9 more years before retiring.  He served on troopships, carriers, tankers, and repair ships.  He may not _know_ everything, but he's certainly seen it.
   ZM has worked as an electronics repair technician, construction laborer, general mechanic, HVAC technician, server/LAN tech, PC tech, programmer, writer, draftsman, proofreader/editor, factory repairman, welder, "Mr. Fix-It" handyman, and machinist.  Most of these skills were learned in the US Navy.  These days he putters on his farm and, when the satellite gods let him have internet access, he reads and proofreads for writers on SOL.  And now, in his dotage, he's learning how to herd Wikis.

List of Zen Master Stories with Synopses and Notes

(All published stories are available on SOL. The unpublished drafts are available on the Swarm Author's DropBox account.  The below list is in story-line chronological order.)

The First Command

   Setting: (Year -1 to 0)
   Synopsis: A retired US Navy engineer is asked to help figure out all this alien technology.  This story is set at the very beginning of the Swarm Cycle's timeline.

   Status: Posted to SOL starting 2/18/2015.  Any edits or corrections will be found in the updated version available on Dropbox or upon request on the author's mailing list.

   Canon implications:  This story is an attempt to explain how some of the early technology (Aurora transports, Castle corvettes, cargo shuttles, etc) work and how the Diaspora became organized the way it is.  Some parts of the story don't quite match canon.  This is explained in the story as the Real Truth that must be hidden to prevent humanity from imploding the way the Ladac had; instead some half-truths are contrived and publicized.  This "public version" matches official canon.

Squadron Command

   Setting: (Year 0 to 2)
   Synopsis: A medically-retired Royal Australian Navy officer is seconded to the UN for a special project.  This story overlaps and immediately follows "First Command" and serves as a sequel to answer the rest of the questions about how things work in the Swarm Cycle.

   Status: As of 1/2021, story is mostly complete, undergoing editing and proofing.

   Canon implications: This story continues to explain how some of the early technology works and how the Diaspora became organized the way it is.  Note that the UN conspiracy central to "The First Command" won't be mentioned as the central character doesn't know about it.

CSO

   Setting: (Year 2)
   Synopsis: We are creating a new "Civil Service" separate from the Navy and CMC, composed of people who maintain the colonies, the people, and the culture so that the actual war-fighters can do their job instead of running factories.  Each colony must designate at least one Sponsor to act as the colony's Civil Service Officer.  Naturally, the leadership will not give up someone critical to the war effort.  They will choose that Sponsor who is contributing the least to the war effort.

   Status: This is a collaboration between ANM and ZM.  As of 2025, the story is incomplete and dormant.

   Canon implications: Non expected; this is a humor story.

Independent Command

   Setting: (Year 6 to 7 with flashbacks to earlier years)

   Synopsis: An aggressive (and aggravating) senior officer is 'volunteered' for a suicide mission by his commander.  Wiser heads prevail and his orders are changed to a (merely) dangerous mission: Take a small fleet, basically just a task force, and see if a neutral but valuable system can be defended without continuous massive amounts of support.  He is given a relatively free hand with preparations, as long as he only takes assets that no one else wants.  They end up forced to create a colony simply to get the resources they need to maintain their position.  The story concentrates on ship construction and engineering as well as ship and fleet management.  Sex is, at times, minimal.

   Status: Finally released in 12/2013.  This story was on hold for most of a year while some technology/canon issues were resolved on the author's email list.  Trying to resolve those issues led to writing "The First Command".

   Canon implications: This story is an attempt to work out how the fleet mentioned in other stories might actually be organized and run.  Many incidents and conditions mentioned in other stories are exposed as unusual (ie, not the normal way things are done); that's why they were written up as stories; they are unusual and entertaining.

Turning the Tables

   Setting: On and near Earth (Year 6? 7?)

   Synopsis: We're losing too many people to Earth First interference.  We are running out of time, and we cannot put up with their stupidity any longer.  Naval Intelligence, the Office of Targeted Extrations, and the CMC's Extraction Support Branch put together a joint task force to come up with solutions.  They try various plans, all designed to ensure that anyone who interferes with a pickup never does it again.  Revised priorities?  A good outcome.  Terrified?  That's good enough.  Killed?  Well, they weren't going to volunteer as a sponsor _or_ as a conk, were they?  And they would rather fight fellow humans than Sa'arm, so no loss then.  Some people burn weird chemical candles to drive annoying bugs away from a cookout.  Other people, if the insects are annoying enough, set up bug-zappers....

   Status: Frankly not even started yet, still gathering ideas.  The big thing was encouragement from other authors and authorization from Thinker.  Collected notes are available upon request on the author's mailing list.

   Canon implications:  This would mark a change in pickup tactics from "try to avoid Earth First" to "Invite them in so that we can eliminate them".

Conference in Cockraper

   Setting: On Earth at the Pakistan-India border (Year 14)

   Synopsis: A short story about how Earth's military deals with the invasion.  I chose the people stuck in the middle of the "cold war" between India and Pakistan.

   Status: Posted on SOL.

   Canon implications:  None.

Ending this Mess (Scene)

   Setting: In "The Womb" at Beerat (Year 14).

   Synopsis: A single scene from the unpublished novel.

   Status: Published on SOL.  Actually, it is the complete original work.  I posted it in answer to a question on the author's email list.  I had no intention of adding to it.  On the other hand, it kept growing.  It would climb into my recycle bin late at night when no one was watching it and eat whatever it could find.  Eventually it became the novel of the same name.

   Canon implications: The published scene establishes that by Year 14 at least some of our colonies were secure enough to be sending fleets out to cause trouble for nearby Sa'arm systems.

Ending this Mess (Novel)

   Setting: In "The Womb" at Beerat, at Earth (Year 14).

   Synopsis: A colony/fleet base (the one created in "Independent Command", many characters continue) receives some unexpected news: Earth has been conquered by the Sa'arm.  Granted that the refugees are unreliable at best, but they are backed up with records and data that they _probably_ couldn't have faked with the resources they have.  We'd better go investigate.  We'd better go NOW, and we'd better go armed for bear.
   Earth is not completely conquered in a matter of days; but these guys don't know that.  All they have is this initial panicked report, and they have to respond.  They can't just ignore it.  Even if all they can save are Earth's oceans, they have to go do what they can...

   Status: This is a complete novel.
   As of 8/2018 it is complete and changes closed out but we (me, Thinking Horndog, and the authors' email list) aren't happy with it so it won't get published on ASSTR or SOL.  It's available upon request, though.
   Update 1/2021: Since the whole purpose of the exercise was to publish 'canon' for the invasion years, we need to publish this.  As of early 2021, it is being published on SOL.

   Canon implications: Ending This Mess introduced the Steering Committee ("SC") and the War Council ("WC").

Ship's Morale Officer

   Setting: In deep space (approximately Year 80).

   Synopsis: A short story about how society would change with the new Age of Plenty since the AIs, Replicators, Transporters, and Med-Tubes make anything a human might want easy to obtain.  This would lead to a drastic change in attitude for those raised in such an environment, since Earth life needs opposition to grow strong.  That would lead, in turn, to a backlash when we start producing "Lotus Eaters" instead of the warfighters the AIs need.  SMO is set ~40 years after 'The Restrictions' bring about a new age of scarcity and struggle, and follows a concubine serving as the Ship's Morale Officer -a crew-slut- on a small freighter.

   Status: 30KB draft posted on author's email list for comment in 10/19.  'Final' 45KB version offered for comments 12/24. 'Final' 55KB version offered for comments 1/25.

   Canon implications: Not quite 'Heresy", but very far from the society shown in early-timeline 'canon' stories.  The future described has not been approved by TH and the collected authors.  This story may well change before publication.

(Someday this will be a navigation template.  It will provide a bar across the bottom of each article with useful navigation links.  Until then, this is just a placeholder to get rid of all the red "broken link" indicators. -ZM User (talk) 10:00, 3 May 2024 (PDT))