Latency Guest Post #GoddessFish

 

LATENCY

by Nathaniel Koszer

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GENRE: Sci Fi biotech

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BLURB:

Sera is a LO-EC, a human who gained superpowers as an unintended side effect of a biotechnological breakthrough. Her unique abilities allowed her to survive while others like her, including her parents, were exterminated by a world government fearful of their potential.

After decades of hiding, she meets Naren, another superpowered survivor who has infiltrated the ranks of the military. Together, they form a plan to unite with other surviving LO-ECs, claim vengeance against the forces who murdered their families, and ultimately stoke a worldwide rebellion against the government that wanted them dead.

The entirety of 26th century Earth’s armed forces stand in their way: Soldiers equipped with terrifying weaponry, armies with electromagnetic cannons, merciless bloodthirsty androids, and Spidre, the World Leader with unnatural abilities of his own. The world brought Sera and the other LO-ECs pain and loss, and they’re determined to return it in kind.

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Excerpt 

For the first time in what seemed like an eternity, a cool breeze swept through the streets of downtown New Orleans. Entering out onto these streets from the main doors of a small building was a man in a blue military uniform. By this time of the day, a little more than an hour before sunset, most soldiers would have been at least slightly disheveled. Having worked a full day, they would have a sweat stain, some hair out of place, maybe an untucked shirt or two. Not this man. Perfectly laced and polished boots led to pants that somehow seemed freshly pressed, which led to a fully zipped-up tunic with various patches across the breast. The whole ensemble framed up a six-foot-tall athletic build, and perched on top was a clean-shaven, blemish-free face and perfectly slicked-back hair.

As the man took a few steps from the door, he felt a vibration in his inner pocket and unzipped his coat to reach inside. He pulled out a military issue mobile that projected the word “Can” into the air. He slid a small earbud out of the top of the mobile and stuck it in his ear while slipping the mobile back into his pocket.

“Investigator,” a cold, deep, mechanical voice said through the earbud.

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Guest Post

Reader’s Roost – Favorite vacation - “trip” to China

“What was your favorite vacation?” may be the most difficult question someone could ask me. While it may seem like a small number compared to some, I consider myself very lucky to have visited the eight countries and a dozen or so U.S. states on my personal map, and each of those places was special in some unique way. I can say truthfully that there is no place I have been that I would not visit again. However, if you were instead to ask me what my favorite vacation story is, it becomes much, much easier to answer. Readers, prepare yourself. I will now tell you the story of how I, technically, have visited China.

Before I get to the real meat of the story, there is one clarification to make. The definition I generally use for having “visited” a place is that my feet touched ground outside of airport property. I know there are other definitions that are stricter, so if you follow those then I guess the rest of this story is just an interesting adventure and not a trip to China.

My wife is Japanese, and we both live and met in New York. Her whole family is still in Japan, so when we got engaged, we both agreed we should fly there so that I could meet her family before we got married. Neither of us had very much money then, so we booked the cheapest flight possible; a $600 round trip ticket on a discount Chinese airline. The company was based out of Shanghai, so we needed to make a two hour stopover in that city to get from New York to Tokyo. We had both been to many airports and performed many connecting flights in the past, and assumed this one would be like the rest. Well…

When we land in Shanghai, we go through border and customs and are directed to the ticketing agent at the front of the airport. It was there, with that ticket agent, that we learned there are two international airports in Shanghai, and our connecting flight was at the other airport on the other side of the city. The ticket agent told us there was a shuttle bus, but it was too early for it to start running, and that a ride in a taxi may not get us to the other airport in time. So, we instead booked a flight several hours later from the airport we were currently in. While we waited, we were able to get wi-fi to let her parents know we’d be late. We also looked up what our return flights looked like. My wife’s was staying in Japan with her family for a couple weeks longer then I, so she was on a different flight back that, luckily, had it’s connection through just one airport. I was not so lucky. My flight from Tokyo to Shanghai arrived in one airport, my flight from Shanghai to New York left from a completely different airport on the other side of the city. And to make matters worse, any connections out of the same airport were three times the price I paid.

So I researched the shuttle bus, and it seemed like a feasible option. Since I knew almost no Chinese and had no idea if there would be English signs, I did all the research I could to plan my route through the terminal to the bus depot. We had a great week with my wife’s family in Japan, and Tokyo was an incredible city that I will never, ever tire of. But that is a whole different story.

Now it’s time to fly back to New York. I get on the plane in Tokyo, and immediately notice a problem. We were supposed to be flying into terminal two, where the bus depot was, but now the in-flight info says we’re going to land in terminal one instead. I had no idea how to get in between terminals or the difficulty, but at this point it was too late reconsider. We landed at terminal one, and once again, we were directed to border and customs. Since I was flying alone this time, the border control agents were scrutinized me much more strictly. The first woman I spoke to about the connecting flight immediately told me to step off the line and wait while she called her superior over. He was that special kind of terrifying you get from situations like this. He had a formal military style uniform on (he might have even been actual military, I’m not sure) that was perfectly clean and pressed and he had a blank, emotionless stare as he approached me. His glare did not waiver as his subordinate explained the situation. When she concluded, he walked over to me and demanded my passport, which of course I obliged. He disappeared into a back room somewhere for what seemed like an eternity, but in reality was probably about ten minutes. When he came back, he had his subordinate put a stamp in my passport, then turned and held the passport for me to take. He then commanded me with three words which I will never, in all my life, forget.

“You leave tonight!”

I couldn’t help but salute and exclaim “Yes, sir!” in reply, and thankfully he did not think I was making fun of him. The stamp in my passport was a visa that granted me a 48 hour stay in China, but I had every intention of leaving before then. I scurried through the terminal and when I made it outside, a nice employee explained that to get to the next terminal, I could either wait 30 minutes for a bus, or walk out of the airport and down a block to take the subway one stop. Waiting 30 minutes would have risked missing my main shuttle bus to the other airport, so I walked through the parking lot and left the airport (yes, my feet touched ground off airport property!). I walked down the block and after more help from more very nice locals, I got a train ticket and got on the train going in the correct direction. I made it to my shuttle bus with time to spare. The bus took me on a nice, two hour tour of Shanghai as it navigated it’s way to the other airport, and after another round of airport security, I was on my way back home.

So if you ever find yourself needing to get to Asia on the cheap, the Chinese airlines are a great option. Just make doubly sure there aren’t two airports in that new city you aren’t familiar with.

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Nate grew up in Brooklyn NY, but now calls the Bronx home along with his wife and their sons. Nate grew up on all things sci-fi. Partly due to his chronic illness, Nate always had a special place in his heart for the X-Men, and especially the invulnerable Wolverine. This was heavy inspiration for his first novel, Latency a superhero sci-fi story to be released March 5, 2024.

Website: https://natekoszer.com/

https://bsky.app/profile/natejklol.bsky.social

https://twitter.com/natejklol

Amazon: 

https://www.amazon.com/Latency-Nathaniel-Koszer/dp/1962308073/ref=sr_1_1

BN: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/book/1144430187;jsessionid=4518EDABA47D37FB06C0E2C54744DFA9.prodny_store02-atgap17

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1489470

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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE

Nathaniel Koszer will award a $10 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner.

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