First off, let’s talk about where this comes from! There are two parts of that: Where did Clio come from and where did this piece come from?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Clio then. Clio is the Astronautica’s replacement for Palaemon, son of Hephaestus. Palaemon didn’t actually do a lot on the original voyage. I’ve done some trimming on the crew because. Well. It took a lot of pages to just get through the crew intro.1<\/a><\/sup> I don’t know if you’re aware, but Hephaestus is famous for being lame. Turns out he’s also born from only Hera, who wanted to stick it to Zeus for trying to have a baby (Athena) and muscle in on women’s territory.2<\/a><\/sup> Anyway, Clio stays because I liked the idea of Hephaestus’s descendants all inheriting his lameness because of course that’s how genetics work, ancient Greeks. But it gives me an opportunity to explore how ability works in space. I also made her female because the original crew is 100% male (and 98% misogynistic) and that needed shaking up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So where did this work come from? Well, a few days ago (as of time I’m writing this), my writing group got together in Chicago! One of us was going to a conference there to pitch her book3<\/a><\/sup> and since two of us live near there, we decided to fly the last member out and all spend a few days together before the conference. We got together on a Wednesday afternoon and played some games, then spent Thursday writing, doing writing exercises, and hitting the Chicago Institute of Art, and then did some more writing on Friday before exploring the Neo-Gothic campus of Chicago University and the ISAC museum there.4<\/a><\/sup> Then two of them moved on while I took drove my friend to the Dreihaus museum for her research on the Gilded Age for an upcoming book. This piece and next week’s piece were from the writing exercises. For this one, we all took a side or background character and fleshed them out, but during the writing we stopped and swapped so that the writing was a contribution from all four of us. Clio was my choice; we did a nerdy dragon for my friend who’s writing a small-town cozy with several different anthro species; we worked on a rhetoric competition in Holland (and broke the timeline– look, some of us didn’t research this); and fleshed out the background of a self-centered girlfriend who doesn’t realize she’s living in a werewolf novel. So the breaks in this section are where we passed it back and forth. (I was considering leaving them out and letting people guess but I decided against it.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Is this canon? Not necessarily. Am I going to keep everything from it? Eh, maybe. Am I going to keep most of it? For sure. Am I going to shamelessly steal my friend’s ability to technobabble? Shamelessly.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Without further ado, meet Clio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Clio never found her half-body paralysis to be a huge impediment to her work. Her parents were able to find her a chair early and while it wasn\u2019t as fancy as some cybernetics, she was fond of it. Not least because it became the frequent object of her early tinkering and development ideas. But she\u2019d always wanted to be able to work on spaceships. She\u2019d sit at the window by the docking bay for hours and watch ships fly in and out. Her datapad was full of sketches of different types of ships, fin designs, engine boosts, solar sails, and above all, the questions<\/em>. Why did a Clymetus Mark III have fins that angled when its predecessors had straight fins? How thin could a solar sail be before tearing was a risk just from the act of unfurling it? Was landing gear necessary with maglev bases? What were the technical necessities in planning landing on a planet versus landing on a space station? How could you urge more acceleration out of a solar sail or a takeoff engine?<\/p>\n\n\n\n But no one would let her into the docks. She was too young. The chair would get in the way. Where were her parents anyway? Working, usually, of course. Cleo sighed in frustration, having been turned away yet again, elbows resting on the arms of her chair with her head in her hands, when she heard a voice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019ve seen you around here before, haven\u2019t I?\u201d She looked up to the round, smiling face of Nikolas. Everyone knew the stationmaster\u2019s son; his curly hair and cheerful grin were as recognizable as the insignias on his uniform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHello sir,\u201d Clio said, straightening. What was she supposed to do? Should she salute? She wasn\u2019t in the station staff though her parents were.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDon\u2019t bother \u2018sir\u2019-ing me,\u201d Nikolas said, lounging on one of the chairs near the window. \u201cIt\u2019s Clio, right? Clio Mathis?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She nodded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n —————————-<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAre you looking for someone?\u201d he asked, taking in her youth, her chair. She hated when people did that. But he also looked at her eyes, and that gave her hope. Did he notice how much she wanted to get in among the engineers?<\/p>\n\n\n\n She risked asking yet again. \u201cI want to watch them work,\u201d she said, guesturing to the men, women, and otherwise gendered entitites moving between the hulls of the great starships. Watching, that should be safe. Not asking questions or working tools, no matter how much she wanted it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nikolas considered, his booted shoe tapping on the floor. \u201cIt\u2019s a little hectic down there for someone so young,\u201d he said, and her heart sank. \u201cBut I know somewhere else you might like.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She doubted it. No doubt he was going to send her along to be with other children, who could be mockingly cruel. Still, it was clear she wasn\u2019t wanted here today, like all days, so she followed him anways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He kept up a steady pace, not so fast that she fell behind, but not so slow that she felt patronized. That was kind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He ushered her into an elevator, then swiped his identification chip to unlock the full panel of buttons. A quick tap had them shooting up to one of the floating rings high above the docks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When the door opened again, she gasped. It was the design lab, where all the starships were created before they hit the shipyard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n —-<\/p>\n\n\n\n Instantly she wheeled further in, not waiting for invitation, mouth agape with joy, her eyes dancing from blueprint to blueprint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat\u2019s the design for the Galadriel Cruiser Mk III!\u201d she cried, pointing at a rather elaborately diagramed white form.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nikolas, a coy smile teasing across his lips, caught up to her. \u201cGood eye,\u201d he said. He opened his mouth to say more, but shut it into a grin as Clio turned back to it, her own words pouring out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt was the grandest ship of its time! It carried ambassadors from Thebes to Lesbos! Its work was crucial in stopping the inter[somthing]ian war!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Blinking, Nikolas said, \u201cYou certainly know your ship history.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nodding eagerly, Clio turned to face him. \u201cI read about it in Ovid\u2019s Infernos Hubris<\/em>. Lots of horrific ship accidents there; he always did a splendid job of explaining exactly what mistake led to the explosion. There\u2019s so many different protective parts on a ship!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCan you tell me about this one?\u201d Nikolas asked, striding to a filing cabinet and pulling out a file filled with data and diagrams. Clio accepted the file almost reverently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOooh! Is this the Selene Speeder?\u201d she asked on opening to the first diagram.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey\u2019re always trying to make it faster, and more convertible from space travel to planetside travel, but with its small interior, it\u2019s compromising distance in the void\u2026\u201d Clio trailed off as she flipped through the different entries to the file, eyes growing wider. \u201cThis is versions II through VIII! And\u2026 plans for IX?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n —<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWell, yeah, those are still in the works, but you can see, it\u2019s only half drawn,\u201d Nikolas said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYeah, the engine has been drawn and erased several times,\u201d Clio said, tilting her head as she adjusted the drawings on her lap. \u201cIt looks like their trying to redesign the\u2014is that the hydrolic booster?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes, but they don\u2019t think it\u2019s going to work,\u201d Nikolas said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut if they want to expand the interior, they have to make it fit,\u201d Clio mulled over the piece. \u201cI bet something like a retrofitted Howitzer style engine would do the job.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cRetrofitted for use as a hydrolic booster?\u201d Nikolas asked. \u201cNow I think you\u2019re talking over my head.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWell, I was asking about these the other day, it\u2019s what they did with the Galadriel cruiser engine, became the first prototype for the Naneurotic Special.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat was a best seller in it\u2019s day,\u201d Nikolas asked. \u201cHow do you know so much?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Clio shrugged, uncomfortable now that the attention was turned on her. \u201cBooks mostly, but I don\u2019t know that much, I\u2019m still trying to get my head around the mechanics of some of these. If they\u2019d just let me a little closer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou\u2019re a little young for that aren\u2019t you?\u201d Nikolas said and Clio\u2019s face fell. Why had he even bothered to bring her up here if he was just going to give her the same lines every one else did? But he continued, \u201cI\u2019ll tell you what, when I was in training, I heard about this program, I think it\u2019s exactly what you\u2019re looking for. You\u2019d have to work for it though, they don\u2019t let just anyone do it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nikolas looked at her sideways and Clio nodded, not realizing she was holding her breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s the future engineers program, I\u2019ll send you the comm link to apply for it. There\u2019s a technical portion, you have to show them you know your stuff. I think the year I was eligible they were asked to build a nano coil from scratch? It\u2019s tough stuff. But if you\u2019re as good as I think you are, you\u2019ll get in. They do a lot of hands-on work with repairs and with redesigning, and most people go straight from that program to work on ships. You think that\u2019s something you\u2019d like?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n And Clio knew there was nothing in seven universes that would suit her better.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Intellectual Property of Elizabeth Doman <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" First off, let’s talk about where this comes from! There are two parts of that: […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":554,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"[{\"content\":\"That...uh...hasn't changed actually. But to be fair I'm making it part of the story and not just saying \\\"And here's this hero! And here's this hero! And this<\/em> guy did this in the past!\\\"\",\"id\":\"3961d7d4-ee43-4beb-a6f4-bae2cb9af47a\"},{\"content\":\"Am I simplifying Greek myths? Why yes. Get used to it. This is not going to be an epic work of perfect Greekery. You'll have to turn to my writing group friend's work for that.\",\"id\":\"ebd51dcd-2cc8-40b5-8965-32ae4d8860fb\"},{\"content\":\"Which has gone SUPER WELL! We're all really hopeful that she's on her way to publishing it! I'm really looking forward to being able to toot her horn and become obnoxious to my friends by trying to shove her book in their faces!\",\"id\":\"f0d93980-58e1-4b8d-b5c5-b681009d71aa\"},{\"content\":\"I've made notes of some ancient stuff and a few curses and other practices of the way-back years. :D\",\"id\":\"3b1d98f4-582c-4624-ad11-b08b54c25e75\"}]"},"categories":[36,380,25],"tags":[394,477,139,481,476,479,397,480,45,478],"class_list":["post-553","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rough-draft","category-world-building","category-writing","tag-argonautica","tag-argonauts","tag-astronautica","tag-backstory","tag-clio","tag-collaboration","tag-jason","tag-taking-turns","tag-writing","tag-writing-group"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedomanfamily.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedomanfamily.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedomanfamily.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedomanfamily.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedomanfamily.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=553"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thedomanfamily.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":555,"href":"https:\/\/thedomanfamily.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553\/revisions\/555"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedomanfamily.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/554"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedomanfamily.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=553"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedomanfamily.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=553"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedomanfamily.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=553"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
Clio\u2019s face drew in, agony etched in her features. \u201cAnd then they pushed the ship too far. They didn\u2019t have adequate debris filters on the back intake ports, but still had the hubris to go through the Chyrrian field. Sucked up a bunch of tiny asteroids, practically iron fillings, and without magnetic filters, they floated all through entire engine structure until they threw off the heat balances, cause a systematic pressure shift, wound up getting caught in the mechanisms, and started a fire that quickly became an explosion. Half the ship went down, the other half\u2026 suffocated.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYep, got it in one,\u201d said Nikolas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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