It is from this group (and there were a great many Rangers who fell into the second string) that we find our Magistrates. Grainger, Jael, Chi, and Buster were grunts, saved by a werewolf (who happened to be a Ranger), and then moved into the Ranger ranks. As for which Ranger? We’ll keep you guessing for now. Michael and the Just In Time readers are keeping me on my toes in regards to canon. We don’t want anything to conflict with what we know from the KGU. I spent a couple hours on just a few sentences in order to get them right.
This book is the first time this group will have worked as a team since they were transformed into Rangers and then Magistrates.
So I went right to the top. Natalie Grey came up with a crossover piece so Barnabas could make an appearance, talk to the Magistrates, and make some magic happen. I am so happy to have that addition to this book. Thank you, and thanks to Michael, who gave it a read and two thumbs up.
I needed some DNA terminology, and from the UK, I found this site extremely helpful - http://aboutforensics.co.uk/dna-analysis/.
Once my dentist, Dr. Tyler Ingersoll, found out that I was writing this series, he offered the bit about genetic dental issues that I worked into the plot. I think it made for a great conclusion to the clone sub-plot while allowing me to discuss some other legal elements. I have to research a great deal with this series. I was able to wing a lot of stuff in the post-apocalyptic series, but I can’t do that here.
What if someone was cloned? Can you exist without a birth certificate? Of course you can, but can you do anything more than just exist? What will the law allow? Interesting hypotheticals, to say the least, so I put my twist and stamp on them and then moved to the main event.
Murder!
Recruits and Rookies - rank is Losta
Patrol officers, the uniforms - Petro
Patrol leaders, older, still in uniform – Hardco
Detectives, Investigators (different uniform) – Stigo
Specialists (bomb techs, forensics, etc.) - Specialist
Investigation leaders (no uniform, but formal dress, like a suit) – Supra
Police leadership (senior nonuniform ranks) - Guvna
I had an awful lot of help from people regarding names. Here’s what I used and who I have to thank.
Tommy Donbavand – Parkilo Prime, populated by a sentient plant species and Nat Ferider.
Micky Cocker supplied a nice list of names, of which I picked - Y'eaton, Zaria,
Sc'allid, Harpeth, Opheramin, Collum Gate, and Jurdenia.
I hope everyone enjoyed this story. It was fun to write in a way that I found most relaxing. James Caplan, Micky Cocker, and Kelly O’Donnell keep me on the straight and narrow with in-process reads and ideas, language smoothing, continuity, and overall readability. They are an amazing bunch who help make me and my stories better.
No one goes on this journey alone. If it weren’t for being surrounded by great people and the incredible readers who keep picking up my books, none of these stories would be possible.
Peace, fellow humans.
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If you liked this story, you might like some of my other books. You can join my mailing list by dropping by my website www.craigmartelle.com or if you have any comments, shoot me a note at [email protected]. I am always happy to hear from people who’ve read my work. I try to answer every email I receive.
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That’s it—break’s over, back to writing the next book. Peace, fellow humans.
Author Notes - Michael Anderle
Author Notes – Michael Anderle
September 12, 2018
(a very special day to me)
P(re).S. – Thank you to our Beta Readers, JIT Team, Editing Team, and the Operations and Art folks who helped create this book. It is a P.S. that is so important, it goes first.
Are you reading this? Then I have a SPECIAL thank for to you. I turn fifty-one today. A bit of an accomplishment, and a sign I can’t deceive myself any longer about the truth.
I am on the ‘other side’ of youth.
I’m in the maturing stage of life. It’s time for me to put on that hat of wisdom and see into the future, providing insightful stories which cause readers to read and reread the book for nuggets which will illuminate the cosmos and bring peace and harmony to alien inter-species relationships throughout the galaxy.
Or, you know, I can write more stories where we blow shit up, and hope the alien inter-species issue is solved by someone in the future.
I think I like that option more…
Imagination BECAME reality
I remember reading an article where scientist (of that time) admit to reading science-fiction and watching Star Trek and it made their minds explode with ideas. The concepts they believed were cool in their youth drove them to their work paths in the future, and still excited them in their day-to-day activities as they actually created the theories and working prototypes to bring what had only been imagination to fruition.
I have to admit I (one day) hope to create some cool piece of technology in a story which becomes a reality in the future.
I’m ready for the future of learning (very small rant from a fifty-one-year old – I’m becoming a curmudgeon I think… Just ignore this )
It is no great stretch to say that most adults who worry about education around the world believe we can do better. Now, “better” might require parents to get involved, which (if we have one-parent families trying to place food on the table) might require help from the community, etc., etc.
Or, you know, we the general populace of science-fiction readers might decide to band together and cobble together the technology and research of today and build an infrastructure of classes, training, testing, and laws (yes, we would have to change the laws, I think. At least in a lot of the states in the US. I can’t speak to the laws in other countries.)
I bet we HAVE the core technology infrastructure right now to create the virtual school of tomorrow. I can imagine a way we get there from here, and it will have to deal with so much political crap it’s crazy. For example, 2016 instructional spending (which is not total spending, just the instructional aspect) was $4,077 in Arizona and $15,746 in New York.
Scratching my chin (and being a bit cynical), I imagine New York might have some explaining to do on that high of a spend. My (admittedly very fast WIKI lookup) suggests that New York is 37 out of 50 in educational attainment (% High School Attainment levels)
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_educational_attainment )
I tend to be a “follow the money” sort of fellow. I believe New York probably suffers from challenges which Arizona does not.
So, how can we dream up a system which supports BOTH of these great states? We have free teaching already (just go online and check out videos from well-known universities.)
Often, it is not the teachers who are lacking, but the infrastructure (both material and immaterial) which is hampering both teachers and the operations group.
Or hell, they suck! (Which is a possibility.)
I suspect that in my lifetime we will have a completely new paradigm of teaching and I’d love it to be from Science-Fiction fans that made it happen. For an extensive discussion of one such system, check out Crescendo of Fire, (click here) the second book in LMBPN’s Braintrust series by Marc Stiegler, and Let the
Bits Run Free, also by Marc Stiegler, an educational short story which will be on LMBPN’s Ear Crush Podcast Friday September 21st. (http://lmbpn.com/earcrush/).
There, I’ve added the necessary societal thoughts into the book, woven in delicately between the first page and the last.
So, anyone ready to go blow shit up and take out the bad guys?
Because I’m fifty-one, not dead.
Ad Aeternitatem,
Michael Anderle
Books by Craig Martelle
Craig Martelle’s other books (listed by series)
Terry Henry Walton Chronicles (co-written with Michael Anderle) – a post-apocalyptic paranormal adventure
Gateway to the Universe (co-written with Justin Sloan & Michael Anderle) – this book transitions the characters from the Terry Henry Walton Chronicles to The Bad Company
The Bad Company (co-written with Michael Anderle) – a military science fiction space opera
End Times Alaska (also available in audio) – a Permuted Press publication – a post-apocalyptic survivalist adventure
The Free Trader – a Young Adult Science Fiction Action Adventure
Cygnus Space Opera – A Young Adult Space Opera (set in the Free Trader universe)
Darklanding (co-written with Scott Moon) – a Space Western
Judge, Jury, & Executioner – a space opera adventure legal thriller
Rick Banik – Spy & Terrorism Action Adventure
Become a Successful Indie Author – a non-fiction work
Metamorphosis Alpha – stories from the world’s first science fiction RPG
The Expanding Universe – science fiction anthologies
Shadow Vanguard – a Tom Dublin series
Uprise Saga – an Amy DuBoff series
Enemy of my Enemy (co-written with Tim Marquitz) – A galactic alien military space opera
Superdreadnought (co-written with Tim Marquitz) – a military space opera (coming fall of 2018)
Books By Michael Anderle
For a complete list of books by Michael Anderle, please visit:
www.lmbpn.com/ma-books/
All LMBPN Audiobooks are Available at Audible.com and iTunes
To see all LMBPN audiobooks, including those written by Michael Anderle please visit:
www.lmbpn.com/audible
Serial Killer: A Space Opera Adventure Legal Thriller (Judge, Jury, & Executioner Book 3) Page 19