Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Pat Luther

@plutherus.bsky.social

#WIPSnips 11/14
Going from danger to danger, but first, let's pause for an exciting discussion about network security! :)

"Yeah, here, gotta give you access from the console," Del said. She approached one of the other stations and pulled up the security interface. It recognized Del and seeing Bilan in the central seat, offered to give her authorization as well.
Del confirmed.
"I couldn't get anything but the coms to interface with my suit," Del apologized.
"That's probably by design," Bilan said. "Partly for security - you wouldn't want someone outside the ship steering it into a planet or opening all the pressure doors at once and venting you into space."
"Makes sense, I guess," Del said. She shuddered at the thought, and wondered if her parents' ship had had that same safety feature. Might their demise not have been an accident?
"An even more important reason might be crew psychology," Bilan continued. "Ships like this can spend a lot of time drifting through space. They'll head to, say, Earth, by burning for a few hours, maybe, then cutting back to zero, or very low thrust, for most of the trip. It could take weeks or even months before they get there. Having tasks that can only be done at certain stations forces the crew to interact and move around. There probably aren't any cleaning bots either. Everything would have to be done by hand."

November 14, 2025 at 3:16 PM

Pat Luther

@plutherus.bsky.social

#WIPSnips 11/13
Del, ever the pragmatist.

Ten, maybe twenty years, slaving away in the antimatter mines and if she somehow survived that, she'd eventually be free. Free, broke, homeless, unable to find legitimate work…
She wondered what the Belt would be like in twenty years. Would Jie's dream of it becoming a real society have come true by then? That would be nice. Maybe he would be an administrator, and she could come back and cause trouble. Pull together whatever contacts she could find. Become a fixer like Kenny. Kenny would most likely be dead by then. There's no way he'd last two more decades out here. The Rabbit might. How much would he control by then? Would she have to fight him, or eliminate him to build up her own little criminal empire before she died? It would be fun trying.

November 14, 2025 at 5:53 AM

Pat Luther

@plutherus.bsky.social

#WIPSnips 11/12
When nothing else is available, it makes a handy weapon.

When she got to the open cell and peeked her head in, it was empty. She was about to turn back and call to Bilan when something flew down and struck her in the face. She moved to the side to avoid most of the blow and a weight landed on her back. Someone had dropped from the ceiling onto her shoulders. They slung what felt like some sort of cloth across the front of her throat and began tightening it from behind.
She turned slightly and threw herself backward, hoping to slam her attacker into the door frame, but they turned with her, pulling her sideways and she hit it with her shoulder. Then the tension on the cloth lessened and her attacker dropped nimbly to the floor.
"Del?" her assailant said in surprise.
Amelia stood before her, holding a pyjama top similar to what Del had worn in the BeltSec prison, tightly wrapped in her hand.
"Gah," Del said, and rubbed at her abused throat. "Not the greeting I was expecting."
"Sorry. I thought you were someone else."
"I gathered. Let's get out of here. Bilan's up the hall."
Amelia unwrapped her shirt and put it on as she followed Del back up the hall.

November 14, 2025 at 5:47 AM

Pat Luther

@plutherus.bsky.social

#WIPSnips 11/11
This was about as close as I could get to it.

Finally, she saw the approaching lights of an automated craft bearing two new engines. She spent another hour swapping them out. The damaged parts, she pushed off toward the asteroid. BeltSec could pick them up when the Salvage and Forensics crew got here. With full power restored, she connected her suit to the bike’s systems and let the suit charge as the bike replaced her recirculated air and water with its own. She pulled a balloon cover from the back over the entire bike and let it pressurize.
When it had finished filling, Del opened her helmet and took a deep breath of the fresh air. Then she retrieved a pair of nutrition bars from a small compartment. It was the first solid food she'd had for nearly twenty hours.

November 11, 2025 at 8:42 PM

Pat Luther

@plutherus.bsky.social

#WIPSnips 11/10
Del showing her typical diligence at her job.

Once she arrived at the tiny asteroid, Del checked in at the small mining office and spent just enough time to remind them that BeltSec still existed and to confirm that the base hadn’t been taken over by pirates. If it had been, the pirates were wearing the uniform of the local corp and following standard bureaucratic procedures, which was close enough. Forty-six hours of flight to spend less than half an hour there.

November 11, 2025 at 8:35 PM

Pat Luther

@plutherus.bsky.social

#NovemberWorldbuilders
Three black things in this image by @aureolinflax.bsky.social of a scene from Thoughtless: The walls of Del's carbonaceous asteroid home (that she's hung colorful scarves over to make it feel less oppressive), space itself (seen out the window) and their BeltSec uniforms.

November 8, 2025 at 8:10 PM

Pat Luther

@plutherus.bsky.social

#WIPSnips 11/8
Just Del being mercenary again.

Nineteen minutes later, her small craft turned itself around and began slowing down to match the speed of her destination. She had heard no further signals in all that time, and her calls to the asteroid went unanswered.
When Del was close enough for her bike's sensors to pick up a visual, she brought the feed up on her suit's faceplate. A jagged cut marred the side of the rock. There must have been a contained atmosphere inside. Contained no longer, debris was floating away from the damaged area. She glanced over her shoulder in the direction she was heading, but was still too far away to see anything with the naked eye. She zoomed in on the display and saw bodies amongst the debris. Exactly what she’d feared.
"Egido! Protektu viajn infanojn," she said out loud, a quick prayer to a goddess she didn’t believe in. If there were any survivors, footage of a rescue could end up being worth more than the bonus. She only felt a little guilty for thinking it.

November 8, 2025 at 7:57 PM

Pat Luther

@plutherus.bsky.social

#WIPSnips 11/7
Just Del being reckless again.

She considered that for a second. Someone had already tried to kill her. This was the type of operation that should really be undertaken by a team of Enforcers with breaching cord, explosives, and armored vacsuits, not one woman with a wrist-mounted needler and a hand-held vacuum torch. But she wanted answers. This would be a great time to have a mining platform handy. Or maybe a missile or two. She’d really have to get those replaced when she got back to Ceres.
The airlock fell open as she finished cutting off its latch. She hoped the inhabitants had a different way out. Or at least vacuum suits because when she left, she’d have to open that outer door and all the air in this hallway would rush out behind her.
She lowered her helmet and a rancid smell assaulted her nose. The scent of molten metal mingled with that of a ship that had been a long way out of port. She listened for movement and heard none. No heavy breathing or bump of heavy equipment along the narrow corridor. And most importantly, no ominous hum of a plasma cannon getting ready to fire.

November 8, 2025 at 7:54 PM

Pat Luther

@plutherus.bsky.social

#WIPSnips 11/5
Searching for the word really made me realize how many times someone - especially Del - starts to say something then trails off.

"And you…what, locked them in and stole their ship?"
"That's the short version, though I didn't steal it. It was lawfully given to me as the penalty for their attempt on my life. It was the alternative to formal charges, which would have sent them, most likely, to spending the rest of their lives as indentured servants on Mercury."
"That ship is their life."
"No, their lives are their lives. You know, the thing they wanted to take from me. Without the ship, they'll have to get real jobs like the rest of us."
Del could tell he didn't like it. Inside, he was seething. But he knew she was right.
"If they tried to kill you, how come you let them live?"
It was the same question Nurayda had asked.
"Because, unlike your girlfriend, I'm not a murderer," Del answered this time.
"Nurayda's not…" he started then trailed off. Del guessed he was right, but he himself wasn't so sure. They'd have a lot to talk about if they ever saw each other again.

November 5, 2025 at 7:50 PM

Pat Luther

@plutherus.bsky.social

#WIPSnips 11/4
It's funny that out of all the things made of it (Iron and Carbon are two of the most common elements in the asteroid belt after all), I mention the word exactly once in whole book.

She stepped through the jagged opening in the back of the room, her right arm with its mounted needler held straight out in front of her. Something heavy slammed down and a jolt of pain traveled up her arm.
She turned in time to see her quarry, holding a steel pipe that she’d just smashed into Del’s arm. She swung it back up toward her face, and Del leaned back to avoid the blow. It slid harmlessly off the front rather than smashing the faceplate.
Before the woman swinging the pipe could bring it down on her again, Del bent low and launched herself forward, tackling her at the waist. Assisted by suit thrusters, she pushed up off the ground and carried her forward to slam into the far wall.
The metal bar fell to the floor.
"Hold her there, I got her," she heard Bilan say. "Three…Two…One…"
Her assailant went limp, right on time.
Del stood upright and let her fall to the floor. She resisted the urge to kick her.

November 5, 2025 at 3:07 AM

Pat Luther

@plutherus.bsky.social

#WIPSnips 11/3
Yay! It's nice to be able to talk about something nice here for a change. :)

"I'm afraid I'll have to pass," Jie said. "I’m meeting someone for dinner in a few hours."
"You have a date?" Del asked, amused.
"Just a preliminary meeting. We'll see how it goes."
"Do your spouses know about this?"
"Of course. My husband met her before I did." He seemed genuinely offended.
"Sorry."
"It's okay. We don't cheat. I trust them, and vice versa."
"Must be nice."
"It is."

November 3, 2025 at 8:15 PM

Pat Luther

@plutherus.bsky.social

#WIPSnips 11/2
Not a lot of cobwebs in the asteroid belt.
Definitely going with vibes for this one.

"Beneath" her small craft was a large, icy ball that she was heading straight toward.
"Looks like my calculations were right," she said for her suit's recorder.
There was no transponder signal, and at this range there should be, but there was no mistaking the asteroid. She left her own transponder on as she approached, not wanting to startle whoever was there. The asteroid itself was covered in dust and rocks and pitted with craters, but there was an ancient-looking airlock visible on one side, illuminated with a dim light. From the asteroid's trajectory, it was either a newcomer to the belt, or had been recently moved. She suspected the former. A Centaur perhaps, traveling on some long spiral path inward. In another hundred thousand years or so it would be gone, boiled away as it got too close to the sun.
For now, it seemed it was somebody's home.

November 2, 2025 at 8:30 PM

Pat Luther

@plutherus.bsky.social

#WIPSnips 11/1
Happy November!
Del doesn't have any ancestors, so here's a bit from where she learns what she does have.

The memories flashed through her mind, ending with her discovering what she really was. She was helpless to stop them, and she knew then that he was experiencing them all as well.
"You poor child," the Veteran said. "You had no idea. Yes, a large number of you were kidnapped, twenty-two standard years ago, as infants. Many scientists were killed by the terrorists. Until now, we had no idea any of the missing infants survived."
Kidnapped? Scientists? Terrorists? There was too much to unpack. She looked at him and tried to relax her mind, to feel his. Out of nowhere, it coalesced around her.
In her memory, she was standing outside what seemed to be a maternity ward. Rows of infants, dozens of them, each in a crib, as a couple of people, covered head to toe in some kind of protective suits moved amongst them.
"Idiots." She could hear his mental voice. "The children don't have anything contagious and environment suits won't do anything for what they do have."

November 1, 2025 at 3:58 PM

Pat Luther

@plutherus.bsky.social

Heading to a Halloween party, with a quickie costume made out of leftover pieces. :)

November 1, 2025 at 1:50 AM

Pat Luther

@plutherus.bsky.social

#WIPSnips 10/31
The actual word isn't used, but I think The Rabbit qualifies. (It's a nickname, not actually a Monty Python reference. :)

"First, you were at Aluna. You ever see this guy?" She put the still image of The Rabbit on the big screen.
Amelia scrambled backward on the couch, bumping against the back wall, and pulling down one of the colorful scarves Del had hanging along the wall, revealing the uneven black rock behind it. She came to a stop sitting on the back of the couch as the scarf fluttered to the ground.
"I take it that's a yes."
"The fuck you want with him?"
"You know who he is?"
"Everybody knows who he is."
"I don't. Enlighten me."
"He's…void. I don't even know how to explain it. He's the Rabbit. He knows people and people do what he says."
"Sounds like he's a fixer, like Kenny," Bilan said.
"You know Kenny?"
"Yeah,” Del said. “What do you know about him?"
"He's like the one guy the Rabbit stays away from."
"Kenny?" The idea was baffling. Del would have thought this Rabbit's reputation was all smoke except that she knew what he could do. “Why would a man like the Rabbit be scared of someone like Kenny?”

November 1, 2025 at 12:00 AM

Pat Luther

@plutherus.bsky.social

#WIPSnips 10/30
A ritual is like a spell, right?
And yes, like many people, Del is a practitioner of a religion she doesn't believe in.

She imagined a mass of energy floating above her. She reached into it and pulled a thick strand down into herself as she began the ritual her foster parents taught her all those years ago.
It didn’t matter that the angels she invoked as guardians didn’t exist, or that there were no demons for them to guard against. The wards would work because she decided they would. She shaped the energy around her into a pentagram and extended it above her and down below her feet, creating a three-dimensional cage of force, surrounding and protecting her.
Performing the ritual had the other practical benefit of distracting her from her own thoughts, breaking the cycle of fear feeding upon itself.
Her imaginary lines of force were fading in her mind, though she could still feel their presence. She found herself drifting peacefully, surrounded by the rubble of her recent adventure. The asteroid, the mining platform, her dead bike.

October 30, 2025 at 6:50 PM

Pat Luther

@plutherus.bsky.social

#WIPSnips 10/29
I almost used the word "broomstick" in Thoughtless to describe the tiny craft used to zip around in short-range trips in the asteroid belt. I eventually went with "bike" after learning that Larry Niven had beaten me to the term "broomstick" for similar craft a few decades earlier.

“We won’t see you for another two weeks?” Bilan asked.
Del had met her at Rokoj for a last round of drinks before heading out on her long patrol. As usual, Jie had come with Bilan. Del had nothing against Jie, he was one of her favorite people at BeltSec. She’d just wished to get in a private conversation with Bilan.
“You’re doing the whole patrol on your bike?” Jie asked.
“It’s the only transport I’ve got,” Del said.
“It’s not really meant for that far of a distance. You can probably arrange—”
“I like my bike. I’m used to it. It’ll be fine.”
“Have you done the fuel calculations for such a distance?”
“It’s fine,” Del said again. “I can refuel on Hygiea itself, and there’s bound to be a bunch of corporate spots I can ask at if I need to.”
“We’ll miss you,” Bilan said, heading off the argument. “Stay in touch.”

October 30, 2025 at 4:26 AM

Pat Luther

@plutherus.bsky.social

#WIPSnips 10/26
Well, not many people wear hats in the asteroid belt (sorry, Expanse fans) but helmets are ubiquitous. And Del is occasionally berated about hers:

"I mean it. I worry about you sometimes. Even before I knew about this. You can play fast and loose with the rules. You're careless, and such carelessness can get people killed out here. You don't think like a Belter, Del. There are dangers everywhere here, and you've never seemed to appreciate that."
"That's not true. I—"
"I have seen you close an airlock door behind you while your helmet is still down."
"It self-deploys when the pressure begins to drop," she said.
"Which is something no Belter would ever say. It fails once, you're dead. You forget to put it on, you're dead."
"I get it, but…"

October 27, 2025 at 12:36 AM

Pat Luther

@plutherus.bsky.social

Another ink cartridge drained onto the page to continue bringing Del’s adventures to life.

October 26, 2025 at 9:41 PM

Pat Luther

@plutherus.bsky.social

#WIPSnips 10/25
The word isn't used, but I think the concept comes through pretty clearly in this excerpt.

At that, she caught both the surge of anger and the unbidden memory of The Veteran berating him for his selfishness and his short-sightedness. The memory was like a thread - she followed it to its source. He knew what she was doing, but she was back in control. His memories surrounded her, overwhelmed her in a flood - a childhood spent in a gleaming institution. Dozens of other children his age. Classrooms. Lessons. Harsh punishments. It was not a kind place. The children were pitted against each other, and failures met with punishment. Not all of them survived. She was horrified, and he was disgusted by her horror. It made him strong. Only the strongest survived the training.
It's called survivor's bias, she remembered from a long ago class she must have been paying at least some attention in. You happened to survive. That doesn't make you special.
A group of children ran across the surface of a bright rocky planet. A giant sun hung in the sky, bigger than she'd ever seen. The children were in full vacuum suits. One boy tripped and fell to the ground. His faceplate cracked open. It was a freak accident to trip in exactly that spot and land exactly that way.
He wasn't weaker or less clever, just unlucky. Whatever this training was, all it produced was a bunch of sociopathic little toadies like you, willing to do their bidding in exchange for occasional praise and reassurance of how special you are.

October 26, 2025 at 3:03 AM

Pat Luther

@plutherus.bsky.social

#WIPSnips 10/24
This whole scene was such an emotional rollercoaster to write. Hopefully some of that comes through with the wider context.
This one snippet, though, was fun, though it might not work as well out of context as others.

This time she was expecting the blow and rolled with it, turning all the way over until her feet were resting on the canopy.
"I am so sorry. Oh my gods, I've never…"
He trailed off and Del confirmed his suspicions. "It's not you," she said. "It's me."
"You…you wanted me to hit you?" he said incredulously.
"I didn't exactly want you to," she said, rubbing the side of her face. It hurt a lot. "But that was the suggestion I put in your head."
"Void. And it seemed so…natural. As if—"
"As if it were entirely your idea. Yeah. How do you fight something like that?"
"You did. Kenny did. There must be a way."
"I'm a bio-engineered freak and Kenny is either the same or just a total sociopath."
"Still there must…"

October 24, 2025 at 4:57 PM

Pat Luther

@plutherus.bsky.social

Not a happy moment for them, but I loved these two, and their interaction with each other.
Toni (seen) and Michael (holding the flashlight) are from my first novel, Yellow Tape and Coffee.
Artwork by Josh Rollo (who isn't on Blue Sky.)