Greetings, all!

Posting really late, but it’s still Hump Day!

We are continuing with Ark!

12 Sept 217 ARY

Luk lovingly fingered the cool pieces of metal in the pocket of his jumpsuit. Eighteen months of archival research had paid off. He hoped.

Doors had loks, which he had known, of course, but his door—that was how he thought of it now—had a mechanical lok. Pins and tumblers kept the handle—the strange metal piece, he’d learned—from turning and allowing the door to open. They required a mechanical kee, which could be inserted to make the handle move. The fact that he had no kee had disappointed him for months.

Until he learned about lok picks.

Luk had discovered this fact in an ancient document about crime on Old Erth—apparently people used to take things they wanted and didn’t have from other people who had them. So, it was theoretically possible to defeat the pins and tumblers with small metal tools called picks.

Luk was about to find out.

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‘Til next time!

Greetings, all!

It’s Wednesday and time for Hump Day Hook! I’m continuing with my dystopian work in progress, Ark.

Luk’s thumb again found its way to the corner of his mouth. If the schematics were at all correct, there was no reason for this door in the first place—yet there it was. Hence, it must lead someplace. But to where? Cru-member spaces were restricted; to trespass was to invite disciplinary action. Clearly the door was unused, but Luk suspected that would not be an argument in his favor, should he get caught.

He glanced over his shoulder. Master Jon would not come to check on him; there would be no question in the Tutor’s mind that Luk was focused on his task—his reliability distracted from his differentness.

Now his curiosity warred with his caution. The schematics. XAP. The hidden door. The dust.

4BlueEyes Pete Williamson / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-ND

Curiosity won. Luk stepped forward, pushing on the door. It shifted in its frame and sent an avalanche of gray powder over Luk’s hand. But it did not open. The metallic protrusion moved a little—maybe it was key to getting through the door. Luk could turn the piece left and right, only to have it spring back to its original position. Frustrated, he shook the piece and pounded on the gray metal. To no avail—the portal remained closed.

Clearly he had a lot to learn about doors.

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‘Til next time!

Greetings, all!

First off, congratulations to Mandy Earles who won the drawing for the $5 Amazon gift card  in last week’s giveaway.

We are continuing with Ark this week. To catch up with Luk and his world aboard the Ark, click here.

At least he thought it was a door—there was no keypad, only a weird piece of what looked to be metal sticking out of one side. Fine gray dust filmed its surface and had piled up on the odd protrusion. Luk could see words on the door, faint letters beneath the layer of forgottenness. He reached out to brush the dirt away. The surface was cold and rough, so unlike the smooth regular plastinel found everywhere else in the Ark. A cloud of dust tickled his nose. He sneezed.

Photo credit: adrazahl / Foter.com / CC BY-ND

Authorized Personnel Only.

Luk didn’t know what authorized meant—it sounded like it had something to do with writing. But he did know what personnel meant. Personnel meant cru-members. Cru-members were the elite, the upper-most class on the Ark—only the healthiest, smartest, and strongest people were chosen to join the cru. Once admitted, cru-members lived separate lives; rarely were they seen among the bulk of the people aboard, unless there was an emergency. Everybody aboard had responsibilities on the Ark; cru-members were responsible for the operation of the Ark.

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‘Til next time!

 Greetings, all!

Today we find out a little bit more about Luk and his world:

Stuck in Customs / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-SA

Grabbing his compad, Luk accessed the internal schematics of the Ark. Master Jon’s laboratory was located in the third Ring, making the storage room one of the outermost spaces in the Ark. According to Luk’s Engineering class, that meant there were no other spaces beyond except superstructure, then exoskin, then…nothing. The schematics confirmed it. The back storage room was a rectangular space, labeled Storaj Lokker 3-3-639677—XAP. Luk didn’t know what an XAP designation meant—and neither did the schematic legend, apparently—but the schematics showed no irregularity in the room.

Curiosity poked at Luk. He knew he should alert Master Jon to the inaccuracy, but this was something different. Like him, it was not quite the way it was supposed to be. An Old Erth word came to mind—misteree.

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‘Til next time!

Greetings, all!

I am continuing with Ark:

Luk had made progress about halfway around the room when he shifted a box atop the shelving only to hear something go rattling down behind the rack. The shelves looked as if they were affixed directly to the wall. Getting down on his knees, he moved the items on the bottom shelf and tried to reach whatever had fallen. He could go no farther than the back of the shelf, which made an odd thump when his hand hit it. What he had thought was wall was actually a panel across the back of the shelves. That’s strange, he thought. But that means there’s a space behind them!

Thanks for reading!

Be sure to check out more Hump Day Hooks here.

‘Til next time!

Greetings, all!

Today’s hook continues with Ark, showing us more of what’s going on with Luk:

Master Jon stood before his bank of equipment, making notes on a compad, and looked up as Luk entered the laboratory. “You’re early, Luk! Everything all right at your studies?”

The Tutor had always taken an interest in Luk’s doings—his questions gave Luk a warm, comfortable feeling in his chest. That made it easier to deal with his classmates.

“Yes, Master Jon.” The answer came out like a squeaky rasp. He coughed to clear his throat. Lately his voice had been sounding strange.

The Tutor cocked his head. “Anything else you might want to tell me?”

Luk’s face grew hot. He had more of that hair growing. It was under his arms, on his belly, even down there—between his legs. He had taken to using a knife from the mess hall to cut at it, but it just kept coming back. Luk shook his head. “No, Tutor.”

“Very well.” Jon continued to look at Luk, who examined the nearest piece of equipment. Finally, Jon returned to his notes. “Today I would like you to inventory and organize the back storage room.”

“Yes, Tutor.” Luk called up the inventory protocol on his compad and made his way through the research lab. At least this work would keep his mind busy and off the tingly sensation Master Jon gave him down there.

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‘Til next time!

Greetings, all! It’s time for Hump Day Hook! I’m continuing with Ark, so we can learn some more about Luk and his world:

Luk walked down the two levels to the Research Lab where he had his work assignment. Master Jon was called a botanist; he studied things called plants. Jon’s plants were green floppy things with hairy looking white bits that floated in trays of sticky liquid under blue lights. The lights made Luk’s skin glow oddly. According to the Tutor, Old Erth had once been covered with these plant-things, but they had been in the ground, not trays of biogel. Luk tried to imagine green things growing out of the floor. The thought made him queasy.

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‘Til next time!

Greetings, all!

For today’s hook I’ve decided to continue with Ark and trickle out a little more about Luk and his world:

30 Febru 215 ARY

This day in his fourteenth year Luk left his classroom, grasping his compad and focusing on nothing but his feet. Watching the gray and worn plastinel of the corridor pass, he blocked out the buzz of curious whispers and the hisses of disturbed complacency. He’d heard “that boy” or “gene freak” for so long that the phrases barely registered. He just couldn’t take the looks of fear when he glanced down at the whisperers—for Luk was now taller than all his classmates. Almost as big as Master Jon, the Head Tutor and largest man in the Ark, Luk found it easier to look at his shuffling feet.

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‘Til next time!