The Keeper-Pedia Read online

  Hyperdrive

  We all know the theories of time dilation traveling at or near the speed of light. Traveling to another planet at light speed truly meant that you would leave everything you ever knew behind. Hundreds of years would pass on earth behind you. The technology you took with you on your ship would be considered antique before you even got to where you were going. Every single person you knew that had been left behind would be dead and their grandchildren would be having grandchildren. But fortunately for all those who dreamed of space travel and for all those who dreamed of leaving the planet Earth behind for a fresh start, a hyperdrive was invented. The hyperdrive opens a doorway that allows the ship to travel through space and time faster than the speed of light. The time you spend in hyperspace is nearly identical to the time that passes for the rest of the galaxy. Of course it can still take many days to travel from one side of the galaxy to the other, but travel between neighboring star systems is measured in hours.

  Instantaneous Universal Communication

  The first exploration ships that left Earth did so without an effective means of communication. Explorers like Pahoran Hardy went out, found worlds and then hyperspaced back to Earth to report on it, beating their radio signals by years. The first colony ships had the same problem. It was months and years for transmissions to be sent and received from Earth to the various colonies. This left the colonies on their own and caused some panic when transmissions from Earth ceased altogether. A great many scientists throughout the colonized worlds began to work on creating some form of interplanetary communication that was near to instantaneous as possible. The IUC device worked on some of the same principles as the hyperdrive. It opened a gate in space and time and passed communication signals between devices. A network of IUC’s was formed around the galaxy regardless of political differences between worlds once again tying the galaxy together instead of each colony being completely separate from all the rest. The IUC more than any other technology has helped form the galactic governments.

  Energy Shields

  Flying through space at incredible speeds is a very dangerous thing. One small rock or piece of debris could puncture your ship and leave you dead or drifting to die a terrible death. The earliest ships were very heavily armored with thick hulls to prevent this. But the heaviness of the ships hulls made it nearly impossible to land and take off again from a planet. Long range ships with heavy armor would dock with space stations and transfer their cargo to lighter ships that would drop into the atmosphere. The earliest energy shields were simply dubbed force fields. They consumed mass amounts of power and were only turned on only when incoming threats to the ship were detected. As the technology improved and the power ratio improved they were used more and more often and were simply dubbed, shields. There are a wide variety of shields depending on the power source and how strong and effective the shield is. The most effective shields are generally found on medium sized ships and shuttles as they can balance the power needs with ship size.

  Anti-gravity

  The ability to control gravity and create artificial gravity is essential to long term life in space. Humans living aboard a capital ship or space station for long periods of time would lose the muscles and skeletal structure needed for life on a planet. The machines that generate artificial gravity have made life very comfortable for those who live their life in space while also giving them the ability to land on a planet without having to undergo major physical therapy. The same technology that creates gravity on a ship can also be used to break the gravity of a planet and assist the ships in lifting off and flying. The aerodynamics of a ship is not as important as the strength of its gravity generators in getting a large ship off of the surface of a planet.

  Nano-bots

  Nan- bots are microscopic robots. They of course have unlimited potential but their greatest and most common use has been in the field of medicine. Medicine over the ages has prolonged human life to the point where most people live comfortably into their early hundreds. New diseases are constantly popping up and cures are constantly being found. Nano-bots have been designed to aid the immune system. They take cues from the body’s natural defenses and immensely speed up the process of healing, to the point where you can watch major injuries close and begin to heal. A very small dose is often given in hospitals, but it is a very costly treatment. For the ultra rich a large dose can be given as preventative medicine, making the individual nearly invincible until the nano-bots wear out. The nano-bots typically function at full capacity for about two years before wearing out. The body flushes the dead machines with the rest of its waste.

  Teleportation

  Teleportation is a more recent technological development. It was first developed by a coalition of the scientists sequestered away on the planet Atlantis II. The teleportation device connects two platforms together to send living beings instantly from point a to point b. It requires a great amount of power and has a range limited to within a solar system. It is rumored that a Socialist Alliance scientist may have discovered a way to teleport without a receiving platform.

  Cloaking devices

  Cloaking devices bend light around an object rendering them invisible to the naked eye. There are cloaking devices that also hide the object from all kinds of sensors. Cloaking devices were declared illegal under the Treaty of Abregado, brokered between the Galactic Republic, Socialist Alliance and several other independent worlds. (The treaty also forbids conventional nuclear weapons.) With the ban of cloaking devices the galaxy lost the ability to create the technology and it mostly became a legend that it had ever existed. The Alltradeuin Empire never signed the treaty and is rumored to have the ability to create a cloaking device, but the power requirements are enormous.

  A.I.

  Most beings of Artificial Intelligence have come into existence on accident and are impossible to recreate. Most AI beings are also trapped within a computer or within a network of computers. They are programs that did a great many things and through some sort of shock or accident developed self awareness. The computer program that operated most of the systems on Robert Griffin’s starfighter came to life after a crash. He named himself Byte and while once confined to the starship now roams free in the intergalaxy network working loyally for Robert Griffin. Nex is a particularly mischievous AI who usually assists the Alltradeuin Empire, but more often than not is just out causing problems and pranks. His original programming was to run the hyperdrives and automated targeting weapon systems on Alltradeuin ships. No one is completely sure when he became self aware or why but he is the unofficial leader of the handful of AI’s that exist.

  Universal Translator

  Languages evolve so very quickly, especially with the distances between planets. Most computer programs have excellent translator software, including all handheld devices. Because so many languages are programmed in, when a new language is discovered the computer runs analysis until it finds a way to translate it, thus it was titled a universal translator.

  Chapter 9

  Publishing Stories in The Keeper’s Universe

  We are always looking for more stories and books to be published that are set in the Keeper’s Universe. Short stories and novellas will be collected and grouped together based on time periods in the universe and themes. When there is a collection big enough it will be published as an eBook available on all platforms. All novels will be submitted to the Keeper’s Universe Publishing Group. If it meets our requirements some editing will be provided and it will be formatted and published as an eBook.

  Submit all manuscripts to Matthew Mangum at [email protected] attach manuscripts as a word document.

  Common Questions and Answers for publishing with The Keeper’s Universe Publishing Group

  What is The Keeper’s Universe Publishing Group?

  The Keeper’s Universe is a unique science fiction universe originally created by Matthew Mangum as a place to set his stories, the first novel being Pangea Liberation. The u
niverse has been expanded and enriched through a message board role-playing and storytelling site by the same name. The Keeper’s Universe Publishing Group seeks to transform the stories and characters created for the message boards and share them with the world through published eBooks. We also wish to enhance the universe further by adding new stories and characters from additional contributors and up and coming new authors. We are also always looking for fresh art set in the universe as well as cover artists for the books to be published.

  How does it work?

  Matthew Mangum is the creative director of the Keeper’s Universe. He has created a guide book called the “Keeper-pedia.” It contains a broad history of the universe from the demise of Earth up through about 3000 years later, roughly where Pangea Liberation is set. It also contains a list of planets with a brief history of each; descriptions of major characters that have had influence in the galaxy; as well as a variety of technologies used in the universe. The guide book will give you enough background to set the stories you write using new characters you create as well as drawing on characters that others have created and given permission to use. The Keeper’s Universe publishing House will collect short stories to be published as a collection. We will also publish novellas and full novels. For the time being all books will be published as an eBook available for Amazon’s Kindle, Barnes and Noble’s Nook and in a variety of other eBook formats for the iPad and other tablets and smart-phones. By creating stories set in the Keeper’s Universe you will get your writing published sooner and be part of an overall series. You will also start collecting royalties right away. By being part of a larger overall series you will also gain more publicity and thus make more money.

  How do contributing authors get paid?

  Authors of full novels set in the Keeper’s Universe will get 100% of royalties from sale of their book. Depending on the price of the novel most royalties will start at $2 per sale and possibly higher. Royalties for contributors to collections of short stories will be divided among the contributing authors. The hope is to earn each other 50 cents per book sale.

  How does The Keeper’s Universe Publishing House get paid?

  The bulk of the money to going to The Keeper’s Universe Publishing House comes from the sale of the guide books to potential contributing authors. There is also a small editor’s fee for the publication of short story collections.

  How does Keeper’s Universe Publishing House distribute the guide book to potential contributing authors?

  How do contributing authors add to the guide book?

  With the publication of each new novel and short story collection the “Keeper-pedia” will be updated with additional back-story, new planets, technology and characters that can be used in further books. Updated versions of the book will be available for free to those who have already purchased it.

  How is the copyright of contributing authors protected?

  All contributing authors will hold the copyright to their own works. Publishing as part of The Keeper’s Universe requires approval of the creative director, thus under your copyright will be a statement that the book is licensed under The Keeper’s Universe Publishing Group. We also ask that when drawing on characters created by other authors in the group that you acknowledge those individual contributors either on an acknowledgement/thanks page or on the copyright page.

  How does The Keeper’s Universe Publishing group market the books?

  Most of our marketing is done through social networking and online advertising. We invite all contributing authors to submit to the Keeper’s Universe blog telling us how they came up with their story and some of their writing process. Additional media content will be provided on the Facebook page for The Keeper’s Universe as well as each individual books page. Twitter will be used for announcements. Contributing authors are always encouraged to market their works in any way they see fit.

  What services will The Keeper’s Universe Publishing Group provide to contributors?

  The Keeper’s Universe Publishing Group will format your manuscript for publication. Some editing will be provided. For additional cost a professional editor will go through you manuscript. We will do our best to market your book to the target audience. Being part of The Keeper’s Universe Publishing Group also gets you contact information with other authors in the group so that you can share work, receive feedback and network. Any author desiring to opt out of sharing their contact information may do so.

  Does it cost contributing authors anything to be part of the universe?

  Only the cost of purchasing the “Keeper-pedia” guide book. We also recommend that you read the works of other writers set in The Keeper’s Universe.

  Who designs cover art?

  Authors of full novels set in The Keeper’s Universe will be responsible for creating or acquiring their own cover art. We can refer several excellent graphic designers if needed. The Keeper’s Universe takes care of the cover art for short story collections. If you are an artist interested in having your art featured as part of the Keeper’s Universe and as cover art please submit a portfolio.

  Address any further questions to Matthew Mangum at [email protected].