…the square cleared rapidly as the small red-clad figure scampered into view, officers of The Queen’s Constabulary hot on his slender, spiked heels. Good, thought Shimmer Starfyre, sliding to a halt at the foot of the fountain, stopping short of knocking over one of the fleeing flower-seller’s baskets. If this is where it’s gonna happen, then at least no-one innocent’ll get hurt…
(Continued)
The very moment I first heard the Rainbow song “Snakecharmer” – and it wasn’t that long ago, such was the struggle to find “Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow” on CD – it just cried out to become the “official” theme-song for any and all future Adventures of Glitterthorn. Today, in fact just an a hour or so ago, I heard the news that the voice of that song – rock legend Ronnie James Dio – has been taken from us, and now goes beyond to seek his own Rainbow In The Dark.
Ronnie, thank you. Rainbow, Sabbath, Dio – none of it will ever sound the same again.
Starbreaker returns.
For years, the elven heroes aboard the living starship Starbreaker have been fighting to defend their home-world from The Faenri Sisterhood, but now that the Faenri have withdrawn to consolidate their territories following the destruction of their home-planet, what lies in store for Wraith and his companions? A power vacuum has come into being… and who might be in a position to fill that vacuum?
Also: who is the dark figure lurking in the wings – a friend, a foe, an uncommitted onlooker? And what is the truth surrounding the mysterious organisation known as The Alternative…?
The Glitterthorn profile page has been updated with a comprehensive list of previous appearances.
The profile pages for The Challenger and Glitterthorn have received extensive updates.
The profile page for The Traveller has now been updated, with History, Abilities and Accessories and Appearances data.
The next day…
“This morning, on Breakfast America, the big question on everyone’s lips – just what happened in the sky last night? The Government is staying tight-lipped, the scientific community are refusing to comment, but according to sources, the Air Force appear to be about to make some kind of statement on the matter, here at Nellis Air Force Base, just outside Las Vegas…”
Lee shivered inside his armour as he watched the television broadcast on the screen lining the inside of his helmet. Last night had been easy – the press was an entirely different matter; had they failed the night before, none of this would have mattered, or still existed, but today, the world wanted answers, and The Challenger was going to have to give them…
(Continued)
Six days later.
“…after another night of spectacular ‘fireworks’, public concerns continue to increase – just what do these displays mean? It has been suggested that this is an overture to a renewed attack by the mysterious ‘Zeta-Men’ who plagued the whole planet earlier this month, and caused world-wide upheaval both during their reign of silent terror, and in the days following their sudden disappearance, which left the remaining two billion of Earth’s population struggling to come to terms with a drastically changed world…”
Lee watched the news reports with a mixture of amusement, and anxiety. This was what he had been preparing for – an incident that required the intervention of someone in command of technology and powers – and mankind’s seemingly in-bred aversion for the sky, the result of generations of Durash Fortain’s psychological engineering which he put in place to stop them questioning their existence, had blinded them to the ever-advancing menace from the stars. Only one person on the whole planet had any chance of stopping the devastation threatened by several thousand tons of rock hurtling towards the Earth, drawn onto a collision course by the energy fountain…
There it was, plain as anything – as direct a challenge as there could ever be. Lee had to make his choice, make the right choice, or millions of people, perhaps all of them, were going to die.
It wasn’t a hard choice to make.
(Continued)
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
By the time Salieri’s Hummer deposited Lee at the door of The Olympus Springs Hotel, the signs were already going up:
Acquired by The Better Day Foundation
Now hiring – electrical, plumbing and construction workers for immediate deployment on local charitable projects
Now available – hardship respite accommodation – apply at the front desk.
“Seems like I’m not the only one wanting to reward you”, observed the Lieutenant. “The gods are smiling.”
“Damn“, gasped Lee, trying his best to seem truly overawed, even though the purchase of the hotel had been all his own work. “S’enough to make ya believe in those gods – almost…”
(Continued)
Las Vegas; Fortain’s World – Shortly after the expulsion of the “Zeta-Men”…
“Hi, Lee. Yes, this is yourself…”
Lee Croxley had been expecting this e-mail, and the one he knew would follow it. At the time he recorded the video-message, he had had no idea what was going to happen to the knowledge force-fed into his brain by Fortain’s flying saucer. The details of the flight operations necessary to fly an alien space craft had indeed become snatches of vague memory, but it appeared that at least the first stage of his hurriedly cobbled-together plan to preserve at least some of that knowledge had been successful…
(Continued)
