Off In Another World
E.J. Murray lives in South Carolina in a little house full of books and photographs. When not off in her own little worlds, she can be found wandering around with a camera in her hand.
E.J. is addicted to travel and prefers to explore whatever spots the locals recommend rather than going on a guided tour. She’s especially drawn to the American Southwest and has spent several enjoyable vacations exploring the desert around Albuquerque, NM. She has even been to Roswell, though she didn’t see any unexpected aliens there.
E.J. is the author of the velyr stories and novels. She’s been dreaming of velyr since the early 1980s, but never got around to writing that novel until recently. You can catch her at her website, www.ejmurray.com or by email at e.j.murray.author@gmail.com
Contact Info:
E.J. Murray – e.j.murray.author@gmail.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/EJMurrayBooks
Twitter: @Tejmurray
Excerpt:
Long, long ago, Raiji looked out upon Her universe and it was good. The stars and planets moved in their orbits. Galaxies whirled and spun. All was ordered and precise.
But She was alone.
So Raiji took the desert sand and the winter rain and the red light of the sun and created the velyr in Her image. And She saw that it was good.
*
For many thousands of years, the velyr lived in harmony with their world. Connected via the computer-driven Net, each unit knew its place and how it fit into the great machinery that was the home planet. There was no conflict, no war, for who would war against their own extended body? The artificial intelligence oversaw the society, ensuring that the world ran smoothly.
And then came the Great Plague.
No one knew where the disease came from, or why. They knew only that there was no cure, no treatment. Velyr afflicted became unfit for the Net, unable to return to the peaceful Mind they once enjoyed. They claimed no longer to be units in the great One, but individuals with the right to decide their own fates. And as these units touched others, the plague spread. In vain, the AI tried to cure the afflicted units, tried to halt the spread of the disease, tried to isolate those afflicted.
It was no use.
In a last desperate attempt to save their world, the velyr elders rounded up the afflicted and Exiled them, sending them forth in a great Ship to locate and colonize some far planet where they could no longer endanger the home world. Even this act proved dangerous: thirty of those designated as a security force succumbed to the disease and were Exiled themselves.
No one knows how long the Ship traveled before it located a barely-habitable planet in a yellow star system. However, the elders had not told the Ship to find an ideal planet, so it released the sleep pods, scattering them across the surface of the planet to make sure the units inside would not regroup and attempt to return to the home planet. Then, it took up a position on the far side of the planet’s one moon to make sure of that fact.
The Ship powered down and prepared to wait. This might take a long time.
Check out the Patreon Site as well for even more velyr shenanigans!