The Sapphiran Agenda

By Marcha Fox

This short story is a prequel to "The Star Trails Tetralogy" which features Thyron, a flora peda telepathis from the planet, Sapphira. His naterra, or home world, is occupied by his species of telepathic walking plants as well as a race of cannibalistic pygmies who recognize their botanical intelligence as superior to their own and thus worship them as gods. The two diverse species have a synergistic relationship in which Thyron and others of his kind provide technical assistance to the natives in their interstellar forays for food in return for protection, albeit primitive. Encounters with humans generally don't end well. Face it, humans are omnivorous and plants a popular source of nourishment. Attempt this on Sapphira, however, and the food chain is likely to change rather quickly. If you've read "Beyond the Hidden Sky" you've already met the Sapphirans as well as Thyron and experienced his botanical wisdom. This short story comprises his adventures prior to his appearance in "The Star Trails Tetralogy."

• Language: English
• Publisher: Marcha Fox
• Release date: Sep 9, 2015
• ISBN: 9781310501098

Marcha Fox

Marcha Fox has loved science fiction since she was a child with the stars always holding a strong sense of mystery and fascination. Her love of astronomy resulted in a bachelor of science degree in physics from Utah State University followed by a 21 year career at NASA where she held a variety of positions including technical writer, engineer and eventually manager. Her NASA experience was primarily at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas but included trips to Cape Canaveral in Florida, visiting other Centers in Mississippi, Alabama and Maryland as well as visits to the European Space Agency in The Netherlands. Her most memorable experience, however, was the sad task of helping to recover space shuttle debris in East Texas following the tragic Columbia accident in 2003. "NASA was a great career experience, but writing is what I've always wanted to do. To me there is nothing more exhilarating than bringing a character to life."She has made it a point to "do the math" regarding various elements in her books to assure accuracy and hoping to instill an interest in science and engineering to her readers in an enjoyable and entertaining way. She admits that Cyraria's figure-8 orbit around a binary star system is a bit of a stretch but maintains it is mathematically feasible even though it would be unstable with life on such a planet beyond challenging with its seasonal extremes. "But that's what makes it a good setting for the story," she adds.Born in Peekskill, New York she has lived in California, Utah and Texas in the course of raising her family and currently resides in the Texas Hill Country. Whether “Refractions of Frozen Time,” the fourth and final volume of the Star Trails Tetralogy series will be the last she states, "These characters have a life of their own and may move on to other adventures."Before publishing "The Curse of Dead Horse Canyon" Marcha wanted to confirm her portrayal of Native American culture and the story's protagonist, Charlie Littlewolf, was accurate as well as not offensive in any manner. She was fortunate enough to find Pete Risingsun, an enrolled member of the Northern Cheyenne tribe, who did the honors. Pete offered insights and changes, but best of all, was so taken with the story he ultimately became its co-author.Marcha's experience as a retired NASA engineer and seasoned author of the science fiction series, "The Star Trails Tetralogy," combined perfectly with Pete's knowledge of his tribe's history and ceremonies. The pair, who has never met face to face, collaborated via phone call and text messages between her home in the Texas Hill Country and his on the reservation in Montana. Thus far they have produced two multi-award winning thrillers in the "Dead Horse Canyon Saga."The collaboration has been comfortably divided with Pete taking the lead on Charlie's role while Marcha develops the other characters and over-all plot, then tying them together in a manner that has earned several awards and dedicated fans anxiously awaiting the third and final volume of the trilogy.In preparation for writing the saga's explosive conclusion, Marcha and Pete have conducted extensive research. In doing so, they have uncovered fascinating details of Northern Cheyenne history and ceremonies that dove-tail perfectly with the complex tale and tie multiple plot threads together that reach back to the 19th Century. (Forthcoming Spring/Summer 2023)

Book preview

The Sapphiran Agenda

Marcha Fox

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Published by

Kalliope Rising Press

P.O. Box 23

Burnet, Texas 78611

Copyright © 2015 by Marcha Fox

Smashwords Edition

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.  For information contact the publisher through the above listed address or their website located at http://www.KalliopeRisingPress.com.

Cover design by the author

Stock Photo License 123rf.com

ISBN 978-1-3105010-9-8

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Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

About Marcha Fox

Other Books by Marcha Fox

Connect with Marcha Fox

Acknowledgements

Research into the possibility of consciousness in the plant world is one of science's most exciting frontiers. The Secret Life of Plants: A Fascinating Account of the Physical, Emotional and Spiritual Relations Between Plans and Man by Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird is but one of several books on the subject. The PBS documentary What Do Plants Talk About? is another fascinating investigation of plant sentience. This possibility has of course been explored fictitiously in such stories as Little Shop of Horrors with the infamous Audrey and more recently in Guardians of the Galaxy I and II with Groot and Groot Jr. It is my hope that Thyron, the protagonist in this story, will eventually join their prestigious ranks.

Chapter 1

THYRON EYED THE TWO approaching spacecraft with considerable suspicion. A ripple of caution surged through his protoplasm, causing the hair on his ciliated leaves to quiver with trepidation. Most ships in the area crashed, damaged in battle