All Things Considered Vol 2

By S L Hendrickson

This collection contains ten stories. A scientist is testing an android that he believes should be the first to land on Mars, setting up habitats for the humans that will follow but will there ever be a mission to Mars? Max wants to find a new species of dinosaur, but an alien abduction will get in the way. Earth's military forces are eager to help the Orlons defend their home world but only one general knows their diabolical plan to conquer Earth. Alex doesn’t believe in aliens until there is an alien ship and bodies found after a forest fire, but will anyone believe him? The aliens altered her DNA so she will always stay the same but she wants to know if there is more to life than just obeying the machines. Can they stop aliens from mining on the Moon? A historian will use a time machine not to change history but to be with the woman he loves.

• Language: English
• Publisher: S L Hendrickson
• Release date: Apr 21, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224172283

S L Hendrickson

After serving in the Army, I earned a B.A. Degree. I've worked many different jobs: Security Guard, Printing Press Operator, and Loan Processor. I know write full time mostly erotic fiction also science fiction. Sometimes I combine the two. I live and write in Phoenix, Arizona.

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ALL THINGS CONSIDERED

VOLUME 2

Published by STEVEN HENDRICKSON at Smashwords

Copyright 2024 STEVEN HENDRICKSON

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy.

Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

All characters are 18 years of age or older

All characters in this novel are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. The use of any real company and/or product names is for literary effect only. All other trademarks and copyrights are the property of their respective owners. No infringement is intended.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

MISSION TO MARS

THE PLATEAU

TIPPING POINT

SIGHTINGS

LITTLE HANDS

FRATERNIZATION

BARBARIANS

ONLY TIME KNOWS

THE DEVICE

BORDERLINE

MISSION TO MARS: Jacob Simonson poured brandy and sat in the high-back leather chair. It was almost midnight. The evening was spent doing what he hated most, asking for money, but it was necessary if the project was going to continue. He would rather be in the lab or monitoring the simulation. Still, donors expected to meet and talk with the man who was the foremost expert in artificial intelligence and the first man to build the first autonomous robot.

He was running out of ways to ensure donors that funding the project wouldn’t lead to robots taking over and the human ego and instinct for self-preservation was too strong for that to ever happen. The glass of brandy almost fell from his hand. He needed to get some sleep.

It didn’t take long to fall asleep, but it was only a couple of hours, and the phone was buzzing.

Yes, what is it?

We had a fire, sir. It was Forbes, the technician on the project.

How is Atlas?

It is unharmed but is just sitting there. I’m afraid it’s in a feedback loop.

Crap, ok, I’m on my way.

Jacob went to the bathroom, got a washcloth wet with cold water, and dapped his face. The face in the mirror looked much older than his fifty years. There were large bags under the eyes. The skin was pale from hardly ever being outside, and the dark hair had plenty of grey in it. He let out a loud sigh knowing that the project was probably over. This was his third attempt to prove that an android that he created could make it to Mars.

When he got into the lab, he looked at the monitor, and Atlas was still sitting in the command chair, looking at its arm. Jacob gave him that name for the Greek God of endurance and astronomy. The fire had started behind a panel. It was a short in the wiring that spread to the insulation. Jacob had no idea it wasn’t fireproof. If Atlas were a real astronaut, the command module would have been full of air, and the fire would have spread quickly. The benefit of using an android was air, water, and food weren’t necessary. Atlas put out the fire and repaired the wiring but tore its covering. He spread the skin apart, exposing the wiring and the metroplex supports that made up his body.

Should I reboot it? Forbes asked.

If he did, the simulation would be over, and they would have to start again. Jacob looked at the clock. They were three days from landing on Mars.

How long has he been like this?

Almost an hour.

Give him a few more minutes.

During the years it took to develop and build Atlas, it was hard sometimes for Jacob not to think of it as a person. He gave him his knowledge and memories so it would hopefully think more like a human and, more importantly, have the human drive to survive and do anything to accomplish the mission, something that had been hardwired into the human brain over thousands of years.

Jacob went into the break room. He needed coffee. The phone buzzed in his pocket. He was afraid to look at it thinking it was probably General Johnstone. The Air Force monitored the entire lab. He looked at the phone. It was his sister. He let it go to voice mail. After decades of NASA promising to go to Mars, it still hadn’t happened. There was nothing but cost overruns and delays. There were private space companies with plans for a mission to Mars, but there was no clear profit, so it never got past the planning stage. They focused their business on space tourism charging large sums for short trips into space. One company offered two days in space and several orbits around the planet, but few could afford the two million price tag.

When President Mackenzie took office six months ago, he not only promised the first human-crewed mission to Mars but there would be a colony there before the end of his first term. He gave the mission to the Air Force. The budget was razor-thin and had very tight deadlines. The entire team consisted of just him and Forbes. He was given just enough money to pay the rent of a studio apartment, keep up the payments on his car, and buy the bare necessities. Forbes was a student at MIT and was given a small stipend and did it for the experience. He stayed at the lab where there was a bed, a small refrigerator, and a microwave.

It’s moving, sir, Forbes shouted.

Jacob almost spilled the coffee, went in, and looked at the monitor. Atlas got the med kit and put tape on the torn skin. It went down the corridor to the hatch. He turned the large lever.

Should I stop it? Forbes asked.

No, let’s see what he does.

Atlas opened the hatch and stepped out onto the walkway. Below the thirty-foot-high simulated rocket was the control room. It was a mock-up of the proposed system that would have a crew of four to eight. It was built over several weekends by vocational students where there was a considerable amount of beer and pizza. Atlas was in its space suit. He looked down and could see Jacobson and Forbes through the window. He closed the hatch, returned to the control room, and put on the headset.

Control, this is Atlas; I’m ready to continue the simulation.

Standby, Atlas, Forbes said.

Do you know what this means?

Yes, we are done, Forbes replied. We failed. It opened the hatch.

It went way beyond its original programming. He figured out it was a simulation. That’s a breakthrough.

The phone buzzed. This time it was the general. It was a text. He had