Deimos Rising 3

Leaning back in my chair, I gazed out of my port-side window at the stars. I hit a few keys on the keyboard I had attached to my flight counsel, bringing up the holographic map.
I traced my finger along the route I had set out to the outlands. I would have to pass through a security gate, but It wouldn't be a problem as long as I had enough money to bribe the security guard.
Don't get me wrong, most of what's left of the human government isn't corrupt or anything, but the people who've spent most of their lives out in the outlands are a different story.
A blinking button on the counsel caught my attention.
I pressed it, bringing up a new hologram. "A Teludav spacecraft..." I muttered.
The Teludav were a race of humanoid aliens, with whom we humans shared most planets. They were peaceful, but nevertheless, a lone cargo ship, most likely without a lot of firepower, could be tempting to any Teludav.
I slipped my headset over my ears and positioned the mic in front of my mouth.
An alert blipped in the corner of my screen. They were hailing me.

New Characters

A new story means new characters, so you can find a list of the main characters in Characters.
I've moved all the 'Ashelyn' characters into Archives, along with the Ironhollow characters, so you can go and look at those if you want a trip down memory lane. *sniff*

Deimos Rising 2

The officer checked his clipboard. He scanned it for my name without success.
"Uh, miss Titan...you're not on the cargo shipment list. If you'll excuse me, I have some other carriers to load up." He walked off.
I knew very well I wasn't on that list. I was here to meet a friend of mine.
I walked off down the loading dock, passing dozens of cargo ships that were being loaded for trade routes.
I spotted my friend leaning against a huge pile of crates. I ran towards him.
"What's up, Titan?" He asked.
"Nothing you'd find interesting, Chas. What'd you get for me to, uh, 'transport' this time?" I asked.
My friend smiled, lowering his voice and pulling his hat down over his head to shadow his face. "Supplies. Food. Water. For my good friends in the Outlands." he said with a grin.
"The Outlands?" I asked, "You've gotta be kidding me."
Chas shrugged. "Oh, and here I thought I was makin' a deal with Valeri Titan, best smuggler on this side of the Anteus system! Besides, I'd deliver them myself, but I'm not exactly the authorities favorite guy these days."
I sighed. "Fine. Who's getting the supplies? No way can all these crates feed the entire Outlands."

Chas handed me a clipboard. "The crates are distributed through Colonies 260 to 280."
"And whats the payoff?" I asked.
"All I'm gonna say is that those Outland 'citizens', are in a real bind for supplies. Basically name your price!" Chas said.


I loaded the crates onto a hover cart, and I steered them down to my ship.
Once I loaded the crates into my cargo bay, I returned to my cockpit and cranked up some old Earth music.
"This is Cargo ship Eighty Five B, the Kaiser, un-docking." I spoke into my mic.
I put on the autopilot, all the way to the Outlands.

Deimos Rising 1

I swung my legs up onto the counsel, my chunky headset slipping off my ears and onto my shoulders.
Leaning back in my cracked leather chair and gazing out my starboard window at the space station, I lifted the mic of the headset up to my mouth.
"Control, this is cargo ship Eighty Five B. Requesting permission to dock." I said.
A series of alien clicks responded. I waited, pushing my white-blond hair out of my face. They assumed I was an alien, seeing as their are millions of them, and not many humans left, thanks to the Katigur.
A human voice repeated. "Permission granted. Dock at port 124 to receive your next cargo shipment."
I shoved a lever, switching the ship onto the automatic docking systems.
As soon as we docked, I locked the docking clamps and rose from my seat.
I pulled my chunky leather overcoat on over my black tunic dress, and I walking confidently down my dented hall down the outer port.
I swung open the port door and stepped out onto the cold docking station of Cargo Station 6.
An officer came up to meet me, clipboard in hand.
"Name?" He asked.
"Titan comma Veleriana."  I hated my name. Valeriana. It was way too girly, totally not my style. Thats why I usually went with just Valeri.

Yay!

And here starts...Deimos Rising!

Pretty soon!

The new story will be coming out any day now, so here's what it's about:
(It's set in the future,  by the way, so everybody has spaceships and stuff!)
An alien species called the Katigur started world war 3 with the human race, and in the fight, the Katigur launch a particle bomb into Earth's core, destroying the planet. The human race is scattered across galaxies in colonies on new planets and caravans of cargo ships and stuff.
So the story takes place forty/fifty years after the war, and it's centered around multiple people:

Veleri Titan- smuggler, self-proclaimed orphan (parents are important political figures, and she doesn't want anything to do with them.)

Marshal Kavanagh-  lives in a colony, specializes in Alien languages and negotiation.

Rebecca Royce-  skilled engineer, a stowaway on Valeri Titan's cargo ship, the Kaiser. 

Tanner Hayze-  weapons and munitions expert, hot-headed, good with a particle blaster.

The title of this new story is Deimos Rising, but I'm just gonna shorten it to D R when I'm referring to it on the blog.

No More Ashelyn

It's sad but true! Now, if anyone has any input about the next story, don't be shy! Feel free to make any suggestion in the comment section.

And...Coming Soon, Fall 2014, 'Vanessa'! 
It'll be the new 'Ashelyn'! It'll be from Vanessa's viewpoint, and it'll take place in NY, duh!

Ashelyn 36

As we whirred over the small lake (previously the moor), I stared at the green roof rising out of the floodwater.
Turning to the rescue officer who sat in the back of the large helicopter with us, I asked, "Will we ever be able to move back into our house?"
The rescue officer looked doubtful. "There'll be extreme amounts of water damage to the inside and outside. I doubt you'll want to move back in there, pretty much ever."
I sighed quietly.
My mum turned to the Carsons. "Where will you stay? Your house is as damaged as ours."
"We have relatives in England, so don't worry about us. What about you? None of your relations live in the UK."
My aunt Maggie interrupted the exchange. "Well, of course you will be coming to live with us in New York! It would be wonderful to have you! Anyway, it's your only option!"
My mum and dad accepted the invitation, of course. I didn't know whether or not I was happy or not.
Ella looked confused. "Are we gonna live in America?"
"I...guess so."


Five days later at Heathrow Airport in London, we waited to board the plane that would take us from our home and take us to the land of loud music, fried chicken and cowboys. And I can't believe we were doing it willingly.
The Carsons had come down from the countryside to say 'bye.
I hugged Maya tightly. "Don't go making a new best friend." She said with a sad chuckle.
I sniffed. With a smile, I said, "Never."

On the plane, I got a window seat next to my dad, and I watched as we ran the runway and took off.
A voice crackled over the plane-wide intercom-thingy.
"You are now free to move about the cabin. Enjoy our non-stop flight to New York City."

Soon...

Pretty soon (by 'soon' I mean in like ONE post!) 'Ashelyn will be over and it'll be time to start a new story!
Except...I'm going to take a little hiatus from blogging. As soon as 'Ashelyn' is over, i'll take a little break, just a few days, to gather inspiration and research for my next story!

Ashelyn 35

I watched as smoke rose from the wet wood fire my uncle had built.
The black smoke rose high and thick into the gray dawn sky, and ashes fell down to the earth silently.
The rain had stopped falling perhaps ten minutes ago, and the muddy floodwater had thankfully stopped rising.
Rising from my seat on a pile of scraggly blankets, I gazed out over the edge of the heavily forested mountain, staring at our barely visible roof a few miles away across the unrecognizable moor, which was now swamped in at least ten(plus) feet deep in water.
My little sister Ella came and stood beside me, staring at the moors and forests. "When are we going home?" she sighed, her lower lip starting to quiver, a warning sign of the imminent flood of tears that were bound to come.
I sighed. "I don't know, Ella. I..." I was interrupted by the sound of helicopter blades whirring.
I looked up. A brightly colored helicopter was hovering above the mountain.
"Look! There's a rescue 'copter!" i screamed, jumping and waving my arms in the air.
Everyone looked up from their meager meal of cold canned food to see the orange helicopter in the air.
Throwing aside their cans of food, they stood and waved their arms wildly at the helicopter, as if they hadn't already seen the column of smoke rising from our little camp, and me, jumping up and down and screaming to them.
A voice magnified by a bullhorn shouted down to us.
"Stay still, we'll lower a ladder! Rescue is imminent!"

Ashelyn 34

We set up our fold up tents, laying tarps across across their steepled roofs.
Inside, we huddled together for warmth.
"We're like penguins." My little sister Ella said.
"Er, what?" My dad asked.
"Penguins. They smush together so they don't get cold." She said with a small smile.
I laughed. "That's right!" I smiled, probably for the first time in twenty-four hours.
Uncle Artie entered, the tent, zipping up the entrance hurriedly as soon as he was in.
"Water had stopped rising, and the rain is letting up. They'll be sending out rescue helicopters by morning." He announced.
"Actually, Uncle Artie, it's already morning. Probably around four thirty AM, by now." I said.
He chuckled wearily.  "I guess so. Anyway, we should light a fire soon, so the rescue helicopters will know where we are. With all this wet wood, it'll get pretty smoke real soon. As soon as I get the flame going, that is."

Guess What...

Exciting news: I've started another blog!
It's not a story blog like Wordsmith, it's about Writing, Art, and maybe a little humor (emphasis on maybe).
Here's the link:
artsandwritingstuff.blogspot.com

Ashelyn 33

We stumbled across the moor in a ragged line, the youngest of the boys in the middle with Maya's mum and mine.
Aunt Maggie carried a torch (flashlight, for all you Americans!), and she led us across the moor.
The tall wet grass stung my hands as I walked past, but I didn't complain. This was hardly the time for complaints.
Finally, we reached the base of the mountain, and immediately we started hiking upwards.
Finding footholds was simple, but holding on to the slippery grass or using a root to help myself up was much harder in the pouring rain.
"Come on! We need to reach the top soon!" I heard my dad call out from a few feet away. A few feet below me I could hear Maya's brothers, and beside me, Vanessa was gripping a low hanging pine tree branch to pull her self onto the next ledge.
After perhaps a half hour of struggling up the side of the wooded mountain, I heard a whoop of excitement from one of Maya's brothers.
"We're close to the top! I can see were it flattens out!"
"Thank goodness." I muttered, hiking with renewed vigor.
Soon we were all clustered at the top of the mountain.
Turning to look back across the moors, I gasped.
The loch had broken its banks and even more water had rushed out. I could barely see our house, as the muddy water rose around it.

It's Back!

Well, after about a week long hiatus, 'Ashelyn' is back! I'll try to post every morning, although they might come out a little later In the morning, around 9:00 / 10:00.
Although it's never fun for something to end, 'Ashelyn' with be reaching its endpoint pretty soon, but don't worry, it'll have an awesome ending!

Ashelyn 32

Maya, Vanessa and I were sent into the kitchen with a few backpacks, where we packed two out of four of them with packaged and canned foods.
The other two were filled with blankets and tarps.
Meanwhile, my little sister Ella (who had been asleep for most of the flood crisis) and Maya's brothers were being bundled up by their respective mothers.
"We need to get to the top of that mountain by dawn." Maya's dad said, studying a map, "If there's as much flood water as there seems, it'll flood the valley by the morning."
"Well then, we should get movin'." Aunt Maggie said, hoisting a backpack and shouldering it.
In a few minutes, everyone was bundled up in as much rain gear as possible.
Uncle Artie opened up the door to the poring rain, and we filed out, standing on the porch before stepping out onto the ground, and into the ever rising water.

Ashelyn 31

"We have to make it into town somehow!" My mum exclaimed, "maybe if we get there, we can, I don't know, rent a bus. Then we can drive out-"
My dad interrupted her.  "We can't get out into town, the roads are...gone! We need to get up into higher ground! We should cross the moor and climb the mountain. The water is never going to get that high!"

Unfortunately...

I know you guys won't like this, but have to warn you in advance that I might not do many posts for the next week-
I'll be SUPER busy in the mornings and evening, so I might be able to squeeze in a post or two in the afternoons, but no promises...

Ashelyn 30

By the time I got back with everyone else, Tom was now awake, looking bored as he sat on Maya's lap in front of the fireplace.
"No, too hot." Tom complained, struggling from hit sister's arms.
Just as he as escaped from hit sister, his mum swooped in and picked him up, squeezing him In a hug.
"Oh, thank goodness you're all right!"
"I don't want to interrupt this reunion," my uncle said, "But the water is rising, and it's gonna start crumbling the foundation of the house. We'll be swimming in the house soon enough."

Happy 4th of July!!

Happy Fourth! Although judging by how many foreigners I have reading my blog, I'm not sure how many of you celebrate the Fourth of July!
Sorry for the delay in posts for the last few days, i was busy/majorly sidetracked!
Okay, before i press 'Publish', i'll put up this link to a friend of mine's blogs, in case you want something else to read while you wait for me to post another 'Ashelyn'!!  :)
writerinthewest.blogspot.com/

ladykathrynsbook.blogspot.com/


(yeah, she has two blogs. I can barely keep up!!)

Ashelyn 29

I struggled out through the rain. The water on the moor was not as deep as near the shore, where it rose all the way to my waist, but it did make it up to a few inches below my knee, flooding my wellingtons and soaking my pajama pants, which i had still not changed out of.
I saw dim flashlight beams ahead of me, and I quickened my stride, the muddy flood water sloshed around my knees.
My mum saw me coming, and she rushed over.
"Oh, sweetie! What are you doing out here?" she exclaimed.
"Mum, we found Tom! He fell in the lock, but he's safe at home now. Come on!"
My mum and the other adults followed me back to the house.

Ashelyn 28

Maya, Vanessa and I struggled to make it through the swiftly moving water.

Since we had previously come through, the water was no longer at our shins, now it was all the way up to our waists. 

Maya carried a semi-conscious Tom, looking worried for her toddler brother. "He's going to get hypothermia if we don't get him inside soon!" She said, blinking hard, either against the heavy rain or tears. 

Finally, the house came into sight through the sheets of rain, and we pushed harder through the water.
 Climbing up the wet steps to the porch, I threw open the front door.
We rushed inside.
"Vanessa, can you go boil some water?" I asked her.
"But you have an electric kettle, and the powers out!" She said.
"Use the stove! Maya, I'm going it get a fire started in the hearth. Here. Wrap Tom up in this blanket!"
I threw wood in the fireplace, lighting some some newspaper and tossing it in.
In a few minutes, I'd gotten a small, yet hot, fire going.
"How's Tom?" Vanessa asked, coming in with a few water bottles she had filled with boiling water.
"He's getting warmer, and he's not unconscious any more, he's just sleeping."
"I'm going out to tell everyone else that we found him!" I said, slipping in Wellington rain boots and pulling on a slippery wind breaker.