Puddle Driver-a podcast novel
By ApocD
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Podcast Description
Puddle Driver opens in a high-alt station where Streis, a data headhunter, awakes. The last thing he remembers is sitting at a booth in a bar in Osaka. He has to find out why he's been taken, which leads him to learn that there's much more happening than he'd expected, things much bigger than his own situation. As he gets closer to the truth, he encounters a cult based in Japan and phantoms that live on networks as he faces a past that he just can't shake.
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Puddle Driver: Chapter 36 (Final Chapter) | Written and read by ApocD.nbsp; This is the last chapter of Puddle Driver. Rachel Carter was shaking her head.nbsp; ldquo;But, what does that mean for us?rdquo; Streis was staring out one of the transport's portholes as they cruised north out of Osaka.nbsp; The land below was dark, but Streis couldn't stop staring.nbsp; ldquo;It means they'll kill you if they can get to you.rdquo; ldquo;But not you, Streis?rdquo; ldquo;That's what it said.rdquo; Reed cleared his throat.nbsp; ldquo;Look, if that's what it said, that's what it said.nbsp; From what you've said, Mister Streis, it sounds like those things are pretty honest.rdquo; Rachel Carter turned completely around in her seat beside Ito, so that she was facing Streis and Reed.nbsp; ldquo;It means Streis is protected and we aren't, which means we're in a lot of danger.nbsp; They may already be in our compound.rdquo; Ito shook his head.nbsp; ldquo;No, I would've heard if they were.rdquo; Rachel Carter glanced at Ito and then looked back at Streis.nbsp; ldquo;You should have said yes, Streis.nbsp; That might have given us more time.rdquo; | 5/11/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Puddle Driver: Chapter 35 | Written and read by ApocD.nbsp; One chapter remains. With the network down, it was difficult to get accurate information, but from what the communications people at Pana-Wave could get, the killing had stopped. More of the delegate's data had been decrypted. The pre-phants, while the delegate had been in charge of the program, had not only developed low-level sentience, but something else had happened as well. The details were still few, but it seemed that some communications, although mostly garbled, had come through the pre-phants, that they'd been used as transmitters. After his experience speaking with the alien baby, Streis had little doubt where those transmissions had come from. He just wondered why they had failed with the pre-phants, why the new aliens were even necessary. The transport shook as it dropped to rest on the street in front of Kitty O'Shea's. There were landing pads scattered throughout the Umeda area, but they were all on the tops of buildings, and with the power out it made more sense to just put down on the street, where it had been days since any cars had passed. Streis, Reed, and Rachel Carter stepped out of the transport. Their pilot, Ito, stayed behind, ready to take them back at the first sign of trouble. When asked, he'd told them only that he'd been busy, with no other explanation of where he had been. There were abandoned cars on the street, but not many, and there were some cars that had been in accidents. The tall buildings blocked most of the remaining sunlight; a cool breeze moved up the street. As they stepped onto the sidewalk, Streis stepped over a puddle of blood. The body was gone, though, and when he looked around, he saw that the street and sidewalks were clear of bodies. He wondered if the bodies had been taken away for his comfort. | 5/9/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Puddle Driver: Chapter 34 | Written and read by ApocD.nbsp; After this, two chapters remain.nbsp; Thanks! The armed guards at the door nodded as Streis, Reed, Rachel Carter, and the messenger passed through the open metal door.nbsp; It slammed shut behind them, and Streis resisted the urge to turn around to check that the door was unlocked, that he could get out if he needed to. Only one other Pana-wave member stood in the room.nbsp; The fluorescents overheard flickered, a sign that they needed to be replaced and a further sign that this room was little used.nbsp; The baby sat in a cage in the middle of the room.nbsp; The cage looked like it had been taken from a circus sideshow; there were spots of rust on some of the bars.nbsp; In one corner of the cage sat a large metal bowl, which was full of fruits and vegetables.nbsp; There was a water dish in the oppositenbsp; corner. As they approached the cage, the baby stood and walked to the side of the cage facing them.nbsp; It had grown, which Streis knew should have been impossible, but it was definitely larger than it had been.nbsp; Discarded fruit peels were scattered on the cage's floor.nbsp; The baby smiled. Its lips moved, and Streis heard a soft hiss come from the thing's mouth, but there were no words.nbsp; Its face showed frustration, a very human trait, Streis thought, and then it tried again.nbsp; It was still just a hiss. Streis turned his head to look at the messenger.nbsp; ldquo;How did it ask for me?rdquo; The messenger smiled.nbsp; ldquo;Just wait a moment, Mister Streis.nbsp; It takes him a couple of minutes to warm up.rdquo; The baby tried again, and this time the hisses melded into something resembling a word, although Streis couldn't understand it.nbsp; The baby smiled, and it's face seemed to be locked in concentration, as it tried again. ldquo;Streis.rdquo;nbsp; The last consonant hung in the air, as if I snake had spoken it rather than the baby.nbsp; Streis stepped back from the cage. | 5/6/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Puddle Driver: Chapter 33 | Written and read by ApocD. The man's name was Nakai; he was the only surviving member of either of the science teams.nbsp; The area where his left arm had been was bleeding badly.nbsp; In his right hand he gripped the gun that he had used to take out the aliens. As Rachel Carter pressed the jacket she had been wearing against the open wound, Nakai mumbled to himself.nbsp; ldquo;Impossible.nbsp; Impossible.rdquo; Streis wondered if Nakai was talking about the aliens or his own ability to take down allnbsp; of them after losing an arm just minutes earlier. The arm didn't make sense.nbsp; If the aliens were trying to sneak up on him, why throw the arm into the middle of the path to warn Streis of the danger?nbsp; Streis didn't know, but it gave him encouragement.nbsp; Maybe it meant they weren't as under-control as he'd thought.nbsp; They were brutal, and with brutality came irrationality, and with irrationality came mistakes.nbsp; With mistakesnbsp; came Streis' chance to survive. | 5/1/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Puddle Driver: Chapter 32 | Written and read by ApocD. Rachel Carter was smiling, and Streis didn't like it.nbsp; She was giving him the same look that Ito had given him, a look that said she was talking to a child. Streis remembered why he'd once hated her.nbsp; ldquo;What?rdquo; ldquo;Our network implants.rdquo;nbsp; She paused, looked around the room, and then back at Streis.nbsp; ldquo;We took them out, of course, but we had special implants, anyway.nbsp; We don't think they would have been affected.rdquo; ldquo;Special implants?rdquo; ldquo;Unregulated.rdquo; ldquo;Oh.rdquo;nbsp; Now Streis understood at least part of the reason that Imaoka had been so good on the network; he'd had an unregulated implant.nbsp; ldquo;I see.nbsp; Well, are we ready to get started on the plan?rdquo; Reed held up a hand.nbsp; ldquo;Just a second.nbsp; Something about all this doesn't seem right.nbsp; These alien things were on our networks.nbsp; I just don't see how alien technology and our technology could be compatible.rdquo; | 4/29/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Puddle Driver: Chapter 31 | Written and read by ApocD Rachel Carter led the way through the underground tunnels. Ito was gone; Streis assumed he was being debriefed. Behind them walked a group of at least twenty Pana-wave; they remained silent as they walked; Streis took quick glances back as they walked to make sure they were still there. Soft fluorescents hung from the sides of the tunnels. There were no steps, only a long, slight grade. When Streis could take Rachel Carter's silence no longer, he spoke. ldquo;You going to tell me why you're here? Are you really Pana-wave?rdquo; Rachel Carter kept her eyes forward. ldquo;Yes, Streis, I'm Pana-wave. That's why I'm here. That's why I was on the lunar surface.rdquo; ldquo;And that's why Imaoka just happened to find you?rdquo; ldquo;No. That was a coincidence. We knew there was little hope of me surviving my mission. Imaoka didn't know I was Pana-wave; he just happened to be there. I should have died up there, Streis.rdquo; ldquo;What was your mission?rdquo; ldquo;Sorry, Streis, but that's classified.rdquo; ldquo;Classified? Is that why you killed Imaoka?rdquo; There were several gasps from the group behind them. ldquo;Yes, Streis, that's why I killed Imaoka. He was a liability.rdquo; ldquo;Liability?rdquo; Streis let the word hang in the air. ldquo;He was completely loyal to Pana-wave.rdquo; ldquo;He could have been corrupted, Streis. We couldn't risk that.rdquo; ldquo;Why'd he try to kill you?rdquo; ldquo;Let's just say Pana-wave isn't one big, happy group. I was supposed to die on the lunar surface. By surviving, I threw off the plans, what little plans there were. No one was ready to deal with that; it was easier to get rid of me.rdquo; ldquo;Well, this is quite a group you've gotten yourself involved in.rdquo; | 4/23/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Puddle Driver: Chapter 30 | Written and read by ApocD. Streis awoke. Ito was speaking, but Streis couldn't hear the person on the other end of the conversation. Streis looked to Reed, who shrugged, and then back to Ito. When his conversation had ended, Ito turned around. ldquo;They want us to do some recon before we come in. I hope you two don't mind.rdquo; Streis took a deep breath; he still felt half asleep. ldquo;What kind of recon?rdquo; ldquo;They want me to fly over Osaka and take some pictures for them. They want to see what the damage is like, maybe even see if these aliens are organizing.rdquo; ldquo;If they're organizing, don't you think they might be able to shoot us down?rdquo; Ito smiled. ldquo;I wouldn't worry about that, Mister Streis. I'd suspect they're focusing on their ground war now.rdquo; ldquo;You suspect?rdquo; Ito nodded. ldquo;If I see any danger, I'll take us out of there.rdquo; | 4/13/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Puddle Driver: Chapter 29 | Written and read by ApocD. Market Street was a warzone. Broken bodies covered the street and sidewalks. Most bodies had eyes missing. Streis wondered if he'd ever known any of them; with the condition of the bodies, there would be no way for him to ever know. They saw no one else alive as they ran toward the Embarcadero. The makeshift clinic was gone; all that remained were scattered strips of the canvas that had served as the clinic's walls and roof. Streis wondered what had happened to the homeless man. He had seen the phantoms, which meant he had a network implant. He was probably dead. They stepped over bodies and found an open area beside the water. Reed doubled over, gasped for air, and was sick. Streis turned; he was afraid seeing Reed would make him sick as well. Ito, who seemed comfortable with the carnage around them, looked to the sky. Streis looked up and saw sunlight dancing off a distant object. The object grew until Streis could see that it was a transport. Reed joined them. ldquo;Sorry about that. I've never seen anything like this.rdquo; Ito kept looking up. ldquo;Not many people have ever seen anything like this. Probably just the people in the great wars. No one in our generation.rdquo; | 4/7/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Puddle Driver: Chapter 28 | Written and read by ApocD. I've finished writing the story, so now I just need to record it. There will be 36 chapters total. Thanks for listening. The phantom was gone. Streis looked to Reed. "Do you know when it disappeared?" "No. I got so used to it, that I didn't even notice when it was gone. You have any idea?" Streis shook his head. "It was on the sidewalk outside, at least for a while. I don't remember seeing it in here, though." "It has to be the network implants, then. Those phantoms must only be visible to people with implants. When we took ours out, it disappeared." "But, I could see it even when my implant was turned off." Reed clicked his tongue. "I don't know what to tell you, Mister Streis. I'm just telling you what I think." Streis knew Reed had to be right. "But, if they're just put into our minds through out implants, then how do they kill people?" "You saw those people out there, Mister Streis. They were going at each other, and when there was no one else around they hurt themselves. I'm guessing they had implants and they thought they were fighting with phantoms, when they were really doing it to themselves." "Then if everyone still with network implants is dead, that means there are no more phantoms." "That's what I think, Mister Streis." "Then do you think we're safe?" "No, Mister Streis, I don't. If we're right, then half of the people in the world are either dead or almost dead. They must have a plan for the other half.rdquo; ldquo;What if one of those half with implants had access to some weapons?rdquo; ldquo;Like that fighter jet outside?rdquo; ldquo;No, bigger. Like nukes. It would just take one of them to take everyone out.rdquo; Reed shook his head. ldquo;I don't think that will happen. If they wanted to just destroy the planet, they could have gone about it some other way. If they're just taking out the people, then that'll leave the planet intact for them. Anyway, the people with implants didn't have any control over themselves; there's no way they could work the controls to launch a missile.rdquo; There was a metallic sound from the front of the store. Reed went to the office door and cracked it open. He turned to Streis. ldquo;I can't see anything, but it sounds like someone's coming in.rdquo; Streis stood. Reed kept his face pressed against the crack in the door. There was a crash; it sounded like a metal clothes rack had fallen over. Reed closed the door, locked it, and turned to Streis. ldquo;I heard a growl.rdquo; | 4/3/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Puddle Driver: Chapter 27 | Written and read by ApocD. Sorry about the delay. The street smelled like gasoline. The heat pressed against Streis' face as he stood and watched the burning military jet. He scanned the street to see if the pilot had ejected, but saw only random people either tearing at themselves or each other. Reed grabbed Streis' shoulder and turned him around. His nose was bleeding from the kick that Streis had given him, but he didn't seem to notice. ldquo;Mister Streis, we need to make a decision. We can get inside and hide out, but if we do I don't know when it'll be safe to come out. If these people on the street see us, they'll come after us. You ever killed a man?rdquo; Streis shook his head and stepped closer to the clothing store's door. The sign in the door read Closed. ldquo;Me neither, Mister Streis, but we have to understand that these people are lost. If they have network implants and those implants have been compromised, then there's no saving them.rdquo; ldquo;You saved me.rdquo; ldquo;You were looped in all the way, Mister Streis. None of these people walking down the street are looped in.rdquo; ldquo;We should get inside and hide.rdquo; Reed nodded. ldquo;Yeah, that seems like the best idea, but we don't know when we'll be able to go out again.rdquo; ldquo;Look, Reed, it's not going to do any good for us to run somewhere and kill people along the way or get killed. If these people are really lost, then we should let them take care of themselves, just hide out in this store for a while and wait for things to calm down, maybe come up with a plan.rdquo; A woman on the opposite sidewalk spotted them. With her left hand she was scratching wildly at her face. Bright red stains covered her white blouse. Her right hand hung limp at her side. She seemed to consider them for a moment before she started crossing the road. | 2/9/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Puddle Driver: Chapter 26 | Written and read by ApocD. A shadow glided up Market Street, dancing off the abandoned cars as it moved toward Streis. Debris flew around on the street as the giant wings flapped up and down. People stared up into the sky with wide eyes. Blue scales covered the dragon's skin. Fire seeped from its nostrils as it drew breath and then blew rivers of fire onto the streets. People ran and screamed as the fire devoured their bodies. Streis looked to Reed and then down the street, where he saw two people fighting just meters away. A man with facial piercings and a woman in a red Stanford sweatshirt were rolling on the sidewalk, tearing at each others' eyes. He turned to Reed again and saw that Reed's eyes were closed, saw that he was focusing on something. The dragon continued toward them. | 9/18/07 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Puddle Driver: Chapter 25 | Written and read by ApocD. The man was Asian, probably Japanese, but Streis wasn't sure. There were bruises on his face. His eyes were gone; they had been ripped out. Blood covered his hands and most of the top of his white jumpsuit. It looked like a suicide. Streis felt sick to his stomach. He turned away and knelt. He took deep breaths, stared down the empty hallway, and felt better. He stood and without looking at the man's injuries, he pulled the body out into the hallway. He stepped over it and entered his apartment. He closed the door behind him and turned on the lights. There were blood stains on the carpet near the door; he went into the bathroom, picked up a towel off the sink, and used it to cover the blood. Streis looked up at the phantom, which was floating near the door. ldquo;Did you kill him?rdquo; | 9/11/07 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Puddle Driver: Chapter 24 | Written and read by ApocD The only moving vehicles they saw were motorcycles and bicycles; the streets were too cluttered for anything else. Streis knew that neither would be an option with the homeless man, so they walked. They passed decrepit apartment buildings with sets of eyes in the windows, people who had been lucky enough to have been inside when the pre-phants came, people who would start wondering soon how they would get food, how they would live. The people on the streets looked confused. They were either walking aimlessly or running, as if they had somewhere to go, somewhere to hide. They saw no guns as they walked; they only heard occasional gunshots in the distance. The phantom followed close behind them. About half of the people on the streets seemed to see it; the other half either ignored it or didn't see it. Those who did see it eyed it as if they'd seen one before, as if it was nothing new. Streis wondered how many phantoms there were in the city now, how many pre-phants had been taken down with gunshots. He wondered where the military was in all of this, that group of heroes was conspicuously absent; perhaps they were still cleaning up the mess at Ocean Beach. | 8/31/07 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Puddle Driver: Chapter 23 | Written and read by ApocD. The first pre-phant, the one that had saved Streis' life, looked down at the hole in its chest and then fell to the road. It curled into a fetal position; the colors moved rapidly across its skin. There was shock on its face. Streis heard the footsteps of someone running up behind him and turned to see a large man with a long, thick beard. The man held a handgun in his right hand; it was pointed at the ground. Streis didn't know anything about guns, but the gun the man held was big. The man smiled at Streis. ldquo;Got me two of 'em.rdquo; Streis nodded. He knew explaining that the first pre-phant had tried to help him was useless, and arguing with a guy with a gun was never a good idea. | 8/27/07 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Puddle Driver: Chapter 22 | Written and read by ApocD. The words were garbage, just rolls of vowels that made no sense.nbsp; Streis could see the frustration in the pre-phant's eyes, a frustration Streis had seen many times in Japan as he'd tried to communicate with the locals.nbsp; Although he was the foreigner there, it was always the natives who got nervous. The thing's mouth, although almost human on the outside, wasn't human at all on the inside.nbsp; The teeth were missing and the tongue had been replaced with a thin flap of gray skin.nbsp; The vowels continued to roll out of its mouth. The homeless man moved his gaze from the pre-phant to Streis.nbsp; ldquo;You understanding any of this?rdquo; | 8/23/07 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Puddle Driver: Chapter 21 | Written and read by ApocD. The bus driver mumbled to himself as he opened the door, pushed past Streis, and hit the pavement. He disappeared behind the bus as the old woman stood and then followed him. The open door allowed the homeless man's screams to fill the bus. The pre-phant stood in the same position. A young woman in a dark business suit left three shopping bags at her feet on the sidewalk and ran. A man with long hippie hair stepped out of his late model electric car, took one last look at the pre-phant, and ran. Two young boys who looked like they were heading home from high school ran. The whole crowd ran. People poured out of the shops and apartment buildings. People poured out of the cars and trucks. Everyone capable of running ran, and everyone else moved as fast as they could. | 8/15/07 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Puddle Driver: Chapter 20 | Written and read by ApocD. Streis, the homeless man, the bus driver, and the old woman all stood near the front of the bus, watching the pre-phant through the bus' dirty windshield. Colors rolled across the thing's skin, but in a much calmer manner than they had when Streis had watched the pre-phant die in the freighter's cargo hold hours earlier. Streis couldn't be sure, but it appeared that the pre-phant was completely naked. It walked upright, and its yellow eyes scanned its surroundings as it wandered, seemingly without purpose, in the middle of the intersection of McAllister and Fillmore. Life at McAllister and Fillmore had stopped. Cars and buses sat motionless along the streets. Horns blared from the distance, a clear sign that the people in those vehicles couldn't see what was happening. Customers and clerks stood inside the local shops with their faces pressed against the pane-glass windows. A stray dog, Streis thought it was a collie mix but he wasn't sure, sniffed at a trash can just meters from the pre-phant. People on the sidewalks just stood and watched. Streis assumed they all wanted to run away, but running would draw attention. Anyway, anyone who wanted to run had probably already done so. | 8/6/07 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Puddle Driver: Chapter 19 | Written and read by ApocD. Streis hit the hard ground and sent one last command to his mother's AI; he told her to erase herself once she had landed the freighter at Ocean Beach. The freighter's system would have to erase her, since it was impossible for a program to erase itself, but she would be able to give the instructions to the system when the time came. Rachel Carter disappeared into the trees without looking back. Streis smiled; he shouldn't have expected anything else from her. Streis ran. He knew running would draw too much attention, but he needed to get away from the site where the freighter had dropped them off as quickly as possible. It felt good to run. His lungs burned slightly, but it was a good burn, the kind of burn he'd felt at the beginning of every high school track season. The sky was clear and there was a sharp coolness to the breeze. The sun was approaching the Pacific, but it would be hours before the sun set. He came across a dirt path and stopped. He'd put some good distance between himself and the dropoff point, so he turned onto the path and walked. Although he had spent a lot of time in the park over the years, he wasn't sure where he was. He followed the path without seeing anyone and after several minutes he hit a paved road that he recognized. He turned right and walked. He found a small pond that he had visited years earlier. He was tempted to turn around and walk back to Ocean Beach, just to see the freighter and the people's reactions to it, but he knew that would be stupid. Although there was no longer a need to run, he knew the first people the police would check would be people at the scene. He didn't want to leave the park, though, until he had a better idea of where he was going to go, so he sat on a bench beside the pond and watched an old man do tai-chi. Minutes later the old man stopped with a look of surprise on his face. He turned around and faced the direction of Ocean Beach. The sound of an explosion followed. Birds flew from the nearby trees. The man returned to his tai-chi. | 8/3/07 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Puddle Driver: Chapter 18 | Written and read by ApocD One of Streis' tracers returned with the news that there was a phantom on the network and it was closing in fast. Streis disconnected from the Net without saying goodbye to Dr. Anders; Streis knew he would understand. He hoped the phantom didn't find Dr. Anders, but there was nothing he could do about it. Streis closed his eyes and imagined himself as secure and invincible. He opened his eyes and turned to Rachel Carter, who was staring at him. ldquo;Well? What's the plan, Streis?rdquo; ldquo;Doctor Anders suggested we put down on Ocean Beach.rdquo; There was a look of confusion on Rachel Carter's face. ldquo;Ocean Beach, San Francisco?rdquo; ldquo;Yeah, that's the one. He said we can't put down on an air field because the military will find us and he thinks if the military finds us we'll be in serious trouble.rdquo; | 7/27/07 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Puddle Driver: Chapter 17 | Written and read by ApocD. Streis buckled in as they hit the atmosphere. Through the porthole, he saw bright light engulf the ship. Rachel Carter sat beside him, silently watching the ship's vitals on the control screen. It had been a long time since Streis had reentered like this; on his last return from the moon, he had used the African Elevator. Although it had been much more efficient than pushing ships through the atmosphere, the construction of a replacement elevator was still under debate. Besides the obvious costs of constructing such a monster, the various African governments involved had to consider the safety concerns as well. After at first being considered an act of terrorism, it was now known that the collapse of the African Elevator had been caused by a design flaw. After apologizing to the public for the immense loss of life and property, the entire engineering team had taken their own lives. Streis had seen the video on the Net; countless nights he had sat alone in back booths in dirty bars around the world and watched that video, watched the life slip from their faces. Despite all of these difficulties involved with replacing the elevator, Streis couldn't help feeling that society had taken a step back. Pushing ships through atmosphere was a very 20th Century thing to do. He still couldn't understand why neither the Americans nor the Europeans had built an elevator; maybe they'd just lost interest in progress. Streis had once heard a historian say that human history was a progression of two steps forward and one back. He agreed. | 7/20/07 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Puddle Driver: Chapter 16 | Written and read by ApocD. ldquo;Is it Pana-wave, Streis?rdquo; ldquo;Of course it's Pana-wave. Didn't you disable the jumpship's communications?rdquo; Rachel Carter sat back in her chair and smiled. ldquo;Of course, I did. They can't know he's dead, yet. What's the message? Can you play it on the ship's system?rdquo; ldquo;Just a second.rdquo; Streis listened to the message through his implant. It didn't contain anything he wanted to keep from Rachel Carter, so he ran it, unedited, through the ship's system. | 7/10/07 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Puddle Driver: Chapter 15 | Written and read by ApocD. Torture.nbsp; The word ignited an explosion of memories in Streis, memories that Streis had spent years trying to forget.nbsp; The therapy had taught him to face his memories, to deal with them one at a time with complete honesty, but he had fulfilled his therapy requirements in six months and had never looked back, until now. It seemed to be working; if not, Streis would have noticed a drop in pressure in the main cabin.nbsp; As a headhunter, Streis knew that all options were on the table when it came to survival.nbsp; Torture, though, hadn't crossed his mind; he'd nearly forgotten that torture even existed. The airlock kept the sounds from the cargo hold from passing into the main cabin, so Streis could only guess at what Imaoka's screams must sound like.nbsp; What was she doing to him?nbsp; Streis hated to admit to himself that he wanted to know.nbsp; Even though he had been tortured more than once--headhunters had to get used to such things--the idea of others being tortured wasn't so repulsive that he didn't want to know the details.nbsp; He wanted to know. The main control screen showed the ship's vitals in vertical columns of green light.nbsp; Air temperature and pressure were holding steady.nbsp; Their trajectory had remained the same since Rachel Carter and Imaoka had disappeared into the cargo hold.nbsp; Everything appeared normal. | 7/3/07 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Puddle Driver: Chapter 14 | Written and read by ApocD. Most headhunters with any ambition at all had been banned from the lunar colony. The information in the colony's networks--the private data that business people, government agencies, and criminals thought to be safe so far from the earth--proved too great a temptation for even the most rational headhunters to ignore. Now that the colony was gone, it left Streis with one less worry, one less reason to look over his shoulder, and as a headhunter, Streis already had enough reasons to be careful. He had enjoyed his time in the colony, though. The people were friendly. Ideas flowed freely along the sterile hallways and through the well-lighted tunnels. Although it had been originally created as a science station and evolved into an information center, the politics of the place, the idea that a new government could be started fresh with the knowledge of civilization's previous 10,000 years, had been exciting. It had changed politics on the earth. It had changed people's ideas about how they should be governed. It had been destroyed. In his earlier years, Streis might have pointed the blame for the day's events, especially the destruction of the lunar colony, on some holdover from previous governments, some white male in a dark suit who couldn't let go of the idea that he was supposed to be in charge, that his people were supposed to be in charge. Yet, with his years of experience, Streis knew things were never that simple. The infiltration of the feed, although nearly impossible, could be done with the right people and some luck. The replacement of the AIs, though, as far as Streis knew, was impossible for a human or humans. | 6/28/07 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Puddle Driver: Chapter 13 | Written and read by ApocD. ldquo;You picking anything up on the mics in the cargo hold?rdquo; Imaoka shook his head. ldquo;Still nothing, Mister Streis. My guess is she's dead and they're just waiting for us to open the airlock.rdquo; ldquo;Or she's struggling with them right now and needs our help.rdquo; ldquo;Don't get me wrong, Mister Streis, I'm going in there. We have to go in just in case she's still alive, but I don't think we'll make it out.rdquo; ldquo;Then we need weapons.rdquo; ldquo;I already told you, Mister Streis, there aren't any weapons on the ship.rdquo; ldquo;Just give me something I can use..." | 6/24/07 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Puddle Driver: Chapter 12 | Written and read by ApocD. The freigher's engines engaged and they started the slow descent to the lunar surface. "You want to talk to her, Mister Streis?" Streis continued to stare at the screen, which showed the lunar surface moving closer to them. "No, I don't think that's such a good idea." "Well, now, we need to let her know we're here to help and maybe find out what happened so we know if we'll be in danger down there. I tell you what, Mister Streis, it's a lucky thing you're here. If you didn't happen to know her, she might now trust us." Streis turned from the screen and looked at Imaoka. "She still might not." Imaoka cocked his head, twisted his mouth, and looked up at the ceiling before focusing on Streis. "Either way, Mister Streis, she's more likely to trust you than she is me." "You're going to have to talk to her, Imaoka. With an accent like that, I doubt you have much trouble gaining people's trust." He smiled at Imaoka, who returned the smile. "Fair enough, Mister Streis. But, if it sounds like I'm about to lose her, I want you to jump in, okay?" "Fair enough." The woman's voice filled the cabin again. "two four seven dash beta gamma alpha. I see no other survivors. Please send help..." "S.O.S. acknowledged." Silence. Then: "Oh, I can't believe it. My name is Rachel Carter. Colonist..." | 6/12/07 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Puddle Driver: Chapter 11 | Written and read by ApocD. Also, for those of you who don't check the blog, Brace for Impact is now available in print. Brace book As Imaoka worked the camera's controls, they saw that some of the pieces of machinery were from the other freighters. "All three of them crashed, Mister Streis. All three." "Then, we need to get out of here." "Not, yet, Mister Streis. If I'm the only person from my group to see this, I need to record more so I can show my people back on earth what happened. Maybe they can make some sense of it." "There's no sense here, Imaoka. Whatever's taken down the feed has taken down the freighters and..."nbsp; Streis stopped speaking when he saw a domed structure on the screen. | 6/7/07 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Puddle Driver: Chapter 10 | Chapter 10 was written and read by ApocD. Streis saw the hesitation on Imaoka's face and knew he had little time to act. "Look, Imaoka, I understand why you don't want to tell me anything. I'm familiar enough with Pana-Wave to know the whole group is built on secrecy. I can also understand why you wouldn't trust me; I make my living off of revealing secrets. So, here's what I'll do. I'll tell you everything that's happened to me and everything I know about what's happening, and if you still don't trust me, I'll get in the jumpship and take off. Afterward, though, if you want to talk, I'd really like to know what you know. How's that sound?" Imaoka nodded. | 5/30/07 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Puddle Driver: Chapter 9 | In Chapter 9, Streis and Imaoka hit the network. Written and read by ApocD Streis' conditioning told him to go for the jumpship. Will Gibbs' headhunters didn't survive by helping people and doing the right thing; they survived by removing themselves from danger no matter the consequences. The jumpship had only room for one person, but breathing alone in the jumpship would beat dying in the vacuum of space with a man he'd just met. | 5/23/07 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Puddle Driver: Chapter 8 | Chapter 8 was written and read by ApocD. Streis held his breath. He had tried controlling his breathing, but the silent cargo hold revealed even the slightest sounds and he needed more time; he had to decide what to do. The other person in the cargo hold?Streis had decided the footsteps were those of a human after hearing the feet shuffle near the dead creature?had stopped moving. He could hear faint breaths but couldn't tell if he was dealing with a male or female. | 5/18/07 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Puddle Driver: Chapter 7 | Written and read by ApocD In this chapter, something is revealed. How's that for disclosure? Thanks for listening! The soft light from the jumpship revealed only a faint outline of the thing on the floor. Streis didn't like what he saw; it had a shape that Streis had never before seen. It was impossible to tell in the dark, but he didn't think it was human. | 5/13/07 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Puddle Driver: Chapter 6 | Chapter 6 was written and read by ApocD. I've finished the Brace for Impact edit and am waiting for my proof copy to approve before it's available for sale. So, I should have more time for Puddle Driver and I plan to post new chapters regularly from now on until the story ends. Thanks for your patience. Streis pressed his faced against one of the jumpship's portholes and watched the stars disappear as the large ship swallowed his tiny craft.nbsp; He knew he couldn't have gotten away; evasive maneuvers were unrealistic in a ship with just enough fuel to put him into lunar orbit.nbsp; When the jumpship shook, Streis assumed metallic locks had gripped his craft.nbsp; Through the portholes, he saw only darkness. | 5/7/07 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Puddle Driver: Chapter 5 | Written and read by ApocD. Thanks! The voice was unnatural but the language was real. The message was in Akkadian. No one spoke Akkadian anymore; according to Streis' implant database, it had been spoken in Sumer thousands of years earlier. He knew the significance of the language as it related to space exploration, though, and his implants quickly translated the message. | 3/3/07 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Puddle Driver: Chapter 4 | Written and read by ApocD. The guy hadn't even been Australian. How could Streis have missed that? He'd lived in Australia for two years while letting the heat cool down after his little incident on the moon. The guy was probably English. Maybe Scottish. How could he have missed that? | 2/17/07 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Puddle Driver: Chapter 3 | Written by Skip Jenkins. Read by ApocD. It only took the smallest flicker of recognition in the Australian's eyesnbsp;before the video feed lost cohesion for Streis to learn volumes. Up until then he had been operating under the assumption that he was dealing with a major player in his unexpected disappearance for the argon-lit data-Mecca of Earth. He begins to ponder the implications of that and checks GMT. | 2/15/07 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Puddle Driver: Chapter 2 | Written and read by ApocD. The Australian.nbsp; Why had he even talked to the Australian?nbsp; Everyone knew what the Australians were like, never mind the under-educated island of criminals stereotypes:nbsp; they were ruthless.nbsp; Streis had seen reports on the net that over 90% of the inmates in English prisons were Australians; they just couldn't stay out of places they didn't belong, real or virtual. | 2/15/07 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Puddle Driver: Chapter 1 | Written and read by Skip Jenkins. It takes some getting used to moving about in zero-G. Limbs do not move the way they do under positive Gs, and the results are often unexpected. When Streis awoke, he was in a fetal position in a slow counterclockwise spin. His head throbbed unbearably, and had he known an earlier forced dosage of Tryptaline was to blame, he would have been more concerned. The last thing he could remember was drinking with an Australian ex-pat data dealer in Osaka. There had been gravity in the bar, Streis was pretty sure of that, and judging by the fact that he could crane his head up to look through a transparent Plasteel porthole at Asia far above him, he had come a long way since he could last recall. | 2/15/07 | Free | View In iTunes |
| Total: 36 Episodes |
Customer Reviews
Puddle Driver
I love to listen to books while I work several times I was caught myself listening to the story instead of working. I was just at the end of chaptor 19 when the weekend came. Couldn't wait for monday to finish it so I listened over the weekend. Love this kind of thing. Keep it up and looking forward to more from this auther.
