QSFer William P. Tracy has a new queer sci-fi book out, The Biomass Conflux book three (gay, lesbian, non-binary, trans, poly): The Spores of Wrath.
The fate of Lida looms.
Agetha thought her fate was sealed, pushed to the edge of the colony to die. But with the revelation that the biomass is not only intelligent, but sentient, changes to colony are accelerating, threatening its very existence.
Those who were controlled by the biomass once again have free will. Now, the human colonists are raising their voices and for the first time really influencing their new home. The planet-wide consciousness is slipping into a crisis of identity, when it doesn’t even have a sense of self.
The wilds surrounding the colony are becoming increasingly unstable, and the colonists find themselves divided into those who have been touched by the biomass and those who are still wholly human. Can one small colony survive its inner conflicts as well as the titanic might of an entire planet?
Read the exciting conclusion to The Biomass Conflux trilogy!
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Excerpt
“What is going on here?” Anderson whispered to Juliane.
“Perhaps an experiment, looking for a new way forward,” Juliane answered.
“I don’t like it.”
“Will you engage with conversation about how this culture and society is developing?”
Anderson looked closer at the three in front of him. There were others in the village, going about their tasks with mechanical precision. He couldn’t tell which one had spoken, as all three were staring straight at him. Their skin was regular and without blemish, a light ochre. On closer inspection, the “clothes” they wore were just single sheets of sheer cloth, fixed at the waist to give the impression it was different pieces of material.
In fact, it seemed melded to them, right about the waist. It didn’t move in the faint wind that blew around them.
“Sure, we can have a conversation. What’s your name?”
The person stared back. And stared.
“If you’re all individuals, then you will have different names,” Anderson suggested. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw another villager go past, carrying what looked like a pot made of twisted strands from one house to another. Their face was the same as the three in front of him.
The righthand person stepped forward. “This one is Adam.”
“Cute,” Anderson said. “Been learning about our legends?”
The middle person stepped forward. “This one is Beta.”
The one on the left stepped forward before he could comment. “This one is Corn.”
“That’s a food, not a—” he broke off. “You know what, fine. Good job on the names. Can I ask any one individual here what their name is?”
All three stared straight ahead and he could practically see them generating new names.
“Let’s skip that for now. Who are you? How did you get here?”
The three snapped back to focus. The one on the right—Adam—spoke up. “This town is a place for individuals to grow and develop. All these individuals are living here for mutual growth to learn from each other and function as a community.”
The pot-carrying person returned to the first house, with the same pot.
“Uh huh. Why don’t we all go sit down somewhere and we can talk about this more.”
Beta and Corn turned and walked away. Adam waited one moment then went after them.
Anderson traded a look with Juliane, who shrugged, and followed.
They passed one structure, then another. They were arranged in a circle, and all ten buildings on the outside ring were the same. The eight in the second ring were different layouts than those on the outside, but also all exactly the same. This was repeated on the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth rings with fewer buildings. The trio entered a building on the fifth ring. Anderson followed, finding the house filled with vine chairs, all facing forward in columns. They’d obviously grown from the biomass mat. Adam, Beta, and Corn picked three chairs in a column and sat in them, Corn looking over Beta’s head, who looked over Adam’s. At least he assumed that. It could have been any other way. There didn’t seem to be much difference between the three.
“Would you like to pull up a chair, Juliane?” Anderson asked. This evening was getting stranger by the second.
“A good idea. Perhaps a time to show by example?” Juliane took a chair out of a different column and set it facing the trio. Anderson pulled another one from a different place, letting it drag across the floor. They were all made of something like twisted resinplast, vaguely brown.
“You know, talking is easier if we all face one another,” Anderson told the three.
Adam stayed seated, and Beta and Corn stood, choosing new seats in a row rather than a column.
There was silence. Anderson looked among the three. All stared straight ahead.
“So, what do you all do in this town?” he asked.
“These three greet new people so that they may feel comfortable in this town,” Adam answered.
“And you do this a lot?”
“This is the first time we have performed this action,” Beta said.
“That would be logical,” Juliane added.
“What do you do the rest of the time?” Anderson pressed. He didn’t know what the biomass was playing at here, but he wanted to get to the bottom of it. He didn’t recognize the person’s face, but that didn’t mean a lot in a colony with over thirty thousand people. This could have been one of those colonists Admin had sent out into the biomass, or it could have been a new, made-up face, but he thought it was probably the former.
“The individuals here strive to better our individuality which will help us learn how to better interact with all the parts of this world.”
“And what you do that all day, when you’re not greeting new people?”
The three stared forward.
“I see.” Anderson thought. “Is there anything in particular you wish to talk about?”
Corn answered. “It is most engaging to speak of the things that make us individuals.”
Author Bio
William C. Tracy writes and publishes queer science fiction and fantasy through his indie press Space Wizard Science Fantasy, which is open to submissions (spacewizardsciencefantasy.com).
His largest work is the Dissolutionverse: a space opera with music-based magic, including ten books and an RPG. He also has a standalone epic fantasy with seasonal fruit-based magic through a LGBTQ+ small press. He is currently working on a hard sci-fi trilogy with a generational colony ship and a planet covered by a fungal entity.
William is an NC native and a lifelong fan of science fiction and fantasy. He has a master’s in mechanical engineering, and has both designed and operated heavy construction machinery. He has also trained in Wado-Ryu karate since 2003 and runs his own dojo in Raleigh NC. He is an avid video and board gamer, a beekeeper, a reader, and of course, a writer.
You can get a free Dissolutionverse novelette by signing up for William’s mailing list at http://williamctracy.com
Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/wctracy or Mastodon at https://wandering.shop/@wctracy for writing updates, cat and bee pictures, and thoughts on martial arts