Here's some ideas for stories that I've been mulling about writing further. Let me know if any particular one interests you.
Salvage Claim
When the DEA seize the Columbian drug lord's massive tanker vessel, they get far more than they bargained for. With his dying breaths Alberto Ponzi curses the ship and everyone who sets foot upon it. As his blood pools on the bulkhead, a storm builds catching the crew off guard. While transporting the ship back to port, the ship and everyone on it vanish, almost without a trace. Months later, an emaciated man near death washes up in the Carribean. He knows where the ship is, that it contains vast fortunes. Now, a group of tourists out for a pleasure cruise to South America come across the massive ship after a terrible night battling the weather. With battered sails, and bruised egos, they board the vessel hoping to find shelter, food, and a radio. Their voices echo into the cavernous compartments, reverberating sharply off one steel bulkhead after another. Steel plates groan in the distance. Deep within the hold are huge bundles of cash wrapped in saran wrap.
Branded
Three things determine your success in life--your looks, your money, and of course, your brand. In this day and age, no one can really afford not to be Endorsed For Life (EFL) by a brand. If you're naturally beautiful, you might qualify for a brand upgrade to Versace, Prada, or Donna Karen. Parents, hoping for a better life for their children, sign their newborn's EFL contract. After all, the parents get discounts on their brand's family of products. Schools vie to include as many quality branded students as possible. The supplementary income from the brands means new books, new buildings, new programs. Sure, it may mean that the students wear as many logos as some Nascar vehicles while attending the Sony Auditorium, or the Nike Gymnasium, but public schools must do what needs to be done to survive. Woe be the student or school that violates their EFL contracts, one might be traded, downgraded to a lesser brand.
Scanner
Technology brought the world to our fingertips. But for Zack Dennaro, research assistant to a shortsighted scientist, its not just an expression anymore. When Zack discovers the medical scanner developed by the scientist can not only scan the near, but the very far with surprising precision, he gives the government a run for its money. Who shot JFK? Who caused 9/11? Want to know what the president reads in the restroom? Crank up the scanner, punch in the coordinates of the pentagon, and scan through a few highly confidential files. The scanner works, frighteningly well in fact. But the high energy costs and the fact that the scanner sets off every alarm in the Pentagon means that the intrusion was anything but anonymous.
Into the Ether
People go missing everyday. Worried parents sit by the phone awaiting news. Wives cry into their bedsheets nightly wondering where their husband went to. A headstrong person might form search committees, knock on doors, post fliers. When Greg's lover Mark disappears under mysterious and questionable circumstances, Greg turns to technology to solve his heartache. Through mapping the brain's electrical impulses, Greg makes some inspiring conclusions--our brains contain a unique electrical signature. Through clandestine use of the school's technology lab, using undergrads as guinea pigs, and even the odd drug experiment, Greg builds a phone for direct communication--brain to brain. AT&T watch out! Mark is out there somewhere, and the machine is dialing. However, when a government defense contractor catches wind of the Greg's technology, a more ominous plan is hatched to abscond with the kit with ulterior motives. After all, if you can communicate with a chosen mind, then you can read it, and the government has long awaited this innovation.
Poisoned Mind
It is said that those who do not learn their history are doomed to repeat it. However, when scientists in the 25th century awaken a hibernated man from the late 21st century to learn about the past, they unleash a chain of events that may topple their utopian society. Craig Evans may be the ordinary joe from the 21st century, but something is lurking in the recesses of his mind that even he is unaware of. Little is known about the society since before the Great Purge. Perhaps some things are best left unlearned, especially if the very words of his era are laced with a deadly virus.
The Fixers
Long ago, one man started a revolution by repairing streetlights in the dead of night. The city bureaucracy never got it done. The housing associations, mired in denying paint colors for houses would never even think of doing it. But one man did it, and changed the world. Overnight he became an anonymous superhero. Over time, more improvements surfaced of greater magnitude and increasing frequency. Potholes were fixed, fences mended, walls painted, a playground rebuilt--all anonymously and in the dead of night. The great bureaucracy though, labeled him an outlaw, alleging his acts of improvement violated untold laws. However the idea had spread, and there were now hundreds of people taking to the night to repair their neighborhoods. Inevitably, the sheer number combined with the outlaw status, led to the development of gangs. Instead of drugs, prostitutes, and gambling, people fought over floral designs, architectural features, and paint swatches.
The Salt Mines
A recurring nightmare plagues engineer Robert Henley. For months, he's been dreaming of darkened tunnels, alien races, and endless labor. His psychologist passes off the dreams as indications that he's overworked, advising him to get some rest. However, the more sleep he gets, the worse he feels. To add insult to injury, he's been having trouble waking up and has been falling asleep suddenly during the day. Each time, he's back in the mines, heaving ore into a cart. With medical experts unable to explain his narcolepsy, Robert begins to wonder if his mind has been hijacked for an ulterior purpose. After all, there are some jobs that machines just can't do. For those you need a human mind.
7th Level
The story begins a the end, that is, the end of Stan Matthews' life. Plummeting from the impossible height of the Vanderburg building, Stan's terminal descent is interrupted by an angel, not to save him, but to process his soul as a suicide case and send him directly, do not pass go, do not collect $200, to the seventh circle of hell. There he arrives as a ghost, learning that not all is as described from the classic tale by Dante. People who use religion as a facade to their misdeeds are the most reviled creatures, and their population is huge.
However, amid all the revelations, Stan discovers that his time is running out. Here, ghosts are not the dead, but the living who have one foot in hell already by their actions. The longer he stays there, the more corporeal he becomes, and the closer his real body comes to the pavement. Time may be moving slower in hell, but if he wants to save his soul from the eternal company of religious zealots, he has a lot of ground to cover both physically and emotionally. For even if he reached the very gates of hell, he must prove himself worthy of a second chance.
Dark Side of the Mind
They say only crazy people hear voices. But what happens when the voice starts telling you things you shouldn't know, secrets beyond your grasp, knowledge that can save you. Is it really just your mind playing tricks on you? Does the voice have some ulterior motives? Whenever young Zacharias hears the voice, he knows that trouble will follow. Inevitably, it leads him into conflict. If he chooses to follow the instructions whispered into his mind, he'll be victorious, but at what cost?
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