A Free Online Science Fiction Novel- “Liberty”- Chapter 19

*Note- A short prologue is on chapter one. Each chapter has a link to the next to make reading it easier.

This is chapter nineteen of an online novel, Liberty, A Daughter Universe Novel.

~ ~ ~

Billy was in his bedroom at Liberty Hotel holo-surfing when the holographic display floating in the center of the room dissipated. The indicator lights on the computer were dark; no power was getting to it. Billy checked the circuit protectors, then made sure the receiver was still connected, but everything was okay nut no power coming into the panel.

That’s strange, he thought, we’ve never lost electricity before.

On a hunch, he picked up his hand-held and tried to access the ‘net through the town’s satellite. Silence.

The power and the ‘net both go out at the same time? Something big is going on here.

After double-checking everything again, he went downstairs to his father’s office behind the front desk. Mr. Donahue, the hotel’s owner, had been going over the accounting book when the green glass shaded desk lamp went out. Ready to take a break anyway, he had walked out to the check-in desk just as Billy reached the bottom of the lobby’s grand stairway.

“Billy, why’d you use the guest stairs? You know you’re supposed to take the back staircase.”

“Power’s out, dad. There’s no light back there.” He should have let the electrician connect the entire hotel to the town’s grid, instead of just the guest rooms and restaurant, Billy thought. At least we’d have power, even if the ‘net was out.

“Oh,” Mr. Donahue said. “I thought my lamp bulb had burnt out and was going to get a new one.” He took his green visor off his head, straightened his vest, and pulled his string tie a little tighter, and then looked at Billy quizzically. “What do you mean the power’s out? You know that can’t happen unless that satellite fails. Have you queried it?” Mr. Donahue knew there need to ask that. Billy was more familiar with technology than anyone else in Liberty.

Billy shrugged. “Yes, I tried, but the ‘net’s out, too. I can’t even ping the satellite. And I don’t know why the power’s out, it just is… I checked everything; there’s nothing coming or going through the receiver, the line is dead.

“The comm system runs off the hotel’s power,” Billy continued, “so there’s no way to get a ‘net connection for the hotel even if we had power to the server. What really bothers me is that I can’t communicate with the satellite, let alone anything else.”

“I’ll call maintenance,” Mr. Donahue said. His wrist comm was a satellite line, so that was dead, too.

“I told you, dad, the ‘net’s down, so the satellite phones aren’t working. any more than anything else that runs und off the main server.”

“Okay, Billy. I want you to find out what’s going on and get it fixed.” Mr. Donahue had his hands on his hips, but Billy really did not have any idea what else to try.

“Yes, Sir,” Billy said. “I’ll see if I can figure it out.”

~ ~ ~

Next Chapter

~ ~ ~

This was originally posted on Simily.co

Thank you for reading this far and if you would like to see more of what I have shared on Vocal, view my profile for fiction, poetry and my thoughts on social issues, spirit, personal growth, and more.

You can subscribe and receive an email whenever I publish, which isn’t often so I won’t be filling your mailbox.

And you can join Vocal to read and enjoy any one of thousands of other stories, poems, and other writings shared on Vocal by thousands of writers.

I can also be found on Medium, Simily, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn

Like many of us, I am a caffeine addict, and a cup of coffee is a great encouragement to keep writing.

Thank you for your time!