conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Do you know a description for a book titled A King of Infinite Space about MFA, California, State with the genre: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense, Mystery?
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: the author received his MFA from California State University, Long Beach, where he now teaches. His writing has appeared in The Los Angeles Times, The Chronicle of Higher Education, The Best American Mystery Stories, and in numerous other publications. A King of Infinite Space is his first novel.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Do you know the first five paragraphs for this book?
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: A King of Infinite Space
  This was the beginning of what would eventually be called the Space Century. Despite technological snafus, threats of bankruptcy, and pronouncements of imminent failure by pessimists, Skycorp managed to keep its promises. By 2020, the first two powersats had become fully operational, the beamjacks of Olympus Station were ready and willing to build yet another one, and Descartes Station was on the verge of becoming a self-sufficient lunar colony. Meanwhile, a multinational Mars expedition had established a tentative foothold on the red planet, just in time to meet the almost-forgotten objectives George Bush had set way back in 1989.
  If anyone had been expecting instant gratification and paradise a la carte, though, they were living in a dreamland. This was a frontier, after all, and the hardest days were still ahead.
  In 2024, Skycorp made the mistake of trying to sell its lunar base to a Japanese space corporation. This resulted in a labor strike by the long-suffering moondogs which, despite attempted military intervention by the newly formed U.S. Space Infantry, was successful. Descartes Station founded its own employee-owned company; the following year, Lunar Associates set out to explore near-Earth asteroids in search of raw material which could be sold to the multinational companies that had formed a consortium to build an orbital colony in a Lagrange point in cislunar space.
  The consortium didn't appreciate being put over the proverbial barrel by the moondogs, but neither did they have much choice if they wanted to get any returns from all the billions they had invested in the Lagrange colony. Nonetheless, it tried to keep the leash as tight as possible; once Clarke County was completed in 2047, a puppet government was installed which, although elected by the colonists, was in fact micromanaged by the consortium. It didn't take long before the colonists wised up; after its New Ark Party formed a secret alliance with Descartes Station, they formally declared political independence in 2049.
  The consortium tolerated the independence movement, believing that it would be short-lived and would soon crumble on its own. Instead, the lunar and orbital colonies formalized their alliance by declaring themselves to be the Pax Astra. The United Nations, invoking the 1967 Space Treaty, refused to recognize the Pax Astra as a separate nation. When the Pax reacted by raising trade tariffs on Earth-based companies doing business in Clarke Country, the United States, Japan, and the European Commonwealth nations declared war.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Do you know five more paragraphs? End with the sentence '"'.
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: Furland lifts his face from his hands. "Okay, I take it back. I don't have plenty of time, and neither do you." He jabs a finger at me. "You've got two minutes to give me one good reason why we shouldn't jettison your sorry ass."
  He's not joking. He'll actually do it. If he didn't believe his captain when she brought up the notion that I was in cahoots with pirates, then he's dead serious about the prospect of shielding a fugitive from Pasquale Chicago.
  I have to start from the beginning, though, so it takes longer than two minutes. While I'm still explaining how I awoke in a white room with no real memory of who I was or how I came to be there, Jeri Lee-Bose returns to the wardroom. The captain listens while she sticks two adhesive patches on either side of Furland's neck, then places a cup of water in front of him. I've just made it to the part where Mister Chicago killed John when the first officer turns green; he stands up quickly and hastily exits the compartment. The captain lets me hold that thought and help myself to a refill from the coffee maker, and presently the first mate returns from the head, looking a little pale but much more sober. He resumes his place at the table and tells me to finish. About ten minutes have gone past by then, but the captain's still wearing her rapier, and the distance between the wardroom and the airlock isn't very large.
  When I'm finally done, the two of them are silent for a long time before either one speaks. Finally, Jeri turns to me. "You know what kind of position this puts us in, don't you?"
  Furland clears his throat. "That's not all. You know about the Zodiac, right?" I do, of course, but feigning ignorance seems to be to my advantage, so I just shrug. "Well, the Zodiac is the most powerful organization in the Belt. Forget the Pax and the Ares Alliance... out here, the Zodiac rules. And make no mistake... Pasquale Chicago is the Zodiac, and the Zodiac is Pasquale Chicago." He snaps his fingers. "Word of this gets out, and Jeri and I can disappear like that. No one would know."
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Do you know the last four paragraphs?
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: I've been wrong about many things, but I've had two lifetimes to learn from my mistakes. The biggest thing I've learned is this: Yes, there is a future, for each and every one of us. All you need is the willingness to face it.
  I'm grateful to Steve Antczak, Greg Benford, Chad Childers, Warren Lapine, Bob Liddil, Marie Meisel, Masamichi Osako, Mark Tiedemann, and my sisters Elizabeth Steele and Genevieve Edwards for the suggestions, assistance, and encouragement they've given me during the writing of this novel (and, yes, a couple of these people appear in cameo roles).
  Many thanks to Martha Millard, John Douglas, John Silbersack, and Rebecca Springer for their support.
  Finally, a box of Milk Bones and some fresh tennis balls for the guys who kept me sane and happy during this journey: Zack, Jake, and Leclede. Please support your local Humane Society.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Delete the last sentence.
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: I've been wrong about many things, but I've had two lifetimes to learn from my mistakes. The biggest thing I've learned is this: Yes, there is a future, for each and every one of us. All you need is the willingness to face it.
  I'm grateful to Steve Antczak, Greg Benford, Chad Childers, Warren Lapine, Bob Liddil, Marie Meisel, Masamichi Osako, Mark Tiedemann, and my sisters Elizabeth Steele and Genevieve Edwards for the suggestions, assistance, and encouragement they've given me during the writing of this novel (and, yes, a couple of these people appear in cameo roles).
  Many thanks to Martha Millard, John Douglas, John Silbersack, and Rebecca Springer for their support.
  Finally, a box of Milk Bones and some fresh tennis balls for the guys who kept me sane and happy during this journey: Zack, Jake, and Leclede.