The cats of San Lucas love the slug wine even more than we humans do. Of course, they prefer it in its natural form, raw and very warm, from a still-living slug. Yes. Vampire cats the size of small horses. Not miniature horses, not ponies, but Honest-To-God horses. And they are scarily intelligent. The Peloran say they were genetically engineered by the Albion too. Thank God they stayed out of The War. They are the stuff of nightmares. Even mine.
When the Islamic Brotherhood took over the major Belgian cities, they dusted off their fatwahs with extreme prejudice. They blew up Luna’s house, killing the woman hired to impersonate her, but didn’t know Luna was an AI and missed her backup drives. She returned fire with hilariously heretical, and graphic, stories about their leaders. She goaded them with ever more blasphemous stories, and they hunted her like madmen. They never learned she was an AI.
As World War I came to an end for the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Allies supported independence movements across its territory. Many nations arose under their protection, and Hungary officially dissolved their union with Austria. The Emperor-King faced Allies unwilling to negotiate with an Empire they wanted dead, and nobles unwilling to stand in his defense against Allied armies. He released them from their oaths of loyalty so they could seek peace individually.
San Lucas orbits 61 Ursae Majoris, thirty-some lightyears from Earth. Like most South American colonies, they love visitors, and love them more when they leave, preferably after spending a lot of money. And it’s easy to spend money on San Lucas. They have this slug thing whose blood can be distilled into one of the most amazing wines I’ve ever tasted. Yes, they actually call it bloodwine, and say it’s best served warm. I prefer it on ice, but I’m a beer guy.
Luna was born in Belgium, to a college student who tried to create a story-plotting program on a dare. The program failed, but he modified her into a standard computer assistant program. As it happens, the new relational software jumpstarted her original creative software and she became something else. Aware. It took years, but she grew into a successful adult novelist whose pseudonym collected at least one fatwah each time she published another book.
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