Murder! In Space!

I don't know if this is going to come into play in my next project, but lately I've drawn to the trope They Fight Crime. As in, "She's a by-the-book detective. He's an amorphous blob of mac and cheese. Together, they fight crime!" Or something, you know, less nonsensical. He's an FBI agent, she's a forensic anthropologist. A cop and a novelist. An Ontarian and a Quebecois. You get the idea.

I was also thinking about space cops, but I don't know if I know enough about law enforcement and, you know, space, to pull it off. The initial idea I had for my "space story" was that the main character joined what I called "The Corps." I don't know what that is. I never figured that out. Maybe they're space cops. I don't really know what they would be policing, on a lonely ship, wandering through space all alone. I mean, I guess they could keep the citizenry in line. I don't know. I have no idea what I'm doing, as usual.

But yeah, crime fighting. Sounds like fun, doesn't it? And really, the more fantastical or sci-fi the setting, the easier it should be, because at that point you're making up the rules and laws, rather than trying to accurately follow existing rules and laws. And just think of all the people… uh, characters… I could murder.

So imagine this, based off of what I vaguely recollect from the outline of my space story. Tycho Valera, proud member of the Corps, defender of the twisting corridors of the Astr'ale. His best friend and partner, who never did get a name, meets a horrible end under mysterious circumstances. Tycho gets booted from the Corps due to executive meddling. Now, he must join forces with someone unexpected to find out what really happened.

What do you think of that?

It sounds much more exciting than the previous idea, which just involved a lot of feelings. I don't know who he's going to be working with, but I like where this is headed. Maybe there's some ship-wide conspiracy to uncover. Maybe they're not as alone out there as they think.

My initial villain, Elsbeth Zogg, may or may not stay in this new version. Maybe she'll become something else. Maybe I'll get rid of her entirely. Maybe she's just a minor hindrance but not the Big Bad. I think she might be the executive who's meddling. That is, the one who gets him kicked out of the Corps. But she's probably not behind the whole… thing.

I initially put this story idea aside because it became overwhelmingly boring. But this new angle is making things more interesting. So maybe I'll pick it up again. If nothing else, it'll give me something to do while I try to come up with publishable short stories.

I'll see you Friday.