Cossmass Productions - Rebels of the Red Planet

Rebels of the Red Planet - Chapter 18

paul@cossmass.co.uk (Paul Campbell) — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 18:43:38 +0000

Rebels of the Red Planet by Charles L. Fontenay, an audio book read by Paul W. Campbell.
Part of the 2nd Annual SFFAudio Challenge.
Final Chapter
Chapter 18: Moments later, the two groups of Masters converged at the gate, two from one direction and five from the other.
"After them!" commanded Placer. "But stay together. We'll have to try to hunt them down in the vats, and maybe the Toughs can help us, but we don't want to get separated so they can pick us off one by one."
"Wait, Placer, there's something you ought to know," said one of the two Masters who had come from the direction of the conference room. "Greyde called out a few minutes ago to tell us he had word from Vidonati in the control room. Those groundcars that were hanging around had attacked one of the entrance buildings."
Music: Melody From Mars by Action Faust.

Promos

SFF Audio
Estalvin's Legacy

Rebels of the Red Planet - Chapter 17

paul@cossmass.co.uk (Paul Campbell) — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 21:55:30 +0000

Rebels of the Red Planet by Charles L. Fontenay, an audio book read by Paul W. Campbell.
Part of the 2nd Annual SFFAudio Challenge.
Penultimate Chapter
Chapter 17: Behind the locked door of the conference room, one of the Masters passed out heatguns to Nuwell, Placer and the other four.
"If we use these on them at half intensity, I think we can calm them down without killing any of them," said Placer. "We'll probably have more trouble beating down the Toughs and keeping them from killing all the Jellies than we will subduing the Jellies in the first place."
"I hope we warned the three at the other end of the hall in time," said one of the others. "There hasn't been any word from them."
Music: Melody From Mars by Action Faust.

Promos

SFF Audio
Max Quick 2: The Two Travelers

Rebels of the Red Planet - Chapter 16

paul@cossmass.co.uk (Paul Campbell) — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 06:40:19 +0000

Rebels of the Red Planet by Charles L. Fontenay, an audio book read by Paul W. Campbell.
Part of the 2nd Annual SFFAudio Challenge.
Chapter 16: Nuwell Eli sat with Placer Viceroy, director of the Canfell Hydroponic Farm, in its large underground dining room, eating lunch. This meal was not the tasteless, gelatin-like food that was fed to the Jellies and Toughs and sold on the Martian market. It was a meal of thick, juicy steaks from the dome farms around Hesperidum and vegetables from the gardens inside the Mars City dome.
"We've been here better than a week, and she's still stubborn," Nuwell said morosely. "Surely she has the intelligence to realize how ridiculous and impractical is her sudden conversion to a lost rebel cause. I'm half convinced that this Kensington fellow put her under some sort of a hypnotic spell."
"You've been very gentle in your methods of conversion," said Placer. "It isn't like you, Nuwell. If you want quick results, we could turn her over to the Toughs for a while."
Music: Melody From Mars by Action Faust.

Promos

SFF Audio
Star Trek: Diplomatic Relations

Rebels of the Red Planet - Chapter 15

paul@cossmass.co.uk (Paul Campbell) — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 20:42:29 +0000

Rebels of the Red Planet by Charles L. Fontenay, an audio book read by Paul W. Campbell.
Part of the 2nd Annual SFFAudio Challenge.
Chapter 15: Dark walked across the desert toward the Canfell Hydroponic Farm.
He had discarded the marsuit he had been wearing, and substituted for it a light loincloth torn from one of Goat Hennessey's sheets. This reverse reaction, in a temperature that would be uncomfortably chilly for a fully clothed man and descended far below zero at night, resulted from his recognition that he gained a tremendously greater direct influx of energy from the total exposure of his skin to the sunlight. He could feel the energy penetrating his flesh, building up in him. And, with this energy, the low temperature did not bother him.
Behind him, by a rope, he dragged a little two-wheeled cart he had constructed from groundcar parts. It rolled and bumped over the sandy terrain, containing all the marsuits and all the seven heatguns that he had been able to find at Ultra Vires.
Music: Melody From Mars by Action Faust.

Promos

SFF Audio
Kung Fu Action Theatre

Rebels of the Red Planet on Podiobooks.com

paul@cossmass.co.uk (Paul Campbell) — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 09:45:42 +0000

You can now get Rebels of the Red Planet on Podiobooks.com. Thanks to Chris, Nathan and Evo for their help and advice on the specific details for Podiobooks. I especially recommend that you listen to all Nathan's books, starting with Quarter Share.

The first five chapters are available now. More should be up this weekend.

Here is the planned release schedule for the rest of this month:

12th: Estalvin's Legacy - Episode 5 (Done)
13th: Rebels of the Red Planet - Chapter 15 (Done)
14th: Rebels of the Red Planet - Chapters 6-10 on Podiobooks (Done)
20th: Rebels of the Red Planet - Chapter 16 (Done)
21st: Rebels of the Red Planet - Chapters 11-15 on Podiobooks (Done)
25th: Rebels of the Red Planet - Chapter 17 (Done)
26th: Rebels of the Red Planet - Chapter 18 - Final Chapter (Done)
27th: Rebels of the Red Planet - Chapters 16-18 on Podiobooks (Done)

The dates for Podiobooks are when I'm planning to upload the chapter's to their servers, it can take a few days before they become available publicly after that.

I'm away on holiday in Spain for a week from the 27th, so I'm pushing to get that all out and finished before I leave.

Rebels of the Red Planet - Chapter 14

paul@cossmass.co.uk (Paul Campbell) — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 09:38:52 +0000

Rebels of the Red Planet by Charles L. Fontenay, an audio book read by Paul W. Campbell.
Part of the 2nd Annual SFFAudio Challenge.
Chapter 14: Dark and Maya sat with their backs against the wall of Ultra Vires, and Qril squatted before them, towering huge above them. A little distance away the other three Martians were grouped, playing some sort of game, doing some sort of work or participating in some sort of joint demonstration. Dark could not be sure which.
Qril boomed out a long, rolling sentence and Maya broke into laughter. She turned to Dark and translated:
"He said he didn't understand why I'm wearing a helmet, when you aren't. I explained that I have to wear a helmet to breathe, and he said that, since you and I are alike, it appears that we'd dress alike. So you see, darling, even the Martians recognize that we're made for each other."
Music: Melody From Mars by Action Faust.

Promos

SFF Audio
Radio Drama Revival

Rebels of the Red Planet - Chapter 13

paul@cossmass.co.uk (Paul Campbell) — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 13:15:14 +0000

Rebels of the Red Planet by Charles L. Fontenay, an audio book read by Paul W. Campbell.
Part of the 2nd Annual SFFAudio Challenge.
Chapter 13: Brute Hennessey plodded westward through the Xanthe Desert, naked, wearing no marsuit, his head bare to the thin, oxygen-poor Martian air. The two small moons shone in the star-spangled sky above the lone figure, casting fantastic shadows on the sands.
But this was not the stupid, shambling Brute Hennessey of a few months past. He walked surely and proudly, and the light of intelligence shone in his eyes.
He called himself, now, Dark Kensington.
Music: Melody From Mars by Action Faust.

Promos

SFF Audio
Infected

Rebels of the Red Planet - Chapter 12

paul@cossmass.co.uk (Paul Campbell) — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 21:24:32 +0000

Rebels of the Red Planet by Charles L. Fontenay, an audio book read by Paul W. Campbell.
Part of the 2nd Annual SFFAudio Challenge.
Chapter 12: The two Dark Kensingtons and Happy Thurbelow walked along one of the pathways between the vats, Happy trailing a bit behind. Somewhere near them, they knew, Shadow accompanied them.
The place was dim, with the moist dimness of a swamp. The source of the light that filtered through the faint mist and seemed to permeate the air was not discernible, and the roof of this underground world was lost in the darkness above them. The placid surface of the water gleamed vaguely in the vats they passed, and the pale-green tangle of vegetation rose above and around them, sometimes drooping over the paths like skinny arms that sought to detain them.
"What I don't understand," said Dark the younger, "is that our memories coincide exactly, up to a point which you say is a time twenty-five years ago. My memories are just as genuine as you say yours are; they aren't something someone told me, but real memories of things that happened to me, things I felt and did. If they're both genuine sets of memories, how can it be explained? Are we the same person, who was somehow split into two distinct individuals?"

Rebels of the Red Planet - Chapter 11

paul@cossmass.co.uk (Paul Campbell) — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 01:04:45 +0000

Rebels of the Red Planet by Charles L. Fontenay, an audio book read by Paul W. Campbell.
Part of the 2nd Annual SFFAudio Challenge.
Chapter 11: The Xanthe Desert stretched red and barren on all sides of the plodding couple, the sands unbroken by the form of plant or stone or any living thing, all the way to the tight horizon of Mars. Above them, the small, glittering sun slid down the copper-hued sky slowly toward the west.
It was remarkable, thought Maya, how smooth and flat the desert looked from the air, and how rough and rolling it was when one had to walk across the packed sand. They had been walking for hours and, despite the gentle gravity of Mars, she was getting very tired.
"It's farther than I thought," said Nuwell, his voice distorted by the marshelmet speaker. "Distances on the chart are deceptive. We may not reach Ultra Vires by night."
Music: Melody From Mars by Action Faust.

Promos

SFF Audio
Twin Stars

Rebels of the Red Planet - Chapter 10

paul@cossmass.co.uk (Paul Campbell) — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 11:53:55 +0000

Rebels of the Red Planet by Charles L. Fontenay, an audio book read by Paul W. Campbell.
Part of the 2nd Annual SFFAudio Challenge.
Chapter 10: Happy Thurbelow finished sweeping the long barracks and leaned wearily on his broom. That is, he didn't lean on it, or it would have collapsed him to the floor, but he made the gesture. Why, he wondered, didn't the Masters make the Toughs sweep their own barracks? Perhaps the Toughs couldn't be made, or perhaps the Masters did it just from an excess of cruelty.
Happy's monstrously bloated body sagged, and his skin felt dangerously dry and tight. Happy was so adipose that his hands engulfed the broom handle like a toothpick; under the transparent skin, his flesh was clear and translucent, and there could be seen the tiny red lines of the branching veins. Happy was like a jellyfish, in huge human form.
"Shadow!" he called in a high, grating voice. "I'm going below."
Music: Melody From Mars by Action Faust.

Promos

SFF Audio
Schlock Audio Theatre

Rebels of the Red Planet - Chapter 9

paul@cossmass.co.uk (Paul Campbell) — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 23:54:23 +0000

Rebels of the Red Planet by Charles L. Fontenay, an audio book read by Paul W. Campbell.
Part of the 2nd Annual SFFAudio Challenge.
Chapter 9: From the time she saw Dark Kensington die until Nuwell's arrival at the Chateau Nectaris a day later, Maya remained in her room, half in shock, half in an agony of sorrow and remorse.
She was so exhausted by her ordeal that she did sleep, but it was fitfully and without genuine rest. She had her meals sent up to her room, and ate automatically, not tasting the food.
Rationally, she could in no way blame herself for Dark's death, but that did not prevent her feeling strongly that her insistence on tracking down the fugitives from the Childress Barber College had made her, directly, his slayer. Her feeling of distress was much deeper and more personal than normal regret at having brought about the death of a friendly enemy while in pursuit of her duty.
Music: Melody From Mars by Action Faust.

Promos

SFF Audio
Texas Radio Theatre Company

Rebels of the Red Planet - Chapter 8

paul@cossmass.co.uk (Paul Campbell) — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 13:35:55 +0000

Rebels of the Red Planet by Charles L. Fontenay, an audio book read by Paul W. Campbell.
Part of the 2nd Annual SFFAudio Challenge.
Chapter 8: The waiter unplugged the telephone and lifted it from their table.
"We're ready to order now," Maya said to him. "And please ask Mr. Gren to come in here."
A few moments after the waiter left, the manager came to their table. Quelman Gren was dark and thin-faced,with sleek, oily hair.
Music: Melody From Mars by Action Faust.

Promos

SFF Audio
Planet Retcon - Log of the Crimson Lien

Rebels of the Red Planet - Chapter 7

paul@cossmass.co.uk (Paul Campbell) — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 23:03:58 +0000

Rebels of the Red Planet by Charles L. Fontenay, an audio book read by Paul W. Campbell.
Part of the 2nd Annual SFFAudio Challenge.
Chapter 7: Maya had never seen Nuwell in such a state of sustained rage.
He strode back and forth in the private dining room of the Syrtis Major Club, near the western edge of Mars City, slapping his fist into his hand. His face usually was engaging and boyish, the wave of his dark hair setting it off handsomely, but now it was flushed like that of a petulant child and the lock of hair hung down over his forehead. Maya, the only other person in the room, sat quietly and watched him pace.
"They had plenty of time and all the information they needed," stormed Nuwell, "and yet they didn't get a single one of the key men! Most of the rebels slipped out easily, right under their noses!"
Music: Melody From Mars by Action Faust.

Promos

SFF Audio
Variant Frequencies

Rebels of the Red Planet - Chapter 6

paul@cossmass.co.uk (Paul Campbell) — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 00:49:35 +0000

Rebels of the Red Planet by Charles L. Fontenay, an audio book read by Paul W. Campbell.
Part of the 2nd Annual SFFAudio Challenge.
Chapter 6: The three men who stood by a table in the back lobby of the Childress Barber College and checked off the departure of the men at regularly spaced intervals were as different in appearance as they were in their positions in the Order of the Phoenix.
Oxvane Childress, big and bearded, was the "front," and directed the very necessary task of administering the Childress Barber College as a genuine barber college. Childress was a prominent member of two of Mars City's civic and social clubs, and careful examination of his activities over a period of years would have thrown no suspicion on him.
The Chief, whose real name perhaps Childress knew but never spoke, was a huge-headed midget who directed the far-flung activities of the Order of the Phoenix as an underground rebel organization. He never left the building, but reports were brought in to him from all over Mars. He knew a great deal at any time about what the government and Marscorp were doing, and he gave the orders for those moves aimed at maintaining the secrecy of the Phoenix.

Year's End

paul@cossmass.co.uk (Paul Campbell) — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 12:54:44 +0000

We're at the end of what has been a busy year. Cossmass Productions began publishing it's first series, Estalvin's Legacy, in June.

What had originally been conceived as a 12 part series became something a bit more. While the story has remained the same, the realisation that episodes 2 and 3, as plotted, would have been around 90 minutes each caused a minor change in plans. The exact number of episodes isn't definite yet. I'm now aiming at 30 minute episodes.

Of course, I can't mention Estalvin's Legacy without giving a huge thanks to all those involved in helping me bring this story into the world. And that would be the talented cast who have given their time freely and willingly. I do try not to abuse there generosity.

Thanks also to The Sonic Society, SFF Audio and Variant Frequencies. I really do appreciate what you've done for us.

The second series, Rebels of the Red Planet, is my first attempt at narration. I hope I'm getting better with each new chapter. Chapter 6 should be out the first week of January after a break over the holidays.

Rebels of the Red Planet - Chapter 5

paul@cossmass.co.uk (Paul Campbell) — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 13:48:17 +0000

Rebels of the Red Planet by Charles L. Fontenay, an audio book read by Paul W. Campbell.
Part of the 2nd Annual SFFAudio Challenge.
Chapter 5: Maya Cara Nome looked from her furnished room through cracked shutters at the building across the street.
A barber college. The building at 49 Sage Avenue, Mars City, was a barber college.
That surprised her. She didn't know exactly what she had expected: a hospital, perhaps, or even a kindergarten. But a barber college!
Music: Melody From Mars by Action Faust.

Promos

SFF Audio
Decoder Ring Theatre

Rebels of the Red Planet - Chapter 4

paul@cossmass.co.uk (Paul Campbell) — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 23:42:10 +0000

Rebels of the Red Planet by Charles L. Fontenay, an audio book read by Paul W. Campbell.
Part of the 2nd Annual SFFAudio Challenge.
Chapter 4: Fancher Laddigan made his way down a long dim corridor in the rear portion of the Childress Barber College, in Mars City's eastern quarter. He stopped and hesitated, with some trepidation, before an unmarked door near the end of the corridor.
Completely bald, bespectacled and well up in years, Fancher looked like a clerk and he had the instincts of a clerk. Yet he utilized that appearance and those instincts in a perilous cause.
Fancher knocked timidly on the door. On receiving an indistinct invitation from inside, he pushed it open and entered.
Music: Melody From Mars by Action Faust.

Promos

SFF Audio
Space Casey

Rebels of the Red Planet - Chapter 3

paul@cossmass.co.uk (Paul Campbell) — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 08:20:11 +0000

Rebels of the Red Planet by Charles L. Fontenay, an audio book read by Paul W. Campbell.
Part of the 2nd Annual SFFAudio Challenge.
Chapter 3: Maya's education was extensive, but it did not include the genetic sciences. She was able to follow Goat's explanations and his references to the charts he hung, one after another, on the wall of his study, but she was able to follow them only in a general sense. The technical details escaped her.
Nuwell seemed to have a better grasp of the subject. He nodded his dark, curly head frequently, and occasionally asked a question or two.
"Surgery is performed with a concentrated electron stream on the cells of the early embryo," said Goat. "I call it surgery, but actually it is an alteration of the structure of certain specific genes which govern the characteristics I am attempting to change. Such changes would, of course, then be transmitted on down to any progeny.
Music: Melody From Mars by Action Faust.

Promos

SFF Audio
Morevi: Remastered

Rebels of the Red Planet - Chapter 2

paul@cossmass.co.uk (Paul Campbell) — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 00:09:39 +0000

Rebels of the Red Planet by Charles L. Fontenay, an audio book read by Paul W. Campbell.
Part of the 2nd Annual SFFAudio Challenge.
Chapter 2: Adam and Brute followed Goat Hennessey down the corridor, towering over him like Saint Bernards on the heels of a terrier. They turned into the dining room, a big square room centered with a rude table and chairs, one wall pierced by a fireplace in which a big cauldron steamed over smouldering coals.
The dining room swarmed with a dozen small creatures, human in their pink flesh, more or less human in their twisted bodies. As soon as Goat entered with Adam and Brute in tow, the assemblage set up a high-pitched howling and twittering of anticipation and began beating utensils on the dishes, table and walls.
"Quiet!" squawked Goat over the tremendous clatter, and the noise subsided. They stood where they were, bright eyes fixed on him.
Music: Melody From Mars by Action Faust.

Promos

SFF Audio

Rebels of the Red Planet - Chapter 1

paul@cossmass.co.uk (Paul Campbell) — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 23:27:23 +0000

Rebels of the Red Planet by Charles L. Fontenay, an audio book read by Paul W. Campbell.
Part of the 2nd Annual SFFAudio Challenge.
Chapter 1: It is a sea, though they call it sand.
They call it sand because it is still and red and dense with grains. They call it sand because the thin wind whips it, and whirls its dusty skim away to the tight horizons of Mars.
But only a sea could so brood with the memory of aeons. Only a sea, lying so silent beneath the high skies, could hint the mystery of life still behind its barren veil.
Subscribe to Rebels of the Red Planet for free.
Music: Melody From Mars by Action Faust.

Promos

SFF Audio
Planet Retcon - Log of the Crimson Lien

Rebels of the Red Planet - Promo 1

paul@cossmass.co.uk (Paul Campbell) — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 22:07:33 +0000

Rebels of the Red Planet by Charles L. Fontenay, an audio book read by Paul W. Campbell.
As part of the 2nd Annual SFFAudio Challenge, Cossmass Productions will be releasing Rebels of the Red Planet.
Dark Kensington had been dead for twenty-five years. It was a fact; everyone knew it. Then suddenly he reappeared, youthful, brilliant, ready to take over the Phoenix, the rebel group that worked to overthrow the tyranny that gripped the settlers on Mars.
Subscribe to Rebels of the Red Planet for free.
Music: Melody From Mars by Action Faust
Update: New Album Art courtesy of Jesse Willis