Mission 51 Background Stuff

Torkiya is a planet 50-light years away from planet Earth. The people of Torkiya are space-faring. They’ve been interested in the planet Earth (which they call Cerulea) for a long time, and they’ve sent many missions. Torkiyan missions to Cerulea are intended to explore and colonize the new world. The war-like Torkiyans’ altruistic excuse for the arduous project is to spread the beliefs and culture of the Torkiyan people, but the more compelling reason is for the commercial and financial aspects of the endeavor. The ideology of these competing yet complementary views are spelled out to the crews of the missions in their Mission Directives:

1. To establish a colony
2. To defeat and subjugate any sapient species they might find
3. To spread Torkiyan Knowledge, Wisdom, and Truth
4. To advance the technology of endemic sapient species with the goal of eventually connecting the two worlds

Torkiyan Mission 51 to Cerulea was organized about 500 Earth-years ago, at a time when the Americas were being invaded and colonized by Europeans.

The Spanish Missions of Alta California

Mission San Francisco de Asís, or Mission Dolores, is the oldest surviving structure in San Francisco and the sixth religious settlement established as part of the Spanish chain of missions in California. It plays a role in Mission 51.

Several ideas came together when I first imagined the story of Mission 51. I wanted to honor my immigrant parents. I wanted to contribute to the immigration narrative in general, even if it was in some small way. I wanted to be honest about human nature, about our virtues and our defects. I thought about how invaders have decimated native cultures, all over the world and across recorded history. I thought about the waves of immigration that have come into the United States, and how they have changed the very face of America. And then it all crystalized when I thought about the Spanish missions in California, and when I realized the notorious events in Area 51 occurred at the same time as my parents’ immigration to the US in 1954. The story simply had to be about missions and aliens! 😀

On June 28, 2017, Mission 51 finished in the top 3 of the Nerdist Sci-Fi Contest, out of 173 entries, winning a full publishing contract on Inkshares. It is currently in editing/production.

You can pre-order here.

This is going to be fun! 😀