Richard V. Rupp

August 14, 2021

Good Saturday morning. I'm author Richard V. Rupp, writing from Burbank, California. Welcome to Rupp's Notes/FBI Special Agent Hartman Series posts.

 

Tonight is the start of the NFL season for me. I'll be watching the preseason game between my RAMS and my CHARGERS. Yes, I root for both teams unless they are playing against each other; then I root for the RAMS. For years, I had season tickets for the RAMS when they played at the Coliseum. Then in 1995, they were hijacked by Georgia Frontiere to St. Louis. I readopted them in 2016 when they returned to LA.

 

The UN sent out a CODE RED on climate change. The press release stated that every corner of the world is feeling some of its "irreversible" effects. July was the hottest month ever recorded on Earth.

 

Second, to the pandemic, the most reported subject in the press is this year's long hot summer.  Yes, I can attest that it's been a long hot summer here in Burbank, by the size of my electric bill. The severity of the heat has made life unbearable for many. Wildfires have destroyed thousands of homes and, and in some cases, entire towns. Drought conditions are impacting water supplies and hydroelectric generation. Some communities are trucking in water, and the need for air conditioning is playing havoc with the electric power grid.

 

In Italy, the temperature almost reached 120 degrees Fahrenheit this week. The hottest day ever recorded there. This high-temperature reading came as a heatwave is baking parts of the Mediterranean and contributing to massive wildfires that have killed dozens of people in Europe.  It appears this summer will have an impact for years to come. And, this may just be the first of many summers like this.

 

And, you wonder why in my novel SKYWARD the Bowman Twins want to establish a colony on the Moon and explore further into space.  

 

You know my passion for words and phrases. And that I follow articles related to criminal activity. There was a story on Tuesday that combined both these interests. A $600 million heist of cryptocurrency from the finance platform Poly Network. The largest cryptocurrency heist to date. The Poly Network is defined as a 'token-swapping platform.' I understand the terms' wallet' and 'tokens.' This heist has introduced me to the fact there is now 'blockchain forensics.' A thing called a 'liquidy pool,' and the culprits left a 'device fingerprint.' My mind is slowly absorbing these new terms and their meanings.

 

I loved the fact there is an ancient term used in describing this heist. "White hat" villain. It reminded me of seeing a western movie at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood when I was a kid. My dad would drop me off to watch a Tom Mix, Roy Rogers, and Hopalong Cassidy movie. They all wore white cowboy hats. The farmers and ranchers had brown hats, and the bad guys always wore "black hats." I suspect some will say there is prejudice or racial discrimination in these old Hollywood "hat" stereotypes. 

 

Continuing my last post, my novel SKYWARD was initially intended to be a stand-alone one-off science fiction novel. I felt it was a story I needed to write based on what I perceived was happening in today's society and how that would impact the future. I realized the story would fit into the FBI Special Agent Hartman Series as I worked on the manuscript. For any American's to build a colony on the Moon, they would need some approval and assistance from the federal government. In my story, American needs to gain a presence on the Moon to compete with China who is establishing a military base there to retain World prestige. However, the American President realizes that his party has siphoned off funds from NASA and created a multi-trillion dollar debt to support domestic human infrastructure projects and needs to be innovative in this competition for World prestige. Yep, I'm using current events. SKYWARD projects into the future (not distant, but near) from life today.

 

The President jumps at the chance to let private enterprise take on his problem. It's a win-win solution for him. He can take credit for the project and get it accomplished with little financial impact on the government. He assigns someone he and the Bowman Twins know, FBI Special Agent Hartmann, to coordinate and monitor the project.

 

When POTUS learns that the Bowman Colony will be populated by STEM brainiacs with the objective of further exploration of space, it is touted as a scientific community. For political and favorable prestige image reasons, the decision is made to make the Colony a U.S. Territory, run by its own elected governor and a unicameral legislature. It will have no military presence, but it will have an FBI Field Office for local security and other exciting assignments.

 

What does this mean for Dick Hartmann and Coleen? You will be surprised. There are a lot of exciting things involving them. Oh, I'm having fun.  If you want to know more about Dick and Coleen, please read my novels DEATH & TAXES and DEATH ON THE HIGH SEAS.

 

I'm reading Robert A. Heinlein's science fiction novel THE MOON IS A HARSH MISTRESS and will have some comments on him and the novel in my next post.

 

Cheers,

 

Richard V. Rupp, Author

Website – www.richardvrupp.com

Email – rupprisk@gmail.com

Copyright©2021 by Richard V. Rupp