Hereafter

[Wayne23]

11/16: #13 seed Northeastern beat #4 then #5 to get to the semifinals. They've beaten 2 top 10 teams so they can play. Their strength is inside.

11/17: We take a quick lead. Up 10 after 10. 39-22 at the half. We're playing much better tonight. 14 for Dens. Up 18 with 10 to play.

81-56. Great D. 26, 7, 4, 3 for Dens. 7 TOs.

The grains are growing. No problems so far but we're a few months away from a harvest.

[Wayne23]

11/18: Our first real challenge of the season comes in the final against #2 seed, #12 ranked Kansas. They are strong inside but they turn it over. They play very good D, or have so far.

11/19: It's close early. Up 2 after 10. 36-37 at halftime. 14 for Deck. Our C, Will More, has 3 fouls, as does his man. -7 from the line. Up 3 with 10 left. Tied with 6 minutes left. We go on a 9-0 run.

75-60 but it took a while! Triple double for Dens, 17, 11, 11, 5. 23, 4 for Deck, 13, 7 for More. Good inside play.

We're headed for another solar system. The probe is too far away to get accurate readings but there is one planet in the Goldilocks zone, no moons.

[Wayne23]

12/5: Joel Deck here. I thought I'd talk about my life as a freshman here at Duke and how things are going. First of all, I'm getting all As and Bs in my classes, so that's good! I've made a lot of friends since I got here and I have a new girl friend, so that's nice.

Coach really knows what he's doing and I'm a MUCH better player than I was when I got here and I'm proud to say that I'm leading the team in scoring and 2nd in RBs. Mel Dens is a potential All American and I'm scoring more points than he is!

Anyway, here's how we did in our last 4 games:

After the Coaches Classic #16 Maryland came to Durham. We smashed them, 79-43. I had a GRET night, 30 and 9. My best game so far! Mel had 14, 8, 3. We got 51 rebounds!

Then Xavier was here and we beat them 78-61. I kind of had a so-so night, 10 and 9, but I played good defense. Mel Dens had 24, 7, 3, 3. Sometimes I almost forget what I'm doing and watch him. He is so good! Our Center, Will More, had 15, 11, 4. We got 50 RBs so we're really hitting the boards lately! Coach wasn't happy about 17 turnovers though.

We went to Clemson and ate their lunch, 87-53. I had a better game than last time, 16, 7, 4, and I shut down my man. Every starter had at least 10, and Will had 11 and 17. We have a lot of weapons. If you shut one of us down somebody else will do the job. 47 rebounds tonight and only 11 TOs. Coach is like a fanatic about rebounds and turnovers. He says over and over again that they're the keys to victory, and the system we use really emphasizes both. Hey, we're

#1 in the country and we won it all last year so I guess it's working! That's why I came here, to win a championship!

We came back home and kicked Tennessee's butt, 96-73. 96 points! I had 16 and 4 but my man was really good and I was kind of in foul trouble all night and he got 20 points. I didn't foul out though. Our Point, Cal Winn, had a great night, 16, 4, 7. Maybe the best night was a sub guard, Jim Hold. He's a fellow freshman and he had his best game of the season, 19, 4. Like I said, if you shut one or two of us down someone else will get it done.

We're 8-0, with 4 more before we start ACC play.

Jed Clark here. The probe is reporting some readings that are hard to explain or even define. It's like there's some sort of intelligent life on the planet, but there's no development. No idea what that means but I guess we'll find out when we get there.

[Wayne23]

12/25: Joel Deck here. I'm back! This is kind of fun so I'll keep doing it, at least for awhile. Maybe I'll pass it on to somebody else at some point

We're really cooking! Coach said at the beginning of the season that he wasn't sure how good we'd wind up being. I wonder what he thinks now!

#4 UCLA came to town and we welcomed them by beating them up, 79-52. I had a lousy night, mostly because I was in foul trouble and played only 18 minutes. I got 8 and 4 and my D was only so-so. Will More was awesome though, 19, 16, 3, and 4 blocks. Mel Dens had 23, 3, 4. We had 44 boards to their 24, and only 10 TOs.

Then #17 Illinois came here and gave us a battle. We took a big early lead then kind of fell asleep in the second half and they got with three points twice.

We finally woke up though, and we won 74-65. I had a better night, 16 and 6 and good D. Cal Winn also had 16, with 4, 3, 3, but Coach was on his case for 6 TOs. 14, 6, 5 for Dens. Coach was really upset that we were only +6 on the boards and we had 18 turnovers. They had 27 but that didn't matter. Coach just won't accept it when we don't take care of the ball. Practice was pretty rough for a couple of days.

Then #3 Wisconsin was here and we were amazing! 73-49. Our D was like totally lock down. I had 21, but I didn't think I had a great game, although my D was good. 16, 4, 4, 4 for Mel. But we were only +6 on the boards. +20 in the paint though. But 15 TOs. Coach was happy with our D and he told us so, but he made it clear we have work to do!

In our last pre-conference game we hosted Memphis and crushed them 79-53. 19, 1, 4 for Mel, 18, 1, 3, 4 blocks for Cris Fell, our SF. It was maybe his best game of the year. I only had 10 but I had 13 RNBs and coach mentioned it after the game so that made me feel pretty good! But we had 16 TOs. Coach says if we want to win the ACC we need to take care of the ball better.

I got my grades and I got a 3.3, so I'm pretty happy with that.

Okay, we're 12-0, #1 in the nation and our NET is #1.The ACC seems weak this year and only Louisville is ranked, #8. That's unusual!

We're +22.2 PPG, #1 in margin. 1st in the nation in RBs, +11.1. -5.2 TOs and we average 12.3. Coach says he wants it below 12. +7 assists.

Mel jumped ahead of me in scoring. He gets 17.5. I'm second with 16.3, which is pretty good!

Will leads in RBs with a really good 10.8. I'm second with 7.3.Cal leads us in assists with 6.0.

Jed here. We're at the outer edge of the solar system. Our remote exploration of the planet seems to indicate there is intelligent life but we can't find it. We'll be closer in a few days.

[Wayne23]

1/10/2060: In the ACC opener we beat FL ST 93-70 here. We led all the way. 30, 3, 7, 4 for Dens, 22, 5 for Deck, 15, 15, 3, 3 for More.

63-50 over Wake Forest in Durham. Very low scoring first half, but we led all the way again. 18, 7 for Fell, 12, 6, 1, 4 for Dens, 10, 10 for Paul Robb.

We went to North Carolina and got beat! 67-81. We were just plain off all night long and we never led. We shot 31.3% and played poor D.
20, 11 for Deck, 12, 14 for More, 17, 3 for Dens.

We got back on track and beat #19 VA Tech here, 74-60. We were down 5 at the half and things were not looking good, but we finally woke up. 18, 7, 4, 3 for Dens, 13, 9, 3 for More, 14, 7, 3, 4, 3 for Deck. I was NOT happy with 18 TOs.

Georgia Tech is the only undefeated team in the ACC and they're here next week.

We have robots on the planet. It looks like there has been some action taken by sentient beings. There are some things that could not have happened naturally. No sign of intelligent beings though. Strange. The robots will continue to explore and if it seems safe to do so we will send down humans at some point.

[Wayne23]

1/22: We went to Syracuse and beat them 90-77. High scoring game and not our usual tight D but we won it. 22, 8, 6 blocks for More, 21, 5, 5, 5 for Dens, 12, 5, 10 for Winn.

67-51 over GA Tech here. We led all the way. 21, 6, 2, 3 for Dens. 17 TOs and only a slight edge inside; I wasn't all that pleased.

81-51 at Wake Forest. 19, 6 for Fell13, 4, 9 for Winn. 7 TOs and we were strong inside.

72-56 at NC ST. 14, 8, 4 for Fell. Very good guard play.

We're 19-1, 7-1, tied for 1st in the ACC with 2 teams 1 game back, 2 teams 2 games back and 12 to play.

I'm on the planet. Why do I always get picked for these things.

“Jed Clark, can you hear us?”

“I can hear you but I can't see you.”

“We are here. We wish to interact with you as you are the leader of your people.”

“I need to know where you are first. I need to know who I am speaking with.”

“We are the Krai. We are everywhere on the planet.”

“Can I see you?”

“You would not be prepared to view us. Our species is completely different from yours.”

“We travel through the galaxy to meet new species. We expect to encounter species that are different from our own and we have encountered some.”

“We feel you would be unable to understand us if we explained. We are too different.”

“This is your planet. If we are not welcome we will leave. But if we are to stay we need to know who we are speaking with. We hope to learn from you and perhaps to have you learn from us.”

“You may feel free to explore our planet while we ponder.”

And we are exploring the planet. It seems natural and unspoiled, and then again, there seems to be some sort of development that didn't happen naturally. It's puzzling.

[Wayne23]

2/4: We defeated Pitt easily here, 79-54. 49-19 at the half. PG Cal Winn led us with 19, 2, 4. 16, 9 for Fell, 14, 6, 5 for Dens.

Next we went o VA Tech and got beat 69-79. Probably the unhappiest I've been with this team. Our PG, Cal Winn had 10 turnovers and we had 24 as a team.
That is truly nauseating. The other team had 1. VA Tech took the lead right away and built it to 15. We never got it closer than 5. #3 guard Jim Hold hurt his leg and he will miss two games.

We only had one practice before our next game but we spent all of it working on ball handling.

Syracuse came to town and we beat them 85-66, but 15 TOs so I'm still pretty upset. Will More had 26 and 7. Winn had 8, 6, and 14, but 5 TOs. 13, 10 for Deck, 17, 6 for Dens.

We went to Georgia Tech and embarrassed them 70-39. 15 turnovers again but exceptional defense. 18, 8, 6, 3 for Dens.

We're 22-2, 10-2, still tied for 1st with #6 Louisville, 2 up on 2 teams. We play Louisville next, here.

The Krai has allowed us to explore for two weeks now. They have occasionally sent messages to tell us they are still “pondering.”

Mel Dens is #10 on the Norton list.

2/5: “Jed Clark, we have decided to take a chance. We shall reveal ourselves to you.”

I didn't know what to expect.

“We are extremely small creatures by your standards, about the size of your honey bees.”

“But... All of our research shows that-”

“That a creature must reach a certain minimum size in order to have the brain capacity to be capable of higher level thinking.”

“Yes, exactly.”

“Ours is what your scientists call a 'hive mind.'”

'Fascinating. May I have this conversation linked to the scientists, robotic and human, on our ship?”

“Certainly.”

It took a couple of minutes to get the connections set and the people and robots alerted. Then we repeated the important details and proceeded.”

“We have creatures on Earth-ants, bees, some others, that developed hive minds and accomplished some fairly complex tasks, but nothing as intellectually complex as higher level thought and conversation.”

“We have no way of knowing but we must wonder if perhaps some of these creatures WERE engaging in higher level thought and in conversation among themselves, but your species had no way of knowing it.”

At that point the scientists took over teh conversation, and conversations are ongoing with the Krai. In answer to questions they said that they did not feel that humans were capable of developing a hive mind.

“The more complex species are constructed so very differently, mentally and physically, that the kinds of pathways in the brain that are necessary for the intense intercommunication are simply not possible.”

I expect we're about to learn a great deal.

[Wayne23]

2/19: We beat Louisville 73-61 here. It was tied at 40 at halftime but we changed a bit on D, switched a couple of assignments, and held them to 21 in the 2nd half. 18, 4, 4, 3 for Dens, 16, 8 for Deck, 12, 10 for More. 12 turnovers.

We crushed BC 95-58 here. 33 for Dens, 10, 16 for more, 15, 5, 6 for Fell, 12, 3, 9 for Winn. Only 8 turnovers.

Mel Dens is #6 on the Norton list.

71-55 over North Carolina here. 34-19 at the half and they never got it to single digits in the 2nd half. 12, 10, 6, 7 for Dens, 16, 6, 3 for Winn. Huge edge inside but 23 turnovers and I'm steaming!

A real battle at Pitt, 89-82 in OT. They led by as many as 15 early, and by 11 at the half. We cam back, finally tying it on a three by Deck in the final seconds of regulation. Then we took over in OT. 21, 6, 4, 6, 3 for Dens, 22, 11 for Deck, 17, 14 for More. Good bench play but m23 turnovers for the 2nd game in a row. This is all we're working on in practice. I'm pulling my hair out.

26-2, 14-2. With 4 left to play we're 1 up on Louisville, 3 on VA Tech, and 5 or more on the rest. Realistically only Louisville can catch us.

Our scientists are learning a great deal from the Krai. We are very interested to learn how their minds work and how the hive mind works. It seems very clear that they practice some form of telepathic communication. The more we can learn about this the better. It seems extremely doubtful that our species could learn to communicate telepathically as we are simply not built for it, but the knowledge could prove useful in any number of ways. Our robots already do communicate in something like electronic telepathy, of course, which is simply computerized communication. But the system might be improved upon. There could well be other applications yet to be discovered. Other scientists are interested in studying how the Krai live and what kinds of beings they are. They have characteristics typical of both plant and animal life and we are uncertain as to how to classify them.

[Wayne23]

3/4: We went to UConn and won 93-77. We were up only 1 at the half but played very strong offense in the 2nd. 34, 8, 3 for Dens, 18, 3, 12 for Winn. They beat us badly inside, -24 in the paint.

83-72 in OT at Kona. We were awful in the 2nd half and threw away an 11 point lead. But we hung on to get it to OT and we dominated then. 25, 7, 3, 4 for Dens, 13, 18, 4, 3, 7 blocks for More. 54 RBs but they had 43.

Then a slaughter of Virginia here, 81-50. 30, 7 for Dens, who has 89 in his last three games. Only 4 TOs, which made me VERY happy. Strong inside play.

We ended the regular season with an easy home victory over Miami, 86-61. 21, 16, 4, 4 blocks for More, 20, 4, 4, 4, 3 blocks for Dens, 18, 7 for Deck. 9 TOs.

For the last month we've been going after recruits in case we lose some people to the draft.

3/5: Only Mel Dens declares. We expected him to go. We're happy that neither More nor Deck chose to leave early.

We end the regular season at 30-2, 18-2, First in the ACC, 1 up on #4 Louisville, 5 or more on the rest. We're #1, NET #1.

+17.7 PPG, +9.2 in RBs, #1 in RBs, -5 TOs but an unacceptable 13.3. +6.2 assists.

Dens leads us with 19.1 PPG. Deck gets 13.4, More 11.4. More leads in RBs with 10.5. Winn gets 7.0 assists.

We're still on the planet and communicating with the Krai. They are unwilling to come aboard our ship.

“None of us has ever left the planet and we fear it would be fatal to do so.”

We continue to learn from them and to a lesser extent, they from us. There are certain things they are very interested in.

“There are many things in which we have a great interest even though they have no practical value for us. Our lives are simple and our needs are few. Your technology fascinates us. The holo chambers also seem quite an innovation. We have no use for these things but they are interesting. Our only danger on the planet is flooding during the rainy season and we have solved this by moving to high ground as the season approaches.”

“Why don't you just stay on the high ground?”

“The food supply is more abundant in the low lying areas, and these areas are more esthetically pleasing to us.”

Nice to know that esthetics matter to the Krai.

[Wayne23]

Author's Note: The difficulty of running two dynasties at one is that there is always that slim but very real possibility that one will screw up the saves. I did that. Saved the historical dynasty with the futuristic dynasty's name, yes, in both versions. Checked the back ups, and nowhere do I see a save of "Hereafter. " I have to assume it is gone.

Not the way i wanted to end this dynasty.