It's 2004 -- but not quite the same 2004. Sure boys play baseball, go swimming, hang out together. And their parents hear the President, or the Prime Minister if they'rre in Canada, Australia, or the U.K.,speaking on the news. And the level of technology available to the average citizen is pretty close to that of the real world. Religious fundamentalists are pushing to influence or become the power brokers.

But it's a world in which Star Trek's Starfleet and the United Federation of Plnets were not a series of TV shows during the late 20th Century and the present -- thery're a factual and present reality. Federation law, based loosely on Vulcan traditional law and implementing Vulcan propriety as the equivalent of common or civil law and equally authoritative, sup ersedes local, state or province, and national law when they come into conflict. Microsoft offers "Space Sim", a simulator that lets you have, on your home computer, a highly realistic experience of being on the bridge crew of a Federation starship like the Enterprise-- which is quite real, complete with Kirk, Spock, Scotty, and McCoy.

But this is not just a Star Trek fanfic. The events that unfold in the lives of a number of boys transform not only them and those they come in contact with, but are bidding fair to change the Multiverse.

Memories, Part I: The Gathering: In a boys' home in Des Moines, Iowa, 14-year-old Cory struggles to recover the memories he lost traumatically -- the only thing he can remember of his past is his best friend Sean, who with his widowed mother Teri seems to be reaching out to help him. As he recovers his past, things fall into place that reshape the future. (Author: ACFan. Status: Complete. This is the core story of the CSU, on which everything else draws.)

A New Day Dawns: Best friends David "DJ" McAllister and Tanner Michaels, both increasingly disenchanted with their abusive home life, reveal their deepest secret to each other, and end up pursued in a cross-country chase with a startling and happy outcome. (Author: Gunrunner. Status: Complete)

One Door Closes : After his father dies of AIDS, 11-year-old Kenny Waite is sent to Chicago to live with the mother and twin brother Kevin he has nevr known. Life throws some nasty surprises at the boys, and then some even more surprisng good results. (Author: Multimapper. Status: Complete)

Out of the Past: Sgt. Mike Reynolds, Campbell County (Montana) Sheriff's Dept., is a man with a complex past and a present that revolves around his 11-year-old adopted son Sammy, who loves him just as deeply. But both father and son (and the young widowered sheriff and his three sons, their closest friends) have secrets that end up changing their lives, and those of many others as well. (Author: DarkStar. Status: Work in Progress)

Jigsaw: In a small town in Maine, Jed Templeton comes home from school with his little brother C.J. to find his parents brutally murdered. Fleeing the scene, they're stopped and helped by two teenagers, whose lives are transformed as a result. (Authors: D&B. Status: Work in Progress. The first eight chapters were a complete standalone story; what follows them is more or less a sequel.)

More story capsules in following posts:

More Clan Short Universe storycapsules:

Memories Down Under: Abused Aussie boy Skylan is taken in by the Thomas family, and what follows on that brings them into contact with Clan Short and big changes in their lives. (Author: Boi From Aus. Status: Work in Progress)

Ark: 60,000 years ago, the idealistic and pacifistic Founders built the monumental Artificial Intelligence archive known as the Ark at the South Pole, to record every human action. It has remained hidden through three cycles of declining ideals, until such time as humans can strive for high ideals and live in peace. But something makes the Ark's caretaker take notice of what's being attempted, and he decides to intervene. (Author: Akeentia. Status: Book One complete.)

Sentenced to Life: Danny Page, a man of the late 19th Century, rues the day he allowed the mad scientist to scan his memories and personality and download them into the body of an android who appears to be 13 years old. He is revived 70 years after attempting suicide by Marc, the first "true" android not the product of a human brain scan, and very nearly the last surviving of his kind. They become close and when called on by Clan Short to attempt emergency repairs/revival of another android, they discover that far from losing everyone they had ever been close to, they gain more family than they can believe. (Author: Jeff P aka Jeffsfort. Status: Work in Progress,)

Silver Dragon: Welsh boy Jason Evans, son of a Starfleet captain, gets an unexpected present on Christmas Eve, 2003: Next-door neighbor boy Nathan is rescued from being beaten by his father, and becomes his foster brother. When they visit the father's starship, the Hood, events are set in motion that affect several races: Earth humans, Vulcans, Andorians, Klingons, and more. (Author: Iluvantir. Status: Work in Progress)

A New Door Opens: What started out as the worst day of his life for 14-year-old Rory Teeter, immobilized and all but incommunicado by a degenerative nerve disease, turns into the start of a wonderful new life for him. (Author: Multimapper. Status: Work in Progress)

Be Careful What You Ask For...: 20-something bachelor Kurt Farnsworth and his three nephews are fans of the fictional Clan Short stories, and wish they could be a part of something like the Clan. When an unexpected school vacation makes possible a trip to Florida for the four of them, well, as the story title says, be careful what you ask for! (Author: D&B. Status: Work in Progress)

And more to come....

By the way, as you read this please do let me know if the story capsules and links are of interest or not.

Thanks, D&B!

I have personally avoided starting reading these stories because I know that getting hooked will mean a LOT of reading, and I want to write! But the achievement of bring so many authors together and writing in a common universe is impressive. I know it's had some teething issues, but I think it's been great success from what I've heard.

I have been a fan of CSU stories for a long time and read all the updates quickly. I can say that your capsules are spot on but they don't quite match the inventive interconnectedness of all these tales. The authors have collaborated in such a way to try and keep the time lines and characters in synch. Obviously, this is no mean marvel, but they do it well.

Sumbloke turned me on to the CSU a couple of years ago. I'm a big sci-fi fan(atic). I like the international flavor that the CSU has: Brits and Aussies and Yanks, OH MY!

I followed the CSU stories long ago before I came to GA. Nice stories, but sometimes more fairy tales than real SF .
The fun of the stories is that it deals with children with adult minds and their knowledge is difficult to accept. what I like is that I have often to smile during reading.
Old bob