A bassy tone and flashing amber light pulled Cato out of his light sleep. He'd been in and out of consciousness for a few days. The slow crawl of starvation made everything smear together. What in hell's name was that blinking light? His head was swimming. Cato fixated on the control panel until he forced… Continue reading The Strawberry Gambit
Cold Boot Attack
I thought I was drowning. Hypersleep left me heavy and dumb. Emergency waking protocol. I was rapid-thawing; should be mobile in an hour. The ship’s android stared into my tank with dimly glowing eyes devoid of soul. It tapped a polycarbonate digit to its aural receptor. I activated my earpiece. Its synthetic inflection was colder… Continue reading Cold Boot Attack
Gimme a Hand
"I don't know how to fucking fly this thing!" My would-be kidnapper pressed the muzzle harder against the back of my neck. "Then I hope you're a quick learner." The radio squawked again. "Shuttle 2-2-Libra-5-Neptune, this is is Harbor Tower 8. You're out of pattern and off grid. Escorts dispatched. Copy?" "Why can't you fly… Continue reading Gimme a Hand
There’s No Need to Panic
Brin was tossed and jostled by the press of the panicked crowd. She could see the airlock at the end of the docking arm. The enormous tetra-redundant voidglass panels had been designed to give disembarking passengers an awe-inspiring view of the nebula while impressing upon them the prowess of the mighty Republic. But now it… Continue reading There’s No Need to Panic
The Crypt at the End of Time
"Martin...what is this place?" The intricate web of the jump-gate network was the backbone society. Without it, every star system would be as isolated as if it were its own self-contained universe, at least as far as humans were concerned. But the jump-gates weren't built by humans. They were built by someone else; someone long… Continue reading The Crypt at the End of Time
Inside the Prohibition Zone
“These jump coordinates don’t look right.” “How so?” “They’d put us inside the Prohibition Zone.” “That’s right.” “It would take a full Federation armada to have a chance of anything getting back out again. Are you serious?” “Serious, yes, and also the captain of this ship. It would do you good to remember that. And… Continue reading Inside the Prohibition Zone
Beneath the Mondlebrid
The rushing sound of 15 million cubic meters of water diverted off course drowned out the sounds of the pumps. It drowned out the sounds of the endless procession of heavy equipment and raw materials for the constructors. It drowned out thought, and the city did not sleep. The last cranes were erected by first… Continue reading Beneath the Mondlebrid
The Behemoths of Kalburin
They are not to be disturbed. This was a key tenet of the Sh'sesha order of which Harn was a disciple. A tenet he was disobeying. Not for the first time, either. Kalburin was a barren world beneath a hostile binary star. Harn wasn't born here. No one is born here. And no one ever… Continue reading The Behemoths of Kalburin
But…where?
“…and behind this bulkhead here is the reaction chamber. Inside, a captured wormhole mouth can be induced to open or close, and the outflowing energy is directed with a simple magnetic field to provide thrust.” “Where’s the energy come from?” “The other end of the wormhole.” “Yeah, but where is it?” “Well, nobody really knows.… Continue reading But…where?
A Very Old Door
Denton sat uncomfortably across from the Secretary of Defense. The chair was fine, but he was a man meant to be on his feet. She handed him a tablet displaying an image of a metallic circle surrounded by gray dirt. “This was taken four hours ago at a secret dig site in the Nishina crater… Continue reading A Very Old Door
Warmup Pages 