Tori woke up like a pot left to boil over, lurching up and gasping from a nightmare immediately forgotten. Her eyes were hot and dry and crusted firmly shut from the dew drops she used last night. The high was second-to-none, but you always paid for it in the morning. She picked the goop from… Continue reading Blackout
Category: Creative Writing
No Place for a Human
Kayla was lost in the light of the sun tunnel. In theory, she only had to move in a straight line. But the exotic matter that comprised the tunnel walls appeared to branch out into twisting fractals. At a certain point, the concept of a straight line simply ceased to have any meaning. Dust devils… Continue reading No Place for a Human
A Thing Too Short
"Oscar, where have you been?" With Miranda, at her cabin down in the glasswood groves—not that he was about to admit it. He casually rubbed the back of his neck and flopped himself down on the couch without removing his boots. "Out," he said, barely hiding the barbs in his voice. "I am allowed to… Continue reading A Thing Too Short
Under the Knife
The Lunar Gateway orbital station was made not only of polymers and carbon fibers and lightweight alloys, but, principally, of rules. If humans had been intended for space they would have been born there. To survive in such a hostile and unforgiving environment, a strict, ordered constellation of rules was required. The Gateway had been… Continue reading Under the Knife
When It Rains
The facility was enormous—fifteen miles to a side according to the odometer—and, after circling the entire complex in an old battery-converted Jeep, Dustin resigned to the fact that there'd be no easy way in. High steel-and-concrete walls left no gaps in the perimeter. The various and spread out gates all looked the same: impregnable. He… Continue reading When It Rains
Making Do
At long last they took their seats for dinner. The four servantoids served the salads promptly. Gene and Judy had splurged on new servantoids—this year's model—but they were only allowed two due to the strict rationing. Their guests, Jude and Ginny, had to bring their own. Gene fumed to himself in his quiet way, and… Continue reading Making Do
Family Business
Finally, he'd caught the sonofabitch. Ramon Martens paced across the natural hardwood floor of his chief counsel's outer office, making a clacking noise with the soles of his shoes that sounded like the hammers of a roofing crew before sunrise on a Saturday morning. He chewed his lower lip as he paced, somewhat uncharacteristically, and… Continue reading Family Business
Cosmic Justice
It came down like snow. Like a blizzard, in fact, smearing the space between the cloud tops and the ground into a disorienting blur of whirling, blinding, chaotic particles. For a moment, just before descent, Ken became absorbed in the abstract motion and found it profoundly beautiful. Perhaps it was this tendency—to become transfixed by… Continue reading Cosmic Justice
Insanity on the Darkstar
Zeddex strolled through her private rock garden, brooding. The historian, Wenloden, must be insane and would have to be executed before spreading her dangerous ideas. What troubled Zeddex so was the familiarity of the claims. Intelligent life once existed off the darkstar. Preposterous. But before Wenloden, Yannish had spouted the same heresy, as had Vinzhadel before… Continue reading Insanity on the Darkstar
Don’t Touch
It looked like a house-sized tumor. It was a fleshy mass that twitched and oozed thick scarlet fluids and puffed out gases at intervals. The whole thing had a clear sheen like raw pork shoulder. The two scientists and their military escort were too amazed to retch at the otherwise disgusting glob that filled the… Continue reading Don’t Touch
Warmup Pages 