Ruth picked up the emptied plates from around the galley table, trying to remember each woman's name as she gathered utensils and cups: Cherry had the red hair, and Tootsie had a gap between her big front teeth and had an accent from the outer colonies, Kat was a tank made out of muscle and… Continue reading Sugar Rush
Category: Science Fiction
Absentia
Cade awoke beneath the clear dome of the transport. It was nighttime, but the blizzard held its own soft luminescence, vaguely purple. It felt like the storm was on the wrong side of a snow globe. He shifted in his seat, his leg sore from the prolonged nap in a strange position. "We're almost there,"… Continue reading Absentia
A Dozen Starlings
It was her eyes that unnerved him so. Two uncaring beads of a deep blue that he had never seen in another, like holes punched in the ocean floor, without any hint of light or recognition. She sat now across a long glass table, framed in the predawn dimness by her silky golden-white hair, holding… Continue reading A Dozen Starlings
Prepared for Anything
The Cada's crescent outline still faintly glowed violet in the skies above Nova Aparanta as the lingering exotic matter decayed and fell away from the ship's shielded hull. Omari was among the survivors, looking down at unnamed continents and murky freshwater oceans, knowing their fates were chained to this unknown world as sure as the stars… Continue reading Prepared for Anything
Fate of the Denali
"Commander, this is Spatha Six." Horace stood alone on a grassy outcrop overlooking a calm river that curved to the south through brilliant grasslands. But there was tragedy here. "Go ahead, Six." "I've got something you'll want to see, ma'am. I think I found the main drive system." The quiet hum of radio noise shushed… Continue reading Fate of the Denali
Ex Nihilo
Bloodied and battered, Raiden was dragged before the major, the rumbling of battle still reverberating through the rogue station. "Professor Laurel?" "That's awfully formal for the occasion." He spat on the major's tactical boots. A gash above his hairline dripped fresh blood through the canyons of deep wrinkles across his face—more than she would have… Continue reading Ex Nihilo
Fall Guy
Augustus stood at the edge of the scaffolding stretching out from the landing pad atop the headquarters of Cormorant Communications. High above the pointillism of the city lights in the late evening, the wind tugged at his scarf and jacket and made his knees weak. His stomach felt like it was on tumble dry. "Augustus!"… Continue reading Fall Guy
Little Things
Luca sat alone on the sprawling bridge of the Lillehammer Forge, watching extra large snowflakes drift down onto the mining complex below. It hadn't snowed on Alcyone III in sixty years. It seemed fitting; nothing made sense anymore. The hatch hissed open and in walked Brantley carrying a giant fresh orange—it was the size of a… Continue reading Little Things
Bloodrunning
Peyton nervously bounced her leg, making an exceptionally loud jangling sound as the chains of her shackles rattled against the steel of the floor and bench. The holding cell at Top End Spaceport—outside of Darwin—was little more than a seat in the center of a three meter cube. The ceiling was one big light panel,… Continue reading Bloodrunning
Money Is Not the Only Power
The heavy door lock clicks open, and in stumbles Raphael de Visviri, leading his consort by the buttocks. He tells her to make him a drink as he shoves her toward the liquor cabinet, and then he shuts the door and reengages the lock. He flicks on the light switch, but nothing happens. He flicks… Continue reading Money Is Not the Only Power
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