General Welkar took the podium. "Congratulations, cadets. You are still here. When I addressed this group a year ago, you numbered more than a thousand. And now? Thirty. Those others did not share your grit, your intellect, your skill, or your boldness. They quit. They were cut. Some believed they had no limits, and they… Continue reading If You Can’t Beat ‘Em, Seek Vengeance
Down to Business
"Sit down." The badge on his shoulder armor said POLICE, but he was on the wrong side of the law—the way it's written, anyway. The smoky black visor of his helmet had a spiderweb crack on one side and fresh beads of splatter on the other. He spun his pistol in quick circles on the red… Continue reading Down to Business
Greener Tomorrow
Natalie shifted the two jugs of water and the sack of fruit—plums and peaches, just now in season, and bananas—to her other arm and wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead. It was so humid. "It's just been so busy lately," she was saying, "with Eli's leg still healing—" A tug on her pantleg.… Continue reading Greener Tomorrow
We Were Here
Tana was the world's best cryptographer. She hadn't thought so before, though she'd known she was talented, but her very presence on this task force confirmed it. Everyone here was the best at what they did. The eclectic team included a renowned Oxford linguist, a cosmologist stationed on Luna's far side, an Angolan who was… Continue reading We Were Here
Wanna Make a Couple Bucks?
"Stop stalling. A bet's a bet." Xyler's opened his mouth as wide as he could, stuck his tongue all the way out, and held the pepper in front of his mouth. He sat that way, still as a statue, making an unsure moaning noise, before again pulling the pepper away. "C'mon, Eb, you know I… Continue reading Wanna Make a Couple Bucks?
Blue Skies Ahead
Up ahead the sky was baby blue. Fortunately, between Karta and the sun were long white stretches of high cumulonimbus clouds with inflamed charcoal-filled underbellies. If she only looked up she could almost mistake it for Earth, as long as the clouds held out anyway. But the wind was picking up. It was supposed to… Continue reading Blue Skies Ahead
Wired
There was a portrait on the wall, and for some reason Kilbourn couldn't take her eyes off it. It was black ink on canvas that had grown sickly yellow-green long ago. She couldn't decide if the face was a man's or a woman's. Every time she thought she'd made up her mind those eyes seemed… Continue reading Wired
Standardized Testing
Calia climbed into the hollowed out stump of a fallen roof tree and made an effort to quiet her labored breathing. Her lungs felt sunburned from the sprint and her mouth was cottony, flecked with bitter congealing saliva. She wiped at the beads of sweat on her brow, not noticing the dark streaks she left… Continue reading Standardized Testing
Alternative Fuels
Evolution has been around longer than humanity, so it follows that nature has already solved many of the problems we’re only beginning to identify. It should be no surprise then that technology bent toward the arc of biology soon after we had the power to manipulate the machinery of the cell. We learned to speak… Continue reading Alternative Fuels
Ultracortex
Ivy wrestled a braid of fiberoptic cables off of her shoulder. Snagged on the joint seal again. “How much longer?” Holden stopped and slowly, carefully turned himself around in the fluorescent underwater tangle. Air bubbles trickled up from the back of his suit, stringing together a breadcrumb trail leading from his rebreather to the surface… Continue reading Ultracortex
Warmup Pages 