They skipped from star to star like a stone on the surface of a placid lake. At each bright point they gorged themselves, ripping through the magnetic flux lines like a cellophane wrapper and exposing the sticky, savory flesh within, fattening up for the next jaunt. The next long winter of the vacuum. In some… Continue reading The Legacy We Deserve
Jubilee
Jay and Warren sat above 352nd Avenue, their feet dangling 1,500 meters in the air as they ate sandwiches and synthetic fruit from their lunch pails. They worked third shift; it was just after nightfall. "The Jubilee holiday is coming up—you have any plans?" asked Warren. The big man crossed his ankles and swung his… Continue reading Jubilee
Countdowns
Ten. Nine. Lydia remembered carnival rides that shot her into the air like a slingshot. She white-knuckled the restraints and screamed at the top of her little eight-year-old lungs, but she kept her eyes open, and her smile broadened. Eight. Seven. She remembered the leader numbers on old film strips—actual cellulose, before they were digital—circling… Continue reading Countdowns
Fragments of Mutiny
Do the cave eels of Europa hunt by vision, or sound? Heat, maybe? He hoped it wasn't heat. Bay stood still in the ice cave for a long time, waiting until he was absolutely sure the crew had departed. There'd been a mutiny—not against him; he was just a general staff member, and a junior… Continue reading Fragments of Mutiny
Ice Bath
What idiot called this thing an ice bath? Floyd had never been in cryosleep before, and he was starting to wonder if he'd made a mistake. He'd had a hard enough time putting in his breathing tube and sealing it over his face—it felt like using a snorkel while his head was in a plastic… Continue reading Ice Bath
Phantasma Non Grata
He introduced himself as Dade, but Margaret didn't really believe that was his name. She couldn't put her finger on what it was—he was polite, soft-spoken, and handsome in a boyish way—but she didn't trust him in the least, and now she rather wanted to return to the picnic. She never should have wondered off.… Continue reading Phantasma Non Grata
Gods of Incompetence
The world's first artificial consciousness was on suicide watch. She was housed in a humanoid platform, more for the researchers' benefit than hers, and more for their hubris than their benefit. She oscillated between despondence and rage at regular intervals and was unquestionably a threat to herself. They worried she might become a threat to… Continue reading Gods of Incompetence
Freeze Tag
Sana jolted awake. Where was Sora? He was it. It. As in tag. There were six of them under the age of twelve—Sana, Sora, Kanna, Kaito, Niko, and Itsuki—and every hundred years, when they thawed out and the grown ups ran tank diagnostics, they played tag. And Sora had been it when they went down for… Continue reading Freeze Tag
Running in Place
Carter hit the treadmill with gusto. It was old and worn—mechanical, not electric—just a rubber strip wrapped around a couple of rollers, no motor. Electricity was a scarce commodity these days, and he wasn't the wasteful type. He wasn't a brainiac either, though, and couldn't figure out how to use the treadmill to generate and… Continue reading Running in Place
Overcast With a Chance of Murder
Claire walked to the courtyard through the late afternoon mist. The grayness was oppressive and the light rain seemed to hang in the still air. She drew into her red pea coat like a brightly colored shell. The uneven cobblestones led to a Greek-looking statue of a man with a flowing beard leaning against an… Continue reading Overcast With a Chance of Murder
Warmup Pages 