I stood gawking like a tourist at the inverted skyscrapers that hung down from the sky of stone and ice and iron. But I wasn't a tourist. This was my home now. The hollowed out asteroid was thick with the stench of people who all showered in the same few gallons of precious recycled water.… Continue reading Too Little Willpower
Allegiance to the Bedlam
Baroness Vilaya emerged from the night like a horrible memory, her cape rising like the cursed wings of a moth in the electric rain. A butterfly mad with bloodlust. Front lit by the Fire Moon as she was, she looked aflame, as if she'd wrapped herself in a cloak of embers. I was drawn to… Continue reading Allegiance to the Bedlam
Darkly Comes the Terminus
He was still out there—the Waiting Man—with his heavy stare; as heavy as a burden; as heavy as the hole where his soul should be, and all the quiet pretty things he's tried to fill it with. He's waiting, as he does so well. Waiting for me. But I won't open the door. Between the… Continue reading Darkly Comes the Terminus
Under Red Sand
For a while, all they could do was stare at it from the crest of the dune. Jutting up from the rust-colored sand was a fully jointed hand—like a human's—made of metallic plating and electrical cables. It was the size of a three-story house. It was Elliot who finally broke the silence with a long… Continue reading Under Red Sand
The Last Laugh
He saw stars. He was pleasantly surprised. Seeing stars; it's not an uncommon metaphor, but he only now understood how accurate it was. Points of light, pink and blue and gold, and all very far away. They swirled around like glitter being stirred into a cauldron of ink. He'd never been punched before. He felt… Continue reading The Last Laugh
Moon Trucker
Halter Sprock had no sense of adventure. It had been ground down to a fine powder, just like everything else around here. He made up country western lyrics and sang away the hours as he drove the trawler, a Sanya series, model P2. He was leaving Listening Outpost Chiral. He would have known it even… Continue reading Moon Trucker
Amethyst
Amethyst, like most planets discovered in the 23rd century, had a name as one-dimensional as it was misleading. There's no quartz here. The first ship to attempt a landing nearly combusted when its hull started oxidizing from the iodine in the atmosphere. That's what gives it its rich violet palette: the iodine vents. Its scorching… Continue reading Amethyst
The Crimson Man
The Crimson Man lives in a cave in the birchwood grove where the sun is always setting and the season is always autumn. He has crimson eyes that can see for miles and a crimson cloak that warms him as well as any fire. When hunger pulls at his stomach with its long-boned fingers he… Continue reading The Crimson Man
The Advocate
"I'm Harley. I'll be your advocate." She waited while the creature on the other side of the translucent partition interpreted her message and responded. Integrated translators turned its color-shifting into text that scrolled across the partition. Many of the pixels were dead, especially for such a short response. "My what?" She sighed and crossed one… Continue reading The Advocate
Before the Storm
Lamb calmly crossed the long entryway of the lobby, the wooden heels of his thousand-dollar authentic leather oxfords—from genetically unique cattle, not those clone farm abominations—clicked with each step upon the quartz floor like a metronome, a prelude to the requiem. Though, the impressive space was designed such that the sounds of the lobby lived… Continue reading Before the Storm
Warmup Pages 