Roan swept the heavy oar through the river in total silence, standing straight and tall, his stone face tidally locked to the shore. Sanis sat on her haunches behind him, torquing her neck to watch the ancient skyscrapers pass on either side of their approach. She peeked over the side, rocking the rusty rowboat, and… Continue reading Forward Motion
Private Casser’s Patrol
Private Casser slogged through the mud and rubble. The late afternoon sun was at his back, leaving him to trudge endlessly into his own shadow. Patches of reeds stood in tall, defiant patches, but the radiation would do its work for years and years until the reeds yielded like the buildings that had come before… Continue reading Private Casser’s Patrol
Anyone Home?
Asher piloted The Truth About Lies below the bullseye of the ring structure. The giant concentric circles demanded awe from all who saw them, even in their dormancy. There was something primal about the 2:3:5:7 ratio of their radii. A dark cloud of hydrocarbons had coalesced around the structure over eons, huddled around its implied might.… Continue reading Anyone Home?
A Nice Fantasy
The sun was a few degrees past he zenith; it was early afternoon. The clouds from this morning's rain were far to the southeast now, towards the mountains, leaving only blue skies and the scent of water in their tracks. The patches of greenery atop the white marble tower applauded politely in the breeze as… Continue reading A Nice Fantasy
The Last Nightrunner
From fifty meters away the Halflights watched in silent awe, but Sh'lud didn't care. This wasn't a show for them. It was the harvest. Under a starless sky she crossed the rocky plain, her boots crunching like glass with each step. The field hummed as each stone began to vibrate against its neighbors. The sound… Continue reading The Last Nightrunner
Caretaker
Caretaker Gravis watched from the observation deck across from docking bay five. The mining cruiser Silverback made final launch preparations in the moss-green light reflected from Atlantis III 450km below. He didn't wait for the launch, instead darkening the viewing glass and shutting off the artificial gravity on this half of the station. All crew were… Continue reading Caretaker
He Walks
He walks. Each shuffle step covers a thousand miles, and the scraping sound of leather shoe against asphalt wears away at his pride like high grit sandpaper. Someone makes eye contact with him. It's fleeting, and he sees the familiar in every face he passes as it confirms he exists only for a moment at… Continue reading He Walks
Unnamed Emotion
Dessius Rush removed the maintenance panel from the docking coupler, just as he'd done hundreds of times. But even with all his years of weekly inspections, it had locked up. And now of all times... His sweat dripped down into his eyes and stung sharply, and he could taste salt on his upper lip. He… Continue reading Unnamed Emotion
And the Leaves Will Brown
The caravan drove onward, following purposely toward its own end as if to a slaughterhouse, suffering under the eternal indifference of the Texas sun. After these months together, bound by trappings of shared experience to which all social animals are susceptible, the time was coming to scatter to the wind. The ache to fight it… Continue reading And the Leaves Will Brown
Let Me Tell You What I Did
Let me tell you what I did. But first, let me tell you who I did it to: Braxton Teller. That's Sheriff Teller, or Bloody Braxton, or the Savage Strangler. They're all one and the same. And I buried him. I didn't kill him; that would make me a killer, and killin' was his sin,… Continue reading Let Me Tell You What I Did
Warmup Pages 