Working and living on a Sunrise sat was actually a pretty easy gig. If you could drive a bus—even an automated one—you could fly a sat. Gus had been up here for four months and barely lifted a finger. It was great. He looked out a porthole. Below, the sun's last rays cast stark shadows… Continue reading Oxygen Leak
In the Moment
It looked like I might be in the bathroom at Club Manic, but it was tough to know for sure. I mean, there was no mistaking Manic's bathroom—red lit like the waiting rooms in hell; white subway tiled walls with dark grout, graffitied in kanji; narrow enough to make a cave diver feel claustrophobic; muffled… Continue reading In the Moment
Terra Nullius
The object flashed by the Earth so fast that we didn't even have time to photograph it. We didn't even know what it was, but its path was perpendicular to the ecliptic, or nearly so. A piece of it broke off—or was ejected with purpose, depending on your own inclination—and made landfall. It was called… Continue reading Terra Nullius
Where the Stars Can’t See
The high and textureles clouds made for a night devoid of starlight. The soldiers' headlamps along the plateau swirled like a galaxy though. An inversion of the absent sky. They were supposed to maintain line-of-sight with the Congaree, but Private Ramsey had other plans. He had to do some recon on a fresh stream. No one… Continue reading Where the Stars Can’t See
Something to Fight For
Jules stood alone in the Proteus desert on Empyrean. He'd never been first before, not in any of the trillions of light cones. Good. He was at the front then, making a real change. He wouldn't be alone for long. But as the seconds dragged on he didn't know what to do with himself. Always… Continue reading Something to Fight For
An Old Rock Climber
Shreya stood in her little office on the Eisenmenger, occasionally pacing, staring at her globes. They'd expanded from her shelves many years ago, colonizing her desktop, cabinet, and even areas of the floor she was sorry to say. Old starship manuals were stacked in piles just to give her globes a little variation in height. She… Continue reading An Old Rock Climber
Coming in Hot
"Let's just cool off and talk in a few days, right? I lo—...well, goodbye." That slimy son of a bitch almost said I love you. Martin had spoken that lie so many times it was habitual. If he was in front of her right now she might kill him. He wasn't, of course, but he would… Continue reading Coming in Hot
Beneath the Snow of Jetzt
The lander rocked gently as it descended toward Jetzt, the capital city of Schwarzer Regen, a tidally locked world on the fringe in an unremarkable system. "Sloppy flying," chided Ambassador Sterne. "This is how they greet the son of Grand Empress Sonne IV?" Hoff, slovenly splayed over a lounger, drink in hand, said, "Excellent flying.… Continue reading Beneath the Snow of Jetzt
The Heart of Elatus
The air was stale, but the fact that there was air at all was something of a miracle. Demetri was the first person to walk the halls of Elatus in a thousand years. He shut his visor. Breathable as the air might be, it was damp and there were thick carpets of mold overhead, as… Continue reading The Heart of Elatus
Major
Gio must have fallen asleep, because when he looked up there was someone sitting in the crash couch across from him in the otherwise empty shuttle. She wasn't quite staring at him, but looking through him. Lightyears away. Chewing gum. She seemed totally at home, but her outfit was out of place on a military… Continue reading Major
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