Jorde climbed further and further, placing each step with great care, further than anyone had ever gone before. He was nearing the bottom. The glorious cream-colored mesas of Apexa towered dauntingly over him, rising miles and miles into the stratosphere. The air along the plateaus of their summits was light enough to be oxygen rich… Continue reading Race to the Bottom
Tag: Alien Plants
Terraplant
“What’d you say your name was?” “Garbenzera. Rick Garbenzera.” The director turned his gaunt, thin-lipped face to his assistant, Miranda Spring, a woman with soft features and a hard voice whom Rick would have just as easily accepted to be 25 as 40. He got a mentor-protege vibe from the two of them. They both… Continue reading Terraplant
Fate of the Denali
"Commander, this is Spatha Six." Horace stood alone on a grassy outcrop overlooking a calm river that curved to the south through brilliant grasslands. But there was tragedy here. "Go ahead, Six." "I've got something you'll want to see, ma'am. I think I found the main drive system." The quiet hum of radio noise shushed… Continue reading Fate of the Denali
Fluke
Far away, in a galaxy which we have not yet catalogued, in a time we could call the present—though to do so would be at the midpoint of a span terminating at impractical at one end and meaningless at the other—there is a planet that we shall call Fluke. On planet Fluke, there are things… Continue reading Fluke
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
No Vacation
They were less than a klick from the structure and Yebin was already holding them back. Desh made it ten paces before he realized her footfalls over the soft leaves had ceased behind him, and he turned to find her staring into the sky with her arms in the air like a child who wanted… Continue reading No Vacation
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
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