It had been a hard-fought tour and Harlow felt she'd earned the right to go home. But not like this. She waded slowly through the river in her six-ton mech suit, mindful of making waves that would douse her squadmates who were on foot. The water was up to their waists and they were doing… Continue reading A Sort of Homecoming
Tag: Aliens
Secrets, Secrets Are No Fun
A couple of years ago Maggie would have thought it wasn't fair and become despondent that the chaos of the universe had a preference for her misery. But that was the fatalistic response of a child. She was 18 now—an adult; a woman of action—and the only words that fit were this is bullshit! It was… Continue reading Secrets, Secrets Are No Fun
Paradox Resolved
The Milky Way rang like a bell, but only Kenza Ziani could hear it. The construction of the Resonance Stations had been her life's work—more than a life's work in some ways. Her brain was still her own with only minor alterations, but she'd regrown numerous new bodies around it through the long years. Twenty,… Continue reading Paradox Resolved
21st Century Sirens
Jericho felt like dogshit. His spring allergies had been especially rough, and that was before he got the call from the top. Before he'd biked home, his mind racing faster than his legs could pedal. Before he packed his shit, kissed his partner, and said, "I'll call you when I can. Hopefully soon." That was… Continue reading 21st Century Sirens
How to Sleep for 1,000 Years
As part of his education, Praveen had to read the autobiography of Dr. Maaz Ghazali, one of the pioneers of cryonic interstellar travel. It was called How to Sleep for 1,000 Years. Interesting book, if a little dated. It didn't really cover Praveen's current dilemma, but even so, the parallels were enough to chill him to… Continue reading How to Sleep for 1,000 Years
The Loop
Maria found herself in a white void. It was overly bright. The complete lack of detail was oppressive. Though, there seemed to be a floor, and she was standing. She spun around slowly and white objects materialized as if a fog was lifting. Simple solids, mostly. Pyramids and buckyballs. It was hard to get a… Continue reading The Loop
Hunters
Pelpoloi saw the first of Kepler-22b's satellites rise over the mountain peak and scrambled into a narrow crevice in the rock face. Pelpoloi didn't know what a satellite was and had no need to. The entire concept of the HXX—Habitable Exoplanet Exploration initiative—would confound him. His language lacked so many of the words needed to… Continue reading Hunters
Nothing Comes From Nothing
The tunnel walls were smooth as blown glass, hard as diamond, and cold as everything else in the empty depths between the stars. A brown marbling splintered across the cream-colored surface like veins. Jiten had never seen anything like it anywhere in the solar system, and he'd been to three rocky planets and a hundred… Continue reading Nothing Comes From Nothing
88 More
A swell of nausea pulled Private Elowen Dextre out of darkness. The spinning in her head was a very specific sensation: gravity flux. She felt she was strapped to a flight chair, but her arms and legs were restrained, too. She opened her eyes, and the sight before her gave her stomach a new reason… Continue reading 88 More
Accidental Ambassador
She sat alone in the observatory, drinking coffee and watching the 11-dimensional universe unfurl itself around her ship like a kaleidoscope exploding inside a mirror maze during a fireworks show. It was so very strange. The coffee, that is; not foldspace. She never used to like coffee, let alone without an aggressive amount of cream… Continue reading Accidental Ambassador
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