Costa stood beneath the dead hawthorn tree at the edge of the crater, peering downward against the sting of rising smoke. He was transfixed, and stood staring late into the night. His body shivered against the breeze coming off the cold rock face behind him, and the mockery of the hyaenas did not abate, but… Continue reading A Premonition
Tag: Aliens
The Lifters
I'll keep this brief. In cosmic terms, our species was here but for a short time, and as individuals our time was shorter still; too short to measure from such a perspective. This is the way it was meant to be. As the last of us, I can say that with certainty. The Lifters, as… Continue reading The Lifters
Happy Surrender Day
They weren't much to look at—like big slugs with a dozen spindly legs—and they usually elicited a gag reflex if they were looked at at all. But the Krell had chemistry on their side. They, too, came from an ocean world, but theirs was of a thicker, more gel-like quality; this, due to its concentrations… Continue reading Happy Surrender Day
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
In Sight of the Spirits
Mukaru reached Spirit Palace late, just as the sky went golden at the hour of sundown. He hopped silently from his uleox—one of the few animals native to this planet, something akin to a camel-elephant hybrid—and let it wander down to a nearby spring to rehydrate while he got his bearings. The spirits would soon… Continue reading In Sight of the Spirits
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
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