By the time she was recorporealized, Zoya's detractors were all dead for generations and forgotten in the sheer volume of the forward thrust of history. Still, the fact that she'd made it was a victory. Witnesses weren't necessary for her to savor its sweetness. People lived small lives. They thought more of today than of… Continue reading Moving the Milky Way
Tag: Megastructures
Something in the Machine
Xyrl dipped the little twin-engine skimmer below the landing pads of Tower LN-T6. The air was thick with smog. Fullerenes doped with xenon and argon made for a wild violet dawn. Xyrl was just pleased that the pollutants provided some lift and saved fuel. It kept the skimmer near the spiring arresters of the lightning… Continue reading Something in the Machine
Mapping the Tetra
"Seen one Tetra, seen 'em all. What'd I tell you?" "More than I asked for," said Pia. "I hired a pilot, not a color commentator. Stay the course." The impossible bulk of a Predecessor Tetra loomed before them, a lightyear to a side and as smooth and as black as any human tool could measure.… Continue reading Mapping the Tetra
Justice on the Last Colony
Somethin big had happened. It seemed to be the only thing anyone could talk about, but at the same time no one knew anything. It was all speculation. Maren was aboard a no-frills public transport, the Velodona, headed for Buckminster on the ringstation around Argelander Aleph out in the halo—she was keeping a low profile—when the… Continue reading Justice on the Last Colony
Everywhere She Went
The Overlight were best known for their disdain of the uninitiated. They didn't much care to have nonbelievers fouling up their meticulously crafted masterpieces. Truth be told, Kris wasn't too keen on being here either, even transiently, but there's no such thing as a closed system—stellar or otherwise. There's always a certain amount of bleed… Continue reading Everywhere She Went
Battle of the Brains
"Are you saying we're living in a simulation?" "Am I saying...what? No. Jesus, Barta; would you sit down and focus? This is why..." Vetterman trailed off and waved her hand. She was smug, sitting behind her walnut desk, wearing her uniform as naturally as her own skin. Barta used to have a uniform too. All… Continue reading Battle of the Brains
The Last Wonder
Above, thick bundles of diamond nanotubes cut thousands of parallel vertical lines in the air, disappearing in low cloud cover. Below, the ruins. The buildings that were still standing were either skeletons or bloating, sagging corpses. Shipping containers were strewn about among the hulls of gondolas like a knocked-over bucket of Legos. Capsized ships and… Continue reading The Last Wonder
The Roll
Kenzo woke up when the cigarette burned its way down to his fingers. Must have dozed off. He wasn't sure the last time he really slept. Or ate something, for that matter. He checked the little baggy in the pocket of his red leather jacket. Two white rectangular pills with red dots in the center:… Continue reading The Roll
Retrograde
Launch was in three days. That meant today was Pirinid's last day of leave before she had to report to the launch complex for final preparations. Her whole life had been a series of preparations, but now that closest approach was upon her, she wasn't certain she wanted to be an Ambassador. Oh, but her… Continue reading Retrograde
Murder on Oasis 4320
It had been a million years since the last star stopped shining and the sky darkened forever. Michael didn't think much about it; he was born thirty thousand generations too late to know the difference. Besides, when the sky turned dark, we turned our backs on the sky. We clustered around the darkest parts of… Continue reading Murder on Oasis 4320
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