Petty Officer Lars Lamont helped get the clamp in position and then got out of the way. He didn't like it, but the Kid had to learn sometime. The whole cohort was at Lars' least favorite part of the training: practicum. He had to babysit while they did the wrenching on the Kólga's FTL drive. They… Continue reading Storm Shelter
Tag: Space Ships
Ups and Downs
Nu stood in the warm tidepools and took in one last look at the blazing blue sun. It had no name, just like this planet. But with a little luck, they would both be in the catalogs in a couple hours. The planet was rich in drinkable water, breathable air, and stable landmasses, but luck… Continue reading Ups and Downs
The Cleanup Crew
Livi snorted and shook her head as they approached what remained of the Rockhound. Zora gave her a sideways glance and half a frown. "What?" She looked like a hard vacuum personified—cold, imposing, and entirely without a sense of humor. "It's just—you know—all that empty space out there and they still managed to hit something. Like,… Continue reading The Cleanup Crew
The Message and the Messenger
Ian paced down the triangular corridors of the deep space listening outpost like an agitated lion at the zoo. Three walls. Three-month rotations. Three shifts with three technicians each. Threes must be important, so he checked his work every three hours. Didn't leave much time for sleep, but he didn't want to sleep. The nightmares… Continue reading The Message and the Messenger
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
The Most Valuable Currency
A pinkish violet plume of particle ejecta stretched out for hundreds of lightyears beyond the Helenus. To most it would be a thing of great beauty, or of terrible power, but to Captain Iza Valdes it was only data loss. Her work was done and her ship was at idle, but the immense distances involved… Continue reading The Most Valuable Currency
The Time Slip Man
He'd called it a bunker, but it was really just a series of empty square chambers carved out of the Tritonian ice, pressurized, and separated by heavy hatchways. Whatever you called it, he wasn't here. Leah could sense Captain West's impatience. "Give him a little time," she said. West snorted. "You'd think he'd be punctual… Continue reading The Time Slip Man
The Beginning of a Beautiful Friendship
JR felt a bit like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. This must be how humans felt all the time. Hard to say though; JR hadn't had much interaction with the flesh type since Doc Porter died, and that was forty years ago. And Doc was a bit of a nut anyway. Mostly spoke in snippets… Continue reading The Beginning of a Beautiful Friendship
The Die-Hards, the Drifters, and the Desperate
Hunter made his way down to the Waiting Room. It was the closest bar to the drop hangers and a favorite of freelancers such as himself. Good place to get the latest scuttlebutt from the surface. It was right next to the appraisery where returning rangers traded ancient trinkets for cash, and naturally they were… Continue reading The Die-Hards, the Drifters, and the Desperate
Using for the Cause
"Braindead" hauled herself out of her chair—it took a little effort with the flight suit—and locked herself in a toilet stall in the locker room adjacent to the on-deck lounge. "Braindead" wasn't her name—could you imagine?—but her call sign. She got it back in flight school when she didn't realize her mic was hot and… Continue reading Using for the Cause
Warmup Pages 