Landon von Rutzer looked down upon Amycus crater with rheumy eyes. His ship had parked itself in orbit above Dione's trailing hemisphere which, paradoxically, was riddled with impact craters while the leading face remained relatively smooth. The universe doesn't give a Sam Hill for your expectations. It just is as it is. He squinted as… Continue reading Happy Families Are All Alike…
Tag: Space Ships
What You Bring
The Milky Way spun about its warm core, far from Ariadne's cramped cabin aboard the Trillion Rising Suns, and she felt very far from center. "Let me out dammit! Do you hear me?" She'd been at it for the better part of an hour and her voice was well past hoarse. Her throat felt like a… Continue reading What You Bring
Taking Charge
Lieutenant Gina Rolas held her cup of burnt, black coffee in both hands, waiting for it to cool. She kicked her feet up at her station on the Silencio's bridge. Most of the stealth frigate's crew were planetside with Captain Hocks and Commander Nitsady, which made her the ranking officer and acting captain. It wasn't a… Continue reading Taking Charge
When It Rains
The facility was enormous—fifteen miles to a side according to the odometer—and, after circling the entire complex in an old battery-converted Jeep, Dustin resigned to the fact that there'd be no easy way in. High steel-and-concrete walls left no gaps in the perimeter. The various and spread out gates all looked the same: impregnable. He… Continue reading When It Rains
Don’t Touch
It looked like a house-sized tumor. It was a fleshy mass that twitched and oozed thick scarlet fluids and puffed out gases at intervals. The whole thing had a clear sheen like raw pork shoulder. The two scientists and their military escort were too amazed to retch at the otherwise disgusting glob that filled the… Continue reading Don’t Touch
Staying Productive
Fortunately, the Aeacus had dropped out of fourspace before taking it on the chin; if it hadn't, its pieces would be scattered from here to Pavo-Indus. There'd be nothing left to investigate. Then John Faldswell would be at home, alone in his meager apartment, spending another evening spiraling away from productive ways to stave his… Continue reading Staying Productive
A Scar Upon Our Souls
Shune and Dobar watched from a ledge under the chilly shade of one of the valley's iconic monadnocks, the Five Sisters. Standing motionless in the coppery hues of early morning was an Interfederal Argema-373 passenger ship, its body retracted over its folded legs. It looked like a 3,000-ton chrome mosquito. Shune shivered with disgust and… Continue reading A Scar Upon Our Souls
Agent Ouroboros
"You've done well, Captain, and you can expect your effort to be rewarded," said Ouroboros. She'd been born Olivia Shen, but she'd given up that identity along with everything else to become an Agent, one of the shadowy operatives who lived between the stars. They were the movers and shakers around whom this galaxy spun.… Continue reading Agent Ouroboros
Make Yourself Useful
Make yourself useful, he said. Some goddamn nerve. Two years, Lin had served on the Dauntless. Two long years, without so much as a weekend's leave, making four jumps a week while under-crewed and poorly maintained. And not once had she ever missed her mark. Never. She'd been telling Captain Sayre from day one that a… Continue reading Make Yourself Useful
Trouble Is Where You Look for It
Priscilla swished the whiskey back and forth over her tongue in time with the pulsing neon lights and the bassy, synth-heavy music that swirled around the club. It was packed tonight, and she was in one of her moods. She was looking for a specific brand of trouble. She shouted to the bartender, "Another double,"… Continue reading Trouble Is Where You Look for It
Warmup Pages 