Stretch your brain
Kyler waited in the hangar absently holding his pistol at his side. The gash above his eye had stopped bleeding, but the half-dried splatter pulled at the scruff on his cheek as he clenched and unclenched his jaw out of habit. He needed another hit an hour ago, and he could feel it in the… Continue reading Sunrise at the Precinct
Py-S'tem Station grew closer like a giant squid at sunset, backlit by the crimson gases of the nebula, its bulbous head surrounded by long tentacles of docking runways. They were about to be swallowed up. Not Tul, but his passengers, of course. He'd been working the prison transport route from the Alcona system to Py-S'tem… Continue reading Guilt in the Age of Indifference
The crumpled remains of their dropship, Six Degrees From Earth, stuck out of the swamp water like a series of lightning-split tree trunks. Beyond were the derelict structures of the New Wellspring colony on Kappa Lyrae D. There was no doubt this is where the mayday signal came from, but Cooper and Westhalter didn't see a… Continue reading New Wellspring
Cassidy relived himself as he walked to the edge of the shore. The sun was close to drowning beneath the horizon and it skipped its last rays across the liquid methane sea like weather beaten stones. The evening fog was forming. His heavy boots kicked up rust-colored regolith as he dragged his feet. When he… Continue reading Me? Scared?
"We can sell this," said Maruk. "It looks like MC Escher had a bowel movement." Maruk laughed, but it was hollow, like he was a robot doing an impression of laughter. "You wouldn't live here?" he asked. Rola shot him an angry glance that he couldn't see through the faceplate. It wasn't explicit, but the… Continue reading As Above
Roan swept the heavy oar through the river in total silence, standing straight and tall, his stone face tidally locked to the shore. Sanis sat on her haunches behind him, torquing her neck to watch the ancient skyscrapers pass on either side of their approach. She peeked over the side, rocking the rusty rowboat, and… Continue reading Forward Motion
Private Casser slogged through the mud and rubble. The late afternoon sun was at his back, leaving him to trudge endlessly into his own shadow. Patches of reeds stood in tall, defiant patches, but the radiation would do its work for years and years until the reeds yielded like the buildings that had come before… Continue reading Private Casser’s Patrol
Asher piloted The Truth About Lies below the bullseye of the ring structure. The giant concentric circles demanded awe from all who saw them, even in their dormancy. There was something primal about the 2:3:5:7 ratio of their radii. A dark cloud of hydrocarbons had coalesced around the structure over eons, huddled around its implied might.… Continue reading Anyone Home?
The sun was a few degrees past he zenith; it was early afternoon. The clouds from this morning's rain were far to the southeast now, towards the mountains, leaving only blue skies and the scent of water in their tracks. The patches of greenery atop the white marble tower applauded politely in the breeze as… Continue reading A Nice Fantasy
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
Warmup Pages 