Stretch your brain
Jay and Warren sat above 352nd Avenue, their feet dangling 1,500 meters in the air as they ate sandwiches and synthetic fruit from their lunch pails. They worked third shift; it was just after nightfall. "The Jubilee holiday is coming up—you have any plans?" asked Warren. The big man crossed his ankles and swung his… Continue reading Jubilee
Do the cave eels of Europa hunt by vision, or sound? Heat, maybe? He hoped it wasn't heat. Bay stood still in the ice cave for a long time, waiting until he was absolutely sure the crew had departed. There'd been a mutiny—not against him; he was just a general staff member, and a junior… Continue reading Fragments of Mutiny
Claire walked to the courtyard through the late afternoon mist. The grayness was oppressive and the light rain seemed to hang in the still air. She drew into her red pea coat like a brightly colored shell. The uneven cobblestones led to a Greek-looking statue of a man with a flowing beard leaning against an… Continue reading Overcast With a Chance of Murder
Morrison grew up on a rye farm outside of Cenesthesia, a typical arcology in the midlands. And, as do most children who grow up on farms, he was going to become a farmer himself one day. He didn't find it especially fulfilling, certainly not exciting, but it was as lucrative a career as you could… Continue reading Most Unthinkable
For all his political posturing and his penchant for charismatic public overtures, Leon Brault was having second thoughts. It wasn't an ideological shift he was experiencing, but an awareness of his survival instinct. He was close enough now to see the Artifact with his own eyes, separated only by a few kilometers and 4mm of… Continue reading Dust to Dust
When I was in college, I used to take these late night walks around town. I might leave at one or two in the morning. It didn't matter if it was a sweltering summer night, when the muggy air pressed back against every step and the night was still—the freshman not yet moved in—or if… Continue reading Late Night Walks
Antonio's fine jacket and leather shoes were already soaked and dripping, but he shielded himself from the freezing rain beneath the bulk of the space freighter on dock seven. He set down a bulging duffle bag to shield his eyes from the spotlights on the ship's ramp, a briefcase hanging heavy in his other hand.… Continue reading Welcome to the Peregrine
Before she'd even made it off the front porch, Greta was lost in thought. She didn't hear the cruel taunting of the crows or smell the impending rain on the horizon, coming to melt the last patches of spring snow from the hillsides. The grass clawed at her boots and blue jeans, leaving imprints like… Continue reading An Elegy to Youth
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
"Put it on the ground and back away." I had that rat SOB by the throat, now. Stupid bastard had no idea what was coming. The rain turned to fog as it fell upon the roof, still sun scorched even at this late hour. The spot lamps on the sky skimmers bathed us in so… Continue reading Cornered
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