Stories
Fiction & Micro-Fiction
Classy Lady
The Classy Lady parks itself in a synchronous orbit above the asteroid Berger-Behregen before waking and decanting the crew. The ship locates and contacts the telemetry beacon planted in the surface of the rock while the members of the crew shake off the vestiges of...
Dance in the Dark
We moved lightly through the corridor, which eventually opened up in a larger space, pocked with deep pools of the evil liquid. We paused, scanning the room, then looked to each other. Without a word, we clasped hands. We moved quickly but carefully across the room....
Dead Man Walking
I am a dead man walking. That's not a metaphor, not a promise of a future event the way you usually think of it. I really am dead -- and have been for some time now. I walk the streets of this city. I pass by people on the sidewalk, and they instinctively shy away...
Curvature
"Explain what I'm looking at." "Timestream 8496775816-AQZ-25.13.4. We pulled it from yesterday's archives when it was flagged anomolous." "Meaning?" "Look here. Grid 117, Segment 16, Node 135. See that curvature?" "Yes. Explain its significance." "Timestream...
Sandstorm
He trudged through the sand, up and over great dunes of the stuff, while the wind blasted him with even more of the fine grains. Visibility was shit, and he walked more by instinct than anything. He'd long ago lost his way. The gale-force storm did nothing to change...
Danger in the Dark
At some point the redolent scent of moisture reached our noses, clinging to the air around us. Soon, it became apparent why. We reached a section of tunnel that was damp and cool, moist with condensation that was itself brown and foul-smelling. We avoided touching the...
Companions in the Dark
We traveled again, the tunnel growing narrower and wider at sporadic intervals. At times we were able to walk side-by-side. At others we were forced to move one behind the other, and when we did, we each took turns leading the way forward. When you led your stride was...
Aid in the Dark
You were at my side in an instant, an angel of light and beauty so magnificent that even now I cannot put it to words. You fell to your knees and cradled my head in your lap. I barely heard the slight pop of a vial being uncorked, but a second later a liquid coolness...
Wounded in the Dark
We spotted dozens of other traps as we progressed, avoiding each with ease. They were not well hidden, seeming to be laid more as an annoyance than as to be any genuine threat. And yet we took no chances. We treated each one as potentially lethal, until finally we had...