When their ships landed on the porous soil of Blue-and-a-Rock, the hatchlings rushed out to preserve the petroglyphs. They moved like a flood: overrunning the fields and valleys of the moribund world, clogging up the caves, prodding with claws and… Continue Reading
Approach <<0735: FINISHED SWEEP OF CENTAURUS CONSTELLATION. ENTERING ORBIT OF PROXIMA B. FINAL SYSTEMS CHECK. SOLAR PANELS SAFELY STOWED. HEAT SHIELDS at 100%. INITIATE APPROACH. ANGLE OF DESCENT: 39.7 DEGREES. MAXIMUM DRAG MAINTAINED.>> Doomsday Halfway through their first cups of… Continue Reading
Listen up, children. You too, Shannon. Derrick, no pushing. Class, we only get one field trip to the space elevator. Don’t ruin it with misbehavior. Leon, grab Susan before she floats back up the hatch. Maintenance is working on the… Continue Reading
It took NASA three months to verify that it was indeed a message and not interstellar scintillation. The communication repeated regularly and was clearly the result of intelligent composition. It took a further four months to isolate which solar system… Continue Reading
Mommy bursts through the door. I jump up from the bottom step. “You got one!” I squeal, spotting the box she’s carrying. She’s panting and shaking. She slams the door shut and slides the bolt across just as something crashes… Continue Reading
I let the children play with the lions because I decided that it was part of their education to examine life from another planet. This was after I ordered a box of domestic cats but many of my students, the… Continue Reading
“GREENVILLE,” read the sign. “POP 1,624 HUMBLE EARTHLING SERVANTS. HAIL ZORDOK!” In spray paint, below: “DON’T RAZE US, BRO!” Sheryl frowned. “I think we took the wrong turn. We’re supposed to still be in Spring Grove.” “Qroocha znuk!” Emperor Zordok… Continue Reading
Silver tobacco fields streak by under a cloudless night sky. The road stretches on ahead, flat and straight. Hot air whistles in through the cracked window. My eyes flit between the rearview mirror, the speedometer, the road. Only a few… Continue Reading
The insistent ringing of the telephone on my bedside cabinet wakened me from a deep sleep. Fumbling in the dark, I looked at the alarm clock and groped for the receiver. “Ullo,” I slurred. “Hi, you called for a plumber,”… Continue Reading
I thought aliens were interested in medical experiments but this one wouldn’t shut up about Hamlet. Just before the abduction, I’d been in the middle of a student conference in which a freshman was introducing her emotional support ferret, so… Continue Reading