We lived in blinks, a few seconds here or there, never more than a minute. You just pop back into existence, like you’d only been daydreaming. You’re always welcomed by a chemical odor reminiscent of burnt plastic or fat liquefied… Continue Reading
Five. The harness digs into his shoulder. Mission control keeps a stream of chatter in his ear, but Gagarin can hardly hear them over his pounding heart. The rocket shudders around him. Four. Humanity has always been entranced by the… Continue Reading
“Leave me alone, freak. I’m not breaking any laws.” The man in the formidable-looking space suit was manipulating a disc of flexible black material the size of Rhode Island. “Technically, no. Maybe littering. What exactly do you think you’re doing… Continue Reading
Doctor Linda Torres had convinced the public that a meteor large enough to dwarf the one that had killed the dinosaurs was headed towards Earth. Yes, it was a lie of apocalyptic proportions, but it was a necessary one. Humanity… Continue Reading
The view of Earth was breathtaking from the small window port. Brown, blue, green, and white, all swirling together in silent slow motion — the colors standing in lush contrast to the empty black of surrounding space. Thom took a… Continue Reading
Zio and Will were shipmates aboard the Venture Maru, a space freighter which sailed not only through our familiar Milky Way galaxy, delivering everything from canned peaches to ping-pong tables to radiation shields, but occasionally venturing all the way out… Continue Reading
Not everyone was cut out for Sweeping. It was spacer talk for the method used to collect gases and trace mineral elements found within nebulae so that they could be processed into usable compounds and fuel. It was dangerous work,… Continue Reading
Early Christmas morning aboard the Masters’ starship, and once again there was no Santa Claus. I stared at the stars streaming past on the display window. There was a quiet knock on our apartment’s door, a little rap-a-tap-tap given with… Continue Reading
Antideuterium tablets flashed as they tumbled from Yuri’s shovel into the Theresa’s furnace. Exhausted, he staggered to the water bucket. Water poured down his chest and splashed to the floor, curling into steam around his boots. On a viewscreen he… Continue Reading
The void of space. Dark. Empty. Lit only by the pinpricks of starlight as I floated in the vast emptiness. Alone. Oxygen running out, blaring blood-red on my heads-up display. Time to die… The animal in us can’t conceive of… Continue Reading