Sub-space radio transmission from the direction of Tau Ceti: “Mayday! Mayday! Do you read? ‘Beef’ Vaquero reporting in! Over, dammit!” Reply from Nina Bozovic, technician at Arecibo Observatory, Puerto Rico: “Is this a joke? Not funny. I’m just an underpaid… 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
When the spaceship came, Tamsin thought it was some sort of marketing stunt. It landed on the beach just above the high tide mark with a whir and a puff of steam. People on the boardwalk stopped and stared. A… Continue Reading
I still remember that awful moment, in school, when I realized mathematics is the language of the universe and I could barely speak one coherent word of it. I sensed its beauty, but could never commune with its soul. Mastered… Continue Reading
The fuel truck technician gave me hell for cutting him short and demanded that I report the change in my lift-off weight, “or else!” I wasn’t gonna report a damned thing. I had hauling to do, money to make and,… Continue Reading
Marla has new rivets in her and she isn’t sure why. Something itches inside — something like an electric bug. Her eyes are closed. She is afraid to open them. Behind them, visions flicker. The Earth floats below her. It… Continue Reading
Ike Garrison staggered from his bunk to the small sink on the opposite wall of his cabin, awoken from a fitful sleep by an abrupt jerk of the ship. He grasped the sink to steady himself and felt the unmistakable… Continue Reading
My eyeballs still had a layer of ice on them when my lids snapped open to shrill, beating light. My body was hit with wake-up juice and jabs of electricity from the bed. I couldn’t scream because my throat wouldn’t… Continue Reading
A momentary absence of pain. Rationality separates from context. A quiet moment, a slow breath. Enough time to settle, then the bottom falls out. Shadows on the walls. Realspace asserts itself. Spheres resolve themselves into buoys and entry markers. The… Continue Reading