Stories tagged “Astronaut”
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Countdown
5 George looked down at the picture of his wife he’d brought on the discovery. He sighed; it would be three weeks before he got back from the International Space Station. 4 Mike nervously checked the ships structural integrity. All the astronauts...
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Splinter, 1: Adrift
“What the…? Vic, come here. Take a look, what the hell’s this?” Victor took three graceful leaps and ended up right behind Jake’s console. Quite a feat considering the ship’s close quarters. He pointed to an blip tha...
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Splinter 2: Awake
The phone buzzed. The captain didn’t pick up. It was dark in her cabin and the clock read 0210. It must be a mistake. It wasn’t. It buzzed again, this time angrier. “What is it?” “Captain, sorry to bother you.” ̶...
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Splinter 3: Discovery
“Show me.” “It moved out of range about 30 minutes ago, but we’ll catch up with it again early tomorrow,” said Victor. “Ok, show me the viz,” said Captain Amanda Ruth. Victor pulled it up. But not before daring...
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Fail Safe
Charlie felt the skin sagging back on his face, pulling away from its proper location as his weight increased. He could swear his ribs were creaking, which was silly, because ribs oughtn’t make a noise until they snap. He tried to think of someth...
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The Fabric of Space
“Go ahead, touch it,” said the voice. The wall was larger than I could fathom. I trembled as I reached forward, terrified, but you wouldn’t know it through the thickness of the pressurized gloves. My fingers pressed lightly into the s...
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Hard Radiation
Solar flares are an astronaut’s worst nightmare. I mean, there’s other stuff to worry about, as you hurtle through space in the tin can you’re calling home. Running out of air, because the scrubbing system’s failed, or, perhaps,...
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ISOLATION
SHIP LOG #000237—D:02/08/2085—TIME:-22:05pm(EST) “Hello, computer. It’s me, again. Well, obviously. Who else is there around here? Unless Kevin Bacon got invisible and sneaked onto the ship, but I think that’s unlikely, do...
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THE SIGNAL
SHIP LOG #000001—D: 02/08/2084—TIME:14:08pm(EST) “Uh, hello? Is this thing on? OK, I think it’s working. Um, hello computer! This is Captain Donald Enslin here. I’m only guy who’ll be talking to you throughout this m...
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Drowning in Nothingness
The ship floated away in silence, everything muted in the nothingness in space. Crewmembers gathered around the portholes like fish at feeding time, only they weren’t nearly as content. I watched, resigned to my fate, as the damaged craft drifted...
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Ignite
There is an elephant in the room. One of the gaskets has burst and fuel has been leaking out for days, filling the shell of the ship like a balloon of gaseous napalm floating around in low pressure. Two days ago we coasted past the red planet helplessl...
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Death As Viewed From Space While Hurtling @ 27,000 MPH
“How many tonight, my friend?” Dmitry’s Ukranian accent made the question sound more like a movie quote. The kind with Russian gangsters, fast cars, fast women, and a rocket launcher or two. “I count four more down: Columbus, De...
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Russian Roulette
Why not? It would be like one of the movies they had enjoyed in between rigorous training sessions. “To beat death, you’ve got to know death,” Shana said. Now that was a movie quote. “The Mojave Desert, in proximity to the neare...
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Disappointment
I awoke from the cryogenic sleep just a few hours ago and I feel dizzy. 12.3 years of travel, and yet it feels like I left the Earth just yesterday. The computer is reporting that everything is OK, except the total amount of fuel used is less than exp...
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SPACE CADET-Brianna-PART 2 FINAL
… We’ll watch the sun rise and set over our blueberry of a planet Start thinking of our friends and their 2 eyes,And reliese, were planet sick And well come home to a giant parade and eat smores and ice-cream too And when we part I’ll lo...
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How to Survive an Explosive Decompression
In her entire life she’s never had a bathroom break that sucked this bad. Seeing the cardboard on the paper roll is one thing, plungers another, but this was a universe of other problems. The docking procedures at the station for the new crew set...