Stories tagged “science fiction”
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Fishers of Men
It wasn’t our fault. I kept telling myself that. We were the ones who’d been oppressed. We weren’t the wastrels. But the lady’s picture stayed with me, telling me otherwise. In my mind I could see her eyes looking down at me wit...
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Browser History
“Grandpa,” asked Cindy, “how come I can’t browse you further back than your wedding?” He put his hand on Cindy’s shoulder and looked down at her Tactive. “That was the day I decided to start recording.” S...
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Orange
Brother Neimus bowed his shaved head to Brother Paulus as he passed him on the way from evening prayers. The scent of citrus blossoms wafted through the stone arch windows. He paused and glanced out at the acres of neatly-tilled fields. Curious, he saw...
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Captured
The volley came unexpectedly, as the convoy exited the jump point on the edge of the system. The relief force was a transit behind, at least four days out. No hope for help there. Of the eight ships, there were only three lightly armed cruisers, the re...
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Aliens in the Outfield (OoYG challenge)
My son had a baseball game. I kissed my wife goodbye, saying I would meet her there—she had a meeting. I took my cup of coffee and we got on the road. I should have known it would be a bad day. The ride over was fine except for one thing: I spill...
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Nester - Anticipation
Tara lay prone on the hull, peering through the magscope mounted on her rifle. The dots had grown larger in the last hour and she knew battle was minutes away. The readout on her helmet visor read 980 kilometers. 979. 978. 977. Tara took a moment to gl...
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Nester - Hailstorm
An invisible hailstorm ripped through space from the hull of The Volta. The deadly energy bolts quickly converged on the flanking hoard of enemy boarders. Roughly 2,000 body-armored soldiers were approaching The Volta from port as the main assault rage...
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Nester - The Miss
Tara’s eyes went wide with surprise. She’d missed. In six years of war, she’d never missed. Twenty Eight major engagements 1,692 confirmed kills. 0 misses. Until today. She stared across the void through her magscope at the approachin...
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Nester - The Assault
The uncanny foe jerked itself in all directions with precise thruster blasts. It seemed to wrap around the invisible energy bolts like an unholy vine. It managed to evade every shot as if they were tennis balls playfully lofted by a child. Tara was, be...
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Twenty Five Thousand Feet
I mash my foot to the floor, and the hum of the engines grows into a full roar. The atmosphere whistles around the small canopy of my Tesla X800 as I push it to the max. Both turbines are roaring behind me now, leaving twin streaks across the sky. The ...
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Second Chancers - Stefnir's Vigil
The soft snowflakes came to rest in Stefnir’s beard, littering its brown hues with white splotches, making him appear older than he actually was. The cold penetrated his furs in some places, but it was of no consequence. His was a land of both beauty...
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Second Chancers - Black Sail
The glow was starting to fade on the horizon, losing its blue tint to the grey clouds. Stefnir’s eyes narrowed to a tight squint in an effort to see through the thickening snowfall. Then it was gone. The afternoon sky had returned to its regular,...
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Second Chancers - Landfall
Stefnir cowered on the hilltop behind a loose lava rock. His quickened breath turned to steam in the cold air. The cold of his sword’s hilt numbed his fingers slightly as as he gripped it too tightly. Stefnir was a hardened warrior, but was terri...
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Planetary Tryst
They slid silently through space together, accumulating decades of time-debt while they slumbered dreamlessly in each others’ arms. Awakened at arrival, they shuttled to the surface and found a flowery meadow aside an isolated mountain lake to sp...
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First Contact
The world gasped as the alien spacecraft opened, and the entire planet got its first glimpse at an alien species. It covered itself in slivers of protein, walked on two fleshy tendrils, and breathed a highly corrosive gas. He seemed to manipulate a mac...
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The Man in the Stairwell
Julian lives in a stairwell. He is unsure where the stairwell is, but he is certain that it is near where he was born, before they replaced the city with a building. His wife is coming to visit today. He has kept track of the date very carefully, paint...
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Winter Generation
Longyear orbits within the Habitable Zone of the blue giant Atlantica once every 80 years. It has only one large landmass, at about 18 degrees north latitude. The planet’s axial tilt is very small, and Longyear’s weather is bearable without...
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Alone
Hello, my name is Colonel James. Of course, it probably doesn’t matter, since I doubt anyone will ever read this. But I still feel the need to write it. Odd how the mind works, isn’t it? We started with the best of intentions, and a noble g...
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Collection
I place the plaque into my satchel and followed my partner back onto the ship. I never got used to that feeling, holding something long forgotten. To behold something that belonged to a long dead society, one older than even the world I was born on. &#...
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Softening
The skies rained fiery rocks for days as the orbital defenses and manned cruisers battled to reduce the unexpected meteor storm to manageable rubble before it met with the planet’s atmosphere. Already, nearly a third of the valiant fleet had been...
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Shadow Warp
Shadow Warp. Casual viewers dubbed it because of the way the starship dims and then blackens, turning so black it’s silhouette is visible against the black, starry space. Then it just fades away. It is the diametric opposite of the previous Faste...
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Catapult Drive
Now, Catapult Drive is different all together. There’s no complicated multi-dimensional physics involved. In fact, most children have a good grasp on the principles. Catapult Drive is the mainstay of inter-planetary travel within a star system. T...
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Derelict
The ship was dead on the outskirts of the Sparkler nebula, a lone, hulking metal wreck. Holes coated the hull, likely the result of a run-in with a Tausian War Bird and its Mass Shifter Cannons. The G.E.C. Odysseus sidled up next to the derelict. Vale ...
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Explorer
About this time, you’re wondering why I’m telling you all this. You see, I’m an explorer. Much like those men and women on Earth before it was fully explored and mapped, I travel to places no one else has gone before in hopes of findi...
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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,...