Stories tagged “space”
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Cataclysm's Eve
“Well, that is settled. Seeing as there are only two minutes left for this meeting, and not enough time to address any other concerns, I suggest we-” “What about your youngest daughter?” I stood stiffly from my seat, interruptin...
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Aquila Blue Label
It wasn’t unusual to locate production in deep space. Faster than light travel was already very common and huge swathes of natural resources could be found in nebulae, comets and the like. It was, however, unusual for Ms Linhart to make such a la...
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2500
In the corner stands a thin pane of clear plastic with images of last night’s ball drop on it. When this year’s ball of trash hit the sun it was large enough to cause the largest explosion ever recorded for a new years celebration, so it was big ne...
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Moonrise. Sunset.
Sometimes, I wish the roof would tear off and a black hole would suck me into space. I hear it’s quite peaceful up there, or it can be, anyways, with the right equipment. I could just float through the vastness, watching the sun rise and fall...
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Last Man Standing
August 19, 2089 18:00 “It’s your call.” CapCom buzzed over the radio. August 19, 2089 09:00 A small window was the only view Criss had. For 15 hours the window showed nothing but black with stars sprinkled around. The next 9 hours w...
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Room with a View
This morning, she woke to blue skies streaked with clouds still slightly pink from the rapidly retreating dawn. A vast panorama of trees showed red, orange and yellow, with the occasional almost startling green. As usual, she spent the last few minutes...
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Who Said You Could Start Terraforming?
You can imagine the excitement over the discovery: Microorganisms found in the soil near Columbia Base, Gusev crater, Mars. They sat just below the surface, waiting for the sun to warm up the thin layer of nightly frost to its sublimation point, at whi...
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Stars
Quietly shift amongst the stars, brittle enamel creaking soundlessly. Hundreds of little metal eyes quest for sights in their brass sockets, gazing out at eternity. Long antennae listen for the hum of the stars carried for years upon the electromagneti...
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I'm Determined to Solve the Fermi Paradox
You might call us energy-based life forms — at least, if you’ve seen too much sci-fi. More accurately, you could say that we are complex interference patterns between lepton fields and pentaquark condensates, based on the electroweak force. You...
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Space
I often find the word space humorous, because after all, we are all in space. There is a space between this chair here and that door. There is space for more beings to fill this dome. There is nothing but space. Yet in my world, I find myself crawling ...
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Quick! Before anyone notices the extra...
Richard, fire in his belly, stood tall and beheld what he had done. With a simple command, he had instantly duplicated an entire galaxy. “Computer. Is there no one in the universe to hold me to account? Is there anything that can restrain me?R...
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Perfect Timing
A lone bead of sweat wound its way down the side of Jon’s cheek, but that was the only sign of discomfort. His face betrayed no emotion. The entirety of his life was spent in training simulations which culminated in the simplest of tasks – ...
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Audio Log of the Ra's Embrace #131
Brief high pitched noises. “All stations, status update.” “Engines at 85% capacity, my lord.” “Control is stable and still within acceptable trajectory, but corrections will require some time.” “Weapons ready i...
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(Day 12) What you SHOULD be worried about...
tick-tick-tick whirrrrmmm tick-tick-tick-tick BANG! I sit up, drenched in sweat, the same way I’ve been doing for a week now. Maybe it’s the ambient sounds of the cabin. Maybe it’s my paranoia finally settling into the deeper recesses...
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(Day 14) ...is your own damn self.
(From the log of Col. Terrence Green) Day 8 No sign of what ever in the hell caused that banging. All I know it was solid. I felt in my bones whenever it hit. I checked all the diagnostics and they came back clean. There’s one thing I can for the...
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Shoving Off
>> INCOMING TRANSMISSION >> TIME_T 3884008184909A SRC STAT 1561 TM 14300 SYS ACK EOL >> INIT LR SENSORS >> BEGIN CD SEQ 20A >> DIAG FUEL SYS >> RUNNING DIAGNOSTIC… >> 1504 2400 1509 2607 0881 EOL >> BEG...
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Waiting for the Big Bang
Suspended, it floats. Time stops. The egg, just out of reach, slips almost imperceptibly towards its demise. “Oh great, you let another one go!” the first man says. He shuts the airtight lunch box with a clang. “We are on a limited fo...
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The Joyride
“We are gonna get so grounded!” “Not if you don’t tell,” Xie said pointedly. Ker looked at her little brother, sitting on a copy of the ship’s user manual so he could see through the windshield. She’d never ad...
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Bextris and The Captain
“On a ride… To nowheeeeeeeeerrrre-” “Cut that out, Bex! You sing that stupid line one more time and I’ll happily toss you out the hatch!” “Just trying to pass the time, Cap, until you think of somewhere to go. ...
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Jumpsuit 101
I look in the mirror to see myself clad in an orange jumpsuit, the number ‘101’ is embedded into the chest, and by now, probably my mind too. The clattering of footsteps breaks me from my reverie as a large procession of similar clothed men marches...
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Now Here's An Alt-History I Can Get Behind
I clawed my way out of undreaming sleep, back to the here and now. Where was here? Opened my eyes: instrument panel; switches, dials, segmented red LEDs. And a floating grease pencil. Right. I did a self-test for aches or pain. Not too bad. The muscle ...