Havok Publishing

Science Fiction

What the Pastor Saw

Moonlight glistened on the Bahamian waters surrounding South Beach. Waves lapped the shore and plantain tree shadows snaked across the sand. Pastor Shantel paced, anxiously scanning the horizon as immigration officials scrambled along the beach. A flash of blue and gold in the clouds caught her eye. Weird.
Shantel stumbled into…

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The Layover

Of all the places to be stuck during a layover, he’d been told Earth had to be the worst.
But Garxlix had once spent a Galactic Center year on the gas planet Murlkoqluq waiting for a connecting flight. This was just eighteen Earth hours.
Though he would have rather waited at the landing area

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Legend of the Kentucky Goblin

Shots glanced off a yellow-leafed tree as Tee darted through bushes taller than him. He screeched as another bullet almost grazed his large ear. Taurus’s tail, he thought ERT-82’s greens would provide camouflage, but the chlorophyl-deprived foliage left him exposed. “This is Ambassador Tee, calling dispatch. Come in, Caelum Base!”
Only static.

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First Draft

“You understand what needs to be done?”
I place my hands on the cold surface of the coffee bar and glance over my shoulder to where Brody sits, hunched over a menu. He looks like a normal human, but my proofreading glasses don’t lie. I saw them flash blue, and his admission afterward

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Season of Goodwill

Kaits and his buddies scrambled to hide their holocards and gambling chips as Lieutenant Gilbert walked into the rec bay. Gaming for credits was strictly forbidden on the Galactic Defense Federation’s ships, and the last thing Kaits needed was to get chewed out by the lieutenant.
Again.
“Men, this is Private Johnny Wilson

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The Dark Ships

I sit alone on the silent space station that was supposed to make me famous. Now, it’s hardly more than a dead shell. The bright overhead lights have been replaced by the red emergency lights behind me. The sun peers around the cursed planet below. I wonder if there are any eyes staring

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Nuclear Heart

WARNING: POWER CAPACITY AT FIFTY PERCENT
With a grunt, Nick swipes away the alarm in his head. But what little peace he’d hoped to gain is smashed with each pound on the shuttle door.
“Give up, Nicky!” a voice jeers from the other side. “The Silverclad just wants a little heart-to-heart!”

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Saved by the Belt

Gravity is merciless. My brittle-boned body—courtesy of decades in the Space Force—hurtled toward what could be a disastrous collision with the floor.
But I was wearing a Belt. Once its sensors registered my loss of balance, its anti-grav went into action, halting my descent and raising me gently until I was again upright.

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The Proxy

Cassandra gripped the handle on the side of the launch shuttle to keep her hand from trembling. The target ship’s silver and white panels gleamed in the ocean of darkness.
At least I could swim in the ocean. In space, Cassandra would be at the mercy of trajectory, and it was no short distance

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Die On Your Feet

If you were to ask me to list the Top Ways I Might Die Someday, “decapitation in a Safeway parking lot” wouldn’t have been at the top of the list.
What a difference a couple of days makes.
I looked around at the gaggle of survivors huddled in the safety of a shallow drainage

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Sweetest Taste in Space

The moment Alicia heard news of Phabber’s death, she knew how to find Pete Johnson. He would come to Hawthxx IX—and he’d be there in time for the shineberry harvest. So Alicia took jobs on ships heading that direction, and finalized her preparations. She couldn’t miss this last chance to make things right.

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The Cake Thief

“This is all your fault,” a robotic voice growled.
Mark glanced in the rearview mirror at the cream-colored Himalayan. Though Zeus looked pitiful splayed across the backseat, eyes droopy and tummy bulging, Mark felt little sympathy. “How is this my fault?”
“You left that cake on the counter,” Zeus whined. His translation collar blinked

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