Vermont sunshine lights up the blooming forsythia like neon as I pull into the driveway. Back when I was a kid, I thought those bushes were magical—fairy torches or some such nonsense. Now they remind me of something else.
“…last known location.” Agent Vex’s voice fizzles over the intercom, but I haven’t
A yellow spaceship… Who woulda thought?
Green, yes. Gray even. And silver—definitely. But never yellow… And yet, there it is. The same bright, sexy yellow of the Porsche that emblazons his bedroom wall.
Dean cocks his head as he takes in the size of the thing, the bike he is straddling momentarily forgotten.
The table was cold against my back.
“Mrs. Young, before we begin the Neurological Reinvigoration Process, we have to ask you some final questions.”
I nodded.
“I’m sorry, Mrs. Young, but we need you to give us verbal confirmation for all questions. Do you understand?”
I started to nod, then caught myself. “Y-yes.
“This is a mistake,” 733 beeped, its camera whirring as the focus zoomed out to train on the figure standing in the snow beside it.
The woman wore a thick fur-trimmed parka frosted with ice flecks from her long trek up the hill to the outpost. The climb had left the subject
Yousef’s vision went black as he returned to the delivery skimmer.
“What the frag?” This wasn’t like his prior blackouts. He was fully conscious, but blind. His grasping fingers found the cold mesh shrouding the skimmer’s rear thrust fan. From there, he followed the vehicle’s smooth side forward to the lockpad.
“It’s amazing,” I breathe, kneeling on the pavement. “Looks so real.”
“Adorable, isn’t he?” Mrs. Dawson smiles down at her hologram dog. “When Jack died, I didn’t know what to do with myself. But now…” Holo-Jack stands on his back legs and barks at me. I can almost feel the warmth
“I don’t see why we need to have it around, Paulson,” Merrik grumbled. “Damn bug gives me the crawls.”
The sergeant stomped his boot hard against the tunnel floor. The wet thud echoed up and down the cavernous hollow, touching off ripples along the scattered patches of bioluminescent algae.
“Shut it. You want
Green light emanates from my skin, illuminating the deep-sea darkness. Flicking my scuba fins, I swim deeper into the underwater cave and scan the walls for any hint of scarlet.
“Can’t make that light any brighter, can you?” Gino’s voice echoes in my comm.
I scowl. “You know I can’t control it.”
Read it now
A glowing array of dashboard lights illuminated the cockpit. Halpin summoned the viewscreen, swinging the decaying majesty of the dying star into sharp focus. Withered and blue, it shuddered in its death-throes, belching red rings of cosmic flame into the inky void.
“Hello at last.”
Read it now
“Dad! Dad? You have to come see this. It’s like the Northern Lights but better.” Deedee ran into the bunker, snow spilling behind her as she whipped off her hat.
Cyclopes raised his head and wiggled his nose as he took in her lilac scent. The only flowers this side of the galaxy.
Read it now
The sulfurous stench of rotting vegetation stung Zach’s sinuses as he ran through the marshland of the planet Hecate. With each stride, the mud slurped around his boots.
Gonna sink if I pause for even a second.
“The powersuits were a good call, Z.” Tetsuo’s voice was calm and steady, despite the exertion.
With each vacuous word the Duchess uttered, another bit of Kaori’s hope evaporated into a bitter almond scent. Was this entire planet ungraced with a family worthy of a Tisshe’s services?
Months of agonizing and futile interviews had exposed the inadequacy of the royals and bureaucrats. Today, the babbling Duchess kneeling at
Recent Comments