Havok Publishing

Tag - space &/or planets

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Sky Rays

The sky ray dipped, and I held on as vertigo kicked in. I loved flying when I was the pilot, but being at the mercy of a giant manta ray thousands of feet in the air was a different story. And after two years, I still wasn’t a fan.
I placed a palm

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The Gnat

The first thing you notice is light—cool and soft white, pervasive and blank.
You are so comfortable and drowsy it doesn’t occur to you to wonder where you are or how you got there. The temperature is pleasant. There is no sound other than your pulse, no smell besides a faint,

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Space Guardian

The galaxy stretched out before me, brightly colored stars blinking beckoningly. I stepped toward it, tucking the long chain with its ornate key back into my shirt as I pulled the door shut behind me, closing off the suspended wooden platform with its many other portal doorways. Standing on the edge of the

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Cow Tippin’

Ya open the spaceship’s door and stare at yer landin’ spot. This deserted planet seems made for cows. Lotsa grass, stretchy bright sky. Some spindly trees for shade. No fences in sight. Yer herd will love it. Or oughta, anyway. Ya never know with them testy space cows. One thing wrong, and yer world

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Rise of the Elead

There is nothing more tedious than a Chalean war party. Their banter is unintelligent, their manners are lackluster, and don’t even get me started on the leftover jerky I’ve been forced to eat for nine days in a row now.
Maybe—maybe—if they had let me ride on a horse that didn’t sneeze

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The Organic Treatment

It was a particularly slow Saturday at March Funeral Home.
Orla had let her eyes drift away from her work to watch the snow falling in thick flakes outside the window. Located on a reclaimed cemetery, the mid-tier establishment had a generous forest plot that allowed for outdoor services—and a picturesque office view.

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Andromeda and the Manta Rays

Andromeda twisted her frizzy hair into a tight bun as her ship, the Ray, whirred beneath her, clicking and buzzing.
“I know.” Andromeda laughed at her ship, her best friend in the whole galaxy. It had taken three years for her to code him with a sentient personality that fit him. “That Nyxellan

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Operation Unicorn

“You want me to make you a unicorn.” I tugged at my tie, which was suddenly feeling much too tight.
“Wrong, twice over, Dr. Delany,” said the Premier. “Didn’t you read my message? Earth’s Council doesn’t want a unicorn, the Craldirish do. And they don’t want one; they want a breeding pair

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Z Karr and the Pearls of Aphrodite

Aphrodite drifted in its orbit like a polished gem, the vibrant blue of the planet-wide ocean striated with wispy white clouds.
“I can see why everyone vacations there,” Tetsuo said as he gazed into the viewscreen. “It’s beautiful.”
“Eh… that color kind of gives me a headache.” Zach slipped on his orange sunglasses

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The Great Blue-Bellied Jelly

Am I content to float alone?
In this vast universe, I’ve only known one other of my kind—my mother—and I only knew her for mere minutes before she vanished without a trace. I searched the entire perimeter of this water-based planet for her to no avail. Did she leave because her

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The Price of Metal

Lykaina slid the box across the desk with a gentle smile. “A gift from the marshes of Hecate.”
Mr. Collins opened the lid and inhaled deeply. His eyes drifted closed. “Fresh cranberries. Marvelous.”
“Perhaps not the bounty one would receive from Demeter…” Lyka spread her hands. “But we share what is ours.”

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An Hour in the Sun

“Oxygen’s a little over 17 percent.” Naomi checked her watch. “That means one hour of outside time, Lydia.”
“Yes, mama!” Lydia kicked off her shoes and ran to the recreation fields.
Naomi settled in under the willowy arms of a veilbranch tree, watching her daughter collect wildflowers in the evening light of Eridani’s

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