09/24/2024
Dr Zeta Hallsmith was a relatively ordinary looking woman; her dark hair seemed permanently pulled back harshly and knotted at the nape of her neck and she wore thick-rimmed glasses that accentuated her pointed face and thin lips. She had never had the inclination for the finer comforts of other women; her life was her work, which unfortunately left little …
09/24/2024
Although the need for it had passed nearly a century ago with the death of his first chief engineer, David still paused at the door to his own office and knocked. When he was satisfied that there was nobody inside, he took his seat behind his desk and turned on the terminal, listening to the familiar *beep*.“This is a …
09/24/2024
Debbie felt her head begin to spin and for a moment she thought she would collapse, pass out sprawling on the floor. Instead she leaned forward carefully placing her face into her palms, elbows stabbing into her thighs. “I am truly sorry” the stocky woman was saying, sounding not only genuinely regretful but also at a loss for words. Debbie …
09/11/2024
Two weeks before Soul Music: Susan, Duchess of Sto Helit, lay in her bed at the Quirm College For Young Ladies. She couldn’t sleep. Part of the reason for this was a strange noise. It sounded a lot like a grindstone. A grindstone. Now why did that generate such strange images in her mind? Of […]
09/11/2024
I was 20 cycles old when I got my first ship. My father did “The Long Run” just before I was born. Ten years from Mars high orbit to various mining colonies and then on to Io and back. He missed my early childhood, but came back with 1 million credits. I always wanted to […]