From his perch, Bosina watched the tribesmen carefully make their way up the hidden trail that lead to the eye of the magmatic dyke where they would soon tell tales of the middle days and the fall long into the night. Rather than follow along in a tedious procession, Bosina had opted to climb his … Continue reading Day Forty-One – Vines Like Ice, A Precipice Like Nothing’s End
alien
Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Prime Machine – Epilogue
I've written a lot of science fiction - deliberately, in most cases, in an attempt to master the various "standard" sci-fi formulas. I've done time travel, parallel universes, alien invasion, virtual reality, temporal paradox, exploration, artificial intelligence, etc. This story needed an alien, just for a moment, and so I found myself in a position … Continue reading Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Prime Machine – Epilogue
Dark Frontier
As Jeremiah choked the last bit of life from the lawman, the rest of his gang mounted their horses and began the job of rounding up their stolen cattle anew. Sheriff Carter went limp in Jeremiah’s grasp, but the criminal cattle thief kept his vise-like grip tight until there was no doubt their pursuer was … Continue reading Dark Frontier
Day Thirty-Four – The Mysterious Flamingo of the Tundra
They say space ruins relationships. I believe it. I’m not talking about personal space, even though they might be. I don’t mean that his demand for guy time away from her coupon clipping is the spark or spur to the inevitable divide. I don’t suggest that two people perpetually intertwined for twenty-four hours out of … Continue reading Day Thirty-Four – The Mysterious Flamingo of the Tundra
Day Thirty-Two – Rabbits and Other Lies (or, Rockclimbing for Krakens)
After seventeen weeks of unemployment, and numerous hours of standing in lines at the LRC recruitment facility, Ken Baxter has given up. The Labor Replacement Corps have denied his entry into their ranks, citing over-qualification and a full roster of specialists in his field. "I didn't want to be a Lurker anyway," he tells the … Continue reading Day Thirty-Two – Rabbits and Other Lies (or, Rockclimbing for Krakens)
Day Thirty-One – Absolutely the Green Frog Bureau, LLC
Heat. It's what I know as the tunnel widens and the door at the end of this long journey begins to open. It's the brief end to a long day. Eventful and darkened with the wet sheen of closure, this is the day I become more than a man. In darkness, I slip away into … Continue reading Day Thirty-One – Absolutely the Green Frog Bureau, LLC
Day Thirty – Quality Stock Tips From an Okapi (or, Mr. China Has Seven Splinters)
--- TRecTm5.2218.14.11.x.x Rprt -22.22.511.5.5.167.3.7.vv.20491 Earth Interplanetary Logistics and Colonization - Robotic Recon Team - Report - Assmt. 17501.R.TR73 ||\\|| BEGIN REPORT ||\\|| WRECKAGE OF ARTEMIS LANDER : MSN TtnRcn2203 : CONFIRMED ENVIRONMENT SEALS BROKEN ID OF FOUR OF FIVE TEAM MEMBERS CONFIRMED DOCTOR ABRAHAM TOLLE: DECEASED, BLUNT FORCE TRAUMA PTY OFR RAYMOND GILFREY: DECEASED, CAROTID … Continue reading Day Thirty – Quality Stock Tips From an Okapi (or, Mr. China Has Seven Splinters)
Day Twenty-Nine – Papercut Moseby’s Left Withered
There is darkness and sound--a repetitive thud and scraping of metal. I feel heat radiating around me, and I feel trapped and claustrophobic. I cannot move my body more than a few inches in any direction. There are walls surrounding me, lined with soft silk. I feel myself pressed against a cushion to my back--laying … Continue reading Day Twenty-Nine – Papercut Moseby’s Left Withered
Day Twenty-Seven – We Who Are About to Sigh, Salute You
What follows is a list of things no human knows about me. What follows are instances in the great effluvia of creation in which I have found myself directly in control of God's hand, like a golf instructor reaches around his student as their hips swing in unison. What you are about to read is … Continue reading Day Twenty-Seven – We Who Are About to Sigh, Salute You
Day Twenty-Two – All Aboard for Stenotrophomonas maltophilia and Pancakes
"Yes, Chef," Remi Grismain barks. Chef Garret departs the kitchen to attend to something in the dining room. Remi watches him go, then sighs. With the last of the tomatoes cored and skinned, the apprentice dumps them unceremoniously into a blender and sets it for purée. He takes a moment, as the tomatoes turn to … Continue reading Day Twenty-Two – All Aboard for Stenotrophomonas maltophilia and Pancakes
Day Fifteen – A Public Apology for Events That Occurred on Easter 1993, Wolverhampton, UK
Time is running out and this is the zero hour. For you, the reader, it takes just a few seconds to make a lifetime of difference in the life of someone else, and I am politely asking you, if you are a fan of mad science, cacophony, and imminent destruction, to please donate even a … Continue reading Day Fifteen – A Public Apology for Events That Occurred on Easter 1993, Wolverhampton, UK
Day Thirteen – Twisted Machinations of the 5th Street Mediocre Virtuoso
Nash has just been punched in the face for the first time. The feeling is like falling from the top of a lighthouse, but finding yourself mired in the beam, suspended above the crashing waves in a blinding light, while orbiting the spire of the lighthouse itself at mach speed. His neck snaps back, jostling … Continue reading Day Thirteen – Twisted Machinations of the 5th Street Mediocre Virtuoso
Day Twelve – Marzipan Cottage For Sale
In the early hours of the fifteenth day of August, several men accosted a local doctor on the dirt road, more adequately described as a game trail during that particular season, between Harris township and Bixby's Box. The bandits, four in total, shot Dr. Malcom Renn in the throat and left him for dead in … Continue reading Day Twelve – Marzipan Cottage For Sale
Day Ten – Bromance of the Three Colonies
Alacamians are spider-like by our human standards. The alien race typically has a spherical central body with an apparently random number of appendages extended from it. Ancient Alacamian culture once revered those of its ranks with the largest number of appendages, and shunned those with the fewest - though, that has changed in recent millennia. … Continue reading Day Ten – Bromance of the Three Colonies
Godhood of the Infinitesimally Small 