Volume 101 #11: Danger
Previousby Michael Tinker Pearce“OK, let’s move on to First Contacts. Top of the list is Species 75412, a race called ‘Humans’ from planet ‘Earth.’ Should we contact them or not?”“Great Ghu, no! A thousand worlds of NO!”“Well, that’s a strong reaction. Would you care to explain?”“Have you read the file?! They’re fucking terrifying!”“Oh for . . . Look, […]
Volume 101 #10: Pride and Peppers
Previous / Nextby J. Kenton PierceRosenberry’s Pride, Nuevo Yucatan Prefecture, Hesperides Colony.I’d just waved off a second cup of coffee when a burning woman fell out of the sky and crashed through the bunkhouse roof.She exploded headfirst, straight down through the timber ceiling and smashed the rugged old wooden table that was the closest thing […]
Volume 98 #11: Understudy Overreach
Previousby Gustavo Bondoni“We’re the backup team,” Rione said in disgust.She tossed the tablet over to Hutch, who scanned the news quickly and grunted. “The bastards. We’re the better crew. They’re just more famous.”Appins decided this was his moment. “That’s why I asked to join you guys even though Montgomery wanted me on his crew,” he […]
Volume 95 #9: The Reformation of Castle Deltle
Previous / Nextby Zachary RobbinsOnce upon a time, there was a boy named Chrys. After his culturally ambiguous coming-of-age celebration, he began to worry that even though he was an adult now, his life had no direction. He felt empty and wanted to fill the void. At that moment, he remembered the story of Dr. […]
Volume 94 #10: Sock it To Me
Previous by Arnold wasn’t divorced because of his sock-lost-in-the-dryer humor. At least, Tina hadn’t left him solely (ahem) on account of that specific gag. The argument could be made, however, that his quips collectively did the trick. And within Arnold’s oeuvre, the oft-repeated dryer remark must certainly have ranked high. . . .“Well, I think it’s funny,” Arnold told […]
Volume 94 #9: Shivering Cinderella
Previous / Nextby Gustavo BondoniNatalie cursed. Whoever had coined the truism that if you felt the cold through your spacesuit you were already dead had never spent any time in a Volov 17. The designers had had decades to perfect a suit cheap enough that even people on the nascent asteroid colonies could afford them, […]
Volume 96 #8: Though the Night Be Long
Previous / Nextby J. Kenton PierceNarinder Singh’s feet ached terribly in the bitter cold. Each shuffling step across the frozen ground and packed ashfall drove the cold deeper into his feet, like a dull blade being dragged slowly along the bones. He shambled down the remnants of a path the elements had obliterated. Before the […]
Volume 93 #9: A Matter of Choice
A Matter of ChoicePrevious / Nextby Eric Flint“This may be illegal, Jack—and I’m damn sure it’s immoral and ill-advised.” Kevin Gallo scowled at the large screen on the wall of Jack Kensington’s laboratory. The image being displayed was a depiction of the gene splicing Jack proposed to do.“Illegal? That gets complicated, especially when you’ve got […]
Volume 93 #10: Adrift in Space-Time
Adrift in Space-TimePrevious by Edward M. LernerWhat has gone before . . .In “On the Shoals of Space-Time” (Grantville Gazette 91, September, 2020), the starship Greater Good, after a near-catastrophic accident, limps at sub-light velocity to a nearby solar system. Its few survivors (four crew, all Doltan) and three passengers (one Doltan, two Vol’taki) are:—LARROK, the lone engineer, […]
Volume 92 #9: Marooned in Space-Time
Marooned in ServersPreviousBy Edward M. Lerner“Are you getting this?”Or so Liam Peterson might have heard. He wasn’t one to spend a mind-numbing shift rearranging cargo in silence—nor to endure the endless droning “news” adrift in the short passageway from Andy‘s compact bridge.And yet, there was something compelling about that maybe-heard question. He removed an ear bud. As the […]
Volume 97 #10: Ill-Met in Space-Time, Part 3
Previous / NextPart 1 / Part 2 by Edward M. LernerWhat has gone before . . .In “On the Shoals of Space-Time” (Grantville Gazette 91, September 2020 issue), the interstellar passenger ship Greater Good, after a near-catastrophic accident, limps at sub-light velocity to a nearby solar system. Its few surviving crew (four Doltan) and passengers […]
Volume 96 # 9: Ill-Met in Space-Time, Part 2
PreviousPart 1 / Part 3by Edward M. LernerWhat has gone before . . .In “On the Shoals of Space-Time” (Grantville Gazette 91, September, 2020 issue), the interstellar passenger ship Greater Good, after a near-catastrophic accident, limps at sub-light velocity to a nearby solar system. Its few surviving crew (four Doltan) and passengers (one Doltan, two Vol’taki) are:—LARROK, […]
Black Smoker Curandero
Previous By Ian PohlTeodoro leaned back in his pilot couch and started the pre-flight. Dios mio, he was weary. The advance team aboard Blue Horizon had flown multiple missions each day for four weeks straight. They’d mapped the hydrothermal vent field three kilometers below the ship down to the decimeter save one final outcrop, his […]
Volume 95 #10: Ill-Met in Space-Time, Part 1
Previous Part 2 / Part 3By Edward M. LernerWhat has gone before . . .In “On the Shoals of Space-Time” (Grantville Gazette 91, September, 2020), the interstellar passenger ship Greater Good, after a near-catastrophic accident, limps at sub-light velocity to a nearby solar system. Its few surviving crew (four Doltan) and passengers (one Doltan, two Vol’taki) are:—LARROK, […]