Our headlights extended over the dusty flats, a dry, cracked plain where even shrubbery refused to grow. A soft breeze filled the car as he stopped the engine and rolled down the windows. Darkness poured into the cabin as the air settled around us, the desert quickly forgetting our intrusion. “Do you have any more questions?” he asked. I ran …
The day was waning by the time I reached the cabin in the woods, about a mile’s hike from where the trees got too thick to drive any farther. I’d come prepared, climbing the hill and trekking down around the lip of the valley with my trusty worn boots and my pack bundled high on my back. The effort got …
“You really come prepared,” he said as I stabbed a tent stake into the sand. He loitered in his flip-flops, looking unsure of what to do with himself despite nailing the beach day look. Over his trunks, he wore a crisp white shirt that fluttered in the wind, allowing peekaboo glimpses of his skin, glistening with a hint of sweat …
Mari knew that the hardest part of getting her space walking certification wouldn’t be the test – it was all the space walking she’d have to do after she passed. While going outside wasn’t a primary part of her job, occasionally technology needed a glorified ape to help do its job. Lee, the technical engineer, spoke through Mari’s earpiece. “You …
Mari bounced up and down on a holographic trampoline in Eli’s living unit, a gaggle of chibis jumping with her. This time her holographic companions were a baker’s dozen of colorful blobs chirping “chibi” in harmonious tones with unblinking eyes like black buttons. Since arriving at the Hex, Mari had spent her slivers of free time unwinding at her new …
Andre knew he only had a matter of time before the Alliance Informatics Department came for an audit of the infrastructure – no, the ecosystem – that their co-op had built on the Hex. The structure was to become the premier data relay between the inner Sol system and the outer planets as colonies continued to spread, so the project was …
Dawn rose over the glow of the fire eating up the hills, as it had done for most of the season. Which, at this point, made up the greater part of the year. Mari set out early to catch her launch that day, mostly to get out of the house but also because she had no hope of sleeping. Not …
He followed me up the stairs after I excused myself from the bar. The communication between us was less unspoken signal and more trigger and effect, all of our touch-and-go glances building in anticipation of this opportunity. He must have waited all but thirty seconds before falling on my trail, weaving through the happy hour crowd as I had just …