Calvin Toulaine’s eighth birthday party had begun with the typical celebration fare. A gaggle of the neighborhood children ran through the yard around the bounce house set up by Mr. Toulaine. A table with modest refreshments was arranged by Mrs. Toulaine just inside the back door, with a secretive supply of beer and wine in the garage for the parents. The Toulaine’s dog, Frankfurter, sat patiently...

Former Sergeant First Class Renya Perez stood near the edge where the shelter met the sands of Ghalaran. She didn’t consider herself the sergeant who landed here so many years ago. The sands had smoothed it away as they had the decals of the three ships that crashed here with her. The sun bleached away all but the stoic metal. Reyna could smell rust in the air, and knew this would mean the rainy s...

The crew clamored outside the captain’s quarters, wailing and yelling sifted through the cracks in the wood. Captain Grills pushed off the pile of books that had fallen from the shelf. He was thankful the entire thing had not landed on him or he would be more than bruised. It was supposed to be smooth, calm seas, but only a few moments ago there had come a sudden heave and jolt as the ship crashed...

Kellan carried a heavy heart and a heavy spade as he walked back through the graveyard. He’d followed the witch doctor’s instructions to the letter, every chant, every incense in the fire, every drop of blood, and for this? It was meant to bring her back, not bring what it was he had left in the graveyard that morning. The sun shone overhead as Kellan turned past Old Tybris’ stone. He felt a red ...

Carina felt led into the woods by this strange woman. The woman’s long matted hair and robe with a white sheen muddied around the hems flowed effortlessly over the gnarled roots of the forest floor. Carina stumbled over the knotted earth as though dragged by an invisible lead. Why had she come to these unfamiliar woods? She stole glances between footsteps, looking as deep past the trees as she cou...

The boy was strangely at ease with the whole process, which bothered Dr. Gibson deeply. She watched as the boy ate from his tray of mashed potatoes and vegetables and stared out of the window with a nearly vacant expression. Dr. Gibson followed his gaze. Outside, the skyline of Enclave rose against the mountains. Underneath their shadows lay a modest expanse of farmland that came to the foot of th...

The gravestone was unremarkable. Finneas Chancey had no remaining relatives, and so had a state funeral. Aster Somme, P.I., stood over the plain marker as the rain fizzled out his cigarette. The smell of stone, grass, and wet tobacco filled his nostrils and joined with his growing sense of unease. The police had contacted him to say that they had a suspect in custody, but had reached a dead end in...

Some of the younger folks don’t understand why we call them Sardine Cans, they just never knew a world that wasn’t like this. I was little when we left Earth, but I was old enough to remember what it was like to run through a field, when it wasn’t raining that is. These kids don’t know about how rain burns your skin and makes your eyes sting if you’re out in it too long. Now you are lucky to have ...

Keller and Stovich sat in the seats of their lunar rover. The pair had just returned from a trip to a satellite station on the far side of the Stöfler crater. The Stöfler Project’s intended goal was to create a habitable zone within the crater with terraforming and biochemical engineering, a joint mission between several U.N. nations with their respective space programs. It was still in its infanc...

The first night I used DelphEye, it showed my death by heart failure. I had had trouble falling asleep at first, as the putty-like glob was uncomfortable and made my eyebrows itch. But once I knocked out, it worked as advertised. The dream was from a strange perspective. Usually I dream in the first person, just like seeing through my eyes, but I was outside my body this time. Looking at my frail ...