by submission | Nov 23, 2019 | Story |
Author: David C. Nutt
“As I told you to begin with, if Renslo dies, you would die too.”
I thought the Renegade Commander said that so I wouldn’t kill Renslo under the knife by violating my Hippocratic oath. Oathbreakers never understand the power of an oath taken; especially in my case. I couldn’t violate my Hippocratic oath. Not with someone wounded and helpless. These others? Deserters? Combatants? War Criminals? Not an issue.
“I did my best.”
“It’s OK doc,” one of his men said to me as he fingered his neckless of human ears, most likely my neighbors and their children, “to err is human, to forgive divine. You goofed so now it’s in God’s hands… so we’re arranging a meeting.” Gruff laughter exploded about the room. Their commander held up his and motioned for silence.
“Well, it’s best not to draw this out any farther.” The commander called up a death certificate on my room display. In cause of death under my name, he typed in ‘head trauma.’ He hit ‘enter’ and the form wouldn’t let him save the response.
I was almost ready. Just two more minutes and the set up would be complete. The outer sentries he posted had closed my compound doors for the night. As soon as his guards crossed into the courtyard, I would be ready.
The commander gave up interest in his grand jest and yawned. “Well, I suppose it’s too late for a proper execution tonight. We’ll take care of it in the morning.” There were murmurs of agreement. This was all I needed. The commander stood up. His men scrambled to their feet. The commander and his two aides went to open the door of my office. The lead man reached for the door. I heard the bolt slide, locking the door.
I smiled. I stood up. “You aren’t allowed to leave.”
The commander smiled with pure sarcasm. “I beg your pardon.”
“You may not.” The commander’s face turned red with rage.
“I don’t think-“
“By the authority vested in me as magistrate, I charge you with desertion, treason, and crimes against humanity and sentence you all to die.”
His men laughed loud and carried on a few slapped me around a bit. The commander held up his hand again.
“So harsh doctor? Or as you are now in your magistrate role I should probably say ‘Your honor’, hmmm?” His men let loose their guffaws and catcalls
This time I smiled. I saw the commander swallow. He knew he was missing something. I was done playing with him now. My two spares had eliminated the sentries. I let my left arm fall off. The laughter stopped. There was a brief moment of confusion as all the renegades processed what happened and were scrambling to find a way out. I looked their commander in the eye again. He sat down and shook his head and I triggered myself destruct mode.
From my new vantage point in the courtyard, I watched my lab implode, taking all the renegades with it. By the time I got my remaining duplicates hidden again my report was being transmitted to the regional authorities about the terrible atrocities committed and the heroic self-sacrifice one of my neighbors to take out the renegades. As decommissioned Army AI, one who survived being consigned to the scrap heap, I worked hard establishing my human profile. While not prone to human error and certainly not divine, this was the way it had to be. Then again, not being human or divine, I had a lot of wiggle room.
by submission | Nov 22, 2019 | Story |
Author: Timothy Goss
Where to begin?
Start at the dance. It’s a very good place to start.
But the dance was slow. Everything was on its best behaviour, including the Humans’. They were representing Kircher and his crazy ideas. The Galactic community wanted assurances – simian lineage had caused problems in the past.
“They are too young a caste.” The Jovian representative drooled. As Earth’s nearest neighbour they had observed the Human develop, witnessed their aggression and feared what might ensue. “They require greater intervention, which we are willing to provide if agreed by the community.” A willing smile leaked across its features.
The community had intervened in the past. Some of Earth’s greatest minds, biggest spirits, and most loved icons were alien influencers. They are the names known to all humanity those whose influence encompasses the globe.
A squashed Gliesian, DazC KkaR, approached the Human woman, Sofia Jewel. Both were bipedal, but the similarities end. DazC extended an odd limb in a chivalrous display and Sofia smiled a human smile, curious but cautious, suspicious not knowing the creature’s ultimate intention. Slowly she took his hand and they stepped onto the dance floor. The crowded auditorium held its breath…
It was generally unknown that humans had a culture advanced enough to develop complex patterns and sequences, especially within a rhythmic foundation. It was even harder to believe that backward humanity would be able to muster the cognitive zeal to develop rhythm into anything more than a march into war. The general opinion throughout the room was such and consequently, all awaited a confused and baffling display, a groping in the dark, a fractured ‘dance’ in name only.
Sofia knew this was her responsibility, Kircher warned her but still, she wanted to dance. As the alien music surged she searched for the familiar, she knew rhythm was a familiar fellow and when DazC KkaR failed to lead Sofia stepped up discovering a tango hidden beneath the alien hurdy-gurdy – Caminar, planeo…
Her Gliesian partner was a breed apart from most and danced like no other. He was able to predict a beings’ movement and join it in a rhythmic interchange – viborita-sacada. DazC KkaR believed all movement mimicked that of the cosmos and two bodies in close proximity must interact.
The Jovian representative slopped its foot to the beat. It could feel the tides of its being ebbed and flowed with the musical movement. The commitment of each dancer and the energy created between them spread throughout the room affecting all liquid-based castes. Sometimes life needs a reminder to live. The auditorium breathed as Human and Gliesian synchronized. Sofia considered her partner’s ability superlative and did her best to ignore its hideous appearance, while DazC KkaR did the same. It is true, Humans and Gliesians are repulsive in the flesh, but this was forgotten in the beauty of their dance.
Kircher played the odds, he was a smart man, one who could usually outwit his opponents, but these were not men and he had to remind himself of that. Here he had no power – here it was up to Sofia. She was the first volunteer and he trusted her judgment. On his deathbed, it is said that Kircher asks if anybody had heard from Sala.
Jovian influencers visited Earth regularly over the following centuries and always took great pains to observe the development and witness the progression of dance throughout the Human world. Sofia Jewel and DazC KkaR were remembered in Jovian culture so moved were they by the tides she created.
by submission | Nov 20, 2019 | Story |
Author: R. J. Erbacher
“I’m sorry, what?”
Aaron was about to tip his tray of leftover lunch into the bin and now held it frozen in mid-spill. Maybe telling him wasn’t a smart idea after all. I thought, out of everyone I knew and trusted, he would have an open mind. I had worked with him for seven years and we had become good, tell-each-other-anything, friends. My secret might have just changed the whole dynamics of our relationship.
“I said, I can move from one plane of existence to another if I really concentrate.”
“You know Zoey, even the second time, that still doesn’t make sense.”
He continued with his garbage dump and we walked from the cafeteria back to our cubicles.
“I don’t know why or how but one day while I was doing yoga in my apartment – it just happened. I went from squatting on my rug looking at the rain on my window to sitting on a rock overlooking a sunny beach and gorgeous ocean. I jumped up and flashed right back because I was so freaked out. But after experimenting and fine tuning my skills for a couple of weeks I can pretty much do it at will and it’s kind of creepy and exciting at the same time.”
“You know, I have to call bullshit on this,” Aaron said.
“I’m serious!” I said a little too loudly as we strode past other workers in the hallway. “Look I have no clue how it works. I Googled it and it has something to do with changing the structure of your consciousness or vibrating at a different physical frequency. I don’t know?”
“Really? And where is this beach?”
“I don’t know that either. I don’t recognize it. It’s isolated and wonderful. No other people around. To tell you the truth it might not even be on this planet.”
He stopped so I stopped, and we stared at each other. His face was incredulous.
I saw that we were next to the copy room, so I nabbed his elbow and pulled him in and closed and locked the door.
“Just watch.”
I hiked my skirt up a little, dropped into a lotus position, closed my eyes, took a lung-filling inhale and allowed my inner self to float into free-fall. In a few seconds the smell of the room changed from ink toner to sea moisten air. I opened my eyes and was happily no longer at work. I marveled at the beauty, breathing easily, wanting to strip and plunge into the crystal swells. The feeling that had been coming on me at these moments filled me with a sense of peace that made tears come to my eyes. I wanted to be here. Always. But I knew I couldn’t stay. I let my mind return to the jarring reality of the office. I finished with a deep cleansing breath and stood up.
“Well?”
“Yeah that’s great. You can sit on your ass and cross your legs. So what?”
“But I just went away!”
“No, you didn’t. I was focusing intently and you just fuzzed out a little.” Aaron took off his glasses and wiped the lenses with the end of his tie. “I must need a new prescription.”
“So, how did I get this?”
I opened my hand and held out a palm full of pure white sand.
Aaron gazed at it then looked at me with a smirk. “Nice trick.”
As he left the room and went back to his desk, I wonder how long it would take me to work out the details. Until I could ‘fuzz out’ completely.
by submission | Nov 19, 2019 | Story |
Author: S. Sedeq
Never had I expected death to eject half of my body into the void of space.
Eons spent feeling the gradual, yet inevitable ebb of my essence has done little to prepare for an explosion more massive than any energy I have emitted as a star.
Just now, the very fabric of time and space bends around my center. I strive to emit light and burn bright, reaching for the energy of the red giant that has led to this current existence.
No response, save the continuous column of light and energy that shoots up higher than I can fathom, engulfed by the starry vacuum of space.
Then, all at once, the tunnel of light energy vanishes, inverting into my regenerated form. That is when the hunger begins.
Swifter than the speed of light itself, the lust for any and all surrounding matter wracks my essence. A craving as strong as any sense of gravity I have ever known as a star begs for satiation.
The reality of what I have become sets in as surely as the eventual and inevitable end of the universe.
The despair almost drowns out the hunger long enough to miss the approach of an orbiting planet. Almost.
As the unsuspecting object enters the newfound lull of my event horizon, the overwhelming remorse gives way to a sweet euphoria. But only just.
The moment that miniscule body passes over the lip of my gaping abyss of a maw, a flood of knowledge captures my consciousness.
Organisms of all shapes and sizes interact with each other in a number of ways, emitting a series of sounds so diverse as to momentarily befuddle even the glutton at my center.
I cheer on this temporary distraction, struggling to move back through the void or spit out the planet headed toward its demise.
No such luck.
Once the dense heart of my singularity registers the presence of that little planet, my essence transforms into the likeness of an entity of pure gravity.
Suddenly, my only reality becomes that ravenous hunger, the need to consume that spherical bud of nourishment burning stronger than my billions of years of existence as a star.
As I feast, the various life forms of that planet scream with terror and confusion as their own existences wink out. Some even fail to realize their fate until the force of my pull shreds their essence, sweet new matter slaking the yearning call of the budding singularity at my core.
Then, all at once, the binge subsides. And reality sets in once more.
A wave of anguish envelops my conscious at the thought of all those stars around me that have yet to suffer this insatiable black hole of hunger. At least they still have time to nurture new life before their own winks out.
Bitter envy gnaws at the singularity stewing in my center, as the very nature of my existence completes the transition from giver of life to bringer of death.
by submission | Nov 17, 2019 | Story |
Author: James A Brown III
Father Provious Del Ladra stared out the window at the green planet. His hands were clasped in front of him, his eyes closed and head bowed.
“And please, Father, bless the 237th, especially Commander Nadia Ryes, as they protect your works so that these people can be brought to your everlasting…”
There was a soft succession of chimes, gently noodling around a central tone.
“… light and love. Please look out for their safety and please return them to us unscathed. If that isn’t possible …”
Again, the chimes.
“… then take their souls into your loving embrace and, if you will, grant them an eternity of warmth as reward for their devotion and dedication to your war against the Californs. Amen.”
He unclasped his hands and turned to the door. “Enter,” he said.
“Please excuse the interruption, Father Del Ladra.” The woman bowed deeply, her bare head reflecting green from the window.
“What is it Attendant Theodre?”
“Father, I’ve been sent to inform you that we’re losing. The 88th and 237th have been overrun and none of the leadership is replying. The others have requested your approval in triggering the Pre-Apocalypse.”
“It’s that bad now? Is the Michael still with us?”
“Yes, Father. Barely. They are drawing fire away from us as much as they…”
They stumbled toward the door. The ship shook as klaxons sounded. A young male voice came over the speakers.’
“We’ve been breached! I say again, we’ve been brea…”
The speakers went silent.
“Father, you have to get to your escape pod!”
“You go. I need to stay with the ship. There are things I must do when a ship is about to be ransacked.”
“But Father, they will be boarding…”
“I know, I know. Go. Your services are needed elsewhere. Remember, you have been chosen. I’ll try to make it, but I have to finish my tasks. Now go.”
Theodre rushed out the door, pausing to look back at Provious, then the doors hissed shut.
“Good kid that one. She’ll make an excellent angel.”
Provious calmly walked to the window and again, looked out at the mostly green planet.
“Thousands of years of work. All the terraforming and guidance and preparing. So unfortunate.”
He watched as grey egg-shaped escape pods shot out from the ship towards the planet. If they made it to the lower atmosphere, they would open in a blast of splendor and light, and would be welcomed as angels sent to purge the world of demons. This belief had been instilled in the populace ages ago. It was rumored that Saint Adamis himself had chosen this planet a thousand years ago as one of the twelve to begin. He had established himself as a great Father of the war, leading more successful operations than any other of the higher clergy, but he saw that no one was winning. The Californs had many aliens as allies. Adamis came up with something to give them the eventual edge. The plan he devised was to find lifeless worlds and make them into believer worlds that would give all to the cause. Already seven worlds had come to fruition, and the war was quickly tipping in their favor.
“Provious to Captain Grange.”
“Here Father! What’s the plan? Can the Adamis make it out?”
“No. I believe our last act will be as a heavenly sign to accompany the arrival of angels.”
“Understood. Michael out.”
The door behind him exploded and skidded across the floor a few feet to his right, crashing into the wall under the window with a crunch. He did not flinch, nor stopped looking out at the descending pods.
“Father Provious! We meet at last.”
“General Paige Remanth. I’m surprised to see you so close to the action.”
“Once I had confirmation that you were on board, staring out a window, I had to make sure I addressed you.”
“Ah, so you would come to make sure I am treated fairly then, out of a soldier’s respect for a worthy foe.”
“Hardly. I wanted to be the one to shoot you myself.”
“I see. I take comfort then in the fact that I did so well in my tasks to warrant your direct attention. God will be pleased.”
“Well, you’ll certainly have a chance to find out. Turn … around.”
Father Provious, his hands still clasped in front of him, tapped a cuff link on his bright white jacket. A deep rumble started and quickly began rising in intensity.
“What’s that?”
“Engine overload, General. In a few seconds, too fast for you to get out, this ship will join the Michael in an explosion that will be seen all over the surface. Many will see it and recognize the new star in the East. The star that announces the arrival of angels.”
“But you haven’t sent your artificial Jesus yet. You can’t destroy that. Your people put a lot of resources into its construction.”
“It’s a setback no doubt, but we’ll get one down there eventually. First, we need to make sure the people below keep believing enough to drive you and yours back into space, when you eventually land that is.”
“You know we don’t operate that way. We do not interfere in anyone’s development. We merely observe and…”
“Yeah, sure. You don’t have anyone down there right now, trying to undermine God’s plan with your teachings.”
“I don’t know about such things. I just know I’m to make sure that people like you become extinct.”
“Well, let me help with at least me. Saint Adamis, guide me home.”
At that, the ship erupted.
As the escape pods dropped through the clouds, they exploded, revealing their winged passengers, who soared majestically down to the awestruck locals below.
And the sky lit up, a new star flickering gently in the night.
Hundreds of thousands dropped to their knees, and began to pray.
