Here are the first paragraphs from each of the stories in this issue:
Absence of Evidence
By Robert J. Mendenhall
"Absence of evidence is
not evidence of absence." -
Dr. Carl Sagan
The storm
chased them across the rock-strewn Martian surface. Relentlessly, as if to
avenge some unprosecuted crime. This was the most powerful weather system Mars
had experienced in nearly two centuries. It tore the rusty sand from the
ground, marshaled it into an angry mass of iron oxide particles, then
accelerated that mass to an insane velocity. And it was about to engulf them.
Newton's Window
By Scott
Virtes
"Welcome
to the Newton Parts Exchange. What's your pleasure?"
Moontide
By
GC Rosenquist
Captain Gerald
Hatcher stood alone in the darkness of the clear plasteel dome, high above the
rest of Moonbase Alpha, staring into the dark sky above the crater lip…waiting.
The Blue Marble Signal
by Phil M. Berger
Adrift amidst interstellar
dust. Seeking harbor across time
incomprehensible. Hope slowly
withering. Until...
The Geysers of Enceladus
By Glen R. Stripling
Frank
Cooper touched his finger to the heater on the cold steel wall of his
office. Frigid methane deep from the
heart of the moon instantly ignited as it rushed in front of him, bathing his
pale wrinkled face with warmth and light.
Enceladus was eternally subject to the combined gravities of Saturn,
Mimas and Dione, which squeezed the moon like a sponge, crushing and heating
the frozen gasses deep underground. The
pressurized slurry belched out of the moon at 1200 miles per hour, up to 500
kilometers and reflecting the powerful lamps of the mining camp. Their beauty reminded him of the tall white
columns of renovated southern mansions back home. He looked over his shoulder at Nathan Ward
who just walked in the room. “Have you
heard anything from Mars about the injunction?”
Last Word from Kismet
By Ross Gresham
Thom lifted his
head from the pillow and regarded his new body with distaste. The chest and
stomach were a washboard of carefully-shaped little muscles, which, in the grip
of transfer nausea, resembled nothing so much as a field of tumors.
A Hole
By Robert N. Stephenson
I’m back… I’m back and
there’s nothing I can do…
The
first words of Captain Abrams Hanzer
on
leaving the Long-Jump IV
The return of
the fourth ship to head out to the edge of the galaxy was meant to be a
celebration of two decades of achievement, but like the three previous ships to
make the journey the return was not the joyous success the international space
program had expected. The General had read all the brief during the
construction of the ship, he didn’t understand the science but accepted the
expert’s positions on the hyper drive and the gravity engine, he had signed off
on the final test after all systems were passed, he had even congratulated each
crew member personally before they departed. Now before him was the mess of
failure. He’d written his resignation that morning and was ready to deliver it
by hand to the President should he not find an answer to what had happened. All
members of the crew were unconscious and the data on the ship’s computer
systems was fast degrading.
Sparks
By H. David Blalock
The Seastorm
was still over 400 million miles out of Titan when the life support unit began
to sputter.
No comments:
Post a Comment