ESA only sent married couples into space for these kinds of missions. Something about for better or for worse. Something about ‘til death do us part. We held the fate of the Earth in our hands. Our vow was not only to each other but to humankind as well. Paz and I traveled 91 million miles to get here, so far from Earth that it took eight minutes for a radio signal to reach there. We were suspended a ridiculous 315 miles...

He wasn't born; he had no parents, no family. He was created. Created by the Centuri Delegates, a secret organization at the heart of the Deag23 government, one of the major rulers in this part of the known Universe. They used technology far beyond what many would even consider possible. He was created for one reason: to fight against the Connexxion in a vicious war that had raged for decades. Deag23, nearing defeat, need...

I sat with my dad on the verge of the road, near the car. The night was cold and clear and the stars were falling like rain. "I wonder if there are other worlds," said dad, "Or if this is the only one?" The next day we visited the observatory. We stood in line and, one by one, were allowed to look through the giant telescope. "The planet you can see now is four million light years away," said the guide, "We believe it is...

"Attention! May we have your attention?" the voice whispered hoarsely. "Can you hear our thoughts? We are here. We must reach you. Greetings. We are friendly." The man started up from his dead sleep. "What! What the hell! Who's yelling at me?" He jerked his head around and saw nothing, just the glow of the security light coming in through the grill in the door.  "Did you hear us? We are here. Please, we need your help." N...

The President extended her hand. "On Earth, this is a symbol of friendship." Standing by the open panel door just inside their spacecraft, the contingency of aliens examined her hand curiously for a moment. Hesitantly, the one in front mimicked the gesture taking her hand. When the President shook its hand, there was great applause amongst all the world's leaders and people of influence gathered in the open field. The Pre...

Archie stared at the equipment and apparatus before him. Something simply wasn’t connecting, literally, as what lay on the table was his prototype, his robot. With synthetic skin peeled back around the humanoid form before him, he was attempting to create a human-like automaton, but it was failing. He knew he had all the parts; there was nothing to salvage, buy, or bribe from anybody. The basement of the house was where h...

Carin absentmindedly scratched Rubbish behind his ears while the tourist images of Israel scrolled slowly across her tablet screen. Her best friend asked her to join her on a trip, but Carin was unsure, Maddy had cancer, but Carin just got a new job and was broke and don’t know what to do. Suddenly Rubbish’s head snapped up, his ears upright like two antennas. He startled her, and she grabbed for the tablet that flew from...

"We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars." Oscar Wilde, 1854-1900 *****  "The Queen is Dead! Long Live the King!" What more important change than the death of a sovereign. At least, for the nation. Perhaps not for individuals. The end of the Victorian Age. The beginning of the Edwardian period. Would this country continue to be successfully powerful, or would it pass into dust following past empi...

I used to have these two repeating dreams as a young girl . Dream 1 The dream would start at my grandma's home. I would be outside on the third top deck and there was a huge enormous dark helicopter arriving in the sky from afar . It was huge and dark. As it would come nearer it would get louder and louder. I understood that the helicopter was after me. I saw that the helicopter had tinted windows, so I couldn't see who w...

It’s said that parents often try too hard to push their children into achieving their own dreams. Despite not being a conventional parent at the time, I was no exception. Melis may have been half my age, but she showed twice the potential I did at her age.When I was her age (12), I was interviewed by five wield masters, each interview ending in polite rejection. With Melis it was different. As soon as the high council ass...

Chapter 2 Hide the body.“Lilly!" Scrotum shouted while panicking, “How long will it take the cleaning bot to clean this mess up?”“I’m sorry sexy ass. I am not programmed to move dead bodies.”Scrotum rushed over and picked up the dead woman, “Now you clean and I will hide her.” Scrotum shouted to Lilly.“What every you desire hot stuff,” Lilly replied back.Scrotum staggered down the corridor. He had picked the body up upsid...

Captain Scrotum and the SS ThrustThe year is 2462, and the earth is dead. What was left of its population spread through the heavens looking for a new home. Of course, once they left earth they found out they weren't alone in the universe. The rest of the sentient life forms had just been hiding from the destructive, backward human race. They had been manipulating images and shielding the earth from messages which otherwi...

Chapter 4The drug induced sleep was dreamless, and I awoke with a start. There was a strange sensation on the left side of my body. I looked down and was startled at the sight of the machine now attached to me. It felt weird, but at the same time, strangely familiar. I looked it up and down, examining the bundles of black electo-plast muscle fibers and the gun-metal grey of its artificial bones and joints. It looked like...

Pain…Pain is what I awoke to. My whole body hurt. My head was pounding. I tried to open my eyes, but they were greeted by a searing white light that forced me to close them. My left shoulder was on fire. I tried to sit up, but something held me in place. More pain… Every nerve fiber in my body was screaming."He's waking up." The voice was unfamiliar to me. It seemed close, but far away at the same time. The words echoed i...

Tensions were high that at sea, for in an an un-precedented move that took place. The world's Navies ordered their ships from both their home ports, and from their posts of call from all over the globe to assemble in task forces or groups, after having been ordered to one spot in the vast Pacific ocean, in order to say goodbye and to pay tribute to two legends that were leaving that day. And to see them off as they headed...