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~ ~ ~ Cadence ~ ~ ~ by A. Arduini, Illinois |
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Chance to transmit symphonic music through the stars, across parsecs yet uncharted. |
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~ ~ Falling Star ~ ~ ~ by Tim Kail, Connecticut |
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Star falls, shatters. Earth to dust. Somewhere deep in space a god grins at his evil deed. |
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Survival
Instinct
by
Christopher Reynolds
©2009

The gate focused, equations collapsed and the scout ship
Phoebe IV appeared in a burst of light and excess velocity.
"Close the gate!" was the pilot’s first transmission.
"Raise shields. Go to battle stations!" was her second.
But there was no time. Something massive and ominous
followed her through, and alien data bursts conveyed its purpose:
vengeance and interstellar genocide. It crossed our orbit on
its way to Earth.
We hardly had time to debrief the pilot, but once onboard we
solved the mystery rather quickly. Keeping with the mission
profile, she met the Slissish leader on the lifeless,
ice-encased moon of Crag. Her environmental suit was unable
to keep up with the cold, so she hand stitched a beautiful,
fur-lined jacket. It really was a nice jacket.
Unfortunately, such fine material was hard to attain, so she used
the only thing available—the soft, supple hide of the Sliss.

~ Christopher
Reynolds,
California ©2009
Christopher lives in northern
California and flies for the USAF in his spare time. On the
military's time, he writes science fiction. |
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