May 2008
10 posts
#220 and #221
“Not anymore, Herr Doctor,” she said. “And never again.” Behind her teeth brass cylinders rotated, clicking together to form the right shapes to transform the air from her bellows into words. “How can you say that?” the Doctor asks. Behind his glasses his eyes are red and swollen. “I cannot”—the cylinders catch and hiccup—”love, love you.” The Doctor reached out to her with his good hand...
The Sci-Fi Complex
Madge and Joe finished their drinks while flipping through books that Madge had carried in her purse. Joe was deeply engrossed in a copy of Home Furnishings of the 1970s and Madge was casually skimming through Mojo magazine when the waitress came by with the check. “So now what?” Madge said pulling the book away from Joe who had been reading a section on wall-to-wall shag pile. “Well, its...
Under Pressure
It was the end. They were trapped inside the spaceship’s engine with no way out. When it powered up, everything inside would be atomized. “Johnny,” Tricia said, bringing her lips so close to his that he could smell her sweet breath. “Now that we’re going to die, I just have to tell you… I fell in love with you the moment we met. I hope yo-” John interrupted her with a passionate kiss. Tricia...
Becoming
He itched. Like a thousand tiny creatures burrowing beneath his skin, moving around with no thought to the discomfort they caused their host. Of course this was not far from the truth, although the magnitudes were a little out. As his father had explained to him, inside his body millions of tiny machines were at work preparing him for what lay ahead. That they had chosen this moment was not mere...
The Strays
They marched into the neighbourhood with the pulse-pounding beat of a terrible rhythm. Hundreds of jack-booted soldiers poured in from every street, every alley. Restless eyes rolled in their sockets, searching for the strays that had eluded them. Three children, filthy from a brief life of scrabbling for scraps huddled behind a dumpster. They whimpered quietly, unsure of where to hide but...
I Own A Spaceship
The small cockpit vibrated as the multi-engine drive pushed the shuttle upwards. Through the plumes of grey dust, heavey red beams of light could be traced from the blackness of space, down to the trembling planet. Richard flicked on the auto-pilot and wheeled his chair over to Sarah, who was crying hystericaly on the steel cargo bin. Putting his hand on her trembling shoulder, he juggled his...
Caution
I fell for hours. This is not hyperbole. I was not in space. Not technically. Imagine a giant sphere as thick as a planet surrounding a star with a radius that puts its inner surface at a habitable distance. Pour enough air into it to give the inner surface a decent atmosphere, and you have enough habitation space for the population of a whole galaxy. This is a Dyson sphere. Now...
Togetherness on the Surface of the Sun
“Marcus, get your behind out here this instant!” No response. “Marcus, don’t make me come in there! I will shut that thing off!” “Mama…” “What’d I tell you about holoplay before your chores were done?” “I did my chores!” “You’re telling me you got all that endoshielding clean already?” “Mostly…” “Uh huh. Mostly? Boy, you ain’t getting no dessert tonight.” “Mama,...
Down in the Park
As we strode down the beach, trying hard to repress ourselves from grasping hands or some other embarrassing atrocity, we came upon a small robot figure, slowly waddling his way up the beach with steady determination. “That’s odd,” Xander said, picking up the little robot by the head. It’s legs continued to waddle and its little eyes glowed red. It’s body began to move more frequently with...
Event Horizon
The seed was huge, roughly the length and breadth of Manhattan Island, and in it rested the future of the quest for energy. The people living on it, or rather, in it, knew what they were getting into, both literally and figuratively. They could never emerge. They made that choice. Those born after them had no hand in that choice. If you grew up there, you had no frame of reference, so you...
April 2008
18 posts
The Two Towers
The next morning it was as though the past seventy-two hours simply hadn’t happened. It was as though only she could remember the feeling of the fire that swept the city beating against her, flowing around her, burning everything made by man. Everyone just carried on as though nothing had happened. Or rather, as though the glow-in-the-dark rubble was simply what had always been. Fingers of...
Psychopaths Among Us
The man sat down on the bench next to David and unfolded his newspaper with a bit of a flourish. Too much flourish if you asked David. Which nobody did. David scooted a bit further away, well, as far away as he could given that the bench was only so long. He didn’t want to be this close to the psychopath. They made him uncomfortable and slightly itchy. All his life he had felt this...
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Tough Decision
Baufer flipped through the final pages of the report one last time before turning back to the first page and gazing at the portrait that took up a fourth of the page. To the right of the picture, in bold writing was the name: Gordon Graves “You’re sure this is the right person?” … not so much to confirm the choice as forcing himself to change his mind about what he was about to issue as...
You'll See
It’s strange, growing up in a society who’s only form of technological innovation is finding ways to build bigger guns that can fire bigger bullets at the enemy. Folks don’t have original ideas any more. There’s no room for them. Unless of course it happens to be an idea about how to make a bigger gun or a bigger bullet. I have original ideas though. I sit on the burned out remains of what...
There Is Always One That Wants To Be Just One
“Journal Entry 24 Neauvebre This will be my final entry. I will no longer record my thoughts and reactions, as I have decided I am not coming back. I understand your reactions and the mission’s goals. I will finish this project as intended. But my mind is made up. Fifty-one months of solitude has locked me into a pattern, a pattern I have been falling into for my entire life. This is a pattern...
Fight from Afar
Xavier couldn’t help his body language. Just standing there, directing meditrans and clearance procedures, that was enough to focus on. Hell, keeping his voice steady was enough to drain the strength from two sturdy legs. Grime and muck stuck to his skin. Was that dirt in his teeth or powdered flesh? It doesn’t matter, they both taste like the harsh reality of what his eyes just had to drink...
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Replacements
The first incoming torpedo destroyed Cruiser Chanuk’s main engine. Inertial dampers went down seconds later. The second hit slammed everyone who wasn’t strapped down into a wall. 90% casualties, including all bridge officers. The Chanuk would likely sit out the battle. Ensign Sook took command. She didn’t have to like it. “Private Rod, why haven’t you reported...
Erik Was Interviewed: Bite-Sized Publishing from... →
Just sharing some info about Burst Fiction and the Trajectory Festival with Chris Webb.
5 tags
Interstellar Tesla
Nikola Tesla was finally back in control of his space-time machine and all alone, no androids, authors or plot devices to get in the way. He was finally able to use the machine for it’s intended purpose, picking up girls. He’d been astonishingly drunk when he’d sold it to Mark Twain. Looking down at the controls he wondered why they were so similar those of a riverboat, it made no sense, he...
7 tags
All Press is Good Press
Well it seems people are catching on and the analytics for BurstFic are seeing a bit of a spike. We were mentioned positively on Futurismic this morning and new submissions have started popping up in my inbox. After only being around for a few weeks, as of today we’ve been read in 21 different US states and by 2 readers in Australia. Welcome! Now send in some Bursts and join the convo...
Call It A Keepsake
“My ex-wife gave me this arm.” “And you still want to keep it?” Kendal’s got him by the wrist joint, one foot on his thigh, and she’s pulling. “That’s not,” his voice breaks into a shriek as his elbow port disconnects, “funny!” He’s panting. Something drips out of the joint. A bit of conductor fluid, a dab of blood. “The worm’s in your wrist now, for sure. You’re about ten seconds from losing your...
Limits of Immortality
“Do you remember the first time you were badly hurt?” “Not really. Don’t we all experience our share of scrapes and bruises in childhood?” “No, that’s not what I mean. Have you ever suffered an injury of such severity that you were left less capable than you were before? One that took weeks or months to heal?” “Oh, I see. Yes. I broke my leg once, back in college. We were drunk and...
6 tags
Forced Improvements
The last thing Commons saw before the concussion wave hit was code he’d been focussed on writing for the last several days. Then there was nothing but the high pitched ringing. The only sensation was horrific pain caused by the rebar which had entered the back of his neck, pierced his vertebrae & now protruded 3 feet from the front of his throat. His body tingled, like the pain from a sleeping...
Grumplers
My first impression of the place was not so great. “Where are the chairs?” I asked. “I need a place to sit down.” “They don’t have chairs,” Cap told me. “They can’t use ‘em.” “What does that mean?” “You’ve never seen a Grumpler, have you?” “Look, Cap, I’m new around here. I’ve never met one. So what?” “Well, Grumplers don’t need chairs.” Cap smiled as if he was happy about...
4 tags
Leaving Las Marsas
Robert slowly boarded the waiting transport, bandaged fingers struggling to grasp the worn hand railing as he struggled up the metal steps. Like everything else on this world, they were covered with a fine layer of red dust. In the air above he could see waves of it skittering through the air, filtering down through cracks in the doors above. Doors that tried unsuccessfully to keep the landscape...
An Eye On The Mat
“Have you been injured since we became…what we are?” “A couple of times. Why?” “What did it feel like?” “Painful.” “No I meant as they repaired you.” “Well, the first time, I was in a major car accident and my skull was crushed against the steering wheel. I can remember thinking to myself that I was dead. Of course the fact I was thinking anything meant I wasn’t.” “Of...
March 2008
7 posts
Free For All
In January, the time-travelers began appearing in droves. They wore the garb of many different centuries. Most wandered aimlessly, gawking at the sights or fiddling with their various recording devices. When I overheard a couple of time-travelers speaking English, I cornered them and forced them to explain. “You didn’t know?” the woman asked. “Every year before this one is off-limits...
Tempest
“Oh gee, another wave.”, Captain Theurer muttered sarcastically. Swarms of the creatures were coming up towards him from the center of another wormhole. A few days earlier, Earth’s Defender Squad had sent him to investigate a wormhole that had appeared near Titan. When he had reached it, he saw a swarm of strange creatures starting to come out of it. The creatures were red and yellow. They...
Shiny Mudballs
The pair boosted forward into the asteroid’s single inset airlock, pulling a cargo sled behind them. It eased into the habitat’s half-gee field, dropping to bump once against the floor plating before settling into a hover. “Shit, careful with that!” Jim warbled, his comm voice all square-waved. “They won’t take any if a single one is deformed!” “I know, I know,” said George, “watch your...
Snowfall
Nina looked down from the 65th floor. The first snow of the year covered buildings, the walkways connecting them, and the empty streets below. Nina probed the apartment until she found her granddaughter. Arina, Nina psyked, look at the snow! Nina flashed her the view through the polyglass. It just sits there, Arina replied. It looks boring. Nina smiled sadly. Arina had never been...
Toys
Jamie’s new spectral eyes tasted like tamarinds that had been reconstituted by liquid helium. With lead fingertips she touched the new water and was electrified by the gracious pulses of ancient information. She licked her lips and a million stars were born, burned, and died upon them. When she felt this way time became her favorite toy. The beats to the songs of hundreds of cultures kept...
Alexi's Lunch
The roof top door crashed open & Alexi burst out, kinetically amped up & ready to fly. He dove through the a gap in the safety barrier, hit a ramp at full speed, the magnetic bumpers of his board detecting the surface, anchoring just enough to pull closer but not physically connect. He skipped across rails, sparks flying when he caught them almost too late. The glow of his boards grav...
Barely Conscious
Anja’s muscles ached, limbs felt rubbery & the taste of vanilla flavored lubricant lingered on her swollen lips. An hour ago the cab had dropped her off at the apartment building’s guarded entrance. She’d slouched her way into the elevator, then her apartment, slipped off her dress and slid right into the cool bed, naked & pleased. Each time she fell asleep certain muscles would twitch...