It doesn’t look like a palace. It is a network of interconnected villas. A sense of peace permeates throughout. The mountainside it is built on is sparsely forested, and gets only light snow in the winter.
[more...]

His eyes snapped open. He was sitting down, slowly rotating. He was strapped into a chair at an amusement park, chintzy music echoing around him.
[more...]

You see the tree as dusk is taking the light from the sky. It is the only tree you have seen for days. No others are visible in any direction.
[more...]

I survey the board calmly, without needing to. I know what resides there. I know the available possibilities. I draw a card, and add its potential to what I hold already.
[more...]

Before they got me, I programmed. Software development. I did fine. But I got bored, ennui creeping into my life, my work, my own projects, everything. Everything suffered under a fog of lethargy and angst. I thought I knew what I wanted to do, but I couldn’t seem to do it. So I went looking for more exciting positions.
[more...]

“… experiencing a delay. We appreciate your patience.”

“Attention station agents and passengers. The delay affects the Castro, Church, or Duboce & Church stations. We appreciate your patience.”

“Attention station agents and passengers. The delay fled from Duboce & Church, apparently towards Van Ness. Inbound trains remain stuck for the time being. We appreciate your patience.”

“Attention station agents. We have a wandering delay loose in the train system. Last seen at Van Ness. Consider the delay armed and dangerous, and do not confront it.”

“Attention station agents. We have cut off access to the tunnels between Van Ness and Civic Center to trap the delay. Do not attempt to apprehend anything coming out of those tunnels.”

“Attention station agents and passengers. We have an all clear for outbound trains. Outbound trains should resume normal service soon.”

“Attention station agents. A SWAT team cornered and killed the wandering delay inbound between Van Ness and Civic Center. Cleanup crews have contained the resulting delay and hope to remove it very shortly.”

“Attention station agents and passengers. We have a cleanup delay at Van Ness. We hope to clear this within an hour. We appreciate your patience. Thank you for riding Muni.”

(200 words)

Yes, that really is the end of the story. There are some loose ends, but that is how it ends (which is not to say that sequels would be out of the question).
[more...]

Bruce Lawrenceson decided that, yet again, he had been terribly naive.
[more...]

I was on the bridge, researching recent Board activity, when the news hit.
[more...]

She pushed me into a shuttle nearby and sat me down, then said, “Truder Redmane, I am here to take you back. You have broken your contract of work with Redmane Minerals, and they are permitted to force your return and sequestration for the duration—” [more...]

Lee jumped out of her chair and ran for the stairs. She was sure the man exiting the Governor’s office was Truder Redmane.
[more...]

Lee pounded the desk. Reviewing the files from Brivik security, she couldn’t believe some of the things they let slip. Primarily being slow to realize that the “terrorist” who’d started killing guards was Truder Redmane.
[more...]

“Three Redmane interceptors, they said we’d committed security violations, want us to power down and surrender.” [more...]

I looked to my right, saw two guards, and walked towards them quickly. One looked at me in time to take my punch to the throat. I stepped closer to get his pistol from his holster, pull up his armor, and shoot him in the stomach. The other guard had his visor flipped up, so I shot him in the face, then took his gun as well.
[more...]

I made it onto Brivik, through the spaceport, without incident. Free. On a planet. Real air. Real gravity.
[more...]

Looks Good on Paper was far away. Far away, locked inside a secret base in a dangerous asteroid belt under intense scrutiny within a remote solar system. And Shara felt the distance.
[more...]

Lee ducked the punch and came back up again with her gun jammed against the contract-breaker’s nose. Her phone chimed.
[more...]

I set up the transfer, and had it ready to go. Three hundred million. I looked up at Shara, and said “You know you won’t get to spend it.”
[more...]

“We don’t know that it’s him.”
“No, but who else, given blackmail from something that Truder knows and activity at his bases?”
“We don’t have enough information, no matter how it looks, to do what you propose.”
[more...]

Shara was in my way.
[more...]

“So where is she now?”
“Ops doesn’t know.”
[more...]

Near the middle of the asteroid belt, I directed Shara to approach a large hunk of rock. I broadcast a code to it, and a section slid sideways, revealing a docking bay. Shara was clearly impressed, and I was gratified by this.
[more...]

“How much is the reward?”
“One hundred million.”
“So little?”
[more...]