Tag: Science fiction

short story, Writing

Love is a Battlefield

AJ Niblock

December 2023’s short story of the month

It was strange to sit up in bed and smell the coffee coming from the kitchen and realize I wasn’t the first person up. I liked the idea of a hot cup of coffee waiting for me downstairs. But for so long it had been my kitchen and my kitchen alone, and I was having a lot of trouble sharing my space. Being married was more challenging than I’d thought it would be.

We’d fallen in love on our last mission, and we thought being married would be our next grand adventure. We didn’t realize it would be our next war zone, or maybe that was just me. I wasn’t sure how Trevor felt. He was quiet, and he didn’t express his emotions very often. Perhaps that had been why I’d been surprised when he’d confessed his feelings for me. It was one of those moments that I played over and over again in my head trying to decide if it had really happened the way I remembered. Sometimes it felt more surreal than anything.

****

Another bomb dropped on the station. I was running full speed to grab a weapon. We were all mobilizing. This was the fifth attack this month.

The station’s alarm system was blaring at a deafening level. I barely heard it though. I was laser focused on getting to the arms room.

I wasn’t the only one. Every other soldier was heading in the same direction.

I joined the line, which was moving quickly. At the front, I was handed my plasma rifle and told to report to team C. Team C was made up of the long range marksmen, and their leader was Captain Trevor Eisenhower. Rumor was that he was a descendent of same famous military leader from Earth, but who knows. A lot of families changed their names when they moved to the colonies.

Everyone was chatty and joking around on the ship over to where we would make our stand. I was always quiet when I was heading into battle. I tuned out those around me and tried to steel my mind before combat.

The joking and casual atmosphere suddenly got quiet. I looked up. The captain was standing at the front of the ship facing all of us still strapped in our seats. He wasn’t moving or saying anything. He just scanned the rows of soldiers and waited for everyone to notice him.

Once quiet finally descended throughout the ship, he nodded and spoke. “Be prepared. This is the largest attack to date. Follow your team leaders orders. No questions asked. Don’t hesitate and aim true.”

That was the first time I saw him.

****

When I enter the kitchen, there is a cup waiting next to the coffee maker for me. It already has two scoops of sugar and creamer in it. All I have to do is add coffee and stir. He does this every morning for me.

I make my coffee and sit down to consider why when he does something so thoughtful, it bothers me. I think it’s possible that I’m just used to be alone and the idea of sharing my space with someone feels intrusive. Also, I’ve never had someone know how I take my coffee and prepare it for me.

Maybe I should try and find something to do for him every day.

****

We’ve been lined up for close to two hours, and we haven’t seen any of the enemy yet. The foot soldiers are the ones who see most of the combat. We’re more like a last line of defense.

We take turns lying prone with our rifles. We switch out every hour. No sense in getting fatigued while we’re just waiting.

The captain has been pacing behind us checking in with the team leaders.

This time when the captain passes by, he stops and talks to my team leader for a long time. He is facing me while they talk even if I can’t hear what they’re discussing. I notice he keeps watching me.

I’m just standing where I’m supposed to with the others waiting to swap in. He doesn’t speak to me. In fact, after that first night, I didn’t see him again for a month, and he didn’t speak to me for almost three months.

I wait even after he leaves. We switch out like clockwork. We don’t do it all at once, in case an attack starts. We swap one at a time, down the line.

As I’m getting into position, the foot soldiers, which were the front line, are hurrying back behind the second line of defense. They ready, and the team leaders for the marksmen tell us to ready to fire.

They come running at full speed. I take a deep breath and look down my scope waiting for the team leader to give the okay to fire.

It’s easy to distinguish our troops, who wear grey or black armor, from the enemy. They are on all fours. Each one is about the size of a minivan. You can spot them from a half mile away. They range in color from light sage green to a deep emerald. They have stripes like tigers on earth, except their stripes are yellow.

We’ve been trying to colonize this planet for nearly a decade, and the attacks on our bases have been increasing the closer we get to establishing a self-sufficient colony.

****

Trevor is gone before I shower. I go back into the kitchen and think. He has always been quiet and kept his emotions tucked away, but lately he’s been even quieter. And he’s been making it a point to be out of the house before I’m ready to begin my day. I feel like he’s avoiding me, but I can’t imagine why.

****

I was called into the captain’s office after three months of being on team C.

“Have a seat, soldier,” Trevor says without looking up from his screen.

I wait, knowing he’ll start the conversation when he’s ready.

“You’ve been on team C for three months,” he says without any sense of introduction or sedge way. “And you have an excellent record, plus an impressive number of kills.”

I nod. I still don’t speak waiting for him to get to a point.

“And I’m reassigning you,” he says.

“But sir,” I finally speak. “I like being on team C. Did I do something?”

He shakes his head. “No, it’s not like that. We are spreading some of the better soldiers out into the other teams because we need some stronger and more capable troops in each team.”

His explanation seems plausible, but he doesn’t look at me when he speaks.

I don’t get a chance to argue with him because it’s already done. Another three months after this, he will “make his move.” I didn’t know it that day, but I think he reassigned me so we could date.

****

I make his favorite dinner. It’s not something we can make very often because real meat is hard to source on this colony. I spend the day at the market and manage to get one small steak. I also get some fresh vegetables to grill and some supplies to make a salad. I even take time to drop by the spirits store and get his favorite beer.

As we sit down at the table, he thanks me for the meal, but he doesn’t say much else.

I can’t take it anymore. “Is something wrong?” I sit waiting.

He leans back in his chair and stares at me with an expression that I’ve never understood.

I’m not letting this go on any longer. “You’ve been avoiding me. Don’t deny it. It’s noticeable. You’re gone in the morning, and you stay busy all evening so we don’t have any time to spend together. What is going on? Just tell me what it is. I can handle it.” I’ve been through worse, no matter what it is.

He stares at me and says nothing.

“This is ridiculous. Tell me what is going on.” I stare back at him.

He finally lets out a sigh. “I didn’t want to tell you until it was a sure thing, but I’m shipping out again. Soon. To one of the remote colonies. It’s a big promotion for me.”

I stare at him with squinted eyes. “Why wouldn’t you tell me that? You leave occasionally. It’s not anything new.”

“You can’t go with me this time.” He looks at me, and even though I can’t quite bring myself to believe it, he has a tear in his eye. “I’ll be gone for a couple of years is what they’re saying right now.”

“‘Why can’t I go? The families of long term troops have always been allowed to travel with them. I’ll do what I’ve done before. I’m not a solider anymore, but I can fill a lot of other skilled positions at a post.”

“You can’t space jump when you’re pregnant. And children can’t travel until they are ten. Those are the rules for safety reasons.” He has actual tears falling from his eyes at this point.

“I’m not pregnant.” I look at him in confusion.

He pulls up a file on his cell. He turns it to me. It’s the latest lab work we’d had done about a month ago.

I’m pregnant. I didn’t know. He did for a month and didn’t tell me. I’m angry and upset and so many other things.

The number of emotions coursing through me is overwhelming. I pass out.

short story, Writing

Geckin of ISP9

AJ Niblock

September 2023’s short story of the month

They didn’t have to like her as long as they forgot her. She had read studies about that: how people can deal with being disliked, but they can’t deal with being ignored. And for far too long, Tara had been ignored.

The only thing people noticed about her was her light green skin. You might think anyone with green skin would be VERY noticeable, but on ISP9 (intergalactic space sport nine), green skin was more common than anything else. What was strange about her’s was that it was light, a seafoam green, and she had freckles. No other Geckin had skin that shade or freckles.

Geckins managed and ran the ISP9. Their home planet was the closest habitable planet to it, and they were well liked by most factions through the galaxies. Their presence at the port didn’t lead to many confrontations.

Her mother never explained why she looked the way she did. When she’d been younger, the other Geckins had whispered about her, but no one ever said anything directly to her. As she’d grown, they’d just ignored her, which she preferred to a certain extent.

Each day she helped her mother run a café. It gave her a chance to meet and talk with anyone passing through the port, but like the Geckins, most travelers ignored her too. The only thing they did was order their food and thank her before carrying on their conversation with their fellow travelers.

“Stop daydreaming and clear those tables,” Tara’s mother said from behind the counter.

Tara saw her mother’s frown and had to resist rolling her eyes. At twenty-three, her mother didn’t really need to boss her around. Tara had been working at the café since she could walk. She had plenty of time to clear tables before more guests arrived.

She bit her tongue and cleared the dishes from the table. As she was wiping the table, she heard footsteps approach and then stop nearby.

She didn’t look up and started smiling to herself. She knew who it was. With her eyes still fixed down on the table she was wiping, she saw a foot tap.

“Alex,” Tara said. “Stop tapping your foot. What are you doing here anyway? I have to work for a few more hours.” She finally stood up and smiled at her best friend and neighbor.

Alex was what every Geckin considered a beauty. She had bright green skin and perfectly rounded grey eyes with just slight yellow streaks in them. She was thin and tall but above all, Alex had what most considered the perfectly shaped frill. All Geckin had frills. They were usually folded down neatly around their neck, but when they were emotionally excited or angry, their frills popped out and looked like a fancy Elizabethan collar. Shorter frills were considered more attractive in females.

Tara was jealous of Alex, but they were still best friends. There were many occasions when Tara didn’t understand why someone like Alex would be best friends with her, the outcast, but she tried not to dwell on it.

“I need you to come with me. Right now,” said Alex.

“Why?” asked Tara. “You know my mom won’t let me leave unless it’s really important. And even then, she probably will say no.” Tara gathered up her cleaning supplies and walked away from the tables and into the waitressing station. She carefully put everything away. She didn’t want to give her mother a reason to complain. She even made sure all the labels on every item were facing forward, just the way her mother liked them.

Alex followed her. “Come on. Just this once, be an adult and tell your mom you need to leave.”

“Why is this so important?” Tara asked in a whisper.

“Can’t you just trust me?” Alex asked. “Have I ever steered you wrong?”

Tara opened her mouth to spout out about forty instances where Alex had let her down.

Alex raised her hand. “Don’t start. You know what I mean. Come on. It will be worth your mom being mad at you. Trust me.”

Her mother wasn’t pleased, but Tara begged. Finally, her mother relented and told her to go but come back in time for the late shift.

As soon as Tara hung up her apron, Alex looped her arm through Tara’s and whisked her away. She made for the teleport pads that could take you anywhere you wanted to go in the public areas of ISP9.

As they stepped off the telepad, Tara looked around. They were in the staging area for large groups that were traveling to and from the port. The area was large and open and could be used with several different types of temporary shelter structures.

The area was packed with Geckin. And they were wearing armor.

“What is this?” asked Tara in amazement. She’d never seen this many Geckin in one place. About 200 or so lived and ran ISP9. There were easily a thousand in this one gathering place.

Alex shook her head. “I don’t know why they’re here. I haven’t been able to get information from anyone, but I had to show you.”

“Why?” asked Tara. She was thoroughly confused. Alex was boy crazy, but Tara was more cautious. Also, because of her odd appearance, she tended not to get attention from boys.

“Follow me. Not only are there thousands of Geckin arriving. Not just on this level. But you have to see what else I found.” Alex gestured for her to follow along.

“Are you sure we should be here?” Tara looked around at the sheer number of Geckin. If there were more than this arriving, Tara had a pretty good idea that they were a military force of some kind. Working at the café, Tara usually heard about fighting going on, and she wasn’t familiar with the Geckin being involved in any combat recently.

Alex ran ahead and Tara had to hustle to keep up. She kept getting distracted by all of the Geckin. Tara wasn’t paying attention and ran right into the back of Alex.

“Watch where you’re going,” said Alex.

“Sorry. I can’t believe this.” Tara brushed off Alex’s back.

“Look,” Alex said. She wasn’t pointing at anything.

“What am I looking at?” Tara asked. She scanned around and saw Geckin, just like everywhere else she looked in the area.

“Right in front of us. Look at THOSE Geckin,” Alex said.

Tara took a deep breath and looked around. She didn’t see what the big deal was at first. She saw several groups of Geckin, and just like the others, they were wearing armor.

“Look closely,” said Alex.

Tara looked again at the group in front of them. She studied the Geckin. That’s when she finally saw what Alex was so excited about. The group in front of them had freckles. They were light for Geckin, not as light as Tara, but closer than anyone on ISP9.

“They kind of look like me,” gasped Tara.

“I know,” said Alex. “I bumped into one that was in the supply shop on this level, and I followed them over here. I couldn’t believe it either.”

“Should I talk to them?” asked Tara.

“You should,” said Alex. “I mean when will you get a chance like this again?”

Tara nodded. She took a deep cleansing breath. Her frill popped out.

“Maybe wait,” said Alex. “Take a few more deep breaths until you feel less nervous.”

“I don’t think it will help,” said Tara.

“Fair enough,” said Alex. “I can wait right here or go with you. Your call.”

Tara grabbed Alex’s hand. “You’re coming with me.”

They walked hand in hand towards the group. Tara approached one of them that was standing and was observing the others in its group.

“Excuse me,” said Tara. She cleared her throat. Her frill still hadn’t folded.

“Yes, child,” said the Geckin standing there.

“I was wondering. That is. Um.” Tara was losing her nerve. “You know what. Never mind. Sorry for bothering you.” She turned to leave and pulled Alex with her.

“Nope. Stop,” said Alex. She pulled them back to the other Geckin. “Excuse my friend, she’s just shy. She and I were wondering why you all have freckles.”

At first the Geckin didn’t answer. He took a look at Tara and chuckled. “I see. You want to know why you have freckles.”

Tara nodded but couldn’t bring herself to speak.

“Well, that’s pretty simple. One of your parents is from our clan. Our clan lives on an isolated group of islands on the planet’s surface. We’re the only clan that inherits the trait.” He looked at Tara. “Didn’t your parents tell you that?”

Tara shook her head.

“She doesn’t know who her father is,” said Alex like it wasn’t a big deal to be telling this to a stranger.

Tara felt like her head might explode. She grabbed Alex and pulled her away.

“Come on,” she hissed at Alex. “I want to talk to my mom.”

They didn’t speak on their way back to the café.

short story, Writing

Thick as Thieves

AJ Niblock

June 2019 short story (Really late, but here it is.)

We took turns guarding the door, neither of us sleeping very much. Ricky looked nervous, and suddenly I felt bad about getting him involved. I shouldn’t have asked him to tag along. His mother would flay me if she found out. I didn’t have a choice though; I trusted Ricky. Even a no-good thief like me needed someone to count on. Besides, how many times had his mom warned him to stay away from me. It never worked anyway. We were thick as… well… thieves. I really hated that expression. It was accurate in our case though.

We’d been friends our whole lives, mostly because of proximity. We grew up in the same space port. Our quarters were down the hall from one another, and our mothers co-managed the best diner this side of Jupiter. Sitting here, watching the door, I started to think about stacks of buttery syrupy pancakes. I shook my head to snap out of it. I needed to stay focused. If all went according to plan, by this time tomorrow, I would be wealthy enough to buy my own space port. This was quite literally the opportunity of my lifetime.

But if things didn’t go to plan… Let’s just say I would have a lot more to worry about than Ricky’s mother. I would most likely never see freedom again. It was worth the risk though. And just to clarify, this is not a Robin Hood scenario where I am going to share my wealth with the poor. I was doing this to get rich — unbelievably, disgustingly rich.

You might be wondering what was worth risking our lives for. What could be worth so much money? What was worth sitting wedged in a derelict supply closet for almost 12 hours?

There is only one thing worth all this trouble, and it was a few steps away and sitting right on the other side of one last door. We couldn’t get to it yet. We needed to wait for the precise moment when the shift change began. It was the only time every four months that the object was left unguarded, and even then, it was only for a matter of minutes.

It was time for Ricky and I to swap, but I decided to let him sleep some more. I was too amped up. Just the idea that soon, very soon, not only would I be obscenely rich, but I would be a legend. Ricky and I were on the verge of going down in history as the greatest thieves to have ever lived. Maybe not for the same reason as Robin Hood, but we would be notorious.

After another hour, sitting in that position started to get the better of me, so I woke Ricky for his turn. I didn’t think I would actually get any sleep, but at least laying down would rest me a bit.

When Ricky woke me next, I could tell something was wrong. There was an urgency to his whisper that shouldn’t have been there. I sat up quickly and quietly.

“What?” I asked.

He motioned his head towards the door and then tapped his ear.

I scooted a little closer to Ricky and strained to hear what he thought he was hearing. After what felt like an hour, but was in fact, a matter of nanoseconds, I heard it. It wasn’t voices. It was… could that be right? It was sniffing? I could actually hear something repeatedly and quickly smelling the other side of the door.

I looked at Ricky, who was clearly alarmed by this, and I just shook my head and shrugged. Whatever it was, it hadn’t noticed us. I checked my watch. We still had four hours to go until the quarterly shift change. I sat back and tried to make as little noise as possible. I closed my eyes and steadied my breathing; I felt my heart rate start to slow back to a normal rhythm.

When I finally felt collected, I motioned for Ricky to take over the sleeping position. I was up now; I might as well take a turn at watch.

The next four hours passed uneventfully. I heard the weird sniffing sound at one point, but I dismissed it as unimportant because nothing ever came through the door. Besides, what could possibly be making that sound?

At the exact scheduled second that the guards were busy changing from active to off-duty, a computer virus that had been planted three weeks prior, launched and made all the cameras appear to be running fine, even though in reality, they were no longer detecting motion and Ricky and I were moving towards the object of this heist.

We made our way out of the storage closet that time forgot and made our way to the last door between us and our prize.

I took a deep breath. “Moment of truth,” I said as I swiped a card duplicated from a guard. The card alone had taken us six months of planning to acquire. All the time paid off as the door hissed open with a satisfying whoosh.

There it was. I was about to step into the room and make all my dreams come true when I heard that weird sniffing again. I spun towards the sound just as something hit me hard in the back of my head.

When I woke up, I was in a pitch-black cell. I couldn’t see much, but I could hear someone or something shuffling around next to me. “Ricky?” I asked hopefully.

“Yep, I’m here,” he said.

We took turns sleeping, but neither of us slept very much. Ricky was nervous, and I definitely felt bad about getting him involved. If we ever got out of here…

short story, Writing

Galaxy S Class Cruiser

AJ Niblock

March 2019 Short Story

Harry shuffled the deck of cards and pushed it across the table. “Deal,” he said.

“One more hand,” I agreed. It was a way to pass the time. More importantly, it was a way to avoid talking about the fact we were in a holding cell – again.

When we started on our trip, we’d underestimated how much money we would need to travel across the star system and back home again. To make up for our lack of funds, we’d been stowing away on richee ships to make it home.

The great thing about richees is that they were so consumed with enjoying themselves and spending their money on luxury space ships that they failed to notice things like a couple of stow aways.

The first time we were caught, the owner of the ship had let us off at the next port and not reported us. That time we were lucky.

This time was different though. We thought for sure that a Galaxy Cruiser S Class would be a richee on a lux cruise seeking entertainment – we were wrong.

“On your feet,” a gruff voice yelled at us from the other side of the Nano wall.

Harry and I both stood up quickly, knocking over the cards.

The voice continued giving orders, “Turn and face the wall. Hands above your heads.”

We of course complied. The people of this cruiser were not kidding when they gave orders. We weren’t on a lux cruise; we had inadvertently stowed away on a drug lord’s ship. He was rich, yes, but he was not easily fooled and paid attention when strangers appeared on his property.

And right now, we were getting his attention.

We were dragged down a hallway and into what appeared to be a conference room. There was one person in there, and he was sitting at the head of the table. It didn’t take a genius to figure this was the guy in charge.

He didn’t waste any time. We were still being thrust into the room when he said, “Tell me why I shouldn’t vent you into space and carry on with my business.”

“Because that would be murder.”

Did Harry just say that out loud? Great! Now we really were going to be killed.

“Please,” I said. “We didn’t mean any disrespect. We just need to get home. We don’t have anything of value that we haven’t already pawned, and we have no talents or skills that would be useful to anyone. We’re just dumb kids. Please. Please don’t kill us.” I didn’t look up the entire time I spoke.

The room was absolutely silent.

Finally, after fighting every urge to peek at him and see if I could gauge his reaction, he spoke, “Put them in lock-up. We’ll drop em later.”

We were returned to our cell. I picked up the cards and shuffled them. Harry righted the table. I pushed the deck of cards across the table to him. “Deal,” I said.

“One more hand,” he agreed.

Writing

No Where to Hide

AJ Niblock

*This is my November short story. I am running behind because of Nanowrimo, but did I mention I wrote 50,000 words last month?*

Until that day, fear had been an idea, a concept. Now it was real: a feeling I would carry inside me for the rest of my life. The day began innocently enough, with my father and I going through our normal daily routine. We barely spoke. We ate breakfast. And we drove to the bookstore in quiet.

This is how pretty much every day of my life had started since I can remember. And most days ended with the two of us closing the shop in quiet and returning home without saying a word. Ever since my mother passed, my dad didn’t talk much, not that he’d said much before.

Tonight, though, I wouldn’t be riding home with my dad. Tonight, I was being held captive in the high school gymnasium with every other person in town; well, maybe not every person, just those who hadn’t been killed already.

In the morning when we arrived at the shop, my dad went to the office in the back and shut the door. He and I were the only employees, but he always said he was doing manager duties. I didn’t really care. It was his store.

I set about making coffee and turning on lights. After turning the chairs over and taking them off the tables, I went to the counter at the front to open the pile of mail that had been waiting since yesterday. There wasn’t anything important in the stack, so I recycled what I could. Then I just took my seat behind the counter and dreamed of something more interesting than this life I was stuck in.

The first explosion shook the store, but to be honest, I didn’t even know that’s what it was because I’d never experienced anything like it before. The second explosion rattled the big window in the front so much, I thought it might break, but it held.

I stood there doing nothing for what felt like several minutes but in hind sight was probably only a matter of seconds. Then I saw people running down the streets.They all looked terrified. I looked out the window.

As I looked at the alien, it looked back at me. It was at least seven feet tall and covered in scales that appeared metallic. It had two large eyes that took up most of its face. Its appendages were humanoid but elongated. Each finger was at least six inches.

As I stood there gaping like an idiot, it made a sound that shattered the glass. I shielded my face with my hands and arms, and in that moment, it reached in and grabbed me.

Having extra long and slender limbs didn’t mean the creature wasn’t strong. It grabbed me with one hand and didn’t even bother placing the second one on me. I couldn’t get out of its grip no matter how I flailed.

It held onto me until a hovering vehicle of some sort pulled up along side it. It casually tossed me and I was pulled in by some sort of tractor beam. Inside the ship were people I knew.

After that,we were all dumped in the high school gymnasium. Now we are all just sitting here. If we make a sound other than breathing, they just kill us.  

Image result for alien invasion
Writing

Quiet

AJ Niblock

Present Day — St. Louis 

It flashed through the sky and then was gone. Lucy was sure she had seen a UFO and was equally sure aliens were here to secretly make contact with a human being. Maybe they would choose her. Maybe she would get to visit their ship. Maybe she would finally get away from this place. She was tired of being lonely and isolated. She was tired of talking to herself.

Even an alien encounter would be more exciting than her life. No matter what the outcome.

***********

20 years ago

Lucy woke up late — again. Her boss would be furious. She quickly dressed and headed out the door. Her new job was exhausting. It was all the interacting with people that was wearing her out.

This was her third job this year — and it was only April. So far this one was lasting longer but she could feel the toll is was taking.

“Have a nice day.”

“Thanks for visiting the zoo.”

“Here’s a map.”

She said those three things so many times every day. Why couldn’t a recording do it?

The one redeeming factor for her new job was break time. On her breaks she would sit and watch the hippos. She wanted to watch them all day.

It was odd because before starting at the zoo, she’d never even seen a hippo. Her parents never took her places. They’d both worked so much on their rare days off, they just wanted to be home.

Perhaps that’s why all her jobs were places that families tended to visit together.

If she had a therapist, she might have asked her that.

**********

Present

Lucy walked through the grocery store selecting what foods she might eat this week.

After she’d collected enough, she went back to her house.

Two years ago she’d finally gotten up the nerve to move from her old apartment into an abandoned house.

She’d picked one in a nice neighborhood within walking distance of a grocery store, a home depot, and several clothing stores.

**********

20 years ago

It was already turning into another typical day.

“Thanks for visiting the zoo.”

She’d gotten lucky though. Her boss was out sick so she didn’t get yelled at for being late.

She tried to focus on that to get her through the day.

On her break, she put a hoodie over her zoo uniform. She’d learned to cover up as much khaki as possible or people would ask her a thousand questions. Her first two days she’d spent her breaks answering inane questions.

As she sat by the hippo habitat, she longed for quiet.

She tried to ignore the sounds of children and families. She tuned out the city noise in the background.

She longed for silence.

As she sat there, she watched the hippos. One female hippo waddled towards the water and dove in.

Lucy caught her breath.

hippo swim

This was her favorite part. Hippos were amazingly graceful in the water.

If she’d ever seen Fantasia, she might have imagined them wearing tutus.

Her alarm beeped reminding her it was time to return to work. As she stood up and stretched, she noticed how quiet it was.

She looked around. She was utterly alone. Not a single person was in sight.

All she could hear was the animals in the zoo. No cars. No airplanes. No people. Nothing.

**********

Present

20 years of quiet. 20 years of being alone. As far as Lucy knew, no one was left but her.

Was that even possible? Who knew? It’s not like she could ask anyone.

It was better to focus on what she did know.

She’d seen something in the sky. She should get to higher ground and watch for it.

Maybe she could signal it.

As she sat in her house, she heard something outside in the yard.

She looked out the window and couldn’t help herself. Her laughter startled it away.

It was a flamingo — in St. Louis.

After the first few days of being alone, Lucy had gone to the zoo and set the animals free and then never returned. She didn’t want to know which had survived and which sat in their cages without the will to seek freedom.

Freedom.

She had that in spades. She wanted someone, anyone, to talk to.

Make a signal. Right. She could do that.

Writing

July’s Prompt

AJ Niblock

So, this month I am actually trying and succeeding at getting things done when I mean to. Starting with getting my short story prompt posted early. Without further ado, here is July’s prompt:

“The yellow lines on the highway sped by in a blur, and we flew through the night, and we felt free. But we weren’t, and we knew it. We were running away from something, and running away was never the path to freedom. I thought about telling John to turn back. I thought about suggesting…”

I can’t wait to get into this one. I feel like it has the potential for some sort of paranormal or sci-fi element. If you haven’t read any of my previous stories of the month, my stories do have a tendency to have a sci-fi or fantasy bent to them. Last month’s story “Crime Scene” didn’t start that way, but it eventually got there.

In addition to my story of the month, I am participating in Camp NaNoWriMo’s month long writing challenge. I am using one of my previously posted stories as a jumping off point for a novel — “Unicorns Are Really Vampires.” If you are participating too, good luck with your project!

Happy writing and reading this month!

Writing

Crash Site

AJ Niblock

I’ve lived in this town my whole life, and most of the time that’s fine by me. But in late fall when the sky fills with birds migrating south for the winter, traveling thousands of miles, I get homesick for places I’ve never been. Places like Egypt, Rome, Paris, anywhere but here.

In this town, every day is the same. I’ve known everyone here my whole life. No one ever leaves this place and no one ever comes here to stay. We get a fair number of tourists, but even that number dwindles every year. What used to bring people here just isn’t that exciting anymore. In a few more years, this town will be relegated to the same status as the “Home of the World’s Biggest Ball of Yarn” or “The World’s Largest Rocking Chair.” It will be another roadside attraction that collects dust and a sometimes road trip stop for hipsters and low-income families.

I was born after the crash, so to me, the site is nothing more than a local landmark. Since the crash site is damn near the center of town anyway, it provides a really useful directional tool for giving directions. “Take a right at the crash.” Or, “Left past the crash and then there’s the Piggly Wiggly.” I don’t think many people really think about what the crash represents anymore; for better or worse, it’s become a backdrop to our everyday lives.

The crash in our town was one of the early ones, which is what garnered it the little bit of fame it does have. It’s also one of the most intact sites still in existence; the others have been pilfered by tourists, the government, and collectors.

When I say that most people don’t think about the crash much, that of course doesn’t count the exception to that rule — the TRUE EARTHERS. They are a fanatical group born out of the time following the aliens coming to Earth. Once the crashes started becoming a frequent thing, international forces rallied together and negotiated with the incoming aliens. And despite the majority of people wanting to handle things peacefully, there were those who opposed the diplomatic approach.

Early on it was clear that the aliens meant no harm. The crashes were their ships malfunctioning entering our atmosphere. Ships that arrived later landed successfully and brought a small number of aliens to live among us. They now live among us and for the most part it’s a peaceful existence.

But that doesn’t mean that everyone likes them here. As I said, the True Earthers would like to kill all the aliens. They don’t believe we should share our planet. They believe the aliens are just the first of many invaders.

And today must be my lucky day because as I’m standing at the diner counter, in walks the head of the local chapter of True Earthers. I close my eyes and wish to be anywhere but here. All I can think is please let me really be sipping coffee in Paris or standing in the dry air of the Sahara. Anywhere but here. I hear Dirk walk through the door and make his way to his usual table where two others are waiting for him. I muster my patience as best I can and grab a menu.

“Here you are, Dirk. Would you like to hear the specials?” I ask.

He looks up at me slowly and snatches the menu from me. “No specials. I will look at the menu for a bit. Scurry along little worker bee.”

“Just let me know when you are ready to order.” I walk away but don’t’ return to my place behind the counter. Instead, I head in the back to the kitchen. I wave at the cooks as I pass through to the dish room. There is my best friend, and one of the few aliens who still lives in our town.

“Guess who is here, worker bee?” I say loaded with sarcasm.

At the sound of my voice, Glek looks up. He grins in that overly toothy way that all his kind do. He looks like your stereotypical “little gray man.” Except, I wouldn’t call him little; he is actually a couple of inches taller than me. He is just absurdly skinny. The other exception to the “gray men” stereotype is that the aliens who landed on Earth don’t have solid black eyes. Like us, they have pupils and irises. Glek has blue eyes like me. It’s one of the reasons he and I became friends in kindergarten.

Glek and I always mimic the weird linguistic choices of the True Earthers. We both find their terminology ridiculous. True Earthers refer to non-threatening non-believers, like me, as worker bees. I don’t know why they use bee hive terminology as part of their belief system, but they do.

“Well, little worker bee, you could always say you have a head ache and go home. Just don’t deal with him today.” When Glek started talking, he was grinning, but that changed as he went on. He knew that Dirk and I didn’t get along.

“Not a bad idea.” I said. But I sighed and added, “I need the money though.”

Glek nodded his understanding, “Don’t we all, little bee.”

“See you later. I better get back out there.” I said as I left the dish room and returned to the front of the diner.

The rest of my shift was mostly uneventful. Dirk was in a more pleasant mood than usual and didn’t harass me. He didn’t even use one derogatory term to refer to me, which he did on most occasions because I was friends with Glek.  At the end of my shift, I waited out by my car for Glek. He was coming over to watch the newest episode of our favorite show.

As Glek came out of the restaurant a large truck came around the side of the building. I looked up and Glek hurried over to me.

“Get in the car and get out of here.” He told me as he practically shoved me in the car.

I pushed back. “No. I will not leave you here alone.”

By this point, the truck had pulled up and was blocking the only route out of the parking lot anyway. The engine remained on as three True Earthers hopped out of the truck. All of them were carrying bats of one sort or another. Dirk, their fearless leader, was carrying a cricket bat.

“Where the hell did he get a cricket bat?” I said not really processing yet what the purpose of the bat might be.

Dirk and his goons came closer. When they were about 20 paces away, Dirk said, “Runaway little worker bee.”

Instead I stepped closer to Glek until we were shoulder to shoulder. I looked at him and said, “Not running.”

Glek just nodded at me.

What happened next was not surprising. They beat us. I blacked out and the last thing I saw as I slid onto the pavement was Glek next to me oozing green blood.

We both woke up a few days later. We were hospitalized for some time before we could get around again. As soon as we were able, we gathered up everything we owned and drove out of that town.

Dirk and his men didn’t get in any trouble even though everyone knows who beat us. As we left town, I could see the crash site in the rear-view window. I hoped it would be that last time I would ever see that site again.

 

 

Writing

A Brief History of the Psittacines

AJ Niblock

Mars
 

Once terraforming tech was developed and improved on, everyone assumed the entire surface of Mars would be re-scaped and colonized. In reality, the harsh Mars environment was too overwhelming for the best tech. In the end, only about 2% of Mars was terraformed. Of the people who helped terraform, many remained behind to join the first colony rather than return to Earth.

The original colony consisted of only 10 families from Earth and the handful of terraformers. Amongst the adults was an ornithologist, Dr. Eva Devens. She and her family were selected to be a part of the colony because she was going to observe birds and how they adapted to the Mars environment.

Even in the year 2150, how birds used Earth’s magnetic field to navigate was a bit of a mystery. Dr. Devens was tasked with finding out if the birds behaved similarly on a new planet. In truth, she didn’t expect most of the birds to live through their first year.

So, along with the first colonizers of Mars, traveled 100 eggs. All were carefully monitored and were being incubated to hatch shortly after the colonists settled. They were 50 species of birds that could fly, and a good portion of the eggs were Psittacines, or birds of the parrot family.

Dr. Devens had personally selected all of the eggs, and she was very fond of parrots. She admired their beauty and intelligence, plus she believed they had the right kind of plucky attitude that could help them survive on Mars.

The trip to Mars and initial settling was uneventful; everything had logistically fallen into place. About 2 months after the colonizers arrived, the eggs began to hatch. The birds were raised in an enclosed environment until they were ready to leave their nests. Then they were released into the large forested region of terraformed area. Dr. Devens continued to feed them to help supplement their diets and many of them thrived.

Of the original 100 eggs, only 82 hatched, and of those 82 birds, 77 were released into the forest. Dr. Devens had implanted every bird with a tracking device prior to release. She carefully monitored their behaviors and movements. When she was in the forest observing the birds, some of the parrots and macaws showed signs of intelligence that surprised Dr. Devens.

In particular, a pair of African Grey Parrots and a group of various colored Macaws would gather around her every time she came to see them. She assumed that this behavior was just a part of their curious nature. She talked to them and even sang sometimes. And she was not surprised when they learned to mimic her words.

The first year on Mars passed and in the spring, many of the birds in the forest laid eggs and the first generation of Martian birds were born. As Dr. Devens was collecting data in the forest, she noticed that the size of the parrot and macaw eggs were considerably larger than she expected.

When the babies hatched, they surpassed their parents’ size within a matter of months. By the time they were a year old, they were roughly the size of a beagle and each weighed about 30 pounds. The exponential change in size was unexpected and Dr. Devens could not find a logical explanation for it. None of the other birds who had survived showed any physiological changes. Not only that, but no other species of animal brought to Mars had changed in any noticeable way.

In addition to an overall change in size, they demonstrated remarkable dexterity with their wings. Dr. Devens often observed them picking things up and moving them about. The new generation definitely demonstrated amazing strides in intellectual development. Back on Earth, the average parrot was said to have the intelligence of a human toddler. This new generation was more equivalent to human teenagers.

Of course, these changes were recorded and the information was forwarded to scientists on Earth. The birds would even join Dr. Devens when she would have teleconference sessions with Earth. The interviews were recorded and aired globally. Somehow, a new race of intelligent beings was emerging on Mars, and everyone on Earth was captivated with them.

By the 10th year on Mars, the parrots outnumbered the humans in the colony. The most recent generation to hatch was closer to human size and very clever. Each generation inherited their instinctual behavior from their parents, but they also seemed to pass along knowledge. Dr. Devens noted that the younger generations learned speech easier and much quicker than previous generations. However, other than Dr. Devens, the settlers were not as fascinated with the changes in the birds.

A meeting was held to decide what to do with the growing population of anthropomorphic avian. As the colonists gathered, one of the young African Greys who called himself Dale joined the gathering.

He was just over 5 feet tall and had predominantly grey feathers all over his body and bright red tail feathers. On his face his coloring was lighter, highlighting the observant intelligence behind his eyes.

congo-african-grey

“This meeting is to establish a course of action,” said one of the colonizers.

“I don’t see that anything needs to be done,” said Dr. Devens.

“Of course you don’t, but let’s face it. We are currently outnumbered by these birds and…”

The colonizer was cut off by Dale, “Excuse me, but we don’t like to be called birds.”

The collected humans looked baffled, except Dr. Devens. “What would you prefer to be called then?” one asked with sarcastic undertones.

Dale answered, “We call ourselves Psittacines. We are not like the other birds who live on Mars or on Earth. You do not call yourselves monkeys or apes just because you have a common ancestor. We would ask that you show us the same consideration.”

Not one of the humans had a response to that, but Dr. Devens sat there smirking.

Finally after an awkward pause, one the colonists continued, “Let’s get right to the point. Many of us want to return to Earth.”

Dr. Devens said, “You can’t be serious. This is our task. We can’t just leave. Do you realize how much investors spent to establish this colony?”

“As a matter of fact, we do. However, many of those same investors are already in the process of deciding on another place to colonize.”

Dr. Devens was shocked. Clearly talks had been going on behind her back, and decisions were being made without her input.

“If I can add something,” said Dale. “We would also like for the humans to leave.”

Dr. Devens was taken aback by this. “You want me to leave?”

“No. Not you. If you wish to stay Eva, we would allow it.”

Dr. Devens honestly didn’t know what to say. They would allow it? What was happening?

The decision was made and within a few months, the first colonizers minus Dr. Devens and the eggs returned to Earth. The Psittacines and Dr. Devens kept in touch and continued their reports to Earth.

Dr. Devens lived with the Psittacines for the remainder of her life. When she passed away, Dale oversaw her funeral. She was the only human to be buried on Mars.

With her passing, some of the Psittacines felt that perhaps it was time to have less contact with Earth, but Dale felt that Dr. Devens had worked hard to maintain contact and he respected her plans.

The truth was that people were no longer fascinated with the Martian birds like they were in the beginning. Another colony was established on Venus, and there was a thriving colony on Earth’s moon. People were looking to the future and making plans to spread to other planets.anthro macaw

When Dale was nearing his 60th year, the Psittacines were basically at max capacity for the terraformed portion of Mars. Something would have to be done. Dale understood that either they would need to have population controls to prevent overcrowding or some of them would need to move elsewhere.

During a teleconference with Earth, Dale told the scientists his concerns. The scientists sprung into immediate action and began to discuss the possibility of establishing a Psittacines colony on Earth.

Dale was overwhelmed by the support that was shown. He thought they would be quick to reject a new species living amongst them. He even joined the first group of Psittacines to relocate to Earth.

Book Review

Review of the Nebula Awards Showase 2013

AJ Niblock

Every year I try to read the Nebula Awards Showcase anthology. If you don’t know, the Nebula Awards are given for Science-Fiction and Fantasy Writing. I look forward to the collection every year. And last year, I started ordering the older copies from Abebooks.com. (I love that site). I almost have every year now.

Anyway, when I read, I have a tendency to compare what I’m reading to other things that I’ve read. I try to judge a book on its value alone but in this case, I can’t help it. So, as I was reading the 2013 collection, I was comparing it to the 2012 anthology.

In all honesty, I thought the 2012 collection was better. Now, to be fair though, there are still some really great stories in the 2013 set that I would highly recommend. However, the new book just didn’t wow me like last year’s did.

Before I talk about some of the stories that I did like, I wanted to add one other thing you should know about the Nebula Awards collections. They usually feature poetry. Yes, you read that right. Sci-fi or fantasy poetry. And I’m here to tell you, it can be pretty weird.

Weird poetry aside, some stories that I think are really great from this collection:nebula awards

1. “The Paper Menagerie” by Ken Liu

  • This story is truly magical. It’s about the relationship between a mother and her son. I don’t want to tell you more than that, because it’s really, really, really great.
  • It’s one of those stories that isn’t your typical sci-fi or fantasy story but I’m so glad it’s in this collection.

2. The Ice Owl” by Carolyn Ives Gilman

  • I love this story! I couldn’t get over the complexity of the universe that this author created just for a short story. It’s about a girl and her learning about the past. It’s also about an ice owl, but I won’t tell you what happens other than that.
  • When I finished reading this, I was hoping there was more. I would love to read a novel length work set in the universe created by this author.

3. Excerpt from Among Others by Jo Walton

  • This, as you can guess from the title, was a snippet of a novel that they included.
  • The novel is now on my “To Read” list.
  • The excerpt introduces us to one of the main characters, a girl, who is about to go to boarding school. I can’t add more than that, not because I don’t want to give anything away, but because there’s not much else to go on from the snippet. I have to admit one of the reasons I say this is worth reading is because it peaked my curiosity and now I need to know what happens.

4. “Sauerkraut Station” by Ferrett Steinmetz

  • If you only had time to read one story from the collection, this would be my choice.
  • Unlike some of the other stories, this story is more typical. It has some known sci-fi devices. It is set on a space station. There is a war going on that involves two different factions with different belief systems.
  • What isn’t typical about this story. The main character is a girl who lives with her female relatives and together they run a “truck stop” in space. In particular, their station is known as “Sauerkraut Station” because they serve sauerkraut that they make themselves right on the station.
  • I can’t explain why exactly this was my favorite out of all of them, other than I just thought it was really well written. For a short story, it was very complex.

5. “Ray of Light” by Brad R. Torgersen

  • This story is about our world after aliens have arrived and blocked out our sun. In order to survive, the humans that endure are forced to live deep in the ocean near vents that produce heat.
  • The story is also about the generation of children who are born down in the ocean. They want to see the sun. They form a “cult” like group that worships the sun. Eventually, the teens steal some subs and make their way to the surface because no one has been to the surface in years. Guess what they find when they get there…. I’m not telling. Read the story. It’s good.

There are many more in this collection but I felt like those five were the highlights. One of the things I love about the Nebula collections is a lot of time the stories that are featured aren’t your typical sci-fi and fantasy. There aren’t a lot of dragons or light sabers. Instead, there are a lot of characters in a vast array of settings surviving and being a part of some very unique universes.