Invasive Alien Species
In the diverse crowd all skin colours and sexes squeezed around one another to fill every inch of the seminar hall. Unblinking eyes shimmered in moist expectation as the professor took the stage. Known for his eccentricity as much as his vast intellect, he began by extracting a pair of extinct spectacles from the age […]
Bear #178
The scientists put the metal box in my brain for a reason. They are wise and clever and I’m sure the reason must be a good one. Now, three campers face me on the trail just outside Banff. The tall one, a male, shows his teeth. When I was just a regular grizzly bear, I […]
Buried Phoenix. And Leaves
I am the renewing flame, and you are the one I must burn. I was taught this from the beginning, when my fire was only a spark, a bean-sized flicker on the end of a match. Father folded me in his arms and said, “Daughter, someday you will save the world.” Save the world. Burn […]
Under This Rock
Jacob crouched in the cattails, working on his patience. It was hot as hell, even as the sun went down. Jacob wanted to wet his dry lips on the water, but he knew that wasn’t safe. Instead he watched the rainbow slick of oil slide towards him, tugged by the subtle suction of the thirsty […]
Seedless
Seedless Watermelon and Imaginary Spices Cut and cube seedless watermelon. Add a dash of seedless peppercorns. Sprinkle with seedless sesame seeds. Serve cold, preferably in a glass bowl. • • • First it was the summer fruit. Watermelons, grapes, all seedless for the convenience of eaters and possible chokers. Grandma Chen loved it. She never […]
Good to Go
After spending nearly thirty years managing the construction of the world’s first space elevator, I was determined to participate in the inaugural ascent from the floating platform off Kourou. Still in my prime thanks to antiaging treatments, I felt as strong and healthy as any astronaut, even though my presence on the crew was mostly […]
Intervention
I’m staring at my mother. “What do you mean you’re not leaving?” We had just spent three exhausting days emptying her house ahead of Hurricane Zara’s impending landfall. Every computer, piece of radio equipment, book, antique, scrap of clothing, and bit of sentimental bric-a-brac is in the moving truck behind me. The autodrive is patiently […]
Dark Moon
“Do you see it?” hissed Gramps, bony fingers digging into my shoulder. “See what?” I said, trying to shrug him off. “The moon, boy! The moon!” I rolled my eyes. Everyone knew you couldn’t see the moon. Not anymore, anyway. Not without a special lens at the end of a telescope, the features picked out […]
Arkushanangarushashutu
One hundred and thirty-one light years away from her body, Susan watched neon-yellow waves rush up a beach of blue sand to wash over her golem’s bare feet. It was a dead planet, without a trace of even microscopic life. Worthless except as the perfect vantage point from which to watch the first real-world test […]
An Oasis of Amends
You should have seen this, Rowan. From the observation platform on the converted oil rig, I watch the giant conveyor lift the chunks out of the Atlantic Ocean, see them climb to the coastal plain of Mauritania, see the freeway width of the belt disappear over the horizon, and feel like a Lego figurine in […]
