Story Excerpts

Beggars Mounted
by Eric Del Carlo

Stir the Pot. Stir the Pot! So the call rings out across the floating estates. These, the glimmering realms of the aristocracy, the sumptuous abodes strung as pearls on a necklace along the edge of the auroral splendor of deep-space phenomena, the fantastical light show of the Pot, all those gases and dust, all that burning wonder so impossibly pleasing: because the rich must always have beachfront property.

Kim arrived at the appointed hour. The shuttle’s interior was silent and betrayed no sense of motion; such utter stillness was expensive. He did not know they had docked until the doors parted. He had come with the other wranglers. They were a motley lot, picked by lottery and randomly assigned to the privileged youth who this day must prove themselves by diving into the Pot to capture and ride a Beast. READ MORE

The Light of Darian
by Sean McMullen

Had it not been for the burglary, the authorities might never have even noticed the house. The intruder’s name was Hal Blake. He had been neat and systematic, bypassing the off-the-shelf security system with a valid code. For a few minutes he had apparently been disappointed, because he took nothing. The house just went through the motions of being lived in, rather than being a home, and there was nothing of obvious value to be seen. Then he collapsed. READ MORE