by Michael Kingswood It was Sunday afternoon, and I was sitting under a peach tree atop a hill overlooking the bay. The sun bathed the land in a warm radiance, unblocked by all but a few tiny puffs of clouds that hung in the sky, moving lazily if at all. A gentle breeze carried in…
Tag: Sci-Fi
On The Road To Hopefell
by Michael Kingswood The sun rose slowly, gradually sending the night’s shadows scampering away like hoodlums fleeing the sound of the constable’s approach. As the hours passed, the few lingering shadows shrank, pushed back against the burned-out or simply decayed frames that cast them as though to make way for the the clouds of dust…
Finding Bobby Jenkins
by Michael Kingswood Pan blew away steam that was rising from his coffee mug, then lowered his nose over it to catch the fragrance without getting his nostrils scalded. Deep, dark, and thick said his scent neurons to the rest of him, and he smiled slightly in approval. What was it his first captain said? …
Terran New Year
by Michael Kingsworth Why on God’s green Earth did the New Year always have to fall on the exact date and time that Terra had set for it, centuries ago? It would have been one thing if Persephone’s orbital revolution and rotation had matched Terra’s. But it didn’t. One day on Persephone was 1.0498576 Earth…
Playing for Scraps
by Michael Kingswood I was just tallying up the invoice for my latest case, an easy job for a little old lady down on the station’s third level, when Jason commed for entrance to my office. I’d known Jason for a couple years, and when he commed the image of his face popped up into…
Caledonia
by Michael Kingswood Saul looked through the scope on his rifle and grimaced. In the viewfinder, five times normal magnification, he saw a dozen grey-brown scaled and armored bodies, each with eight legs and four manipulator arms below an oval head with external mandibles and at least four visible eyes. They were moving in seemingly…
Wire Runs
by Michael Kingswood The ship rocked, and Karl felt himself hurled to the side. He clenched his teeth and rolled his shoulders in anticipation of the impact, but still he ended up grunting out a half-shout when he struck the bulkhead across from where he had been working. The unexpected g-force left as quickly as…
Moonstruck
by Michael Kingswood The moon was a waxing gibbous, just a few days away from full. It shown down on the field where Susan lay with blue-white brilliance, giving the world a dull, mysterious illumination that hinted at mysteries almost uncovered. Secrets whispered in the shadows. She tucked her hands beneath her head and just…
Joyride to the Moon
by Michael Kingswood Jeremy frowned, and stared daggers at the keypad that had—once again—foiled his attempt to get inside his Dad’s ride. He hadn’t figured it would be this tough. He’d tried his Dad’s birthday. His Mom’s birthday. His sister’s. No dice. He’d tired combinations of all four. Nothing. Their wedding date. Nope. It was…
Work Release
by Michael Kingswood “I really don’t want to do this.” Billy looked across the drop ship to where the kid sat, strapped to his crash couch by a four-point sling of webbing, and could identify completely. The kid was young, maybe twenty years old. Brown-haired, with yellow-green eyes. In shape, but not bulky, and wearing…