Chapter 2 Uncharted Stars "Hello, I'm Susan Melnin, the new ship's courtesan," I introduced myself. Past experience had shown that there was no chance of casual discovery of my true nature by a voratex slave. Crystal and Jewel were quite adept at blocking even the most intense scans; to the point of manufacturing readings for the curious. What would give m...
Based on the picture "Sand Squid" by Synthean Thanks to Todger 65 for the edit. Bernard Heuvelmans (10 October 1916 -- 22 August 2001), "The Father of Cryptozoology," pioneered the modern study of cryptids, animals considered myths by the majority of his colleagues. Such studies were cause for great derision, and the destruction of his professional reput...
It was the time of year Mother Nature breaks out her pallet of colors and repaints the Ohio landscape in brilliant Technicolor. A time of year that brings out the crispness of a fading year—summer is gone—winter's just around the corner. She wrapped her hand around his arm, and he pulled her closer as they walked down a quiet gravel road. A slow meandering...
Nuha checked the calibration on her instruments and ran a diagnostic test to make sure what she saw was no instrument failure. There really was a faint signal in the background. She sat back and sighed, running her fingers through her curly brunette hair. It must be coming from some radio station or something, she figured. There were still plenty of people w...
Beau, Mary and I stared back at our aggressors as they moved closer. The goth had clearly chosen me as her first victim, perhaps because of my offensive smell. "Did you say it plans to think ahead, Beau?" I asked as his hands waved in the air before him. "What a fine Unholy Trinity we make! A whore, a gorilla and Captain Jack Fucking Sparrow!" "Shh!" he d...
He awoke with a dry mouth, sensing something was different here in his private cell. The air was naturally humid which he didn't mind and the only light came from a low wattage bulb near the wooden stairway. On the queen sized mattress, sans sheets, he rolled over onto his side, the soreness from the previous night apparent but fulfilling. Like scattered cl...
Even though I disagreed with him for his support of firearms for all and for his loyalty to the conservative Right Wing and for his allegiance with the National Rifle Association, I dedicate this story to Charlton Heston for the joy he has given so many through his movies, especially, The Greatest Show On Earth, Ben Hur, The Bible, The Ten Commandments, and...
March 26th, 1886 I sat on one of the pews in the First Temple of the Panarii and looked at nothing in particular. There seemed very little point to moving myself from where I sat -- and there was no better place to sit and think than here, in the quiet of the temple. The building itself was large and rectangular, with enough room it seemed for the whole ci...
We've always been the stuff of myth and legend to you, and with good reason. None of us ever cared for your world, dear surface dwellers. After all, you were unhappily stuck with the twenty nine percent of the planet Earth which we cared nothing about. The dry, nearly lifeless land, a tiny and insignificant pebble compared to the endless bounty of the life-g...
The man had walked around all day. He had wandered all over the city. Always looking for that which he could not find. The man wandered through the crowded street and stalked dark tunnels and alleys. He scanned vast areas. Nothing. He could not find what he had been sent to find. He was growing impatient and decided to leave the city. He wandered into the co...