The View From Space » Science fiction

#172

spaceman23 — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 21:39:57 +0000

Then there’s pirates.

Dust smugglers. They pick up black beacons when they see them. A doomed man is a loyal man.

I didn’t believe a word of it. Space is so vast, chance of a radio beacon being anywhere close to another ship is impossible. They were looking for me.

#171

spaceman23 — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 21:34:08 +0000

Whovever decided that the proper way to execute someone in space was to put them out into the void in a pressure suit was a saint. It absolved executioners of guilt. It provided chance of rescue. Though I have never known a capatian to pick up black beacons.

And yet…

#170

spaceman23 — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 20:05:16 +0000

Floating alone in vacuum I always tend to go introspective. Absolutely nothing between my suit and me and the ship. It’s very existential. Now, floating alone in vacuum with your ship powering up and away from you gets a different feeling.

Panic.

“Just switch on the beacon,” my suit says.

#158

spaceman23 — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 17:46:31 +0000

The first generation of humanoid robots was clunky. They were still working out kinks in walking and talking and seeming human. By the time they got to generation 4.2 a major breakthrough occurred, the robots could think as fast as humans and match us for performance. Alex was a 5.6. A masterpiece.

#148

spaceman23 — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 18:58:19 +0000

The ship sails at midnight. This ain’t some pleasure cruise, lad. Privateering! The pay is high, the danger is constant. No guarantees, boy. You need scratch and obviously you need a discreete hop off this rock. Way I see it, you don’t have a choice. Welcome to the Black Swan.

#143

spaceman23 — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 23:30:41 +0000

Being a leader meant making hard choices. Being the captain of a elite covert ops dropship meant making hard choices that could cost the lives of entire planets. When I decided to follow the call to Earth, I also decided to leave the colony on the rim to certain death.

#135

spaceman23 — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 02:04:03 +0000

How does it feel to be you, here, now? We live at the height of society. Kings of previous ages didn’t have the simple luxuries that we take for granted. Ice cold clean water. It’s the hight of technology. And with that glass of pure life, I sealed the deal.

#134

spaceman23 — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 01:55:21 +0000

Dad was banned from trade for a good few core cycles, about 50 local cycles. In the meantime, I’d found a life here for myself. I’d landed myself here, learned a lot about the culture and spread my consciousness, diversified, across a number of the local populace. They think of themselves as individuals. Imagine that.

#133

spaceman23 — Sun, 31 May 2009 01:54:27 +0000

My dad was an idiot. Within a core cycle the Rangers were onto us. I fled to Earth, marooned. It was simpler to forget about dad’s business and get some bearings for the local trade. It actually seemed like these Humans might not be destroying themselves after all. Very interesting.

#132

spaceman23 — Sat, 30 May 2009 01:45:44 +0000

Our family were prospectors, we’d travelled galaxies for years trying to find good mineral deposits. There were all kinds of interstellar laws about laying claims in occupied solar systems, but my dad was a gambler. His guess what that the earlthings would destroy their planet within the next ten cycles.