Salty air nibbles my cheeks as I step onto the Lido Deck, the sky moving in turbulent waves above my head. Xander and I follow Eddie past the abandoned cabanas and pool to a set of stairs that lead to the Command Center. “They’ll be joining us anytime, too.” Eddie hasn’t stopped talking since we ...

One summer when Sophie and I were twelve, we were playing in the field outside her house when a bolt of lightning crashed across the sky right above our heads. The clouds were so dark and heavy that they suffocated the sun. I laughed as her hair stood on end until I saw the sheer ...

Memories of the previous night danced across Luna’s mind and settled in the pit of her stomach. She discovered from the station logs that there’d only been three new residents in the last month: the physician’s assistant who’d waited twelve weeks for transfer orders, an ensign assigned to the astronomy team, and Astor. The passing ...

The Livyatan, according to Sophie, is an extinct whale that lived nine million years ago. It is said to have been similar in size to the modern-day sperm whale, was considered one of the top predators of that time, and even shared the same waters as the megalodon shark. That was hard to imagine, however. ...

The hard blow fell across her back from behind. “Get fucked by a Beluvian tocar!” Luna swore at the offender. Her electric orange outposter splashed down her shirt and onto the data pad she was reading. She turned to locate the dead grinter who’d doused her in her favorite beverage, only to find a trembling waitress backing away from ...

“Is that what I think it is?” I lean forward in my chair, squinting at the computer screen. A sharp object protrudes from a piece of the Griffin’s jagged hull, forming a slim V as it tapers into steel. Its stony appearance is a stark contrast to the corroded metal beneath. The ROV zooms in ...

“Is this everything?” Xander sorts through the different memory banks set out on the computer lab’s table. Nathan nods, popping a disk into his laptop. “I even double-checked the ROVs.” “Good.” Xander settles into his chair. I dump a bunch of snacks on a neighboring desk and pluck a Fruit-by-the-Foot and a bag of Skittles ...

“What do you mean, we’re in the past?” Xander’s brows form a deep V between his ice-blue eyes as he stares at the CELNAV crewmember. “I mean, we’ve traveled back in time.” The crewmember squints at the constellation maps on the computer in front of him. “Early fifteen hundreds, I’d say.” “You’re kidding.” Xander barks ...

Of course, it produced no change in temperature, but when the dust from the ring system pelted Ularma’s Orbital Station, it sounded like a massive thunderstorm and made Corry long to curl up in a warm blanket. The sand formed tiny rivulets on the domed window that comprised the ceiling and upper wall, working in ...

“I don’t think I’ll ever get that image out of my head.” I sit in the Hangar control room with a blanket wrapped tightly around my shoulders. The only warmth I feel comes from a steaming cup of tea cradled between my palms on the desk in front of me. Sophie cries softly beside me. ...