Aesop THE DONUT AND SECTOR IV SPACE. NOVEMBER 27TH, 1001. Dr. Larry Southard really hadn’t expected to see much adventure at his age. Not that he was an old man, but, hitting one hundred and seventy, he was not what anyone would call young. He had spent his youth in Exploration Command, wh...
Its skin seemed to be made of a series of small scales of equal size. It had no discernible head, just a continuation of the long body. No mouth, no ears. Spots on the forward scales could be eyes, or something else? A robot of some kind was her second thought, though like nothing she had ever...
It’s if and when we build a conscious robot that we may have to worry. Daniel H. Wilson BOLTHOLE, FEBRUARY 18TH, 1002. “Three contacts, bearing five three degrees from the ecliptic, three one degrees from Galactic North. Range, two hundred and eight...
said the hated voice as Pandora became aware of her surroundings again. She opened her eyes, nausea warring with the rush of stimulants she felt coursing through her body. They had injected her with something, a drug that had helped to raise her back to awareness. She was sure that they hadn’t ...
Emperor Augustine I. MARCH 19TH, 1001. D-110. “This is amazing,” said Lazzit Contena, the engineer of the sibling group. What he saw, his brother the First Councilman saw, but with the added take of his engineer’s eye. “You all don’t use robots, yet?” asked the human in their characteristic...
William Shakespeare IMPERIAL SPACE: SEPTEMBER 6TH, 1002 Winston tried to get a good night’s sleep before what promised to be an ultimately stressful day. Despite the influence of his implant on his reticular activating system, the night was restless, and he awoke feeling exhausted. He didn’t feel...
Benjamin Franklin DECEMBER 26TH, 1002. CAPITULUM, JEWEL. D-6. “Jennifer,” yelled Sean as he walked into their living area. This was a private room, large enough to entertain a score of people among lavish furnishings, but only open to personal friends of the Emperor and his wife. The trap...
It was men who ran up the stairs in the Twin Towers to rescue people. It was men who gave up their seats on the lifeboats of the Titanic. Men are made to take risks and live passionately on behalf of others. John Eldredge IMPERIAL ARMY TRAINING FACILITIES, SECTOR IV, MARCH 14, 1002. “Come on,...
Or one turns to a life of crime, catering to the baser natures of human beings. And on the frontier, these human predators can be just as dangerous as the kind that evolved on that world. “Are you stupid, son?” asked Tobias Kelvin, staring down at the younger man who stood before him. The you...