Leon’s quarters were dim, but enough light bled from the edges of the table at the center of the room to see Damien’s face, his eyes closed as he approached the world within the sphere. Only a few seconds passed before the sphere fell from his hands onto the table. He looked up into Leon and Lena’s waiting faces, their unspoken question the same, hovering on their lips.
Lena gasped, her breath tangled with a cry, choked within her. Her eyes flew open, the sphere fell hard from her hands to thud against the floor and roll away from the table. Leon flicked on the lights and bent to pick it up, set it gently on the table, then sat and watched the wild motion of Lena’s thoughts as they played across her face. Confusion, fear, disbelief vying against each other for dominance. She picked up her glass of water and drank with trembling hands.
Leon stood on uncertain feet, suddenly desperate to prove to himself that he was truly back aboard Covenant. When he pulled the window shade open he was relieved to look upon the infinity of space, stretching in all directions, glittering with innumerable stars. Below, the stern of the ship fell away...
Isaac Binder’s body, like all who died aboard Covenant, was jettisoned into space. Leon watched its silent launch through a viewport above the rear airlock, and inevitably found himself wondering about his father’s destination. Perhaps he would one day fall through an alien atmosphere to strike an unknown landscape—a Pioneer once more in death. Maybe... Continue Reading →
I’m supposed to write a poem about beginnings, and I can’t think of how to start it. Irony is not dead.
New ways open in the darkness around Tempting away from the path through night
The world is cold and dark with pockets of warmthNot the other way around.Like a city in winter—darkness filling in cracks betweenInsulated apartments, thick-paned windows to keep out the nightWhere hunger dwells.But the night must sometimes be braved.To live always in warmth is to be helpless when the cold comesWhen journeys are completed, or failed,Retreat... Continue Reading →
Blue fades to black and a sparkle of moonlightHold me close and tell me we made itBreathe eternity and listen to the song of timeWhile home collects new dust that will never be cleared away.Our road ended when it reached the starsBut our journey has not yet begun.Now memory is a racing heartbeatA shudder at... Continue Reading →
That horizon I have always knownBeyond which lies my questHidden by impenetrable sandsDevours my light and gives back noneI have tried to gain the upper landsSent back the days passed in dusty lightUrged on by song I cannot knowThe aching surge of longing from a thousand heartsWho mourn my passingBut did not celebrate my birth.... Continue Reading →
How fair the folkWho dwell beneath twisted branch and gentle breezeBreathing song of deeds in ages lost to memoryLiving past lives in forest shadeBeckoning to adventurers: “Come rest.Lay weary bones upon our bedsDrink nourishment from cup of gold and pearlEat well and forget the road ahead For dark and perilous is the wayAnd here is... Continue Reading →
