For our last two stories from Welcome to Wespirtech, we revisit two scientists we met earlier — scientists who have fled from the labyrinthine halls of scientific academia to find their way in the universe around them. But can either of them truly escape their origins? Continue reading “One anthology ends…”
The Genetic Menagerie
by Mary E. Lowd
Originally published in Sorcerous Signals, November 2012
Brent Schweitzer was born on planet Da Vinci, the foremost center of knowledge and learning in the Human Expansion from Earth. The planet was lush and green, with deep blue rivers cut into its surface like veins of gem cut into stone. Warm in the summer, brilliant with fire work colors in both spring and fall, and temperate in the winter, Da Vinci was as idyllic as any of the worlds the Human Expansion had found. As such, Da Vinci was deemed the appropriate setting for the host of art schools and other centers of academia that began to grow there as naturally as the native flowers. For, without scenery, without inspiration, how can there be art and learning? Continue reading “The Genetic Menagerie”
The Faithless, the Tentacled, and the Light
by Mary E. Lowd
Originally published in Cosmic Crime Stories, Issue 4, July 2012
The space-cruiser Hypercube glided into the Crossroads’ station docking clamps with all the showy elegance that a ship of its price should have. Nicole Merison, the pilot, owner, and sole occupant of the Hypercube, shut the ship’s engines down and put the rest of its operations on standby. With the ship safely locked down, Nicole grabbed a space-compression bag and headed off to enjoy Crossroads’ atmosphere and markets. She’d been in deep space a long time, and, though she enjoyed the solitude, she was looking forward to the station’s hustle and bustle. Continue reading “The Faithless, the Tentacled, and the Light”
Asteroid Racing and Sun Gardens
Today’s stories take us away from the safe hearth of Wespirtech and forge out into the surrounding universe. Get a taste for what life is like on the frontiers where Wespirtech is mostly a legend… until the effects of their scientific discoveries trickle outward. Continue reading “Asteroid Racing and Sun Gardens”
Daisy Chaining
by Mary E. Lowd
Originally published in Untied Shoelaces of the Mind, Issue #5, September 2011
Daisy chains are kind of tricky, so I didn’t believe the frezzipod when he said he could daisy chain his way from Altu 7 to Altu 5 in fifteen minutes flat. First of all, that’s a forty minute flight, if you pull up above the belt and fly without all those rocks in your way. Secondly, frezzipods look like a cross between a crab and a pineapple — the perfect tropical hors d’oeuvre. Who’s going to believe anything a walking hors d’oeuvre says anyway? Continue reading “Daisy Chaining”
Of Behemoths and Bureaucrats
by Mary E. Lowd
Originally published in Golden Visions Magazine, No. 15, July 2011 (print issue)
News spread like wildfire of the first successful sun garden. The sun was Hegula, hearth of a destitute system. Normally, I don’t waste my time on mining colonies. There are plenty of systems with two, three, or more populated planets. Those systems can supply me with crowds for months. Mining systems are a different matter. I’ve been to systems where the miners close the mines, gather up their families, and take the day off to see a good show. That’s it. They have a great time, believe me. They enjoy my starwhals more than anyone in a cosmopolitan system. From my perspective, though, it’s hardly worth weeks in the dead space between stars. Continue reading “Of Behemoths and Bureaucrats”
Day two!
For day two of our twelve-day launch event, we bring you two stories that appeared online originally but have been out of print for several years.
Close-knit communities can be wonderful, inspiring, energetic places, but when you live and work with the same people — spending all day and night together — home can turn to horror on a dime. In My Words Like Silent Raindrops, a young Wespirtech scientist invents technological telepathy, drawing her close-knit community even closer and, well… read it and see. Continue reading “Day two!”
The Nebula Was Empty
by Mary E. Lowd
Originally published in Spaceports and Spidersilk, June 2011
The nebula was empty. Cold. Proto-star matter, so many dust motes, drifted, dully refracting the light of nearby constellations. The dust motes didn’t even swirl. There was nothing to disturb them into motion, except for the nebula beast herself. In earlier times, during her youth, she frolicked — expanding space here; squeezing tight there; watching the space debris splash about. She chased the dust motes between her many dimensions, but now she was too sad to make her own fun. Continue reading “The Nebula Was Empty”
My Words Like Silent Raindrops
by Mary E. Lowd
Originally published in The Lorelei Signal, January 2012
Nicole and Ivan were among the newest, promising young scientists at the Western Spiral Arm Planetary Institute of Technology. For the time being, they were working on a project together. He did the chemistry, and she did the physics. The partnership worked well. Almost too well. Continue reading “My Words Like Silent Raindrops”
And we are go…
As our present to you today, we’re releasing our very first stories, two tales about scientists at Wespirtech (The Western Spiral Arm Planetary Institute of Technology) and their wacky inventions. The scientists in both of these tales have to worry about balancing pure science — invention for its own sake — with the practicality of the real world. They don’t always succeed. One of them fails more spectacularly than the other… Continue reading “And we are go…”