QSFer SI Clarke and six other authors have a new diverse, inclusive, hopeful sci-fi anthology out: Bright Future.
Spaceships, space stations, and distant planets. Stampeding elephants, a talking dog, and a hungover captain without a ship. An ensign far from home, a stowaway, and a pair of runaways. This anthology features stories of a diverse and inclusive future by six up-and-coming indie authors.
Case File #7: The One with All the Elephants by Jeannette Bedard
Flo doesn’t know what’s worse: the case she was just assigned or the new partner she has to work with.
Jurassic Dark by SI CLARKE
There’s something in the dark … but is Lem’s imagination worse than reality?
The Blood of the Forgotten by Dani Hoots
While trying to find work, Ellie and Zach come across a shooting competition. However, after a few rounds, they realize that there is more to the competition than meets the eye.
The Arno Manoeuvre by D.M. Pruden
Everyone has bright hopes for Yegor’s future. Everyone, that is, except the XO on the Kirchoff, his first placement out of the Academy.
Endigo by Dave Walsh
All Valencia ever wanted was a ship of her own and a place to belong. Now she’s got her shot, but at what cost?
Impounded by John Wilker
Before Wil Calder can start his epic adventure, he needs to get his ship out of the impound lot.
Free at BookFunnel
Excerpt
From Jurassic Dark
I’d walked about two kilometres when my headlamp crapped out. ‘Well, of course that would happen.’ I hurled the useless gadget away. ‘Okay, yes, that was a stupid thing to do.’
Spock, my German shepherd, was used to me talking to myself. She didn’t judge.
The lamp clanged as it landed somewhere in the darkness, disturbing the silence of this little world.
‘This is just ducky. It’s the worst thing that could possibly happen.’ I scoffed at my miserable luck. Our portable communications booster broke down just as we tried to contact our friends BB and Aurora back in the city. Bexley, our mechanic, and Henry, our pilot and unfriendly local hacker, had scrambled around trying to repair it. In fact, they were probably still working. But Spock and I had set out in case they weren’t able to get the job done in time.
We’d cut it close. I checked my watch. Still about four hours before the other ship launched. We had to make it. Otherwise, we’d all be stuck here for eleven days. Something about this planet’s radiation or ion field or whatever interfered with our comms. In order to communicate over distances of more than a couple of metres, you needed a booster. Which was fine – when the blasted thing worked.
I sighed. If we didn’t get to our next job in three days, we’d lose out. But if we couldn’t get a message to the other crew, we’d be stuck here until the next supply ship came. An extra eleven days on this dusty, tedious planet…
Hence, Spock and I were out here, in the dark, walking to the planet’s solitary city. ‘City – ha! I wouldn’t even call it a village. Just a collection of prefab huts and a little shop.’
The road was made of loose gravel, a little lip at the edge the only thing keeping travellers from falling off into the planet’s endless caves and tunnels. Some of the tunnels connected. Most went a few metres or a few kilometres before turning into a dead end.
I stopped walking to consider my alternatives. ‘Spock, come.’
Immediately, she nudged my hand with her cold, wet nose. ‘Spock here.’ Holly, the AI device installed on my watch translated Spock’s language – such as it was – into words I could understand. And Spock had a similar device on her collar that helped her understand me.
I fished in my backpack for her lead and clipped it to her harness. Ever since we’d had the translators it felt cruel to leash her. Still, on this dark, barely inhabited world, it seemed sensible to stick together.
‘We’re not in any danger, you know. Okay, so we might not get to the city in time. But we’re not in danger.’ I wished I could convince my body of that fact. Bile kept rising in my throat.
‘Lem safe.’ Spock nudged my hand again. ‘Spock protect.’
Author Bio
Bright Future is a collective of talented indie authors who believe science fiction should be diverse and inclusive.