Adaptive Radiation

"It's truly astounding," Brindel said.  "There are small cats and big cats; there are herbivorous cats; cats in the water chase after the nematodes; cats with skin flaps launch from fungal stalk to fungal stalk in the forest; cats have filled every gap in the local ecosystem.  Who knew it was possible to squeeze so much versatility out of one species?"

"When needs must..."  Her guide, Tomi, shrugged.
"And your people, they are descendants of the colonists on that original ship, the one that crashed and brought the cats?"

"Something like that," said Tomi.  She offered Brindel a bag.  "Mouse-puff?"

Counting Game

One, two, buckle my shoe.

The suit seals itself. I feel the pricks of dozens of needles as it merges with my circulatory system, prepared to fill me with whatever cocktail of chemicals will keep me on my feet and fighting.

Three, four, shut the door.

The airlock hisses shut. On the other side of the bulkhead, an alien planet looms like a harvest moon in the dark.

Five, six, pick up sticks.

Multi-phasic high-intensity plasma-throwers. Seven million dollars apiece, adjusted, not including R&D.

Seven, eight, lay them straight.

Rifles shouldered. Ready for freefall.

Nine, ten, do it all again...

Engage

"Scotty," said the captain. "A moment of your time."

"Aye, sir?" The engineer looked wary.

"I've been reading up on warp engines recently. I just can't seem to wrap my head around it. I was hoping you could give me a little... tutoring, I suppose? Practical demonstrations?"

Scotty cast his gaze down. "Well, sir, I'm afraid I've got to come clean with you. There's no such thing as warp engines."

"Come again?"

"It's magic, sir. Sacrificial goats and black rites. Engineers are all wizards." He shrugged. "Didn't you ever notice the explanations don't hang together from one crisis to another?"

Number the Stars

Lilo boggled. "You've been recording all of this? The whole time?"

"Everything," said Ant1ne, "including neglected perceptual data, various atomic vibrations, and both conscious and subconscious thought-streams."

"How is that even possible?"

Ant1ne held out a hand. On one fingertip was a small chip, no bigger than a guitar pick. "This is a yottabyte drive. It contains every piece of information written in human history, and its capacity is barely dented. We can manufacture millions of these in a day."

"Jeez," said Lilo. "That's kind of daunting."

"Are you kidding?" Ant1ne's eyes blazed. "Now we can start to fill them."

Dark Side of the Middle of Nowhere

Anyone know what happened to Saturday's post? I know I wrote it...

---

"It's solar-powered. Just forget it."

I ignored him. It took most of my concentration to handle the tools in my bulky gloves, anyway.

"It's not like you're going to find a way to make it run on darkness. And the battery packs wouldn't move that hulk a centimeter, even if we juiced them all at once."

I kept working. I could feel the cold, a little, though maybe that was just my imagination. The suits wouldn't last forever, and these rocks had never known a sun's light.

"Why are you even bothering?"

Everyone reacts differently to the inevitable, I guess.

The Price of Knowledge

"Branswick! You've made it back alive!" Dintree spun from the table.

"Only... only just barely." Branswick slumped against the door frame, limbs trembling. "Even a full EMP wash couldn't save me now. Microscopic bastards did their jobs."

"The countermeasures?"

"Gave out half past Mars." He dropped the hatbox onto the table. "But our man in Andromeda came through, more or less."

Dintree lifted the lid. "Dear God," he murmured. He glanced at Branswick, but the other man was already slumped unconscious. "Well," said Dintree, reaching inside and hefting the glinting robotic head, "let's see what you know that's so important."

The Secret Overhead

"Can't you just tell me where we're going?" asked Kirin.

Ant1n smiled and nudged the hovercar faster, angling up. Glowing signs, flashing guidelights, and blazing windows flicked past, faster and faster.

"You're getting near the boundary," Kirin said. The warning indicator on the dashboard was already blinking red.

"Yup."

"we're going to crash!"

Ant1n didn't answer. A shrill proximity alarm squealed as they passed the last of the lighted floors and burst through the cloud cover.

"We have sixty-seven seconds before the Cybercops get here," said Ant1n. "Just look."

Kirin said nothing, her eyes wide.

"They're called stars," said Ant1n.