March 2016 75-word Writing Challenge -- VICTORY TO ROBERT MACKAY!

[Calliopenjo]

MAP A NEW WORLD

Somewhere, far beyond the stars and imagination, a planet thrived. Its inhabitants, part man and part dragon, existed in a world with a variety of flora in this wet and flammable world. The oxygen content in the atmosphere made it easy for these dragon people to throw fire.

“Captain, the note didn’t say anything. Not even a set of star coordinates. It sounded more like a story than a report. Now what?”

 

[johnnyjet]

Kiss from a New World

They landed on the closest of three planets that circled one another. They discovered a vast expanse of unpopulated land.

Their shuttle flew low over abandoned cities and countryside.

Wainscott called. "Captain, planet B is moving toward us. These three worlds are like billiard balls, randomly bouncing off one another."

"That's why the inhabitants deserted this area. Full thrusters!"

The shadow of the approaching planet rapidly blanketed them.

And gave them a welcoming kiss.

 

[Serge Alexandr]

Pharaoh Whirls

There was nothing to do but wait for the Pharaoh Whirls to pass—wherever the hundreds of AU sized creatures went… at least they froze our ships in place, keeping us from crashing into their suddenly appearing bodies. I did enjoy their beautiful flourishes that twisted in, out, and between existence, colorful and somehow majestic… confounding Lisa’s scientific mind—to my amusement. She just couldn’t accept their existence, even if they had sought humanity out.

 

[Culhwch]

Homecoming

Aurelian’s gone mad.

S’posed to be a routine hop’n’drop. Pale ******* strapped in, opened the vorp, through we went. Sure as hellfire didn’t arrive at Liberty Station.

Everyone thought the Authority bred the navigators, secret experiment style.

Nope. Turns out they were kidnapped. And Aurelian’s taken us home.

A whole planet of folks who can rip holes in space with a thought. Versus five scavengers on a junker.

Should be a good fight.

 

[pambaddeley]

Pursuit

Skin of the living ship radiates pearl, sapphire, indigo.

Mind speaks to mind. Follow.

The Old One, last enemy, jinks sideways through the vortex.

The ship speeds after. Inside, the beings with strange eyes hold apart, keeping mutual hostility caged.

Surely this is the last? With this kill, the war will be over.

Slow into normal space. Planet ahead. Their prey burns through atmosphere.

Into rock.

Justice evaded? Or their long wait begins?

 

[Ihe]

Lightspeed Hopes

Ek'Lar panicked. Lost in the Void, Santai Naria’s immortal crew would never reach another star. Viewing ports framed smothering oblivion. Light did not reach them here.

Seers sensed movement; runic distress signals—the Pyntha. Impossible. Both ships had departed Gaiax in opposite directions. Upon boarding, they found it empty and ancient. Slime and broken neutron spears told dismal stories.

Pyntha's logs recorded a single landing. Ek'Lar set course. Chasing death was better than nothing.

 

[Glen]

Levengeever

The crew of RV Arctic Light had jumped through space for decades following the Levengeever’s spoor: new worlds. Each less developed than the last, the latest just a rock they knew would grow, become a planet, and generate life.

Now the ship’s drives had failed, and they had lost the trail, the budding world, their salvation, finally helped them understand the meaning and purpose of the massive, singing creature, the Lifegiver.

 

[Cat's Cradle]

Galactic Interlude: A Battered Spaceship Approaches the Uni-world

“There, the fourth planet – incalculable natural resources.”
“Inhabited?”
“Unknown.”
“...We’re desperate…
…proceed…”

Electrochemical alerts innervate the Uni-mind: Crystalline farseer cells detect controlled flight, Voidward – extraterrestrial Life exists!
EMERGENCY NEURAL TRANSMISSION: Cellular individuals reintegrate...access/absorb mineral stores...prepare global flush – message: pyrite-emerald-azurite, duration: welcome...sulfur-amethyst-silver, duration: friendship…

Patterned, colored waves sweep the world. Here then, the universal fear: unknown Intelligence. The ship arcs away from the planet, retreating to the void...

 

[StilLearning]

First rung of the ladder....

Drone 3X7B, controlled by Major Karter via hyperspace VR, parried an unexpected force-blade: Ambush! Jinking back, Karter activated 3X7B's blaster and fired, point blank.

The last Argazian battle droid fell.

Karter broke the VR link: "Contact Earth: Argazia is conquered!"

***

3X7B prodded the ‘Argazian’ droid: "They're offline."

“This is degrading,“ it complained.

3X7B sighed: “Look... it’s an acting role, it pays, and it keeps humankind safely bamboozled. Beats waiting tables, right?”

 

[Mr Orange]

A Muse Bouche


We start with: Set a Noo the maker danced and created a nebula!”

“Huh?”

Umm… a Noo whirled?

“Not what Cat’s Cradle meant.”

Well then, let’s craft a magnificent spiral galaxy!

“A new wh-… I see what you did there. Very clever. They won’t get it.”

Okay then, how about we write another Earth-like planet, over there?

“Just one?”

Fine, we’ll do three.

“Where’s the fantasy?”

This seem like reality to you, buddy?

 

[HazelRah]

Captain of the Sole


Sheya coughed as the machine brought her back to consciousness. In two years time she will wake the others, but for now she had a flight path to correct. Reaching the cockpit, she heard noises. Too disorientated to be wary, she casually opened the door.
Three large salmon-dogs sat turning the dials with their pink furry fins.

“Gooblogodoock,” one barked.

“Obologodish,” said another, handing her the flight plan.

She smiled. Man’s best friend indeed.

 

[Clockworkbot]

Maiden orbit

‘Lord, we’ve run some last minute trajectory checks, and…’
The planetsmith cut his flustered engineer short. ‘You really think I’d make such a mistake on my finest work?’

The broadcast blared from the Empress’s barge: ‘I name this world: Eternity.’ He smiled, and shouted for the worldforge’s grav-anchor to be lifted.
It took a second for him to realize his mistake.

The trajectory. Slowly, unstoppably, the world began a long, silent spiral into the sun.

 

[Juliana]

Whale Song

Kuleia waded through the muck, acid rain hissing on her helmet. The jump in birth rates had the colony scrambling for new terrain, and exploration of the lower cavern was crucial.

The uneven ground lurched drunkenly, reverberating to a deafening call. She activated her mag boots just in time as the cavern floor rose to near vertical.

Bad enough living inside a star whale. Mating season was a whole fresh hell.

 

[LittleStar]

Once Lost

We screamed together as I struggled for breath. Someone wrapped me in a blanket, held me safe.

"You did it," a man said. "The first true Martian, Ali."

A woman smiled where she lay, weary and hurt. Welcome to your new home, my Darling Angel. She spoke in my head as she always had, but somehow weaker and distant. Live well.

She slept. I screamed again as our connection was severed.

"Ali? Nurse. Ali!"

Mother?

 

[Luiglin]

Ctenocephalides-11

He checked the seals on the exosuit for the nth time.

"Ctenocephalides--11, you have the go ahead."

"Roger, Mission Control."

He launched...

Timing here was critical; the planetary body only came within range once per day.

...and landed.

Exosuit sensors flickered into the green. He stroked the warm pliant surface of a new world that promised them all a bright bold future.

"That's one small hop for a flea; one giant leap for fleakind."

 

[Venusian Broon]

New moon rising.

The general arrived, careful to avoid the charred remains of the armourer. The Emperor’s reward for allowing the rebel Vance Jac steal the universe’s most destructive terraforming weapon.

“The weapon has been fired?” Emperor Gog scowled.

“Yes, majesty. On our… moon.”

“But it’s a rock! Worthless! Jac said he’d strike a firm blow against-”

Gog stopped astonished as, on the horizon, a perfect simulacrum of Jac’s buttocks started their serene glide across the night sky.

 

[Old_Man_Steve2016]

Welcome Home, թանկագին մեկը
​

'He' laid down on his bed, waiting. The taskbar showed the progress of his cure- his last hope. 70%, 95%...FAIL. Well, I'm dead. Guess I'll go see Mom. He stood up, unzipped the tent and stepped outside. It was nighttime on Bonne Terra. He walked up the hill. At the top, the world-spanning, living aurora band saw him and dived, absorbing only his body.
“Welcome home, թանկագին մեկը! How was the pizza?”

 

[Phyrebrat]

Jaesoph's Fable

Resource busking, Jaesoph thought, always complications.
Solid, portable light was too lucrative an opportunity to miss, though.
The glisten of indigene blood on his clothes dimmed as the light faded from the shattered berg he’d just dropped.
Strike one: finding a planetoid system with the fabled ‘Heavy Light’.
Strike two: peaceful and ignorant - and fearful - natives.

‘Two outta three ain’t bad.’

In the corners of the cave, coherent darkness coalesced into being; hard, restricting…
Alive.

 

[Dan Jones]

The Last Laugh

Dad. Always a joker. When his will was announced the joke was on me. Surely the Government’s Chief Scientist could bequeath his daughter more than a one-way ticket to the desert world Zahara-B?

I remember Landing Day: sand blasting my eyes, guts cramping, thin, eggy air. Upon reaching the nascent colony, news of Earth’s destruction greeted me like a sucker punch. I wept, and smiled.

Good old Dad. What better inheritance than survival?

 

[reiver33]

Dark Star Redux

Re-entry as art form. Singularity soared across this new sky in celebration after the monotony of hyperspace. We swept down – a sentient hypersonic dart skimming the ocean, kicking up spray.

“Pilot, I detect multiple radar sources tracking our approach. This civilization poses no technological threat. They are attempting to communicate.”

Planets suitable for colonisation weren’t that common and a pre-existing industrial infrastructure was a definite bonus. I touched the control panel.

Bomb Bay Systems – Operational