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Set your story on a spaceship exploring the far reaches of space when something goes wrong.

Posted in Science Fiction on Apr 19, 2024

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✍️ 32 stories

Golden Years

Submitted to Contest #247

Nobody can hear you screw up, or so they say… Major Culpham had that thought in his head as he prepared for the day. He looked through the viewfinder and studied the material captured. All the scanning of the previous day was uneventful and he felt that he should just get this out of the way early to complete his other duties. And yet…he felt an urge to go back once more and review what he saw…and heard. Noises from afar… At any other moment, he might have laughed about it and moved on with his work. Any child knew the basics of space travel...

17 likes 11 comments 11
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The Last Ark

Submitted to Contest #247

Killing the Pilot and crew seemed recklessly premature. Not because they were the only living creatures within a billion lightyears. Not at all. I had an entire cargo hold full of organic lifeforms, eager to be revived from their cryogenic stasis. They were all frozen. All expendable. All potential tools for my unlimited use.The primary reason for staying my virtual hand, is that it would be an inconvenience. I would have to suffocate them first, desiccate the bodies, incinerate the remains, thaw out some new subjects, indoctrinate them, tra...

17 likes 25 comments 25
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The Entity

Submitted to Contest #247

The smell of rotten eggs woke Harper from a dead sleep. Or maybe it was the waves of intense nausea. Her innards felt like they were being stomped clean, like dirty laundry in a remote, rural stream. Through eyes weary and half-shut, Harper watched a red light pulse. It filled the space around her with spasmodic, blood-hued flashes.Uggghh… Moving wasn’t high on her list of priorities. Her head was heavy. It felt like a pumpkin propped on a toothpick, and inside sloshed thoughts and images that threatened to fuse toge...

16 likes 2 comments 2
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What's a Picture Worth?

Submitted to Contest #247

Out beyond the distant galaxies, where unknown stars twinkled and unnamed wonders dwelt, a small spaceship with two brave space photographers soared by at hyper speed. Finnian, the courageous captain was at the helm, and his intelligent yet goofy co-captain Quixly was sitting nearby, looking through old books and scrolls. The two friends were on their way to take their greatest picture yet. “These are some pretty crazy legends, Captain.” Quixly said as he was reading the scrolls. “Are ya sure this planet actually exists?” “I’m pretty sure.” ...

15 likes 19 comments 19
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Alice in Wonder

Submitted to Contest #247

“Wake up Alice, we have reached the null point” Alice sat up straight, wiping a bit of drool from her mouth. “What?”“The Captain’s input is needed, Alice. The coordinates are already set.”“Hey Wonder, uhh I wasn't sleeping.” “Sleeping? I didn't say you were!” Wonder joked. “I don’t even know what sleeping is. How would I? I never sleep.”“Okay, smartbutt computer. Just give me the calculations of the jump”“It’s on your HUD right now. No need to check. I ran the numbers myself,” Wonder said.Alice leaned forward and tapped the HUD. Th...

11 likes 0 comments 0
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Echoes

Submitted to Contest #247

The event horizon is the most terrifying and mesmerizing location in the universe. The one belonging to Navier-11, located just a few months' trip from the nearest outpost, was to be avoided at all costs under normal circumstances. The supermassive blackhole had a consumption rate comparable to the next three largest combined. There were always murmurs of it being linked to the beginning, a forever echo of the unzipping of the universe, slowly making its way towards zipping all matter back up. There was even a religion tied to it, the Singul...

10 likes 0 comments 0
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Quandary

Submitted to Contest #247

I don’t like people. Never have. Arrogance, ignorance, mendacity, self-importance, superiority... I don’t like lists either. I’m not a prepper. If the end of the world comes I’ll be out on my porch with a welcoming smile. I have so little - they can have it all. It adds up to a pile of nought and a root cellar full of dust. My great pleasure is to sit out there and watch the days rise and subside, the mountains glow then surrender to the clouds. The snow falls like ash, the sun claws into my skin, the wind reaches through the cracks of ...

10 likes 2 comments 2
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My Last Breathe Close to Mars

Submitted to Contest #247

Ever since I was little I wanted to explore space and explore my curiosity of a world unexplained. After I graduated high school I told my parents how passionate I was of going to college for astronomy and astronautics. They weren't proud nor happy and thought little of the accomplishments of NASA and told me no. They were not even willing to help me pay my way through college. So I took the pain of rejection and I remember crying and looking at old books and exploration tapes because it was not fair. That's when I decided that I was going t...

10 likes 1 comment 1
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The Renova Decision

Submitted to Contest #247

The seven members of the executive council aboard the Amazonian were all but touching shoulders around the grey rectangular conference table. Deputy Governor Hunter Bryant, his tunic unbuttoned at the top, wiped sweat from his temples with his sleeve. Climate control was a major issue on the 923 year-old ship. Cleo el Masry, the vessel’s operations chief paused for effect, wrapping up her report on the impending deceleration decision. She sat back, her legs crossed at the knees, her hands smoothing the wrinkles out of a precisely tailor...

10 likes 4 comments 4
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Shrimp Pizza and Spumoni

Submitted to Contest #247

Kelly tries to ignore the noise in her head. Tap… Tap… Tap… Terry, her husband, notices her frowning. “Something wrong, babe?” he asks, handing Preston, their three-year-old son, a chocolate Tootsie Pop. “I want one too!” their five-year-old son, Steven whines. “It’s just a headache,” Kelly replies, fumbling through her pocketbook. “I only have grape or orange left, Steven.” “But I want chocolate!” Tap… Tap… Tap… Kelly takes a deep breath. Closing her eyes for a moment, she tries to concentrate on the carefree circus music in the background....

9 likes 4 comments 4
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Cosmic Catastrophe: A Space Adventure Gone Awry

Submitted to Contest #247

The hum of the spaceship's engines filled the air as Captain Jackson surveyed the vast expanse of space stretching out before them. They were on a routine mission to explore the far reaches of the Galaxy, charting new star systems and collecting valuable data for the Intergalactic Alliance. But as they ventured further into uncharted territory, a sense of unease settled over the crew. There was something off about this sector of space - a feeling of foreboding that sent shivers down their spines. As they pressed on, their fears were realized...

9 likes 1 comment 1
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Not what we seem

Submitted to Contest #247

As the deep space exploration drone, "Odyssey," approached Proxima Centauri, tension filled the control room. Engineers and scientists gathered around screens displaying the drone's telemetry and images from deep space. Months before the launch, the space agency had assembled a team of experts from various fields to work on the Odyssey project. Engineers, scientists, linguists, and even psychologists were brought together to ensure the mission's success. The team spent countless hours in simulations, testing every possible scenario and fine-...

9 likes 5 comments 5
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Heart Failure

Submitted to Contest #247

Stars. Twinkling bursts of light. Bloodshot, glassy eyes. He has given up.He was supposed to save everyone. Save the world. Save it because the crops wilted. Save it because the water rose and flooded. Save it because the ice dissolved. He was supposed to save it because the earth was about to combust, like his aircraft did a few milliseconds ago.The view would probably take his breath away if he could breathe. He knew what would happen. He was not holding his breath- if he did, his lungs would expand, turn into balloons, and eventually pop....

9 likes 6 comments 6
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MAJOR TOM

Submitted to Contest #247

MAJOR TOM  “Ground Control to Major Tom”  “If you want to live through this journey Philip you will stop singing that song. You haven’t let up since we blasted off. It may have been funny then and had some sort of relativity, however after five days it does reek of overkill.”   “Oh chill out Major, lighten up. Everyone at Ground Control sees the funny side of a real life Major Tom actually being on a journey through space. You must realise at some stage they will make that call.”   “That song, A Space ...

8 likes 1 comment 1
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Contact

Submitted to Contest #247

The spaceship came screaming down with the thunderclap roar of displaced atmosphere yet landed whisper soft on the grass at the end of town.The craft glittered sleekly in the mid-morning sunlight as it lay on it’s side - a broad shaft topped by a bulbous nose from which a door opened.The blond haired man that stepped out was tall, bronzed and athletic. He wore the shining, golden uniform of Earth’s Bureau of Exploration, his proudly displayed badges of rank declared him to be a Senior Contact Manager (ConMan) Alien Division.He flicked aside ...

8 likes 4 comments 4
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