Landing

If we hadn’t been watching them for years, pondering their moves, their moods, their governments; if we hadn’t probed several of their species, and winced when they inflamed their planet; if we hadn’t seen the hatred they exacted upon each other, and the disregard they displayed for the welfare of other life, we might have shown them patience, and considered their plea for refuge, when they landed their crude spaceship upon our soil. But we had seen too much, and knew all too well what they were capable of—and so we slew the humans as quickly as we could.

From Guest Contributor Wolfgang Wright

Wolfgang is the author of the comic novel Me and Gepe and the forthcoming science fiction novel Being. His short work has appeared in over forty literary magazines, including Dark Yonder, Oyster River Pages, and Paris Lit Up. He doesn’t tolerate gluten so well, quite enjoys watching British panel shows, and devotes a little time each day to contemplating the Tao. He lives in North Dakota.

Lucif And Mi

Lucif turns to his friend Mi. “Let’s go.”

“Nonsense, we have yet to explore.”

“With days of darkness, how can this be a safe home for our families.”

“No, we are staying.”

Lucif makes a run for the spaceship. He almost reaches the lever for the door when Mi pulls him back, knocking him to the ground. They struggle and with one sweeping kick, Mi flies in the air and lands hard on his head, yellow eye wide open. He is dead.

Lucif leans over his friend and closes his eye, then heads to the ship.

He is going home.

From Guest Contributor Lisa M. Scuderi-Burkimsher

The Knock

There’s a knocking on the spaceship door when there shouldn’t have been. For Chris-sake, I’m umpteen millions of miles from anywhere and here’s this knocking. It’s deliberate, and it’s the all too common knock of: knock, tiddly-knock-knock, knock knock. Is this a space hallucination? I’ve heard of them, but hell’s bells, I’ve only been up here for 50 days, surely it couldn’t happen as soon as this. Oh, mother, it’s peering in the port-hole now and looks just like me. I do feel a bit lonely now, maybe we could get along. I’ve just got to get this hatch open...

From Guest Contributor Len Mooring

Venus Valve

Mars and beyond seem to be the focus of unmanned space exploration. Venus on the other hand has been largely ignored. Of course the conditions on Venus are much different. The surface pressure's an effective deterrent to probe the orb.

Prior unmanned vehicles that have landed on Venus: all crushed by the pressure.

As far as the aliens are concerned, this is a positive. The cold-blooded creatures did not want earthlings around and made prior adjustments.

Another alien spaceship treks the familiar voyage to Venus. Once near the surface they release the pressure valve, then go skiing on Maxwell Montes.

From Guest Contributor Denny E. Marshall

First Contact Downer

First contact occurred in the year twenty twenty-two.

The spaceship lands on a cold rainy day. December the seventh at eight fifteen in the evening.

Many high-ranking government officials from around the world are lined up by the tarmac waiting to greet the visitors.

Around the landing site crowds have gathered from all around the globe. Hoping to get a glimpse of aliens on this historic occasion.

A sliding hatch opens and a group of aliens depart the ship.

The two sides make small talk. There is great disappointment when earthlings learn the race of aliens is called Kill Humans.

From Guest Contributor Denny E. Marshall

Ivanhoe - In Space

The crew fixated on the deeps of the sky.  Their opponent was 400,000km away and bearing down.  In five seconds the two ships would close the distance.

At 199,000km, hungry sensors licked the perfectly rounded and mirrored surfaces the ships presented – each scanning for micron-wide fissures.  The rival captain thought he found one first and, at 35,000km, trained 100 million joules on the Ivanhoe.  The attack revealed an uneven aperture, and the Ivanhoe responded instantly.

For a moment, the two glassy hulls were centimeters apart.  Then they were again impossibly distant – one, a smoldering husk, and the other, a champion.