Author: Derin

First -- Prev -- Archive -- Next It was way too late to pretend I hadn’t seen Mana, so of course, I had to walk over. “Hi,” I said. “Do you live around here?” “No,” she said. “I’m just spying on you.” I wasn’t sure what to do with that. She didn’t say it with … Continue reading 104: Mana

First -- Prev -- Archive -- Next I tried another angle. “Humanity will go extinct,” I said.”On the Ironstock, there are people with special genesets adapted for high radiation. There are people adapted for external work. There’s no reason why changes have to be small; we ourselves are a reminder of what a standard human … Continue reading 103: That’s Evolution

First -- Prev -- Archive -- Next “I’m talking about the extinction of humanity,” I said. “The eventual extinction of life itself!” “In billions or trillions of years! Do you have any idea how long a star lives? Our galaxy will be clashing with another galaxy before the stars of our colonies start giving out.” … Continue reading 102: At War With Eternity

First -- Prev -- Archive -- Next “How was your lesson?” Yamin asked as I entered his office. “Learn anything interesting about diplomats?” “It was fine,” I said warily. “What did you want to talk about?” “You’ve shown some interest in working as a personal assistant. Would you like some practice at the job?” “For … Continue reading 101: Diplomats

Previous --- Next “Do we even know what the artefact does?” Goldie asked. “The arte – ” “Sentry ship pulling out of its patrol route,” Lav reported. “Shit!” “Accelerating,” Lav said. “Emergency space jump in four seconds.” Goldie’s eyes widened. “They can shoot us if – ” Then something hit the ship. Then space disappeared. … Continue reading Inner Life 7: Sleep

First -- Prev -- Archive -- Next A few days later, after a lesson up in the treegrave with all of the apprentices about the rights and protections of foreign diplomats aboard the Courageous, Huspi made sure to leave with me. We found ourselves alone in the elevator down. “I wanted to apologise,” ke said, … Continue reading 100: The Void Within

First -- Prev -- Archive -- Next Tikka was delighted by the video of me with Heron. She sent one back where she showed me her parents. I gave Heron the important grown-up responsibility of explaining Tikka to the three other kids (then I corrected the misconceptions when they asked me questions), and we sent … Continue reading 99: Cultural Exchange

First -- Prev -- Archive -- Next I didn’t get onto Project: Capuchin immediately. There was something else that was really bothering me about the conversation with Yamin. M ultimate goal was to keep us from getting hedged in to die by other fleet fragments and their colonies. I didn’t have enough information to know … Continue reading 98: Cultural Change

First -- Prev -- Archive -- Next Yamin stood in his office, hands behind his back, staring dramatically out into space. Which was fair. If I had a private office with that kind of view, I’d spend a lot of time staring out into space, too. “Our diplomats have reported back,” he announced without turning … Continue reading 97: Cultural Baseline

First -- Prev -- Archive -- Next I knew it was going to be an interesting apprentice meeting when I walked in to find all four captains present. “Ooh,” Aevor said, coming in behind me. “Do you have the bids?” “We have the bids,” Captain Green confirmed, dropping a large stack of paper files on … Continue reading 96: The Bids