“The future depends on what you do today.” –Mahatma Gandhi “Titan Station, this is Avalon shuttlecraft Zeno’s Paradox, on final approach.” “Roger that, Captain Carey, this is Titan Control, we have you set for dock Gama-12, please follow the beacon in.” “Wilco, Titan Control. We’ll be wheels down in five.” It was a busy day …
Category: Contact
Chapter Thirty-Eight: And I’ve Seen the Promised Land Titan: Contact by D.X. Machina
“Few will have the greatness to bend history itself, but each of us can work to change a small portion of events. It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or …
Chapter Thirty-Seven: I am Thinking Most of You Titan: Contact by D.X. Machina
“The return makes one love the farewell.” –Alfred de Musset Two days later, the Freemans were assembled in the main briefing room of the Gyfjon, along with Lauryna, Izzy, Darren, and Lysis; the communique they’d received from Eyrn had been a bit terse, but she’d indicated that there was somebody who needed to meet with …
Chapter Thirty-Six: And Before I’d be a Slave Titan: Contact by D.X. Machina
“The truth is messy. It’s raw and uncomfortable. You can’t blame people for preferring lies.” –Holly Black, Red Glove “We will have order,” the President of the General Assembly said, as the side discussion on the floor grew pitched. “We will have order, or we will adjourn.” “Maybe we should!” the Mandean delegate shouted. “Maybe …
Chapter Thirty-Five: The Considerate Judgment of Mankind Titan: Contact by D.X. Machina
“Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.” –Dr. Marie Skłodowska-Curie As the mutters in the crowd turned to shouts, Xú Mùlán looked back toward her friend. She could feel the crowd turning on Eyrn, or at …
Chapter Thirty-Four: Like Going Home Titan: Contact by D.X. Machina
“We shall not cease from exploration And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time.” –T.S. Eliot, “Little Gidding” “Eight meters…six…four…mooring. Repeat, we have mooring.” “Asimov Station, this is Stanisław Lem actual. We show mooring, please confirm.” “Confirmed, Lem. We have mooring …
Chapter Thirty-Three: What’s Up There Beyond the Sky Titan: Contact by D.X. Machina
“All journeys eventually end in the same place – home.” –Chris Geiger “Okay, I think that’s the last of the big stuff,” Naskia said, looking over the suite that had briefly served as their headquarters at Titan Station. “Just personal effects, some small gear, and so forth. Pryvani, anything that shouldn’t be loaded on the …
Chapter Thirty-Two: Take My Hand, Come Along Titan: Contact by D.X. Machina
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.” –Mark Twain Depending on where you’d grown up and how you marked your calendar, either a week or eighteen days had passed since the Gyfjon had captured the Stanisław Lem. The Minatar had departed the station three Earth days before, the same day they’d moved the Lem …
Chapter Thirty-One: And the Time’s Comin’ Near Titan: Contact by D.X. Machina
“If I am not for myself, then who will be for me? And if I am only for myself, what am I?” –Hillel the Elder It took a good five minutes before any of the people on Titan Station could find their voice. Xú, alone among her crew, was not crying. Not because she did …
Chapter Thirty: By the Dim and Flaring Lamps Titan: Contact by D.X. Machina
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who …