“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 …
Tag: Niall Freeman
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 Twenty-Eight: Out on the Edge of Darkness Titan: Contact by D.X. Machina
“Make me feel tiny if it makes you feel tall.” –Ben Folds, “Cooler than You” Sorcha arrived back in the Freemans’ suite with a new blouse and a bag in one arm, a tree in the other. “Okay,” Naskia said from the couch, where she was currently slumped, her husband asleep, curled up in her …
Second Intermission Titan: Contact by D.X. Machina
“We do spend too much time on the telephone, and you know something? We love it.” –Dr. Michio Kaku Admiral James Harwell sat in mission control, Houston, not wanting to leave his workstation. It was very late in Texas. In just an hour or two, he would have to begin calling the loved ones of …
Chapter Twenty-Four: Lay Down My Burden Titan: Contact by D.X. Machina
“To be, or not to be, that is the question: Whether ’tis Nobler in the mind to suffer The Slings and Arrows of outrageous Fortune, Or to take Arms against a Sea of troubles, And by opposing end them.” –William Shakespeare, “Hamlet,” Act III, Scene i “Sally Ride, this is Captain Lauryna Gwenn of the …
Chapter Twenty-Two: Study War No More Titan: Contact by D.X. Machina
“When you’re getting ready to launch into space, you’re sitting on a big explosion waiting to happen.” –Dr. Sally Ride “My question is, at what point do we attack?” The question seemed to hang in the air; the various world leaders who fielded Admiral Harwell’s question seemed almost taken aback by it. It was Robyn …
Chapter Twenty-One: The Trumpet That Shall Never Call Retreat Titan: Contact by D.X. Machina
“Battle is an orgy of disorder.” –Gen. George S. Patton, Jr. They say in battle, time slows down. Eyrn, Naskia, and Sorcha all wished what they said was true. Instead, the peacekeepers kept moving at a steady pace. Too steady, too fast. Almost. Almost…. A soft click and a whoosh came from the ceiling. It …
Dearly Beloved A Tale of Avalon by D.X. Machina
“It’s lucky the Gyfjon was diverted to the Tarsuss System. I would’ve hated for Izzy to miss this,” Junior Crewmate Gwenn said, as she walked through the halls of the compound, heading for the holosuites; her companion just laughed. “Luck? Sure. Just a lucky coincidence that Pryvani’s communications company just happened to specifically need the …