Sample Post from the Science Fiction Genre this Month:

Ivy McBride posts in The Bitter Sky

“McBride?”

Ivy stood away from the damp wall she had been leaning on for more than half-an-hour. She looked at the uniformed man, and aging man who’d been at this particular post for some time. See more things come down the tunnel than Ivy would see for a long time, she was sure. His expression was unreadable.

“Flight Officer. Sir.” Ivy stepped toward him, her posture rising up to meet some kind of expected, bullshit standard no one cared about any more. She had that military air about her she just could not shake and sometimes it bothered her, but at the same time, kept her sane. Even now, at the probably end of all things, she could not break old habits of rank and protocol, but did she want to. What else was there but one rank above another.

Here she was standing at the end of a musty, crowded tunnel several meters below what used to be her home facing a man she had no loyalty to and she still could not act even a little bit relaxed.

“Relax, McBride.” He grinned and offered her the metal chair next to what he called a desk. It was more like a place where all things used and discarded were stored. Boxes of paper and folders, most of them soiled and over used lined one side. He had been nursing something in a cup that sat to his left and in his fist was a wad of papers that looked like they might have once been important. “We’re all on the same side down here.”

She fought a sarcastic grin. “And what side is that, Sir?”

He glanced up at here and really looked at her for the first time. She felt her body stiffen. Christ was she bloody at attention?

“How long you been on the surface, Lieutenant?”

“Since day one…I think.” She answered, suddenly not really sure. “Ten years. Maybe twelve.”

“Ten years, ‘eh?” He sat down and motioned for her to sit. “Long enough I’d say.” He looked up at her. “Wouldn’t you?”

Was she hearing him right? “Wouldn’t I what, Sir?”

To read more register for free.