There are things worth carrying.
And things worth running from.
Both ways, arrival is complicated.
Stay tuned.
Of Cargo and Consequence
Tag: science fiction
From Long Silences to Burning Thrusters
It’s been a while.
Longer than I meant it to be, and longer than I would have liked. But stories have a way of waiting for you when you need to step away for a bit, and this past year has been very good at insisting on that. Between a few life-sized plot twists, a move to a new city, and a handful of real-world chapters I hadn’t exactly planned for, this little corner of the internet grew quiet.
But I never stopped thinking about stories.
Some of you remember that, for a long time, I’d been sharing scenes here from The Silence of Ancient Light — a big, serious, slow-burn science fiction project that’s grown into something rather sprawling and strange and dear to me. That story is still very much alive. I haven’t abandoned it. If anything, I’ve learned that sometimes a story needs a little space to breathe, so that when you return, you can see it more clearly.
And while I was letting that one simmer, something unexpected happened.
I began writing a very different kind of story.
It started as a kind of creative palate cleanser — lighter, smaller in scope, faster on its feet. A story more interested in voice and character than in cosmic philosophy. Something that didn’t take itself quite so seriously. And somewhere along the way, that little side project stopped being little. It found its own rhythm. It’s own momentum. Its own sense of fun.
If you read To Wander the Silent Dark, you may remember that I had a bit of fun leaning into rhythm, voice, and the sheer pleasure of language. That, it turns out, was a clue. This new project carries a little of that same energy, though in a very different form.
Right now, I’m deep into the editing stages of that new work. It’s novella-length, quick-moving, and deliberately playful in ways my longer projects rarely are. I’m not quite ready to share details yet — not the title, not the characters, not the plot — but I wanted to let you know that something new is taking shape.
The image below is a small, spoiler-free glimpse of the world it inhabits.
More soon.
And thank you for being here, even when I’ve been quiet.
To Wander the Silent Dark: A Space Opera in Verse
Upon the Void’s rim, voice rises unfearing,
By starlight and sorrow, their soul-song begun;
One world abandoned, now wander they star-bound,
To realms yet unrendered, to lands ever spun.
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Do you hear it? The vast, silent hum of the cosmos, the pull of the stars, the quiet gravity of fate?
This is a story told not in prose, but in verse — an epic space opera that carries the echoes of ancient poetic traditions into the depths of the far future. Inspired in part by Harry Martinson’s Aniara and the Norse Poetic Edda, this tale weaves together timeless themes of fate, free will, and humanity’s yearning for answers amidst the infinite void.
Unlike the ongoing adventures of Anna and her friends, this is a standalone journey (don’t worry, we haven’t abandoned them! We’ll be returning shortly). It follows the crew of Aeon’s Echo — five souls adrift on a starship far from home — as they grapple with a signal that seems to come from beyond the veil of understanding. They all perceive the beacon in their own unique way: some see it as a call, others as a warning, a promise, or even a trap. The choices they make, and the mysteries they uncover, are written in the stars — both figuratively and literally.
Why verse? Some stories demand the rhythm, weight, and lyricism that poetry provides. Here we draw on imagery and sound in a way that prose might not, each line evoking the grandeur of space and the fragile humanity of those who dare to journey through it.
If you’re drawn to the sweeping majesty of science fiction, the haunting beauty of space, or the philosophical dilemmas of choice and destiny, I hope this tale will resonate with you. It’s a blend of the ancient and the futuristic, as much about the vastness within us as it is about the endless void beyond.
Fans of Aniara (Martinson’s, but perhaps also my own?) will recognize the existential underpinnings, while readers of the Poetic Edda or even Tolkien’s The Lay of Beren and Lúthien might sense a familiarity in the cadence and structure (in shorter form than those epic works, I promise). At its heart, however, this is a story for anyone who’s ever gazed up at the stars and wondered: What if?
So, take a moment and explore To Wander the Silent Dark. I’d love to hear your thoughts — drop a comment, leave a like, and follow if you haven’t already. Let’s talk about fate, space, and everything in between.
Thank you for coming along on this journey into the silent dark.
Read the full poem at
(1,558 words; 6 min 13 sec reading time)
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A Grim Discovery and Shattered Hopes
(The Silence of Ancient Light, continued)
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The darkness did not persist. Lights came on, dimly at first, then gradually brighter, to illuminate the embarkation compartment beyond the airlock, and Anna reached up to turn off her helmet light. She heard as much as felt a rush of warm air blow into the room from the wall vents, though it would take a while to displace the cold that permeated everything. At least that meant there was atmospheric pressure, so the safety systems must have sealed off the depressurized parts of the ship. A slowly pulsing red light over the far hatchway competed with the persistent alarm for her attention, and after each alarm tone, a cool, calm, female voice rang over the speakers.
“Attention. Hull breach detected. Safety interlocks engaged. All personnel don emergency apparatus and report to duty stations.”
Had that alert been sounding repeatedly for… how long had it been? Nine weeks? Ten?
“Attention. Hull breach detected. Safety interlocks engaged. All personnel…”
Read more at
(1,254 words; 5 min reading time)
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Upon returning to the starship, a grim discovery awaits Anna and her crew, along with the realization that outrunning the oncoming Orta ship will be futile. With time running out, all options appear bad, but that has been the case since first being marooned on the alien world of Kepler 62f. Can quick thinking and clever strategies save them now, or are they about to find out what happens to prisoners of an alien species?
Go click that button to find out! And after you’ve read the scene, if you liked it, let me know! Hit that Like button, and to be notified when the next scene is out, hit that Follow button too!
header image credit: Matt Fraser
Our Heroes Return to Their Starship
(The Silence of Ancient Light, continued)
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A distant flash shook Anna from her reverie. She pulled her gaze from the receding destruction of the station with all its awful fascination and focused on the tiny yet intense flare of light near the horizon’s arc, beyond the terminator and approaching night, almost lost in the dreamlike sapphire veil of the upper atmosphere. Before she could bring any of the limited instruments available from the lander’s console to bear, the flare ended as abruptly as it had begun.
“Did you see that?”
“See what, Anna?”
Laxmi climbed up the ladder and into the copilot seat to gaze beside her into the inky black.
“That was a fusion engine. It didn’t last long, so I think it was an attitude correction and not an acceleration burn, but they’re out there.”
“Will they come for us?”
Read more at
(1,448 words; 5 min 47 sec reading time)
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While months have passed for us, dear readers, only minutes have passed for our heroes, through the magical time dilation of a story on pause while the author is busy with other things. But we have returned to Anna, Laxmi, and Ca-Tren, and they have escaped the destruction of the Kwakitl space station. Finally, after more than two months on the planet’s surface and much adventure and setback, they are about to arrive back at Aniara, silent all this time. As the scene opens, the lander has flipped end over end and is decelerating toward the starship, so from the cockpit they are looking back the way they have come. And that’s when Anna notices the flare of a distant fusion engine.
The Orta are coming for them.
They have time, but the mystery of what happened to Aniara, and to the captain, David, remains. What will Anna and her crew find when they arrive? Whatever caused the ship to go silent, will they be able to get it going again before the Orta arrive? And just what do the Orta want? Why have they been pursuing our hapless heroes across oceans and into orbit? Are they bent on interstellar conquest, or is it all just a misunderstanding?
It’s a mystery.
So, go click that link above, read the scene, and if you haven’t already, hit the Follow button, hit the Like button, and if you’re especially daring, leave a comment!
header image credit: Matt Fraser
Matt Fraser 