James Pyles's Blog, page 215
February 14, 2017
A Sky Filled With Hope
Each of the 1,038 nanosatellites that launched from the Satish Dhawan space port in India was hardly larger than a milk carton, but these small, inexpensive spacecraft, originally designed at Israel’s Ben-Gurion University, were the hope of mankind. Avi Salomon and Havah Tobias stood in Mission Control and watched the monitors as the nanosats reached […]
Angel’s Eve
They rode through the city on their scooters on Angel’s Eve just before midnight. They rode through the avenues just as their parents and grandparents had before them. The streets were filled with celebrants and anticipation. They could only hope that this would be the year she would return. The clan Dunnmerry rode the lanes, […]
February 12, 2017
World Under Glass
The history of Biosphere 2, supposedly the world’s first self-contained biosphere, was always surrounded by scandal. The first mission couldn’t scrub the CO2 out of the air and illicitly vented it. The second ended with a horrific battle in upper-management. Biosphere 2 entered the 21st century under the guidance of Columbia University, using it for climate […]
February 11, 2017
Huastec
Humberto waited until the rest of the workers knocked off for lunch. Then he went back to the part of the lot they were working on where he had found it. His mother was Aztec and named him Xochipilli after the god of feasting. His father forbade the ancient ways, so over the years, he met with other Aztecs […]
February 10, 2017
The Mysterious Mummy
The Tenth Story in the Adventures of the Ambrosial Dragon: A Children’s Fantasy Series Landon had been bored and sleepy until the plane began its final descent toward Cairo International Airport. Then his face was glued to the window taking in every detail of a city that was over a thousand years old. Grandpa was […]
February 9, 2017
The Mystery of the Fifteen Scrolls
“This exciting excavation is the closest we’ve come to discovering new Dead Sea scrolls in 60 years. Until now, it was accepted that Dead Sea scrolls were found only in 11 caves at Qumran, but now there is no doubt that this is the 12th cave,” said Dr. Oren Gutfeld, an archaeologist at the Hebrew […]
February 8, 2017
The Chair On The River
Bill and Betty enjoyed walks along the river. Usually, it was beautiful and unremarkable, that is, until the chair. It was standing on the water as if waiting for someone. “That’s impossible, Bill.” “Probably not. Bet there’s a sandbar and someone in a boat put it there as a prank.” Just then, they heard a […]
When Sean Met Sally
From the Unlife and Curse of Sean Becker This is an open police investigation, so why am I involved? Because my boss, private detective Aidan Burke is paying me to be involved. More to the point, Conrad Grey, a wealthy commercial real estate tycoon, hired Burke to find his only granddaughter, thirteen-year-old Marianne. The kid […]
February 7, 2017
Why Should You Write Superversive Fiction?
About the time I started my latest stint at writing fictional short stories, I discovered something called Superversive Fiction and particularly Superversive Science Fiction. According to Russell Newquist, here’s generally what we can expect from Superversive Fiction: If subversive is about tearing down the structures of society, superversive must be about building them back up. […]
The Final Resting Place
“I know you’ve seen better days, old girl.” 78-year-old Frank Parker patted the rusting hood of the ’49 Chevy. Replacing the faded American flag hanging from the passenger-side door with a fresh one, he remembered. “I was just your age when my Pa first bought the Daisy May. Saved up for over a year to […]
