Christopher B. Wright's Blog, page 18

Shades of Red: Part Three

Haruspex Analytics

Jason Kline sits on the sofa outside the Chairman’s private office and forces himself not to fidget—a minor tic, easily mastered, but the urge to do it never quite goes away. He glances down at the glass coffee table, gaze idly passing over the magazines set strategically in front of him. They’re all trade mags, focusing on the Intelligence industry. They’re not the real ones, of course—people didn’t leave those lying around. No, these were the ones that were shown to the pu...

Shades of Red: Part Two

Nautilus Conference Room

David Bernard sits, cross-legged, on the far end of the conference room table. All of the chairs in the room have been pushed out to the walls, making his perch look more like a runway than a meeting table. Behind him, a transparent portal runs the width of the room, showing nothing but darkness. The Nautilus is running too deep for light to filter through the water outside. He suppresses an involuntary shiver as he imagines the immensity of the ocean around him. That...

Shades of Red: Part One

The Nautilus, Atlantic Ocean

Arthur Franklin’s first memory is that of goosebumps running down the length of his arms. He shivers, opens his eyes, then immediately squeezes them shut as light burns into the back of his head. He turns his face, raising a hand to cover his eyes. He shivers, and realizes he’s only wearing a medical gown.

“Welcome back, sir.”

He doesn’t recognize the voice. It’s not the forced cheerfulness of his doctor, nor the warm kindness of that pretty nurse. The voice is soo...

Issue 34: Shades of Red

Story: Christopher Wright
Cover: Jamie Robertson
Logo: Garth Graham

Curveball Issue 34: Shades of Red

[image error] This work is distributed under a
CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 License.

Story: C. B. Wright | Cover: Jamie Robertson | Logo: Garth Graham

[nextpage title=”Part One: The Nautilus, Atlantic Ocean”]

Arthur Franklin’s first memory is that of goosebumps running down the length of his arms. He shivers, opens his eyes, then immediately squeezes them shut as light burns into the back of his head. He turns his face, raising a hand to cover his eyes. He shivers, and realizes he’s only wearing a medical gown.

“...

The Points Between: Chapter Two

The Dance

The movement draws at him, the music calls to him, and the light shows the way.

Movement. Dancers in the gazebo weave and spin and glide across the floor. Sound. Music from the gazebo pours forth, filling the world around him. Light. The starlight shines down from above, reflected off the pond’s surface. Lanterns shine, hanging from the bridges connecting the gazebo to the rest of the grounds. And the gazebo blazes like a beacon, light pouring out behind the dancers, turning them int...

The Points Beween: Chapter Two

This work is distributed under a
CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 License.

The Dance

The movement draws at him, the music calls to him, and the light shows the way.

Dancers in the gazebo weave and spin and glide across the floor. Music pours forth, filling the world around him. Starlight reflects off the pond’s surface; lanterns shine, hanging from the bridges connecting the gazebo to the rest of the grounds. And the gazebo blazes like a beacon, light pouring out behind the dancers, turning them into ha...

The Points Between: Chapter One

The Land Beyond the Trees

Matthew Alexander Garrett leans against his car, one foot on the road, one resting on the door frame. He’s trying to decide what to do. More accurately, he’s already decided what to do, and he’s waiting for the rational part of his mind to give in to the idea.

August nights are hot and wet, and what little light spills out from the car interior shines off the fine layer of sweat covering Matthew’s face and neck. Dark eyes gaze out at the trees along the shoulder of th...

The Points Between: Prologue

Prologue

Matthew is driving.

It’s late, he’s tired, he wants to be home. The moon is hidden, the night is heavy and thick, the only light he sees comes from his headlights. The road stretches on, invisible, coming into view only at the edge of his high beams with a startling suddenness that makes him feel like he’s driving too fast, which is true.

He drives, and hours pass: hours of darkness behind him, with hours more ahead, the rhythmic sound of the car driving along the road, the sound of w...

The Points Between: Chapter One

This work is distributed under a
CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 License.

The Land Beyond the Trees

Matthew Alexander Garrett leans against his car, one foot on the road, one resting on the door frame. He’s trying to decide what to do. More accurately, he’s already decided what to do, and he’s waiting for the rational part of his mind to give in to the idea.

August nights are hot and wet, and what little light spills out from the car interior shines off the fine layer of sweat covering Matthew’s face a...