Christopher B. Wright's Blog, page 20
July 31, 2017
The Abyss Gazes Back: Part Five
A Comfortable Room“Do you recall the moment you became aware?”
LaFleur looks up from doctoring his tea and frowns. “As the Existentialists define it? I suppose it was during the war.”
The Chairman frowns. “Not that moment. You were ten.”
“Was I?” LaFleur stirs his tea absently. “You sound awfully confident for the one who asked the question.”
“You were ten,” the Chairman repeats.
“I remember little of that time that lends itself to contemplation. I was madly in love with racing horses. I beli...
The Abyss Gazes Back: Part Four
Nautilus Conference Room, LaterDavid Bernard sits alone in the conference room, trying to focus on the pitch-black sphere floating before him.
mAsHEuDH
The sphere wobbles, dips in place. The surface ripples, it bulges on one side, then rights itself.
masHEuDH
The sphere dips again, then begins to drift away from him, leaving trails of black wispy smoke in its wake.
YoU mUSt frEe mE masHEuDH, YoU mUSt usE ME
David forces the voice away, pushing it deeper into his mind as he focuses on the sphe...
The Abyss Gazes Back: Part Three
South Bronx, MorrisaniaSpecial Agent Philip Henry has a reputation for coolness under fire. This reputation has sometimes been described in semi-flattering terms, like when one of his superiors compared him to Joe Friday from the old Dragnet radio programs. Sometimes the description is less flattering, like when one of his colleagues accuses him of being a soulless, cold-hearted son of a bitch.
At the moment his reputation is being tested. As Sergeant Alishia Webb glowers at him from across t...
The Abyss Gazes Back: Part Two
ReunionThe silver-shrouded man hangs in the air, suspended by a power that existed before time.
Granite walls and floors gleam dully in the soft light filling the otherwise empty room. The light doesn’t come from the room, but from the power: the circle that surrounds him, the symbols inscribed within the circle, all glowing with enough strength to reach the very end of the long room, to reveal the door—plain, almost shabby compared to the room—that sits, closed, at the far end.
What is this...
The Abyss Gazes Back: Part One
Nautilus Conference Room“OK,” CB says, leaning forward over the table to glower at Robert. “Please tell me this is some kind of sick joke.”
They’re all sitting in a conference room at the Nautilus’ stern. The bulkheads are a latticework of steel polymer and a transparent sheet of something significantly stronger than glass. At the moment, the windows (portholes? CB isn’t sure what to call them) show nothing but solid darkness—they’re too deep for light from the surface to filter through, and...
Issue 33: The Abyss Gazes Back
Story: Christopher Wright
Cover: Jamie Robertson
Logo: Garth Graham
June 23, 2017
A Rake by Starlight - Chapter 24
WHEREIN A Lack of Good Options Makes A Bad One Look Better“What exactly is going on out there?”
It was the seventh or eighth time Morgan had asked the question. In that space of time, he’d moved from irritation, to anger, to confusion, and had finally settled comfortably into a state of utter bewilderment. Grif couldn’t blame him. The repetition was starting to wear thin, but it was a legitimate one to ask. Station Authority wasn’t making any sense.
“No clue, Morgan. The best I can come up wi...
April 9, 2017
The Foe Beneath: Part Five
The Great EscapeTrue to his word, David has the cargo plane waiting for them on the runway when the bus finally hits the airstrip. CB has to swerve to avoid a curiously man-shaped indentation in the road, causing all the passengers to shout in alarm and protest. Once they pass the strange pothole CB eases off the accelerator, allowing inertia to slow the bus a bit before he tries the brakes. He’s a little worried about those brakes. He suspects they might be holding a grudge.
The bus shudders...
The Foe Beneath: Part Four
RoadblocksBuses are not intended to be driven fast. They are built for power, not speed, and pushing a bus to go faster than its design supports reminds CB of shaking the contents of a cereal box very hard in order get at the prize at the bottom. So when the ground tremors start, he thinks it’s the bus.
He takes one hand off the steering wheel, reaching into his trenchcoat pocket, and fishes out a crumpled pack of cigarettes. Jenny, standing in the bus stairwell, looks at him crossly.
“You’re...
The Foe Beneath: Part Three
Hitting the BeachesStreet Ronin is sitting at Robert Thorpe’s desk, directing traffic.
It’s the most logical place: Thorpe is already connected to the island, has access to everything, and his office has enough room to accommodate some of the extra gear Crossfire brought along to allow their communications—specifically, the equipment that makes it possible for Red Shift to communicate when he’s moving at high speeds—to work properly with everything else.
Doctor Thorpe is not currently in the...
