Short Story Challenge

Aegis · Post by **Aegis** » Tue Feb 24, 2004 9:00 pm

Well, here's my piece. About 100 words under limit, but I think it's a good one.

Terraforming

Tucker gave a friendly salute as he passed by Tess, his hand stopping only as it touched the rounded visor of his atmospheric suit. She smiled back. She always smiled back. He couldn't help but smile himself as he bounded on, the thrusters in his suit coasting him along the rough terrain of the planet easily. Tucker was carrying a least half a tonne of equipment on his back today, but the low gravity of the planet, and the suit's exo-skeleton was more then enough compensation to carry the wait. Magog was a class C planet, basically meaning that there was too little gravity for a permanent colony, until the Terraforming team could get its job done. Tucker was part of that team, along with Tess, and roughly two hundred other terra-engineers. Slow work, but paid well, and allowed for Tucker's inner artist to create a landscape of his dreams.

His only previous job had been on Terra-Hydra, and he had only been an assistant to the late, great, Dr. Henrik, the man who had pioneered Terraforming. Dr. Henrik had died shortly after Terra-Hydra, but not before being widely recognized, winning the Millennium Sphere, an award given to the galaxy's most influential and ingenious people. He got it for Terraforming. The process was a remarkable one that would turn a dead rock into a livable planet, full of lush forests, rolling hills, and cool breezes, much like Terra, itself. It was with this homage in mind, that every Terraforming project completed, the planets surname be 'Terra'. Human sentimentality, Tucker figured, never really bothering to ask why.

He glanced briefly to the counter display at the corner of his visor; the distance to his station. Five hundred metres. Hardly any distance left, considering the barracks was over twenty kilometers away. The suits were able to move swiftly, and he had already left Tess over a kilometer behind him. He already could see the rest of his team, setting up their equipment. Pieces that, when combined with the equipment on his back, would create an intense radiation field used to stimulate growth in the surface. As he closed in, he began to prep his own gear to be set up. He glanced away from his station for a second.

"H-hey! Watch out, buddy!" Tucker snapped his vision forward again, just in time to see a man in a suit like his speed towards him, and then past, almost colliding. Tucker could swear he heard the guy mutter something obscene into the comm. as he passed.

He shook it off, and gave his thrusters one last burst, bringing him the final distance to his station, where he was met with silent, but friendly, salutes. He slid the equipment from his back, and began to set up with the rest, making sure each piece was placed precisely with the corresponding one. It didn't take him long; couple minutes tops, when something caught his attention. A tiny blue 'blip'. He leaned in close to the assembled device, peering towards the blinking blue light.

"Kurt." Tucker said quietly into the comm., still looking at the blue light. "Any idea what this is? I haven't seen it on this model before…"

Kurt came bounding over, and glanced at the device himself. "Some guy just came and attached it. Said it was from the Company. Supposed to increased efficiency." Tucker gave an incredulous glance. "Relax, Tucker. He showed us the forms and everything. He's legit."

"Alright then…" Tucker took one last glance at the light, his worries subsiding. "Then let's power it up. I want to try and get back to the barracks in time to beat the other Boomer's to lunch." He grinned slightly, and a couple chuckles were shared amongst the group.

He gave a light tap on his thrusters, and angled around the assembled device to its control panel. Within moments, he was typing in the commands to activate it. As he typed in the last command, a sudden, shrill noise started up. Tucker cringed slightly, looking around. The others seemed just as uncomfortable with it. The noise wasn't normal, and his first thoughts were on that of the upgrade. Something must've been malfunctioning. He moved himself around the machine, and towards the upgrade. As he came closer, he noticed the blue flashing picking up in speed.

"Hey Kurt, something ain't right here…" Kurt came bounding over.

Suddenly, the blue flash stopped, leaving Tucker and Kurt looking confused at the device. Within moments, all they saw was white.

*****

The man removed his visor from his suit, and took a deep breath. He had made it safely onto his craft, and was leaving orbit of Magog. He heard a loud rumble, followed by a bright flash. A satisfied smile came to his face. He did his job, and did it well. He looked to the screen in front of him, bright green text flashing before him, reading:

"Terrans for the Natural Order. Magog is a lost cause, how many more must be?"

He tapped the send command, and glanced out the window as pieces of was once Magog came soaring past his ship. The message was a clear one. They would listen this time.

Georgi · Post by **Georgi** » Wed Feb 25, 2004 9:07 am

Originally posted by CM
Look its never good if it hurts

I was just anticipating Aegis' disagreement, you know.

WE all know unharmful hugs are your thing.

@Aegis I haven't read it, but I think it sucks on principle.

Monolith · Post by **Monolith** » Wed Feb 25, 2004 10:57 am

Originally posted by Aegis
Well, here's my piece. About 100 words under limit, but I think it's a good one.

Indeed it is. Was fun reading it!

Aegis · Post by **Aegis** » Wed Feb 25, 2004 4:11 pm

Originally posted by Monolith
Ideed it is. Was fun reading it!

Thanks

@Georgi: So, have we agreed to disagree, then?

CM · Post by CM » Wed Feb 25, 2004 4:25 pm

I be thinking she doesnt even agree to that

Georgi · Post by **Georgi** » Fri Feb 27, 2004 9:05 am

Originally posted by Aegis
@Georgi: So, have we agreed to disagree, then?

On what, your story or that bad things hurt?

Curdis · Post by **Curdis** » Mon Mar 22, 2004 8:10 am

And the winner is?

Curdis !

Seems a shame to waste a post on this but there are only 20 remaining till you'll be explaining Hug your pets

Beowulf · Post by **Beowulf** » Tue Apr 13, 2004 8:43 am

Has the deadline passed yet?

Chanak · Post by **Chanak** » Sat Apr 17, 2004 10:08 am

A month overdue.

Robnark · Post by **Robnark** » Sat Apr 17, 2004 3:46 pm

nadgers

I've just seen this thread, and had a reasonable idea, too.

Beowulf · Post by **Beowulf** » Sun Apr 18, 2004 10:49 am

So when do we get a result?

dragon wench · Post by **dragon wench** » Mon Apr 19, 2004 4:20 pm

*sigh* my apologies to all... I have a very bad habit of beginning threads and then forgetting all about them...

And I'm only in my mid-thirties... I hate to think what I'd be like in old age!

Anyway, I just got back from from a week in Cuba, so I'm quite dazed and numb from jetlag, too much sun, sand and rum, which means thinking in a substantive way represents a slight challenge at the moment

I figure, for those who still want to contribute here, by all means please do, and maybe make the deadline a couple of weeks from now? How do we want to do the judging btw? I was thinking of setting up a poll thread, though we'd need the mods to help us add additional polling options

You could also PM me, but that doesn't seem right somehow, not to mention that I'd have to actually clean my PMs out...

Robnark · Post by **Robnark** » Mon Apr 19, 2004 4:52 pm

w00t. something else to do other than college work.

Curdis · Post by **Curdis** » Sun May 29, 2005 10:12 pm

I don't mean to sound impatient......

Will this ever be judged?

I interupt my impatience to offer the following community anouncement:

Book of the Cuddly Bunny (Chapter the Last, Verses 6 to 27)

6. And so it came to this. After removing themselves from the world of men the great profit and his small but dedicated band of disciples wandered lost in the wilderness for a time.
7. And one of the disciples inquired of the great profit if they could in fact have a quick look at the map. And after a great and mighty smiting all the remaining disciples feasted and took quiet vows of silence for they, in their wisdom, saw how the deck was stacked.
8. And yet some could not keep their most holy and sacred vows. One was heard to mutter 'Sod this for a game of soldiers.'
9. And there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth, until the great profit decreed that henceforth no-one shall watch the abomination which is American Idol.
10. And another was heard to say. 'Oh great profit, what is the point?'.
11. And the great profit said sagaciously 'Oh little one should not your question be "Where is the point?"'.
12. And there was a spit roasting and all feasted greatly that night in the wilderness.
13. And upon the morrow, the great profit did assemble the reamining throng and spake thusly,'You my chosen ones are now cleansed for you have not:
14. posted your sacred seed into the vile darkness of SYM;
15. decended to the beastly depths which are COMM or SLURR or Heathen or any of the other heinous cults of s-word;
16. sworn allegence to the false gods or profits of the heinous cults of s-word;
17. sought to re-enter the promised forums for the sole purpose of cruising for booty;
18. masturbated furiously over anyones avatar, recently;
19. been unfluffy-wuffy in any way which has resulted in hard evidence of the misdeed, nor;
20. invaded another soveriegn nation for no good reason;
21. And so the great reckoning comes and all the righteous shall have their rewards.
22. And all the vile and evil and dispicable and unclean shall have their punishments and torments.
23. And some shall even be dressed in gingham and placed in the front rows at a System of a Down Concert.'
24. And the disciples did roar mightily in ascent and wiped the spittle off their faces for truly this was to be a vehmgericht to make many a Westphalian quail in anquish.
25. And at this a window did slam open and a person of questionable parentage (ed. It is believed by many scholars to have been BS in his shack) did cry out, 'Shut the f**k up some of us are trying to sleep!'
26. And the great profit rejoiced and whispered, 'It is a sign, for it would appear our time in the wilderness is at an end'.

Curdis ! Now the number before the beast is 14. Hire a tape(or DVD) on yoga.

Luis Antonio · Post by **Luis Antonio** » Mon May 30, 2005 7:06 am

[QUOTE=Curdis]Will this ever be judged?

I interupt my impatience to offer the following community anouncement:

Book of the Cuddly Bunny (Chapter the Last, Verses 6 to 27)

[/QUOTE]

OMG! Tremble mortals, the man of the Why Katanas are Evil is here

Welcome Curdis, you've been missed.

dragon wench · Post by **dragon wench** » Mon May 30, 2005 10:12 am

*sigh* I completely forgot about this thread

I think it would be cool to still do this, though, maybe re-open the challenge as well since we have quite a few new members?

I figure the best thing, once the entries are in, would be to create a separate anonymous polling thread for judgment. We'd need to ask a mod to set it up though since the number of poll options would exceed the limit.

Curdis · Post by **Curdis** » Mon May 30, 2005 6:51 pm

Quail is a most unsatisfying fry up

@Luis - Well life does get in the way of the lunacy on SYM occassionally. Suffice it to say that I am now in a position to participate more extensively.

@DW - What ever it takes. The judging better be sooner rather than later in light of....

Curdis ! Lucky thirteen is all that remains between now and eternity. Time enough to check if there is anything yummie in the freezer.