Bright Future: An Anthology

By SI CLARKE, Jeannette Bedard, Dani Hoots and 3 more

Spaceships, space stations, and distant planets. Stampeding elephants, a talking dog, and a hungover captain without a ship. An ensign far from home, a stowaway, and a pair of runaways. This anthology features stories of a diverse and inclusive future by six up-and-coming indie authors.

Case File #7: The One with All the Elephants by Jeannette Bedard 
Flo doesn't know what's worse: the case she was just assigned or the new partner she has to work with.

Jurassic Dark by SI CLARKE
There's something in the dark … but is Lem's imagination worse than reality? 

The Blood of the Forgotten by Dani Hoots 
While trying to find work, Ellie and Zach come across a shooting competition. However, after a few rounds, they realize that there is more to the competition than meets the eye.

The Arno Manoeuvre by D.M. Pruden
Everyone has bright hopes for Yegor's future. Everyone, that is, except the XO on the Kirchoff, his first placement out of the Academy.

Endigo by Dave Walsh
All Valencia ever wanted was a ship of her own and a place to belong. Now she's got her shot, but at what cost?

Impounded by John Wilker
Before Wil Calder can start his epic adventure, he needs to get his ship out of the impound lot.

• Language: English
• Publisher: White Hart Fiction
• Release date: Sep 25, 2022
• ISBN: 9798215161562

Book preview

Bright Future

For readers who long for a future that’s more diverse, inclusive, and … well … brighter than the one presented in classic science fiction.

Bright Future: An Anthology

https://bright-future.carrd.co

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All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Most recent update: 25 September 2022

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Case File #7 is copyright © 2022 by Jeannette Bedard

Jurassic Dark is copyright © 2022 by SI CLARKE

Editing by Nicholas Taylor of Just Write Right

The Blood of the Forgotten is copyright © 2022 by Dani Hoots

The Arno Manoeuvre is copyright © 2020 D.M. Pruden

Editing by Allister Thompson

Endigo is copyright © 2020 by Dave Walsh

Editing by Amanda West

Impounded is copyright © 2022 by John Wilker

Cover art by Rebeca Covers

Vellum flower icon Created with Vellum

CONTENTS

Case File #7

The One with All the Elephants

Jeannette Bedard

Jurassic Dark

A Starship Teapot short

SI CLARKE

The Blood of the Forgotten

A City of Kaus novella

Dani Hoots

The Arno Manoeuvre

A Shattered Empire short story

D.M. Pruden

Endigo

Trystero Origins

Dave Walsh

Impounded

A Space Rogues short

John Wilker

Thanks for reading

About the authors

Jeannette Bedard

SI CLARKE

Dani Hoots

D.M. Pruden

Dave Walsh

John Wilker

CASE FILE #7

THE ONE WITH ALL THE ELEPHANTS

JEANNETTE BEDARD

Case File #7: The One with All The Elephants by Jeannette Bedard

CASE FILE #7

THE ONE WITH ALL THE ELEPHANTS

I shifted where I sat on the dainty sofa. Down at Docking Bay 34 a sting operation was on the go—one that I should’ve been a part of. A known criminal group were creating fake identification files in their hideout on a decommissioned freighter and we were finally going to catch them in the act. Most of the precinct was involved—except me.

Bitterness around being left out created a sour taste in my mouth. I protested hard when Chief Thumbold assigned me to this case instead. We were supposed to be policing this space station, not chasing down reports of unlicensed animals. Some kids were probably having a joke at our expense.

Thumbold wouldn’t budge. With his bushy eyebrows wiggling like the silk worms in Quadrant 17, he told me to investigate the report of stampeding elephants.

Suppressing a sigh, I looked at the wizened old lady who’d invited me in.

More tea, dearie? she asked holding up her white and blue teapot. Jaunty windmills from lost Earth ringed the pot, inviting me into their world—but I resisted and stared Mrs. Long in the eye. She winked. I mean Detective Ruben.

Sure. I raised the fine bone china teacup I’d been assigned with its too-small-to-put-my-fingers-through handle. The cup didn’t match the teapot; instead it was yellow with white polka dots. Mrs. Long, three of your neighbours have reported seeing unlicensed mammals in this quadrant. Have you seen them?

Oh dearie, you can just call me Pam, she said with a wide smile. Based on how quickly she’d invited me in for tea, I assumed she was lonely, perhaps without family on the station.

With unsteady hands, she poured more hot liquid into my cup. Considering how much her hands shook, it was a miracle none of the liquid sloshed out. As I glanced into my refilled cup, I wondered if Pam realized this was just hot water. But maybe water was all she could afford—this sector was low income, and many of the apartment units were entirely subsidized. Since it would be impolite to inquire and irrelevant to my case, I took a sip.

Very well, Pam, have you seen anything unusual? I struggled to maintain my composure in the oppressive space.

A ripe odor as though the ventilation system wasn’t working properly hung in the air. Maybe the stacks of ancient goods covering every horizontal surface blocked the vents. The amount of stuff in the tiny living room was overwhelming—how could she stand living like this?

They weren’t moving, yet it seemed like the piles were closing in on me. Some stacks contained random assortments of take-out food boxes, while others were constructed of miscellaneous mechanical devices. At the bottom of one of the piles, I spotted a computer core from a defunct AI system, while in another pile old-fashioned bound books held up an oscilloscope that probably had cathode ray tubes inside.

The slightest gravity glitch would topple everything, kicking up even more dust into the air. My heart started beating faster as I considered the generations of human skin cells I might end up breathing in.

Oh my. She put a hand to her chest. What kind of animals did my neighbours see?

Elephants, I said.

My dear, we live on a space station, not a savanna. Pam settled back into her chair with a yellow teacup of her own.

I glanced around the room and wondered if the smell could be the result of decades of accumulated clutter. It was an ordinary apartment in the Delta quadrant: two bedrooms, a sitting room and an eat-in kitchen. From my vantage point sitting on the old sofa in the living room, other than being a hoarder’s paradise, nothing appeared out of the ordinary.

On one side, a large window presented a view of the communal garden space beyond. The clutter piled on the window sill drew my attention. Piles of comics, yellowed beyond readability made a base layer. On top were a series of vases, some displaying dead flowers, others kitchen implements. Oddly, a stuffed octopus sat crammed in the corner, its googly eyes judging me.

In the middle of the window sill, a long, yellowing object sat on a plinth somehow balanced on top of everything, just waiting for the next hiccup in the station’s gravity. It looked like a combination of a tooth and a horn. Whatever the artifact was, someone had recently drilled into it. The tiny hole exposed a layer of white beneath. But weird artifacts weren’t illegal—unlicensed mammals were.

I’m sure there are no elephants on Indigo Station, I said with a decisive head nod. The only place I’d ever seen an elephant was in the books my sons read as children. Yet, your neighbours say they’ve seen herds of them.

Hmmmm, she said, taking a sip of the hot water. And you took the time to come into my home and ask me about them. She stared at me for a moment. Well... since you are here, I have seen elephants.

I set my teacup down on its saucer and did my best not to frown. Was the bad air causing mass hallucinations? Or was this an elaborate hoax? And why didn’t she tell me about seeing elephants when I first asked? Can you describe what you saw?

Oh, I can do better my dear. Pam met my gaze. I have footage.

Really? I shifted forward to pull out my datapad from my back pocket.

In my haste, I knocked the side table, sloshing hot water over my hand. Looking at the spilled water Pam made a tutting round as she handed me a napkin from the pile beside the teapot. Then, she put down her teacup and stood.

That recording is around here somewhere. She shuffled over to the nearest pile and began sorting through it.

I glanced down at my wet hand and sopped up the moisture with the napkin. Only after I saturated it with liquid did I notice that someone had written all along one side. I stifled a shudder, re-using napkins was gross. At least the ink didn’t run. Uncertain where Pam’s recycling was, I shoved the napkin into my pocket and planned on washing everything I was wearing later.

Bingo! She pulled out an old tablet—the kind once used in the elementary classrooms of my grandparents or maybe their grandparents. I knew I’d find it.

I bit my lip. This call was turning out to be a waste of my time—it had to be a hoax. Investigate elephant sightings on a space station, how ridiculous was that? Real crimes were happening out there that needed my detective skills. Maybe it wasn’t too late to join the action in Docking Bay 34.

Here it is. Pam sat next to me on the sofa and powered up the tablet.

She played a video degraded by time—it wasn’t from our space station. The view encompassed a wide open, planet-based space. I shivered, wondering how anyone could stand being out in the open like that—they’d be so exposed. Blue sky extended to the horizon and lush grass covered the ground. Striped animals milled about in the distance and great white birds flew over head.

That’s clearly not here. I pointed to the screen.

Just be patient, dearie, said Pam as a herd of animals with oversized ears and noses sauntered into view. See, a herd of elephants.

But they aren’t here. I stood. The smell in the air was getting worse and I wanted to leave.

Well... my dear. She shrugged. Those are the only elephants I’ve ever seen. She folded her hands into her lap and looked at me expectantly.

Taking care not to cause an avalanche off of any of the near-by piles of stuff, I set down my teacup and thanked Mrs. Long for her time.

As I walked along the path of the communal garden, I glanced up at the four stories of apartments. Fluttering laundry hung out on makeshift racks on most balconies. A myriad of cooking smells filled the air, and the scent of exotic spices and charring food made my stomach grumble.

Dinner time was fast approaching, and I’d be late getting home again, but no one would be there waiting for me to put food on the table. Since both of my boys were off at flight school, I’d just get take-out mushroom rice again.

Crap, I said under my breath as it dawned on me that the ventilation system should have sucked all the cooking smells away. Imaginary herds of elephants weren’t the problem—the ventilation system was.

I stopped and turned to look back at the common space between the two blocks of apartments. Large planters containing trees punctuated the space; in the distance I could see the floor curve upward following the shape of our station.

Susan, please run a diagnostic on the ventilation system in this residential quarter. Even though my assigned AI was a program, she always worked better when I talked to her like a person.

Standby, she said through my earpiece.

Pursing my lips in irritation over the delay, I wound an escaped strand of hair around my finger. The increased gravity on this level of the station was making my bones ache—I really did need to call it a day and get home where the gravity was normal. On the way I could swing by Docking Bay 34…

Yo Flo, how’s the detecting going?

I jumped at the words and spun to face the person who spoke. Ned Diamond, another detective in the precinct, stared at me wearing a goofy expression—in fact, he almost always wore a goofy expression.

He laughed as if he’d told a joke. Yo Flo...that’s a good one—I’ll have to remember that.

I frowned, looking down on the short, stocky man. I’d never asked him but, based on his physique I had assumed he’d grown up on one of the higher gravity moons.

My eyes stopped on the body camera he wore on a lanyard around his neck. It was an older model, even our rookie patrol cops got better equipment than that. Ned must have bought it at one of the thrift shops. A little red light on the side merrily blinked—he even had it on.

I heard you’re on an elephant hunt. He grinned before biting into the taco he held releasing a wave of pungent spices. Pieces of cricket bodies tumbled out and onto the ground. He’d chosen a spicy cricket taco from one of the dodgy kiosks that sat outside every tram station.

Why are you here, Ned? Shouldn’t you be sorting through spreadsheets? I demanded. Ned liked to stick his nose into investigations that weren’t his business, just one of the things about him that irritated me. Who orders spicy cricket tacos anyway? Disgusting.

Turns out there’s a lull in forensic accounting. He took another bite, and I averted my eyes. Thumbold suggested I come down here and give you a hand. And I thought it was a peachy idea.

Great. My tone was flat.

I have the results you requested, Susan said through my ear-piece. Since Detective Diamond is here to assist, I will share with him as well.

Fine. I met Ned’s gaze as he shoved the last of his taco into his mouth. A dollop of red sauce dribbled down his chin. I had to look away. Susan, what have you found?

Your hypothesis is correct. There is an issue with the ventilation system in this quadrant. Over the last 14 day-night cycles, there have been 1016 unaccounted for power draws.

How has that affected the ventilation? I asked, glancing up at the fake blue sky of the ceiling.

Each power draw takes 97.3% of the power for 7.58 milliseconds. This shuts down the entire ventilation system for 10.3 seconds. It then takes 49.24 minutes for the system to return to normal capacity. The frequency of these events has meant the system isn’t able to move enough air.

Hence the lingering smells, I said.

Hey Susan, can you pinpoint the source of the power draws? Ned asked. He stared at me and said, Maybe someone is powering a flux capacitor.

I opened my mouth to retort, but Susan cut me off.

There are unauthorized re-routings in the quadrant, the AI said. It was a statement of the obvious; the station was more than two centuries old, and unauthorized modifications were common. I have traced them to the warehouse district on the other side of accommodation block A-114.

A-114 was the block where residents had reported seeing the elephants—and where claustrophobia-inducing Mrs. Long lived. I shivered as an image of her heaps of stuff popped into my head.

Can you pinpoint the exact location? I asked.

Negative, Susan replied.

Ned nodded. No wonder, those warehouses are infested with smuggling and shadow organizations who employ smart people to remain untraceable.

I pursed my lips. All of us who worked in the field knew that. You learn that from your spreadsheets?

Yep. His answer didn’t suggest he noticed my slight. He put his hands on his hips and surveyed our surroundings. How about we go and look around?

Fine. I started down the side corridor leading to the warehouse district.

Yo Flo, what did the witnesses say? Ned asked as he struggled to keep up with my long gait.

Three people said they saw actual elephants lurking around the apartment block and one old lady insisted on serving me hot water and showing me an old video.

Were there elephants in the video?

Yes. I stopped mid-stride and looked around at