Lockdown Sci-Fi #5: Lockdown, #23

By LOCKDOWN FREE FICTION AUTHORS

Science Fiction adventure stories for LOCKDOWN.

 

FEATURED AUTHORS

 

Andrew Anderson

Angandeep Kr Chatterjee

Gustavo Bondoni

Helen M. Merrick

Joachim Heijndermans

Joel R. Hunt

Mike Adamson

Patrick Winters

Shawn M. Klimek

Wondra Vanian

• Language: English
• Publisher: Black Hare Press
• Release date: Dec 13, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223769606

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from Black Hare Press

DARK DRABBLES ANTHOLOGIES

WORLDS

ANGELS

MONSTERS

BEYOND

UNRAVEL

APOCALYPSE

LOVE

HATE

LOVE

HATE

OCEANS

ANCIENTS

666

NOM NOM

LOVE ME, LOVEME NOT

RUN, RABBIT, RUN

OTHER VOLUMES

EERIE CHRISTMAS

STORMING AREA 51

DEEP SPACE

DEEP SEA

WHAT IF?

CONTACT

WAR

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LOCKDOWN SCI-FI #5 title is

Copyright © 2023 Black Hare Press

First published in Australia in December 2023 by Black Hare Press

The authors of the individual stories retain the copyright of the works featured in this anthology

All characters and events in this publication, other than those clearly in the public domain, are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this production may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher and copyright owner.

Cover Design: Dawn Burdett (www.dmburdett.com)

Formatting: Ben Thomas (www.blackharepress.com) • S. Jade Path (linktr.ee/sjadepath)

Editing: D. Kershaw (www.blackharepress.com) • Maggie Pawsey • S. Jade Path (linktr.ee/sjadepath)

Special thanks to the Lockdown Read Team

Alice Lam • David Green • Holley Cornetto • Jennifer Hatfield

Jodi Jensen • Lyndsay Ellis-Holloway • Stacey Jaine McIntosh

TABLE OF CONTENTS

WHITE MOTH  by Andrew Anderson

REINFORCED  by Joachim Heijnderman

THE VISITOR IN THE LIGHT BEIGE ROBES  by Joel R. Hunt

DREAMLOGGER  by Mike Adamson

TENTH ORBIT  by Gustavo Bondoni

AN ERROR OF GALACTIC PROPORTIONS  by Wondra Vanian

THE QUANTUM ORACLE  by Shawn M. Klimek

THE TIME I DONE PRANKED SOME SPACEMEN  by Patrick Winters

EIGHT MINUTES, THIRTY-TWO SECONDS  by Helen M. Merrick

ABOUT THE PUBLISHER

WHITE MOTH

by Andrew Anderson

Clang.

It was a sound that Jex had become familiar with—space debris large enough to make a noise when it collided with her ship.

Normally almost inaudible, the sounds had become far more noticeable since she had powered down the shields to conserve energy. The bangs and crashes that had once panicked her had now become part of the soundtrack of her journey, the noise an oddly comforting reminder of her continued existence in this vast universe. The ship drifted through space as Jex disappeared into her research, a synchronous, silent harmony.

The lab glowed blue in the light from the computer terminal screen where Jex typed feverishly. She had reached an unexplored section of the galaxy. The near-mythical Fifth Quadrant—it would forever conjure up infinite possibilities in a fertile imagination. It did not even appear on most star maps, since many planet-dwellers doubted its existence, knowing that a galactic quadrant should only be one of four parts.

Yet here was a fifth.

It sat, waiting patiently, enticing the adventurer bold enough to believe, tantalising them with tales of fortune and ancient mysteries. Jex, for her part, had no interest in fables; she simply wanted somewhere isolated in order to complete her life’s work.

To her delight, she had had no contact with anyone else for months, inside what had become a vital restorative niche. She could feel the building excitement of nearing a breakthrough. The tranquillity of outer space—and the isolation—had accelerated both her concentration and progress.

Jex was a Bio-Maven, one of the few remaining anywhere in the known galaxy. Had she been born on any other planet, a calling as a protector god would have beckoned. Instead, she had lived a life of subterfuge.

To most who had known her back home, she had been a simple-minded weaver, an admirable profession but one with little prospect of serious income despite her natural talent. But it was safe,a cover to disguise her true profession from the Party, and one which had enabled her to amass a serious cache of credits. The Party’s approach suited an introvert like Jex, who could be viewed from the outside as quiet and, on the surface, submissive to the Party’s will.

Always prepared with an escape plan, Jex had sold most of her surplus possessions, trading them for neo-fuel and batteries. This would enable her, at short notice, to jolt her patched-up and aging ship out of the atmosphere, getting it and her as far away from that planet as possible.

She had even gone so far as to paint a white moth on the hull of her ship. The symbol of the Party. Displaying the insignia indicated your unwavering support.

At least to the untrained eye.

The resistance, despite lacking a name, had adopted the same symbol. At least, it looked like the same symbol—in their version, though, the top of one wing was missing. From a distance, it merely appeared as though time, or the elements, had worn it away.

As a mercenary, with ties to neither side, Jex had utilised the augmented version of the symbol to profit handsomely from both.

Clang.

The second clang proved enough of a distraction that she decided to take a short break. Leaning back, she stretched her stiff muscles and ran through her mental inventory yet again.

Her strategy for a hasty exit had been well-founded. Of late, selling her products on the infrared market had become far too dangerous; two of Jex’s main elemental suppliers—her best friends Val and Mara—had vanished without a trace. It was time to get out. Past time.

War had brought the Great Purge, which had brutally decided the fate of anyone who had ever demonstrated scientific ability. You were either drafted into the Party, to slave in their infamous weapons research section, or if you refused, you disappeared—you were not permitted to waste your talents in independent pursuits. No one who had been given the Party’s ultimatum had been heard of again.

Jex did not want to think of what fate befell Val and Mara, especially knowing their staunch allegiance to the resistance.

Clang.

Hearing the noise again, Jex pondered whether there was a battle taking place right now, resulting in an increase in space debris. The Party had many enemies, and there were many fronts, but not likely in this particular quadrant.

Admittedly, Jex had enjoyed the thrill of keeping her skills secret and outwitting the authorities up to this point. The ever-increasing severity of the Party’s actions towards the people—a people grown desperate in a time of war—had meant it was suicidal for her to stay any longer; she left the planet knowing she had exited on her terms.

She was sure that the credits she had invested in a cloaking device for her ship had paid off, and her exit had gone undetected as she left the planet. She wasn’t a known enemy, and she did have that resistance white