Space is the Place

By Robert J. Mendenhall, William RD Wood, HL Liptak and 6 more

Space is the Place is a young adult (YA) science fiction anthology, with all stories taking place off Earth.

• The discoveries 16-year-old Danny Long makes on Mars will not only change his life, but the course of history as well.
• Alone in deep space, young Hilth struggles to make repairs to her ship as an alien robot cuts its way through the hull.
• When her young brother wanders past the colony's defensive perimeter, Miranda ventures out after him, and finds herself in a perilous first contact.

From the dust of the moon to the edge of the galaxy, tales of trials and triumph by Robert J. Mendenhall, William R.D. Wood, H.L. Liptak, Wayland Smith, Jena Rey, Deborah H. Doolittle, Don Raymond, Humphrey Price, and Darren Lipman. Edited by Robert J. Mendenhall.

All profits from this benefit book will be donated to St Jude Children's Research Hospital.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Blue Planet Press, LLC
• Release date: Apr 17, 2024
• ISBN: 9781954678231

Robert J. Mendenhall

Robert J. Mendenhall is retired Air Force, a retired police officer, and a former broadcast journalist for the American Forces Network, Europe. A member of Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America, Mystery Writers of America, Short Mystery Fiction Society, and International Association of Media Tie-in Writers, he writes across genres including science fiction, adventure, crime and suspense, and the occasional horror. He currenty writes the pulp action and adventure series Code Name: Intrepid. He lives in Southwest Michigan with his wife and fellow writer, Claire. And many animals. So... many... animals.

Book preview

SPACE IS THE PLACE

An Anthology of Young Adult Science Fiction

Edited by Robert J. Mendenhall

Blue Planet Press, LLC

Contents

Title Page

COPYRIGHT

AN ANTHOLOGY OF YOUNG ADULT SCIENCE FICTION

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

DISCOVERIES

FASTER THAN LIGHT

SPACE PIRATES

TECH-PRENTICE

FRIEND SHIP SEVEN

THE WITCH’S KISS

WHAT GLITTERS BELOW

KEEPERS OF THE PROPHET

HER BROTHER’S KEEPER

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

MORE FROM BLUE PLANET PRESS

COPYRIGHT

Blue Planet Press Logo

Martian Discoveries copyright © 2024 by Robert J. Mendenhall

Faster Than Light copyright © 2024 by William R.D. Wood

Space Pirates copyright © 2024 by H. L. Liptak

Tech-Prentice copyright © 2024 by Wayland Smith

Friend Ship Seven copyright © 2024 by Deborah H. Doolittle

The Witch’s Kiss copyright © 2024 by Don Raymond

What Glitters Below copyright © 2024 by Humphrey Price

Keepers of the Prophet copyright © 2024 by Darren Lipman

Her Brother’s Keeper copyright © 2024 by Jena Rey

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from Blue Planet Press, LLC, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information or permission, contact Blue Planet Press, LLC via email at [e-mail].

This is a work of fiction. The resemblance of any character in this book to a real person is coincidental.

ISBN-13 9781954678231

First Electronic Printing, April 2024

AN ANTHOLOGY OF YOUNG ADULT SCIENCE FICTION

SPACE IS THE PLACE

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The space ship on the front cover was designed by Adam Burch.

Planet

DISCOVERIES

by

Robert J. Mendenhall

THIS WASN’T THE first time sixteen-year-old Danny Long had found himself in a tight situation since he came to Mars two years ago, but it was definitely the most dangerous. His dad warned him about venturing outside on his own. Heck, it was practically Colony Order Number One. Don’t Venture Outside the Dome Alone. He thought it was a stupid rule because what could happen to him on a dead planet like Mars? Except maybe his environment suit rupturing. He’d snuck outside the dome half a dozen times before and nothing had happened to him. But this was the first time he’d gone so far out.

And the first time he’d fallen into a sinkhole.

Danny rolled onto his back and groaned. His left arm ached where he hit the bottom of the hole. It was a weird feeling, falling so slowly. He remembered falling out of a tree back on Earth when he was ten. He fell fast and hard. He’d broken that arm, then. Here on Mars, with a gravity pull only a third or so Earth’s, he almost felt like he had floated to the bottom of the hole. Almost, but not quite. It still hurt when he hit.

He wiped his gloved hand over the faceplate of his helmet, but only managed to smear it with red regolith, that weird Martian dirt on this part of the planet that was kind of like the moon’s, but not exactly. At least his faceplate hadn’t cracked when he hit the bottom. He’d be in a world of hurt then, with his air leaking out and the cold seeping in.

A burst of static echoed in his earphones. He tapped the side of his helmet, as if that would do anything.

Hello? he said. Hello? Hello?

No response. Not even another surge of static.

The end of his nose itched, and he wanted to scratch it so bad. Instead, he scrunched his nose and flared his nostrils a few times.

He checked the readouts on the forearm of his suit. He had enough air to last another two and a half hours, at most. Plenty of time to get back to the dome and sneak in through the utility airlock. Except the dome was up there. And he was down here.

He stood and looked up. The dim interior helmet light illuminated his face in a ghostly blue, and maybe a foot or so in front of him. He could see a sliver of salmon-colored sky above, but it was so far away. He groped around his side until he found the flashlight on his equipment belt. He thumbed it on and swung the beam around him. It was a narrow shaft. Nearly vertical. The fierce Martian winds had covered the mouth of the hole with regolith, but it wasn’t a solid covering. Once he’d stepped onto the loose dirt, his weight had broken through and boom. There he was.

Danny felt his heart start to race. He swung the flashlight beam around the tight space, but all he saw were walls of dark dirt. He dug his fingers into the dirt and it collapsed in his hands. No way he could scale those walls and climb out. They would collapse and bury him alive. His dad would never find his body.

Maybe that was a good thing, Danny thought. That would be better than being restricted to his habitat. Mars was boring enough without being grounded on top of it.

He started to breathe fast and shallow. His chest hurt.

Warning, his suit’s internal monitor chimed. Oxygen consumption erratic.

No kidding, Danny snapped.

Warning. Elevated heart rate.

Discontinue warnings, you stupid suit.

Warning—

Danny tapped the mute toggle on his forearm. The warnings stopped.

He closed his eyes and slowed his breathing, just like he learned to do at Mars Camp before leaving Earth. He felt better; at least the ache in his chest had gone away.

Okay, he said aloud. Talking to himself when he was alone usually made him feel at ease. Lake knows I’m out here. When I don’t make it back by the time I said I would, she’ll tell someone. I think. Although, she thought I was pretty stupid for going out in the first place, so maybe she’s not waiting around. Maybe she wasn’t going to be there when I got back, anyway… so then she wouldn’t know it if I didn’t make it back…

Danny frowned. Even if she had told someone, they’d never find him down here in this hole. He needed a way to signal them, but he wasn’t getting any radio reception. They’d have to be really close to hear him on the radio.

He swung the flashlight beam around the hole again. The light glistened off the regolith, like it was a wall of rusty sequins. Except for one small patch near the base. Danny brought the light back, scanned the area until… there. A dark shadow. No, not a shadow. A… rock? He knelt by the object. It looked to be embedded in the regolith. He reached out to touch it and although he couldn’t feel its texture through the thick, insulated gloves of his suit, he could tell it was solid. He dug his index finger into the regolith and traced the edge of the object. It popped out and fell into his hand. It wasn’t heavy, but Danny didn’t know if it really wasn’t heavy, or if it was the lighter gravity that made it seem that way. He held it up to his faceplate. It seemed smooth. It was a perfect rectangle, about the same size and thickness as a standard brick. And totally black. It didn’t reflect light at all; it seemed to suck it up instead. He hadn’t seen anything like it.

Lake is going to love this, he said.

And again, he remembered where he was.

His heart started to race again. He took some deep breaths and tried his Mars Camp exercises. When they didn’t work, he closed his eyes and thought about Lakisha Mackenzie. At seventeen, she was eight months older than Danny and a freshman at the colony university. But he didn’t care about that. He focused on her face, skin blended from her father’s fair complexion and her mother’s dark. Large chestnut eyes and ringlets of toffee-brown hair that smelled like butterscotch and graced her shoulders. And a smile that dimpled her cheeks.

He relaxed and dropped the object into his thigh pocket. Above him, the sky had darkened considerably.

Okay, Danny Boy. How’re you going to get out of this one?

The flashlight beam refracted off the regolith as if in answer. He looked up again.

Okay. Okay. If I can toss the flashlight out of this shaft, and it lands just right, the beam should be spotted by the rescue team. If there is a rescue team. That is, if Lake…

Danny tossed the flashlight. It went straight up in a lazy, one-third G rise, then drifted straight back down in a lazy, one-third G fall.

He tried again, this time aiming closer to the edge of the opening. The light clipped the edge, then coasted back to his feet.

He tossed it again. This time the flashlight tumbled end-over-end, cleared the opening, and disappeared over the edge.

Yes! He threw both arms in the air, like a referee declaring a touchdown.

His elation lasted only a few seconds. With the flashlight gone, his interior helmet light provided the only illumination and that was so dim he couldn’t even see the walls of the shaft. He stood encased in darkness. He swallowed and eased himself to the uneven ground.

He tapped toggles on his forearm and accessed his playlist. The electronica-metal music of his favorite band blared into his headphones. He pressed the radio transmit button and let his tunes play out over the radio. If they spotted his light, or were in the general vicinity, they should be able to pick up his music.

After each new song, Danny checked his air gauge. The reading dropped lower and lower until it was in the red and he was breathing his reserves. His head felt light, his stomach queasy. The air from the reserve tank smelled like a tin can.

Warning, his suit system chimed, overriding the mute toggle. Oxygen level critical.

It hit him then, and any remaining bluster oozed away. They might not find me.

He lay flat on his back and stared at the sky, now so dark he couldn’t tell where the edge of the shaft was. A deep ache developed in his chest and each labored breath made his chest hurt even more. He tasted something sour in the back of his throat. His music still blared, but he couldn’t focus on it. He thought about his dad, and how mad he was going to be at Danny for getting lost. He thought about his mom back on Earth with his stepfather. But, as Danny Long’s vision blurred and his consciousness faded, it was Lake Mackenzie who drifted into the dark with him.

Rocket with solid fill

Danny awoke slowly, the darkness surrendering to the soft light that now surrounded him. He heard beeping instruments and hushed conversation nearby. A strong scent of disinfectant made his head ache. He opened his eyes a little, then clamped them shut at the glare from the ceiling fixture.

Owww, he said.

Danny? The voice was deep and firm and official.

Danny winced and brought his arm up to cover his eyes. Only then did he open them. He peeked underneath his arm and saw the Chief of Colony Safety standing over him, arms crossed, chest puffed out, gold colony emblem gleaming on his burgundy and black uniform.

What were you thinking, young man? the Chief said.

Hi, Dad, Danny said.

I asked you a question.

Chief Jeremy Long’s face was a chiseled marble sculpture. Like those statues Danny remembered seeing in the art museum back on Earth. The lines and creases on his father’s face made him look older than he actually was. So did the thick hair that used to be black as space, but now showed brush strokes of gray. Danny always wished he had hair as dark as his dad’s. Instead, he got his mom’s golden-blonde locks. And her height too. Chief Long stood a few inches over six feet tall and towered over Danny by almost eight inches when they were next to each other.

How did… how did I get back here?

Miss Mackenzie reported your little adventure. I sent rovers out in the direction she said you headed. One of them spotted your flashlight and picked up your music. Your tanks were almost dry when they got to you.

Pretty smart of me to—

Smart? Don’t you mean reckless? First, you broke colony rules by going outside the dome alone. Second, you went outside without logging your excursion with Colony Safety. And third, you went out alone.

You said that twice, Dad. Danny’s head ached.

Don’t get smart with me, Daniel. I’ll ask you again. What were you thinking?

Danny looked away.

Chief Long dropped his arms and sat on the edge of the bed. Danny looked back at him and saw his father’s stone face soften. Danny. You almost died. What could be so important?

Danny blushed.

The girl?

I was going to take a selfie at the edge of the Valles Marineris. She didn’t ask me to go out there, Dad. In fact, she told me it was a stupid idea.

Smart girl.

I know.

Chief Long patted his son’s shoulder. The doctor says you’ll need to stay in the infirmary overnight. He stood and resumed his official demeanor. Starting tomorrow and for the next six weeks, you’ll be doing three hours of community service every day. And except for school, you’re confined to our habitat.

Dad—

You don’t get it, Danny. You endangered yourself just to impress a girl. And if I were going to stress the point, I’d tell you how many man-hours and resources we expended searching for you. Plus, you put me in an awkward position. I have to report to the Colony Director what disciplinary steps I’ve taken with you, and you can bet she’s going to make sure I don’t give my son special treatment.

Danny crossed his arms, scowled, and looked away. He knew his dad was right. But Danny wasn’t going to let him know that.

I’ll see you in the morning, Chief Long said. When Danny didn’t respond, he turned and left, the glass doors hissing closed behind him.

Six weeks of service and confined to the hab. Not fair.

A light tap-tap on the glass pulled his attention back to the door. The boy at the door looked over his shoulder, watched Chief Long disappear around a corner, and then turned back to the glass. He flashed a toothy smile at Danny and palmed the door actuator.

Man, your dad is maaaaad, the boy said.

You don’t know the half of it, Mat, Danny said. Come on in.

Mateo Chavez was a bit taller than Danny, but lanky and thin. He had a dark complexion, not like Lake’s creamy brown, but more of a sunbaked look folks from the southwestern portion of the Unites States tended to have. He wore his licorice-colored hair in a simple, scissors cut with bangs that fell across his forehead in a straight line. He and Danny shared the same birth month, though Danny was a few weeks older. Mateo didn’t speak a lick of Spanish, but loved to brandish the words gringo and mierda around like he was fluent.

He stopped at Danny’s bedside. How you feeling, gringo?

Pissed. I’m grounded and I have to do community service.

You’re lucky. I thought you’d get at least six months in the brig.

Danny sighed. Funny. We don’t have a brig.

So, was Lakisha impressed, or not?

I don’t think so. I don’t know. Last time I saw her was at the airlock.

She hasn’t come to see you?

Not that I know of. I just woke up.

Mat pulled a chair up to the bed and straddled it. Look, Danny. You’re my best friend. And we’ve done some pretty dumb things, but this…

Not you too. Give me a break.

Mat shook his head. I’m not on your case. It’s just that I don’t get why you had to do this. There are plenty of other ways you can get her attention. You’re the smartest kid in school.

Big deal. It’s a small school.

Okay, well you’re the smartest kid in the colony.

No, Danny said. Lake is the smartest kid in the colony.

Man, you got it bad for her. Does her boyfriend know?

Justin Conner is not her boyfriend.

Well, everyone thinks he is.

He’s an idiot.

Yeah. A six-foot-tall idiot.

He’s a rock jock.

He’s a university geology tech.

Danny glared at Mat. Yeah, well… why are you taking his side, anyway?

Okay. Didn’t mean to piss you off. Mat got up and moved the chair back. "Get some rest. You look like mierda."

Thanks a lot. Truth was, he really did feel like crap.

Mat grinned and headed for the door. Hey, I’m glad you’re okay, Danny.

Thanks.

See ya.

See ya.

Danny dimmed the overhead light and fisted his pillow into shape, then lay back. As he drifted off to sleep, his thoughts were already swirling around how he could get back out there.

Rocket with solid fill

The on-duty doctor released Danny at nine o’clock the next morning. His dad had stopped by to check on him earlier but hadn’t relented on his punishment. Not that Danny thought he really would. It would have been a nice surprise, though. Once outside the infirmary, he made a beeline for the Geology Department.

The colony had been established inside a small crater near Valles Marineris, the awful gash across the face of Mars. The dome covered the crater, sealing in heat and breathable air. Most of the colony was underground, with only a few science departments like meteorology and astronomy on the surface. Danny rode the elevator up from sub-level four, the medical deck, to the university deck on sub-level one, the first floor below the surface. He sidestepped through the slowly opening elevator doors and trotted down the corridor, passing the life sciences, astrophysics, and chemistry departments. He heeled to a stop in front of the glass doors to the Geology Department.

He took a breath, checked his reflection in the glass, and pressed the actuator. The glass doors slid aside with a hiss of compression. Danny had spent a lot of time in geology and knew his way around the department. He was in his senior year at the colony high school and had visited all the science disciplines and colony professions as he prepared for university. His aptitude scores made him eligible for any field he chose.

At the beginning of the school year, he favored Public Administration. Then it was Colony Safety, like his dad. Then it was Computer Science like Mat’s mother. But when he first saw Lakisha Mackenzie, he decided he really wanted to be a geologist.

Hi, Danny, one of the geology interns said as Danny passed her workstation. She was an amber-haired girl, a bit taller than he was. And pretty. Danny had seen her around a few times but didn’t remember her name.

He kept walking but turned his head in her direction. Hi, he said to the girl and nearly ran right into Lake as she stepped out of her cubicle.

Whoa, Danny said. Sorry.

Lake juggled a tray of rocks and took a step back.

Danny, she said.