Rough days, what’s the economy? Scraping energy to survive. Barely any sun, but plenty of space to collect it. Huge sheets of ice flash-frozen into solar bowls that concentrate dim Jovian sun down to Earthly brightness. Some is reflected through thick fibers to illuminate caves of field greens; oxygen and sustenance in one simple package. […]
Content
File: Squibs
Imagine an evening, freshening breeze and deepening shades. Out in the neighborhood, watching the stars flicker between the early-budded twigs. Nearing the horizon, a growing crescent of Moon swings midway two bracketing stars, the crook just a little lower than the intervening line, as if the weight of the satellite was straining a net between. […]
It’s not just jet lag that gets you otherside. It’s eclipsetime that always messes you up. Ninety minutes of darkness with a black hole cutting through the stars, ringed with a faint dusty annulus. Min-morning if you’re in Atherton, mid-afternoon if you’re in Srendix. And in Feisul-Malabi, it’s right at noon. Outside doesn’t have siesta. […]
The winter had been difficult. A late January noreaster had run through the plantation and toppled several of the older units, spilling oil and sapoline across the sands and throwing productions schedules all out of whack. Quota was at 77%. Noise from the mainland filtered down through the hierarchy, and the static was filling up […]