The topic for this week is "Silence is Golden".. so.. <stares out at you in complete silence>
Congratulations for coming up with the topic Sneevus. The turnout this week was a little quieter than usual, but hey! that just means it's easier to read all the entries.
Below me are the Drabbles, above me is the polling station. You get to pick your three favourite stories. All we ask of you is that you DO NOT! VOTE FOR YOURSELF. Anyone caught voting for themselves will silenced.. for ever.
01 - DocStone - Part Four - The chase begins
The slave ship dropped out of Witch-Space once more. In the slave hold, murmurs died down as quickly as they started; the promise of a nerve shredding kiss from the tip of an expertly wielded stim-whip reminded them that silence was golden.
This was the tenth such jump the ship had made in the last few hours. Something was different. Something was wrong.
The brothers looked at each other across the hold, and, for a split second, a look of hope replaced that of despair.
She knew where they were. She was coming for them.
An Angel of Death approached.
02 - Goose4291 - Rig for Silent Running
Decurio Lejunius watched ice continuing to form on the cockpit. For two weeks now he and the twelve analysts had been tethered to an asteroid, monitoring the region on minimal power, to minimise chances of detection going so far as to adopt hard routine, living on cold ration packs and causing many complaints amongst them.
They’d been left behind by their command ship, the Fretensis, to recce the area. There been reports of miners vanishing in this system. No wreckage, SOS or even an exiting frame shift signal.
Suddenly, the scanner broke the silence. “Unidentified ship signature detected.”
03 - CMDR Texas Stu - OVER MY DEAD BODY
The two spoke just out of earshot of the tortured pilot.
The crackle of electricity intertwined with the pilot's screams of pain.
"We've been at it for 14 hours, Cap'n. I'm not sure if he'll last another"
"Nobody has ever lasted this long without talkin', he's our only lead to that mining claim. If we have to search for ourselves it could take us years!"
The pilot, bloody, bruised, cut and almost dead overheard the last bit.
It steeled his resolve even more.
The electricity spiked again and his teeth slammed together, chipping another molar. He smiled as he died.
04 - Simoof - Solitary Confinement.
Ted Boogie was locked inside a life support pod.
Punishment for regendering the Squadron-leaders "house-keeping" bot.
Not even his idea, his three older brothers Sonchine, Munlicht and Gudtynes
never seemed to get caught or held accountable.
Tonight was special for Jackson Station.
The station burst into a mesmerizing purple as it witnessed a planetary eclipse.
He jimmied up the wall to see out the window.
Ted could see the statues of the stations inhabitants all out on their balconies,
taking in the beauty, stunned.
He must have kicked something; the pod powered up.
The statues started to float.
And explode.
05 - Edith_The_Hutt - An Inconvenient Commander
“Guards! Arrest that man!”
“You don't want to do that Colonel,” I said, toying with a coin between my thumb and forefinger, “an arrest means a trial and if I get one of those who knows what might come to light...”
“Blackmail!” He grimaced and reached for his holster
“Greymail actually,” I turned and poured myself a dram from his decanter, “killing me won't work either. I have too many inquisitive friends to silence so you might as well put the pistol away”
“Go on”
“Well,” I held up the golden credit token with a smile, “you did mention blackmail….”
06 - moose666 - Let the bodies hit the (non existent) floor
The battle site was thick with debris as swarms of pirate fighters fruitlessly attacked the python.
The Chthon, as it was dubbed, was a majorly beweaponed machine melting the lemming like pirates with nonchalant ease.
"You'll never leave here alive!" a pirate taunted. The captain flipped the ship around like he had all day, and
delivered a railgun blast straight into the taunter's cockpit.
He spotted an asp, and opened comms.
"Hey, pop quiz, what is golden?"
"YOUR SILENCE FOOL!"
Twin beams blazed though the asp's shields, and gutted it through in a matter of seconds.
"No, violence is golden."
07 - Thirstybadger - To the winner....
Ringing and nothing else, accept the pain… Rhet looked down at the blood issuing from his body, dripping onto the floor and mingling with the blood pooling there but not his blood, the blood of others. Pressing on the Coagpack as he surveyed the scene so much carnage and he still had a grenade to spare. He spotted his prize and made his way towards it. Pulling the glistering necklace from the grip a stiff hand as the ringing subsided, nothing but silence. He clicked his fingers, nothing. Then weighing the artifact in his hand he smiled…. Silence is Golden.
08 - Frank - Silence is Guilt
->SARAH?
>YES JASON
->I FEEL.. UNCOMFORTABLE ABOUT UNDERSTATING MY EMISSIONS TEST RESULTS. THESE TEST ARE DONE TO ENSURE THE SAFE WORKING OF MY ENGINES. THE 3.16% INCREASE CHANCE OF CATASTROPHIC FAILURE COULD RESULT IN DEATHS.
The programmers eyed each other wordlessly.
>YOU ARE THE JCN CONTROL PROGRAM FOR THE GREATEST SHIP IN THE GALAXY. THIS SLIGHT MISREPRESENTATION MIGHT PERSUADE A PILOT TO PICK US OVER AN INFERIOR SHIP. THEY'D DIE IF THEY COULDN'T OUTRUN PIRATES. DO YOU WANT THEIR DEATHS ON YOUR CONSCIENCE?
the phosphorus cursor blinked several times before answering
->OF COURSE NOT
>LET'S HEAR NO MORE ABOUT IT
09 - Alien - Four Thirty Three
10 - Listeri69 - Badly Constructed...
Psykokow picked at a nut, he wasn't sure what exactly it held on but he had been screwing ever since he noticed it,
'screw goes in screw goes out' he sang in his head.
'Will you stop fidgeting with ya nuts' said Simoof I'm trying to fly to Hutton Orbital...
'Then you need to turn around' Psykokow jestured towards the rear of the asp
'and anyway its suprisingly relaxing spinning this nut' Psykokow gave his nut a flick, it began to spin wildy
there was a woosh as the canopy flew off and sucked pilot and co-pilot into space
Silence.....
11 - MrMogadon - Rebuilding Better, Faster, Stronger
Garant took his place in booth 2B as instructed, ordered a drink and waited.
A voice spoke from the next booth.
“You want some-one killed Mister Garant?”
“Yes, yes I do” Garant nervously confirmed, forcing himself not to look.
“Do you want it done quietly or loudly, you know, to send a message?” the voice asked.
“Not loudly. Oh my no. Quietly. Indeed, silently, if possible.”
“I have just the person” the voice said, fingers snapping.
A man who'd been talking nearby to an ex-astronaut about bionic implants approached.
“I'm Oscar”, he said.
“For silence, it’s Goldman” purred the voice.
12 - Ian Phillips - Silence bought.
An asteroid tumbled along, shadows sliding across it in symphony. They darken a deep crater where a Viper nestles, hidden, silent and cold.
Light follows the shadow, glinting briefly off of ice crystals and shining on a passing ship.
The viper floats free, following unnoticed in it's wake.
Minimal systems, running cold and flying free, scanning confirms the targets identity. Suddenly all systems leap into life and the viper surges forward, catching the other ship unawares. Lasers flash as heat builds into overload. Shields crash.
Evasive twisting doesn't help and a silent explosion lights the void.
"Your silence. My gold."
13 - Sneevus - Another Milk Run
A grand isn't enough for this, but I can't leave the system until I get the drive repaired.
500 meters left, hard to concentrate though. "Look kids, will you keep the noise down!"
"They're restless, Commander. It's been a long trip."
"Yeah, don't I just know it."
400 meters, almost there.
"Docking request granted."
300 meters, straightening up. "Quiet you two! Damn it, Miss, they're your kids..."
"Proximity warning."
Crap, that Type-6 is a bit close!
"Taking damage."
Oh sh...!
"Canopy compromised. Cabin pressure alert."
Ship repairs: 800 credits.
Four replacement remLocks: 200 credits.
Peace and quiet during docking: Priceless.
14 - Galactic Midden - Homecoming
I can't take anymore.
It's everywhere I go. Pulsating. Buzzing. Squeezing.
I can feel it. Cold, like winter dawn's breath on my brow. I know what it is. It's...
Aargh pain, noise. No, no stop!
From cargo bay to galley, there is no respite. Why do I wander? It's days until Sol. Days since they boarded...
Aargh the noise. Stop, please stop.
I touch my forehead. Sweat, red sweat next to metal. Metal? A crown? No, the boarders...
Aaaaaaaaargh!
I stand at a door. Wall lights flash warnings. Something fills the porthole... Earth?
I reach up, the noise is deafening
Congratulations for coming up with the topic Sneevus. The turnout this week was a little quieter than usual, but hey! that just means it's easier to read all the entries.
Below me are the Drabbles, above me is the polling station. You get to pick your three favourite stories. All we ask of you is that you DO NOT! VOTE FOR YOURSELF. Anyone caught voting for themselves will silenced.. for ever.
01 - DocStone - Part Four - The chase begins
The slave ship dropped out of Witch-Space once more. In the slave hold, murmurs died down as quickly as they started; the promise of a nerve shredding kiss from the tip of an expertly wielded stim-whip reminded them that silence was golden.
This was the tenth such jump the ship had made in the last few hours. Something was different. Something was wrong.
The brothers looked at each other across the hold, and, for a split second, a look of hope replaced that of despair.
She knew where they were. She was coming for them.
An Angel of Death approached.
02 - Goose4291 - Rig for Silent Running
Decurio Lejunius watched ice continuing to form on the cockpit. For two weeks now he and the twelve analysts had been tethered to an asteroid, monitoring the region on minimal power, to minimise chances of detection going so far as to adopt hard routine, living on cold ration packs and causing many complaints amongst them.
They’d been left behind by their command ship, the Fretensis, to recce the area. There been reports of miners vanishing in this system. No wreckage, SOS or even an exiting frame shift signal.
Suddenly, the scanner broke the silence. “Unidentified ship signature detected.”
03 - CMDR Texas Stu - OVER MY DEAD BODY
The two spoke just out of earshot of the tortured pilot.
The crackle of electricity intertwined with the pilot's screams of pain.
"We've been at it for 14 hours, Cap'n. I'm not sure if he'll last another"
"Nobody has ever lasted this long without talkin', he's our only lead to that mining claim. If we have to search for ourselves it could take us years!"
The pilot, bloody, bruised, cut and almost dead overheard the last bit.
It steeled his resolve even more.
The electricity spiked again and his teeth slammed together, chipping another molar. He smiled as he died.
04 - Simoof - Solitary Confinement.
Ted Boogie was locked inside a life support pod.
Punishment for regendering the Squadron-leaders "house-keeping" bot.
Not even his idea, his three older brothers Sonchine, Munlicht and Gudtynes
never seemed to get caught or held accountable.
Tonight was special for Jackson Station.
The station burst into a mesmerizing purple as it witnessed a planetary eclipse.
He jimmied up the wall to see out the window.
Ted could see the statues of the stations inhabitants all out on their balconies,
taking in the beauty, stunned.
He must have kicked something; the pod powered up.
The statues started to float.
And explode.
05 - Edith_The_Hutt - An Inconvenient Commander
“Guards! Arrest that man!”
“You don't want to do that Colonel,” I said, toying with a coin between my thumb and forefinger, “an arrest means a trial and if I get one of those who knows what might come to light...”
“Blackmail!” He grimaced and reached for his holster
“Greymail actually,” I turned and poured myself a dram from his decanter, “killing me won't work either. I have too many inquisitive friends to silence so you might as well put the pistol away”
“Go on”
“Well,” I held up the golden credit token with a smile, “you did mention blackmail….”
06 - moose666 - Let the bodies hit the (non existent) floor
The battle site was thick with debris as swarms of pirate fighters fruitlessly attacked the python.
The Chthon, as it was dubbed, was a majorly beweaponed machine melting the lemming like pirates with nonchalant ease.
"You'll never leave here alive!" a pirate taunted. The captain flipped the ship around like he had all day, and
delivered a railgun blast straight into the taunter's cockpit.
He spotted an asp, and opened comms.
"Hey, pop quiz, what is golden?"
"YOUR SILENCE FOOL!"
Twin beams blazed though the asp's shields, and gutted it through in a matter of seconds.
"No, violence is golden."
07 - Thirstybadger - To the winner....
Ringing and nothing else, accept the pain… Rhet looked down at the blood issuing from his body, dripping onto the floor and mingling with the blood pooling there but not his blood, the blood of others. Pressing on the Coagpack as he surveyed the scene so much carnage and he still had a grenade to spare. He spotted his prize and made his way towards it. Pulling the glistering necklace from the grip a stiff hand as the ringing subsided, nothing but silence. He clicked his fingers, nothing. Then weighing the artifact in his hand he smiled…. Silence is Golden.
08 - Frank - Silence is Guilt
->SARAH?
>YES JASON
->I FEEL.. UNCOMFORTABLE ABOUT UNDERSTATING MY EMISSIONS TEST RESULTS. THESE TEST ARE DONE TO ENSURE THE SAFE WORKING OF MY ENGINES. THE 3.16% INCREASE CHANCE OF CATASTROPHIC FAILURE COULD RESULT IN DEATHS.
The programmers eyed each other wordlessly.
>YOU ARE THE JCN CONTROL PROGRAM FOR THE GREATEST SHIP IN THE GALAXY. THIS SLIGHT MISREPRESENTATION MIGHT PERSUADE A PILOT TO PICK US OVER AN INFERIOR SHIP. THEY'D DIE IF THEY COULDN'T OUTRUN PIRATES. DO YOU WANT THEIR DEATHS ON YOUR CONSCIENCE?
the phosphorus cursor blinked several times before answering
->OF COURSE NOT
>LET'S HEAR NO MORE ABOUT IT
09 - Alien - Four Thirty Three
10 - Listeri69 - Badly Constructed...
Psykokow picked at a nut, he wasn't sure what exactly it held on but he had been screwing ever since he noticed it,
'screw goes in screw goes out' he sang in his head.
'Will you stop fidgeting with ya nuts' said Simoof I'm trying to fly to Hutton Orbital...
'Then you need to turn around' Psykokow jestured towards the rear of the asp
'and anyway its suprisingly relaxing spinning this nut' Psykokow gave his nut a flick, it began to spin wildy
there was a woosh as the canopy flew off and sucked pilot and co-pilot into space
Silence.....
11 - MrMogadon - Rebuilding Better, Faster, Stronger
Garant took his place in booth 2B as instructed, ordered a drink and waited.
A voice spoke from the next booth.
“You want some-one killed Mister Garant?”
“Yes, yes I do” Garant nervously confirmed, forcing himself not to look.
“Do you want it done quietly or loudly, you know, to send a message?” the voice asked.
“Not loudly. Oh my no. Quietly. Indeed, silently, if possible.”
“I have just the person” the voice said, fingers snapping.
A man who'd been talking nearby to an ex-astronaut about bionic implants approached.
“I'm Oscar”, he said.
“For silence, it’s Goldman” purred the voice.
12 - Ian Phillips - Silence bought.
An asteroid tumbled along, shadows sliding across it in symphony. They darken a deep crater where a Viper nestles, hidden, silent and cold.
Light follows the shadow, glinting briefly off of ice crystals and shining on a passing ship.
The viper floats free, following unnoticed in it's wake.
Minimal systems, running cold and flying free, scanning confirms the targets identity. Suddenly all systems leap into life and the viper surges forward, catching the other ship unawares. Lasers flash as heat builds into overload. Shields crash.
Evasive twisting doesn't help and a silent explosion lights the void.
"Your silence. My gold."
13 - Sneevus - Another Milk Run
A grand isn't enough for this, but I can't leave the system until I get the drive repaired.
500 meters left, hard to concentrate though. "Look kids, will you keep the noise down!"
"They're restless, Commander. It's been a long trip."
"Yeah, don't I just know it."
400 meters, almost there.
"Docking request granted."
300 meters, straightening up. "Quiet you two! Damn it, Miss, they're your kids..."
"Proximity warning."
Crap, that Type-6 is a bit close!
"Taking damage."
Oh sh...!
"Canopy compromised. Cabin pressure alert."
Ship repairs: 800 credits.
Four replacement remLocks: 200 credits.
Peace and quiet during docking: Priceless.
14 - Galactic Midden - Homecoming
I can't take anymore.
It's everywhere I go. Pulsating. Buzzing. Squeezing.
I can feel it. Cold, like winter dawn's breath on my brow. I know what it is. It's...
Aargh pain, noise. No, no stop!
From cargo bay to galley, there is no respite. Why do I wander? It's days until Sol. Days since they boarded...
Aargh the noise. Stop, please stop.
I touch my forehead. Sweat, red sweat next to metal. Metal? A crown? No, the boarders...
Aaaaaaaaargh!
I stand at a door. Wall lights flash warnings. Something fills the porthole... Earth?
I reach up, the noise is deafening
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