Well the semifinals resulted in a very close contest indeed.
These are the top 22 drabbles for your consideration, deliberation and exultation.
The finalists in Alphabetical order are.
- Cathy
- DaddyHoggy
- Darren Grey
- Galactic Midden
- GavThomas
- GT
- Ian Phillips
- Lister69
- Musashi
- Psykokow
- STAB666
- The Lone Gunman
- T.j
Congratulations to those who made the finals.
Have a recap then...
Vote for your favourite 3.
The winner who will be crowned King or Queen (or kow...) of the Drabbles.
The very best of luck to everyone.
So without further ado.....
The finalists Drabbles
·
Maintenance
Cathy: Maintenance
"You forgot!"
"Hmm?" Larry peered over his cornflake mix, mouth still sealed around the tube.
"You forgot, didn’t you?"
Larry sucked slowly. Frank seemed agitated – scared even – clumping towards him down the cramped corridor, his fists hitting bulkheads as he fought zero-g. Was Frank trying to run?
"It was your turn!"
Larry frowned. Suck... chew… swallow. He blinked up at his business partner. It wasn’t like Frank to yell. He glanced around the cockpit for inspiration. He got nothing.
"To what?"
“To replace the seals on the bio-waste containment. Now there’s six weeks’ worth of crap sailing our way."
·
Cyborgs
Darren Grey: Taking Stock
Damien looked intensely over the model before him. Her long, slim legs, the graceful curves of her body, the demure face… He shivered with delight.
“Is she fully equipped?” he asked. “For… everything?”
The salesman adjusted his visor. “Why, yessir. As the latest in organic and cybernetic fusion technology she is capable of all manner of… functions. She is even self-cleaning and auto-repairing.”
“Mm, good.” He wanted her badly, so very badly. But the price was extreme. Could he justify it?
Her wide eyes blinked at him and she bleated a gentle “baaa” sound. All willpower shattered. “I’ll take her!”
·
Zero-g
Cathy: Art and Death in Zero-g
Flashes of brilliant orange and blood-red fire; alloys and polymer spinning away into a wild vacuum.
It’s beautiful, really. That last hit was an artist. Fluid in its bright confusion, it delivered an impressionist’s dream.
Inside our broken hull it’s no less bewitching: my blood orbits, the droplets coalescing. Pink shards of bone float before my glazing eyes.
I can’t reach anything. I peel off a charred boot and throw it with all my faltering strength, hoping for some thrust to send me back to a bulkhead.
It doesn’t work. I just spin gently.
At least the view is pleasing.
·
Exploration
Gavthomas - In too deep
Undisrupted, numbing, crushing loneliness…the curse of the explorer. And few suffered it more than Cmdr Tregor Stryder, hellbent on finding something… something. Something lucrative enough to free him from this non-existence, watching scanners, chasing feelings, pointing towards the dark void. Small mining and information gathering opportunities existed for those willing to do such work for modest returns. Stryder had been doing this for too long and needed to land the big fish that would allow him to go home. The further he went the more despair he felt and the harder it was to turn around. Just a bit further…
·
Federation
psykokow - In a Tin
In the dark they huddled to keep warm, their scarred skin and hard hands offered no comfort, ragged caresses left trails across their soft skin from badly snagged fingernails. Listening in the dark for signs of the masters returning... it would be over then.
Footsteps echoed nearby... they gasped and held their breath, hugging tighter still hoping to squeeze the air out of each other to keep their location secret.
BANG, the container side fell away and blinding light filled in, she screamed.
A calm deep voice softened her panic, 'You're safe now... Welcome to the Federation'
Free at Last.
·
Slaves
STAB666 - The nature of the game
"“I almost wish I hadn’t done that now”.
It’s the same thought that kept circling in his head, threatening his conscience like a great white shark.
He stood in the center of the now empty cargo hold, blankly watching the jet of water swish from side to side from the washer, as it cut its way through the leftover grime.
Blood, dirt and probably sweat and tears to go with it, had been painted over almost every surface. He’d heard the screams. He pretended not to, but he had.
Was it worth the money, the risk?
Of course it was."
·
Duelling/Explosions
Darren Grey - Defending Honour
“Curse that Valerion!” gruffed Marcus as he marched to the meeting place. “Demanding we meet at this ungodly hour, all for the stupid sake of honour.”
He barely even remembered how the duel came about. He’d spilled a drink, Valerion cursed, and he’d shouted something back about abusing Valerion’s mother with gangs of libidinous slaveboys. Then Valerion ranted something about honour, sword duel at dawn, blah blah blah…
Well, Marcus cared little for such silliness, so he’d brought a laser pistol. Let’s see honour defend against that!
But his triumphant smile faded when he saw Valerion had brought a bazooka.
·
Revenge
Cathy - Mercy
Chandra's blade sliced leathery skin. Blood seeped through. Her fingers prised to expose raw muscle. The slaver's hairy arms jerked and twisted, pinned by thorny vines. Crimson spattered the snow.
"For every hour of my life stolen..."
She cracked bones, wrenched open a gristled ribcage. Hot breath misted cold air.
"Every back of my master's hand..."
Flesh oozed. Lungs heaved. She delved, exposed, spread them wide.
"His death took hours. Yours is merciful. I know it was just money."
Chandra turned away, hands dripping gore. She admired the ship that was now hers. It needed a new name.
The Bloodeagle.
·
Trumbles
Musashi - The Trouble With A New Hope
"...So," recounted Grandpa-894, "Great-Great-Grandpa-1 fled the persecution on the Ball-of-Rock and came to live in the Box-of-Metal with his wife. And here we all are!"
The countless thousands of various Trumble generations cooed as he finished the tale. He especially liked telling it to his great-great-great-grandchildren; they were more appreciative.
It had grown hotter over the last few minutes, and Grandpa-894 wandered over to the porthole. A huge blazing sphere hung there, growing bigger even as he watched.
Strange.
"What’s that?” asked Great-Grandson-61257, the inveterate worrier.
"A good omen, my boy," replied Grandpa. "It means our future will be bright!"
·
Fear
Ian Phillips - Your Own Demons
Fear lives in you, coiled up in your chest like a snake.
As it stirs awake and rears to stare you in the eyes, hypnotic and paralysing, your stomach muscles clench.
Breath comes in short, shallow gasps. Exhausting. Sweat squeezes out of every pore.
The snake wears your face.
You look at yourself and, over the sound of your own voice swearing and whining, admit that you are afraid.
But you also control a snake and WILL NOT let this one stop you.
Shakily your hand reaches out and toggles the comms unit on.
'Commander Reighdar, requesting permission to Dock'
·
Imagination
Cathy - Breathless
The dying ship speaks: "Oxygen level critical." He slides down a bulkhead. The wrench slips from his grasp. His eyes mist. His limbs are lead.
Then he sees her: his truest love... before he lost her. Skin glistening, eyelashes soft.
He hears her... "Hello, my love."
"You died."
"That was so long ago," she whispers. His lungs ache.
He feels her... gentle fingertips inside his gloves; soothing palms against his chest. Where his lips thin to blue, hers are full and red. Where his breath fails, hers is sweet, catching his last.
"Come home."
So he does as she says.
·
Sabotage
Darren Grey - A form of protest
INDUSTRIOUSNESS
EFFICIENCY
The giant letters loomed over thousands of Sirius factory employees.
LOYALTY
OBEDIENCE
Josie sweated over the cutting machines. If she didn’t move fast enough she’d get sliced.
FOCUS
CONTROL
Her arm ached from yesterday’s accident. The manager had docked her three week’s pay, accusing her of deliberate sabotage. Now she’d need to work harder to earn her rent.
RELIABILITY
DISCIPLINE
She stared despondently ahead, the machine shearing another metal sheet.
Sabotage…
Josie flung herself forward. Blood sprayed in all directions, bones shattered in screeching metal, guts grinding through the machines.
The factory came to a sudden, expensive halt.
·
Bureaucracy/New friends
Gimi - Docking Clearance
He looked down at the docking clearance in utter puzzlement.
Oddly enough, there were two.
“Docking clearance 23A2342:
Proceed to Docking Area Three, bay 3-A5 for unloading of minerals.
Warning: Ship's manifest includes alcoholic beverages.
Regulation 3345-3A states that intoxicants are prohibited in docking area three.
Docking clearance 23A2343:
Proceed to Docking Area Seven, bay 7-C2 for unloading of alcoholic beverages.
Warning: Ship's manifest includes titanium ore.
Regulation 7798-8Z states that unrefined substances are prohibited in docking area seven.
Breach of docking instructions will result in offender status and subsequent fines.
For clarifications please contact our new friendly automated Dockmaster.“
·
A new Species
DaddyHoggy - Seeing is believing
Darvus woke the rest of the day shift crew up with his screaming.
"I can't see!" he wailed into the semi-darkness.
Marken switched on the main lights and could see Darvus clawing at his face. Marken along with Phelps pulled the hands away to get a better look and to stop Darvus doing any more damage to his flesh.
They reeled back from the scores of little legs sticking out of Darvus' otherwise empty eye sockets.
The station's doctors said later it was a new species of arachnid, equipped with a powerful anaesthetic and a liking for the human eyeball.
·
The Operation
The Lone Gunman - A slave to debt
She waited anxiously holding her husbands hand in the private Imperial room, her little daughters complicated operation due to finish soon
Her husband looked stricken with worry
she squeezed his hand, trying to give him strength
"It should be me" he said
There was a cough from the man opposite
An Imperial doctor appeared "all fine"
The relief while great, also meant it was time
She kissed her husband goodbye and walked over to the other man
She turned "Tell our daughter I love her and will be back soon"
She then walked out the hospital with her new master
·
Home
Psykokow - A Hero's Return
Crowds in their thousands, filling the streets, excitedly bouncing together and singing songs.
Children run around mimicking my historic battles, fighting over who gets to pretend to be me.
Parents, arms in the air chanting out my name, saliva frothing on their lips, spittle spraying out with each call.
I've been away for so long I'd forgotten how passionate my people were, I gulp deeply surprised they still remember me.
As I approach the city hall the chants reach a deafening level, the crowds shaking my cabin excitedly.
What a welcome home!
And now, time to pay for my crimes.
·
Drink
T.j - Taking the ....
The room is dark and freezing.
I stare for a eternity at the glass on the table.
The moisture glistens as it slowly collects into droplets which descends to collect on the table.
A involuntary shudder courses across my flesh as the aroma fills my nose and invades my senses.
My hand reaches out and lifts it towards my parched, cracked lips
I take a deep breath and brace myself for the inevitable onslaught that will assault my taste receptors very soon.....
The silence continues to deafen me ever since the lifesupport failed last week.
Damn, I hate Urine recyc.
·
Piracy... ARRRRR
Darren Grey - Man in the Middle
Listen, I ain't saying I'm a good guy. But on the frontiers, you gotta get by somehow. There’s a food chain out there, and we ain't even the ones on top.
The poor schmucks at the bottom, traders and miners with no better place to go, they got it worst. No mercy for them. They’re our prey, we can’t afford to be getting sympathetic now.
But us, we got it hard too. Is that trader a trap? Is some hunter lurking in shadows? We's always watching our back, else we end up prey too.
All part of the game, see.
·
My Way
GT - Regrets
Regrets? I've had a few...
I’ve robbed some pilots of their pension
I did what I wanted to do
And stole their freight without exemption
I’ve planned my chartered course
Held up traders like men of the highway
But more, I took the piЅЅ
And did it my way
Yes there were times I went ‘pew pew’
When I bit off more than I could chew
But with my haul, I bought more clout
Equipped it up, iron- it out
And killed them all, survived it all
And did it my way!
Thank you, yes thank you all very much…
·
Love
Darren Grey - Sofia
Last time I saw Sofia she was strapping into a Sidewinder, flipping the start-up switches like an excited child.
Sofia, with her eager eyes and bright smile. She seemed so full of life, vibrant with ambition, like no force in the universe could ever stop her.
I remember the last time we were close – her hot skin, her firm touch. Sofia, how I remember you... before the pirates came, and everything changed.
Last time I saw Sofia I loved her. But now I see only Sof the Black, the fiercest pirate leader this side of Alioth, and I fear her.
· Time
Galactic midden - A Battle for Time
Seconds could've been hours as hyperspace streamed past like sand through the hourglass.
...a tense hush descended...
Had they responded soon enough thought Admiral Kairos.
They'd had little warning before the Empire seized the Chronos system after knowledge of the massive high-density field that surrounded something ancient and powerful within had leaked publicly.
*brreep* the mission clock broke the silence "10 seconds to drop"
"About time" Kairos activated comms "Ready battlestations!"
With the pounding shriek that only multi drive-slaved hyperspace exits could make the fleet of 27 Dreadnoughts, Destroyers and Fighters dropped to engage.
The battle for Chronos had begun.
·
Fleet
Listeri69 - Listen Carefully.......
The problem Toby had was space wasn't quiet, it was full of noise, radio noise. Messages sent between Earth and Mars in the 24th century contaminated the silence forever more.
Toby was part of the Federal Ancient Radio Transmissions, and its rather unfortunate acronym.
His mission, record the first human transmissions, 1300ly from civilization.
Successive world wars had destroyed all historical records before the 25th century.
What Toby was recording was the history of Earth itself....
Except what Toby was recording right now wasn't ancient or human..
He made out the word 'Fleet' and a stream of 'Clicks'
'They're Coming........'
·
Rogues
T.j - Rupert the Rogue's righteous response
The repulsive headline read.
Rupert the Rogue or Repellent Reprobate?
Rupert the regal, rambunctious rogue was rattled and rightly so.
"Revenge!" Rupert roared.
He repeatedly rammed Reginald the repugnant reporter's ship's rear, revelling and regaling as the remnants of the ruined ship reeled before him.
"Right" he reposted "Railgun isn't really required, however I'll revel in the righteousness of my retort.
He realigned the railgun's reticule, rat-a-tat-tat reverberated round him. The railgun relinquished it's repository of shells as they ricocheted off the remains of his target.
Reginald had reported his last report.
Retribution requires rapid response....Roguishness is rapturous Rupert rejoiced.
· Bureaucracy/New friends
Gimi - Docking Clearance
He looked down at the docking clearance in utter puzzlement.
Oddly enough, there were two.
“Docking clearance 23A2342:
Proceed to Docking Area Three, bay 3-A5 for unloading of minerals.
Warning: Ship's manifest includes alcoholic beverages.
Regulation 3345-3A states that intoxicants are prohibited in docking area three.
Docking clearance 23A2343:
Proceed to Docking Area Seven, bay 7-C2 for unloading of alcoholic beverages.
Warning: Ship's manifest includes titanium ore.
Regulation 7798-8Z states that unrefined substances are prohibited in docking area seven.
Breach of docking instructions will result in offender status and subsequent fines.
For clarifications please contact our new friendly automated Dockmaster.“
