Introduction: I was asked by one of my children’s friends (Megan) how hard was it to create a story idea. I showed her, this took oh, twenty minutes tops to run off and spell check. Goddess only knows if I’ll ever use it.

Example

by Mr. David R. Dorrycott

Sensors detected sufficient solar power to transfer load from the ancient reactor, allowing automatic systems to begin repairs. Old, centuries old, the reactor had long ago passed its design life, yet had continued on. Now, with enough power coming in from the alien sun, predetermined repairs could safely be made. Within the massive ship air began to build up as systems searched for pressure leaks. They found them of course, nothing passed through interstellar space at sub-light speeds without being hit by something. Other systems began their checks, those tiny repair robots that still functioned took up the load. It would be months before the ship was ready to awaken her crew. Until then they would remain undisturbed.

Housed in three separate chambers were six stasis pods. Each one had triple redundancy, each one held a single creature. Each one had sustained some kind of damage. Two had been completely breached sometime in the past. Their contents, suddenly awake in an airless ship, died quickly. Two others had sustained computer failure, their contents had also passed away quickly. A fifth hadn’t been so lucky, some glitch had woken the occupant early. Trapped in its pod with plenty of air and water, it slowly went insane, until it kicked open its pod, it too dying in the airless corridors of its ship.

Of six pods, only one continued to function. It too had sustained damage, though not critically. Its lone occupant hovered near the edge of awakening, and death, for over eighty years. Crippled, this pod had only a few dozen years before complete failure. Of the six hand picked, heavily trained explorers who had set out for their nearest star, only the co-pilot had survived long enough to see this new star.

Only it wasn’t their destination. Whatever had hit the ship had forced it into a tumble. Losing its star-lock the ship had taken nearly thirty years to realign itself, adjust its course and continue on. Larger even than the American World War Two Battleship New Jersey, its computer brain was barely up to the task it had been assigned. Thus, when it locked on the wrong target, its error could be understood.

Three months into starfall, moving in from below the planets orbital plane, already passing what would have been Jupiter’s orbit the ship unfurled obsidian black panels. These panels absorbed even more sunlight, at the same time making the ship look like some huge pinecone as it aimed for close solar approach. At about the same time, inside its hull, massive hydroponic tanks began filling with liquid. Seeds were taken from stasis storage were carefully planted by specialized robotics. Bacteria was also taken from storage, infecting the long sterile waste recovery systems. As the ship passed Earth’s orbit, now beginning a gentle climb above the orbital plane, plants bloomed, systems activated, air slowly became breathable.

Her reactor now rejuvenated as best as the ancient systems could manage, secondary lights came on. No external light shone, for this was an unknown system. Her bridge activated, systems sampling every wavelength available. As the ship snapped about its new star, using gravity, precious reaction mass and its own odd panels as a brake, it made further decisions. Electromagnetic radiation had been detected from every planetary orbit starting from number one to number four. More radiation was detected from objects following odd courses between each planet. Adjusting its path the ships computer decided on a far orbit, let the crew decide if this was a race they wanted to contact or not. Anyway, reaction mass was at a critical level. Tapping the sixth planet (it discounted the rubble between planet four and five) for hydrogen would allow further travel, should the crew decide to leave.