17th February 2022 - Science-Fiction theme for the PYA Children's Author Group meeting
For the meeting of the PYA Children's Author Group of 17th February 2022 we brought along short pieces with the theme Science-Fiction. Reproduced below are the stories received and, as they arrive, they'll be added to this blog post.
Homecoming by Ken Blackburn
A hundred years in hyper sleep had taken its toll. Adam felt weak and disoriented. The shot to his arm was beginning to work. He could move again, slowly manoeuvring to a sitting position, he saw his parents watching him anxiously from their sleep pods. They smiled at him and he felt relieved.
Over the next few hours the seemingly endless medical checks were completed and they were able to leave the room and go to the main deck where the two hundred travellers would get together for a briefing. There was a buzz of excitement at the front where people were crowding around the viewing window. Adam pushed his way through to the front and stared in awe at the scene before him. The sphere of blue, set against the blackest backdrop interspersed by a billion distant stars took his breath away. Of course he had seen images before but now he was here he was captivated. This was what they called home. This was planet Earth!
Admiral Walker drew everyone's attention by activating their audio implants. “Welcome to Earth”. There was a ripple of loud applause. “We will shortly be going into orbit where we will remain for 24 Earth hours while we carry out scans of the surface to detect any signs of life. As you know, in Earth year 2237 there was a catastrophic event which would have most likely destroyed every living thing on the planet. The giant asteroid impact not only caused devastating weather events but also altered the axis of Earth by 10 degrees. Had we not previously explored and colonised Delta Six, some 100 years before, we would no longer exist at all!”
Another 500 years had passed, and man’s desire to return ‘home’ had brought us to this point. Life on Delta Six was not great. Living mostly below ground in artificial light, breathing manufactured air and eating food grown in huge underground laboratories was all we had known.
A day passed and we boarded the landing shuttle. Twenty minutes later we were on the ground. We had never been ‘outside’ without breathing suits but now we prepared to breathe real air for the first time!
The door opened but nobody moved. The cabin was filled with a sweet aroma and the cool air took us by surprise. As ordered, one by one we moved to the door and stepped outside. It was overwhelming! Before us was a blue green Ocean set beneath a blue, cloudless sky. We gulped in lungfuls of fresh clean air and made our way across a yellow sandy beach.
The scans hadn’t detected any signs of human life but there were indications of smaller lifeforms. We surveyed the area around us and saw nothing moving. The only sound was the gentle breaking of small waves on the beach.
Then, someone shouted and pointed out to sea. There was a bird flying high up. We gazed in open mouthed wonder. At last we were home!
Wednesday Again by Steve Kerry
Tiff put an arm around Sally’s shoulder. “I heard about Taffeta.” he said. “I'm so sorry."
Sally sniffed. “She was the sweetest little thing. She was the best cat I ever had."
“Yeah, some cats just don’t have any road sense.”
He paused for a moment, unsure whether to say anything further.
"Look Sally, there's something I gotta show you."
"Not now, Tiff."
"Yes, now! Otherwise it might be too late."
"Too late for what?" she asked.
"It's easier if I show you. Trust me."
~
Southside Amusement Arcade hadn’t opened for 12 months, and was unlikely to do so for at least another 12. Occasionally a security guard would stroll by, but they rarely gave the place more than a quick glance and they never bothered to actually step inside. It was unlikely they knew about the loose panel on the southwest corner that could be moved just far enough to allow one person to squeeze through.
Tiff held the panel back to let Sally inside.
"The arcade? Come on Tiff, this place is dead.”
Tiff looked around to make sure they were alone, then leaned in closer.
"Sally, you gotta promise me to never, ever tell anyone else about this. Ever."
"Tell anyone about what?"
"Promise me!"
"Okay, I promise! What's the big secret anyway?"
Tiff led the way past a row of silent arcade machines. They had been old before the arcade had closed down, and now slowly rotted or rusted side by side.
“You know that big storm that came over the other week? There was nowhere else to shelter so I came in here. That’s when I saw it.”
He pointed, and Sally was not impressed.
“The goofy mirrors? If that is your big secret, I’m going home…”
"Look at this one."
"I've seen them all before. They make you look thinner, or fatter, or just weird."
"Look at this one."
"Okay, I'm looking already! I don't see..” Sally stopped, tilted her head to one side, and frowned. “Say what?"
"Do you see it?"
"I'm not there. Omigod, I don’t have a reflection! I'm... invisible.”
Tiff glanced at his phone.
“We need to find somewhere to hide.”
There was a store room near the back door and they both hid inside, leaving the door slightly ajar. Sally was about to speak when a low hum filled the air. The mirror pulsed slightly and she could see someone was standing in front of it. It looked a lot like Tiff. He looked about cautiously, then made his way to the loose panel and left the arcade.
“That looked like you,” she said.
“It WAS me.”
“What?”
They went and stood in front of the mirror again. The whole thing was shimmering. Tiff reached out and touched it, and Sally stared as his hand passed through the surface.
"Okay, this is freaking me out," she declared.
"You can go through it," Tiff explained.
“Where does it go?”
"Ermm…"
"What's on the other side, Tiff?"
"Yesterday. You go through there and out the other side, and you're back here again, exactly the same place. Only, it's yesterday."
"C'mon, this is a joke, isn't it?"
"I'm serious, Sally. You go through there and it's yesterday."
"So who was that we saw a minute ago?”
“That was me. From tomorrow.”
She gave him a long, hard look.
"You really are serious?"
"Yes! I don't know what it is, or how it works or anything. But it goes back to yesterday."
Sally put one finger through the mirror and swirled it around, making patterns in the surface. Then she stopped and her eyes opened wide.
"Taffeta was still alive, this time yesterday!"
"Maybe. I mean, yeah she will be, but that’s not…"
Sally turned and plunged straight into the mirror, and was gone. Tiff didn’t know what to do. After a brief hesitation he followed Sally and found himself in yesterday. Again.
~
The first thing Tiff saw as he emerged from the mirror was Sally disappearing through the loose panel. By the time he got there, she was halfway up the road and running home.
He had read enough stories about time travel to know what he should NOT do. “Don’t change anything,” he reminded himself. “Don’t talk to anyone. Especially don’t talk to your other self.”
A new message arrived on his phone with a loud ping. It read:
DON’T WORRY ABOUT SALLY, SHE WILL BE OKAY.
The message had just been sent from his own account, to himself. It was followed immediately by another message.
STORE ROOM BY THE BACK DOOR. LOCK YOURSELF IN, WAIT.
Tiff walked cautiously back to the store room, not looking to either side. He went in, and closed the door. There was a key in the lock, which clicked when he turned it.
It was getting dark when Tiff heard someone moving in the arcade. He quietly unlocked the door and saw it was Sally, with a pair of carrier bags.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“Sure. Give me a hand, will you?”
Tiff took the bags into the store room, and Sally shut the door.
“We have to wait here until tomorrow, don’t we?” she asked.
“That’s right. Tomorrow our other selves will arrive through the mirror. The other you will run off up the road, and the other me will come in here. Hmm, I’d better find someplace else to hide before then!”
“Why?” asked Sally.
“Well, otherwise there would be two of me in the same room!”
“So?”
“Sally, you can’t do that! Who knows what could happen?”
“Maybe nothing would happen. Maybe you’d just say Hi to each other.”
Tiff rolled his eyes.
“I don’t think so.”
“Whatever,” Sally replied. She opened one of the bags and pulled out a change of clothes, a toothbrush, and a hairbrush. The other bag held a couple of blankets.
“You didn’t bring any food did you?” asked Tiff.
At that moment someone knocked on the store room door. Tiff panicked - nobody else knew they were here! He hid behind the door, and looked in horror as Sally opened it.
“Pizza!” she declared as somebody handed her a couple of boxes.
“I got you a -” started the girl in the doorway, but Sally cut her off.
“I know what you got!” she said, and they both laughed.
“See ya!” they both said, in unison, and both laughed again. Sally closed and locked the door, then handed one of the boxes to Tiff.
“Who was that?” he asked, pointing at the door.
“Me,” Sally replied. “The other me.”
“I thought you promised not to tell anyone else about this?”
“I didn’t tell anyone else. I told me.”
“But - you can’t do that! You could mess up the whole space-time continuum!”
“Well, I obviously didn’t. We got you a pepperoni, is that okay?”
“Umm. Yes, thanks.”
They sat and ate pizza, and watched movies on Sally’s laptop - Back to the Future seemed entirely appropriate. Tiff checked his email and found another message from himself, titled URGENT. He opened it, and Sally saw the colour drain from his face.
“What’s wrong?” she asked. Tiff looked at her with frightened eyes.
“Nothing,” he said quietly.
“Come on Tiff, what’s the matter?”
But he only shook his head.
“Spoilers,” is all he managed to say.
~
A bit later, Sally stood and stretched.
“I’m gonna go catch Taffeta,” she said. “It would be safer if you stayed here, I think.”
Tiff was lost deep in his thoughts.
“Hello?” she called.
“You can’t go,” Tiff declared.
“Of course I can.”
“No. I’m sorry Sally, but you can’t go out there tonight.”
“What are you talking about Tiff?”
He took out his phone and gestured to her laptop.
“There’s something you need to see.”
Sally waited patiently while Tiff sent her a collection of news reports and web pages. Tragedy Strikes As Local Girl Killed, declared one. Girl Hit By Truck, shouted another, devoting most of the page to Sally’s smiling face. She read the first few, then flicked frantically through the rest.
“Where did these come from?” she asked quietly.
“Tomorrow’s news,” Tiff told her. “Apparently I find these in the morning, then go through the mirror so I can send them to myself tonight. Sally, you can’t go. I’m sorry about Taffeta but you have got to stay here tonight.”
“But… now I know about it, I’ll be ready for it. I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen, right?”
“I won’t let you go. I’m sorry Sally, really I am.”
“I’m not going to sit here and let Taffeta get killed.”
Sally put her hand on the door handle.
“It’s locked. Where’s the key, Tiff?”
“You’re not going out. Not tonight.”
“Give me that key!”
“No.”
Sally wasn’t sure if she should burst into tears, or knock Tiff down and start breaking his fingers until he gave her the key. While she wondered which approach would work best, the lock clicked and the door opened. They both looked up in surprise. Someone reached in, grabbed Sally’s arm and pulled her through the doorway.
“Come on!” called an all too familiar voice.
Tiff stood there for a second as the door slammed shut, waiting for something terrible to happen. When it didn’t, he reached for the door and found it was locked from the other side.
~
It was dark, with a slight chill and a hint of rain in the air. Tiff was running down the outside lane, and somehow he was able to keep up with all the cars. He could see Sally ahead, weaving in and out of traffic, looking for Taffeta. He called out to her but there was too much noise on the road.
Taffeta came into sight in another lane. Sally spotted her at once and ran forward, getting dangerously close to a large truck. Tiff called out again but Sally was concentrating only on her cat.
She ran forward and scooped up Taffeta, then turned to show Tiff that everything was okay. But as Sally turned, she found the truck was far closer than she realised. Sally disappeared under the wheels while Taffeta was thrown into the air. For some reason the cat suddenly grew in size until it was as big as a car. It turned and looked at Tiff, then crashed into him. The last thing Tiff remembered was a giant cat landing on his head.
~
“Taffeta?”
He woke suddenly, looking around, and spitting out cat hair. The cat was sitting on his face, having a noisy wash.
“Good morning sleepyhead,” Sally called from a chair by the door.
Tiff sat upright, sending Taffeta flying.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“We’re both fine,” replied Sally. “I kept Taffeta away from all the cars last night.”
Tiff allowed himself a smile. He sank back onto the floor and tried to slow his heartbeat.
“And I kept them both away from that truck,” added another Sally.
Tiff turned his head to the left. Sally gave him a smile and a little wave.
He turned his head to the right. Sally gave him the same smile, the same little wave.
“You shouldn’t be in the same room like this!” he declared.
“I think if we were gonna break this continuous space thingy, it would have happened by now.”
“And it hasn’t, so it looks like we’ll be okay.”
~
Tiff removed the last of their rubbish, and carefully placed everything where it had been when he first entered the store room.
“We’ll be coming through the mirror in 5 minutes,” he told Sally and Sally. “We could wait here and hide, but I’d rather be out before then.”
He looked at the two girls, literally identical to each other.
“Which of you is coming with me?” he asked.
The girls smiled at each other.
“We did think about both of us going, but that’s probably gonna cause problems.”
Tiff nodded gravely.
“Besides,” said the other Sally, “one of us has to go back again, so we can unlock the door last night.”
They stood before the mirror which still refused to show their reflections.
“It's your turn. I did it last time.”
“Yes, you did. So it’s my turn now.”
They hugged each other, then one turned to Tiff and waved goodbye. She stepped into the mirror and disappeared.
“What did she mean, you did it last time?”
Sally shook her head.
“Spoilers,” she said with a smile.
Tiff held the loose panel open for Sally, and they left the arcade. The mirror opened again a few minutes later, but they were both long gone.
Darla by Linda Jones
Trembling, Darla Olson allowed her fingers to skim the surface of the large opaque box. Behind her, Etlan’s breath was hot on her neck. ‘Give me some room!’ she jabbed a bony elbow into his hard belly. Stomach twisting with surges of trepidation, Darla pressed hard on the left corner of the icy cool lid. In a practised move, her agile fingers stretched for the centre, searching for the two concave dimples, her other hand pushing against the right panel. A puzzle box, her father had called it… like the ancient relic she’d seen only a few months ago in the Museum of Life. That had been a fifteenth birthday treat. Everyone they’d met on that day had known who her father was – the famous professor - the discoverer of the ‘faster than light wave engine – only now...
Darla had been there at the beginning watching as her father worked on the shadowy instrument in the box – calibrating, experimenting. His hobby, he’d called it, light relief after hours spent on the light-wave engine – She’d been consumed with curiosity – Then, a year ago the ‘hobby’ had wavered into life. Wide-eyed, she’d witnessed the first moment a circle of air crackled and flickered – her father’s exuberant cheers as instruments buzzed success…
But something was wrong – her sharp young eyes had caught the vortex of dust particles swept away through a miniscule hole… Darla had tried to explain - he wouldn’t listen. Etlan was the only one who’d believed.
As the months passed, Darla kept watch, her inquisitive mind absorbing his notes – discovering the secrets of the box. Occasionally, her father would glance up from his work – always surprised to see she was still there – he never sent her away.
Why hadn’t she been there the day he needed her!
Darla’s mouth was suddenly dry; it was hard to swallow…
‘Are you doing this or what?’ Etlan’s whisper sounded nervous.
‘What if it doesn’t work – what if I’m wrong?’
‘Darla, when are you ever? Just do this before the security bots reactivate.’ Etlan was a fearless martial arts student, but no one battled armed bots – not if they wanted to keep their limbs.
‘You don’t have to stay, Etlan. If I’m wrong this could kill us both…’ His quiet laugh warmed her.
‘And who’s going to keep an eye on the bots while you do your thing?’ Above them, three spherical drones hovered, caught in an endless reality loop of Etlan’s making.
The heavy instrument was already warm – it’s light sensitive power-pack thrummed under Darla’s fingertips. A red light on the broad rim flickered briefly quickly turning to green. Darla walked the five short paces to the containment area, unlatched the heavy metal door and firmly attached the instrument to its stand. Snapping closed the hastily made body harness, Darla turned to her friend. ‘We go on three. You stay clipped on to that door, Etlan. Okay – here goes!’
Shoom the instrument jumped into life, flooding her brain with whirling colours– purples, florescent pinks that dipped and swirled. Instantly she felt the pull, as she was sucked towards the growing coal-black centre of the vortex…
‘Dad – Dad… can you hear me? I’m throwing you a rope… Please, you have to come back – please!’
The coils swept into the psychedelic swirl spinning on towards the centre. Darla felt the tug as it reached its limit – Breathlessly she waited, ‘Please come back, don’t leave me…’
The pull on the rope made her cry out; blinking streaming eyes Darla tried to focus – tried to pull… Abruptly, Etlan was there wedged in behind her, he gripped the rope and heaved.
A shadowy shape began to emerge. Salty sweat stung Darla’s eyes, but she clung on. Only a metre to the edge of the vortex – half a metre.
Her father’s broad hand grabbed a metal bracket, with one last groaning effort, pulled away from the swirling energy.
With a thump Darla slammed the off-switch. Silence.
Etlan slid to the floor breathing hard. ‘Wow, what a rush – Glad you’re back professor…’
‘Dad – where the hell were you? Everyone thinks you’re dead’
‘Found the multiverse, Darla. Slight problem though’ He raised a trembling hand to point at the now ordinary looking wall. ‘So have dozens of others and they’re all heading here!’
Wheetabix by Paul Smith
‘What’s this?’
‘What’s what Sabastien?’
‘Don’t call me that Amelia, my name is Sabbie. That!’ Sabbie said, pointing at the almost empty wrapper of the cereal package.
‘Okay, you’ve made your point, Lia right… it’s a wheetabix.’
‘Yes Lia, one wheetabix, one!’
‘So Sabbie… and your point is?’
‘They always, always, come in two’s, always.’
‘Well, not this time Sabbie.’
‘Can’t you see Lia?’
‘You’re weird, what’s your problem?’
‘It unbalances the universe – they always come in twos, that’s how it has to be. You’ve two.’
‘Maybe someone had one… or three?’ said Lia, ladling milky cereal into her mouth.
‘Nobody has three Lia, not even grandad and who’d have one?’
‘Who cares Sabbie, get a life.’
‘It’s entanglement Lia.’
Lia released a deep breath and shrugged her shoulders as she said, ‘What are you blathering on about now?’
‘That wheetabix, it’s entangled with another somewhere in the universe… or another universe.’
‘What on earth is entanglement?’
‘Not on earth Lia… this impacts the multiverse, the infinite collection of universes. You see this and its pair are connected… joined together. Whatever happens to this one will influence what happens to the associated wheetabix… instantaneously, wherever it is in the universe.’
‘I thought you said multiverse Sabbie.’
‘So you are listening Lia?’
‘Whatever. Are you going to eat that wheetabix or not. Have some bran flakes with it if that doesn’t interfere with the physics of the universe. We need to go to school soon. Mum will be down in a minute.’
‘Right,’ said Sabbie lifting the carton of milk from the table and bringing it towards his bowl. As the white fluid dribbled from its lip, the wheetabix, now surrounded by an ocean of milk drenched bran flake, vanished. Sabbie gazed at the bowl and then at his sister. ‘Did you do that?’
‘Do what?’
‘Take the wheetabix.’
‘Don’t be stupid. You must have eaten it.’
‘I’d know if I’d eaten it Lia. Look, it’s gone.’
Lia glanced at Sabbie’s bowl, shrugged and said, ‘So it has.’
