Episode 5: Taking the Waters by Tim McDaniel

Tamar is on a mission to salvage usable technology from a space debris field. Her routine assignment turns dicey when her crew mates vanish, and a foreign AI appears on Tamar’s radar persistently trying to communicate. Here is  “For Every Bee, a Hive,” read and written by Benjamin C. Kinney.

With Earth long destroyed by war and ecological disaster, Ernie, Kate, and Harv are humans who have started new lives on a far-flung exoplanet. With scarce options for good food or money, the trio decides to embark on a project that may net them a little cash, and remind them of what life back home used to be like. This is “The Eiffel Tower of Trappist-1b,” read and written by Jeff Reynolds.

Before he goes away to college, all Noah wants to do is relax, play video games with his friends, and practice for an upcoming tournament. His mother, however, has a different plan for her son: She’s asked his aunt Meg—whom he hasn’t seen in ten years—to take him on a little camping trip. Reluctantly, Noah goes along, but soon finds that he may have more in common with his aunt than he thought. Here is “Fly Straight and Don’t Get Eaten,” read and written by Vera Brook.

Meadow is a curious teenager who has spent her entire life on a large space ship. She thirsts for adventure, or at least a break from her overbearing mother.

One day, she meets an artist who is desperately trying to clean-up a spill of small, colorful beads—not an easy task in zero-g, and a serious violation of safety code that Meadow’s mom is eager to report.

Will Meadow be able to protect her new acquaintance and learn about herself in the process? Find out in “The Carina Nebula,” read and written by Kelsey Hutton

For our May/June issue, we have a special treat for our listeners—a double feature! First up is “A Place for Pax” read and written by Colin Mattson, followed by “Collateral Damage” by Jen Downes. Both stories feature spunky protagonists who are making due in futures that feature farming, ingenuity, and creative solutions.

Laxi is an alien visitor from the noble house of vlarg who doesn’t like to conquer planets by force—at least not at first. Invasion and domination are boring, conventional, and these days even the elders on their home planet agree. Instead, Laxi prefers to spend time on the world they intend to capture, sowing instability from within before making their big move. Earth, however, is proving to be a bigger challenge than expected, but Laxi may have just come up with the right marketing scheme. This is “What Women Want,” read and written by Katherine Tunning.

In Matt McHugh’s newest tale, Emi and Zieka are elite candidates that fought as hard as they could for a spot on the generation ship. Could leaving a son behind be worth the privilege to travel with humanity’s future? Find out in our newest podcast “The Area Under the Curve.”  

K3RA is an android programmed to pursue efficiency in everything it does, from working factory floors to killing its designers’ enemies. When it encounters a sluggish soybean farmer just after suffering a wartime wound, K3RA comes to a realization that may bring peace to the world. Here is “Maximum Efficiency,” read and written by Holly Schofield. 

In Tim McDaniel’s “Taking the Waters,” a scientist must negotiate for our planet’s future. See how she does in our newest podcast from the September/October issue.

Our July/August podcast is a special double feature: First, Melanie Harding-Shaw reads "My Nascent Garden," in which an AI navigates a complicated relationship; then Geoffrey Hart narrates his tale "Risky Harvest," telling the story of a harvest event that is intertwined with mating and survival.