David Riley
Stories (12/0)
A Luminal Event
Before our starships perform a luminal sprint the destination is predetermined, with calculations for both acceleration and deceleration made by computer. Our starships don't move through some sort of slip space, nor do they burrow through to some alternate dimension, or bend space to bring two locations closer together. They simply move in a straight line from point to point. This means it can take several sprints to reach a desired destination as we navigate around celestial bodies due to a lack of computational power to make course adjustments at luminal speeds.
By David Riley 11 months ago in Fiction
The Lion's Hunt: Part 9
Click Here for Part VIII or Click Here to Start From the Beginning. PART IX Lieutenant Rekla'Kyuul anticipated Etom' moving to use the detonator, knew the movement would be immediately punished, so the Lieutenant moved to protect the Commander. Rekla' was in the path of the sniper's shot in a flash. The blast overpowered their armour’s outer layer, effortlessly plunging through the protection and hitting Lieutenant Kyuul squarely in the chest, in place of Commander Vyuum. Blood sprayed, and Rekla's body slammed against the floor with a thud that vibrated through the metallic platform, and through Etom'Vyuum's soul. Etom's screech was choppy and high-pitched, lost to emotion as the Commander rushed to Rekla's side. Blood poured from the new chest cavity but there was little that Etom' could do. The wound was fatal, and the inner layer of the armour could do nothing to stem the bleeding as Rekla'Kyuul tried to breathe through the pain.
By David Riley 2 years ago in Fiction
The Lion's Hunt: Part 8
Click Here for Part VII or Click Here to Start From the beginning. PART VIII The Kurin soldiers spent the following hours on the elevator platform sleeping in shifts, conversing in small groups, and telling tales of battles won and friends lost. Commander Vyuum filled the time in quiet meditation, wondering what life might have been if there were no war. Thoughts lead back to a family left behind for almost all of their children’s lives. Even the youngest of the three would be fully grown now. Etom' regretted not having the opportunity to teach them to hunt. In Etom's absence, the children's training fell to the mate, Kryn'Vyuum. And though their offspring displayed no genuine talent for the hunt during Etom’s brief times with them, neither did Kryn' for that matter. It was still a valuable life skill that every Kurin needed to have.
By David Riley 3 years ago in Fiction
The Lion's Hunt: Part 7
Click Here for Part VI or Click Here to Start From the beginning. PART VII There had undoubtedly been another snag to the mission, a devastating one, and Olin’ wondered what it might be. But more than that, Olin' wondered if the Commander would feel compelled to inform all the soldiers what that snag was. It was, of course, their prerogative, but Olin’ felt the need to know so inched closer to the commanding officers to better hear their conversation. The Corporal only caught the end of the discussion, but it was enough to have some idea of what was happening.
By David Riley 3 years ago in Fiction
The Lion's Hunt: Part 6
Click Here for Part V or Click Here to Start From the Beginning. PART VI The team’s canisters slowly filled with luminous rain as Commander Vyuum slumped onto the largest nearby rock. Olin’ couldn't have noticed the Commander's weariness before, perhaps too wrapped up in the idea of Commander Vyuum, the war hero than Etom’Vyuum, the Kurin. The weight of expectation must have been immense, Olin' thought. And to hold onto that responsibility for decades, there were so few commanders that lasted even half as long.
By David Riley 3 years ago in Fiction
The Lion's Hunt: Part 5
Click Here for Part IV or Click Here to Start From the Beginning. PART V Still covered in much of the innards of Commander Heiyan’Khul, Commander Vyuum stepped forward expecting to greet the Arms team’s commander. Etom' also wanted to express frustration at their lack of foresight but realised that Commander Laal’Fysun was not among them. The heads of every member of the Arms team dropped at the mention of their leader's name, and they gathered to explain the reason for their Commander’s absence. It was a brief story of jammed platform controls, an amassing contingent of enemy soldiers, and an audacious bluff from their commander that had saved the squad's lives.
By David Riley 3 years ago in Fiction
The Lion's Hunt: Part 4
Click Here for Part III or Click Here to Start From the Beginning. PART IV Commander Vyuum made two quick hand gestures, and the five Kurin soldiers moved as one from the silent order. Each of them aimed their firearms in the direction of the erratic breathing, ready to silence any Surion soldier they found. What they discovered, though, was not an enemy combatant. Sat in a pool of their own oil like blood and propped up against one of the support struts was a single Kurin soldier struggling to breathe and just barely keeping a small, trembling, projectile weapon pointed in the direction of Etom’s approaching team. The large body of a dead Surion, wearing the ornate brown and gold garb their troops were known for, was sprawled across the injured Kurin soldier, crushing their legs, pinning them to the floor.
By David Riley 3 years ago in Fiction
The Lion's Hunt: Part 3
Click Here for Part II or Click Here to Start From the Beginning. PART III The first support column carved from rock loomed large as they approached and rounded it, weapons at the ready. Luminous puddles squelched beneath their feet, but the energy of each interrupted pool dissipated behind them, dulling and congealing on the cavern floor. The disturbed fluids settled, and the cycle repeated itself in the constant rain. Commander Vyuum had assumed that theirs was the first team to arrive, but signs to the contrary began to appear as they advanced into the cavern. Scorch marks and divots sullied the cave's surfaces indicating recent weapons fire, accompanied by the unmistakable fetor of burning flesh tainting the air and forcing its way into their helmet’s filtration systems.
By David Riley 3 years ago in Fiction
The Lion's Hunt: Part 2
Click Here to Start From the Beginning. PART II Commander Etom’Vyuum was aware of the revisions of Itar'Reesh's poem, and like anyone with a mind to protect their family's legacy, took some offence to it. Concerned by the prospect of the Commander's frustration's spilling over, members of the Kurin council were hesitant to allow Etom' to continue to take command of missions of such consequence, but in the end, chose not to force the updated armour on Etom’ or any of the infiltration teams. It had been surmised that sending these squads to the Surion homeworld was tantamount to suicide. Those with knowledge of the poem’s alteration outside of the council would all soon be dead. The rest of Etom's infiltration team, including long-serving second in command, Rekla’Kyuul, accepted the armour upgrade with the altered text and donned it, unaware of the reason for the text’s alterations or its significance.
By David Riley 3 years ago in Fiction
The Lion's Hunt: Part 1
PART I. A large elevator platform descended beyond the roof of a cavern so unimaginably vast its stone walls were lost to distant darkness. Cold, unsettled wind from the planet’s surface met air so thick that if the five individuals on the platform didn’t know any better, they might have assumed it had gone uninterrupted for millennia. Though it was tough to be sure in the darkness, the two lead soldiers appeared to have thick dual tails protruding from the base of their skulls that reached beyond the backs of their knees. The second pair of soldiers had a brace of thinner tails that stopped at the small of their backs. The last individual had a short nub fixed in place as though their twin tails had yet to grow, suggesting that this might be the youngest among them.
By David Riley 3 years ago in Fiction
Green Night
Green Night by David A. Riley Everything seems normal as I look over at my peacefully sleeping wife, but should you drift into a dream that takes place in the room you presently occupy, it might be difficult to be sure if you’ve fallen asleep or not. Across the room, the fan hums, sending a light breeze that ripples the sheet covering Sandra’s body, but it’s having little impact on the summer heat. She lets out a sleeping sigh as she turns to keep the wind off her face. If I didn’t know that the slightest caress would wake her, I’d run a hand along her exposed thigh.
By David Riley 3 years ago in Fiction