Author Archives: kraxon

The First Colony – Truth

  October 15, 2016 , , ,

The First Colony – TruthJuly 15, 2149, Hawking

The foot of the massive lift was lowering from the skies as night approached, and they could see it from miles away. It seemed Carne was planning on getting the people transported to the surface quickly. At least that meant the Santa Maria, Nina, and Pinta made it safe and sound. The safety of the last remaining humans was really all that mattered to Karen now.

“So why did they take your transmitter?” she asked Grant in the middle of him telling his story again.

He shrugged. “Not really sure. I think they’ve been given some sort of objective from the ships they drew in the caves. Probably wanted to keep me from sending messages back to Earth in case I found anything. The message you intercepted said they were coming for Earth, and they thanked Carne for the transaction. What do you think it means? Is it as clear cut as it seems?”

“I think so. Carne traded them for this planet. They seem to have a foothold on the indigenous people here, and their technology is evident in the cliff caves you were in. Why would they want to trade this fresh planet for our damaged atmosphere with sick people everywhere? It doesn’t add up.” Karen knew it was time to contact Carne.

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Beneath the IT Department Lies by John Frochio

  October 1, 2016

Beneath the IT Department Lies“It?”

“Yep! That’s what I call it,” said the disheveled old man who sat cross-legged on the cement floor rocking back and forth. “Don’t know what it is. Don’t know what to do about it. Just puttin’ up with it.”

The new IT support tech, Barry Monroe, scrawny in a Megadeth T-shirt, jeans and curly brown hair, raised an eyebrow. He wondered if the old man was crazy. More accurately, he wondered how crazy the old man was. He kept a respectable distance from him.

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Beneath the IT Department Lies

  October 1, 2016 , ,

Beneath the IT Department Lies“It?”

“Yep! That’s what I call it,” said the disheveled old man who sat cross-legged on the cement floor rocking back and forth. “Don’t know what it is. Don’t know what to do about it. Just puttin’ up with it.”

The new IT support tech, Barry Monroe, scrawny in a Megadeth T-shirt, jeans and curly brown hair, raised an eyebrow. He wondered if the old man was crazy. More accurately, he wondered how crazy the old man was. He kept a respectable distance from him.

The old man was entangled in a mass of mismatched cables. He explained he was responsible for maintaining the old systems, but could use a bit of help.

Barry’s manager sent him downstairs, beneath the IT department’s data centre, to determine why one of the old systems outside the cloud kept generating random, meaningless error messages referring to an unnamed ‘it.’

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The First Colony – Rescue

  September 15, 2016 , , ,

The First Colony – RescueJuly 15, 2149, Hawking

Grant noticed the lander flying toward him just when he was sure his life was almost over. A massive shot of adrenaline coursed through him as he now had hope of survival. The lander turned and softly settled down two hundred yards ahead of his current path. He took the time to do a quick check over his shoulder, and caught a stone with his foot at the same time. He tumbled to the rocky ground, his pack falling off his shoulder. The imager was in there and he knew it was imperative to translate that data. The creatures’ feet boomed behind him, the echoes cascading around the cliff-like alcove as they got closer and closer.

He got up and grabbed the pack, ignoring the shooting pain on his knees from the tumble. He didn’t have long now. Laser fire shot past him and at the ground, causing rocks to explode behind him. They just missed hitting him; a few shards softly hit his back as he ran and then dove from the beams.

A woman stood, feet planted firmly, with a pulse rifle firing past him.

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Brain Child by Arthur M. Doweyko

  September 1, 2016

Brain Child by Arthur M. Doweyko‘You called me, Doc. So what’s going on?’ I looked up at the camera and threw it a grin. When Riddles opened the fire door, my jaw dropped. His head was wrapped in aluminum foil. But that wasn’t the worst of it. I pinched my nose. ‘You look like… crap, and you smell like—’

‘I know, I know. Get in here. Put this on.’

He handed me a silvery foil hat. The hollow look of his eyes and the dark stubble kept me from hurling more insults.

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Brain Child

  September 1, 2016 , ,

Brain Child‘You called me, Doc. So what’s going on?’ I looked up at the camera and threw it a grin. When Riddles opened the fire door, my jaw dropped. His head was wrapped in aluminum foil. But that wasn’t the worst of it. I pinched my nose. ‘You look like… crap, and you smell like—’

‘I know, I know. Get in here. Put this on.’

He handed me a silvery foil hat. The hollow look of his eyes and the dark stubble kept me from hurling more insults.

‘What’s this?’

Riddles leaned out as if making sure there was no one else outside. Entering through the loading dock of the BioGentics Research building gave me a bad feeling.

‘Keep your voice down, Jimmy, and put the hat on.’

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The First Colony – Translation

  August 15, 2016 , , ,

The First Colony – TranslationJuly 15, 2149, Hawking

Karen looked around the decimated lander and searched for any sign of Grant. His supplies were gone, along with the picture of his daughter that she knew he took on every flight. Everything he would need to survive a new world for at least a few weeks was not here. They already knew he hadn’t crashed —he’d shot them information when he’d landed, then the lines had gone silent.

“Penner, any sign of the transmitter?” she asked.

“Still nothing. I can say without a doubt that it’s not within a square mile of this wreckage.”

That was interesting.

“Commander, we’re getting a message from Breena. She says it’s urgent,” Officer O’Sullivan’s eyebrows raised as he spoke. They all wanted to know just what that alien message had said.

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Series submission for 2017

  August 13, 2016

Digital BookSubmission status – Closed

The series is twelve stories of 1,000 words each. Each 1,000 word story must be able to standalone whilst also being part of the 12,000 word story.

What do you need to submit?

Cover letter with your name, contact information, and a short bio (the bio can be skipped if you’re already published with Kraxon).

A synopsis of the 12,000 word story. 1 page max.

An outline of the 12 individual 1,000 word stories. 5 pages max.

The first 1,000 word story of the series. We’re not looking for all twelve stories to be written for submission.

Submission by email only. Please attach four documents as (MS Word or RTF) to your email and send to series17.sub at kraxonpublishing.co.uk

Payment is £400 GBP (in two payments of £200).

Closing date is 11:59 PM (BST) on Friday 30th September 2016.

Submission guidelines

Genre – Science Fiction, Fantasy or related sub genres such as supernatural, utopian and post-apocalyptic to name a few.

Format – Microsoft Word (.docx) or Rich Text Format (.rtf).

Please name your attachments with your name first (or pseudonym), followed by document type (cover letter, synopsis, outline, 1st story). For example “Author Name – Cover Letter.docx” or “Author Name – Outline.docx”

Formatting – Italicised text is allowed where emphasis is needed in the context of the story. Bold can be used as scene headers. All other formatting, such as underlines and colours will be removed.

Spelling – British English is preferred, but we will accept international variations such US or Australian English etc… Please indicate in your submission if not using British English.

Maturity rating – Family friendly.

Line spacing – Single for all four documents.

Page length – One page is defined as one A4 page in Microsoft Word at the default Calibri size 11 with single line spacing.

Please see the FAQ’s for commonly asked questions or ask on Chronicles Science fiction and fantasy community.

We want you to include the first episode in the outline so that we can get and idea of how your outlines convert into story form.

You will receive a submission confirmation within 48 hours. If you haven’t received it please follow up using our Contact Page or the Chronicles forum.

The story or a substantial part of the story must not have been previously published or made available for public viewing.