FRINGE DRIFTER

(MILITARY SCIFI, CYBERPUNK, SPACE OPERA)

By: Gabriel Land

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

As a fringe drifter, I deliver latest generation nukes into deep space for cache storage. Company algorithms predict when and where the war will go, like chess. By planting weapons for future use they stay four steps ahead of the game, or in this case, four centuries. Needless to say, I miss out on a lot of the drama back home, wherever that may be. I work alone, always. When I am not in the nightmares of hypersleep, I read, think, and meditate, doing my best to stave off the madness that comes with isolation and alienation from earth, the native environment that I have never seen. My next mission is my biggest yet, and Company spies are all over the launch station I'm waiting to push off from. Everywhere I go as I prep for departure, I am scanned, prodded, followed by bugs and human plants alike. The only place I can trust is somewhere out on the fringes of the mapped galaxy, beyond sensor range. I can't wait until I get out there. With seven missions completed, I'm the best fringe drifter on any side of any war. The problem is, this war never ends. FRINGE DRIFTER is a forward thinking science fiction short with elements of space opera, military scifi, and cyberpunk thrown in. It is influenced by the works of Phillip K. Dick, Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett. It includes themes of artificial intelligence, suspended animation, nanotechnology, total surveillance, isolation and paranoia. This is Gabriel Land, broadcasting from the Babylonosphere aether. I hope you enjoy my writing. Until next time, over and out.