Thibault Defert sits in his racecar in the shelter of his team’s pit garage. His only immutable belief in life is that he was destined to be right here. Now, he would rather be anywhere else.

As a rule, the Bishop was more in than out. Consequently the size, the airiness, and the aggressive modernity of the room made quite an impression on him. Deacon Sue realised this from the way he quietly looked around and nodded.

The thunder in the rolling blanket of clouds marked a season of cleansing, a time of remembrance. It was also a time of death. The Sailor knew that well.

I asked my mother once when I was old enough to figure things out if I was an accident. She smiled and said no, more of an afterthought.

The ground shuttered. The earth split. And foul gases, detritus, and splintered rock erupted into the jungle like spew from a volcano. And the worm inched closer to the world above, the open air and the scorching humidity of the Brazilian rainforest.

A sudden bright orange-red light illuminated the sea, and there, amongst the inky black sloshing waves, a small island became visible. Smoke filled the tiny land, and a circular beast of a machine rose to the sky.

It was all the more strange then that he noticed the sign at all. It seemed half-hidden, hardly noticeable, indicating a slip road half a mile ahead.

This wasn’t the first time sixteen-year-old Danny Long had found himself in a tight situation since coming to Mars two years ago, but it was definitely the most dangerous.

They wanted to believe. And they certainly weren’t going to deny their son every advantage for his future.

Twenty years after the death of his only pet, Jonah found himself wondering how he may share some similarities with the disgusting, stupid-looking creature his parents gifted him.

It was the fifth day at her new school and ten-year-old Buseje hung her head as she settled down into her desk.

Albert peered out across the way. Snow stretched for miles. The earth remained silent. Albert was alone. As he had been for the past decade.

It was impossible to miss. A blood-red diamond was flying in the sky, dipping and swerving with the wind. It was far outside The Hideaway walls, gliding high behind the tall, heavy gate, wind-beaten and soaring.

In a devastated world, a group of men travel to New York, with something special in a suitcase.

I deliberately shot to death Laurence Connaught. So they mean to execute me. Especially because Laurence Connaught had saved my life.