Celebrity Space - Alain Gomez (short story)

Set in the not too distant future, a worker hopes that his new job at the spaceport will allow him to get his life back on track. While taking passengers to the space hotel "Moonwalk", a collision with an unknown object brings his dreams... and possibly his life... to a screeching halt.

Short Story, approx. 3,000 words

Bio:  

Alain Gomez lives in San Diego and has been writing since she was sixteen. She works in the field of music but has continued to pursue her passion for writing as an independent author. Though she generally sticks to writing shorter stories, Alain enjoys experimenting with a variety of genres including romance and thrillers.

What will readers like about your book?

I'm a short story writer, so you'd first have to appreciate that genre.  My short stories tend to have a pulp-fiction feel to them with Twilight Zone type endings.  I like to keep things simple.  I hate science fiction that goes overboard on things like ship diagnostics.  So if you like light, fun reads, you should give it a shot.

Why did you self publish?

I'm not a huge fan of deadlines.  I feel they kind of suck all the enjoyment out of writing.  

What inspired you to write this particular story?

To be honest, I just wanted to try my hand at science fiction.  I've always kind of had geeky tendencies growing up.  And yes, I've watched almost every Star Trek episode.  I enjoyed writing Celebrity Space so much, I actually turned it into a series because I wanted to do more in-depth exploration of some of the characters I introduced.

Excerpt 

             When Dan came to he had no idea how long he had been unconscious.  The dry taste in his mouth told him it had been at least a few hours.  He managed to weakly roll over to his back and look around.

The others were still lying on the floor in unconscious heaps.  The lights were off but at least the oxygen still seemed to be functional.  One view screen was completely shattered.  The other displayed only static.

A cough made Dan struggle into an upright position.  He had to see who was awake.

“What was that?” the doctor rasped out.

Dan couldn’t even form a reply he was so scared.  They looked at each other, their gaze expressing a level of fear that words could not.

The actress had moved to a corner and sat huddled there, shaking.  Her boyfriend was still unconscious but breathing.

The singer with the broken arm was hauling himself out from under a pile of rubble.  Dan and the doctor went over to help.  With their combined efforts they managed to move the metal pieces that were on top of him.  The moving of the rubble revealed the rock singer.

He was dead.

The doctor went over to the body and examined him.  “Interesting…” she mumbled to herself.

“What is?”  Dan asked.

“Well, I’m no medical examiner, but it doesn’t look like he died from being crushed.”

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