A Perfect Day Off The Farm
First published in Extreme Planets (Chaosium), this is probably the “hardest” Science Fiction story I have written. It is wholly possible to generate electricity in a construction like the Stick Farm on Io, presuming you wouldn’t die of radiation first.
The giant shadow slides towards the horizon and the air comes alive with sparkles, rising off the ground like negative snow. Jewels of pale blue, yellow and pink. Sprinkles of diamond. The eclipse is over, and Io’s whisper-thin atmosphere of sulphur-dioxide sublimates back into the air.
Ed stands by the cubicle door, listening to his breaths hissing through his mask—in, out, in, out. He holds one hand on the door frame, the other onto his gear bag, feeling the lumpy presence of his tools within. The floor vibra
