As a massive winter storm wreaks havoc on parts of the US and Canada, I’m happy to still have power and be able to announce that my flash fiction story “After the War” is today’s featured story at Daily Science Fiction. This is my sixth appearance there.

Hope everyone affected by the storm is staying safe and warm. And if you have power and some time on your hands, I wouldn’t be upset in the least if you read this story (you’ll find a sneak peek below) and even caught up on my previous Daily SF stories:

• Luna City, At Night (March 2014)
• The Reality Machine (June 2016)
• Ali Knows the Future (June 2021)
• Your Attention Please (August 2021)
• The Transplant (May 2022)

After the War

by Karl El-Koura

Ship about to explode, pilot gets flushed. Stripped, sealed, flooded with cryogen; all in no time. Then dreamless sleep. Maybe pilot gets picked up by scoopers roaming the solar system for living debris. Picked up by wrong side, not so nice: flushed again–without hermetic seal or cryogen in your veins. Picked up by right side, cleaned up and given a new battleship, sent back out. Not so nice either? Too bad–war not so nice.

Scoopers are saying something, but it’s hard to hear. I still feel frozen, ears to brain. Thawing.

“Terran or Martian?” I hear. “Terran or Martian?”

Classic technique. Get them to confess while they’re still groggy.

Read “After the War” at Daily Science Fiction.