In March, I had the pleasure of writing a story for SFComet, a website dedicated to bringing more science fiction to a Chinese audience. I and several other authors were given a theme (“big bang in brain” / 脑中大爆炸) and ten days to write a SF story of between 1500 and 2500 words.
It was a lot of fun, if a little challenging. I ended up with a story set on a generation ship, with an LGBT spy protagonist who has a connection with the ship’s AI inside her head.
The story is called “Masks,” and it’s now available in English as well as in the Chinese translation. Here’s a preview:
Min can tell by the way the man in the lizard mask drums the fingers of one hand on the surface of his desk that he is angry. She avoids the bright green glimmer of his eyes, wishing she were anywhere but here. Wishing she remembered who she was supposed to be.
“This is all you bring me?” the man asks, his voice raspy with distortion. In his other hand he holds the latest chip Min has stolen, heavy with data on Ship’s communications to the other surviving colony ships and its route away from Earth-long-gone.
Min says nothing. She is not strong enough to answer, cut off and alone as she is.
Intrigued? Go read the rest of “Masks” over at SFComet.