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    Insignia: Asian Science Fiction: The Insignia Series, #5
    Insignia: Asian Science Fiction: The Insignia Series, #5
    Insignia: Asian Science Fiction: The Insignia Series, #5
    Ebook108 pages1 hour

    Insignia: Asian Science Fiction: The Insignia Series, #5

    By Kelly Matsuura, Joyce Chng, Nidhi Singh and

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    About this ebook

    INSIGNIA VOL. 5 includes 8 science fiction stories with Asian characters and/or settings.

    CONTENTS

    'Stars Bright as Light' by Joyce Chng

    'Islets of the Blest' by Nidhi Singh

    'Uncle Ping's Evening Farewell' by Ray Daley

    'Connecting Through the Cosmos' by Holly Schofield

    'The Galaxy's Cube' by Jeremy Szal

    'Kill / Switch' by L. Chan

    'The Drowning Pool' by Vonnie W. Crist

    'Love and Relativity' by Stewart C. Baker

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBWWP Publishing
    Release dateJul 20, 2018
    ISBN9781386765585
    Insignia: Asian Science Fiction: The Insignia Series, #5
    Author

    Kelly Matsuura

    Kelly Matsuura grew up in Victoria, Australia, but always dreamed she would live abroad.  She has lived in northern China, Michigan in the US, and over ten years in Nagoya, Japan, where she now lives permanently. Kelly has published numerous short stories online; in group anthologies; and in several self-published anthologies. Her stories have been published by Visibility Fiction, Crushing Hearts & Black Butterfly Publishing, A Murder of Storytellers, and Ink and Locket Press. She majored in Asian Studies at university, and (sometimes) studies Japanese, Chinese and German. Her other hobbies include cooking, knitting, sewing, and traveling. As the creator and editor for The Insignia Series, Kelly uses her knowledge of Asian cultures to help other indie authors produce great diverse stories and to share the group's work with a new audience.

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      Book preview

      Insignia - Kelly Matsuura

      Insignia

      Volume Five

      Asian Science Fiction

      Edited by Kelly Matsuura

      Cover Design by Kelly Matsuura

      Compilation Copyright© Kelly Matsuura 2018

      This book was created in Japan

      First electronic release: July 2018

      Published by BWWP Publishing via Draft2Digital

      ‘Stars, Bright as Light’ Copyright© Joyce Chng

      ‘Islets of the Blest’ Copyright© Nidhi Singh

      ‘Uncle Ping’s Evening Farewell’ Copyright© Ray Daley

      ‘Connecting Through the Cosmos’ Copyright© Holly Schofield

      ‘The Galaxy’s Cube’ Copyright© Jeremy Szal

      'Kill/Switch’ Copyright© L Chan

      ‘The Drowning Pool’ Copyright© Vonnie Winslow Crist

      ‘Love and Relativity’ Copyright© Stewart C Baker

      ‘Love and Relativity’ first appeared in Nature Physics, September 2015

      ‘The Galaxy’s Cube’ was first published in Abyss & Apex, April 2016

      ‘Connecting Through the Cosmos’ was first published at SFComet.com (China), June 2015

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of these authors.

      Stories are the authors’ original work and are entirely fictional. Any resemblance to real persons (living or dead) or real situations is coincidental.

      ––––––––

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without permission from the authors. Short extracts for reviews are allowed.

      Other Books in The Insignia Series:

      ‘Insignia: Japanese Stories’ (October, 2013)

      ‘Insignia: Chinese Stories’ (April, 2014)

      ‘Insignia: Southeast Asian Fantasy’ (March, 2016)

      ‘Insignia: Asian Fantasy Stories’ (April, 2017)

      CONTENTS

      ‘Stars, Bright as Light’ by Joyce Chng

      ‘Islets of the Blest’ by Nidhi Singh

      'Uncle Ping's Evening Farewell' by Ray Daley

      'Connecting Through the Cosmos' by Holly Schofield

      'The Galaxy's Cube' by Jeremy Szal

      'Kill / Switch' by L Chan

      'The Drowning Pool' by Vonnie Winslow Crist

      'Love and Relativity' by Stewart C Baker

      ––––––––

      Author Biographies

      STARS, BRIGHT AS LIGHT

      Joyce Chng

      ––––––––

      My opponent disintegrated into a mass of molten bits, the metal server arms and legs breaking apart. I fired the war horn, to celebrate my victory. The win tallies shimmered in front of my eyes. One conqueror and two knights.  I was close to making Grade Two.

      Distantly, I heard Ma calling my name. Sighing, I unplugged from the server, wincing when the cords detached with a crunch. I always hated separation.

      Dinner time! Ma sounded annoyed. I reversed my wheelchair carefully out of my bedroom, noting how cluttered it had become.

      The rest of the family were already at the dinner table. Ma had a thing about making the family sit down together at meals. Off your devices, focus on the food and conversation. Tonight's dinner was one of my favorites: egg-drop soup, fried fish with sambal, stir-fried kangkong and cold tofu drizzled with soy sauce. My kid brother was wolfing down his rice. Ma spooned some of the soup into my bowl.

      You look pale, she muttered. Here, drink this.

      For all her lectures on switching off all electronic devices, she had left the television on. The anchorwoman was talking about food shortages and riots. Southeast Asia was experiencing a drought. They were looking at large-scale desalination.

      Ma shook her head and picked at her rice. The rice and tofu were bought from the nearby supermarket, but the fish, eggs and kangkong were from Ma's little allotment. Most people farmed their food now, on the roof tops of the apartment buildings or land allocated by the government. We kept chickens, reared fish and harvested kangkong. Ma was of the generation where Self-Sufficiency was the in-thing. With food shortages becoming more frequent now, growing your food quickly became the solution.

      I ate slowly. My throat tended to clamp up if I swallowed too quickly. The egg-drop soup was delicious—the egg white silky smooth and the broth at the right temperature. The fish was a bit dry; the sambal sweet and spicy. I didn't really like the kangkong. It was too crunchy, too hard. I glanced at the empty seat next to Ma.

      Don't worry, I will save some of the food for your father. Ma smiled. Daddy was still at work, fixing the rail tracks for the trains. Years of wear and tear had weakened the infrastructure of the rail system.  He was one of the many engineers who were tasked to rebuild the tracks.

      My brother left the table as soon as he was done, without helping Ma clear the dishes. I helped carry the empty plates back to the kitchenette.

      "I don't know what your didi's doing in his room." Ma sighed wistfully.

      After cleaning the dishes, I activated the wheelchair once more. It was time for another match.

      ––––––––

      The server accepted me back like a lover, when I plugged back in. My synapses felt as if they were on fire, my body consumed by the rapture. When I opened my eyes, I was no longer Pearl. I was Astra, simpath pilot. My hands controlled a powerful machine, a destroyer of the world. I felt Coriolis rumble into life. The drop ship door opened, and I strode into a nuclear wasteland, thumping into snow and ashes. The simulation was so real that I could see the wind swirling across the white expanse and hear its moaning like some desolate hungry ghost.

      A chrome-silver paladin with stripes of crimson was racing up to me, its cannons firing bright green lasers. I evaded immediately, running circles around it. Paladins were medium simpaths. Coriolis was a small scout simpath, light on its feet. We exchanged blows from our weapons, mine scoring cherry-orange streaks across the paladin's armor.

      An asterisk blinked at the top-right corner of the cockpit. The pilot of the paladin wanted to talk to me.

      Hi.

      I was surprised to hear a pleasant voice, almost feminine. There were many pilots who used voice maskers or modulators.

      You are good for a Grade One, Astra.

      What's your name? I asked distractedly, while still hitting the paladin with my lasers. I needed to upgrade Coriolis with missile launchers.

      My real name or game name?  the voice was cheeky, playful.  The paladin deflected my shots with its shield. The cockpit was flashing in crimson red. My heat signature was at dangerous levels.

      Either one, I said, disappointed when Coriolis automatically shut down, the weapons frozen. The paladin won by default. Miffed too, because the pilot of the paladin had distracted me so much with the chatter.

      Phoenix.

      Good game, I congratulated Phoenix curtly.

      Will I see you again?

      Maybe, I said nonchalantly. Then the paladin disappeared, Phoenix having disconnected from the server. I stared out at the empty snow field, feeling suddenly lonely.

      ––––––––

      Ma was not at home when I returned from school. She worked part-time at the supermarket as a cashier.

      She had left a plate of fried rice on the table. I had a few spoonfuls and some water before I went back to my room. Ma had cleaned up and thrown away the clutter. Thank you, Ma, I thought. She had done so much for me: for example, I needed her to shower me, as I wasn't as mobile and agile as before. My disease was progressive. It was only about two years ago when the paralysis reached up to my hips and my legs weakened, forcing me to use a

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