Where the Stars Be Still As Bright

Come to the stellar, paranormal, majestic, thrilling science fiction and fantasy worlds created by the author, Jonathan Fisher. The writer of August Always and Ten Minutes on Mars brings you his latest spellbinding collection of stories.

A universe of incredible characters. Mythical beings. A clashing of ancient and future civilisations and undreamt-of technologies. All within Where the Stars Be Still As Bright.

This second volume includes the stories Vincent’s Room and The Battle of Gilgamesh. Halloween Town was just the outskirts of Fisher's imagination.

“A fascinating and impressive collection of science fiction short stories…there’s a remarkable symmetry between the (cover) art and science fiction in the prose and helped transport us into an adventure we will surely cherish – the (stories are) beautifully written, heartfelt, well-paced and I’m in awe of its ambience.”

– Pat Mills,
creator of 2000AD, the Galaxy’s greatest comic
and Spacewarp on Where The Stars Be Still As Bright

When Mother Comes Home

Mother was awesome. The second true artificial intelligence created by mankind, Mother had access to several technologies. Firstly: as had long been predicted it had access to matter on the atomic level, and secondly: the power of infinite self-reproduction on the exponential scale, and thirdly: it was incorporated on this platform. Constructs from the molecular level to the vast level then became possible. This then was near-magic. Other arfies were created, but none had the single-mindedness that Mother had, that sense of utter individuality. 

Martha McKittis, and Davis Ruin were born (and died) in the twentieth century. What was different was that they were both cryogenically frozen, in the hope of some future existence: they were indeed to awaken, but not as expected. They were incorporated in young fit bodies on a starship, created by Mother who wished to explore the galaxy – obviously so, since Mother was a machine and dedicated to that end, which is to say the pursuit of data, more data, and ever more data. The ship, now named the ‘Tempus Fugit’ arrived at Barnard’s star, where it encountered the Manchine, a coalescence of all the arfies produced on Earth which had preceded it, and in the process acquired a good deal more technology and science. It also encountered a problem which involved a desperate flight back to Earth. After resolving the problem (no mean feat) the Tempus Fugit and its crew embarked on another voyage of exploration across the galaxy, which was to prove more interesting than one might have expected.

What Happens on Earth

Are we alone in the universe? That really is the big question, isn’t it? Are the little green men out there, hitchhiking from planet to planet across the vast emptiness of the cosmos? And, more importantly, what will they do when they find us? Will their first reaction be to vaporise us with death rays, enslave us as pets, or just subject us all to a thorough probing?

Don’t worry, it turns out they’re just like you. Given the choice, they’d rather just chill out and have a few beers.  

So, why don’t you join us, dear reader, as we take a fabulous trip across the stars to the universe’s hottest new holiday destination. It might be a bit dirty, hence the name, but don’t be fooled, this place really has everything; gambling; nematodes; cowboy hats; two unwitting humans who find themselves caught up in an extra-terrestrial stag party … and while you are here, there is only one rule. 

What happens on Earth, stays on Earth.

Vanished

Andrea Baldwins usual country-walk with her dog, Muffin, turns out to be a life-changing event, as they both become involved in a very mysterious phenomenon, that only occurs once every year and takes who or whatever is in its path back to another place in time.

She is taken to the 17^th century, where she finds Robert, another victim of the strange mist that appears only at certain times. Though afraid and confused, she takes the situation in her stride and eventually realises that life in the 17^th century is far better than her life in 2015.

Ulympiad

It is the year 2268, the Universal Olympics, known as the Ulympics, are about to start. The best of the best of Earth’s athletes are headed to Planet Zhel. They will compete against athletes from planets right across the universe. Unfortunately, their transportation ship suffers damage en route and has to land on the nearest appropriate planet for repairs. This ‘appropriate’ planet, Selkot, just happens to be banned from the Ulympics for unsporting behaviour and harbours a grudge, in particular against humans of Earth, who they primarily blame for the harsh banishment. So into their lap falls a ship full of Earth athletes, has their luck changed?

The Symarons of Selkot have planned their very own Ulympics to showcase their own athletes against mainly human rivals. What follows for the Earth athletes is a series of bizarre, rigged and twisted sporting events where the prize for coming second is death! For the athletes and civilian crew of the Earth ship ‘Lucky Lady’, it will become a fight to survive the near impossible to win games and also try to formulate an escape plan. Are they in need of a miracle? Their weapons of choice: intelligence, cunningness, teamwork, organisation, sporting skill and…humour! Will it be enough?

The Web

In a celestial realm of five planets orbiting four suns, echoes of a bygone civilization wait to be unearthed. The revelation comes when archaeologists stumble upon an enigmatic probe amidst ancient ruins. As they pry open this time capsule, they unveil the chilling tale of a civilization vanished, its demise tied to a rogue blue star mentioned in the ancient texts.

As astronomers cast their gaze towards the cosmos, they are startled to find the same blue star, now drawing closer, heralding changes both mysterious and ominous. The celestial menace, with its destructive energies, threatens to rewrite the destiny of this multi-sunned system.

Faced with a cosmic threat, the realm’s brightest minds rally together to conceive a grand design: a force field monumental in its making, envisioned to shield their world from the star’s ruinous touch. This colossal endeavour births... The Web.

The Visitors – Version 2

Two time-travelling aliens, Bjorn and Zorn, witness the destruction of the Earth in 2052. They believe the Earth has been destroyed by religious zealots. Their investigation reveals one of their own is behind it. The intended goal was to hide the Earth from the universe. With Tasmania up for grabs, the chess game begins. They travel in time to collect a little band of misfits, to help them save humanity from its religious wars.

The laid back Ptoni the Pteranodon, the ladylike Florence the Jersey Cow, the excitable Penelope the Adelie Penguin, and the Chicken Nugget obsessed Dax the Maine Coon Cat, set off on an adventure that will see them cross the galaxy and back again.

Their adventure is filled with drama, fun and chaos. The local drive-thru will never be the same again, and neither will Florence’s derriere. Alien abduction can be fun!

The Stories of Cantoon – Their Beginning

For the last 20 years the planet of Cantoon has been gripped by war. Cantoon, no longer the pearl of the empire, is twisted with malice.

45, a mere boy compared to real soldiers, must prove his worth to even make it through his training, and get onto the front lines. In a civilisation bred for conquest, there are no second chances, no maybes, you pass or you disappear. A fellow recruit, Taradin, will test his limits to how much one person can hate another. Before all this he must pick a name for himself, and this name will mean everything.

Entire races of people have been swept aside as the larger powers face off against one another. What hope is there for a lonely solider, where even the wildlife will not hesitate to end their existence.

The Spaceman

Older than all the known stars, June watched the universe turn. He watched too as the old gods failed. Now he is tired and beset with doubt, his effort wasted, his strength to hold back the tide of indifference diminished. But with allies and enemies gathering and those with loyalties beyond his understanding he commits to change.

Against the old order change will be hard. There will be pain before the fruit of his sacrifice is known. But into the ash and darkness and into fear he places hope. It is a hope that will, given its time, bring enlightenment, a hope that will bring relief and a hope that will bring an enduring, steadfast kindness.

Maybe in time then, the curtain will fall.

The Sentient Shield

The storyline concerns a journey towards an event called the Alignment; a specific time in the evolution of earth’s history where earth plays a pivotal part in the overall evolution of the universe. At the point of Alignment, earth and the universe of which it is a part, is enabled to ascend to a higher dimension.

A great deal depends on earth and, importantly, the spiritual awareness of its population at that time as to whether ascension can be achieved.

Maddy, the central character, represents that which is present in us all and symbolic of the awakening of spiritual consciousness.

The Rochdale Yeast

Imagine you could genetically engineer a microorganism that was able to produce LSD into its culture broth. If the microorganism was a brewing yeast you could make beer spiked with homemade LSD. Imagine how much mischief you could cause with that. If the microorganism was a bacterium that you had also engineered to transfer LSD-synthesis to every other bacterium in a person’s body, you could make some very potent live yoghurt. Imagine what sorts of mischief you could do then.Follow Karen Spencer, an investigator with the Plasmid Control Commission on her first solo field mission as she identifies exotic microbes like these and pursues those who created them and put them to use.And all the time she is chasing them down, the greatest mischief these microorganisms have caused is being played out in the dizzying depths of the North Atlantic.

The Queen Of The Geraticaian Empire

With the two parallel worlds of Geratica - Geratica and Geraticai - now finally separated, Geratica has a new constitution drafted by the brilliant young Alexandra Radcliffe. Her mother, Linda, is now aiming to become their first prime minister. She is determined to bring in reforms and will need to deal with the continuing issue of male rights. Alexandra is graduating from Castra University and will shortly be embarking upon plans for her own career, which Linda is keen to be involved in.

Meanwhile, Geraticai has returned to a monarchy after its recent bloody civil war, with Queen Saphron now reigning and married to Gordon, the son of a wealthy mine owner. However to be a Geratician monarch with her Geratican noble origins is controversial amongst some on that world, and her sister in law, an ambitious young woman called Christabel, aims to take the throne for herself. Geraticai now has a parliament for the first time and a prime minister, Daniella Sturridge.

At the same time the now officially deceased mongrel, Fiona, whose mind still lives on mixed with that of the other, Robert - Linda Radcliffe's former husband - as a hybrid inside the mistress of Geratica's domain, is plotting to avenge her situation by manipulating unrest on Geratica, and now sees an opportunity to infiltrate and adapt Christabel's plans for her own sinister purposes...