FLASH CHALLENGE: May '10

[kailhofer]

The "Aliens & Archaeologists" Challenge:



By request.

If you're like me, when you were young, you were inspired by reading fiction tales of alien visitors or archaeologists digging up something that shouldn't belong there. Maybe you watched Doctor Who, reruns of Lost in Space or My Favorite Martian, Star Trek, or even shows like Space Academy or Jason of Star Command (not very good shows, these last two, but I always liked the half asteroid/half ship). In these shows, sometimes the aliens were very good, sometimes very evil, or sometimes just passing through.

There were no shortage of artifact stories, either. Do a search for "alien artifact" and you'll be amazed how often fiction found things that alien litterbugs left behind. Stargate and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull are just the latest noteworthy examples.

The point is, it's fun to imagine mixing with aliens, or unearthing their forgotten treasures. Hearken back to those days again.

I challenge you to write your best tale of life with aliens or extraterrestrial archaeological finds. See the story after the rules for an example.



RULES




CHALLENGE REQUIREMENTS: (1) Your science fiction story must include either aliens or alien archaeology, or both; (2) Stories may be serious or light-hearted; (3) One entry per author; and (4) This is a Rated 'PG-13' challenge.

FORMATTING: 1,000 words or less, not counting title, byline, or "The End". Give your story a title and a byline. Leave an extra line between paragraphs, just like when you see them in the 'zine. I will allow different colors, but not changed fonts or sizes, artwork, or any other embedded or external links. You are responsible for doing your own formatting.

CHARACTERS & SETTING: No copyrighted characters or settings, or references thereto. Famous, non-copyrighted fictional characters like Santa Claus, or religious figures such as the Devil, angels, or Thor, etc. as supporting characters at best and at my discretion. The Wicked Witch and Dracula may be in the public domain, but don't expect me to allow them. No person that was ever a human being may be used as a character, but can be referred to, as in "Ethelred the Unready had declared it would be so." Characters, except as noted above, must be used in their original appearance only. All non-copyrighted settings are ok. Famous, unique sites like Stonehenge may be used over and again. No fan fiction or sequels, so don't bother putting your story in the Land of Oz or that great place you thought up three challenges ago.

DISQUALIFICATIONS/REFUSALS: If, in my judgment, any requirement or rule is missed, I won't post the story for voting, but authors are free to resubmit with changes until the deadline. Should a story be initially accepted and posted in the challenge, but then later judged by me to be in violation, the story may be disqualified and removed from contention at any time prior to contest end. Authors who feel a story may be in violation should send me a PM and state their case.

HOW TO ENTER: Stories must be sent by PRIVATE MESSAGE, and NOT posted into a thread. Just click the 'PM' button at the bottom of this post and paste your story in the message.

DO NOT send a regular email to me.

CONTEST PROCEDURE: Stories will be posted "blind"--without the author's name on them. All the story titles are literally tossed into a hat and chosen at in random order. When the poll closes after the voting week, I'll post a list of the stories and who wrote them. The winner is chosen based on total points scored. All entries are reposted in the Flash Archive with the author's byline included after the challenge is concluded.

Entries from new authors are strongly encouraged. C'mon. Give it a try!

NOTE: ONLY REGISTERED MEMBERS who have posted at least one message may submit a story. Without that one post, the system may not let you send a PM.

DEADLINE: Stories should be in by 9 p.m. Central Standard Time (GMT-6), Thursday, May 27, 2010. The stories will then be posted for voting at around 10 p.m. Voting will close on June 2nd at approximately 10 p.m., GMT-6.

VOTING: Stories are rated on a scale of 0-10 in whole numbers in 6 different categories by filling in scores in a form that is posted by me immediately following the post containing the stories for this challenge. Voters copy and paste the form into a PM and send it to me for tallying. One vote per user (that is, per ip address), and authors may not vote for their own story.

Every effort will be made to keep the voting fair. In the past, some voters have abstained from voting for some of the stories while voting for the others. Since total points scored decides the winner, this put the stories that weren't voted on at a disadvantage. Should this happen again, the skipped stories will be given marks equaling whatever the story's average is at the time of contest close. IF YOU WISH TO SCORE A ZERO FOR A STORY, YOU MUST ENTER A ZERO IN THAT POSITION ON THE VOTING FORM. A challenge entrant who does not vote for the other stories will receive a 10% deduction in their own score at the time of contest close, and the other stories will be given marks equaling whatever their story's average is at the time of contest close.

If more than two stories are tied at the end of voting, there will be a succession of one-day runoff votes until a single winner is chosen or the number of winners is reduced to two.

WHAT YOU WIN: Writers get improved short fiction skills, increasing their chances in the marketplace, without the lengthy investment in time a longer story would take. That, as well as bragging rights and pride--there is stiff competition each month amongst some great stories.

LEGAL STUFF: Aphelion will not try to make a dime off you or your stories. Really. We want to see you succeed but nothing about that will line Aphelion's pockets. We love fiction and we love seeing authors get better to the point where people do pay them for their stories. That's why we're in this.

I'll try to do my best lawyer impersonation: By entering this or any challenge you are technically granting Aphelion: The Webzine of Science Fiction and Fantasy perpetual electronic rights only to post and archive your challenge entry. Aphelion would rather not lay any claim on them at all, but by posting them on a public site, they'd legally count as being published no matter what.

Ok. A real lawyer would have been less interesting. I tried.


Example story, not eligible for entry:


Beneath

By:
N.J. Kailhofer



It was above me, on top of the pile of rubble. I think it knew I was trapped.

As if the regular monsters weren't bad enough, this one had some kind of pet, an oozing menace with long teeth. I thought it could smell me. Why couldn't it just go away?

I didn't want to be taken. I didn't want to be probed or experimented on. Or dissected in one of their ships, for that matter. I just wanted to get out of there.

I wanted… I wanted it to be like it was, before they came.

[align=center]***[/align]

The fish were running that day. There were so many all you had to do is lower a net into the water and you would catch some. I knew the law would have been upset to see me, but everybody did it during spawning season. They were small, but it was free food. Free was good, take it from Luko.

The river water was cold, so cold, from all the snow melting in the mountains. My tall boots leaked, and I shook as I stood there, net in hand.

My wife, Marza, laughed at me from the river's shore, of course. Why was it wives had a never-ending supply of ways to make us feel self-conscious and still we felt lucky to have them at the same time?

I heard the thunder before I saw the flash.

Mountains of clouds burned, filling the whole horizon. The flames raced higher and faster toward us, as if the atmosphere had somehow caught fire. I thought it was Judgment Day, the day we would all pay for our sins, but I was wrong.

It was just the beginning of our suffering.

"Luko!" Marza screamed from the bank, pointing in the air. I looked, and in the center of Perdition's flames was a thing like I had never seen. It seemed long and flat, dark as night against the burning sky. It kept getting bigger, and I realized it was something coming out of the fire, emerging, and headed right at us.

"Run, Marza!" I shouted. My foot slipped on a rock, and I pitched into the water. It felt like my head exploded, and everything went dark.

When I awoke, I was lying on my back in a shallow part of the stream, half covered with water. I hurt all over, like I never had. I didn't know what was wrong with me, but I knew it was something serious.

"Marza?" I asked, but my voice came out in just a whisper. My eyes forced their way open, but I didn't understand what I saw. At first, it was all dark and blurry. Then I saw the riverbank. It was black with soot, burned to a crisp. The whole of the valley was blackened and burnt, except for the thing at the mouth of the ravine. It took up almost the whole space in the valley from edge to edge. I could see it then, but couldn't understand it. I had never seen anything like it. Never saw such black metal.

I saw then that I was burned, too, all over my back. It must have stuck out of the water when the thing landed. When I tried to move, I almost screamed from the pain, but I dared not make a sound.

I found Marza, then. Her poor body was black, seared, lying on the ground not far from me. She didn't run a quarter mile before the end.

A noise.

From their ship, I heard them. Five of them, coming toward us. I pushed myself into the deep water in the center of the river. Oh, the cold water! It burned, even as it kept me alive.

They were tall, sickly-white beings, with huge eyes and enormous ears. They walked like us, even wore clothes like us, but the noises they made were terrifying. I realized after a moment that it was their language, but I had never heard something so completely alien.

They unfolded some kind of board and put her body on it. Two of them carried her toward their ship. I never saw her again.

Three of them waded into the water toward me. I dove into the deep and swam as fast as I could. I held my breath until I was bursting. When I came up for air, I was far downstream from where they stood. How they didn't see me with those big eyes, I'll never know.

[align=center]***[/align]

I kept to the shadows as best I could. Weapons were no use against them.

Their language was hard to learn.

They wanted our world--our present, but also our past. This ship was filled with "archaeologists" trying to "study" the ruins of my ancestors. Hah! They just took it all for their museums back on their home world.

They are going deeper now, ripping passages deep into the earth with explosives, huge holes into my sacred homeland. Then they take my ancestor's bones and their treasures.

I crept close to one of their sites. The ground shook, and the stone column tipped toward me. I dove, but it was too late. I was trapped beneath the rubble.

[align=center]***[/align]

I didn't want him to find me. Let me die here, buried among my forefathers! I heard his pet monster scratching on the pile. It knew I was there.

What could I do? I could not move. Soon, they would have me. They would take me from my home, a curiosity, a slave to their whims.

There! A shard of rock. It was sharp! I would cut with it.

A stone lifted from above my head. Light poured down, flooding my view. So bright. Two dark shapes looked in through the hole.

Why couldn't he take his slobbering St. Bernard back to his ship and leave me to care for the ruins?

Then, I died, leaving nothing of Luko for them but my blue blood sprayed across his human face.


[align=center]The End[/align]

[kailhofer]

That would probably be best, since sequels are not allowed. The Mare can only be used in special challenges specifically set up for them. The rest of the time, they are out of bounds.

[kailhofer]

The first story is in. Who's next?

[Lester Curtis]

WHAAAAAAHHH, I can't think of anything to write for this!

There, ya satisfied?

Really, my thought process is occupied by other stuff currently, but there's a week and change left . . . something may hit me.

[Lester Curtis]

Sorry, my club [thought process occupied by other stuff] is in the shop for repairs . . .

. . . be advised, also: the Lester Curtis High Council is in deliberation, but further demands to 'submit' may be met with resistance . . .

[Lester Curtis]

Hey, I knew all that stuff -- and I'm plenty familiar with the 'club' quote, although I don't memorize who uses what quotes in their sig lines -- I was just having fun with you.

And I still might come up with an idea for this challenge -- I've just never been the type to contemplate bludgeoning my muse.

[Lester Curtis]

Well, I've got an idea I'm working on . . . a pretty good one, too, I think . . . see, my muse responds better to flirtation (and beer and cigarettes) than to a stick. I'll have it in soon.

[Lester Curtis]

Got mine done and sent -- to the wrong recipient, at first, but Nate showed me how to intercept it.

This one went well for me; it was almost short enough on the first draft, and I was able to cut enough to fill out the ending a little bit.

Now, the wait . . .

[kailhofer]

Now six stories are in. Plenty of room for more!