The Black Tide

Bill Staker awakens in his New York hotel, the lingering weightlessness of a recent Mars‑to‑Earth run still humming in his muscles. A cigarette smolders as he watches a news reel flicker about a rogue meteor slicing through a Space Bird’s crew compartment, the warning echoing his own recent brush with the void. The city’s neon glow and the sterile hum of the telescreen clash with the distant, cold expanses he’s accustomed to navigating.

At the same time, his brother Tom is rallying investors for a daring asteroid‑mining venture, promising a haul of uranium from the Beta Quadrant. Family lore, a century‑old trust, and a romantic vision of private enterprise hang over their plan, but Bill feels the familiar dread of staring into endless darkness. With his gray eyes reflecting both fatigue and fierce curiosity, he knows the next launch could test the limits of his skill, his courage, and his very notion of what it means to survive among the stars.