'This is Mount Lemmon Observatory calling, is there anyone receiving?' Only static hiss replied. Marshall rubbed his sweat-stained forehead. 'Can anyone update us? What has happened?' The static noise stopped. Dead silence. Marshall maneuvered the telescope with the controls. He tilted it down to face the horizon. Outside he saw bare, dead trees and barren…
A STORY OF VITUPERATION IN VIENNA, AUSTRIA ‘A poor turnout. I thought there would have been more.’ Steiner looked out over the square. Behind the protesters the Hofburg, the Presidential Palace, sat unperturbed, protected by the line of police in riot gear. ‘How many are you counting?’ Valentina scanned the gathering, ‘A few thousand, five…
A STORY OF UNDERUTILISATION IN UPPSALA, SWEDEN Sand could have taken a flight to Uppsala from Oslo and been there in under an hour, but these days he was in no rush. It had been a year since he had been put into semi-retirement. After the serial killer Dag Moen had disappeared into the Norwegian…
THE STORY OF ONE TEAM IN TALINN, ESTONIA The rumours had been flying about amongst the Tartan Army, the name given to the supporters of the Scottish national football team, since the evening before, while they were out soaking up the atmosphere and the alcohol around the centre of Talinn. Now, as the referee led…
A STORY OF SUBSISTENCE IN ŠIAULIAI, LITHUANIA She threw the rock into the lake and watched the ripples spread across the calm surface. The warm sun beat down on her face. She lay back on the pebbled ground and closed her eyes, taking a draw from the cigarette she had smuggled away with her. How long…
