When scientist and explorer Michael Anderson awakes from cryo at a distant alien star, he has no idea how cold and alone he'd feel. No idea, that is, until his sole mission partner Terra starts to die in the thawing process. Twenty light years from the nearest human being, cut off completely from anyone who could help them, Michael must act quickly to save her—but if passing through cryo is like passing through death, what does it mean for those who come out alive? Won first place in the 2009 Mayhew Short Story contest at BYU. Based on a scene from the novel Genesis Earth (now available at A 3,000 word short story.
Author
Joe Vasicek fell in love with science fiction and fantasy when he read A Wrinkle in Time and The Neverending Story as a child. He wrote several unfinished novels in high school and took Brandon Sanderson's writing class at Brigham Young University. He first came onto the indie writing scene in 2011 with his debut novel Genesis Earth. Since then, he has written more than twenty novels and novellas, including Genesis Earth, Gunslinger to the Stars, The Sword Keeper, and the Sons of the Starfarers series. His stories have been published in Perehilion, Mirror Dance, Sci Phi Journal, Uprising Review, Kasma SF, and Leading Edge. As a young man, he studied Arabic and traveled across the Middle East and the Caucasus Mountains. He has also traveled across the United States, and has lived in Texas, Illinois, Massachusetts, California, Utah, Washington DC, and Iowa. Wherever he goes, though, he's always writing.
