Entry for G&S Hard Science Contest: An exploration of how magic could be explained by science in a world where witches, wizards, and dragons not only exist, but thrive. Science-based chapters interspersed with world-based stories.

It’s the year 2147: a time of enduring peace on Earth. The Last War ended half a century ago. We can cure most ills, the air is pure, and teleportation is how we get around. Sounds great, right? So why does everyone suddenly want to kill Joel Byram?

"The life blood of space. A beating heart in the hard vacuum. The void stands against all life, but we stand defiant. Through unity and vigilance we accept all the universe can do to see our end, and we live on." (motto of the SCS BlackCrimson)

The short lives and deaths of a compound-raised clone grown for organ harvesting as the world outside changes.

An old woman. A horse-thief. A young girl. An android. It would be a lot funnier if the world wasn’t ending.

A virus wiped out every male on Earth, leaving the females to carry on alone. Now, five centuries later, the genome is breaking down and the only hope may lie in something long lost.

The year is 2152. What started as a normal work day for BJ Armstrong quickly turned to the adventure of a lifetime. Join him on an all-expenses-paid 30-day cruise through the solar system (complete with a beauty pageant and scientific symposium).