Orpheus’ Engines by Christopher McKitterick - A Short Story Review

This is the kind of hard SF that I like.

A private corporation, JoveCo, has a mining station orbiting Jupiter to extract hydrogen from the atmosphere of the gas giant.

Nina Galindo is dispatched to the station to help resolve a problem.  There are native creatures alive in the upper atmosphere who seem to be trying to communicate with the humans.  But there is something else, there is another signal buried under the repeating “GO AWAY” which is encrypted  and far more complex.

I found the story rich in imagery, I felt like I was watching a movie instead of reading a book.  And it’s not because it was so well described, it was just the opposite, the author gave just enough information to frame a scene and I was able to colour it all in.

The orbital station was a marvel and how the story relied on it’s structure to uncover the mystery was part of the fun of it.

This story stood out in the collection.

Christopher McKitterick’s website - http://christopher-mckitterick.com/

Christopher McKitterick