io9 is proud to present fiction from LIGHTSPEED MAGAZINE. Once a month, we feature a story from LIGHTSPEED’s current issue. This month’s selection is “The Darkness Between the Stars” by Richard Thomas; you can listen to an audio version here .
Enjoy! The Darkness Between the Stars by Richard Thomas Buddy and I abandoned our hydrogen nomad at the edge of the wastelands before trudging around the rusted chain-link perimeter of the abandoned fairgrounds, waiting for the blast of steam and guttural earthly moan to escape from the fractured soil, signifying that it was clear to enter the area. Remnants of old technology lay scattered as far as the eye could see: tubes of corroded brass, mangled springs, and cracked gearwheels mingled with discarded water bottles and decomposing garbage bags—half-covered in dust and ash among the weeds. For a half-century, the unrelenting elements and merciless salvage crews had ravaged and plundered what was once a magnificent sight to behold.
Every structure of the theme park had been long since flattened, erased, torn down, or stolen, to the point that only the legends and tales remained—mindblowing exhibits and theme park amusements with a supernatural twist. We knew what these barren acres used to hold, but if you didn’t know the history, it would be easy to miss the patches of gray concrete hidden beneath the silt, the faded numbers and directional arrows stenciled on the cracked pavement in a yellow so washed-out that it was al.