The Settlement

Tales Told Round Celestial Campfires

by Joseph Carrabis

Their son was an asteroid miner and there's lots of money to be had doing such hazardous work. Mom and dad discovered just how much and wanted some. But they forget why their boy became an asteroid miner in the first place.

11 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 2, 2016

About the author

Joseph Carrabis is a master storyteller with a sharp sense of humor and linguistic expertise. Hailing from New Hampshire, USA, his passion for writing began at the tender age of seven while washing dishes with his older sister, Sandra. She’d read ‘Mission to the Heart Stars’ for a book report and shared her fascination and excitement over the story. Joseph, a plate in one hand and a dish towel in the other decided, “I want to give that to people.” With a career deeply embedded in evolving technologies, Joseph served as Chief Research Officer, Chief Neuroscience Officer, and Senior Research Fellow at several institutions and agencies while earning numerous awards for his journalism and trade technical writing.

Joseph refers to himself as boring - something loudly debunked by his readers and peers - and weaves wildly imaginative stories that dance on the boundary of the known and unknown sciences where natural, preternatural and supernatural intersect. Fans’ comments regularly mention Carrabis’ ability to bring together advanced mathematics, quantum physics, cybernetics, and neuroscience with believable multi-dimensional characters and spellbinding future technology. Joseph has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, recommended for a Nebula Award, and received an honorable mention in ‘Writers of the Future’.

Reviews

[Ted Myers · Rating 5 out of 5]

If this taught family drama had taken place on Earth, it could be a Eugene O’Neill play.

In this twelve-page short story, a successful asteroid miner is suddenly visited by both his parents, whom he hasn’t heard from in years. The action takes place aboard the son’s space vessel parked above the northern polar cap of Mars. It’s soon revealed that the son, who narrates the story, was neglected by both parents and brutally beaten by his father as his mother looked on helplessly. The reason for the visit by the mother, it turns out, is to serve the son with a subpoena in which the mother lays claim to the son’s wealth. Soon, the father announces that he, too is on his way up for a visit, undoubtedly with the same purpose.

Joseph Carrabis unfolds and resolves the drama in a very unusual and satisfying manner. I highly recommend this story, not only to sci-fi fans but to all readers who appreciate an original and compact tale with a thoroughly satisfying ending.