Hive, by Jay Werkheiser

[Analog]

★★★★☆ A good hard-SF story.

(Colony SF) An alien hive mind encounters something strange and tries to understand it. The human colonists are even more clueless, even though they’re caught in the middle of a pending war. (5,184 words; Time: 17m)

Slow Dance, by Jay Werkheiser

[Analog]

★★★☆☆ Average

(SF Mystery) From her office on the moon, Trina tries to investigate a possible murder on an experimental ship bound for the Kuiper Belt, where the crew aren’t asleep, but they’re slowed way down. (6,681 words; Time: 22m)

Kepler's Law, by Jay Werkheiser

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(Hard SF) When the Earth colony ship sent the first shuttles down to Kepler, there didn’t seem to be anything dangerous down there. Appearances can be deceiving. (11,869 words; Time: 39m)

Rating: ★★★☆☆ Average

Ecuador vs. the Bug-Eyed Monsters, by Jay Werkheiser

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(SF Sports) On an alien spaceship, the Ecuadorian football team plays against France for the World Cup. But the stakes may be a lot higher. (5,266 words; Time: 17m)

Rating: ★★★★☆ Fun and Exciting

Briz, by Jay Werkheiser

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(Alien SF) When the alien starship has an accident, they have to skip their original target star and find a new one. That turns out to be a hard decision to make. (3,672 words; Time: 12m)

Rating: ★★★☆☆ Average

One Giant Leap, by Jay Werkheiser

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(Hard SF) A corroded railing gives way, and Kent falls from a Venusian cloud city to near-certain death. But it takes a long time to fall fifty kilometers. (4,511 words; Time: 15m)

Rating: ★★★★☆ Good science, good story, tense and exciting

The Desolate Void, by Jay Werkheiser

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(Planetary SF) Marj seeks life in the oceans of Enceladus. Her guide wonders why she bothers. (4,804 words; Time: 16m)

Rating: ★★★☆☆, Average

The Anthropic War, by Jay Werkheiser

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(SF) Wheeler notices the cosmic background radiation is changing and deduces that aliens are doing it. (2,006 words; Time: 06m)

Rating: ★★★☆☆ Average

Formal Charges, by Jay Werkheiser

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(Hard SF) Brett helps maintain a particle beam that's accelerating a manned US interstellar vehicle. But something is wrong with the beam, and his team needs to fix it before it kills the astronauts. (5,600 words; Time: 18m)

Rating: ★★☆☆☆ Not Recommended

Around The NEO in 80 Days, by Jay Werkheiser

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(SF) Ultra-rich Phil Foggerty bet that he could fly around a Near-Earth Asteroid and return to Earth in just 80 days. He has a clever plan, but his enemies don't want him to get off the ground. (7,700 words; Time: 25m)

Rating: ★★★☆☆, Average

Usher, by Jay Werkheiser

[Analog]

★★★★☆ Recommended

Uplifting story in which Dave, a scientist who is losing his sight and hearing to Usher syndrome, attempts to communicate with aliens that neither see nor hear. (8,700 words; Time: 29m)

Recommended By: 👍RSR+1 (Q&A)

Phenol-Faerie, by Jay Werkheiser

Analog Science Fiction and Fact, March 2015; ~900 words
Rating: 2, Not recommended

Short-short about a grad student trying to study faery dust.

Mini-Review (click to view--possible spoilers)

Nothing happens in the story.

Ships in the Night, by Jay Werkheiser

Analog Science Fiction and Fact, June 2015; 3,400 words
Rating: 3, Ordinary, good, story

A starship crewman chats in a bar and tells about a curious incident that happened during a near-light-speed cruise.

Mini-Review (click to view--possible spoilers)

Pro: A good nearly-as-fast-as-light story. A decent-sounding escape at the end.

Con: The framing story tells us that this was just a tall tale meant to help keep the local culture from stagnating. That's got all the charm of "and then I woke up and it was all a dream."

Cease and Desist, by Jay Werkheiser

Analog Science Fiction and Fact, July/August 2015; ~1,200 words
Rating: 3, Good, ordinary, story

Lazy, fat guy is sued by his future self for causing his health problems.

Mini-Review (click to view--possible spoilers)

Amusing little story--especially the angle about suing his teen-age self.

It's awfully silly, and very similar to Asimov's "A Loint of Paw" but without the pun.