The Short Way to Paradise, A sci-fi short story by Matt Crane

12 years. Millions, nay, billions in research, countless backroom bribes, regiments of protesters hushed, ethics rewritten, favours taken and 5 aftermarket rocket launches, all to put a little grey box next to Pallas, a little rock far away from where most cared to venture. I admired the box; a rounded cuboid smooth and shiny, betraying