May 22, 2026
A cartography vessel mapping a
sector of space that’s expected to contain nothing of interest
encounters…something of interest.
Genre: Science Fiction,
Mystery
Excerpt:
“This thing is changing by
the hour. We may not have time for Vessel 86 to arrive before
something even more intense happens.”
I walked on a few steps
before I realized that my crew mate had stopped short. I turned and
walked back to him.
“More intense than that?” he
asked, pointing out of the nearest porthole.
I gaped.
The fluttering spirals that
we’d become accustomed to had shifted color, darkening in a pattern
that was familiar to both of us.
That pattern was a word. The
word was, “Hello.”
The Wheel of Fiction
Turns. What did it land on this
time?
Each Season 9 story
follows a theme chosen by the Wheel of Fiction. Thirteen spokes.
Eight are the themes from previous seasons. One is “Turn Again.”
One is a wild card. And three are covered in question marks and
will be revealed when the wheel lands on them.
See a story trailer and a
(satisfying) video of the wheel turning here: Encounter With Ship 47
This episode landed on MUSIC. Ooo, one of the
mystery spokes has been revealed. I listened to a track called
“Dimension of Time” from the soundtrack for a computer game from my
youth, “The Dig.” And I had visions of adventure in space...
Here’s an earlier episode from this
season inspired by music: Nine Gods in Masquerade.
MERCH!
Interested in
merch, like mugs and notebooks, featuring my
artwork?
Please visit my Store page for
info on where you can buy: STORYFEATHER
STORE
NEWSLETTERS
The
Store page also has sign-up forms for my two email
newsletters:
Storyfeather Gazette (if you’d like to keep up with the
fiction I create)
Fictioneer’s Field Guide (if you’d like writing tips and guidance from me)
Choose what you want. (Either way,
you're choosing high jinks.)
MY FIRST BOOK
(yay)
Ever wonder how I’ve
gotten all these hundreds of stories written? I have a method. You
can learn it in my book called Fictioneer’s Field Guide: A Game Plan for Writing Short
Stories.
It’s now available from Amazon as an
eBook, paperback, and hardcover.
You can also get there from my Store
page: STORYFEATHER
STORE
CREDITS
Story: “Encounter
With Ship 47”
Copyright © 2022 by Nila L. Patel
Narration, Episode Art, Editing, and
Production: Nila L.
Patel
Music:
“Among the Stars”
by ANDREW SITKOV (Intro)
“Another
World” by ANDREW SITKOV (Outro)
“Abstract Vision #5” by ANDREW SITKOV (Outro)
Music by ANDREW SITKOV
(MuzStation Game Music)
“Stars
Talk”
“Unknown
Terrain”
“Freedom”
“Dark
Side”
”A Long
Way”
“Space
Discoveries”
“First
Contact”
“Lost in the
Dark”
“Among the
Stars”
“Another World”
Music by ANDREA BARONI
(Cyberleaf)
“The Longest Year (no
percussion)”
All tracks are part of a music and sound effects bundles I purchased from Humble Bundle and sourced from GameDev Market.
Music by Andrea Baroni and Andrew Sitkov is licensed from
GameDev Market
Sound effects
from AudioJungle, GameDevMarket, and
Soundly (through Hindenburg)
Vocal effects created
with Audacity
Changes made to the musical tracks? Just
cropping of some to align with my narration.
Find more music by Andrea Baroni and Andrew Sitkov at
gamedevmarket.net
Find more stories by Nila at storyfeather.com
Episode Art
Description:
Digital drawing.
Five silhouettes against a window, all face a luminous spiraling
phenomenon beyond. At top left, a human in a chair that’s hovering
over the heads of the others, in partial right profile, with left
hand raised to the window. Below, from right to left. A
caterpillar-shaped being sitting on the window ledge, with two
antennae raised to the window, tail dangling from the ledge. A
being with a squid head, with five tentacles held up against the
window, standing on what appears to be three knobby or segmented
legs. A human standing with both hands pressed against the glass at
head level. A being shaped like a central stalk with fuzzy hair at
the top, two pairs of loops protruding from the sides, and knobby
plumes rising from the loops. A wall to the left displays some
glowing lights and panels. Watermark of “Storyfeather” along window
border along right.