(A bit of flash fiction)
The Assignment: Using provided data, write a speculative fiction piece with a clear setting, relevant world-building, conflict, and at least two characters with a protagonist, in no more than 300 words. The provided research, and my own, are at the end.
* * *
Eagle Eye hustled to keep up with Blue Dock as they went into the Aspen Mist Inn, walked past the front desk without looking at the receptionist, and pushed through swinging doors. They were almost to the bar when Eagle Eye tripped into a big man, broad-shouldered and a head taller than the young man. Blue Dock stopped and . . . watched.
Straightening up quickly, Eagle Eye eyed the big man who was attired similarly to Blue Dock, a thick work coat over grease-stained coveralls and plain work boots, except for the illegal handray unconcealed on his hip. His eyes were emotionless as his gun hand moved his coat behind the laser pistol’s handle.
Maybe it was all for show because who would start a gunfight this publicly? Still, Eagle Eye was not to be intimidated, and stiffened his chest.
Suddenly, Blue Dock grabbed his collar and dragged him to the bar. “No.”
“I’m not afr—”
“No.” Blue Dock wasn’t looking at Eagle Eye as he raised a hand to one of the bartenders.
“So we just let this bastard—”
“Yes. We do.” He raised two fingers to the approaching bartender. “The big man works for Captain Derrick Jones who leads the Titan Bussers.”
Eagle Eye nodded dumbly. “Who are they?”
The bartender leaned in, whispered, “10 PM, pad 48,” snatched the coin Blue Dock set on the bar, then turned away.
Blue Dock pushed Eagle Eye toward a different door than they entered, keeping himself between the young man and the big man. “An outfit we don’t cross.”
“I thought we were formidable—”
“Enough talk, kid. They have a cargo lugger fitted with weaponry that keeps Planetary Navy at bay. We’re in a cutter that keeps us fast and invisible. Stop drawing attention.”
* * *
How’d I do?
In case you’re interested:
Provided research:
From Southern New Hampshire University MFA 527-10862-M01, Module 5 rubric:
The following text comes from Smuggling in Kent & Sussex 1700–1840 by Mary Waugh:
“Virtually every type of craft was used for smuggling at one time or another; naval vessels, revenue cutters, packet boats and pilot boats, even a royal yacht made the occasional venture. The large smuggling vessels were luggers, generally from 50 to 200 tons. Some were carvel-built (with timbers edge to edge) for greater speed. They normally carried square sails on three masts, and it was the development of fore-and-aft rigging during the seventeenth century which had given such vessels greater manoeuvrability [sic]. Their decks were sometimes protected by a form of breast-work, behind which were mounted carriage and swivel guns. With a crew of perhaps 50, the larger ships were formidable indeed By the 1780s these larger craft were powerful enough to engage naval ships, and sometimes tried to run down and sink their smaller adversaries.” (pp. 22-23)
“The individual smuggler protected his anonymity with various disguises, such as covering his face or wearing a shepherd’s smock, and called his companions and the landing places by nick-names, but the large armed convoys relied on their superior strength to defy all opposition The gang based on the Wealden village of Hawkhurst during the 1740s became the most notorious.” (p. 24)
“Officers from both Rye and Hastings dared to search out a gang of 30 armed men with 50 horses who had been seen heading inland through Iden, north of Rye. The officers caught up
with the smuggling convoy at Stonechurch but were disarmed and threatened with pistols ready cocked and held to their heads. They were forced to walk with the party for the next five miles on the road toward the smugglers’ headquarters at Groombridge. They were finally released near Lamberhurst and given back their weapons (now unserviceable), and later reported that the leaders called themselves Old Joll, Toll, The Miller, Yorkshire George, Nasty Face and Towzer.” (p. 71)
“During the 1740s the Hawkhurst men under Arthur Gray carried out a whole series of acts of violence. They are known to have sat drinking in the Mermaid Inn at Rye, with their weapons on the table before them, but it was when twenty of them visited the Red Lion nearby that they deliberately frightened the local people by firing in the air. James Marshall, a young bystander who showed unwise curiosity in their affairs, was taken away and never heard of again.” (p. 74)
Also, my own:
“Lugger.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 10 Jun 2025, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lugger. Accessed 10 Dec 2025.
“Cutter (boat).” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 2 Sep 2025, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cutter_(boat). Accessed 10 Dec 2025.
“Rye, East Sussex.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 19 Oct 2025, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rye,_East_Sussex. Accessed 10 Dec 2025.
“Hawkhurst.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 26 Sep 2025, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawkhurst. Accessed 10 Dec 2025.
