Stella Lam unpacked and checked her comm. Dr. Lam, once you are situated, let’s head over to the Deltoid compound, said the message from Councilman Warren. At twenty-five past midnight, local time, she suited up, grabbed the aquatic attachments, and… Continue Reading
He thought she was about nineteen. Jay Blunt was good at that, guessing the ages of girls who caught his eye. It was an important talent for a man to have. One always had to know when a woman was… Continue Reading
The dilemma — I knew even as a nine-year-old boy to be a “good problem” — was I’d unwrapped a blue plastic horse from Mrs. Golding during the fourth-grade classroom Christmas party and all the girls wanted horses, as girls… Continue Reading
It was Saturday night, and Bubba’s Saloon in the mining camp of High Hopes was packed so tight the sides of the tent bulged. A rare sense of sobriety hung in the air. Everyone was drunk, of course, but nobody… Continue Reading
A heron perched in a mangrove tree glanced at the old pickup. Its tires crushed the shells lining the driveway leading to the back of a coral-pink house. An unshaven man in shorts and a sleeveless River Monsters tee-shirt hopped… Continue Reading
Tenra inhaled; even on the ridge overlooking the town, the aromas of blood and soot were unmistakable. Pillars of gray haze rose from shattered timber and scorched masonry, ringing the town with a sad halo of death. Jarnic warriors prowled… Continue Reading
I swore at the traffic snarl I could see up the street. I was going to miss my flight! Unless… I took the next right, and drove through the backstreets with one eye on the road and the other on… Continue Reading
We could tell it was you, Jean’s friends will say later, when the picture is printed in newspapers all over the country. We could tell it was you even though you covered your face. It won’t be till later that… Continue Reading
Riley pulled the bed covers over his head, but the damned ghost just moaned louder. He was exhausted after being in the University physics lab past midnight making more time machine modifications. He wished he could find a quieter place… Continue Reading
Shari rolls off of me, wipes a drop of sweat from my forehead and says, “Sometimes I feel like I could melt right through you.” I nod, breathe deep and close my eyes. “Really,” she says. “Don’t you feel that… Continue Reading