It started off as little more than headphone static, a drone that had been within him for some time, without any recollection of it ever starting. Finding himself focused, it resolved into music: bells and horns and something almost but not quite a melody. Was this what they had warned him of: the stresses of…
Dog is Berty’s first choice, cat a poor second, and anything’s better than rat. Anything. Three years ago, at Berty’s eleventh birthday party, aunty Terrine said God was punishing the world for our many sins, and it wasn’t the Moreau virus like the leaflets said. But even though aunty Terrine went to church, the very…
“I have a gift for you,” Tokelark says. He glides across the dark matter of space and gives the star to Arem. Arem cradles the star in her hands. The cool fire of the dead star bites at her fingers. She turns it over and feels the sunspot stains and the cracks, a web of…
The only people riding the Blue Line on a night this cold are people trying to stay alive. I almost didn’t make it onto the train before the doors closed, and I doubt I could’ve lasted till the next one arrived. Two coats, and a scarf—that shit means nothing in this weather. Hungry and tired,…
In two and half minutes, I’d either become the twelfth certified wormhole pilot or the seventieth-odd loser ripped apart by Jupiter’s storm shear. The decisive moment was speeding up to me. I’d ghost my electricals, coast through the eye of the storm, and slide through the tiny aperture halfway to another world. Even after all…
Corbin collapsed outside the dragon’s lair, acrid smoke wafting from his armor. He was getting too old for this. He’d never asked to be the gods’ favored champion. Sunlit forests spread out below him, a peaceful world unaware and unconcerned that he’d almost been eaten. Twice. Corbin drew a shuddering breath and wrenched a dragon…
Dozer and Digger eased out from the forest’s shadows, taking care not to damage the new growth. Dozer tilted its solar panels toward the sun. Its programming didn’t allow it to enjoy the afternoon’s warmth, but the increase in available power gave it something akin to satisfaction. Over the centuries, little had changed about their…
I ride into the clearing with my lance pointed skyward. My horse is already skittish. The dragon slaying business is always rough on horses, and I replace mine the way other riders do horseshoes. I didn’t even bother to name this one. But losing a horse always gives the story a little something. I circle…
After my husband died, I carried his ghost in my pocket. At the hospital, I held his hand as he told me in a raspy voice, “I made a memory cube for you, Zoe. It has everything you need. But don’t hang on to it. Once you’ve transferred everything, destroy it.” Lemar and I had…
There’s a book on my bookshelf, “Green Summer, Orange Leaves, Purple Lives” by Gina Marshall, a library book I checked out years ago and never managed to return. It sits there, nestled between a handful of cookbooks I’ve acquired over the years and failed to use and the Bible I was given on the day…
