Holding the gift bag with the bottle of Jack and a little card he got for him, Matt knocked on Jason's door. Only minutes earlier, Jason and Julie had said goodbye during a steamy final meeting while Matt was at the state liquor store getting Jason a thank you bottle for his kindnesses to Matt and Julie at the beginning of the week. In fact, Jason's thick on...
Chapter 6 Cultural Divide We arrived at Havint two days later. The planet was a mad house. In addition to the normal traffic to the system, there was the mass of diverted traffic from Pascal's World. Added to that, the news of the first contact with a seventh space faring race had made its way to Havint as well. It took a full day to receive landing cleara...
Grand Marshall After the meeting with Ike and the Commander of the Fijishi he was in his office. The orders to investigate everyone who knew had been passed. Now came the important question, what should he do with the stealth station identified. It wasn't part of the North American polity since Ike didn't know anything about it. He doubted it was part of an...
But it was affection, not love that bound Mrs. Bentley and I together. We both came to realize it after a short time, but after her arrival I found myself venturing out once again, first to stroll along Saville Row, and then London of an evening. Once again, this time at Mrs. Bentley's urging, I grew a beard; and eventually I took advantage of my club memb...
Sandra picked up Kelly at eight on New Year's Eve. It had been the fourth time they hung out during their holiday break from college. The two had been linked at the hip during high school but going to two separate colleges made that impossible. The time they spent together reminded them of how close their friendship was and how much they enjoyed each other's...
Blond and balding, divorced and ready to give up on women, Eddie Cox closed his toolbox and walked out of the computer room of the small branch of Albion United Bank, swallowing the last of a tomato sandwich. He stopped abruptly, a shotgun pointed at his belly. "Who are you?" asked the gunman, blue eyes looking coldly through eye slits in his hood. "The co...
There are no underage characters in this Review & Essay. All characters portrayed are over 18. * Susan Jill Parker refuses to take anti-depressant medication. Yeah, no kidding. Is Hannah depressed? Of course she's depressed. She's a Mennonite. Not to write anything bad about Hannah, about Mennonites, and/or about the Amish but I thought to myself how hap...
NEED TO TALK, the note said. MEET ME IN THE BOY'S WASHROOM BY THE GYM. FIRST PERIOD. The note was written on an index card, and taped to the inside of Natalie Junswick's locker. At the bottom of the index card, Mr. Randle had signed his name. Natalie hadn't seen Mr. Randle in weeks, since an unfortunate incident at her house; inside Natalie's bedroom. The...
I was ending another week of hard, productive work, feeling that somewhat familiar, somewhat welcomed mix of exhaustion and exhilaration, looking forward to an evening alone and a long night's sleep before a weekend of nothing in particular - some exercise, certainly, maybe take the boat out for an afternoon of fishing on the lake, maybe see if the rare even...
I had been on this job for about ten days and it was a bitch. I had a new night hand, which I had to train from scratch or just about anyway. That means that I couldn't leave location for any length of time. A quick trip into town for supplies, food, and cigarettes was about it. I was bored and chomping at the bit to get out and do something different. Abou...