The Falcon fired a cannon blast, a single warning shot. It was apparent even to Constance that the Ricarda had no hopes of outrunning the other vessel. Whittington gave the order to come about, and surrender. "On your head be it," Cuthburt said to the captain, glowering darkly. The two of them had been arguing bitterly since the sighting of the pirate fla...
I worked graveyard shift at the university library, re-shelving the engineering journals that our technological future were too lazy to return themselves. Up here on the 7th floor its quiet and kinda dark, almost like a dungeon with the linoleum floors so old they're practically petrified into rock, and the walls that never had any treatment since the constr...
Trust "Through all temptation, and the Tempter foil'd In all his wiles, defeated and repuls't, And Eden rais'd in the wast Wilderness." Paradise Regained Chapter Two "Come on Jack, wake up." I heard her voice though I couldn't see her in the dark room. Kay? "Kay, what...where am I? What are doing here? I felt the bed shift as she turned. "Mack called m...
"And stay away from the ivy." "Yes, Miss Agartha." "Friedi Shepherd saw it stirring just last week. That boy is jumpier than a spider on coffee, but you know it's not worth the risk." "I know." Cedwyn nodded eagerly. The apprentice was already packing his satchel at the front door of the stilted hut. Agartha hopped off her stool and limped over, using th...
LEVERIA I walked to the dungeons, my footsteps echoing into the still night. The guard nodded to me and opened the iron door. He guided me by torchlight through the catacombs, the wails and shrieks of captured beasts echoing through the halls. I followed with one hand on his shoulder, carefully watching my footsteps as I navigated the uneven stairs. A fami...
Chapter One Hundred Ninety-One: Story Time I looked from one expectant face to the next, but none of the four looked anything but determined. They wanted me to describe their deaths. I gulped. "First of all, please call me Sierra. I wasn't...I don't enjoy titles or excessive formality." Their expressions were guarded, so I hurried to reassure them, "No one...
* * * * * Copyright Oggbashan October 2005 The author asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work. This is a work of fiction. The events described here are imaginary; the settings and characters are fictitious and are not intended to represent specific places or living persons. * * * * * We were running late. We had intended to m...
I am Jack the Ripper. In a red ink pseudonym, I announced myself in letters to the Metro Police months ago. Later, on a cold November day; I sat on a hard-wooden stool, infamous. My writing table angled at forty-five degrees, I sketched her insides by candlelight, my last surgery. And all I could do was sketch them, reorganize them, like a bloody puzzle. A...
Author's Note: All characters appearing in this work are over the age of 18 and are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. Chapter 1 I'm in my final year at a posh boarding school in Sydney. It's pretty cool in an old-world sort of way. As well as the normal business, science and humanities subjects, they inclu...
It is the middle of the last Ice Age, about 50,000 years ago. The Neanderthals roam the Earth, but co-exist with recently arrived tribe of technologically advanced aliens known as the Amazon. Aablar has captured a Amazon dominess and her acolyte and is now the object of a massive search. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 1. Aablar came from the Clan of the Be...