Prologue "I need a break!" Elle said. She ran her hands through her long brown hairs and groaned in frustration. Her life was a miserable excuse of living. Oh wait; she had no life at all. You don't call work, eat, sleep-and repeat- a life, do you? In the middle of all this she had Ronnie-a ten year old brother- to take care of which gave her a reason for l...
Notes: Head-rooms: “Max-Headroom,” a television show originating from 20th Century Earth in which an artificial intelligence construct is tapped from a Network 53 cameraman. Mega-plex: A large, multi-level agricultural complex. Crops and livestock are raised beneath domes to minimize the effects of weather, temperature, and insects on output. 47 Ursae...
Ordinary life continued to tick by back in the prince's home country. While Gyllen was busy browsing books in a library some two thousand miles away, a single figure, dressed in a yellow hooded cloak and a frock of white as if to contemplate the uncommonly sunny Platinan afternoon and the marshmallow clouds drifting in the aether, was skipping merrily along...
The gunshot echoed across the prairie. I looked down at poor Whiskey as I slowly reloaded my Peacemaker. He was a good horse and his death was on me. Well, me and the damned rattlesnake that spooked him. I was half asleep in the saddle and noticed the rattler at about the same time as Whiskey. The old boy reared and threw me, which was embarrassing enough f...
68. The dresses are here. On the fifteenth of August, Dycke received a phone call, from U.S. Customs, to advise him that six very large boxes had arrived from Paris, and were waiting to be picked up. The boxes were inspected and approved and all customs duties had been prepaid. Dycke asked the agent, "Would they happen to be dresses?" The officer said, "Y...
"I have news," said Debbie. I'd just come through the front door to find her standing in the foyer of our small apartment. She was 29 with dark hair, girl-next-door beauty and a smile that was usually ready. On that summer evening, her smile was not ready. Had it been another day I would have given her the bouquet of long-stemmed roses at the door, but...
This chapter brings some of the crew together. It also brings a lot of startling surprises to Oyan and Mokonyi. Abi has always had a suspicion that humans and a completely different sort of being might just be able to fall in together rather easily. Until a year ago, he'd never really tested his theory, and now he has a hope that he's correct out of a need...
The previous chapter hit top 5 in the all-time Hall of Fame (at least for a little while)!! I am pretty stoked. Author's Note: I apologize for the delay. I will be posting this chapter in 2 parts. However, this part is as long as any other chapter. The next one should be out within a week if my editors can get to it this weekend. Chapter 19 will be the gra...
Chapter 21 -- Very Unexpected Visitor Friday evening before dinner, Dave assessed the progress on the reconstruction project. Several points were noteworthy. The shattered large tempered plate glass panels across the core living room where they looked out over the patio had all been replaced except right where most of the construction was going on. He could...
"Please come with us. It's just lunch." "I don't think so. I appreciate the offer, but I'd feel more comfortable staying at home." "Farah, I know how hard it's been for you. And I know how much you loved Ben. But you can't stay home all day, every day." "Traci? I don't do that. I'm not home 24/7, and you know that, so please don't exaggerate in order to g...