In the darkness, water rushed over Waylon's mouth and washed down his back-tilted face. The black bath towel draped over his head was soaked and its weight pulled his neck back. Someone had a hand on his chest, so every time he tried to hold his breath they gut-punched him and he gasped reflexively, sucking… Continue reading Where Credit’s Due
Tag: Criminals
Self-preservation at the Chop Shop
"Thanks for coming on such short notice." Sascha waved the nicety away. "Tell me who I'm looking at." The live security feed showed a lanky young man in the next room—mid-twenties—with disheveled black hair that pointed in every direction in a fashionable imitation of bed-head. His lumpy face was the color of a ripe plum.… Continue reading Self-preservation at the Chop Shop
Redacted
It looked like there were two bodies, but it’s always hard to tell in these cases. They were like cherry popsicles on the pavement on the Fourth of July: a sticky red mess you tried your best not to step in. I’d seen it before. More times than I cared to count. Perfect case record,… Continue reading Redacted
Ghost Eyes
Harlow stepped virtually through dozens of exchange terminals throughout the valley. She was casing the exits, checking proximity to police stations or to known front businesses belonging to her various competitors. The one thing she wasn't checking for was security cameras. Those were everywhere, and unavoidable. A loud metallic creak behind her indicated someone was… Continue reading Ghost Eyes
Chance Encounter
He appeared from the desert like a mirage, as conspicuous as a rain cloud. He wore a Colonial officer's uniform, but he was no officer. Didn't have the swagger. Lyric knew; she'd been an officer herself not so long ago. "You lost?" She stood slowly, wiping sweat from her forehead with the back of one… Continue reading Chance Encounter
Warnings From the Tanglemind
"Phobia. Kinetics. Dodecahedron." Cara was alone with the tanglemind. Robin said she'd only be gone twenty minutes tops. That was an hour and a half ago. "Tourmaline. Aureolin. Wisteria." The world's easiest babysitting job was getting on her nerves. "Polychrome. Leptis Magna. Backscatter." The Holsteiner Crown, like all federated naval ships, had an onboard tanglemind. Technically,… Continue reading Warnings From the Tanglemind
Inhospitus
The air scrubbers in the hab needed a little time to cycle, so Henry took his submarine for a jaunt. There was no land on Inhospitus. It was a world covered in an ocean of acid that constantly burned across its surface where it interacted with the volatile air. It was a completely restricted planet;… Continue reading Inhospitus
Mind Reader
"What the hell is this?" Aixa was distrustful of police to begin with, but this was just blatantly wrong. The fact that they'd let her—a known black market dealer—see it only revealed their desperation. It didn't make her feel good about her prospects of being released. They wouldn't want her to go spreading rumors. "I… Continue reading Mind Reader
Cosmic Evolution
Imre stood in the trampled, muddy snow waiting for the commotion to pass. His tidy black dreadlocks hung down over his shoulders and swayed in the frigid wind gusts. The officers were doing their best to secure Javier Lacoste in the drone ship, but he was putting up a hell of a fight. Wouldn't help… Continue reading Cosmic Evolution
A98 in Progress
The city was bedding down for the night; the city of analysts and wrench-turners, of school children and factory workers and project managers, that is. The Night City—that parasite that succeeded in entangling itself within and around its daytime sibling without strangling it, that sunless city of teal-lighted windows scattered among the daytime's disused towers… Continue reading A98 in Progress
Warmup Pages 