"Things break down over time," thought Jezikara of Mars, her canal skiff grounded, most of her clientele gone, and some golden bozo of Earth not even threatening her with tariffs.

Jericho Eridani Radiomind thrashed about and resisted the medical assistants. "So what about Trump and the Ellisons? How about the centenary of Grandpa's

He had hoped to catch The Beholder at the node 437 smoothie bar, but he unloaded on Muroise anyway. "I really just want a beautiful and decent young guy who will never change, but

My friend was so proud of his new star cruiser, but eventually I had to ask, "Why is there even a bridge? Doesn't the ship know best? Ever heard of Cyril M. Kornbluth?" He looked

"How quaint," Blasted reflected, "that I often enjoyed being abducted and imprisoned in some remote tower, strapped to a stone slab. This world might drive me mad." A crow of the

About 90 years later, one of the Skylarks headed back to Earth after a pleasant consultation with the peeps of 3I/ATLAS, and the crew asked if their visiplates could be upgraded to

Most Fastest 1: It was the fast of times, it was the faster of times. Drifty LaWhore went fast thru the streets of Bangladesh City, Bangladesh, and there were some bad guys after

"Thank you for finally asking how I feel, Mother." Mildred dashed her teacup against the plywood paneling, from which the cup rebounded without a crack. "Your grandmother and I

McVeigh Raleigh is a name no-one (least of all me or Kyleigh's dead mother) should have saddled her with, but she wore it like a badge of honor and no-one dared mess with her,

I'd had a dream or perhaps a premonition about dark clouds sagging toward the ground like nebulous udders, but without hate and blue fire (or torque). Were these those or

"Cheswick, dear that isn't necessarily a bad thing." *She wiped her mouth with a thin napkin.* "Sometimes a moment of peace is needed," She glanced away warily, "especially now."

"What?" The woman asked incredulously, arms crossed as she stared at the man sat across from her. "What does that mean?" The man was still and silent, though sadly not for long.

Surprisingly, that seemed to take it aback."Heh, so you do have a spine, huh?" The beast glared down at her in appraising surprise. "Good. If you despise me, you still have sense."

"She'll be jumbling her nouns for a while, I'm afraid." the doctor reported.

heat lamp. Liquid in the vat bubbled and spat. What could my brother possible be concocting in the garage?

Gareth the Third was keen to have a taste of the lasagna that had been presented, but he struggled to remember whether it was "The True, The Good, and The Beautiful" or some other

"Detective Manatee, didn't you solve that case 50 years ago?" asked Mycroft. "Yes, of course he did, you simpleton," said Vanessa Conquest, "but I wonder why he held onto the ears

make new ones with her earwax, they already came pre-colored, though only in shades of red.

leaping upon the counter was a nice surprise to Hrengor the Beholder, who had been thinking of shutting down his interstellar food-court smoothie bistro. Hrengor blinked at the cat

B