Crydon swallowed the fear that crawled up

Crydon swallowed the fear that crawled up his mouth. The Decteron's opticals remained fixed on his face plate, scanning, comparing his TechnoMoniker against

his iris pattern. Would the transplants match the donor? The Deceteron swiveled to the side. "You are cleared for access." The door slid open and Crydon entered the airdock.

He whistled nonchalantly. Translucent fluid sweated down Crydon's lateral cranial ducts. He fondled his suitcase nervously & crawled up the ramp to the Placental Kaleidoscope.

are shaken about in the bumpy flight. I should have reconsidered the cheap tickets with Lucky-if-we-make-it airlines but saw an online last minute deal and couldn't resist.

It was a new economy flight. We were given paper smocks to wear and requested to use the restrooms before departure to save weight. I clutched the hand strap as we took off.

I was still feeling fragile after the pre flight enema so refused the single peanut offered by the steward. Once landed I wandered out into a dark Moscow night in my paper smock. T

Boone Pickens was there to meet me. T Boone & I were evaluating some natural gas deposits in the Siberian wilderness. We had a 32-hour bareback caribou ride ahead of us. I shifted

uncomfortably on the caribou's back, thinking of my wife back home.To pass the time, T Boone & I starting singing. Then I passed some natural gas of my own. Boone Pickens wondered

how my wife put up with me, but T Boone & I laughed & sang:"Keep smilin', keep shinin', knowing you can always count on me, fo sho.That's what friends are for..." until we got home