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Mihari, Anna Fallon
Not being accepted as normal incurs fear in many. Mihari and Heman
find out just how
dangerous it is on their home planet of Electroza.
Time Flares, Herbert Grosshans
Flung into a past alien, timeline, to them, the crew of the
Spaceship Synergy must find a
way back home without changing the past.
Chameleon, Jane Carver
Can H’lish, an uncommon Horde female, accept a stranger’s love after
being abducted
and sold as a slave?
Soul Match, Kimberly Hunter
Every five hundred cycles a special couple is chosen. Their destiny:
To fall in love.
Unfortunately, the chosen couple doesn’t want that destiny.
Jayne Kwest, Space Adventurer, Episode 21,
The Forbidden Jungle, Mae Powers
Jayne Kwest sets out on another adventure, soaring through space, to
a planet where
the locals aren’t too friendly, but the hunks are hotter than a
super-nova.
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EXCERPTS
Mihari
by
Anna Fallon
Chapter One
Self-conscious, Mihari crossed her arms over her chest and huffed at
the scantily clad women basking in the new season sunshine. She
hugged her thick pullover to her body. If only I had their body
shapes. But she didn’t, which made her different.
“Mihari…Mihari, wait up!” she turned to see her friend and fellow
teacher, Shimani, running along the beach, her three breasts
jiggling in her halter-neck top. Obviously her day off, lucky
her!
“Source be! What are you doing rugged up like that?” Shimani
demanded.
No
one, not even her best friend, could ever know Mihari’s secret. She
had only two breasts. She needed the third to breed. Any female with
only two did not fit in. Freaks some called them. How could any man
love her? Even among her own race, she would be an outcast.
Non-breeders did not get the same lifestyle as breeding females.
“Hi
Shimani. Where are you off to?”
“Well, you know I have been trying for tadlets. Romen and I will be
busy all day.” She giggled a little. Mihari envied her happiness.
“Well, good luck and have fun.”
“Sure will. It’s about time you settled down. When are you going to
let yourself be claimed, Mihari? There’s nothing quite like it.”
Before she could answer, Shimani raced off again, calling that she
must see someone urgently. She quickly became a blur of speed and
finally disappeared from view. Mihari sighed, relieved she did not
have to make the usual excuses about not settling down to a breeding
regime. Yes, two breasts, very large and well rounded for sure, but
only two.
Electroza was not the biggest planet in the galaxy, but not the
smallest either. The planet held something every other civilized
world needed in abundant supply, power. Not the political kind, real
power. Electricity ran through everything and everyone on Electroza.
Without it, nothing could exist.
In
addition, Electroza took breeding very seriously. Along with
the electrical charge, came a sexual charge. Source spilled over
into all emotions, but the sexual dynamics could rarely be ignored.
Mihari had managed to resist her body’s natural urge, so far. For
how much longer she did not know, especially when Heman ventured
anywhere near her.
She
continued to trudge through the azure silica sand toward the
Learning Facility. After hard study, determined to make up for her
inferior body type with her brains, she now taught law. The third
breast exuded Source into a fleshy nodule located in the roof of the
male’s mouth. Only then could the male produce the Ampules to
impregnate the female. Oh, she’d read about sex, talked about it,
heard about it and even fantasized about it. Mihari just hadn’t
actually participated in the act. The fear of discovery kept her
from sexual engagement.
As
her pair of fleshy mounds developed, she didn’t panic. It could take
until the age of twenty-one to show signs of the third. Now, in her
twenty-sixth year and as flat as a post in the middle, Mihari’s
worst fears were confirmed. Every day she looked, wished and
prodded. Nothing. You would think in this modern age an alternative
could be found, and all those poor Outlanders could come home. She
stuffed the middle cup of her bra with ample amounts of soft
material every morning before leaving home.
Damnation on it all, I’m a modern female. It’s time these old
prejudices went by the wayside.
Mihari wanted to stand up and tell everyone she wasn’t any less an
Amphereian just because she had two tits instead of three. She had
the same mint-green, silken skin as all the other females. She
glanced down over her long, strong racing legs, studied her normal
six fingers on each hand, slightly webbed, with an opposing thumb.
The electric Amphereian sex drive certainly worked well. Why should
she be made to feel like a freak?
But
still, she would be expected to breed eventually. Rumor had it that
failure to do so made them give a forced physical examination.
Sooner or later, she would be discovered and thrown out into the
wastelands to whatever lurked out there.
Time Flares
By
Herbert
Grosshans
Chapter One
The
research ship Synergy hung in space at a distance of
approximately twenty million miles, give or take a few millions,
from the newly discovered white dwarf Ceta Tauri, a star about to go
nova. A celestial lightshow like that would not be seen in the Solar
System for another fifty years.
Professor Armand Braun stood beside one of his colleagues, Dr.
Bushiri, scrutinizing the huge screen that would display the event
in three-dimensional multicolor. All the instruments were ready to
record it for history. The recordings would provide studies for
years to come.
Gene Snydor had only a passing interest in the whole affair. His
main concern was the security of the vessel. As Chief of Security,
he was responsible for the safety of everyone on board.
Professor Braun turned around to look at Snydor and gave him a
friendly smile. As it happend, he and Snydor had been neighbors for
nearly thirteen years as children. Of course, Braun’s intellect
practically dictated his future. With a natural IQ of two-hundred
thirty-eight before his augmentation, he became a scientist, whereas
Snydor, excelling in sports, decided to follow a career in
law-enforcement. His augmentation enhanced his mental capabilities,
but it also made him stronger and faster than an ordinary man.
“What’s up, Gene?” the professor asked, and then he nodded to the
woman with Snydor.
“There is some concern with a few staff members that we may be too
close to the action,” he said. “They worry about the ship being
caught in the eruption.”
Dr.
Braun chuckled. “You’re obviously not talking about members of the
scientific community?”
“Of
course not. It’s mostly the non-augments who are worried.”
“How would they even get those ideas into their heads? They know
very little about this.” Dr. Bushiri stared at Snydor. “It’s your
job to keep things like that under control, Lieutenant. We hired you
for that purpose alone. Anything else is not your concern.”
“Are you bothered by my presence here on the observation deck, Dr.
Bushiri?” Snydor didn’t raise his voice, but his tone left no doubt
about his displeasure.
“Your place is not here, Lieutenant Snyder. Yes, I’m bothered by
your presence on the observation deck,” Dr. Bushiri spoke sharply.
Professor Braun laid his hand on his colleague’s arm. “Take it easy,
Dr. Bushiri. Gene Snydor and I are friends from long ago. He is
allowed certain privileges.”
“Well, as the head of this research expedition I guess it is your
right to be eccentric,” Dr. Bushiri grumbled. “It’s just not
protocol to have non-scientific personnel spend their time with the
researchers.”
“I
guess then I’ll be breaking protocol, because Lieutenant Snydor and
I will be having supper together.” Professor Braun smiled. “Don’t be
a stickler regarding regulations, Bushiri. Relax and enjoy yourself
sometimes. Maybe a session with one of the sex-therapists on board
will ease your tension.”
“I’d rather die of boredom before I seek the company of an
Artificial. You can’t even have a descent conversation with them.
All their responses are pre-programmed.” Dr. Bushiri showed his
disgust by pretending to spit onto the polished floor. “They’re
nothing but talking vaginas on legs.”
Professor Braun laughed. “It seems to me you don’t know how much you
really need to seek out their company, Bushiri. You’ll have to get
rid of some of that anxiety you’ve built up. Enjoy life.”
“Obviously, the Doctor hasn’t met the new generation of Artificials,”
Snydor said. “They possess self-awareness and can make their own
decisions. They are undistinguishable from Humans. The only way
you’ll be able to recognize one of them is by the tattoo under the
arm.”
“You wouldn’t be able to fool me,” Bushiri sneered.
Snydor smiled and turned to the woman beside him. “What is your
opinion, Miss Silver?”
The
woman returned his smile. She looked at Bushiri. “What is the
difference between an Artificial and a Human, Dr. Bushiri?”
“The difference? Humans are born as babies. They grow up and have to
learn everything naturally. An Artificial is created with all the
knowledge inside its brain, the body grown in a vat. It is born as
an adult. The biggest difference is the fact that they don’t possess
souls. Only Allah can create Humans with souls.”
“How do you know you have a soul, Dr. Bushiri?” The stare of her
blue eyes seemed to make him uncomfortable. “Do you have scientific
proof of even the existence of a soul?”
Chameleon
By
Jane Carver
The beginning…
Using her favorite Earther Original word, H’lish told her image in
the reflection glass, “You are so plain it hurts the eyes. True,
you’re tall like a Horde but why can’t you be thin like them too?
And what’s with the white skin? Dead white. Even the gods call that
ugly. Why not lustrous skin like Fanshe? Now that woman glows, she
is so gorgeous. I look like some obese Original.” She turned her
back to the glass and gazed over her shoulder. “On all of Sigma V
and in Denili where so many Horde and Originals mingle, why do I
have to be alone?” Her butt rounded nicely but abundantly. “You’d
think a man would like to get a handful of that.” She sighed as she
turned and leaned toward the glass again. Straight blue hair fell
over her shoulder and across her full face. She hated her round face
and rounder body. One finger outlined an eye. “At least I have
attractive eyes.” She stuck her tongue out at her image, the golden
eyes in the pale skin shining like glowing torches. A last glance at
her body and she snorted, totally unimpressed with what she saw.
She
talked aloud a lot; no one listened. No one bothered to know her.
Pulling aside the glass cover and looking outside, she noticed the
male and female that lived across the way. The Horde female glowed
with happiness; H’lish could see the wide smile, the heightened
luster to the pale skin and the way the female held the male’s hand.
Love. Again she snorted. “I have to stop doing that. Sinclair
noticed me doing it at school and admonished me. ‘Too Original’ she
said.”
Just then a young Original female with her golden skin and sun-gold
hair walked by. She cast a glance at the happy couple that
immediately lowered their gazes and shuffled out of her sight as if
apologizing for being joyful. “When the Earther Originals showed up
on Sigma V, the Horde should have fought them instead of welcoming
them like meek duckers.” She let the cover fall, shutting out the
sight of the Original. “We would have been happier if they never
showed up.”
Five hundred Earth years though had tamed the native population
referred to as the Horde by those who came, took the land and
settled. Horde members became second-class on their own planet, in
their own towns.
H’lish dressed, stepped on to the public transport and settled in
for the short ride to work. In her daily writing book, she jotted
her thoughts:
I was taken from my parents because the Horde aren’t smart
enough to raise their own. At National School where the Horde are
taught only the minimum, I managed to study more than was offered.
No one stopped me. They simply didn’t care. I am a helper in a
school for Originals, and no one notices me. I could pass from this
world, and no one would come looking for me. I am nothing special. I
don’t even look like the rest of my ancestors.
If I could only find a male who would love me, see beneath
this body to the real me inside, I would be happy. And children…I’d
love to have a child. Or two. But…”
She
ground the stylus against the page hard, bit her lip to keep from
saying bitter words about how life was, and continued to pour out
her thoughts in writing.
“Only an Original may
keep her child. Oh yes, and the rare Horde female who mates with an
Original. Of course that hardly ever happens, and I’m sure even the
other Earthers would look down on the pair.”
A
gong clanged in the transport, and H’lish noted that her stop was
two cycles ahead. She finished her thoughts:
“I must remember to join Fanshe and the others this
afternoon for a walk. Maybe that will make up for these rather
dismal thoughts. Can’t imagine why I bother to mourn history.
Nothing will ever change.”
Soul Match
By
Kimberly Hunter
Chapter One
Once again, Brexell Kanna found himself waiting at the
transport station, wondering where his friend, Jesson NicNix was and
when he was going to show up. It had become Jesson’s habit, a bad
one, to be running late. Literally. For the past two solar days,
Jesson had run through the crowded station to barely make it to the
transport on time. By Brexell’s internal clock, Jesson was going to
be making a repeat performance today.
Sighing in resignation, Brexell made his way to the waiting
platform, hearing the announcement that the transport he was waiting
on was soon to be making its stop.
“Brexell, wait up!”
Brexell turned at the shout of his name, seeing Jesson racing to
join him on the platform. When Jesson reached his side, Brexell
could only shake his head.
“If
you would get up on time, you wouldn’t have to run to catch the
transport.” Smiling at his friends disheveled state, noticing his
rumpled black flight suit, green stand-up collar undone at the
throat, one of his Master Pilot pins missing, and the built-in suit
boots scuffed on both toes. Jesson looked like he had either slept
in the suit or tossed it to the floor. With Jesson, you never knew,
though Brexell was betting on the floor.
“Hey, I had a late night.” Jesson said defensively as he tried to
straighten his appearance. His efforts did little good.
“Uh
huh. The sisters from 3B or the brothers you met at the club three
solar days ago?”
Jesson gave a lecherous grin. “The brothers.”
Brexell laughed. “I thought as much.”
The
sleek, gold colored transport arrived without a sound, stopping at
the platform with a combination of energy and air. When the side
doors opened, Jesson and Brexell waited for their turn to get on as
a few passengers stepped off. After boarding, they went to their
usual window seat.
“So, we still on for tonight?” Jesson asked as he slid onto the seat
first.
“Tonight?”
“Yes, tonight. You know? At Perdition’s? Mix and Mate night?”
Brexell’s eyes’ widened, his memory finally grasping what Jesson was
saying. “Sorry, forgot. My mind’s been wandering lately.”
“I’ll bet.”
“Don’t start, Jesson.”
“Hey, I didn’t say anything.” Jesson raised a hand in defense. “You
know you can’t have her.”
And
Brexell did know. Though after what he found out earlier in the day,
that fact was just one more reason to keep away from her. A big one.
Might as well get this over with and tell him, Brexell thought with
a sigh, turning to his friend.
“Jesson, I need to show you something.”
Jesson grinned and waggled his eyebrows. “Really? Well, by all
means, show away.”
“Not that, you cosmic slut.”
“Guilty as charged.” Jesson’s laugh bordered on a giggle.
Brexell shook his head then began to roll up the right sleeve of his
flight suit all the way past the elbow. Jesson watched patiently,
apparently catching on that something really was bothering his
friend.
When the sleeve was where Brexell wanted it, he cautioned Jesson
“Don’t blurt anything out, understand?”
Jesson nodded, curious as to what was going on and noting his
friend’s serious gaze.
Brexell blew out a breath then showed Jesson the inside of his elbow
where a circle with four wavy red lines branded his skin.
“Fornac!” Jesson gasped then hit a panel above the window.
“Privacy mode activated,” a female voice said as a transparent
shield covered them. No one would be able to see or hear them until
the transport arrived at their destination or they disengaged the
shield themselves.
“Those were my words as well. With a few added ones, of course.”
Brexell said, rolling his sleeve down.
“But how?” Jesson spluttered. “When? Who?” How did Brexell receive
the Diex? He couldn’t have gotten it in the traditional way.
“The who is easily guessed.” Brexell gave Jesson a pointed look.
Jesson’s eyes widened in shock. “No fornacing way!”
“Unfortunately, yes.” Brexell sighed as he leaned back in the seat.
“But, I don’t understand. I thought you had to have sex for the Diex
to materialize. It’s the only way to know for sure that you’ve found
your One Match.”
“That’s what I thought as well.” Brexell grimaced. “Apparently we
were wrong.”
“Wait, the woman is forbidden, so I know you haven’t had sex with
her.”
“Of
course not.” Brexell snorted. “Do I look like I want to spend the
next fifty cycles on a penal colony mining Filax stones?”
“You have a point. Alright, so how?”
“I
touched her.” Brexell answered with a gusty breath.
“Say again.”
“I
touched her.” Would saying the words louder make them any less true?
“You touched her. That’s all.” Jesson replied with disbelief in his
voice.
Jayne Kwest, Space
Adventurer,
Episode 21, The Forbidden Jungle
By
Mae Powers
On
her last adventure, Jayne Kwest barely escaped the Beezleblob
monster from the slime planet Okra-7. Now fate had steered her to
Balliden where she’d been commissioned to find the lost statue of
the Zomradi goddess Endayah, one that held untold healing powers and
more. But Jayne didn’t have a lot of info on the mysterious jungle
valley. The locals said it was forbidden to go into the Zomradi
Jungle. Jayne went in search of the statue anyway…
* * *
*
Jane Kwest looked over the vast Zomradi valley before
her. She could see the tops of the jungle trees from the plateau
where she stood. The flora and fauna were thicker here than she’d
seen in other jungles on different planets.
Yet, there was a quiet surreal about this place, even though she
hadn’t been down into the rain forest yet. Soon enough. Reportedly
though, an unusual alien tribe of savages living in its midst, but
that was just rumor.
A
rumor based on some inept scientist’s minute findings from a
radionic telescope. Those far-fetched radio-video telescopes never
worked properly. Their forerunners were Hubbleon’s and that
whacked-out invention nearly kept Earth’s exploration teams from
moving beyond the late 21st century.
Thankfully she’d been born n the early part of the twenty-first
century. But then she wasn’t ready to replay in her mind how she got
zapped from the 21st into the 23rd century.
Things were so much wilder here.
As
a rogue relic finder, she’d done her damnest to become one of the
best explorers and relic hunters in the business. And for her, right
now, business boomed tremendously.
A
scientist from Alphen-2, who had been here years before, needed the
special healing abilities of the statue. It had healed him some
years ago. Now he wanted to use it to stop a plague that was killing
his kin and people. Unfortunately he had not been able to take the
statue with him to study, some twenty years ago. Now the situation
was worse. He’d tried everything, scientific, magical and more.
Jayne had met him when she rescued his niece months earlier. He
vowed to pay her whatever she wanted if she could obtain the statue
he’d never been able to come back for. She had a soft spot for the
elderly man, and the job just felt right. She knew it was a poor
world, and the system’s galactic government didn’t offer much help.
What could Jayne do but go after the statue solo.
She
quit woolgathering and found a steep trail that led down from the
plateau. The trip wasn’t easy, but then nothing in life had every
really been easy for her. Not that she complained much, but
occasionally ‘easy’ would have been nice.
An
hour or so later, Jayne found herself standing at the bottom of the
small mountain. With its steep embankment, there really had been
nowhere else to set down her speedy space-lander anywhere else but
the top of the plateau in the one area that had been smooth enough
for landing such a small spacecraft.
The
space-lander didn’t carry a lot but had a bit of storage room and
could carry two or three people, depending on space availability.
She once crammed two other adults and a child into the cramped
space. That was a different episode though. Right now she had only
herself to worry about. She looked over the murky waters of the
rough river, not seeing any way but swimming to get to the other
side, which led to the jungle.
Damn, not simple at all. Those waters really didn’t look inviting.
Of course in this heat, she hoped they were at least cool.
Thankfully the backpack she carried was waterproof, made of a
special thin alloy material few knew about. She had only one course
unless she followed the thin embankment around to find another trail
into the jungle. But that could take hours, and she wanted to get
this mission over with. She’d had a fantastic offer to go find an
ancient gemstone on the planet Fraternia, and that client was mega
rich. She could retire on that job, if she chose to, or at least
take a very, very long vacation to some far-out luxurious resort
planet.
The
thought of a vacation was inviting and spurred on her decision.
Jayne tightened the straps of the backpack around her front and
glanced back down at the river. It seemed to be less rough near
where she stood.
She
dove in quickly and started swimming for the opposite side. Jayne
swam as fast as she could through the thick, muddy waters. She saw
the opposite bank in sight when she was suddenly lifted high out of
the water. Something thick and slimy tightened around her waist,
drawing her down into the murky depths of the waters. As her lungs
started to fill, making her choke on the nasty wetness, her captor
thrust her upward. Water fell from her, and air quickly filled her
lungs.
Jayne saw the tops and arms of the octopus-looking creature as other
tentacles came toward her ominously. She then heard a sharp swishing
in the air. Three arrows hit the tentacle arm holding her. The
creature screamed out in pain. Just as she fell downwards, she felt
an almost magnetic-like force of wind catching her body, before she
was whisked toward the riverbank she’d been swimming for. She landed
in a man’s arms. For a split second, she looked up into a bearded
face before he turned his face and started to run with her in his
arms.
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