For a minute, I just hang there and wonder where I am. Like being under the reservoir in winter, I realize. Hanging far beneath the ice, while above it is a bleak day and the leaves are on the ground and the waters are dead and the trees are just streaks of brown scraped on the plain white sky. D...
The day was bright, and the grass shone beneath the sprinklers as if gemmed. Behind the houses there were small stands of white pine marking off individual yards. Brian and Gregory walked along, watching carefully for any detail that might suggest danger. It was almost six, and more parents were ...
A beeper went off. For a second, the girl stared at me. The beeper was still going off. “That’s the quality control beeper,” she explained. “I’ll go get Mike. He talks to people about working. Excuse me.” She turned around. I smiled in a secret way. I thought, They will suspect nothing. I look as...
There were a few subs clamped to it already. Men in diving suits were making repairs. Gregory steered the dinghy into a berth and shut off the engine. This time when they stepped through the hatch, the signs were good: A Norumbegan harbormaster greeted them and led them through a long tunnel. The...
“Nonsense,” said Lord Rafe “Chigger” Dainsplint, Norumbegan Social Club candidate for the post of Imperial Regent, speaking with reporters over the sounds of screaming and flames. “The very idea of a Mannequin Resistance is entirely beneath our dignity. What we have here is nothing more than an u...