Once Mercy was preoccupied, the technician’s first order of business was to plant a listening dot in each room of the ship, plus the patio—that was all but one of the twelve miniature devices she’d brought with her. What she wouldn’t give for the cameras she had hidden in the rest of her gear. Tu...
Kesh and Reuben were selling cheese fobs like they were going out of style. He was considering raising the price. The spaceport of Little Flowers was awash with every size and color of Bat she could imagine. Deke seemed to favor the fox-colored ladies. With the restoration of his knight status, t...
On each man’s shoulder was a badge showing two crossed swords. They were all members of the elite executioner’s guild of Tamarind. Hon Li, the dapper lieutenant, complained, “Boss, why are we chasing this fugitive across the ass end of the world? Patience is wearing thin f...
They tried to put spyware on his pad, but he scrubbed it so frequently that their efforts came to nothing. They had to settle for a laser microphone and a team of observers. Zeiss didn’t get to talk to Sojiro until lunch. It was a chance meeting outside the dining hall. The artist asked, “What’s ...
After Jotham disappeared from the Temple of Sleep, there was silence for several beats. Zariah and the soothsayer were both confused. The giant guardian perched over the Door swiveled its eye to search for the intruder, but the stage in front of the Door was empty. The rings of bunk beds were sti...
With swaths of dark fabric crisscrossing her front, today’s outfit exposed her midriff and drew attention away from her face veil to the pale, flawless skin of her body. Somehow, her hair was even darker than the fabric, drawing attention to that attribute as well. The elegance of the earrings, b...
The handsome, young man in the seat next to her introduced himself as Gerard, a psychologist on his way to give a lecture on sexual practices and their influence on the Japanese and French aristocracy. Although the stewardess offered samples of several fine, French wines and Gerard pressed her to...
Most of Olympus gathered to observe the event. Casually, Yvette mentioned to Toby, “I hear you’ve been stretching your world and reading Plato.” Eager to discuss anything with her, Toby stammered, “The Allegory of the Cave—to me it was about how a tragedy in your life can shift your viewpoint and...
While waiting for the limo, he visited a nearby construction site. A large crane arm with a concrete nozzle was “printing” a building the way Oleander had iced his birthday cakes. Every couple meters, a smaller robot would whir over to insert an electrical or plumbing segment. As he watched the a...