The cell door retracted. I didn’t open my eyes, concentrating on the repair, desperate to get as close to full working order as was possible. Even so, I knew the first person to step into the room was Nuri. Interestingly,…Read more

I popped the laboratory door with a single pulse from my plasma rifle. The metalwork was heavy duty but no match for a phased plasma charge. I created a man-sized hole in the panels, smoking hot at the edges, and…Read more

A large desk sat in the corner opposite the bookshelves. On the corner of the desk itself stood two wide flat-panel displays, each as thin as a sheet of glass. Beside the screens was Devon’s pride and joy, a ten-centimeter…Read more

“It was as I feared,” said Louis Dupris as he trailed his brother Andre through downtown Manhattan at the crack of dawn, floating a foot off the ground.  Andre tore down Broadway, surely appearing mad talking to thin air; thin,…Read more

That child. That foolish, infuriating, hasty child.  Tin didn’t even know for sure whether she meant Alfgyfa or Girasol. Or both. She could still feel the cold-sick sweat of seeing the line of Mischmetal’s swing, seeing the line of Girasol’s…Read more

When the sun rose above the cloudtop the next morning, damp air turned to vapor. The Singers’ lowtower quarters steamed. I wondered whether I’d ever feel truly dry again. These quarters were the least habitable on Grigrit and far too…Read more

Even a self-contained and watchful kid like Apollo could end up running with a crew. He had two best friends and did well in American history with Mr. Perrault. Lillian had passed her classes to become a legal secretary and…Read more

Sloan spotted some taller buildings up ahead and forced himself to run faster. He didn’t dare look back over his shoulder because that might cause him to break stride. He could hear the roar of an engine though—and knew his…Read more

   ‘I’m getting to you, aren’t I?’ the human taunted. ‘You’re about to lose your temper, I can feel it.’  ‘Certainly not.’ The dragon crushed his fingernails into the palms of his soft, flabby human paws. ‘In fact, I’m just…Read more