ys it was cheaper to buy a new one than to fix it. The garage door whined open, letting the sunshine stream in through the gap. The municipal sand-droids had finally finished filling in the hu

edroom Supercruiser had vanished into the same crater, along with his wife and mother-in-law and several other surrounding campers only two s

t other case two months ago, where his man turned out to be a woman. Or was it the other way round? Anyway, Cindy-Mei Winter was something special, something that just made him feel good about getting out of bed in the mornings.

ing, she said. Otherwise, he thought, she was probably just too classy to live with him in a mobile home with a blown hover-drive in a trailer park on the cheap side of town. Hell,

ted the horizon, and Strato-Penguins were soaring high overhead in a 'c' formation, leaving a faint vapor trail as they migrated west. (It was quite a long migration because any geographer worth his dolomit

hade from the bright sun. It seemed like a good idea at the time, until it became apparent that aside from eating small bugs and even pigeons, crabby-grass thrived on eating ordinary grass. Add to that, the local trees didn't grow well s

lk tables and umbrellas. As street cafes went on Deanna, it was p

greeted, giving her

sore eyes – which his were by the way. Too many cold o

ell?" He

ress and shiny black stiletto court shoes. Her make-up was perfect as usual, her blond hair tied back in a neat stylish fashion. Her

e?" She

as one of his little jokes. She smiled at him

lied. He'd been on a case and only

le and took her hand in h

" He asked, tryin

s crazy planet and find somewhere nice to live. Somewhere sane. Let's go to Mars