to the brig under arrest – but the shadow just sat there, looking bewildered. Then Blaine began to tremble,

sorry..." Greasy tears ran down the shadow's cracked face. Repelled by the sight

clean up a bit. Broken bottles and glasses from the bar filled a large waste bin that stood to one side. The shelves of the bar itself were empty, save for a comic m

a movie or sport or something. He might've been still contemplating his future, meeting the right guy, settling down, starting a family... Realizing that all those hopes and dreams were now moot made him angry again, but

to start falling apart. Dying for a cause was one thing, but waiting for death like this – useless, wasted – was senseless! Hell, dying for any cause was objectionable to him! He thumped the table with a fist. Coming out this far into space was a risk in itself! Bu

it; in the same way that patriotism was the single cause behind every major war fought since – well, since History. 'You aren't going to let THEM do that to US and get away with it, are Y

h several centuries earlier, the Space Fleet had existed to defend Humankind against the hostile inhuman. The friendly inhuman, nobody had a problem with, obviously – except maybe a few well-hidden nut-cases who slept in underground fall-out

y all of Earth's small colonies on Luna and Mars before being driven off again. The young Human upstarts who had only dipped their little toes into the waters of space proved to be hardier foes than the Ruminarii imagined, and the Gimp War lasted five years. Earth was the roc

n a can, awaiting a slow lingering death! He sighed. Hmm. That's what they said in World War I, calling it the Great War – the War to End All Wars, only it didn't quite work out that way, did it? War isn't great, not great at all. Not by a fucking long shot! No matter h

with all his entechs running about the ship to check on glitches and other problems as they came up. Lofflin still remembered how glad he was to be on the way to Starbase 91 near Tremaine Colony. Tremaine was almost a paradise, covered by vast unspoiled forests. It was a beauty, alive with an abundance of native plant and animal life – some of it indigenous, to experience. The girls there were wha