10 More Stories

By Floyd Looney

10 Science Fiction Short Stories

Vamoose
When the Tardigrades Came
They said it was a clock
Skyscraper Archipelago
The First Gate
Forest of the Genres
CRISIS
Dark Envoy
The Keepers
The Gray Tigers

• Language: English
• Publisher: Floyd Looney
• Release date: Dec 13, 2015
• ISBN: 9781311498991

Floyd Looney

Floyd Looney from Texas, 43, has been a science fiction fan his whole life and has been writing stories for himself since he was a child and only recently decided to try and get some of his writing published.

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10 More Stories

by Floyd Looney

Copyright © 2015 by Floyd G. Looney

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof

may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever

without the express written permission of the publisher

except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Be sure to check out my blog where I post a lot

of short stories and other things:

http://flscifi.blogspot.com/

Contents

Vamoose

When the Tardigrades Came

They said it was a clock

Skyscraper Archipelago

The First Gate

Forest of the Genres

CRISIS

Dark Envoy

The Keepers

The Gray Tigers

Vamoose

I don't like this city, I don't like crowds and I definitely don't like being outside at night in a place like this. All the freaks of society are out and about and someone as normal as me just does not belong. I just have some business that needs tended to.

These streets at night are like the worst parts of human degeneracy lit up like Vegas. You got your normal drug-dealers and prostitutes during the day, but at night they probably avoid this place too. You might think it'd be interesting if you accidentally clicked on their website but being in the midst for real is just too much.

There's a guy in a top hat and tie, and nothing else, his face is painted like a devil. He's dancing in circles as if he's trying to make himself dizzy. Over there is a woman in a see-through booth, wearing nothing but high-heels, an array of objects on a small table in front of her. For a small fee she'll put on a show for you.

I keep walking, looking straight ahead. There is a massive man walking ahead of me, his back is an electronic billboard. Images moving around, advertising, even full video. His entire broad back is one big implanted sub-dermal LED screen. I doubt many people in the crowd are interested in Vita-Grow, no matter how plants crave it.

Finally I spot the little bar, looking out of place without neon signs and video boards, almost looked closed. I ducked inside and head to the bar. A muscular man already at the bar just ignores me, the laughing video skull on his bicep poked out of the short sleeves. In the back I see a shape in the dark that looks like the person I was here to meet.

Just give me one Co-Va mixer. I tell the bartender who whips it up quickly. I take the drink and head to the table in the back. He was facing the back wall and when I sat down I would be able to see the whole bar.

Is your name Carlos? I ask. He nodded. He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out the holo-cube and laid it on the table. He's the 'let's just get this done' type.

I want enough DV to get through the chute. I say to him.

Can't promise luxury, though. You take what you can get. If you want too much, you'll never get off the ground. he said in a deep throaty voice.

I look to the left and roll my eyes, Carlos was sounding like my dad.

I wanted off this sad, cadaverous world. There were people out there selling arms and legs to cannibals when they ran out of sell-able organs, for crying out loud. There was no coming back from this fallen culture, civilization on this planet was dead. I needed to get to one of the colonies, I didn't care how primitive they were.

I finished the drink after Carlos took the money and became gone. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the deadening of the mental pain. Seeing a society dying from inside was not easy, and while I didn't care about these people I did care for the species. After it wore off enough for me to stay balanced I leave to head back to the rat-hole motel.

I ignore the impromptu orgy in the street, the latest craze they called Caterpillar. Once I reach the motel and turned on some music to drown out the banging noises from the next room I took the holo-cube and laid it on a table top.

I activated it with my wrist-comp and a steady stream of data appeared in the air above it. Then there was an image of a small, rusty four-man ship. It was old. One of the experimental models in the early days of pre-light. There was no galley, no compartments or storage. It was just a four-seat cock-pit and engines.

It would have to work since it was all I could afford. Plus, it was not registered. A ship that small would be confused for a shuttle from one of the larger ships or from the transfer station itself. It was small and light enough to slip into the chute without putting everyone's lives in danger. The chute could only handle so much tonnage at one time.

I would have to get to the ship alive before I could leave though. Looking at the map I saw that there were gang-controlled areas all about it. Security would have to be a prime concern but if I carried an adequate amount, I would be carrying fewer provisions.

There was a knock at the door. I lean down and pull the pinzer from my boot before I walk over and tap the preview button. The door becomes transparent, at least on my end. On the other side was a young woman, a shiny bald head, a collar with a short chain and black leather panties. Her nose and mouth were bleeding and one eye was swollen closed.

It took a second to remember her. Right, she had offered herself to me when I first arrived here, for a price. Apparently she was homeless, a stray, looking for a master. Looks like she found a bad master not too long ago.

I hit the intercom button. What do you want?

I need to hide. Can I stay there for a while?

I rolled my eyes. Why were freaks either hot or cold around normal people? Either they hate us with a purple passion or they like us and want us to keep them around. Okay, there were a lot who just wanted to see us corrupted, somehow that would make their pain feel better. No, it wouldn't.

I'm busy.

I know your alone! she said quickly. Alone, is that a crime or something. She also knew I wouldn't be out