So Many Ways to Die

By Dayle A. Dermatis

Physician Vera followed her husband, engineer Grigor, into space despite her agoraphobia.

When an asteroid damages their small ship, someone must go outside to repair the docking mechanism or their incoming crew will die.

Grigor and the captain? Injured.

Which leaves Vera….

“So Many Ways to Die” originally appeared in Fiction River: Pulse Pounders: Adrenaline (WMG Publishing, 2017).

• Language: English
• Publisher: Soul's Road Press
• Release date: Mar 20, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386597360

Dayle A. Dermatis

Dayle A. Dermatis is the author or coauthor of many novels (including snarky urban fantasies Ghosted and the forthcoming Shaded and Spectered) and more than a hundred short stories in multiple genres, appearing in such venues as Fiction River, Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, and DAW Books.Called the mastermind behind the Uncollected Anthology project, she also guest edits anthologies for Fiction River, and her own short fiction has been lauded in many year's best anthologies in erotica, mystery, and horror.She lives in a book- and cat-filled historic English-style cottage in the wild greenscapes of the Pacific Northwest. In her spare time she follows Styx around the country and travels the world, which inspires her writing.To find out where she’s wandered off to (and to get free fiction!), check out DayleDermatis.com and sign up for her newsletter or support her on Patreon.* * *I value honest feedback, and would love to hear your opinion in a review, if you’re so inclined, on your favorite book retailer’s site.* * *For more information:www.dayledermatis.com

Book preview

So Many Ways to Die

So Many Ways to Die

Dayle A. Dermatis

Soul’s Road Press

Contents

About This Book

So Many Ways to Die

About the Author

Also by Dayle A. Dermatis

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Written on the Coast

About This Book

Physician Vera followed her husband, engineer Grigor, into space despite her agoraphobia .

When an asteroid damages their small ship, someone must go outside to repair the docking mechanism or their incoming crew will die.

Grigor and the captain? Injured.

Which leaves Vera….

So Many Ways to Die

The alarm klaxons had stopped screaming, but they still throbbed in time with Vera’s tension headache. The tendons in her neck felt like steel rods jammed up into her skull .

The tiny sickbay smelled faintly of blood—her own, from a minor wound when she’d smacked her head against a cabinet, and her patient’s.

But she could ignore all that, push it aside and focus on the task at hand. The first thing medics learned was how to be dispassionate to get the job done.

The IV was in Grigor’s wrist. She adjusted the bags of fluids: saline, a painkiller, pentobarbital. Glanced