Henderson was emphatic about not wanting to get saddled with her again, even if she was a plucky and capable driver. “Forget it,” he said, making a chopping motion in the air with his free hand, as he held a cigarette with the other, “she’s too much. Talking a blue…

Day 1. Emil says I’m going to regret this, at least, at first — but once the aches and pains wear off, I will be able to look back on what has happened during our time in the wild with great satisfaction, and it will light me from within with…

The Darkling waited until just after the Earth’s sun had exploded to offer Its opinion on the event. Of course, ‘Their’ might be more accurate — Darklings did not share a lot of characteristics with planet-bound biologicals, gender included. …

Just can’t figure out what other folks have got against forests. Don’t go into the woods alone, I can hear them say, because you don’t know what you will find in them that could hurt you. Like that doesn’t happen in just about any place you might happen to go…

“What doesn’t kill you,” Baines said, “makes you float in air. That’s how he viewed this planet. It’s mostly hydrogen and helium, and one explodes if you ignite it, whereas the other — well, like I said. That was the prologue. Today… just look at this. It’s appalling.” …

The opposing general had turned up, Gretta noted, with an impressive battery of tanks — a strong display, to hide his weak hand, a bargaining position she deemed shaky, if not untenable. She issued orders to her artillerists. Exploding shells savaged the placid morning atmosphere. The forward row of tanks…

“So, this is where you’ve been keeping yourself. Thought you could hide… from me, eh, Nifty?” His pursuer, his tormentor, beamed at him, with an enviable degree of unselfconscious enthusiasm. She was a pain that ran from his neck down to his ankles, but she was visibly pleased to see…

The motorcade was coming into view, at the far end of one street, just as he decided at last to act. He spun on one heel, doubling back towards — but not to — his favorite tobacconist’s shop. He dashed with some difficulty through an alleyway, sure he was being…

Men had named him Kraken, shown him a fearful deference to his current form, since the Vikings were young in the world. It ought to have satisfied him; it would have satisfied his associates, if they had shared his abilities and known what to do with them, but it left…