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The Adventures of Chuck and Bill
There once was a turtle named Chuck,
Who befriended a one-legged duck.
The duck was named Bill
And stood perfectly still
For his one foot was stuck in the muck.
Skin to Skin
Rain had just begun to seep through Paul’s hooded sweatshirt, but he still didn’t move. Silently, still, unblinking. How long had it been? 30 years? Flashes of pain and fear and shame flooded his mind, overrunning decades of mental blocks and repression that had served as levees until this night.
This is where it happened.
We Are Stardust (pt. 5)
Another few weeks passed and eventually Massoud gave up her efforts to teach the Petrans to farm. Hughes began spending more time on the surface, eventually only returning to the Exodus to sleep, and that only because Nyoka had insisted on it. Nyoka could feel control of the mission slipping away from her.
We Are Stardust (pt. 4)
Although no one had said it aloud or written it down or filled out any of the paperwork that could have made it official, Nyoka saw Rivera as her protégé, who would someday be in command of her own crew. The woman was in love with the stars; had said as much in her initial evaluation.
We Are Stardust (pt. 3)
Before the shuttle touched down, a ring of Petrans had formed around the clearing. As Nyoka stepped onto the alien world, she could not shake the lightness she felt. Beyond the weaker gravity of a less massive planet, standing on the bluish grass surrounded by indigo leaves, something in Nyoka lifted.
We Are Stardust (pt. 2)
Nyoka couldn’t slow her heart rate nor control her breathing. The tiny acrobat’s speed became unmanageable and it careened off the bar, launching into orbit. Nyoka was walk-jogging to the docking bay where Massoud and Rivera had just offboarded.
We Are Stardust (pt. 1)
Commander Nyoka gasped for breath when her capsule opened. Around her, hissing airlocks signaled the awakening of the other crew members. Nyoka grabbed the sides of her pod and hoisted herself out. The subsystems designed to maintain muscle mass couldn’t hold a candle to good, old-fashioned exercise, but they were a hell of a lot better than waking up from 45 years of atrophy.