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Crossing [MultiFormat]
by Ken Rand
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Everybody knows you can't transmit anything living between planets and habitats--just dead, inert matter. A secret agent gets killed in the rebel-infested Beltway and his body is 'mitted to Earthome. He arrives alive. He knows why, and both the government and the rebels want to know too. (Published: 1999)
Words: 6477 - Reading Time: 18-25 min.
Category: Science Fiction
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2
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Eye of the Assassin [MultiFormat]
by Ken Rand
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I am Florin Agincourt, galactic assassin-philosopher. I kill not for sport or money, although I am sporting and well-paid. I'm an artist. Thirty-six years after Algo Jupiter "Fingers" Bernini bilked five major Earth corporations out of billions of marks and disappeared, I've finally tracked him down. He's hiding--or rather his consciousness is hiding ("double parked" is the colloquial term)--inside the mind of Gelbard de Baud, "The Anointed," unbeknownst to this rising messiah, or rabble-rouser ... more info>> (Published: 1998)
Words: 4064 - Reading Time: 11-16 min.
Category: Science Fiction
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3
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Here There Be Humans [MultiFormat]
by Ken Rand
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Chief Detective Sula A'com must find out why Earth colony First Administrator Slon M'lay has disappeared on the planet. Slon had claimed he'd actually seen an extinct human. Did he encounter one when he drifted into the jungle and never returned? To solve the mystery, open-minded Sula must face the same seductive jungle Slon faced, where humans may, after all, still lurk. (Published: 2006) Year's Best Science Fiction Honorable Mention
Words: 3781 - Reading Time: 10-15 min.
Category: Science Fiction
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4
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A Breed Apart [MultiFormat]
by Ken Rand
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Even in an era of planet-busting missiles and automated interstellar warfare, sometimes hand-to-hand combat isn't the only answer. Valerie Terez is a solo--a field assassin for the Colonial Marine Corps. Everybody knows the best solos are women, and everybody knows solos never desert. But nobody knows what really goes on in a solo mind when she has to face one of her own kind. (Published: 1996)
Words: 3078 - Reading Time: 8-12 min.
Category: Science Fiction
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5
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A Spider Poor Cowboy Rapt and Wide Lemon [MultiFormat]
by Ken Rand
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A guy walks into the Lucky Nickel Saloon, Second Ave, Laramie, Wyoming, in need of a drink because he'd been kilt. He can't hold his liquor because he's got this .45 caliber-sized hole in him. He wants to haunt the place, but the regulars say no, as 'twould scare away paying customers. A Hindoo ceremony might answer. (Published: 2000)
Words: 3604 - Reading Time: 10-14 min.
Category: Fantasy
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6
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A Tree Grows Up On Mars [MultiFormat]
by Ken Rand
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Ian Beleri, the chief honcho of Mars, suddenly gets this idea to raise up a tree on Mars. A Christmas tree, like they used to have back on Earth. I get to fly the shuttle to Earth and back with the goods. Now, everybody expects the cargo to be seedlings, or small sprouts, but no. One tree. Why? The answer might spell interplanetary war and I'm in the middle of it. (Published: 2000)
Words: 4630 - Reading Time: 13-18 min.
Category: Science Fiction
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7
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As We Know It [MultiFormat]
by Ken Rand
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At the Gathering, held every 1,312 years, the last six humans in the universe exchange gifts. For the last few million years, the gifts have grown hackneyed, uninspired, and boring. But not this time. Maurim's gift promises the human remnant a new beginning, while Jarrin's gift promises an end. (Published: 1998)
Words: 5145 - Reading Time: 14-20 min.
Category: Science Fiction
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8
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Bad News From Orbit [MultiFormat]
by Ken Rand
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Here are seven stories set on Berecorp Station Number One--or "the One" as locals call it--which orbits above a dead, toxic, abandoned Earth. The crowded city is where you'll find barkeep Stamper Clyme's infamous Waeferer's Siding, where Things Happen. Here, independent newsie Peter Amundsen slakes his dangerous thirst for truth. Here, the Collector, mysterious underworld boss, might have an eye on your wallet. Watch your back. Contents: "The Ear of Mt. Horiuchi", "The Turning of an Unfriendly C... more info>> (Published: 2004)
Words: 37560 - Reading Time: 107-150 min.
Category: Science Fiction
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9
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Bridge O'Doom [MultiFormat]
by Ken Rand
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Dale Strausser's ranch outside Three Pines, Wyoming is a tranquil place. Home. Suddenly, something appears on the bridge across Three Pines River. A giant black domino, right out of a science fiction movie. On the other side--who knows? You can toss things through but nothing comes back. One day, somebody accidentally falls through. Soon, people choose to go through. Exodus. (Published: 2004)
Words: 3297 - Reading Time: 9-13 min.
Category: Science Fiction
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10
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Bridge Over Troubled Waters [MultiFormat]
by Ken Rand
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Charon has enjoyed his job ferrying dead folk on his boat across the River Styx for thousands of years. But this trip, he senses something wrong. Eavesdropping on chatty, irreverent deceased rowers, he learns that there is more than one way to cross a river--and that there‘s a first time for everything. (Published: 1996)
Words: 1651 - Reading Time: 4-6 min.
Category: Fantasy
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11
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Bury the Hatchet [MultiFormat]
by Ken Rand
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The Crenshaws and the Malloys had been feuding for 14 years. So we were surprised to see Bo, the lone surviving Crenshaw, walk into the church and say he wanted to make peace with the lone surviving Malloy, Casey. Said he wanted to "bury the hatchet." Poor choice of words, but everybody in Three Pines, Wyoming were tired of the feud, and desperate, so we set up a meeting anyway. (Published: 1999)
Words: 947 - Reading Time: 2-3 min.
Category: Dark Fantasy
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12
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Buzzards of Oz [MultiFormat]
by Ken Rand
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Frederick Parker doesn't know why everybody else in the world disappeared one day, and why he and his dog Boo seem compelled to hike eastward from their home in Santa Monica, guided by a yo-yo he found in his mailbox. In the Nevada desert, he sees buzzards on the horizon. And there are shadowy ghosts in the sky, like faces behind a window. The ghosts watch, as if he were some kind of guinea pig is some unfathomable, mysterious experiment. (Published: 2008)
Words: 4151 - Reading Time: 11-16 min.
Category: Science Fiction
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13
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Calamity Djinn [MultiFormat]
by Ken Rand
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The crusty mountain gal named Calamity Djinn hankers to marry Butch Parker, quit the fur trade, and make wee tads in the shadow of the Shining Mountains. Courtship commences with an ambush with a loaded Sharps. Things turn calamitous, as they do for her too often, but the Djinn part of her name might provide succor. (Published: 2006)
Words: 2067 - Reading Time: 5-8 min.
Category: Science Fiction
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14
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Charlie's in the Bottle [MultiFormat]
by Ken Rand
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When Banky says something that sounded voo-dooish and his partner Charlie disappears, us fellow-regulars of the Lucky Nickel Saloon, Second Ave, Wyoming Territory, are discombobulated to find Charlie shrunk to the size of cockroach and in the bottom of an empty gin bottle. We can get him out okay by upending the bottle, but to get him unshrunk, we have to repeat whatever got him there--backwards. Problem: Banky was drunk at the time and can't remember diddly. (Published: 2002)
Words: 2444 - Reading Time: 6-9 min.
Category: Fantasy
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15
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Crickets, Everywhere [MultiFormat]
by Ken Rand
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An old couple, ranching deep in Wyoming's Medicine Bow Mountains, wake up one morning to find their ranch infested with an army of crickets, eating everything. As the couple try to find out how far the infestation extends, they also discover that these are no ordinary crickets. They are armed. (Published: 2007)
Words: 4348 - Reading Time: 12-17 min.
Category: Dark Fantasy
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16
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Dadgum Martians Invade the Lucky Nickel Saloon! [MultiFormat]
by Ken Rand
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The Lucky Nickel Saloon, Second Ave, Laramie, Wyoming Territory, U-S-of-A has been invaded by dadgum Martians! Only these dadgum Martians don't look like your regular Martians. No sir, they look like Earth chickens. Only these chickens have lips. And as everbody knows, chickens with lips lisp. Or is that Sheriff Ben Dover I'm thinking of? Never mind. Unlessen we want to be Tooken Over, us regulars got ourselves a saloon to save! (Published: 2006)
Words: 60947 - Reading Time: 174-243 min.
Category: Fantasy
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17
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Dan Colchico: In Defense of Port Chicago [MultiFormat]
by Ken Rand
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Years after ammo ships blew up at the Port Chicago Naval Magazine docks in 1944, killing 320 people, the Navy decided to buy and destroy the tiny nearby town of Port Chicago, California--to save it from another Navy disaster. In 1968, Congress approved buyout funds. Saying the Navy should move, not the town, angry Port Chicagoans fought back. One lifelong resident, Dan Colchico, a San Francisco '49er linebacker, chased federal marshals trying to serve eviction papers off his porch with a loaded ... more info>> (Published: 2007)
Words: 11023 - Reading Time: 31-44 min.
Category: History
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18
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Desperate Times [MultiFormat]
by Ken Rand
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Desperate times demand desperate measures. She argues the bet answer to burgeoning world population is better food production. He argues for drastic population reduction. He calls her answer fantasy. She calls his genocide. They argue. They make love. He acts. (Published: 1996)
Words: 848 - Reading Time: 2-3 min.
Category: Science Fiction
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19
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Don't Touch [MultiFormat]
by Ken Rand
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Carey is a lowlife crook, but he's pretty smart. Breaks into this rich old guy's super-secure vault and takes home some fancy stuff, including a rich-looking box. The box is old, rich, and caked in hardened wax or something. Valuable stuff inside, maybe. Diamonds. Gold. Something good. Takes a deft touch to open it and look inside. Then.... (Published: 2006)
Words: 484 - Reading Time: 1-1 min.
Category: Science Fiction
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20
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Doubles [MultiFormat]
by Ken Rand
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A scientist orders a drink, a double, and tells the barkeep that he's fiddled around with time and goofed; the world is going to end. But not to worry; it'll take a few thousand years before--wait; if I tell you more, I'll give away the ending, and this description will be longer than the story. Trust me: you have time to read it. (Published: 1992)
Words: 145 - Reading Time: 0-0 min.
Category: Science Fiction
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21
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Duty [MultiFormat]
by Ken Rand
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An alien virus has infected the human race and nobody stop it. That men can't get erections is just a symptom; men can't produce sperm. If a solution isn't found soon, there'll be no babies. End of the world. Enter Dr. Orville Cribbs, short, bald, and self-admittedly ugly, the only man who can rise, so to speak, to the occasion. (Published: 2000)
Words: 3013 - Reading Time: 8-12 min.
Category: Science Fiction
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22
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Fairy BrewHaHa at the Lucky Nickel Saloon [MultiFormat]
by Ken Rand
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Us regulars at the Lucky Nickel Saloon, Second Avenue, Laramie, Wyoming Territory, US of A, are shocked to hear from Mick, the Irish barkeep, that his mortgage is due tomorrow. Bankruptcy looms, dire straits for certain sure, as we-all're broke and none of us can get credit nowheres else. Sudden-like, a gang of fairies invades town. They're intent of robbing the circus, just arrived in town for a show, of payroll gold. But before the robbery, said bandits intend to get drunk on Fairy BrewHaHa, c... more info>> (Published: 2005)
Words: 59843 - Reading Time: 170-239 min.
Category: Fantasy
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23
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From Idea to Story in 90 Seconds: A Writer's Primer [MultiFormat]
by Ken Rand
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In plain, unambiguous prose, writers will learn where all writers from Shakespeare to J.K. Rowling get story ideas. Theory is married to practice as writers learn how to generate compelling--salable--story ideas instantly, repeatedly and effortlessly in any circumstances. Time needed: less than 90 seconds. Equipment needed: not even a pencil! Designed primarily for new writers of genre (plot-driven) short fiction, the notions presented here may also benefit advanced writers, writers of literary ... more info>> (Published: 2005)
Words: 20084 - Reading Time: 57-80 min.
Category: General Nonfiction
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24
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Gone Fishin' [MultiFormat]
by Ken Rand
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Three old people have survived the wars and plagues, but they're dying. One day, one of them catches a fish. They haven't eaten meat in years. But this fish isn't what it seems. It's part machine, something left over from before. Eat or bury it? (Published: 2003)
Words: 5247 - Reading Time: 14-20 min.
Category: Science Fiction
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Good Dog [MultiFormat]
by Ken Rand
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Silver is a good dog. The alien Truan have augmented her and others like her to replace the alien's beloved pet lom, not allowed on Earth. Silver speaks, and thinks. She helps Garras hunt a wild buck human in the Cascade Preserve. They find and corner one. It is clever. Treacherous. And it has a secret. (Published: 2000) Year's Best Science Fiction Honorable Mention
Words: 3908 - Reading Time: 11-15 min.
Category: Science Fiction
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