The Barren Planet

  Josh was celebrating. He’d found the cat-like female who hand’t flinched when she looked at him. His morph suit showed an expensive pattern. A finely coutured arm held a glass (real glass) filled with a not-inexpensive bottle of Terran whisky. The whisky bottle, a second glass, and a tray of hors d'oeuvres rested on his deck table which he had pushed to the end of his deck that was closest to Javian’s deck so that Javian, when he arrived, could reach it.  Except that Javian was late. Josh was into his second glass of whisky when Javian finally arrived. “Where have you been?” “I spotted a ‘jeep 9’ hovering over the west bottoms. You just don’t see those any more.” “What’s a ‘jeep 9’?” “It’s the successor to the ‘jeep 7’.” “I don’t know what that is either.” “Seriously?” Javian was genuinely surprised. Josh was not surprised that Javian was genuinely surprised. “Nope. Not a clue.” “They’re short haul freighters for high density cargo.” “Well, who could forget that.” “Exactly. ...

As the Asteric moon slumped toward the horizon, the iron bench across the street from the Talon's bar ground at Josh's leg bones. He tolerated it for the sake of the fleeting comfort of contact with other living beings. The patrons wandering in and out of Talon's—the Humans, the Selk, the Kelig, the species Josh didn't know—ignored the Human crouched in the dark grasping at overheard pieces of others' lives. At a quarter past 27, a gold skinned Beseri entered the nearby crosswalk just as two drunk Paggons (as Humans from the suburbs were called) entered from the opposite side. As they passed each other one of the Paggons lurched into the Beseri, nearly knocking him over. They blamed the Beseri, letting loose a litany of expletives before moving on. Down the block a Selk was yelling crude remarks at a reptilian. “Hey babe, how ‘bout some lizard lovin?” The Selk erupted with laughter. When the reptilian ignored the taunt, the Selk turned to insults. Whether the ...