Havok Publishing

Category - Techno Tuesday

Framing Giovani

Since the last thing I needed was to draw negative attention to myself while visiting my girlfriend’s family, of course my brother had to knock over a decorative vase.
I stared down at the ceramic shards and uttered a Motervian curse.
Jorgaa knelt and dipped a blue finger into the scattered powder.

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The Last Hurrah

During pregame warmups for the 2035 semifinals, my players couldn’t miss the basket. Shot after shot went up, then swished through the net. That might have made some coaches happy, but I’d seen too many teams have a great warmup and then come out flat.
Besides, I worried about our star player, Jake.

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The Mayor’s Wife

“I’ve been told that you have some very special… abilities,” Madeline Collins said, her eyes darting about the room as she tried not to squirm. She was used to finer homes, but this house was one notch above a trailer park.
“I suppose you could say that,” Val Owens replied, taking a sip

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The Best Laid Plans

I admit I screamed the words: “If there ever was a time to speak up when the minister says that bit about why this couple shouldn’t be joined together in holy matrimony, it was to tell him you’d turn into a rat on our honeymoon!”
“I thought that was just for the people

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A Magical Mix-ature

My consciousness slowly absorbed the sounds and images around me. I’d been summoned. I floated above the scene, an incorporeal presence. Until a creator conjured me into a physical form, I remained an observer of the world around me.
“Hurry, Jinny, we have to finish before we go to school!”
“I just opened the

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Coldhearted

“You gave me a shovel for Valentine’s Day?” My wife ran a finger along its heart-shaped grip as she rolled her eyes. “Seriously, Jason?”
“I had it custom-made, Corazon, just for you.” I grinned. Her name means “heart” in Spanish.
Setting the tool gently back into its box, she said, “Snow isn’t even in

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The Alien in My Pocket

In my defense, when the aliens have the size and consistency of ketchup packets, it’s very easy to forget one in a flight suit pocket.
You know, that little bicep pocket where you stash the neural-connection ear buds?
On top of that, we’d been celebrating Zenibrian New Year—which is a pretty big deal…

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Snow Day

When I was a kid, teleworking and remote learning didn’t exist. If the snow fell hard and fierce, we got a snow day. Meaning, no work for the grown-ups, no school for the kids. Heavenly bliss! That’s why, in 1983, I caused one of the biggest blizzards in New York City history.

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Mutoscope Murder

Inspector Gustav Ackerson removed his bowler hat and knelt next to the corpse. A boy of fourteen years stared at the nickelodeon’s plaster ceiling with glazed eyes. According to the night guardsman, the poor lad had snuck into the theater after hours and had been discovered lying on the floor next to a mutoscope.

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Icebird Reborn

“If you’re watching this, then I’m sure you have a lot of questions I’m not there to answer.” In holographic form, Jerry Haas looked almost apologetic—almost.
“Yeah, Dad, you could say that,” Houston said. Despite all the high-tech equipment in the cavernous secret room, his attention was riveted on the contents

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Long Jump

Time has no meaning out here, but according to our shipboard computer, it is two minutes before noon. In a few seconds, my co-pilot and I will be the first humans to travel through a wormhole—a black hole, which is kept from collapsing by the greatest feat of engineering the universe has yet witnessed.

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Ned’s Exit

Scamander was a dorm for science majors, and I fit right in. It smelled like boys who got good enough grades that their mothers didn’t mind cleaning up after them in high school. Odors of mildew and sweat added a sickening aftertaste to every bite of Top Ramen I shoveled into my face hole.

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