Havok Publishing

1960s

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Second Chances

“I can’t find anything wrong with you, Frank.” The doctor leaned back in his chair to look at his clipboard over his wire-frames.
“Come on, Doc. There’s got to be something. This ain’t normal.” Frank put his head in his hands. “I’m tellin’ you, I’ve been hearing music for three days straight.”

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Déjà Vu

Hank wandered about the empty house, bored out of his mind, from the kitchen with a fridge full of meals, to the TV showing only reruns, to the shelf of books he’d read a dozen times, then all over again. He’d expected having his parents away for five weeks would give him a sense of ecstatic freedom.

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Apart

I’m coming Mara. I shoulder my pack, set my walking stick on the path, and start up the slope.
“I wouldn’t go that way if I were you.”
I jump, my foot catches on a patch of gravel, and I tumble to the ground. My elbow scrapes against a rock as I land hard on my seat.
“Woah there, it’s not safe to be that kind of clumsy on a mountain.” A short woman sits on the ledge above me, kicking her heels.

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Hologram Heist

“Five minutes, King.”
I let out an irritable sigh at the warning transmitted into my head. “Copy.” I’ve only just arrived, and I’m already running out of time.
Where did he put it?
The serum has to be here. We’ve spent years tracking it across time and space and through the fibers of alternate dimensions.

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The Color of Thyme

Eggs are magic.
They seem simple: shell, white, yolk. Cook them scrambled, fried, boiled.
But separate the parts and find complexity. Whites may be whipped into foam light as cloud and stable as glass. Yolks, yellow as sunshine, whipped with oil and lemon juice turn white, or whipped into a bechamel of butter, flour, milk,

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The Untethering of Caroline Donadeiu

The warlock Jasper Throe first met Caroline Donadeiu when she had only two tattoos.
Tonight, she showed up on his doorstep shabby, with more tattoos than he could count, hands in fists by her sides. Jasper hardly recognized her.
Caroline bit the inside of her cheek. Instead of “hello,” she said, “I’m sorry. May I come in?”
It’s too late to say I’m sorry, Jasper thought, but not without kindness.

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Table for One

Hammer toe. Trigger finger.
The noonday sun bakes my skin. I swipe at the sweat on my brow, and place my hand over the hollow of my belly. Will it rumble? Does it remember how?
“Not a peep,” I say aloud. “That ship sailed ages ago. Ha!” I laugh at my own joke,

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An Odd Awakening: Second Genesis

“The citizens of New Earth must be expecting someone to appear from the ancient depths of space.” I didn’t know if I was trying to reassure myself or my assistant. “After all, the cradle of life is littered with functioning spaceships.”
The tractor beam continued to draw us in.
“They’ll welcome us, surely.”

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Tea and Sugar

I stared at the looming sphere of Earl Grey dominating The Seeker’s viewport. Not Earl Grey as in the tea—Earl Grey the planet. Some doofus had the nerve to name the planetary collection “The Tea System.” Of course when you hear the name, it sounds like “The T System,” which is way more categorical.

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The Game

The spectacular man could have seduced any lady at the fundraiser, but passing the others without a look, he sauntered up to Nora, a glass of champagne in each long-fingered hand, and, with a devilish grin, planted a soft kiss on her cheek. Nora quivered as heat spread outward from the kiss and set her heart to racing.

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Out of Her Skin

“Is she an angel?” the little boy asked his mother. They sat on the shore playing in the sand. “She looks so… sad.”
High above them, a cliff jutted out over the water like the prow of a ship. At its edge stood a woman, her white dress and dark hair billowing in the wind.

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Made for Her

Red. All I can see is red. What’s wrong with my vision?
“Excellent. Open your eyes,” a female voice says gently.
I do, and wince when bright light blinds me further. I throw my hands up to cover my eyes, my left palm brushing against my right wrist, irritating the stitches encircling it.

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