Replay
A Vignette
By Maryanne Peters

She knew that it was him even as his back was turned. He was wearing the blue track suit – the one without his name across the back of it, so as be in comfort and not be noticed. She knew the back underneath it – broad and black, like polished ebony and just as hard.

“Well, this is a surprise,” she said, “After last night.”

“Liam! Come here!” I hear a voice yell, making me grunt as my eyelids flicker open and I take in my surroundings — my bedroom in Sonia’s flat, with bright sunlight streaming through a gap in my curtains. However, it isn’t Sonia who’s calling me. “Liam! I haven’t got all day!”

I was getting very tired of hospitals.

Tango
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

Chapter 7: First Sign of Trouble
I awoke on a tranquil Saturday morning, the rich aroma of freshly brewed coffee mingling with the sweet scent of warm pancakes. This delightful fragrance wafted through the air like an inviting melody, gently coaxing me from the depths of my dreams.

As I sat up, sunlight cascaded through the expansive floor-to-ceiling windows, casting a soft golden glow across the penthouse like a warm embrace. In the corner, Millie and Rory lay sprawled on the floor, tucked beneath a shared blanket that enveloped them like a cocoon of comfort.

If you ever find a target on the planet referenced in Ethertravel Report #2 (report and transmission data attached), contact me. I am available 24/7 for this at attached number. Hold target for me. I will head to nearest station ASAP to ethertravel there.

- Gregorevich

This is a prequel story to my previous story titled The Curse of the Black Bow. Feel free to read that first or after this as this can be read first but please check both stories out as they go well together.

A Prelude to The Curse of the Black Bow

Two Men Too Many
A Short Western Story
By Maryanne Peters

Some say that when you are headed west and there is nothing before you except open space and hard work, that you need more young men than you do young women. But as far as the Haddon Colby train of 1861 was concerned, they had two men too many.

When Charles Miller received the call on his Pip-Boy that he had been chosen, he could hardly believe it. Finally, his years of work as an engineer had been recognized. He and his wife, Barbara, would finally have a place secured in a vault, safe from the threat of nuclear war.

Brimming with pride and hope for the future, Charles left his home for the orientation meeting, imagining the security that awaited them if war happened. But when he arrived, joining twenty-nine others in a sleek corporate conference room, his hope began to crumble.

The CEO of RobCo stood before them with grim news: nuclear war was not just a possibility… it was hours away. And the vault door was closing.