"Apparently it was another of Willem's tricks," my husband told me.

"We had left Earth before the first of Perls messages even got there. As a matter of fact, we began receiving the whole conversation being sent back from the station, I'm guessing as a mockery from Willem."

I couldn't understand. "Why did he do that? He gave us hope that Earth was there, helping us."

John shook his head. "He gave us information through his AI that he controlled. He could make us believe what he wanted. And it was more play. I can imagine how he would have enjoyed watching this conversation himself. He would have been thrilled."

 

Chapter 5 - The Talk

When my parents got home, I somehow managed to convince them that I hadn't spent the afternoon doing something that was, well, considered perverted back then. Not that they asked, but there wasn't much of anything else on my mind. Heck, a lot of people still consider it perverted right now in 2020.

The Quarterback
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

I played nose tackle, primarily on defense, but as guard for blocking on offence as well. I guess that means I am a versatile player. Anyways, I did OK and got a good run at pro-ball in my time. I had enough money to retire because my Mama put it all in the Bank. And besides, I do all right as a sales rep for a sporting goods company. I travel around and shake hands and talk about football. It is a good life, I guess.

Through the corridors, I could hear screams and panicked voices. A light went red. Thunk! Another light went yellow, while two more went red. Thunk! Thunk! I glanced at, then couldn't look away from the screens showing the bays. The first one, our home, seemed to be crumbling away as it slowly pirouetted, the distance between us growing.

I stared, and everything seemed to be happening at the end of a dark tunnel. The next thing I knew, I was waking up on the floor with Carla beside me, making sure I was alright

"Perfect," Paula told her daughter as she saw the course come alive on the screen. It took her a moment to order it, however. While it ended with them intersecting, this would be dangerous. The course was theoretically possible, but it was closer than any sane person would want to get to a star. Hell with it, she thought. "Do it."

Rhoda committed them by pressing a button, and the engines fired. The ship slowed allowing their fall around the star to become stronger. A moment later, the thrusters realigned them, and the engines fired again, making them accelerate their fall while at the same time, angling them to where they would miss the surface and just barely skim the edge of the sun's atmosphere.

A Switcher Tale...

Suddenly,we received a message from Colleen. “Rashda, we have something up here that you need to see.”

Smythe looked around at us all. “John and Rose, will you come with me? Winston, figure this out please.” Then he touched a button that put his voice through every intercom on the ship. “Mr Dodson, would you please come to the command center?”

Then we were off.

Right to Life: The Brain Donor

Chapter 5 - Who’s a pretty, pretty princess?

Heidi and Becca ended up breaking their leases, and moving in together. That meant, of course, that I came along. I was tired, both emotionally and physically. Emotionally from all the upheaval and drama. Physically from the therapy. While I was pretty much recovered, I was still encouraged to explore my limits and learn the boundaries of my new body.

 

Chapter 3 - Sonya Henie's Tutu!

Up in my bedroom I sat at my desk in a daze. Until a half hour ago I wouldn't have thought anything could have made me think of anything but not being able to try on my new clothes. I wasn't happy with my mother for trying to distract me from my funk, but - Sonya Henie's Tutu! - she had managed it.

Births Deaths and Marriages
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

Allan Bingley was not the sort of man who you might think of as a criminal.

He has a small open and honest looking face on a small non-descript body, slightly flabby. He had very little hair on his head. Alopecia rather than pattern baldness, had robbed him of his hair when he was not yet thirty. His mother assured him that it would grow back. It never did. And now she was dead.

“What are you two doing here?” she asked, dumbfounded.

“Staying with you and Dad,” Gina told her. “You don’t think we’d abandon you, do you?”

“Who’s commanding Centaurus?” Paula asked.

“I transferred command to Rick Johnson,” She told her mother-in-law. “Right before I transferred to here.” She stepped over to Paula and asked the old question of seafarers. “Permission to come aboard?”

This is my first story. It is a fem!Harry/dark!Harry, with a twist. Holly Potter was raised in the muggle world. How will she adapt to becoming a witch, and how will lives be changed along the way?

The Prophet

By Jasmine Monica

Chapter 19
Serininas true nature really begins to show in this chapter

Chapter 1

I tried to hope. I like to think of myself as an optimistic person, more ready to smile than frown, but I am pretty sure my smile was brittle today. This would be my third foster home and I had already got the impression that my new foster parents didn't care about any of us, apart from the money that we could bring. On the plus side, the one person I had been most scared to meet was my new foster father after the fiasco with my last one and Greg seemed harmless and completely disinterested.

“Sylvia told us that he doesn’t mind cross dressing for you. I’m sorry to ask, but do you feel the same?”

“Why apologize? We need this information. Yeah, I have no problem doing the same for him.”

“Okay, Reg, now look at yourself. Are you interested in men?” She shook her head. “Are you bi?” Again she shook her head, but this time a smile was forming on her face.

“I see. I believe you’re right. You change sex, and gender to the same as the person who touched you!”

Paula nodded. Beside her, Fred’s expression was one of disgust aimed at his damned brother. What a complete bastard!

“No problem,” the chief of staff responded, giving Rhoda a smile. Freeman was certain that if they had been side by side they would have kissed.

“Was Ronda fooling around on Phineas? And with another woman?”

“No, Mom! She wasn’t a lesbian. She wasn’t even bi! That’s me!”

Paula nodded, as did Fred.

They discussed things for awhile, then went to their own rooms to ponder things.

Fred was certain that he had missed something. Something vital.