A successful woman is convinced a female lead marriage is the best path forward and as her career is taking off, her unemployed husband is expected to fill traditional female roles like homemaker and nursing mother. In this chapter... Eric feels compelled to accept difficult truths. (Mature Audience Only Please)

I bolt upright in bed to the sound of the red alert klaxon. I guess the question of what I can face will have to wait because there’s an emergency somewhere on my ship.

Chinta is several steps away from awake as I rush out the door to find Tinoct. He’s standing in the corridor next to an emergency panel, and he manages to look a little sheepish. “I didn’t know the best way to wake you.”

“Coming to wake me up would be a step above this.” I put in the captain’s code to shut it off, “What’s going on?”

“The police are on their way to shut down the festival.”

It was convenient to find ourselves in an area of the building replete with cafés, restaurants, and so forth.

We had five floors worth of shops from which to choose a suitable venue, and Sierra took her merry time deciding on her choice.

That meant wandering around for a while past the various food outlets.

With a veiled sullen look, I followed behind Sierra and Maria, and was kept company by Tabitha who was looking about with disinterest.

I get a text when I step outside. It’s a selfie of Chinta, posing in front of a statue made of diapers. I think that means I should meet her near the statue made of diapers.

I look around for a statue made of diapers, then put my phone into the face of the nearest passerby. She nods like she’s seen it, and adds an expression like she’s seen everything. She’s young. It’s cute.

I give her the closest I can get to a “where is it?” expression, and she points further into the maze. I don’t even try, just set out in that general direction.

Before Sierra could accept my greeting, I heard a song begin to play from nearby.

I recognized it after a dozen or so bars as a catchy pop tune sung by a trendsetting young chick by the name of Ami Amuro.

Before you ask, yes, I was introduced to her by the girls in my class last year.

Remember, they never really saw me as a boy, so I was included in many girl discussions.

And no, I do not own Ami’s posters or music. Her songs were catchy, but they weren’t my cup-of-tea.

“This is Big Bertha,” I tell the aliens, “And she is a beautiful lady.”

We get inside and I give a small tour. There are jump seats outside the flight deck and I show them how to strap in. Urban and sophisticated Tinoct has never flown before, and an ancient freight hauler, loosely bolted together, is a great way to have a first experience. Then I tell them to hang out in the rec room while I run checks. I’ve had to turn off everything at the port, but we aren’t leaving gravity so it’ll only take an hour.

You can read more about this session on Thrythlind, our GM’s, blog at: http://thrythlind.blogspot.com.au/2017/10/the-shiny-red-cand...

Chapter 7: Session 3 – Be Sure to Name All Redshirts

“Here’s your purse, miss,” Malcom grumbled as he handed over the expensive leather bag to a particularly cadaverous-looking forty-something woman.

FROM LAST CHAPTER. THE ALIENS. “I told you we should have never hired that Earthling to find the relics we were sent here to recover! All he's done is let his greed get in the way which has led to others getting involved and several of the Earthlings who have had nothing to do with and didn't even know what the suits really are, have had their lives changed by that cursed Dr. Charles.

FROM THE AUTHOR: This takes the place of a chapter that never should have happened. It's what SHOULD have happened instead of what I originally wrote and posted. It makes more sense and helps me tie it into the SUITED series

FROM THE AUTHOR. SINCE IT'S BEEN SEVERAL YEARS SINCE I LAST POSTED ANYTHING IN THIS SERIES, I DECIDED TO REPEAT PARTS OF CHAPTER 5 TO MAKE IT A BIT EASIER FOR OLD FANS AND NEW READERS TO EASE BACK INTO THE STORY. THERE IS A BIT OF A SPOILER AT THE END OF THIS POST, SO IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SPOIL THE STORY FOR YOURSELF, DON'T READ IT. I'M POSTING THIS IN THE HOPE THAT I CAN FINALLY COMPLETE THIS LONG NEGLECTED STORY OF MINE, ALONG WITH ANOTHER ONE, MY "LUCK BE A LADY."

After I calmed down, Tabitha informed me that the ticket was only a copy, and could be reprinted at any time. What was important was the fact that my donation under the name of Isabel val Sanreal had been registered and accepted.

Apparently, it wasn’t an issue for a girl to be having dinner with Mercy Haddaway.

At the least, Mercy didn’t appear to have a problem with it.

Jordan Price was like most boys on New Holland. He dreamed of dancing in the sky like the Sky Dancers. To fly among the clouds under his own power. There is only one problem. Only women could be Sky Dancers, and Jordan was a boy. Then came the day that would all change

I returned to my bed…no, to Ronin Kassius’s bed…kicked off my sandals, and then slipped under the covers.

After tapping the bedside lamp to turn it off, I lay in darkness, exhausted and hollow as I looked up at the indistinct ceiling.

And sometime later, I fell asleep.

When I woke up, slivers of morning light intruded into the room around the edges of the curtain drawn across the window wall that separated the enclosed balcony from the apartment.

It was the best truck stop sandwich I’d ever eaten. The bread was stale, the lettuce wilted, and gods only knew the deal with the egg salad, but it was solid enough to keep me from shaking to pieces.

I sat in the corner of the Sheriff's office and pulled the blanket they’d given tight. The events leading up to that point circled in my head; one moment I was being held at gunpoint, and the next I was in a ditch, screaming my lungs out. Between them were several hours and twenty miles into the next county no-one could explain.

This makes sense, I think to myself. Whatever is happening here makes sense. She pins my wrists against the wall at shoulder height. Why not let her…

But my surprise keeps me from kissing her back immediately.

She pulls back. “I’m so sorry! I was just… it felt like… ” She’s blushing a pretty blue color.

I don’t feel like going from make out mode to embarrassment, so I stretch out my neck for another kiss. Chinta makes a little growl, and slams back into me.

Metamorphosis

The vans had driven five hours from the meeting site to the Topiary Genetics facility without incident. The group exited the vehicles and was quickly brought through the painted steel door.

Hailey turned the men over to Dr. Erin McCullough, she then staggered to staff quarters for some much needed rest.

Erin assigned each of the men to what looked like standard double occupancy hospital rooms. Staff members handed them each a set of pajamas close to their size and a sedative as they moved toward their rooms.

Endre wants to flee his war-torn planet.
His hope lies with Captian Jespersen who smuggled refugees before.
What he didn't know was how high the price is he may have to pay.

The Final Frontier
By Mary Beth Sanford
(Expanded Version of my original: To Boldly Go):

Synopsis: The most dangerous jobs in space could only be done by men, brave men. Some would say the bravest of men. No one knowing what these men have gone through would deny them that praise. Most would shudder thinking about their sacrifice because for those men to do what they do they must first give up being men.

Key Players:

Big Bertha hits the atmosphere like a ton of bricks. That’s not my fault, I’m a good pilot, but the atmosphere control isn’t broadcasting in a format Bertha can recognize, so I had to guess. The guess took an hour to make, but flight control had me cooling my heels for six while they got their shit together. My credentials are forged, so that doesn’t help. I’ve seen three gorgeous sunrises to make up for it.

I must be a good guesser because I don’t bounce off the atmosphere and die.

Continuing the rough draft release.

As I followed Ghost, or at the very least his superimposed image, the bustling sidewalks grew busier the farther we walked and the closer we drew to Ring Zero’s entertainment districts due west of the horseshoe shaped harbor.

Ghost wouldn’t tell me our destination within the district, so I decided pressing him for an answer would be a waste of time, but I had another reason for keeping silent.

I was enthralled by my surroundings.

Continuing the almost weekly releases of the GPR 3 draft. Sorry for the delay.

I’d like to think of my actions as unconventional.

Unpredictable. Unexpected. Difficult to fathom.

Dare I say crazy?

I’d like to stress that there is a method to my madness; a reason behind my irrational behavior.

In other words, I’d like to say that I didn’t jump off the side of the building without a plan or a reason.

Let’s begin with the reason.

I wanted to get away from Erina.

Chapter 2 - Class Change

Dusting himself off, Nathan pulled himself off a marble altar and shook his head to clear himself of teleportation daze. He was startled for a moment as he felt Alvia’s long tresses brush against his back and obscure his sight. Allowing his delicate leg to dangle over the edge of the altar he placed his arm behind himself to support himself as he leaned back to look around.

He was currently surrounded by large columns of marble that reached to dizzying heights, supporting the Cathedral’s granite arched ceiling. Stained glass, statues, paintings, and candles were unmistakable; he was with in the Cathedral of the Divine.

Continuing with the weekly postings of the GPR3 draft.

Initially it was a surprise, but the more I thought about it, the more sense it made to me.

The Cat Princess was a mechanical, remote controlled body.