Strainge Times

In the first of these five stories, "Needful Things," a woman is drawn to a shop that looks like an antique store. She's looking for furnishings for her home in the French Quarter, where, it turns out, she also lived a very, very long time ago. In "Saving the Grenlow," Jim Cable has been sent to stabilize the Grenlow, a Morgan-class interplanetary transport, and bring it home. Unfortunately, the engine room holds a mystery he didn't bargain for. In "Rabbits & Wild Dogs," Marco and the author chase down Joey Bones to teach him a lesson. Joey's been trash talking Marco and threatening to shoot him. The threat doesn't bother Marco, but being called a rat? Now that bothers him. In "The Compartmentalized Mantis," the question is, can a man have a relationship with an EnviroSuit? For that matter, can an EnviroSuit, especially one with a female personality, long abide the imperfections of a human male? Especially when she compares him with a massive, god-like creature machine? And in "Marisa," a woman is trapped in a nightmare, in a nightmare, in a nightmare. And she is destined to flee through unimaginable terrors and horrors until her captors choose to release her. Or she releases herself.