Everyone’s favorite magical cassette is back! This month featuring 12 short, short stories that will transport you from the exclusive and dangerous worlds of royals and aristocrats, to slices of contemporary life, to the last days of Planet Earth, and an interview with Minikisa the author of “Of Heroes and Villains”.

UF-2 Book 2 Chapter 5
By Barbie Lee
Edited by Catherine Linda MIchel

Our heroes continue to try to enlist allies in case of a war with the Earth Alliance. They run into slavers, pirates and worse, oh my! A return to UF-2 leads to clues to an old acquaintance and a new ally. Family joins the resistance, against family wishes, but welcome. More action in this chapter than you can shake a stick at.

FROM LAST CHAPTER: "In my heart I knew that millions of lives were going to be lost. Humans had a very nasty record of making and breaking treaties as it suited them. There had to be a way out of this mess. The Earth Alliance had to understand that they could not ignore this treaty."

And NOW...

“It’s what they call a mental Twist. Most of my body didn’t really change at all, but my brain... there are a lot of little changes there, because I have a kind of new personality. Basically, I have a girl brain.”

"Orbital Velocity, Chapter 2"
By = Sure As Elle

Chapter Two: Kármán Line

1

Austin grew up surrounded by the strange and chaotic inventions of his mad scientist mother, so by the time he was fifteen, he was sure that nothing could surprise him anymore. However, when his own powers start to manifest, he discovers just how mistaken he was. This story takes place in the Whateley Universe.

http://www.crystalhall.org/index.html

UF2 Book 2 Chapter 2
By Barbie Lee
Edited by Catherine Linda Michel.

War is on the horizon and it's up to Brandy, Sherry, Toni, Meliss, the rest of the Pash, their allies and anyone else they can find to help prevent war, or win if all else fails. Can they do it? Can they convince enough races that war will be devastating to everyone? Only time, the author and I know for sure. you all will have to read to find out.

This chapter does contain some very violent scenes, hence the warning in the "Tags." It's necessary for the rest of the story.

FROM BEFORE: "As soon as I started to bring the sword up it shifted to this dimension. Now it was most certainly visible to everyone. As I brought it up I sliced through the middle of my neck with it. It was too late for them to react to stop me. Attuned to my molecular makeup, the sword would never hurt me but it collapsed molecular matter on everything else it touched. The sword never really passed through my body. The blade shifted back to another dimension where my body was. To those who were looking at me it seemed as if I had passed the blade through myself. The slave collar disappeared when the sword touched it.

“WHAT THU...” Len was staring at what he couldn’t believe. His slave was armed and no longer wearing a slave collar!"

AND NOW:

UF-2 The Seeds of War
by Barbie Lee
Edited by Catherine Linda Michel
Copyright April 2002

"His breath reeked of gin and spirits. It was probably the only mouthwash he ever used. He smiled, and his yellow teeth looked bright against the dark recess of his yawning gullet. His lips were thin. Probably from seldom being pulled into a smile. He held his knife to my throat. “I’m going to sell you to the slavers.”

Over the shoulder of the first man, I could see another man coming across the room. He was holding up a slave collar. A cruel device, it was guaranteed to make the person it was placed on, submissive. Voice controlled, the master didn’t need a transmitter. All the master had to do was give a command. If the slave didn’t respond the slave collar would give a cruel shock. I had seen slaves drop to the floor writhing in agony when they didn’t respond to a command from the master. Those slave collars were a product of the government for use on prisoners. Pirates and slavers found a new use for the government prisoner collars."

And off we go in Book two of UF-2 The Seeds Of War. Strap yourselves in and suit up for action in deep space. Pirates, slavers, alien races and war loom ahead for Brandy, Sherry and all the universes and dimensions. Can our heroes and heroines stave off war and win out against the worst that space has to offer? Well here we go!

Returning from Egypt, Alex suffers her first real loss since becoming Empress. An emergency mission to right a fatal mistake ensues requiring her to re-establish balance between two Universes.

UF-2, BY BARBIE LEE, EDITED BY CATHERINE LINDA MICHEL

Startling revelations for Brandy and Sherri. Truths become known and our heroines learn what their futures will hold for them. Toni's position in the Pash world becomes known.

Anything Goes, Don't Blink

A man wakes up with his wife’s nose. Two girls concoct a scheme to sneak a friend into an Elvish gathering. A dragon hatches and makes a decision that will change a young boy’s life. These are just some of the 14 stories on offer in the biggest Mixed Tape collection yet. Hit play and embark on a journey through time, space and unconventional fantasy, with a full cast of mad scientists, demonic bureaucrats, Time Lords and Ladies, and extraordinary ordinary individuals.

The thot plickens. Our heroine and her friend are about to have all their realities torn apart and replaced by things they never even imagined. Secrets are brought out, changes occur and Brandy and Sherry are introduced to Toni's home world and culture.

This is a short chapter, because there simply wasn't any other good place for the chapter break. The next chapter will be considerably longer. Look for it on Monday.

FROM BEFORE:

“Oh God…!” The idea I could have a baby had never entered into my psyche. The idea I was a woman was tolerable as a short term concept. We were the most advanced intelligent race ever, at least that we knew about. I was positive medical could find a cure. Now, Sherry was telling me I could possibly not only have a baby, I was designed as a baby factory! Damn those who did this!"

And now;

The air was heavy with... Robert wasn't exactly sure. But something definitely felt odd about the air that day. The smell of freshly cut grass tickled at Robert's nose, but that wasn't it. He bit on the inside of his lip, attempting to discern the sensation he felt. He was knocked out of his thinking by the sound of Cory panting up the hill. He chuckled "C'mon Cory. You can't be this out of shape. Eli's been making this walk every day the past few days. I can't imagine he's in any better shape than you are."

I’d been there when my cousin Todd went through his Twist, when we were playing in Grandpa and Grandma’s back yard a few years ago, and he’d passed out completely, while the sparks shooting out of him burned off all his clothes and killed all the grass where he fell. I seemed to have burned a few holes in mine, but I was still decent, and still conscious.

UF-2 BY BARBIE LEE
Edited by Catherine Linda Michel

This is a long one, folks. There are two books to this story and the total comes to just under 75,500 words, counting both books. Both books are complete and chapters will be posted three times a week through the end of Book 2.

So settle in and strap in for a space drama/love story/mystery that will transport you to a distant future and other dimensions. If you're not a big "info dump" fan, you can skip the first few paragraphs and go right to the story beginning, referring to the foreword as you find the info there relevant. There IS a lot of info there and you will probably be able to answer some of your "tech" questions by doing so.

WARRIOR PRINCESS CHAPTER THREE
BY BARBIELEE

This is the final chapter of this story. Will our heroine win through? Will she finally accept her place in this strange new world? Who and what are those damned Homm? The ride gets bumpier from here and our heroine faces many things she never dreamed of in her old life.

When we left off, Our heroine was facing some nasty possibilities.

"Was it doubt that stopped me? Or was I being smart by not breaking my bonds and escaping? I decided to wait when no dark voids were around had knocked me out without me sensing it coming. I didn’t want a repeat performance. Going against an unknown was an act of desperation. I wasn’t desperate. Yet."

And now:

“I hope I get a really cool trick, like Kerry’s,” Mildred said. “And I’d like to be taller and prettier, and I wouldn’t mind having exotic eyes, but...”

 

“But you don’t want to look like Kerry,” I said, and she nodded.

Twisted Throwback

part 1 of 25

by Trismegistus Shandy

This story is set, with Morpheus' permission, in his Twisted universe. It's set about a generation later than "Twisted", "Twisted Pink", etc. I've tried to write it as a stand-alone, so you need not have read Morpheus's Twisted stories first, or recently, to enjoy it; some of his characters make cameo appearances, but I don't think it has significant spoilers for the stories they come from.

WARRIOR PRINCESS
BY BARBIELEE CHAPTER TWO

Hold onto your hats kiddies. It gets really bumpy from here,

"So, they think humans are useless, huh? Well, I guess I should give 'em something to make 'em certain then. Wait'll they get a load of me!"

Bridget and Danny goes shopping and it's not for Clothes!

(I'm no good at Gimp or Photoshop, you'll just have to imagine that Iris has thistle-colored eyes. Though I do now have an anime-ish avatar depicting Iris.)

Chapter Three. We find out why the alien was on earth and what she plans for our hero. Can he deal with it without losing his mind?

FROM THE EDITOR: Chapter Two. Our Trooper is being held(?) by the alien in a cabin that has gotten snowed in. He's WAY out of his element and is about to learn more than he ever dreamed, or feared, he would. Again, please remember to comment or kudo... preferably both, and thank you for reading. Barbie and I hope you are enjoying the tale.