The fleets meet at Trafalgar and Patinea starts to realize the very serious consequences for her actions against her sister as the merciless force lands on her shores

Chapter 9

Once off the bus Mark snuck to his house as good as he could. Hiding behind bushes and hedges whenever he spotted someone. He really didn’t want to run in any of his neighbours with this big pink shopping bag. It would mean nothing but trouble since he realised full well that he wasn’t actually loved around here after all his vandalism.

“What the fuck just happened?” Grace had a confused look on her face.

Their SUV just shut down in the middle of the road. Anthony was trying to restart it, but nothing was happening. The next thing the two of them feel is an explosion.

All the glass on the SUV cracked from the explosion. The SUV rocks again, as another explosion hits it. Grace tries opening her door, but it wouldn’t open “my door won’t open.”

Anthony tries his as well, but it wouldn’t open as well “mine won’t open either.”

In a desperate bid to revive his flagging career, a young star on a sci-fi show concocts an elaborate publicity stunt to come out as transgender. But what happens when he becomes entangled in his web of lies?

We started home, and although I wasn't looking forward to our coming talk, I had really enjoyed myself. It was a memory I would treasure. Just enjoying being out and playing together. It's not something a girl close to a thousand years old gets to do with her husband often.

“They're moving out now, number one.” Nelson watched as the three SUV’s leave the parking garage.

“Roger, number two. Keep your eyes on them and wait for our signal.” Juan watches from his perch.

He hopes that the plan they laid out will pay off. The research he did into each bodyguard had proven very fruitful. It also revealed that he and the others didn’t want to get into hand-to-hand combat with a few of them either.

Adwomen
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

Siobhan and I had gone through a similar education for a career in advertising. We shared a modest apartment in the city. We were both young and ambitious, and short of money. The only real differences were that she was a woman, and I wasn’t; and I had talent, and she didn’t.

I leaned in and although it was uncomfortable, I put my head on his shoulder. I heard a door shut, and realized it was just the two of us in the room now. "Come here, " John told me. I wasn't sure what he wanted but I stood and stepped to the front of his chair. He turned me so I was standing the opposite way and pulled me down to his lap. He wrapped his arms around me, and I snuggled in.

I loved him so much!

It's been awhile! For the last few years, life's journey has been taking absolutely everything I have to give it. However, I have cranked out this modern take on the theme of the Fates messing with your life, thrusting you into the kind of situation that makes you feel trapped and teaching you the harsh lesson that control is an illusion. Writing about that metaphorically was a great exercise that I thoroughly enjoyed. I hope you enjoy this story!

I smiled sadly. “Perl was a good friend of both John and I.” I could feel the tears welling up again. When Gina hugged me, I was tense. She refused to let go, however, and I eventually relaxed. I’m sure it had to do with my distrust of Paul and Fred. Gina was Rhoda’s wife, and Rhoda was Paula’s daughter. I guess anyone in their family was subject to my distrust. I hated that, but it was what it was.

Chapter 6

Mark’s night ended up being a very restless one. The constant rubbing of his sheets against his nylon covered smooth legs as well as the feeling of the silky material of his panties all around his bottom and chest felt very sensual. He was embarrassed to admit it, but it actually turned him on. The worries combined with the horniness formed a potent combo to keep him awake. He knew that masturbating again would probably solve his problems, but he knew what he had to do when he masturbated so he chose to just endure it.

"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."

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.

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.