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    Beware the Boojum
    Beware the Boojum
    Beware the Boojum
    Ebook77 pages1 hour

    Beware the Boojum

    By Eric M. Witchey

    ()

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    About this ebook

    If love conquers all and the standard model of particle physics only accounts for 5% of the universe, then...

    This scifi novelette by award-winning writer Eric M. Witchey pits loneliness and love against the forces of corporate greed and narrow-mindedness. When isolated, almost totally insane asteroid miner Bracken MacFie sets his sights on being reunited with the lost love of his life, who is absolutely, totally bat shit nuts, he must overcome the ambitions of the man who separated them and the avarice of institutions. Luckily, he's nearly insane and incapable of knowing he should lose.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherImagination Fully Dilated Publishing
    Release dateJul 30, 2013
    ISBN9780988776753
    Beware the Boojum
    Author

    Eric M. Witchey

    Eric M. Witchey has made a living as a freelance writer for over 20 years. His stories have appeared in six genres on five continents, and he has received recognition from New Century Writers, Writers of the Future, Writer's Digest, The Eric Hoffer Prose Award program, and other organizations. His How-To articles have appeared in The Writer Magazine, Writer's Digest Magazine, and other print and online magazines. When not teaching or writing, he spends his time fly fishing or restoring antique, model locomotives.

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      Book preview

      Beware the Boojum - Eric M. Witchey

      Beware the Boojum…

      A Science Fiction Novelette

      by

      Eric M. Witchey

      Beware the Boojum…

      A Science Fiction Novelette

      by

      Eric M. Witchey

      IFD Publishing, P.O. Box 40776, Eugene, Oregon 97404 U.S.A. (541)461-3272 www.ifdpublishing.com

      Discover other titles from IFD at Smashwords.com or from your favorite eBook distributor.

      All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.

      Smashwords Edition, License Notes

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      All persons in this book are fictitious, and any resemblance that may seem to exist to actual persons living or dead is purely coincidental. This is a work of fiction.

      All rights reserved.

      Cover Art, Copyright © 2013 by Alan M. Clark

      eBook Design, Eric M. Witchey

      First eBook edition, Copyright © 2013 by Eric M. Witchey, IFD Publishing

      eBook epub format edition ISBN: 978-0-9887767-5-3

      Originally Published in the United States of America

      Dedication

      For my sister, Melissa, the queen of her universe.

      Contents

      Dedication

      Beware the Boojum…

      About the Author

      Connect with Eric Witchey Online

      Other eBooks from IFD Publishing

      Beware the Boojum

      Eric M. Witchey

      MacFie scanned the ice and stone surface of the asteroid, Hope. A slow, gray blizzard of ancient dust and ice crystals sparkled in the beam of his helmet lamp.

      One more crystal, he said to the dust. One more, and I go home. He shuffled forward, feet pushing the glittering cloud ahead of him. Going home, he muttered. Home.

      A bird landed in the center of his light beam. Iridescent blue plumage and a cobalt-blue hood and crest violated the uniform grayness of MacFie's world. It fluffed its feathers, raised some dust, and screeched.

      Steller’s Jays don’t live on asteroids. MacFie's helmet faceplate fogged with the breath of his words.

      Knowing the bird was a hallucination didn’t make its blue feathers ugly any more than vacuum muted its scolding. The bird reminded him of his madness—madness that made him an asteroid miner isolated from the rest of humanity.

      Just one more, he said. I'm going home. He fought the chafing of his spacesuit and lunged against the weight of the mass pack that held him to the surface of Hope.

      His boot descended.

      The bird hopped aside.

      Dust and ice engulfed bird and boot. When it settled, the bird still stared, head cocked to one side.

      Git, Bracken MacFie said. Go away.

      The bird screeched.

      I don't think it likes Boojum hunters. The words came from behind him.

      Bracken fought suit and pack to spin and face the ghostly voice.

      His weight settled. He gasped to catch his breath. Mist on his faceplate obscured the boundary between the blackness and the gray dust illuminated by his light. He recognized the voice. I’m alone, he said. You're dead. In the thin air of his helmet, his own voice sounded fragile and distant.

      Looking for Steve was as insane as seeing the bird. You're dead, he repeated. Warm, greasy dampness spread from his eyes across his cheeks. He brought up his gloved hand to wipe it away, but his glove hit his faceplate.

      The bird scolded.

      He looked up at the clouds of stars in his black sky. I'm mining, he said. Going home.

      They sought it with thimbles, Steve recited, They sought it with care; They pursued it with forks and hope; They threatened its life with a railway share; They charmed it with smiles and soap.

      Nonsense—a poem about a thing that never was.

      That's the point, isn't it? You're chasing the shadows of someone else's dreams.

      You're a dream. The bird's a dream.

      Maybe the bird is the stuff that dreams are made of. Steve's rasping laugh echoed in MacFie's helmet. Not me.

      MacFie closed his eyes and recited his conditioned incident recovery mantra. Random synapse firing due to faulty reuptake mechanisms and overproduction of neurotransmitters.

      Bracken, I’m cut deep. Dr. Craig trained us to hunt crystal together. We were boojum buddies.

      MacFie ignored Steve's sarcastic pun. He scanned ice and dust. If he wanted to live, he had to find one more crystal.

      The bird flew around him and fluttered into the light again. It settled its wings, cocked a critical, black-ice eye, and squawked.

      MacFie kicked

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