The planet Antelos was lush, vibrant, and full of life. Its atmosphere was made of an earth-familiar mixture of gases, with one uniquely alien exception: halivium. Halivium was not toxic, not initially, and not for everyone. But in a certain percentage of the population containing a particular gene sequence, halivium could at some point in their lives become poisonous.
urple storm clouds and crackles of lightning swept over the moors. Bolts of white and violet snapped from the clouds like snake tongues melting the darkness. For a brief moment, the night became a curtain. It swept back to reveal a stage of backlit silhouettes. If there had been an audience they would have glimpsed gnarled shrubs, a ribbon of roadway, and a running figure.
“You’re fired,” said Jeremy. He shrugged and spread his hands in apology. “Sorry.”
ronica as she rushed by with a slice of carrot cake. “Beautiful day, isn’t it?” Zeke commented to the bar-stool population-at-large. He tamped grounds into the portafilter, locked it into place, and pulled a shot.
An old man glanced furtively from side to side, then stumped across the hallway. The wheels on his walker squeaked across gray linoleum. He reached the door marked “utility closet” and rapped twice, paused, then knocked three times. He waited. He glanced left and right, muttered something under his breath, and lifted his hand to knock again.
he table, gulping OJ and squirting lime juice onto a 1-inch-high stack of sugared crepes.