I am currently pitching to agents my recently completed novel set in 2156 with elements of science fiction and the American Old West. In Borgus and the Duke, a retired crippled engineer struggles to save his Saturn space station from a vengeful ex-apprentice by melding with an experimental robot and forging a partnership with the ghost of his hero, John Wayne.
For the GREEN SKY story and the new novel, Borgus and the Duke, I've been assisted by professional writing coach and sci fi novelist, Mike Sirota.
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She led him along as Herschel called over his shoulder. “Believe me, I know what I’m talking about. Go on, Bill. Her body’s yours, really. Hit the sack with her, you’ll see.”Then they turned the corner. Cleary stood awhile in the corridor, then raced back to his control room. He seated himself at the console and activated the camera he’d had hidden in their quarters. Sure he’d peeped on occasion, earlier in the mission, to confirm that Anna’s affection for Herschel had dimmed, that she belonged to him. But what about now?
Five:
“That was foolish of you,” she said, back in the cabin.“And eating people for supper is sane?” He heard her make a very human sigh, as she sat on the couch. A mobile of two interlocking solar systems hung from the ceiling. Her hand came up and pushed on a few of the planets, sending them into motion. “So many worlds, most of them barren. But we’ve learned that a few, here and there, bear life. The part of me that has Anna’s memories now understands her desire to rush to as many as possible, study all the new forms. In my original form, I was not like that. All I cared about was being accepted by my people. I think your kind has |
something like this desire, as I can feel Anna’s need to make herself known in her field of specialty.” Anna regarded him, her eyes flashing green. “Any heightened stress would bring about an immediate change to my original state.” She stood. “And it begins to disturb me that you seem to be reconsidering our arrangement. Do I need to be concerned, Herschel?” “How do I trust that this Anna-self will win out over your old self?” Again, she poked the mobile with a finger. “I became an outcast in my world. Anna would say that we operate much like an insect hive. Each individual has a sense of personal survival, but the basic drive is to find one’s place, meld into the whole in one’s ordained function. There comes a sense of belonging, being in synchronicity, but nothing like what I felt with you on the shuttle. That was different. That was. . .” She looked at him with misty eyes. “Like some individual pours his adoration into you alone. This is not part of our normal spectrum. But how wonderful it is.” He felt himself wanting to give way, being drawn to her. She was | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Anna at her most alluring with eyes only for him. Not the recent Anna who brushed off his advances as she crouched over her lab work or report while rubbing at her brow. This Anna reached for him, but he moved to the cupboard, poured himself a whisky, feeling the need for it. “You said you were an outcast, why?”She settled on the couch, closed her eyes, opened them. “I’d begun to be out of step with my cluster, my group of seventy eight. We processed the incoming food from our cultivation worlds. There were two individuals that I’d started to follow, wanted to be near more than others. One began to return the interest; the other only defended itself. The group senses quickly when someone is out of place. They swarmed, gathered around me; I pushed back. Then came the day they . . . beat at me. I struck back and they herded me to an open space to do away with me. First they made me witness the killing of my, my one of interest, my. . .friend.” “Before they could finish me, the supervisors moved in and said I was actually suited for an individual job. So I was made to patrol the sectors on this planet, with instructions to drive off or kill all intruders. And what has overcome me lately is this sense of aloneness, my desire to live slowly draining away. Now I understand why the ones before me only lasted months of your time. The |
isolation gradually wastes you. I was dying there.” She sat upright. “But you, Herschel, what you do to me is a kind of energy food, it revives me again to be more alive than I ever was. Do you understand this?”Hershel felt safer making the Anna-thing talk; at least there was no violence, no dangerous contact, and he might learn about its vulnerabilities. The alcohol had calmed him, allowed him to think. “But where does this ability to change, morph yourself come into it?” “Ah, just so. Well, Anna would say that it is an adaptation for survival. Like any of your Earth hives, the units come in. . . How would she say it?” Her eyes rolled, came down. “Yes--the population is differentiated into several types--workers, drones, even caretakers of the central reproducing ones--and so forth. I was a worker. And each group or cluster has its ratio of types to perform their special functions.” She smiled at him. “This is wonderful to just sit and speak with someone like. . . a new friend.” He swallowed more whisky, then forced a quick smile. “Tell me what happens when this ratio of types is upset.” “Yes, you follow so well. When too many of a type die or are taken, others of us change to readjust the proportion. We only discovered recently that this ability extends to other life forms of similar mass. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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But you know what I think? I think I have absorbed more than Anna’s material self. I’m beginning to think and feel as she would, getting used to operating as influenced by her memories.”Herschel put down his empty glass. It was all so logical; it’s mind could employ reason. Was it really becoming more Anna and less the other thing? But it had murdered, he reminded himself. He should find a way to eliminate it. “You say you feel more human, but if I rejected you then we’d find out who you really were again, wouldn’t we?”
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He stood, feeling woozy. “Even with my knowing who you are?” He yawned deeply. The hours of wired alert were catching up with him.Along with the booze. She was next to him, pulling him toward the couch. “Maybe if my  | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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whole self becomes more attached to one form over the other, then this could be who I really become.” Her hand stroked his arm. “Could we try touching again to see?”“I’m so … so weary right now, so tired.” Something in him was indeed exhausted, shutting down. She was no immediate threat; she could have killed him many times in the previous hours. Or was that the liquor talking? With his back to her he stripped off his outer shirt, pants and crawled into bed. To sleep, put this off a while longer. Cleary was dumbfounded. Through his hidden camera and audio, he’d witnessed a scene that made no sense: two people that were obviously human and married, talking like adversarial strangers. There was Anna, the one who had lain with him and complained of how bored she was with Herschel, and how together, she and Cleary could ascend the ranks in the space fleet. But now this Anna had made advances toward Herschel. She used to hold her arms out for Cleary in that way, but the longing he’d just seen in her face was even more intense than Cleary had recalled. And although in the middle of it, he’d been distracted by a communiqué from the incoming colonists, he thought he’d caught Anna making references to being a hive-thing from another world. Not possible. He’d dashed off a quick message to the Admiral that although |
ground crew were missing due to an unknown cause, he left the cause vague and held out hope of locating them the next day. Still, if he’d heard Anna correctly, her experience on the planet may have deranged her mind. But she had seemed so calm and self assured. He decided to leave the monitoring devices active for further developments, and set an alarm if either of the Rexrodes left their cabin. For now at least Herschel had gone to bed and he needed to sleep as well.
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“But you might become--““No chance of that, my love. I’ve already gone through the change and back while you slept. Out in the living room, not next to you. I have hours now, to be with you.” She kissed him lightly on the lips and then his checks, his neck. She certainly felt and acted like a woman. His mind played back an old tasteless joke about if it looks and acts like a donkey then saddle up and ride it. He laughed aloud at the irony. “You laughed,” she said, pulling at his undergarments. He was aroused, and still half-groggy or possibly half-drunk. She felt the way a loving woman should feel, and his body needed to feel her, feel Anna. He raised his arms over his head and let her peel the undershirt from him. “I want to be kissing you,” she said, meeting his lips. Then pausing, “I want you touching me everywhere, show me how.” They kneeled facing each other, kissing and caressing. He let his mind go blank and savored the sensations of feeling her body, even the fine sheen of sweat that encased her as her breath became faster. Who cared what she had been as long as she could come to him like this? His Anna was back, she had to be. More than ready, he laid her back on the covers and she spread her thighs, stroking herself. “This is aching for you, I can feel it. |
Come to me.”And he thought that this was the best lovemaking they’ve had in years, the most ready and She arched and sighed. “My love, my love, this is what I’ve missed--“ He felt a pulse go through her. He hoped it was an arousal reaction but the next immediate pulse told him otherwise. Anna’s entire body stiffened and the softness of her skin vanished as one moment what was velvet became sandpaper. She gasped. “Oh no. It can’t be.” He pulled away, just as he felt the soft prickle of coarse hairs begin to sprout from her. “Go away, away!” she shouted, as her body began its awful change. He hugged himself and backed into the corner, staying within the tiny room. Bearing witness. The thing that was Anna went through its transformation on the bed. “I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry.” It moaned as the human face became reptilian and the silky body morphed into something insect and | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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crustacean. Its soft human arms became spindly and angular with exoskeletal barbs. “The stress reaction, it’s the stress reaction.” It wailed as it changed, in some kind of agony.He felt sorry for it.
Six:
Cleary sat transfixed before his monitor. No mistake this time. Human flesh with a skeleton and muscles had mutated within a minute into something grotesque. Behind that was the horror of the loss of Anna. The female botanist who returned on the shuttle was a replica; the real woman was no more. The security of his Hub was now all that mattered.His arm reached for the all station alert bell, then he recalled it was the middle of the sleeping shift, their “night.” Should he act alone? If this thing had overpowered the four ground staff, and the rock-hard Fineker, then he’d need backup. He pressed the mike button and thought about his announcement, then hesitated again. Even with summoning the other ten on board, he’d have to spend precious minutes explaining, calming, making a plan with the groggy crew. By then the monster might be out on the prowl. And if they succeeded in killing it, there was still the stigma of having to explain to his superiors how he allowed this thing on board in the first place. |
Better to have it gone with no one, except Herschel, the wiser. If he moved fast, then he’d have the element of surprise in his favor.Cleary opened the cabinet under the console and found a laser gun. Trotting down the dimly lit hallway, he planned his attack. He had the passkey to all compartments, so he’d force his entry and then blast the thing in its head, its heart. Afterwards he and Herschel would dispose of it, shoot it out an airlock. “Step aside Herschel, I’ll end this beast’s life right now.” “How do you know what she is?” Awareness dawned on Herschel’s face. “You bastard, you put a spy camera on us, didn’t you?” “Good thing I did. That oversized bug killed six of our crew, including Anna.” Herschel took Cleary’s arm and began to lead him from the door. “What if it can be tame as long as I’m here?” Clearly yanked his arm away. “What? Don’t tell me you’re in its power. Are you one of them?” | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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“Get serious, Bill. I’m saying in a half hour or less, we’ll have Anna again.”Cleary shook his head. “I can’t believe what I’m hearing. It has got your mind.” “It seems to have Anna’s mind, that’s my point. Her memories, her attitudes, only somehow more orderly, less given to her ugly moods.” Cleary considered punching Herschel. “So it murders, but with a smile?” Herschel’s hands were on Cleary’s chest, pressing, supplicating. “That was its directive, but no more. Likes us better than her own kind, and getting more like Anna with each change, like it’s learning. I know it’s risky, but if we kill it now then all that was Anna will be gone. It could still do the biological analysis of the planet, plus—hey--be the first alien that could communicate. I’d let you do all the articles.” Cleary found himself actually wondering if there could be a Nobel Prize in it. “How could we ever trust her, or whatever you call it?” “If it wanted to kill the rest of us it would have already.” |
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She watched Herschel gesture at the unconscious Cleary. “I don’t know if I, we, could really manage together, although maybe I’m in more danger from him than you.” He sat on the couch, apart from her. “Maybe there’s a way we could get you back to the surface. . . let you go. I don’t know.” There it was; he was pushing her away. Even though she’d just saved him.The Anna-thing felt her human hands clench. “I told you that I was slowly dying down there. I had maybe two months left in that condition. Couldn’t we give this another day? Look how far we’ve come in just in the first twenty hours.” “Real great. I learn my wife is not my wife and my Commander wants to off me. Still, he’ll come around soon and rest of the station will be awake in a few hours, Anna.” “You called me her name! You’ll see, we’ll get through this—now wait.” She rolled her eyes to access recollection. “That’s it. Let’s give him a sleeping drug.” She trotted into the bedroom and returned in seconds holding a capsule. “Anna kept—I kept this for defense. I squeeze and the gas released near someone’s nose will keep them out about three hours. Then we use those hours to mull it through, you and I. If by that time, we can’t come up with a plan, then somehow I’ll leave. Fair enough?” A rhythmic beeping sounded from somewhere on Cleary. Herschel |
rolled him over and saw a small transmitter affixed to the man’s belt, now flashing blue. “Some kind of alert. I’m going to take his pass key and check it out in the control room.” He looked at Anna. “Can I trust you in here with him?”She pocketed the unused capsule and cocked her head. “What do you think I would do, Herschel, eat him?” Herschel raised his eyebrows. “On second thought, I think you should come along.” The Anna-thing watched as Herschel, seated in the control module, keyed in as Cleary. He shut the audio warning off, and said he’d look for the source of the alert. She stood behind him, scanning the screens. Something moved on the radar plot. “That quadrant, a vessel coming up on our position.” She saw Herschel peer at the readout under the blip. “Roughly, four hundred kilometers and closing fast. Right in our orbit as well. But our backup team isn’t due yet.” Herschel initiated a hailing frequency. The response was obviously unintelligible to him, but not to herself. Minutes later, they pulled Cleary from the floor to the couch in Herschel’s quarters. The Station Commander was half conscious and beginning to groan. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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“Bill, can you understand me? Anna has something to tell us.”Cleary held his head in his hands. “I feel like I’ve been hit with a brick.” “Anna put you out, but never mind, things have changed.” Cleary attempted to rise, groaned and slumped back. “What the hell does ‘never mind’ mean? I have a split head here. Where’s my gun?” She knelt in front of Cleary and put a hand on his knee. “There now, Bill, I’m really sorry. It was that or do worse to you, and I still carry a fondness, even if it’s not love.” “Screw you, too,” Cleary barked. The Anna-thing felt her lips smile. “Humans must have their little dramatic fits, so I’m learning. But Bill, there’s a vessel approaching rapidly.” Cleary sat up straight. “Who is it? Did they hail?” “Not ours,” Herschel said. “Then who? And how do you know?” |
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of these hive-creatures closing in on them. Anna—that’s how he thought of her now-- followed him into the control room, holding the pistol. Cleary broadcast a station wide order to prepare the Hub to leave orbit. A few objections came in, which he quickly silenced by transmitting the data on the approaching warship.Cleary turned to them after his announcements were complete. “I feel like a traitor to my cause. I’m going to have a lot of explaining to do to my superiors at HQ.” Anna shook her head. “You are saving the lives under your command. And don’t forget to warn off the settlers due in a few weeks. Now for my phase.” Anna’s stated plan was to take Shuttle B and fly toward their pursuers. The combination of her distraction and the station moving off should help ensure their safety. As the Hub would speed out of range, she would radio her ship that she’d convinced the humans to abandon the planet. Then she’d use the shuttle to return to the ground and once more take up her post. Cleary’s eyes looked strangely hopeful as he turned to Herschel. “Y’know with Anna leaving, there’s no more reason for animosity between us, is there?” The console flashed and Cleary made his update announcement. “Two minutes until thruster fire for orbit breakaway. Stand by, everyone.” |
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Herschel made a cutting motion with his hands. “You’ve got it backwards and we better do this fast.”He ran up the ramp past her and took the pilot seat. “Sit next to me while I show you once; the station is already beginning to break orbit.” She remained behind him as he leaned over the console and pointed. “Now all of your thrusters are here on the lower center section--” Something hissed just behind him, near his right ear. He froze, dreading what he’d see if he turned around. Then everything went black. Seven:The human lay inert on the bunk along the perimeter of the large conical hut. The creature estimated the sleeping gas would wear off in about an hour’s time, by human measurement.His former ground crew’s abandoned dwelling should be as good a habitation place as any and be familiar to him when he awoke. She hoped it wouldn’t start him lamenting his lost comrades. Above his sleeping form the window showed the scrub and fields beyond illuminated by the bright yellow-green sun. Back in her native form, she busily ingested a heap of vegetable and animal scraps she’d gathered shortly after she’d landed and placed the human in here. |
She’d hidden the nuclear plug from the shuttle’s engine in a place the man could never find, ending his chance of escape from this world.Would he really want to flee? Humans seemed to need time to show their hurt pride, their outrage, and his might be considerable once he realized he was here thanks to her ruse to lure him into the shuttle. She told herself she would not be alone now; she could begin to live with a new purpose. Sooner or later the man would have to come to her and let her try again to love him. He’d see how much she’d work at retaining her human form, even in positive stress. So many hours could be spent in the positions of love, feeling a completeness of being individually adored that was beyond the imagining of her race. And when she felt that he’d grown to consistently feel this love for her, she could reactivate the shuttle and they could leave this place, find a new home away from her backward hive and his own suspicious race. But what if he took on his more troubling attitude, ran from her to hide in the scrub, regarded her as hideous? What if he refused to soften to her, no matter what form she was in? What then? She contemplated his possible rejection of her, and the desire came to simply obliterate the nuisance and ingest him. She’d go back to the steady unemotional patrolling of her sector, fulfill the directive of her hive. |
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erschel stood against the wall, arms folded. His gaze settled on the mobile, slowing down. “What am I going to do? If I try to get away from you, you’d kill us all, wouldn’t you? Can you do that even in human form?”
“Could you reject me, Herschel, even now?” Her eyes took on that longing, radiated pure sensual softness for him. “Could you really destroy this?” She spread her arms, offering herself. “This being who has come to love you? That has the image of all you loved?” She stepped toward him. “And you know what I also think? That my love, new as it is, revives you again. I can give that to you, too.”
wanting she had ever been. He looked into her dreamy beautiful face as he joined his body with hers. She was liquid soft, warm, all woman and wanting him.
Or it could peacefully wait for the sixty colonists to arrive and do mass slaughter. More like a Nobel disaster. Why couldn’t Herschel see that? Unless— “Did you let it on my station to get back at me for the affair with Anna? You taunted me just before, daring me to sleep with her.”
he rubbed his knee again. “My people, Bill. It’s a warship.”
