Author: Pat Gibson

Farm 22, the library, questions…     The last class had left the classroom. Sarita had finished straightening up after them. She accessed the comnet and began researching Megal Morales. If she was to bond with this man — and that looked likely, according to her mother — she wanted to know as much as she…

The Residency, Refugio, concerns…     Tuban Morales was troubled. “Francos, I hope we have a secondary plan for Megal. So far none of the family Pesch has indicated they have women of the right age. Broker Stein did get a strange message from Alam that Anthony Pesch might know of someone. But he has no…

A deception, a condition, trouble in Utopia…     Decoman Kearney had made up his mind. He would contact the Assembly Population Office and the guild of discerners. He was no fool. The Refugio trade representative had been to Farm Twenty-Two far too often these past few weeks. Each time he had been in the company…

Family revelations, news withheld… It took almost a full week for Rita to arrange a few months off. While many of her colleagues found her haughtiness rude, most valued her knowledge and ability as a healer. She was not sure she could persuade Sarita to see this chance as an opportunity and not a dangerous…

    A trip to Amaurot, family news… Tony borrowed a local car for his trip to the administrative center of Utopia, Amaurot. He usually enjoyed his trips to the largest city. However, on this trip he was apprehensive. He had promised Simon he would talk to his sister about his niece. Now, he was uncertain…

Farm 22, A restless night, A knowledge filled meeting…     Sarita could not sleep. She was tired from the hard-physical labor, but her head buzzed, and her body itched. It was as if she was outside a classroom, or a dining hall and a very thick door was shut. She could hear and feel things,…

A son’s demand, a father’s dilemma…     Hearing an exchange of voices in the hall as the men left, Francos probed the hall and found his uncle, his father-in-law and his son had arrived. Megal entered the office and bowed to his father. Francos greeted Carlos Bethal and Tuban Morales. Francos again marveled at how…

The Residency, a whitewashed report…     Francos requested Megal meet with him when the official days of mourning were over. He also invited his uncle and his father-in-law to join them. He suspected it would be an emotional meeting, so he also requested a damper be present from the House of Healing. The dampers had…

A shattered life, an unexpected change…     Megal Bethal Morales gazed out the window of the air car and again forced himself to relax. The view was beautiful. Crystalline formation in vivid yellows, reds, and black surrounded the many geysers and decorated the openings where the scalding water surged. They were passing through the Pools…

The Residency, Ciudad Centro, Refugio, Higgins World     The smoke from the destroyed apartment hung like a shroud over the Residency. Francos Hypath Morales, Overlord of Humanos Verdaderos, the True Humans, stood at the window staring at the still-smoking remains of the First Successor’s apartment. The fire had been so intense it had caused the…