Sneak Peek—Stories from The Expanding Universe Anthology #4: ‘Skin Suits’ by Justin Bell

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There are 20 short stories in the latest volume of Craig Martelle’s The Expanding Universe anthologies. Today, with his permission, we are taking a sneak peek at the start of Justin Bell’s story, ‘Skin Suits’. Here’s how it begins:

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Centuries after Earth's destruction, a descendent of the ancient planet makes one last attempt to rediscover his heritage, but when an insidious alien army stands in his way, his quest to find out who he was may just end the man he is.


Local airspace near the Darkened Zone at Ultega-4.

Now.

 “Oh, come on you stupid piece of useless junk!” Jed leaned forward into the console, clamping his fingers around the jumping throttle controls, which twisted in his grip, threatening to wrench free.

 “I thought you loved this ship, Jedidiah Kramer?” The narrow, peach fuzz head of Lork Davisk turned towards the pilot, his black eyes narrowing, perplexed.

 “It’s Jed, dammit.  Just call me Jed!” the pilot yelled back, the muscles of his forearms clenching as he drew back, pulling the yolks with as much strength as he could.  “I’d love it a lot more if it weren’t held together with chewing gum and chicken wire!”
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Would you like to read more? 

The Expanding Universe #4 is now available on Amazon. You can also find Volume 1, The Expanding Universe: An Exploration of Science Fiction Genre, Volume 2, The Expanding Universe: Exploring the Science Fiction Genre, and Volume 3, The Expanding Universe 3: Space Opera, Military SciFi, Space Adventure, & Alien Contact! on Amazon in paperback.




Location: Canberra ACT 2601, Australia

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