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Serena leaned against Jake, staring at the improbable bend in the river. It was really more of a hairpin turn, letting the river turn back on itself. This planet, Taland, never failed to evoke a sense of wonder and bemusement in her. This time, it was this river. They had followed it upstream for a couple of miles using the local version of a ranching vehicle – four-wheel drive with independent suspension designed to travel over rough, untamed terrain. Appropriately enough it was called a ranch-runner. The Talus used them to get to and from more remote locations and she’d seen them occasionally in smaller towns. Their new friend, Loren, the toymaker in the market, had loaned them one of his ranch-runners. Serena didn’t question why he owned one but lived in the city. Loren had even offered to babysit Melia while Serena and Jake explored up the river from their current dig at an ancient city. Melia was more than happy to spend a day acting as the toy tester for Loren.

Continue reading “River Oddities”

Jake squinted at the inscription on the crown of the pillar. It wasn’t any language he recognized, not even the very local language in this region of Taland. They were working in an area north-northwest of Alosal, one of the bigger cities on the planet. The discovery of the site of a previously unknown ancient city had led the Taland governing families to hire Jake and his xenoarchaeology company to excavate.

Continue reading “Venus Temple”

Drake gazed around as he entered the park. Two families with what looked like five or six kids between them occupied most of the small playground over to the right. The laughter and shouts of the children floated across the grassy expanse. A few swans floated in lazy patterns on the large pond in the middle.  In the far corner, on the other side of the pond, he spotted the man he’d come to meet. Elijah Hightower was stretched out on a bench under one of the large trees that bordered the little park. Drake strolled over.

Continue reading “Meeting in the Park”

“Mama, lookit the birdy!” Melia whisper-yelled, pointing to the array of toys on the counter of Loren’s stall. In the week since they’d last come to the central market, Melia had talked almost non-stop about the toys Loren made from goldenglow wood.

Continue reading “A Rare Bird”

Mo squirmed in the cramped lecture hall seat. Who would’ve thought that a subject as interesting and exciting as taking care of exotic familiars could be made soooo boring?! The field trips to the barn and the pastures where the gryphons and pegasi lived were fun. It was the endless lectures on the specific amount of each ingredient in the food that was becoming boring. She shook her head and forced herself to pay attention to the lecture.

Continue reading “Care and Feeding”

Serena watched Melia toddle around the main room of the house. Well, living quarters… whatever. Serena didn’t think the cookie-cutter. attached nature of the housing unit really qualified as a “house.” The company had given all its archaeological contractors housing in the newer section of the city while they excavated the ruins that had been discovered about five kilometers north. Serena would have preferred to live in the old town section, where the native Talus architecture soared, swirled, dipped, and curved in almost impossible shapes giving the buildings a fairy-tale appearance. But free housing was free housing and at least they had enough down time so they could take Melia and explore the area.

Continue reading “Toy Tester”

Tessa stared around at, well, everything, in the sitting room. Surprisingly, her Uncle Paul, her father’s estranged brother had agreed to see her and that meant Tessa was now over one hundred miles from home, perched on the edge of an uncomfortable chair in a sitting room filled with a myriad of instruments, books, parchments, and… was that an umbrella balanced on its tip on a globe? She shook her head and continued to survey the room. A glimmer of metallic rainbow colors from the corner opposite the umbrella and away from the window, had her out of her seat and across the room before she even realized she was moving.

Continue reading “Repairing Family”