Terran lawman Lucas Buchanan tramped through the darkness toward the Starfighter Inn, a rundown boardinghouse in a shantytown outside the Telis Garrison.
“Looking for Ubokr, renegade bomber.”
“Room 214,” the proprietor grunted.
“Obliged.”
Buchanan kicked in the door, clutching his plasma rifle firmly.
“Don’t move.”
The warrant for Ubokr’s arrest identified him as one of the anarchists who butchered 50 human settlers on Akorio V. Three escaped justice. Two fled to the Shuashoi Union. One came to Telis.
Pigheaded Ubokr pulled his pistol, but Buchanan’s sharp-edged reflexes prevailed. The blast left a smoldering mass.
“Guess I’ll be needing a bucket.”
Lee Clark Zumpe has been writing and publishing horror, dark fantasy and speculative fiction since the late 1990s. His short stories and poetry have appeared in a variety of publications such as Weird Tales, Space and Time and Dark Wisdom; and in anthologies such as The Children of Gla’aki, Best New Zombie Tales Vol. 3, Through a Mythos Darkly, Heroes of Red Hook and World War Cthulhu. His work has earned several honorable mentions in The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror collections.
As entertainment editor for Tampa Bay Newspapers, Lee has penned hundreds of film, theater and book reviews and has interviewed novelists as well as music industry icons such as Paddy Moloney of The Chieftains and Alan Parsons. His work for TBN has been recognized repeatedly by the Florida Press Association, including a first place award for criticism in the 2013 Better Weekly Newspaper Contest.
Lee lives on the west coast of Florida with his wife and daughter. Visit www.leeclarkzumpe.com.
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