Another port. Another planet. Another dimly-lit outer-colony bar, with short-circuiting replicant strippers baring all but wire and metal. Another slug of Ganymede gin to cool my shaking hands, warm my churning guts. A practiced tentacle removed my empty glass, wiped down the counter, replaced it with another one. The low hum of the dilating door and the target locator’s red eye blinked. A last job. A million credit bounty. A long vacation sunbathing on the rings of Saturn if I survived another day. The thermal pocket cannon warmed in the palm of my hand as I steeled myself to turn.
Lena Ng lives in Toronto, Canada. She has short stories in seventy publications including Amazing Stories and the anthology We Shall Be Monsters, which was a finalist for the 2019 Prix Aurora Award. “Under an Autumn Moon” is her short story collection.
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