Polychrome: Chapter 6

Our two heroes were finally on their way...     -----     Chapter 6.      We leapt from cloud to cloud, the white mists undefined at close range, yet giving springily underfoot like deep, deep turf, little puffs of mist following every step. If I die right now, I'll die happy, I found myself thinking. It was clichéd, it was corny, but it was true. I'd met Polychrome, I'd actually found a way to show her beauty, and I'd flown and danced through the clouds themselves. But I wouldn't die a success, and the [ Continue reading... ]

Paradigms Lost: Chapter 19

  Well, Jason had had some disturbing news earlier...       Chapter 19: Blood and Moonlight When I can't talk and can't act and can't work… I drive. I cruised down the various highways—the Northway, then part of the Thruway, 787, back to I-90—the windows wide open and the wind roaring at sixty-five. Even so, I barely felt any cooler; for sheer miserable muggy heat, it's hard to beat the worst summer days of Albany, New York, and its environs, which unfortunately include Morgantown. It was days like this that made [ Continue reading... ]

Paradigms Lost: Chapter 18

  We start a new section of the book with another brand-new chapter!         Part III: Photo Finish August, 1999   Chapter 18: Action and Reaction "But I thought we would be seeing The Thirteenth Floor tomorrow night," Syl said. I winced. Truth be told, I'd forgotten all about our movie plans in the past few weeks, and Verne had made an appointment – after hours, naturally – to discuss several interesting opportunities he was looking into. Given the situation with Verne, I hadn't yet let Syl [ Continue reading... ]

Polychrome: Chapter 5

  Well, it seemed the Hero had cleared one hurdle...     Chapter 5.      He did it. He DID it! For a moment, Polychrome was so filled with joy that she could do nothing but dance in the darkness, the song in her heart echoed by the Music of the Spheres, trying to give to her dance the ascending glory and defiant, mortal pride and courage that glorious City represented. She laughed, and saw his face looking up at her as she floated lightly in the air, and for a moment, she wondered at what she saw there; he seemed [ Continue reading... ]

Paradigms Lost: Chapter 17

  Jason had another client we'd met...         Chapter 17: Laughing Assassin I really don't like this one. I'd done plenty of work for the police, and other people. I may not have been very old, but I'd already done everything from enhance photos and research prior art on patents to, well, finding out that vampires were real. Sometimes you get feelings about things, and right now, I had a very strong, very bad feeling about the job I was doing for Xavier Ross. Not that I felt there was anything wrong [ Continue reading... ]

Paradigms Lost: Chapter 16

  Well, it's time for the wrap-up on that little adventure...       Chapter 16: The Only Thing He Has To Fear… "How did you find me?" Verne and I were comfortably seated in his study. He smiled slightly. "I have always known roughly where Carmichael lived, just as he always knew where I lived. Once I arrived in the general area, it was simple to sense your presence and follow it." "Thanks." "No need to thank me, Jason. It was my fault entirely that you were involved. I should have realized that once he [ Continue reading... ]

Polychrome: Chapter 4

  Continuing our story: Our Hero had met Our Heroine, and she was about to tell him about the Big Problem he needed to solve...       Chapter 4.      Focusing on what Polychrome was telling me wasn't easy at first. I may not have had many lady companions, especially in the last few years, but I was very, very far from unaware of the attractions of the opposite sex; given my commonly-noted lack of maturity, perhaps overly much so in some ways. And there was no girl or woman I'd ever met who could compare to [ Continue reading... ]

Polychrome: Chapter 3

  So we'd met Our Hero, and Our Heroine hadn't yet decided what she thought of him...       Chapter 3.      It does make sense, in a way, Polychrome thought to herself as she studied the man who had recognized her. The prophecies may be vague, but there is quite a bit in there about the lack of certainty of success, about the hero having to find himself. She felt a slight chill that had nothing to do with her usual need for warmth, a chill running through her heart. And a lot about the possible paths of [ Continue reading... ]

Paradigms Lost: Chapter 15

  Jason had found himself in something of a pickle, because drug barons don't like the word "no"...         Chapter 15: Enter Freely and Of Your Own Will "Ten o'clock," Carmichael said. "Jeez, will you look at that stuff come down!" Even as worried as I was, I had to admit it was an impressive storm. Gusts of gale-force winds battered the house, blue-white lightning shattered the night, torrents of rain came down so heavily that they obscured our sight of the front gate, even with all the lights of the [ Continue reading... ]

Paradigms Lost: Chapter 14

  Jason had found a potential client for his client...       Chapter 14: A Sudden Trip Downstate I opened the trunk and helped Sky get out his portfolio. Innocent that I was, I thought a "portfolio" would be a notebook-sized collection of pictures—reproductions, etc. Artists, of course, do not do things that way. Reproductions are often used, but they're done as near as possible to full size as can be managed, and Sky had a lot of samples. He was trying to show a number of things about his work (most of which I [ Continue reading... ]