DRAGONSHELF AND THE DROVER XX

     Bott decided he was not going to vomit.  Not so much because it would amuse the bilstim Emperor and dismay Nubry; it was a simple rule of survival.  Lediark of the Loathsome had told him about imperial prisons in his younger days, before he had had any experience of them.      “You don’t knowContinue reading “DRAGONSHELF AND THE DROVER XX”

DRAGONSHELF AND THE DROVER XIX

     The Panoply now connected the Rhododendron to the Drover, creating a massive three-ship complex commanded by His Imperial Worship.  This looked less loke one large ship than like a large, beautiful, elegant, heartbreakingly lovely ship which had run into two chunks of space debris.  No one mentioned this to Sheriff Parimat, who knew itContinue reading “DRAGONSHELF AND THE DROVER XIX”

DRAGONSHELF AND THE DROVER XVIII

     Bott’s hands dropped to the console.  His fingers jammed down on the tabs he had figured out.  Then they hit the ones he hadn’t.  Even those that were still lit refused to change under pressure.  After a moment’s hesitation, he jammed one thumb down across the Mess Call.  Nothing happened.      “Ship!” he bellowed. Continue reading “DRAGONSHELF AND THE DROVER XVIII”

DRAGONSHELF AND THE DROVER XVII

     “It’s only a surface scratch,” Bott said, swiveling the captain’s chair left and right.  “I can fix it myself.”      “Don’t you touch my ship!” Nubry shouted.  The librarian strode halfway across the Drover’s bridge and back, shaking both fists above her head.  Bott noticed the dark spots under her arms again.  “Just leaveContinue reading “DRAGONSHELF AND THE DROVER XVII”

DRAGONSHELF AND THE DROVER XVI

     Being an Imperial Sheriff did not allow for any display of nerves.  Her father had told her as much while breaking her of that childhood habit of thrusting her entire right fist into her mouth.  But Sherriff Parimat was unable to keep herself from rubbing that hand on her right thigh.  She had noContinue reading “DRAGONSHELF AND THE DROVER XVI”

DRAGONSHELF AND THE DROVER XV

     Lacking any other plan, Bott and Nubry moved in the direction of the voice, crawling over crumpled enforcers and under the traveling square of the Head Librarian, which zipped back and forth, dragging its unconscious rider.  When Bott saw that the source of the voice was Wanure Smalen, wearing a transparent gas mask, heContinue reading “DRAGONSHELF AND THE DROVER XV”

DRAGONSHELF AND THE DROVER XIV

     By the time Bott caught up, Nubry was halfway down the corridor, conducting a spirited debate with herself.      “Of course, they could mean they’re deaccessioning the collection from the Dragonshelf while accessioning it to their own inventory.  Couldn’t they?  Of course, they could!  Or maybe they said ‘THE Accession Chamber’.”      ”Deaccession Chamber,”Continue reading “DRAGONSHELF AND THE DROVER XIV”

DRAGONSHELF AND THE DROVER XIII

     “Oh my!  Oh, my bins and bookshelves!”      Nubry’s eyes had been fixed on the big screen for some time now.  Broken buildings were all that remained of Near Schloggina.  Old stone stalls they seemed to be, roofless and doorless, a refuge for fog and shadows.      “Probably they had to shut down theContinue reading “DRAGONSHELF AND THE DROVER XIII”

DRAGONSHELF AND THE DROVER XII

     Bott’s eyes snapped open and he jerked upright, fully expecting to find himself surrounded by a few dozen Imperial troopers.      But no, this was the dim, elegant bridge he’d come to know, the same smooth, graceful, unbearable lines he’d seen all along, and no more.      Wait.  He blinked.  Some lines were different. Continue reading “DRAGONSHELF AND THE DROVER XII”

DRAGONSHELF AND THE DROVER 12

     Sheriff Parimat and her Chief Deputy were the last of the playmates released from the Panoply when His Imperial Worship’s pigherds decided the Imperial pets were ready for a new assortment of friends.  They stepped slowly, stiffly, through a darkened cargo bay from which all the ornaments had now been removed.  The Sheriff stoopedContinue reading “DRAGONSHELF AND THE DROVER 12”