The faces of the women lost their tenseness as he brought forth what all four of them desired. It was his Eliana who turned his jaw to face her. While tears dripped from her jade green eyes, and her pure white shoulders shivered from her emotions, she shook her head quickly.
“No. Onward to the Lacunae Mindworks and to a future that infuriates the Anarchate. Let us go, Matthew. Children can wait awhile. But first we must make the galaxy into a home where kindness is not rare, where cloneslaves do not exist and where love can stretch beyond one’s homeworld.”
Recalling the future meeting of genome harvester starships just outside the three-star system of Alkalurops, Matt nodded slowly. Yes, cloneslavery must come to an end. And he knew where to start that process.
“Thank you my love, my friends, my AI companions. Onward it is.”
The End
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
T. Jackson King (Tom) is a professional archaeologist and graduate of UCLA (M.A. 1976) and the University of Tennessee (B.Sc. 1971). He writes hard science fiction, anthropological scifi, dark fantasy/horror and contemporary fantasy/magic realism. Tom’s published science fiction novels are NEBULA VIGILANTE (Wilder Publications, 2013), STAR OF ISLAM (Wilder Publications, 2013), GALACTIC AVATAR (Wilder Publications, 2013), STELLAR ASSASSIN (Wilder Publications, 2013), STAR VIGILANTE (2012), THE GAEAN ENCHANTMENT (Wilder Publications, 2012), LITTLE BROTHER’S WORLD (Fantastic Books, 2010), ANCESTOR’S WORLD (Ace Books, 1996, with A.C. Crispin), and RETREAD SHOP (Warner Books, 1988, 2012). His short stories have appeared in the collection JUDGMENT DAY AND OTHER DREAMS (Fantastic Books, 2009). His poetry has appeared in the collection MOTHER EARTH’S STRETCH MARKS (Motherbird Books, 2009). Tom has worked as an archaeologist in the American Southwest and has traveled widely in Europe, Russia, Japan, Canada, Mexico and the United States of America. Other jobs have included short order cook, hotel clerk, legal assistant, telephone order taker, investigative reporter and newspaper editor. Tom lives in Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA, where he writes science fiction, fantasy, poetry and freelance non-fiction. He is married to Cathy and has three grown children. Tom can be reached at [email protected] and his other writings can be viewed at http://www.sff.net/people/t-jackson-king.
PRAISE FOR T. JACKSON KING’S BOOKS
RETREAD SHOP
“Engaging alien characters, a likable protagonist, and a vividly realized world make King’s first sf novel a good purchase for sf collections.”– Library Journal
“A very pleasant tour through the author’s inventive mind, and an above average story as well.”–Science Fiction Chronicle
“The writing is sharp, the plotting tight, and the twists ingenious. It would be worth reading, if only for the beautiful delineations of alien races working with and against one another against the background of an interstellar marketplace. The story carries you . . . with a verve and vigor that bodes well for future stories by this author. Recommended.”–Science Fiction Review
ANCESTOR’S WORLD
“T. Jackson King is a professional archaeologist and he uses that to great advantage in Ancestor’s World. I was just as fascinated by the details of the archaeology procedures as I was by the unfolding of the plot . . . What follows is a tightly plotted, suspenseful novel.”–Absolute Magnitude
“The latest in the StarBridge series from King, a former Rogue Valley resident now living and writing in Arizona, follows the action on planet Na-Dina, where the tombs of 46 dynasties have lain undisturbed for 6,000 years until a human archaeologist and a galactic gumshoe show up. Set your phasers for fun.”–Medford Mail Tribune
THE GAEAN ENCHANTMENT
“In The Gaean Enchantment the main character, Thomas, back from Vietnam and with all the PTSD that many soldiers have—nightmares, blackouts—finds his truth through the finding of his totem animal, the buffalo Black Mane. He teaches Thomas that violence and killing must always be done as a last resort, and that the energies of his soul are more powerful than any arsenal . . . Don’t miss this amazing novel of magic and soul transformation, deep love, and Artemis, goddess of the hunt and protector of women.”–Catherine Herbison-Wiget, Amazon
LITTLE BROTHER’S WORLD
“It took T. Jackson King exactly one sentence to set his hook so deep in me that I finished Little Brother’s World in a single sitting, and I’ll be thinking about that vivid world for a long time to come.”–Spider Robinson, Hugo, Nebula and Campbell Award winner
“If you’re sensing a whiff of Andre Norton or Robert A. Heinlein, you’re not mistaken . . . The influence is certainly there, but Little Brother’s World is no mere imitation of Star Man’s Son or Citizen of the Galaxy. Rather, it takes the sensibility of those sorts of books and makes of it something fresh and new. T. Jackson King is doing his part to further the great conversation of science fiction; it’ll be interesting to see where he goes next.”–Don Sakers, Analog
JUDGMENT DAY AND OTHER DREAMS
“King is a prolific writer with an old-time approach–he tells straight-ahead stories and asks the big questions. No topic is off limits and he writes with an explorer’s zest for uncovering the unknown. He takes readers right into the world of each story, so each rustle of a tree, each whisper of the wind, blows softly against your inner ear.”–Scott Turick, Daytona Beach News-Journal
“Congratulations on the long overdue story collection, Tom! What I find most terrific is your range of topics and styles. You have always been an explorer.”–David Brin, Nebula and Hugo winner
“I’m thoroughly loving [the stories]; the prose is the kind that makes me stop and savor it – roll phrases over my tongue – delicious. I loved the way you conjure up a whole world or civilization so economically.”–Sheila Finch
Vigilante Series 2: Nebula Vigilante Page 33
