2016 Mission 6, 443, 273

By Edele Winnie

There were always four. That’s why this didn’t make sense. Wherever you went- corporation, village, unit, class, whatever- there were always four. But this time Melanie found five.

Melanie was a pro- not only highly trained and a weapons expert but she also had 12 years hard experience to back it up. She knew the ins, the ups and was careful enough to never even have been wounded. She was fast, thorough and deadly.

She had discovered them on her first day. It was at the Belcon Corporation head office, employing 350 with a fine dining cafeteria and company swimming pool. She’d had new employee orientation in the morning and then gone to the cafeteria for lunch. She was the new girl- short bobbed blonde, natural makeup, blue skirt and jacket- and all the company wolves took note. Clothes can’t hide real power- and Melanie was extremely fit and capable. Every wandering male eye was drawn as if by a magnet. But she ignored it. She had to. Not only was it an inconvenience, but the four would be unaffected. It might even make her stand out too much, and her cover would be blown.

Tray in hand, plate heaped with the salad of the day, Melanie strode into the cafeteria seating area prepared for the stares. She swayed her hips just a little bit more for those hungry eyes. She had to play the part if she was going to survive. She’d done it too many time before for it not to work. The men in suites looked up, the females scowled, and she was invited to sit beside a corporate vice president alpha wolf who was practically drooling. She flirted as she picked at her salad but her eyes were scanning for the four. They might be in hiding or they might be elsewhere- usually they were so used to being ignored that they were easy to spot. And there they were. Continue reading

As Big As Love

I pull down her pants. A thatch of curly brown hair greets me. I lean in and inhale her, she smells like twilight after the rain, like a dream barely gleamed, like heaven. I have never loved until this moment, I realize that now, I was like an infant playing with the concept of God; I had not even began to fully understand what the word meant until this very moment.

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Inside the pod a light begins to flash, it has been programmed for this purpose. A series of very specific bursts of illumination begins a cascade of synaptic nerves firing. Neurotransmitters carry complex signals to the brain. Within moments, the man in the pod begins to stir.

His sleep has been the thing of fables; it has been that of gods and trolls, dragons and beauties. During his slumber, religions, empires, races have all risen and fallen. Continue reading