| Volume 1, Issue 2, May 31, 2006 | |
| Galactic Undesirables No. 3231: The Con Artist by David Redd |
Kyril Ague, the only Diplomat Class passenger aboard the starship, hefted his zipbag and stepped out early from the exit valve, hoping to see a standard local reception committee. To his relief, three assorted sentients of Desdemona's World awaited him atop the raised scissors-lift. Not a single Galactic Fraud Eliminator in sight. "Hi, folks!" Kyril waved cheerily, hoping that nobody would query his slightly non-diplomatic, neon yellow vest and jockstrap. Unlike Kyril, the sentients wore paraDNA ID badges and looked professional. A Steel-Age security cyborg labelled "Zog" faced him squarely. It loomed a neck-stretching 250 cimms tall, its pincers carrying both a Z-scanner and a photon blaster the size of an import from Schwarzenegger's World. Equally impressive was a long-limbed, short-skirted native Dekapus hostess, unfortunately budding profusely at this season. Finally, Kyril lowered his gaze to the short, rotund figure of His Excellency the Desdemonid Plenipotentiary Potential, Mr. Fred Smith, a gratifyingly unthreatening terrestrial wearing dark pin-stripes. Smith's only local affectation was a triad of extra eyes grafted to his forehead. Smith followed the usual interstellar routine and bowed. "You being welcome, Your Imperial Highness!" Now that was the way to say hello to a fellow terrestrial. Desdemona's World must not have maintained its subscription to the GFE "Most Wanted" mailing list. Read the entire story:
| |
