Last Bender

Blinking back the bright light, Jacob Boyle surveyed the contents of his refrigerator without comprehension. Once again Bryson had drunk him under the table and he regretted it. Actually, he enjoyed the various dives they had found. There was Bereshit, there was Acrasia. Strange names but it was a strange neighborhood. Still, whiskey was whiskey [...]

Felix left Gametria and headed uptown. It took a little over an hour to get to 110th street. Sometimes he crossed over in the seventies or eighties but now that the weather was better the park could be menacing. He wasn’t in the mood to beat back dogs and he certainly didn’t want to talk [...]

Transitions were never clear. It was not a matter of two incommensurate states. Rather he was where the edges of many clouds merged. In the old days he would doze off in the garden, or stand transfixed by a light beam, and awaken gently in his own bed, suffused with warmth and light and a [...]

Bryson was used to administering a large staff that performed all of the tasks she was now performing. She reviewed reports, attended virtual meetings where all of the participants were aliases, was briefed over cocktails, but she rarely if ever laid her hands upon an instrument, administered a pill or monitored a readout. Paradigmatic cases [...]

Bryson arrived back at the lab at 3 am. Felix was flat on his back in the muted light. Monitors ticked and scanners hummed, a dull green glow came from the analog displays. He was producing the steady, coordinated activity of Penumbra. She examined his drone and it was invariantly odd. In the first weeks [...]

Bradlee got off the phone with Priss Valdez and reflected on their conversation. She was unhappy and, as usual, she conveyed her unhappiness in upbeat tones. “I can’t close the deal with Broadway Inc. and Jock Two Feathers if our position is weak.” Did he have to do everything? Explain everything? “Fripp isn’t interested in [...]

As soon as he had said it Boyle knew he’d made a terrible mistake and that Bryson was in trouble. He didn’t give a fuck about Felix but he wasn’t about to betray Bryson, not unless he had to. Still, Bradlee had made it clear whom he worked for and what price he’d pay for [...]

Leonard Bryson looked at the sandwich he had prepared for lunch with distaste. He was eating because he must but there was no pleasure in it. The cold venison and mustard had a harsh, unpleasing flavor. The bread itself was good; sour dough baked by Sky’s brother. Unfinished work depressed him. There was weeding to [...]

The northeast coast of Lake Superior was wild land. They drove for days without seeing a soul. It was the end of the day, the sun low in the sky around nine o’clock. The road was slow going. Every few k they had to clear debris, or drive around on open country. They carried extra [...]