Swordfish Trombone

Amy George was a bar girl from Norfolk County. She’d been working up and down the coast well on seven years when she met Ben Summers one evening at the Crow Bar. Ben’d flown down from Florida because he’d heard they were looking for swordfishermen. Ben come in the Crow with his duffle bag over …

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Shaman and the Box

During the course of his supreme act, the Shaman would call upon members of the audience to try their hand in his box, which was placed at the centre of the stage. The box was a traveller’s trunk (worn, beaten, and labelled by the marks of its owner’s travels and travails) that went up and …

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The Fall Out

Mitsu could not sleep. When he did, it was a restless kind of sleep that had him striving to remember his REM thoughts even as he dreamed them. When he did, the flooding of the sea wall was happening all over again, and Unit 1 was about to explode as he bobbed up and down …

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The Blood Suit

Micha was a young widow from Simrl. She’d come to Agartha in the third week of March to do business with an old client of her dead husband called Whistling only to find the city in shutdown. The inns were all closed and the streets were deserted. Finally, she managed to find Whistling’s servant, who …

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The Last Letter of Agent Zee

They made the switch without a hitch. Zee dropped the newspaper, and Ali picked it up smiling white-teethed as he slipped the fiche between the sheets. Zee walked on in one fell motion – daring not to look back. Up ahead was a check-point Charlie Zee had passed through numerous times. Once even with Gillespie …

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Revolutionary Curse

Ay Ling, also known of Whiff of Gunpowder, had always been a red. Jin Ling had always been a black. When, in a curious twist of fate, the revolution started, their roles were reversed. Ay Ling was brought to the compound to be denounced for her association with the blacks. Ay Ling was made to …

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Tut and Aye

When Tut succeeded the throne, Aye was appointed his vizier as he had been for Tut’s father and grandfather. Three years into his reign, Tut came to Aye and related his dream in which Amun had told him to rebuild his temple. When Tut ordered the building of the temple to Amun, Aye bided his …

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Operatic Curse

A man with a hump is often a dupe, but the hunchback was determined not to be. The Duke was in love with a young lady living incognito in the merchant’s quarter. “She looks so fine,” he said, “her cheeks blush like red wine.” The hunchback hurried home and found his daughter at prayers. “Put …

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The Pungi’s Curse

Mota was a fat, old snake sold to Kohli the snake charmer for a few miserable rupee. When Kohli got him to dance to the pungi, Mota could barely lift his hood. To the crowd the pungi was magic, but to the snake it was a curse. As he raised his hood, Mota wanted to …

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