Amalgam Universe

A 2291-post collection

Get the complete Hevun’s Child trilogy at Smashwords! Join Sahra Johnston in her daring escapades, endeavouring to gain freedom for...

Get the complete Hevun’s Child trilogy at Smashwords!

Join Sahra Johnston in her daring escapades, endeavouring to gain freedom for herself and for her people, enslaved under the tyrannical claw of the Majestrix Tarqa of the Tu'att. Thrill at her narrow escapes. Marvel at her alien friends. And share in her ultimate victory.

You can own three books for the price of two!

ACT NOW!

COMING SOON! I’ve nearly finished editing, dear readers, and I am going to attempt to break this one up into chapters. Something...

COMING SOON!

I’ve nearly finished editing, dear readers, and I am going to attempt to break this one up into chapters. Something I’m admittedly not very comfortable with.

I just need to hurry my beta-readers up a smidge.

Fingers crossed, I get this out for the yuletide rush!

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Challenge #00700 - A335: One Dead Hour at Unsuitable Food

[AN: Image shows a table of Uncommon But Useful Conversions. The list runs thus:

Time between slipping on a peel and smacking the pavement: 1 Bananosecond
Two monograms: 1 Diagram
Ratio of an igloo’s circumference to its diameter: Eskimo Pi
1 kilogram of figs: 1 Fig Newton
Basic unit of laryngitis: 1 Hoarsepower
1000 aches: 1 Kilohurtz
Time it takes to sail 220 yards at 1 nautical mph: Knot-furlong
365.25 days of drinking less-filling low-calorie beer: 1 Lite Year
1

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Challenge #00699 - A334: Community Service

(Inspired by one of your older works)

A “What, Ho!” scene.

[AN: For those unfamiliar with the topic, check out my fanfic Misfits]

The cogniscent tree people of Kumonjagotabijokin had a very peculiar life cycle. For a start, they planted the fruit of the Elder Trees and raised the resulting sproutlings as their own.

And, unfortunately for Aerin, crash landings did not come with tourist pamphlets. The world was pre-industrial and definitely pre-spaceflight, so common etiquette decreed the entire world be left

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Challenge #00698 - A333: Rituals of Nerditry

A “Hu’s on first” routine

OR

A “The bowler’s Holding” moment

Two humans, both wearing suits, stood on the otherwise empty stage.

“Heeeeeey, Abbott,” said the smaller one.

“Yes, Costello?” said Abbott.

“I hear you made captain of the local neighbourhood baseball team.”

“That’s correct. I did. I’m rather proud.”

“I’d like to know the names of some of the guys on your team, so

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Challenge #00696 - A331: Hence the Canary

Image prompt: FWOOM

[AN: Image shows a younger person lighting gas at ceiling level using a match on a stick while an older person watches]

Of all the weird scavengers Lynn the Hitcher ever met, Barstow had to take the cake. It wasn’t just that Barstow kept canaries in their own aviary on her patchwork ship. It was also that she had an entire hold dedicated to pressurised air.

“I’m claustrophobic,” Barstow confessed. “Lifesuits freak

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Challenge #00693 - A328: Human Foodstuff Transit

Marmite.

Normally, M'riik loved living and working on a relatively small station. It was peaceful and the views were always amazing. But there were times, like now, when living and working on a relatively small station was a pain in the anatomy.

The freighter had diverted from its logged course because of engine trouble, which meant paperwork and a freight inspection to make sure nothing was going to escape while the two vessels shared air.

Normally, a vacuum-sealed cargo hold would go

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Challenge #00690 - A325: The Treasure

A Gyiik discovers the food Elvis ate.

Vic reached hungrily for the cellulose sheet.

“Ut,” said the Archivaas Tiel, drawing it back to her body. “Payment first. I know how you Gyiiks get with new recipes. I learned after the first time.”

“My apologies,” Vic the Gyiik began to lay out her money. “Two Months plus hazard pay… and a voucher card for two Years’ worth of free meals at Unsuitable Food Eat.

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Challenge #00689 - A324: In Peril

Always remember, if you can see it it already knows you are there.

Good news, this alien rock had enough breathable air to make resource gathering less of a problem.

Bad news, resource gathering was going to happen from the ground up. Literally.

Good news, the edible flora and fauna were easily identifiable.

Bad news… there was a human in the area.

Like K'tole, the human had landed here because of its plentiful resources very close to the surface. And all

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Challenge #00688 - A323: Benevolent Anarchy

Just for shits and giggles, a Greater Deregulation that lives up to the name. Total meritocracy, ‘I don’t care what you do as long as you stay the Hell off my property’. In other words, a GD where ‘profit’ is equated not just to ‘money’, but also ‘personal freedom’. In other words, less Republican, more Libertarian.

Welcome to Greater Deregulation Nor-Northwest. No freeloaders.

Kell the Hitcher helped unload the cargo. This was as far as the freighter captain would take her.

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Challenge ##00682 - A317: Strange Camouflage

Pic prompt!

[Picture shows a tree that has grown around some war debris. The most prominent piece resembles a stick insect.]

It was another ghost world. Cheryl hated ghost worlds. There was always a chance, a slim and gut-wrenching chance, that there were survivors, somewhere far away from the relics of past civilisation. Bombed back to the stone age. Or further.

Nomadic gatherer-hunters were hard to find with orbital scanners.

There weren’t many buildings standing, any more. Forests had come

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Challenge #00678 - A313: Cogito Assassin Sum

Tossing Cows: The act of thoroughly derailing a train of thought, deliberately or not.

Yubsid was meant to be clerking. It was relatively mindless copy-work. Input this data into those fields. Nothing much in the way of brain power, just check that the right data was in the right place and mark the last entry so she didn’t get confused.

When she took a miniature health break to stretch herself or ensure that her digits got all their requisite exercise,

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Challenge #00677 - A312: Loud Shy

They had never expected to be able to describe someone speaking as booming hesitantly, but that’s exactly what it sounded like.

The Ambassador for Gargantua was large, even for large cogniscents. He could easily intimidate a terran bear. He was all muscle and looked like he could conquer the universe.

And he was about to make his introductory speech.

“Er…” he boomed. “My name… is… Um. Grigri. Yes. Uh. I… was… an asteroid

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Challenge #00676 - A311: Taming Humans

Humans may be rendered almost catatonic by careful scritches in the correct place - under the cranial hair, behind the ears and along the spine.

Important note: Although this technique can turn almost any human docile, 70% of the time it also makes it harder to escape, as ceasing the technique can lead to your human grabbing one of your limbs, even when partially asleep. As a human’s grip is nigh unbreakable even at rest, it is advised you use this

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Challenge #00674 - A309: Lines of XP

“I like women who are old enough to have had a little experience, and still young enough to want a little more.”

“Seriously?” said Shayde. “That’s what yer goin’ with today?”

“Oops. I thought you were older. It’s the hair. Not that there’s anything wrong with your hair. Ah crap. If I try to eat my foot, would it get less uncomfortable?”

“Ah, na. Keep diggin&

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