INSANITY.

Time has gone by so quickly. I'm meant to have another story out after plugging all products. We'll see. Buying a new computer and having the internet installed - those things slowed me.
   On the positive side, I found publishing easier with direct internet access. So I published everything again, removing arcane formatting issues. (Mostly related to blurb.)
   Here's a plug for INSANITY. That leaves a plug for MIRA E. next week and maybe something new out there the week after.

 

“Get out of hand, and we cut the air. Try to entangle your neck in the cord, and we cut the air. Attempt to smash the glass – impossibility – and we cut the air. Try to force the hatch open – impossibility – and we cut the air. You’ll be knocked out and removed for evaluation once in a little while. Try not to lie your way out of therapy. This is for your own good and the safety of others. If you vomit, we’ll flush you out and suck the debris away. So that’s no avenue for an escape-attempt. Thumbs are twitching. Slide her in, Burt. Don’t want her beating you up. That would be an embarrassment.”

*

Dark hair wafted in the underwater equivalent of a breeze. The current. Caused by? Machines keeping the water fresh, he supposed. She twirled and moved, sleeping, nearer the glass. Dark hair swept back from her face. He kept expecting her eyes to pop open, but those stayed shut.

*

“They begged her to stop digging. The aliens. Her shift-mates were murdering the baby aliens, and a whole species was at risk.”

   “She ever show an interest in ecology before that?”

   “No. The workforce doesn’t have to be dolphin-friendly up here.”

*

Left floating in the psych-tank, her life is over. Declared violently insane, she can do little but widen her eyes in response to her surroundings. She wants out. Escaping from the tank is the start of an impossible journey. Do it. Emerge from the tank.

   All you need do then is escape from the asylum. Reach the train. Take that to the main hub. A journey of an hour. Transfer, undetected, to the train through the accommodation blocks. Head for the space shuttle landing area. Another train journey of an hour. Hang around for the monthly shuttle. Board.

   Travel from moon to planet. Three days. Remain undetected in all that time.

   Piece of cake. Except for that tricky part about killing Dr Bell and everyone on Dr Bell’s side.

   46,000 words, plus notes.