Author:
M.J. Swenson has been writing stories since elementary school and earned a B.A. in Creative Writing from the University of St. Thomas, Minnesota. Besides writing and reading, M.J. also enjoys playing music and video games.

I woke up feeling that something had changed.

I blinked twice, waiting for my eyes to adjust, and glanced at the clock beside my bed. It read 6:38, as it did every morning. I slid out of bed and moved to my dresser, where I opened the third drawer and pulled out a dark blue V-necked shirt with short sleeves and a dark blue pair of pants. I changed in front of the mirror and examined myself. I looked just as I had the last time I’d looked in the mirror: long, straight, dark brown hair; blue eyes; an absurdly straight and narrow nose; the slight scar at the edge of my eyebrow. The scar whose origin I still couldn’t remember.

Familiar Assassins

"Do you want to come up?" I asked Thane at the Terminal.


He shook his head. "You have your things to take care of up on Incipio. I have mine to take care of on Terminus. You go ahead."


"Okay." I leaned toward him and pressed my mouth briefly to his before backing off again. He chased after me, taking hold of my shoulder and bringing me back to him to lengthen the kiss before finally letting me go. "Goodbye," I said, smiling, as we broke apart.


"No," he said. "Not now. I'll see you again."


"Right." I took a breath. "I'll see you again."


He nodded. I stepped into the port, pressed the button, and watched him until the door closed and I couldn't see him anymore. After that I watched through the windows as the dusty Terminus landscape got farther and farther away, until they disappeared completely under the soil of Incipio.


Chapter 38