The First Morning

She’d been awake for a long time when the knock came. “Come in,” she called. “I’m sorry to wake you, ma’am. We haven’t yet set a schedule––” “Please. Stop. No apologies.” She threw back the covers and stood, surveying the room as the orderly opened the curtains to let the January sunlight spill through the…

The Mountain of Light

You have of course heard of the Koh-i-Noor, the famous Mountain of Light. It is said this diamond was carried through history on a torrent of men’s blood, and that any male who possesses it will add his own to the river. Legend tells us the stone was mined from Galconda by King Alauddin Khalji. Babur the…

Kakamutiko

The old smuggler hoisted the xahako and arced a hissing stream of wine from the goatskin into his open mouth without a wasted drop. Whether this was a display of skill or frugality was hard to say; he was said to have ample amounts of both qualities. He wiped his beard with his hand and smiled. “You,…

Lau Lum

“Lau Lum,” Mrs. Gia greeted me. Long time.  She smiled and set a dish of banh cuon on the counter, my favorite lunch in the old days. I laughed.  “How did you know?” “People don’t change much,” she said in her excellent English. It felt like it was only yesterday when I’d come to say goodbye,…

Delegation

“Lieutenant Hanks? Sorry to disturb.” Flédong was indeed sorry, for he knew  Hanks, like the rest of his garrison, was down with griping guts. The culprit was a cask of Royal Navy salt beef purchased from a salvage brig that had fished it up from the wreck of HMS Speedy. The men had been living on…

Far North

Dimwitty knew right away that he wasn’t cut out for the military, but he wasn’t cut out for much else either. His Uncle James was a rear admiral and pulled some strings to get him in to the Coast Guard. Basic was a cakewalk and next thing he knew he was on the USCGC Burton…

Eyewitness

I met Gregor in 1989, when the Sun assigned me to Ukraine to cover the dissolution of the Soviet Union. I’d arrived at Donetsk at two in the morning. A gaping hole in the airport roof resulted in six inches of brown slush on the floor as we sorted through the pile of luggage the…

Quedar El Rabo Por Desollar

“Introduce yourself, please.” The man stood up. He was younger than many attending the meeting. “My name is Serafin Martinez. I am a mechanic.” “And how many do you represent?” “Myself and nine others at our shop.” “And your affiliation?” “We are anarchosyndicatists.” “And your foundational ideology?” “We believe that any hierarchy that cannot be…