“They say nothing!" the little captain raged. "They only putrid gunner, ship engineer. I, Ba-Karkar, must speak for all!" Ogu kicked him again. "Then ask what kind help Asahel wants, untranslatable epithet male. Or no more untranslatable for you! Never again in putrid boomer prison." Her husband gave a choked gasp. "Cruel female!" "No more sex, either," she added.” HumorDialogueAliensTranslatorsThreatsWorld BuildingSex HumorSex HumourSci Fi HumorTranslator Humor Book:Orion Arm Source: Orion Arm
“Out to sea, the calm lagoon waters were darkening, while the comets overhead glowed brighter, omens in the gloaming.” CometsWorld BuildingOmensLagoonsSwooning Over SentencesPainting A Perfect Picture Book:Perseus Spur Source: Perseus Spur
“From space the little world looked like nothing much - perhaps a pitted and decaying pumpkin, dull orange-black in color, with a handful of tiny orbiting craft floating around it like fruit flies. Here and there amber lights shone out of craters in the surface. What seemed to be scores of deformed silver minnows nibbling the pumpkin rind - together with numbers of smaller noshmates - were actually huge transactinide carriers and lesser starships, either taking on fuel or docked nose-to-ground while their crews rested and recreated inside the not so heavenly body. I have been told that the original Phlegethon of Greek mythology was a fiery river in Hades. Sheltok Concern owned a dozen or so similar way stations with brimstony names - Gehenna, Styx, Sheol, Tophet, Avernus, Niflheim, and the like - that served vessels bound to or fro the terrible R-class worlds where ultraheavy elements are mined.” Space TravelMiningWorld BuildingStyxSheol Book:The Sagittarius Whorl Source: The Sagittarius Whorl
“Its front porch had a beautiful view of the water and invisible screening to keep the jellybugs and stinkmoths at bay. I wove mats for the floors and painted sincere, klutzy seascapes for the walls. Piece by piece I assembled chef-quality cooking equipment, learned how to use it, and achieved a state of domestic competence that would have astounded my long-suffering ex-wife, Joanna.” RecoveryCozyWorld BuildingPainting A Perfect Picture Book:Orion Arm Source: Orion Arm
