Children of a Foreign God

by Pam Uphoff

  “Don’t make me regret not finishing you off, Buster.” Xen looked around.

  Okay, no immediate danger, so I’d better assess the damage.

  He trailed off as he looked down at himself. Bright orange overalls. Long plain sleeves, a bit short, showing his wrists, tight in the crotch, legs a bit short. Barefoot.

  He held out a hand . . . nothing. Swiped a hand down his neck, no Chain spell. “So, that’s the good news. But . . . is this a methalformaline effect that will wear off in a few hours? Genetic engineering to remove power genes? Or . . . something else?”

  He glanced at the sun again, scanned . . . a pale halfmoon barely above the horizon . . . “So waxing or waning? It was waxing . . . I think. Q would be ashamed of me not knowing that. Either one or three weeks until my genetic repair spell kicks in at the full moon. Or not, of course, if whoever . . .“ He staggered back to his feet, hissing a bit as a sharp stab of pain lanced from his chest down his right leg. “Knew about it and removed that as well.”

  A thrashing in the grass. The wolf stood swaying, a big lanky animal, a bit thin, with hair matted with blood here and there.

  “Oh, so I’m not the only . . . animal beating up on you, eh? Got in trouble with your pack did you?”

  The wolf staggered, turned and ran.

  “Good plan.”

  And with no threat, pain washed back in.

  A thumping bad headache, plus more. A lot more. Xen pulled open his overalls with a ripping sound. “I hate Velcro.” He squirmed out of the undersized garment and examined his flank and thigh. Plenty of raised, red welts. A few spots of blood, but the tough fabric had kept the wolf’s claws from penetrating. The welts crossed an odd . . . burn? Wiggly of line blistered red fuzzing out in fractal branches. "Like that guy that got struck by lightening . . ." He tucked his chin to track it to his chest. Lots of blistering, some charred spots of third degree burns.

  There was a small blackened circle just over his heart. Surrounded by spidery red. He poked it carefully . . . “Blistering? Charring? Did a fireball get through my shields?”

  Did they say something about my heart?

  A flash of memory. A shiny coppery floor, a throne, a short fat man in a fur-trimmed, velvet robe. “You destroyed a world.” The thump of his staff on the floor, angled toward him . . .

  “Copper floor? I think I got zapped with electricity.” He looked down at his chest. “I suspect I’m lucky to be alive. But I was probably wearing leather boots . . .” he pulled the pants lower and followed the line of the burn down to just about where the top of his boot would be. “So it just arced to the copper floor.” He contemplated the burn on his chest uneasily.

  Remembered voices.

  “. . . heart beat is highly irregular. If you want any information out of him, you’d better hurry.” A man’s voice. “He’s not going to last long.”

  “Not really, he was just a weapon to remove from their hands. Is there anyone else to Transport?” A woman's voice, very close, a hand running down his arm.

  “No. I’ll have the techs fire up the rings and he can die out of sight and away from the scrutiny of those tiresome . . .”

  Xen tried for context, but that memory was gone. He looked down at the line of blisters and char. “It’s not . . . too wide . . . but, how cooked am I, inside?”

  And how infected is it going to get with no healing magic?

  Marooned is scheduled for release in June 2019

  Other Titles by Pam Uphoff

  Wine of the Gods Series:

  Outcasts and Gods

  Exiles and Gods (Three Novellas)

  The Black Goats

  Explorers

  Spy Wars

  One Alone

  Comet Fall

  A Taste of Wine (Seven Tales)

  Dark Lady

  Growing Up Magic (Four Novellas)

  Young Warriors

  God of Assassins

  Heirs of Crown and Spear

  The Fiend

  Empire of the One

  Warriors of the One

  Dancer

  Earth Gate

  Mages at Large

  Triplets

  Sea Wolves

  Bad Karma

  Dark Side of the Moon

  Cascades

  Olympian

  Embassy

  Rael

  On the Run

  God of the Sun

  Cannibal World

  No Confidence

  Pure Poison

  Flying

  Last Merge

  Nowhere Man

  Black Point Clan

  External Relations

  Meet the Family

  Mall Santa

  Saturday Night

  The Directorate Series:

  Directorate School

  A Tale of Three Interns

  Trouble in Paradise

  First Posting

  Surveillance

  Fort Dinosaur

  Shadow Zone

  Project Dystopia

  Fractured Loyalties

  Cooking Hot

  The Boy

  One Love

  A Warrior’s Art

  Scrambled

  The Lawyers of Mars

  Fancy Free

  Time Loop

  In the Rift

  Writing as Zoey Ivers

  YA Cyberpunk Adventures:

  The Barton Street Gym

  Chicago

  Atlantis+

  Fantasy:

  Demi God