The Giraffe-Fish Waltz at Dawn
The year was 2274 when humanity’s first tentacles of steam-driven starships reached Xylaris—a world of violet deserts and phosphorescent lagoons. Captain Elias “Lockjaw” Thatcher stood rigid at the gangway of the HSS Brassbird, polished brass gleaming beneath twin suns. Lockjaw fancied himself a paragon of order and precision—every bolt torqued to his exacting spec. Yet […]
