#161: Open Solo

The descent and landing of Lieutenant Kaarn Pinsen’s away team, with her detail of three crewmembers of the Domain Fleet Starship Bogdanove—Orion and Tarsus, two burly male security officers, one light-skinned, one dark, and Kingsley, a raven-haired Cambodian communications and tracking expert—had taken place without incident. The small, sleek cruiser had found a school playground, abandoned for the summer save for dog walkers and some neighborhood kids who played sandlot baseball on a neglected diamond in the far corner —pitcher’s hand, right field out—sometimes three times a day, and cloaked the vessel from earthling eyes.

#155: Stakeout

The Phantom Jungle Girl and Clarissa sat in the Pinto belonging to Donna Blank, which was parked along a residential neighborhood in Detroit. Fanny wielded a camera with a long telephoto lens propped atop the steering wheel; she had it trained on an apartment house further down the street. Clarissa sat with a comic book-sized brown paper bag on her lap; she was flipping through newly-purchased copies of Megatron Man #3 and #4.

#154: Visiting Artists

Consternation was brewing in the offices of Vice Principal Victoria Bryant. The ambitious young African-American administrator was seeing her dreams crumble before her eyes. Always upbeat Student Activities Director Ernie Penn Pierson, for whom “school spirit” was an unofficial middle name, was doing his best to cheer her up.

#152: Shore Leave

There was commotion on the bridge of the starship. Something had gone slightly wrong. Already, officers were scrutinizing monitors, recalculating calculations, looking for answers …
        “What just happened?”