#sorus

Asplenium nidus with sori. Commonly called the Bird's Nest Fern. The young leaves are edible and typically eaten boiled or stir fried. This particular plant is a cultivar that has these wavy leaf margins.

"Galactic Central Affairs, how can I help you today?"

Sorus shot up in the pilot's seat, shaking off their bleariness. "Yes, hi, hello, I'm uh, here to collect a bounty on a Marven Wolt?"

The receptionist, a Balaman woman, did her best to smile warmly, although her fangs made that difficult. "All righty! I'll just need to see your license and the bounty information, and we'll get right to it!"

Sorus rolled their eyes at her clearly-forced enthusiasm but forwarded their credentials over the link.

The Balaman looked down at her terminal, frowning. "I'm sorry, sir, but this license isn't valid."

"I'm not a..." Sorus shook their head. "What do you mean it's not valid? I just got it a couple months ago!"

"What you've got here is a Korvian bounty license, but Marven Wolt's bounty was posted by the Dorsun Authority. As I'm sure you're well aware, the Dorsun Authority is only an associate member of the Korvian Federation and, as such, retains its own records for licensing and documentation."

"Associate..." Sorus blinked a few times, head spinning. "Okay. Fine, sure. How do I get a... Dorsun bounty license, or whatever."

"You'll just need to fill out these forms-" Sorus's terminal pinged, signifying the receipt of a half-dozen files. "And send then in, along with five forms of biometric identification. That'll get you processed in six to eight weeks."

"Weeks??? But..." Sorus shifted the camera view behind them, bringing a bound Hilam in a makeshift brig into focus. "I have Wolt with me right here, can't I just hand him over?"

The Balaman shook her head. "I'm sorry, sir, but we can't accept a bounty without a valid license."

"I'm not... What am I supposed to do with him, then?"

"I'm afraid I can't help you with that, sir. Will that be all for today?"

Sorus sighed. "I guess. And stop calling me sir!" They slammed the disconnect button on their armrest and sat back in their chair rubbing their forehead.

They heard Wolt clearing his throat behind them. "Wow, that, uh, sounds like a real hassle. Honestly, the bounty's not even worth it, you should just let me go and find something better to do with your time."

18. Thunderstorm

From this list of gt prompts.

AU: BTaS sort of? Involves characters I'd conceived forever ago for a story that may or may not fully evolve.

~~~

Storms didn't usually bother the borrowers, especially the Landings. They were proud to be well-situated within the house of the bigger folk; it was a central location not too close to oft-occupied rooms, yet had fairly easy access to any of them. Fair pickings for borrowings, and less need to worry about being quiet, which came in handy with a pair of newborn infants.

As for the weather, the landing was plenty high above ground level that they'd have plenty of warning in the rare case of flooding, and deep enough inside that most of the noise was muffled by the grand exterior of the house. Thunder would occasionally rumble through, but not enough to be a bother for the borrowers.

At least it didn't, before the twins had been born.

Granelle couldn't be too upset by being woken up by the terrified cries in the middle of a particularly active thunderstorm. Compared to adults, the babies' ears were so small and sensitive, unaccustomed to the cacophonous world they inhabited. Things like bellowing human voices or heavy footsteps, and especially thunder, could be quite upsetting to them.

Still, it was the middle of then night, and it wouldn't do to have the misfortune of the babies' cries being overheard by the human beans. Groggily, she sat up in bed and gave her husband a firm shake. As attentive a borrower as he was, he could sleep like a rock at the best of times.

"Sorus. My love, help me with the boys."

Sorus groaned. "Of course it is." They started mentally partitioning their scarce budget, deciding what expenses they'd need to go without. "How much is a new gamma-whatsit gonna cost?"

"Hold on, I'm not done." R'lax climbed up the poles built into the side if her desk, the diminutive mechanic stopping when she'd reached Sorus's eye level. "The gamma compressor's what was causing your takeoff issues, but its not the only thing going on in there." She projected a diagram from her goggles, displaying the interior of Sorus's ship. A disquieting amount of it was lit up red.

"That's... good, right?"

R'lax shook her head, tendrils bouncing. "I'm not gonna beat around the bush here, buddy. This is one of the worst states I've seen a ship in. The main thruster's got a buildup of dark matter, the central assembly's cracked in three places, the starboard gravitic stabilizer is running at less than 20% efficiency, the drive core's close to rupturing, and that's just the simple stuff." She shut off the projection. "Honestly I'm surprised you were even able to fly it here without exploding. Or imploding." She shrugged. "Or both."

Sorus stared at her, slack-jawed. "Are you serious? How did it get so messed up?"

"Beats me. Did you pick a fight with a star or something?"

"I..." Sorus shook their head. "It doesn't matter. You can fix it, right?"

R'lax put a tendril on her chin. "In theory, sure. But it'd take parts I don't have here, and it would take a LOT of credits and time. And I can't guarantee how long it would be until something broke again. Honestly you're probably better off selling it for scrap and-"

"NO!" R'lax took a step back in surprise, nearly falling off her perch. Sorus cleared their throat. "Sorry, it's just... this ship is important to me. I'll find some way to come up with the money."

"You sure you're ready for this?" Came Gorst's voice in their earpiece.

"I'm sure."

"Alright. Keep the line open in case anything goes wrong.",

The elevator came to a rest, and Sorus stepped out into the busy station market. Merchants of a dozen species shouted from stalls, offering foods from their homeworlds, clothes, technology, and assorted other things beneath the harsh light of bright neon ads.

Sorus walked past all of them, looking for the symbol the broker had showed them. They found it behind a Dorsun selling used holo-vids, drawn in yellow paint at the front of an alleyway. They quadruple-checked the instructions, then slipped into the alleyway. They stepped to the third wall panel, rapped on it three times with a fist, then moved to a nearby pipe. "The burning moon eclipses the freezing sun," they murmured.

They heard the hiss of hydraulic steam, and turned to see the wall panel sliding away, revealing a downward staircase. They walked down into a shaded room, where a smarly-looking Human sat behind a desk.

"Well, what can I do for you?" the Human asked, flashing perfect white teeth.

"Marvin Wolt?"

The Human spread his arms. "That's my name, don't wear it out?"

Sorus pulled their badge from their pocket and held it out. "You're under arrest."

Wolt stared at them for a second, then turned and bolted through another door behind him.

Gorst's voice came over the earpiece again. "What, did you think he was just gonna give up when you showed your badge? Go on, get after him!"

Alicja Kliber jest doskonale znana czytelnikom kwartalnika „Przystanek Dolny Śląsk”, w którym od czasu do czasu pojawiają się artykuły Jej autorstwa. Kocha Dolny Śląsk, po którym lubi chadzać własnymi, prze­de wszystkim bocznymi drogami, z dala od zatłoczonych głównych turystycznych szlaków, a w ich odkrywa­niu towarzyszy jej wierna suczka Fiona.

Teraz swoje wędrówki ujęła w kilkanaście krótkich, zgrabnych tekstów, które wraz z bogatym materiałem ilustracyjnym trafiły do zbioru zatytułowanego „Aniołowie i kobry, czyli bocznymi drogami Dolnego Śląska”, wydanego przez poznańskie wydawnictwo Sorus. W tym zbiorze znajdziemy opisy miejsc, które nie trafiają zwykle do przewodników. Nie są to miejsca najbardziej uczęszczane i szeroko znane, a raczej takie, do których trudno trafić bez polecenia. Wśród nich znajduje się na przykład Antoniów, Lesista Wielka czy Pilce, czyli miejscowości niebędące typowym celem turystycznych wycieczek. A szkoda, bo – jak udowadnia nam Autorka – są interesujące i warte odwiedzenia z wielu różnych powodów.

Poza wędrówkami po Dolnym Śląsku trafiły do zbioru także cztery opowiadania: „Czas dla nikogo”, „Podróże myśli”, „Wyszukany skarb” oraz „Dom Źródeł”. Te krótkie teksty zakończone interesującą puentą również zostały osadzone w dolnośląskich realiach, zaś inspirację do ich napisania czerpała Autorka ze zrealizowanych wypraw. Bez względu jednak na to, czy przeczytamy opis wycieczki, czy któreś z sudeckich opowiadań, doświadczymy magii Dolnego Śląska, odkryjemy bogactwo jego zabytków i przyrody, poznamy ludzi i ich historie.

Niezaprzeczalnymi zaletami tej publikacji są: poręczny format, przez co książka idealnie nadaje się na lekturę podróżną, lekkość wypowiedzi, przez co poszczególne teksty łatwo się czyta oraz krótkie formy, co sprawia, że ani się nie znudzimy, ani nie przegapimy stacji, na której mamy wysiąść.

Ta książka to zachęta do odkrywania Dolnego Śląska nieco odmiennego niż ten powszechnie znany. Przekonajcie się sami, że naprawdę warto! [jk]

Alicja Kliber Aniołowie i kobry, czyli bocznymi drogami Dolnego Śląska oraz 4 opowiadania sudeckie Wydawnictwo Sorus 2021 ISBN: 978-83-66664-69-2 200 stron, 145x205 mm oprawa miękka