Encounter at Hoppalong

by Mary E. lowd

Originally published in Lost In Time, October 2019


“Usually, LeGuin was a shy cat. He didn’t let romance or sudden impulses overcome him. He felt more comfortable with computers and machines than with other cats and dogs.”

The starship Initiative glided through space, the technological culmination of centuries of work done by uplifted cats and dogs from Earth.  The graceful, swooping lines of the ship’s exterior twinkled with light from within, where the ship’s crew lived their lives.  Dogs and cats worked side by side, exploring the universe, searching out other species, and seeking the humans who had left them behind. Continue reading “Encounter at Hoppalong”

Principles Over Profit

by Mary E. Lowd

Originally published in Daily Science Fiction, August 2017


“…only Chorif and Roscoe knew where the High Royal Quejon’s vessel had crashed… along with its cargo load of lovely, shimmering jewels.”

Chorif held out her upper wing, spreading her feathers to admire the rings and bracelets and pins she’d fastened among her pinions.  Her wing glittered with gems from the ice asteroids around Tau Ceti and glowed with Erdidaniian opals.  She looked like a queen, and she clacked her hooked beak happily.

All of the salvage crews based out of Crossroads Station had been searching for the lost High Royal Quejon’s vessel for months, but only Chorif had thought to seek out the uplifted lapine servant who’d run away from the Quejon and enlist his services. Continue reading “Principles Over Profit”

Crescent Horns and Tall ears

by Mary E. Lowd

Originally published in Daily Science Fiction, September 2017


“Narchi waited no further. She grabbed a chair from a neighboring table and shoved her way in to the family gathering of rabbit aliens.”

The little lapine aliens hopped into the bar, one after the other, noses twitching and long ears swiveling.  Narchi had never seen their species in the All Alien Cafe before, and all of a sudden, here were a dozen.

Narchi’s heavy hunched shoulders straightened a little at the sight of the group of them.  There was something comforting about how they moved together, leaning in to whisper one to the other, all a part of a little herd. Continue reading “Crescent Horns and Tall ears”

Black Out In Space

by Mary E. Lowd

Originally published in The Rabbit Dies First, January 2019


“Narchi wasn’t an expert on child-rearing, but bouncing in the dark seemed like the kind of activity that the adult in charge was supposed to stop. Since she was the babysitter right now, that meant her.”

The lights had gone out ten minutes ago.  The sound of the air circulators had shut down too.  Narchi didn’t know what was happening, but she was scared.  Power shouldn’t shut down on a space station.  Yet, she had to hold herself together.  Her lapine roommates had left her babysitting nearly a dozen of their children.  When she’d agreed, she hadn’t expected it to be in the dark. Continue reading “Black Out In Space”