About Phoberia
by H.B. Kurtzwilde
141 pages
/ 62000 words
ISBN: 978-1-60370-653-7, 1-60370-653-4
Available file types - html. lit, pdf, prc, paperback
Dixon Sinonyx is a man without connections. Banished from his home sector, he lives a life of self-imposed isolation, working a job that marries technology and imagination. Athen Dendrophile is a man who connects with anyone and everyone he pleases. He's a young hotshot in the world of Cadose colony data systems, and Dixon is not sure the man can be trusted.
Though they have species in common, Dix and Athen are literally from different worlds, and their origins may keep the men from ever becoming more. Despite their differences, neither operator from Sinonyx Services can leave the planet of Cadose until the colony corporation sets them free. Their lives are at risk, as are the lives of every citizen of the planet, but is it too late for Dixon to do anything about the danger? And is Athen working with him, or working to hide Cadose's secrets?
Review
Sara Bell, author of The Devil’s Fire, writes:
Dixon Sinonyx is a created human with all kinds of hang-ups about his homosexuality. Athen Dendrophile is a natural human who has few hang-ups, least of all about his sexuality. Dix is straight-laced, uptight, and rigid to the point of being brittle; Athen is young, rash, and liable to get himself killed if someone doesn't take him to task. But as the two of them work together to save the life-support system of a dying burg so far from either of their home worlds it's doubtful they'll ever go back, it becomes apparent both are men of secrets. Dix isn't quite the by-the-book operator he sells himself to be, and Athen isn't really the do-anything-for cred flunky he'd have others believe. As they push themselves--and each other--to unravel the mysteries before them, they discover something not only about each, but about themselves.
Phoberia is hard core cyberpunk with a M/M twist. H.B. Kurtzwilde has done what few in the sci-fi genre have the talent--dare I say balls?--to do: blended a kick-ass, hot-yet-tender romance with a techno-odyssey which ranks among such cyberpunk masters as Bruce Sterling, William Gibson, and Pat Cadigan. If you like your sci-fi romance with a metal edge, Phoberia is for you.
Sample
chapter 1.3 just a job to do
The moon of Cadose sector HQ still looked like a dot on a star map, even at close range. Dix frowned at his eyeblink display, willing the data feed to show something interesting. All he found was Freelot; beyond that hung the red and white disk of Cadose itself.
The term "inhospitable to human life" didn't actually begin to cover the situation. Dix cut off his eyeblink and kicked hard at the wall of the pod cell. The sound would not carry through the bulkhead to the next cell. He went on kicking until he was too out of breath to feel frustrated.
There was nothing to do on this star cruiser. He wasn't picky. Any male human being would be acceptable. There was no such thing in light years but himself.
When he had first left home and set out across the stars, he hadn't appreciated what he had left behind. He'd burned that bridge to less than ash with his leaving. He hadn't been able to comprehend whole civilizations made up entirely of xeno life forms. The pure, lonely isolation and cravings for simple human contact hadn't driven him to break his exile, but he had certainly given the idea some thought.
For him, there would be no going home. The hope of finding a companion had long ago smoldered and died under the weight of his technological modifications. He ran loose like a lone dog, but couldn't forget what it had been like, surrounded by people who at least looked like him. Out here, it was nearly impossible to find a fix that answered his need.
Instead, he'd learned to enjoy fulfilling his other needs, and derived a certain primal satisfaction from his work. He didn't mind rubbing elbows with criminals, corporate types, authority figures, and unadulterated scum in his line of work. He didn't even mind that they came without elbows to rub. All he cared about was finding a hot, deep system that truly needed his skills.
“Sinonyx Services, requesting audio-translated transmission to...” Dix tried to remember who the hell he'd come all this way to meet in person. His implanted nano processors filled in the blank for him and he went on, untroubled. “Transmission range achieved. Secure transmission?”
“Transmission secured, this is Cadose SecDep Superagent. Are you in transit to Cadose HQ?”
“Unfortunately,” Dix confirmed, and found it in his heart to once again kick the interior of his coffin-like transit accommodation.
“You've received a great deal of medical supplies,” Superagent hazarded.
“I just left a heavy radiation zone,” Dix told him. “I'm far enough off standard deviation just with the tech I carry. You don't want me mutating on you without warning, do you?”
Dix grinned to himself as he waited for the concept of "sarcasm" to translate.
“I hope you're feeling better,” Superagent offered. “Please, continue your medical care as needed.”
“I certainly shall,” Dix sighed. The radiation had been way outside of his tolerance levels, but he wasn't yet dead of it. "Dying" was the possibility that worried him. “System integrity will need to be at one hundred percent to even begin working on data pillars like what you have cranking down there.”
“So, you are in orbit now?” Superagent instantly demanded to know.
“I must continue my medical protocols,” he said, and cut off his comm link again, safe inside his own head once more. Dix swore, kicked, but the mistake had been made. They knew he was inbound and at least interested in the job.
He called his eyeblink back to display a readout on his system integrity. Slowly, his nanonet began to stir. He checked functionality beyond the basic communications of his implanted comm link and its corresponding visual display on his eyeblink.
It could tell him nothing he didn't already know. He was in pain. That was way beyond the "normal" range for him. He usually enjoyed a sort of cheerful good health, by pure, solid, genetic design. That fact was not his doing. He was genuinely alarmed at his current condition.
His heavywear suit had checked out clean every day of his stay in Tocala. No damage there at all from ambient radiation. Now his nanonet came back completely repaired by the yellow accelerant fluid that had recently filled his cell. And yet... he felt pain.