The Impossible Cube

“Are you all right?” he demanded.

“I’m fine,” she barked, then shouted into the hatchway, “Out! Out out out!”

From belowdecks burst a cloud of little brass automatons. Some skittered on spider legs, others flew on whirligig propellers. They sported arms and legs and other limbs of varying sizes and shapes, but most had points, and a little pride fluttered in Gavin’s chest at the way they obeyed Alice. She pointed at the tentacle above Phipps’s head with her gauntleted hand. “Attack!”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Steven Harper Piziks was born in Saginaw, Michigan, but he moved around a lot and has lived in Wisconsin, in Germany, and briefly in Ukraine. Currently he lives with his three sons in southeast Michigan.

His novels include In the Company of Mind and Corporate Mentality, both science fiction published by Baen Books. He has produced the Silent Empire series for Roc and Writing the Paranormal Novel for Writer’s Digest. He’s also written novels based on Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, and The Ghost Whisperer.

Mr. Piziks currently teaches high school English in southeast Michigan. His students think he’s hysterical, which isn’t the same as thinking he’s hilarious. When not writing, he plays the folk harp, dabbles in oral storytelling, and spends more time online than is probably good for him. Visit his Web page at www.theclockworkempire.com, and his Twitter feed at www.twitter.com/stevenpiziks.