I am making slow progress on Stand Against the Light and on Anglic Union Astrographic Service, and slight progress on ‘All the World’s Board Wargames’.

At this time of year, gardens are very busy: plant bulbs, cut down everything that will soon die, put down topsoil. I’ve already done ‘prune large bushes and trees.

A recent piece from Stand Against the Light

“Then I really need to talk to the vrijn again,” Eclipse said.  “I’m in way over my head now.  Arresting criminals.  Stopping people with weird weapons?  I was taught to do that, if I had to.  But these people…their defenses against gifts are unnatural.  You hit them with a plasma torch, whatever, and the attack doesn’t bounce.  It just fades out of existence in midair.”

“There’s the path down to my lake,” Pickering said. “Most of the way down, you noticed it yesterday, on one side there’s that park bench under the chestnut tree.  You sit down, your left  arm on a handrail, and wait.  They sometimes take a bit to show up.”

“Thanks,” she said. “I’d better get moving.” She pushed  herself to her feet and staggered down the front stairs.

Pickering shook his head.  Poor kid, he thought, having all this responsibility dumped on her, not to mention having to be point in combat.  It would be great if Washington took over the load, but when you get down to it, they can’t.  We’re facing threats completely beyond our imagination, let alone our weapons.  And all I can do is provide moral support.

The park bench was much as Eclipse had remembered it. She distantly noted that it was welded to posts coming out of its cement foundation.  That counted as a change; before their trip, it might well have rested on a cement pad, but not with  the massive fasteners. She sat on the bench, leaned back, and closed her eyes.  She was just so tired.