Iris Wildthyme of Mars by Philip Purser-Hallard

Author:Philip Purser-Hallard [Purser-Hallard, Philip]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Book, Prose, Anthology, Short Story
Publisher: Obverse Books
Published: 2014-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Earth is burning. Buildings crumble all around. The sky is made of fire and poison. A weird, musical howl fills the air from somewhere nearby. Bodies are strewn everywhere, some of them Martian, most of them human. You turn and see the woman for the first time. It is possible that she is beautiful, but you cannot remember what other people look like, so there is no point of comparison.

She is staring at a stick thrust into the ash, upon which somebody has placed the charred head of a stuffed panda. Her look of horror would hollow you out, if you were not already a numb void.

When she turns to you she cannot meet your eyes. “You were too late,” she mumbles. “They got the portal working and came through. You didn’t win.”

You hold your breath, needing to hear the words before you can contemplate what she is forcing on you.

“You weren’t fast enough.” She raises a gentle hand to your cheek, and wipes away tears you did not realise you were crying. There is something hard in her eyes. “I’m sorry.”

You don’t believe her.

“I am an insufferable cosmic bastard of my word. You are free to go.”

“Is there a way to win. Can this be won?”

“If you play again? Of course! It would be poor sport otherwise. Do you really wish to stay? Will you really bleed more for that place? Once we begin, we cannot stop until we reach the end once more.”

“I can do it. I can beat it.”

“Even with the difficulty dialled up? It gets harder each iteration. So do the penalties. Many do not survive a second effort. Nobody survives a third. This is your last chance to walk away.”

“Shut up and bring me a gin. I’m going in.”

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