The Messages
“I cannot quite remember…. There were five
Dropt dead beside me in the trench–and three
Whispered their dying messages to me….”
Back from the trenches, more dead than alive,
Stone-deaf and dazed, and with a broken knee,
He hobbled slowly, muttering vacantly:
“I cannot quite remember…. There were five
Dropt dead beside me in the trench–and three
Whispered their dying messages to me….”
“Their friends are waiting, wondering how they thrive–
Waiting a word in silence patiently….
But what they said, or who their friends may be
“I cannot quite remember…. There were five
Dropt dead beside me in the trench–and three
Whispered their dying messages to me….”
–Wilfrid Wilson Gibson
About Victoria Janssen
Victoria Janssen [she, her] currently writes cozy space opera for
Kalikoi. The novella series A Place of Refuge begins with
Finding Refuge:
Telepathic warrior Talia Avi, genius engineer Miki Boudreaux, and augmented soldier Faigin Balfour fought the fascist Federated Colonies for ten years, following the charismatic dissenter Jon Churchill. Then Jon disappeared, Talia was thought dead, and Miki and Faigin struggled to take Jon’s place and stay alive. When the FC is unexpectedly upended, Talia is reunited with her friends and they are given sanctuary on the enigmatic planet Refuge. The trio of former guerillas strive to recover from lifetimes of trauma, build new lives on a planet with endless horizons, and forge tender new connections with each other.
