17 Years ago, they tore open a hole in the sky. At the turn of the millennium, scientists operating the largest, most complex machine humanity had every constructed, tried to create a doorway between Earth and the asteroid belt. They hoped their wormhole would be a gateway to limitless resources. They made a mistake. Instead of empty vacuum, they tunneled through to another universe and found someone waiting on the other side. We could have handled aliens . We would have accepted flying saucers. We could have fought an invasion. We were not ready for fairies with sparkling wings in little yellow dresses. THEY were not ready for the internal combustion engine. Both worlds were forced to change. Now, immortal elves write for newspapers, typing opinion pieces on how modern life relates to a thousand years in a treetop village. Pixies are the ultimate team mascot, and Concorde is flying between floating fairy kingdoms in another universe. For Chase, the University of Southampton was his first and only choice. Not only is it a centre for computer sciences, but it has the highest ratio of human to Kinside students in the country. For Christine, the human world has more magic than a Leprechaun's den; Music spills from silver disks on command, clocks do not need gears, and her mortal friend seems to carry his brain around in his mobile phone. But after three years, home, and the normalcy of griffins flying in the shadow of the Worldbridge, an 8,000 mile long pillar, calls to her. But she won't be going alone; Chase accepted her offer to stay in her father's castle. However, what neither of them know, is that their little trip is going to take them further than just one step into another universe,

Being given the task of investigating Nevada's bordello's should be the dream job of any young man. But Faré isn't an ordinary young man and this particular brothel has more than lace behind the curtains. The clientele isn't human, but then, neither is his girlfriend, employer or closest friend; he's not a bigot. The problem is that the bordello is being operated by the Andskoti, a group of aliens who don't have the best of intentions for the human race. They're also strong, smart and the fact that they look human makes catching them a whole lot harder. That's a lot to land in the hands of an 18 year old. Fortunately, he's only expected to find them; once he has, Linith, Rheda and Ayjer can come in and clean house. But there is a snag in the plan. Faré has the worst kind of luck. (This was a semi-challenge on my part, to see if I could write a short story. I set myself a target of 7000 words and... failed miserably. Nonetheless, it's a fun tale and the kind of lighthearted style I've been trying to get back into for a while. I hope you enjoy)