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Back Stringers Save as PDF
Chapters (64)
  1. FRONT COVER
  2. TITLE PAGE
  3. DEDICATION
  4. CHAPTER ONE
  5. CHAPTER TWO
  6. CHAPTER THREE
  7. CHAPTER FOUR
  8. CHAPTER FIVE
  9. CHAPTER SIX
  10. CHAPTER SEVEN
  11. CHAPTER EIGHT
  12. CHAPTER NINE
  13. CHAPTER TEN
  14. CHAPTER ELEVEN
  15. CHAPTER TWELVE
  16. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  17. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
  18. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
  19. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
  20. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
  21. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
  22. CHAPTER NINETEEN
  23. CHAPTER TWENTY
  24. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
  25. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
  26. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
  27. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
  28. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
  29. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
  30. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
  31. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
  32. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
  33. CHAPTER THIRTY
  34. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
  35. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
  36. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
  37. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
  38. CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
  39. CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
  40. CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
  41. CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
  42. CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
  43. CHAPTER FORTY
  44. CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
  45. CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
  46. CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
  47. CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
  48. CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
  49. CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
  50. CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
  51. CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
  52. CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
  53. CHAPTER FIFTY
  54. CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
  55. CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
  56. CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
  57. CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR
  58. CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
  59. CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX
  60. CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN
  61. CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT
  62. CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE
  63. CHAPTER SIXTY
  64. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

After a long walk, we approached the enclosure. The membrane opened enough for me to step inside – along with a friendly push from Eyes. Patton was slumped against it on the opposite side, arm wrapped loosely around Pickles. He ticked his chin and smiled weakly. “Hey man,” he croaked. “I can’t get these open.”

“You didn’t eat?”

“No, man.”

“What about the tubes?” I asked.

“No tubes, I tried.”

He didn’t look good. Worse off than me, even with a skim-coat of chunder. His skin was grey. His straw-colored hair was filthy and matted. I couldn’t delineate the boundary between it and his neck beard. Strangely, I recognized that seeing him like this should have caused me far more consternation than it did. And knowing that it didn’t should have been another red flag. But I ignored all of it. I just didn’t care that much. I needed nectar.

Eyes was still at the entrance. “Hey, I’m hungry,” I said. Then remembered to add, “My friend Patton is hungry too.”

The Scythin ignored me.

I went to Pickles and wrenched at the lid. The bones in my wrists seemed small and fragile. “God-fucking-dammit!” I exclaimed, straining to no avail.

Eyes came in and summoned the tubes.

“Ah,” I proclaimed, feeling a great coolness wash over me. I abandoned Pickles and scuttled over like a piglet called to the teat. I squeezed the nectar tube onto my belly pipe and forgot everything of the world thereafter.

82 Probably. Flickering light is often seen as a trigger in canines with seizure disorders.

83 You have literally never run a sprint.

84 A type of eye had by the Strepsiptera order of parasitic insects (known to practice both hypodermic insemination and hemocelous viviparity (super gross)) that allows the gathering and processing of hundreds of separate images.

85 Random Access Memory, a computer’s “working memory” that dictates how many tasks it can handle at a given time – I apparently still have enough RAM for you to keep talking.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

THE INSTRUMENT MAKER

It had taken her nearly all of the season’s prime phase to get the rehearsal space prepared exactly as it needed to be. The performance would take place outside, of course, but a carefully balanced sound space was required if she was to discern the smallest divergences in tone produced by the ukelaklavas or those who had been selected to play them.