Comments on 'Shiny Mudballs'The pair boosted forward into the asteroid's single inset airlock, pulling a cargo sled behind them. It eased into the habitat's half-gee field, dropping to bump once against the floor plating before settling into a hover.
"Shit, careful with that!" Jim warbled, his comm voice all square-waved. "They won't take any if a single one is deformed!"
"I know, I know," said George, "watch your end. Damn, but these creepy critters are picky."
The outer doors sealed and, after a quick hiss of atmosphere in-rush, the inner doors irised open. Inside, the Customer waited - a glistening and limp de-shelled snail draped across a life-support hover.
Jim unsealed the cargo coffin, neutral gases and coolant spilling away to reveal exactly 38 _dorodango_. As documented in the triply-verified manifest, one autistic Japanese child had shaped each into sub-micron spherical perfection and a near-mirror finish.
George and Jim left that day with enough money between them to buy their own orbital paradise and retire happy men.2008-03-07T03:40:09Zhttp://ficlets.com/feed/story/3871Comment on Shiny Mudballs<p>Mature for language?<br />I use way worse language on a daily basis :3</p>http://ficlets.com/stories/3871?basename=461262008-03-07T03:40:09Zxxcatiexcatxxhttp://ficlets.com/authors/catiecatComment on Shiny Mudballs<p>Perhaps you’re too picky? Yeah. Think so.<br />Nice story. I might meditate on a sequel.</p>http://ficlets.com/stories/3871?basename=428722008-02-22T03:46:44ZCompound Fracturehttp://ficlets.com/authors/fractureComment on Shiny Mudballs<p>Very interesting and imaginative!</p>http://ficlets.com/stories/3871?basename=426722008-02-21T07:38:12Zmmmarmaladehttp://ficlets.com/authors/mmmarmaladeComment on Shiny Mudballs<p>Refreshingly realistic, compared to the large body of bad sci-fi out there.</p>http://ficlets.com/stories/3871?basename=362672008-01-25T05:54:13ZWhite Hathttp://ficlets.com/authors/whitehatComment on Shiny Mudballs<p>Interesting read, but consider rating mature for languege. Or perhaps I am just too picky there myself. Anyway, nice job.</p>http://ficlets.com/stories/3871?basename=344692008-01-14T12:53:44ZAlexis DeHeartshttp://ficlets.com/authors/alexwritngup