Other Stories in this issue

The Ring of Truth

by David Afsharirad

About the Author: David Afsharirad is the editor of The Year's Best Military and Adventure SF series of anthologies. His short stories and nonfiction have appeared in various journals and magazines. He lives in Austin, Texas with his wife and son.

Excerpt

The face on the other side of our hotel room door was that of Roger Aikman. It was a face I’d seen plenty of times before, on the backs of paperback novels and in the picture in the sterling silver frame on Teresa’s bedside table.  That photo, a glossy black and white version of the one on all those books, was inscribed “To my love forever. –Roger.” Teresa was kind enough to face it to the wall on those occasions when I shared her bed, but she said there was no chance of removing it altogether.

“He’d know something was wrong,” she had said. “You think I like having that next to me when I sleep? Bad enough I have to share a bed with the real thing.”

And so yes, I knew the face of Roger Aikman. Now I looked at it through the narrow space provided by the chain-lock on the door. The face didn’t concern me so much as did the gun in Roger’s hand, the barrel of which was sticking into my ribs.

“Better open up,” Roger said. “This thing makes an awful racket.”

I considered stepping to the side and slamming his wrist in the door. He must have seen it in my eyes.

“Your reflexes are good, Phil. I’ve seen you on the court.” He shrugged. “I guess you could give it a try. Up to you.”

“I’ve got to shut the door to take off the chain,” I said.

This seemed to throw him, and I was pleased to see he hadn’t considered every detail.     

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