The next day he was in the archives, working his way through an expense log kept by an in-system freighter that had hauled, among other things, contract miners among the asteroid mines, when he heard Fen at the gate.

Fen had no legitimate right to access. To enter the archives, you had to be trained in handling ancient documents. Fen had training in packing code and security protocols and ecological engineering, and, for all Martin knew, a dozen other exciting issues, but he had, Martin would have bet his back teeth, no training in handling archived documents, ancient or otherwise.

Nevertheless, here he came, busting through the gate, yanking off his big hairy coat as he entered the clean room, stomping straight for Martin’s table. Past him, Martin saw the curator scrambling through his own gate. Coming to his feet, Martin slipped on his static gloves and got the logbook shut and sealed in its case before Fen reached him.

The second half of Chapter 8 of Kelly Jennings’ novel Broken Slate is now on the website! (It’s such a long chapter we had to split it in two!)

This tense, invigorating novel shows the origin of Martin Eduardo, a “contract” who must battle not only societal discrimination and oppression, but also the indoctrinated restrictions within his own heart and mind. Broken Slate is being serialized online for free. It updates every other Tuesday.

Go here to read it! Or you can start at the beginning.

Read a short story about Martin Eduardo, published in issue 13 of Crossed Genres: Lunch Money.