Space Cowboy Emagazine: Space Cowboy Emagazine

Editorial

Space Cowboy magazine is a young teen publication. Its contents are two main stories, the novella and the novelette. The short stories are serialised science fiction/fantasy books which will be completed over several issues. Each story is unique and challenging, each will explore how the young will act under a variety of conditions, exposing their strengths and weaknesses. I am sure that readers will wish to follow the adventures and travails of the separate protagonists, and in them, possibly see something of themselves. I have the philosophy that the young reader should be exposed to good righting as an informal aspect of their education, and to reach the maximums audience, I have published this magazine for free. My site is https://martianebook.com

Novella

2 Flute

Novelette

98 Secret Agent Robot Command

Short Stories Serials

134 Andreas One

144 Mute girl

154 Six Fingers

165 Black Heart

176 The Boy and the Alien

187 Space Cowboy

FLUTE

Gail is haunted by a prophetic dream that predicts that in six years’ time her young boy, Alan will disappear in the desert outside The Golden City under her own supervision, not understanding fate has its own momentum and Alan’s great adventure and his quest to find his errant space ranger father.

Alan’s great ability to use the flute to express his soul is a gift, a Pandora’s Box, and something that will shape is character, but his fate has the power to draw others in like the spiral vortex of a vagrant galaxy.  Thus begins his journey to Caravan, the floating city the fairies built to escape from the corrupting influence of humans and their elf rivals, a place where almost every dream is possible, a place where realizes his fondest dream; to pilot a pursuit fighter on the tail of a bandit.  But a star fighter’s life is never an easy one; a lost civilization, rogue whales and savages gives him and his elf companion a fast ride.  Along the way, Alan’s musical genius will lead to an ancient secret; the flute is more than a musical instrument, it is the key to a hidden world.

Pinkerton in pursuit, fares no better; a mutinous cadet and an alien girl seeking a lost patrolman, takes him far away from the boy’s trail, yet he will not give up until he has found his son and even he is not immune from the flute’s power and must suffer the deft hand of fate at every turn.

Secret Agent Robert Command

This is the story of a sometimes precocious twelve year old boy, Kevin Rebel, born on Ark Number 91, an artificial sphere world some five kilometers across biosphere, where the residents live in the hollow center; to look up is to see a constant curve. This is the beginning of his story, the day he enters the Space Academy, the day which will shape his future.

Andreas One

It is some time later in Kevin’s career. With his two companions; Piq, a mute girl and Elo, a boy scientist, Kevin wakes up to find his past has caught up to him, and he must outsmart a space station master computer, that he had in an earlier part of his career, he had escaped from.

Mute Girl

The story of how as young girl, Piq a mute girl. How she lost the power of speech his covered in an early book. Marooned on the harsh planet of Skyros with Kevin and Elo, she is drawn back to her past.

Six Fingers

It is three years later, Kevin is separated from his companions, is drawn to another planet by an alien boy where his body will be radically altered.

Green Goblin

In an attempt to return from a dimensional experiment, Elo finds he and his alien companion have entered a world of intrigue and danger, not from aliens, but humans, proving something Elo never expected; human curiosity could be as dangerous as any alien force.

The Boy and the Alien

Drawn away to change the design of a large space ship in space, Elo discovers his search for his missing local boys is covered by mystery and intrigue that will challenge his ability to understand why and where they have been taken.

Space Cowboy

Infiltrating an android fleet, Captain Kevin Rebel, the Gold Plated Rat, searching for a lost past, saves a reject from extermination by a society that will only accept perfection.  But is Silver, the human android boy, all he appears to be, and what part did he play in the extermination of a race?

ISSUE 1

FLUTE

Gail finished playing the flute, and sat watching her son, his small delicate fingers moving up and down the openings of the flute, as his eyes concentrated intently on the last rays of the sun casting giant shadows across the desert.  She wondered how much of a shadow his spirit would cast in the future, when he became of age - like herself, a fairy, or like his father, a human.  Which would be the greater?

The red ochre colour of the sand and rock was reflected through his almost translucent skin.  Gail could swear she could almost see the outline of his skeletal frame.  At this moment she had never been so proud, never loved him so much.  Alan, her son had been the greatest event of her life, something she now realised she'd longed for so long. 

Friends she could share every intimacy with, but not the same depth of love and belonging.  Even her boyfriend, now long since gone, could not take from her that which only belonged to the boy.  He took music so seriously, as if each tune was an expression of his soul.

When Alan had finished playing, he looked up to find himself alone.  His mother was nowhere in sight.  Perhaps she wished to leave him alone in the desert, to play, to practice.  He continued to do so until the darkness told him it was time to go back to the Golden City.  It must be a lesson his mother meant him to learn.

By now, most whom he came across, knew him by sight.  The girl and the child had become a familiar part of early morning city life.  Normally, such a young child out by himself would be stopped, assuming he was lost.  Alan walked with such confidence that it was assumed there was nothing wrong.

He found the apartment empty.  Perhaps she'd gone out while waiting - to visit a friend?  Alan was confident and patient.  He was still too young to see something was wrong.  Gail looked up from her flute playing.  She had been so preoccupied with her own music.  For a scant moment, she turned to look back on the Golden City, never tiring of the sight of the last scant rays of the sun falling across its golden towers and shapes, making the deep shadows move, and giving the impression was animated like some huge clockwork display.

When she turned back, she found herself alone.  The boy was gone.  At first she thought he was hiding behind one of the rocks.  She jumped up and looked around, and then scanned the distance between the city and where she stood.  Nothing moved.  The boy was only six - not even someone full grown could have run that distance in such a short space of time, and she had been looking that way when she last caught sight of him.

Alan.  Alan! she screamed.

If by chance, somehow he'd wandered off; there was no chance that a boy his age could survive in this desert heat.  Gail began to run in circles, hoping to find tracks or some sign.  Finally, the heat of the day and an overpowering thirst, forced Gail back to the Golden City.  She ran through the streets, careless of anything, her heart beating, her mind pleading, hope upon hope.

The apartment was empty.  Gail collapsed on the floor.  Nothing could be worse than this, not even death.  Her only son, light of her life, somehow he had become lost in the desert.

It took only moments for Gail's head to clear.  She quickly raised the alarm.  Within thirty minutes, the desert shuttles were scanning the landscape, searching in a grid pattern.  By the end of the day, they had to admit defeat, yet the search continued for another three.  On Gail's insistence, they searched all week.  Not a sign was found.

Every morning, every evening, she went out to the same spot, waiting, hoping against hope that Alan would magically reappear.  She talked to the search officers, explained the situation.  On foot, they combed the area, and she repeated the scenario.  Everything was timed.  One officer played the boy's part.  As soon as Gail turned her back, he ran, being a champion sprinter.  The timing could not be entirely accurate - it had all happened so fast.  Allowances were made.  The distance was measured in a circumference around the rock where the boy had once sat.  It was open ground.  Nowhere could he possibly have hid.

Her suspicions were confirmed.  Everyone concluded that Alan could not have left the scene unaided.  Somehow, something, someone had taken him.  It gave Gail only a small amount of relief.  There was no certainty that he had died in the desert.  The scanning shuttles had picked up no metal.  If the boy had dropped, died, and his body decomposed, the flute would have been detected.

She remained in Golden City for another three months.  Every morning, every evening, she would repeat her search.  Her daylight hours were spent wandering the city in the forlorn hope that somehow he'd attached himself to some community children.  It was the only explanation.  Perhaps they'd waited that evening, and while her back was turned, stole the boy.  How they returned to the Golden City unseen and undetected, was a mystery.  The searchers had found no tracks other than her own.

Finally, friends advised that she must go on with her life.  To wander the city like a lost soul would only erode the spirit.  It was best she go back to the forest and her tree home on the planet Loi.

Gail looked out of the glass wall of her apartment over the golden spires of the city, through to the desert, and swore never to return to the planet Wurst, until she found her son.  Hanging in the bedroom like some glittering poster was a strip of golden foil.  Without hesitation, she walked through and out the other side into a tree house in a forest on another planet.

She looked out at the early morning.  Outside, someone moved.  Jeremy appeared in the doorway.  Gail was beyond tears when they kissed and embraced.  Everyone in the forest knew.

Why don't you come and stay in my tree house for a week?  It will make you feel better.  This is no time for anyone to be alone.  That's why they advise you to leave the Golden City on Wurst.  It's time like these you need to be with friends, and we feel Alan's loss just as much as you do.

Gail was unaware that Jeremy had his own problems by this, although she suspected it.  None of the children in his community were celibate, and no pretense was made.

No.  Thank you, Jeremy.  I want to stay here for some days and think about things.  Perhaps alone, on my true home, I can find some answers on why this happened, and what direction to take.

It happened because it happened.  There's always a reason.  It was only by circumstance you met that human boy, a long shot over many long shots.  Chance, luck, whatever you care to call it - fate, destiny.  It makes no difference.  What you should be grateful for is the love you shared and the fruit that came of it.  You had him for only six years - it seems such a short period of time.  If the human boy had made another decision, just one in a thousand, your paths would never have crossed, and Alan would not have come about.  Be thankful for what you had.  Look to the future.  No one can live in the past.

With a kiss and embrace, he left.  Jeremy's words echoed in her mind.  One cannot live in the past - the past - the past.

On the planet Nexus, not far from the Grange Mountains, in the small village of Tudor, Pinkerton and Nicky, Alexis and his girlfriend, Codeen, had found sanctuary in the house of Florence, a young school teacher.  Together, they had so many stories to exchange.

Months before, Lana and Pinkerton had set out to find Alexis and his mysterious girlfriend who had disappeared from the river cruiser, Spinifex.  The trail led up to the Grange Mountains.  So many things had happened since.

I should be grateful, Codeen, that you took off with Alexis.  If Pinkerton and Lana had not given chase, I wouldn't be here, said Nicky.

The story of how Lana and Pinkerton had come through the Grange Mountains, discovering the hidden valley where Pinkerton and Jase and Aileen had been transported to a far off planet and a war.  Nicky was someone he had met on his campaigns, and now remained as a companion.

Florence was overjoyed to see them again, alive and well.  Lana had a special place in Pinkerton's heart.  They had been lovers once.  She was older, taller, athletic, and sometimes acted as his protector - a reversal of roles, and one he never resented.

They emerged from the cave in the early morning.  The village was a long walk down the mountain.  They would be in time for breakfast, and their story exchanging had covered the whole day.  They were still talking about their adventures and the people they'd met, and the wondrous cities they'd seen, when dusk came and went.

Later that evening, almost everyone paired off.  Lana went to bed.  Pinkerton went to his.  Alexis and Codeen said good night, and only Nicky and Florence were remaining.

Having excused himself, he was about to follow them upstairs, when something caused him to turn around.  It was the way she was standing, looking at him.  Florence, though a school teacher, was still only seventeen, and Nicky was four years younger.  She seemed so old, so mature to someone his age.  She didn't smile.  Her eyes widened.  She looked upstairs, and then left him standing, staring.

In the doorway, she paused for a moment, then disappeared inside, closing it.  She watched his own reflection in the glass pane as she undressed.  Florence was young and pretty.  Life was waiting for her.  Since she left Linstrom with its fast life and bright lights, Tudor was the home in the village she loved.  Teaching the children was a life time's dream. 

She would be content here, except for one thing - something she'd thought she'd forgotten or had no need of.  Only Lana and Pinkerton, after the way they reacted to each other, after the reunion - and watching Alexis and Codeen - he was only thirteen, she a few years older.  Alone in the dining room with the one remaining boy, she became conscious of her own personal needs.  It would be indecent to suggest or even to hint anything to a boy of that age.

When the door slowly opened and then closed, Florence pretended not to notice.  She hoped he would read her body language.  She still stood, staring at her reflection on the window pane.  She was attractive, equally as beautiful as Lana.

Florence bent down, pulled back the sheets, laid down, and blew out the flame.

In the early hours of the morning, Nicky climbed out of his bed.

Lana proved there was nothing wrong with her appetite for life.  She did not believe in remaining alone when the opportunity came to express herself.  She had shared Pinkerton's problems more than once, but never to her satisfaction.  Somehow he had managed always to avoid the contact she longed for.  Tonight was not one of those.  All the hardships she had endured during the search, the danger, the fatigue, the longing to return home to see her father, Captain of the Spinifex - this night she found her wait had been finally rewarded.

What are your plans, Pinkerton? she said.

I hadn't thought about it much.  My ambition over these past months has been to rescue Alexis.  His mother, the witch, will be grateful to have him back in her coven in the forest.  If nothing else I've achieved in life, at least no one could condemn me for being entirely selfish.

What about me?  Do I fit into your plans?

She smiled, knowing his answer.

You'll find a young man.  He'll whisk you off your feet.  Within months, you'll be wed.  The fifteen year old boy you shared your life and gave so much will only be a pleasant memory.

"What if I don't want any handsome young man?  There's more in you that counts in any two young men I've met.  Things like courage, dedication, loyalty, and complete unselfishness.  They're the things that count in a man.  Of course I know your faults; I can see by the way you act and look now there's been another.  I'm not the jealous type.  We can go back to the Spinifex.  My Father can marry us.  I know, like most men, when a pretty face appears, a glint in her lovely eyes, a quick flash of thigh, and you'll be away.  I'm a realist; I've seen it often enough in my own adolescence, watching the passengers, their romances, the men eyeing off their friend's moneys.  The Spinifex is more than a river cruise.  It's a university of life.

I've seen human nature at its high and low ebbs.  I remember seeing you, Alexis - and I saw from the first who you were and what you were.  Over the time I've known you, you've grown bigger.  I admit it started off with harmless flirting, someone young I had an advantage over - I'm bigger, I'm older, more mature - I can have my own way, not be deceived, and generally control the intimacy, both physical and emotional.  I guess I'm falling for you.  I never thought it would happen with one so young.  I don't know whether it's been the amount of time we've spent together, the hardships we've shared - perhaps that's what it is, I've known you too long."

What you want, Lana, is a friend - not a husband.  I think if we were ever married, if that was possible, we'd tear each other to pieces.  We'd be great for five months, then the cracks would show.  I don't know how many times you've saved me from myself.  I think that's one of the reasons there's something special between us.  Believe me, one day you will be married, but always I'll be your friend - your confident, if you wish.  Love affairs come and go.  Friendships can last forever, for life.  I think we're very much alike, perhaps too alike.  I will go from girl to girl, thinking I'm in love every time - and I'll be right.  I will be.  It's my nature.  One day I may settle down, but I doubt it.  And one day when life has made us both wiser, we will come together again, not to marry, just to share ourselves like this, talk about our adventures together.  That's something no one could take away.

I'm not giving up this easily.  I'll let you have your wants, your infatuations.  In the end, I will have my way.  My door will always be open, and my heart warm . . . Pinkerton?  Damn.  He's gone to sleep again.

In the early hours the door to the bedroom creaked open.  A finger brushed Pinkerton's lips.  He opened his eyes slowly, and sat up, startled.  The girl put a finger to her lips, fearful that Lana in the other bed would awake.  Pinkerton climbed quickly out of bed.  He found pencil and paper, and wrote a note.

Hours later, Lana read it to everyone downstairs at the breakfast table.  At first they thought she was playing a joke on them.

"Dear Lana,

I've been called out on an emergency.  Remember what we discussed last night, well it's happened again.  Being unfaithful is part of my nature.  It's normal for me.  That girl I met, she calls herself a fairy.  Would you believe that?  She needs my help.  I have no choice except to follow her.  With you I leave my love, and to Nicky, my special friend, I also give my deeper affections.  To Alexis, I give my congratulations and best wishes, and know he's found happiness at last with the girl of his choosing.  To all of you, I give my love, and to each my prayers.  I'll return as soon as it is possible.

Yours,

Pinkerton"

Nicky reached over and took her hand.

He'll be back.  I know him.  He would never leave unless there was a good reason.  I'm not talking about the girl's charm.  There has to be something more to it.  Trust him.

Gail offered no explanation.  In the frosty early hours they left the village, climbed up the hillside to the mountain cave.  Inside they found a room with its gilded four mirrors.  Together, hand in hand, they stepped into number seven mirror, and emerged inside a tree house on the planet Loi, many light years away from Nexus.

Pinkerton stared for a moment.  Gail was still perfect.  No man, no boy could wish for more in a female companion.  Was this the reason she'd gone to so much trouble?  Pinkerton thought about the note he left, and decided he'd never been dishonest.  Lana knew the life style he led, and possibly always will.

After the first embrace he was crying.

Why? she asked.

I don't know why.  I think I'm so glad to see you, even though it's only been a day.

You weren't without company.  The girl was extremely pretty.  And human, did you find your friend?

You know about him?

One day back, and we're arguing, just like married couples always do.  That proves something, Pink Eyes, we were meant together.  Don't you see that?  There's no worshipping eye, no delicate memories or sweet words.  We know what we both need; we take it, and then, if we have displeasure, we voice it.

I see in your eyes there's something else.  Alan, my son, I can't see him.

She reached into a crib, lifting out something small, and gently laid him in Pinkerton's arms.  The three of them lay there, the human boy, the fairy girl and the child, a mirror image of his father with fairy characteristics: the pointed ears and small nose.

He has your eyes and hair.  In Golden City, he will stand out, being blond.

Would you prefer golden hair like yourself and the other fairies?

I wouldn't have him any other way than he is.  He's so much like you.  It's true; he has our features as well.  He's not human at all, but not entirely fairy either.

The baby cooed.  His mouth reached out on Pinkerton's flesh, finding a finger, and gripping.

Oh!  He wants to be fed.  He thinks I'm you.  This is embarrassing.

Stop talking like a child.  Let the boy have his way.  There's nothing wrong or embarrassing with this.  The trouble with you is you're too conservative.

She laughed, enjoying Pinkerton's confusion.

He loves you.  He knows your smell, your taste, the sound of your voice, the contours of your face - everything.

What's wrong, Gail?  Why did you bring me back here?

In spite of everything, Pinkerton was beginning to regret weakening so easily.  It wasn't only the girl, it was the child.  A break now from them would be even more difficult than before.  He had no excuse, and to leave the girl with child was at the least, dishonourable.

I'll try to explain.  I have a recurring dream.

It's your subconscious and higher self, trying to tell you something.  It's not unusual at all.

It's that and more.  It's a dream of the future.  I know the scenario so well I could act it out, word for word, action for action, and it frightens me.

It's only a dream.  It cannot hurt you.

It is the future.  We dream different from you.  Ours are more open, less abstract.  Your dreams come in symbols, ours are less subtle.  It's both a gift and a burden.  In the future, Alan will disappear without a trace.

Pinkerton brushed his hand over the small back, down the boy's body.  His mouth was still tightly over his nipple.

Can the future be altered?

That's a very difficult question.  To answer that, one must fully understand the definition of the future and the present, and I can't explain either.  What I can do, is become part of it, and try to take control.

She paused.

Please go on.

In six year’s time, I could be anywhere.  You may be dead.  You told me it was predicted you will never reach your sixteenth year.  You must be approaching it.  In six year’s time, you will be more mature - if you live.  A soldier's life is a hazardous one.  I want you around to help me when this event happens.  I cannot fight it alone.

Am I to remain here for six years?  Is that your way of ensuring the boy's safety?

Nothing could change what will be.  Even the humans must realise that.  It goes back to our earliest folk lore, and has been proven time and time again.  When we try to evade destiny, all we do is create it.  There is no escape.

That proves my point.  If my predicted death is accurate, it makes no difference where I go or what I do.  You may lock me in this tree house.  The future, as you say, is the future, which can't be altered whatever.

There is a way around it, but it may be dangerous.  Are you willing to risk your life for the sake of your son, if not for me?

Pinkerton gently forced the baby to loosen its grip.  He pressed it closer to his face and chin, and nurtured it.

It's so hard to believe he's here, safe, and no one could ask for a more responsible and loving mother than you.  How could this happen?

Don't question a scientific fact.  No one is that wise.  There are so many variables that make up a life, and all of its events, except in six year’s time, it will happen.  I want you to come with me back to Wurst, and the Golden City.  I want to know why he will disappear.  If I'm fully armed with that knowledge, then I may be able to save his life.

Why do you need me?  I can only see what you can see.  You could achieve this already, without my help.

There's part of my dream I can't recall, yet I know it's there.  I suspect it has something to do with you, or at least someone connected with you.  It's vague, it's a shadow, but I know it's critical.

I'll return to the Golden City with you if you wish, but there must be a way around this.  Why isn't it possible for you to remain here until the boy's of age?  It's only six years, and then the critical time is over.

There was a reason I was forced to return to the Golden City.  That's something else I can't recall.  It may be something very important, something that gives me no choice.

While Pinkerton held the baby, Gail made breakfast.  He watched as his son was being breastfed.  Until recently, this