Robert Greenberger’s “Fractured” is a Mars-set love triangle pitting husband against wife, lover and against lover, challenging all to consider what really matters most to them, and why, with deadly results.

Here’s an early look:

Fractured
By Robert Greenberger

“It’s a wicked storm out there,” Lucas Connors said as he buttoned his shirt. He was still slightly sweaty and wanted to clean up, but he was running late. His wife, Bridget, was waiting for him and he suspected the mag lev “el” would run slowly as a precaution.

Having to go home undercut the sweet sensation he was trying to savor, the scent of Dev’s own sweat, mixed with his own, creating a unique, heady perfume.

Dev Bhatia sat up on his elbows, Lucas glowing as his lover studied him. Dev was lean and angular, with a rounded face and dark, brown eyes that melted Lucas’s heart. Bhatia was inventive in their lovemaking and Lucas couldn’t get enough of their time together. The problem, though, was it had to be limited. Each encounter had to be carefully orchestrated in advance, stealing time here and there, doing nothing to jeopardize his marriage or their working relationship. Both had met when they were asked to participate in planning the next stage of development in the Apollinaris Sulci. They found they had much in common at the initial planning sessions, which led to some one-on-one meetings, and before they realized it, the two men were each looking forward to the next meeting. A part of Bhatia realized the secrecy was a spice that added to the new relationship’s heat.

“You think Jinping will really pull out?” So typical of Dev to mix thoughts of sex with politics and their work.

“If they want any share of the minerals or habitat space, they’ll play along,” Lucas said. “I’m more worried about Gandhi. They want more than their share since their population is running out of control. You Indians can’t keep it in your pants.”

Dev’s long-fingered hand reached around him, playing with his chest hair as he tried to finish buttoning the shirt. He pressed against his back and Lucas leaned into him.

“There, it’s in my pants . . . for now. So, what are we going to do?”

“What do you mean?” But Lucas knew what Dev meant.

“About the budget; there’s not enough money coming from the other towns,” Dev said, trying to sound serious and businesslike but then let out a laugh. “Us, of course.”

Lucas had been mulling over that very question earlier in the day. And the night before. And the week before that. He loved Bridget, but there had been problems. He wasn’t sure if their marriage would last. And if those problems persisted, did he want something more committed with Dev? What did he want? plagued and stole sleep from him.

He decided to turn the question around. Taking the soft hand from inside his shirt, Lucas turned to meet Dev’s eyes. He saw in them the longing that he, too, often felt for him. “What do you want, Dev?”

“You,” he said and pressed his chin atop Lucas’ shoulder. “I want more of you, more time.”

“You want us to be public?”

“At least committed,” Dev said. Lucas turned and met his eyes.

“I want this to be something real, not two men furtively groping one another here and there. I see plenty of potential in you, Luke. And I don’t like to share.”

“I am never furtive,” Lucas said with mock seriousness, earning him an eye roll.

“But you are secretive. She doesn’t know about us, does she?”

To read the rest of “Fractured”, click here https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0998364118/associatizer-20/

Writers often like a challenge. When presented with a title, the mind begins to spin in different directions until finally rising in on the one that tickles the creative fancy the most.

When you get a title like Love, Murder & Mayhem (our new scifi-themed anthology from Crazy 8 Press), you see three different story elements and get excited about blending them into something fresh and frothy. When the title is then assigned a specific genre, you jettison so many possibilities and begin focusing.

In my case, science fiction immediately takes me to other worlds before thinking about things on Earth. So, I wonder to myself, what would cause there to be love, mayhem, and murder on another world? After all, new worlds often represent fresh starts. True, but we’re still humans and humans can get irrational. Especially when it comes to love.

What if, I wondered, there was a love triangle that has gone pear-shaped resulting in one corner wanting to eradicate the second corner, keeping the third for him/herself? Okay, so there’s love and there’s murder. Where does the mayhem come in?

Go back to that new world. You get a fresh start but not everything works. People have conflicting ideas as to what the next step should be or which is the right decision? From different ideologies can come conflict. Now, rational people may talk it out, debate and filibuster and protest. But, what if the decision being discussed is volatile enough to escalate feelings to the point where protests become violent ones?

And wouldn’t that be the perfect place for a lover to commit murder, under cover of mayhem?

Armed with that, I decided to keep things relatively near-future, researching the current theories as to how colonization of Mars, and putting my triangle on a colony suffering growing pains with wildly different notions of how best to expand. Honestly, reading all the different articles, journals, and reports was fascinating and made the story a nice reward for all that research.

Does the murder happen? Is the would-be murderer caught? Does the society survive the mayhem? Find out in July.

Love, Murder & Mayhem from Crazy 8 Press will be on sale both in print and digital formats in July. Stay tuned for updates!

Robert Greenberger is a writer and editor and founding member of Crazy 8 Press. He has worked for Starlog Press, where he created Comics Scene, the first nationally distributed magazine to focus on comic books, comic strips, and animation, DC Comics, Marvel Comics, Weekly World News, Famous Monsters of Filmland, ComicMix.com, and is a founding member of Crazy 8 Press. His dozens of books, short stories, and essays include Hellboy II: The Golden Army, for which he won the IAMTW’s Scribe Award, and The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Murder at Sorrow’s Crown, co-written with Steven Savile. He is a member of the Science Fiction Writers of America and the International Association of Media Tie-In Writers, and holds a Master of Science in Education from the University of Bridgeport and a Master of Arts in Creative Writing & Literature for Educators from Fairleigh Dickinson University.

Find him at:

Website: www.bobgreenberger.com
Twitter: @bobgreenberger
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bob.greenberger
GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/43771.Robert_Greenberger