# Short Fiction — Chapters explained

> Chapter companions for Short Fiction by Algis Budrys.

- [Riya's Foundling](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_2_se/chapters/riya-s-foundling.md): Phildee, a human boy with the ability to manipulate reality through Reimannian topology, is stranded on an alien world where he is adopted by Riya, an elderly herbivorous alien. Riya, desperate for a calf, takes Phildee 
- [Blood on My Jets](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_2_se/chapters/blood-on-my-jets.md): Ash Holcomb navigates the dangerous aftermath of his escape from the asteroid base, grappling with the loss of Pat McKay and the moral weight of his actions against Thorsten.
- [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_2_se/chapters/i.md): Ash Holcomb recalls a past encounter with Pat McKay, now a hardened woman, who offers him a high-paying, mysterious job. After a tense negotiation and a violent ambush on Rocket Row, they agree to a business partnership,
- [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_2_se/chapters/ii.md): Ash Holcomb meets with Captain Mort Weidmann, an old war buddy, who offers him a dangerous job: pilot a new ship to Titan with a critical power pile charge, evading both Thorsten and the Martians. Ash accepts, recognizin
- [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_2_se/chapters/iii.md): Ash awakens after being knocked out by Pat, who accuses him of betrayal. A tense confrontation escalates into violence and then a moment of reconciliation, revealing Pat's motive: she needs the power pile Ash is to fly t

> 31 more chapter companions — [open a free preview](https://www.betterreads.dev/reader?bookId=short_fiction_2_se_662kb&preview=1) to unlock the rest.

- [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_2_se/chapters/iv.md)
- [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_2_se/chapters/v.md)
- [VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_2_se/chapters/vi.md)
- [VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_2_se/chapters/vii.md)
- [VIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_2_se/chapters/viii.md)
- [IX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_2_se/chapters/ix.md)
- [Firegod](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_2_se/chapters/firegod.md)
- [Desire No More](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_2_se/chapters/desire-no-more.md)
- [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_2_se/chapters/i.md)
- [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_2_se/chapters/ii.md)
- [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_2_se/chapters/iii.md)
- [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_2_se/chapters/iv.md)
- [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_2_se/chapters/v.md)
- [VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_2_se/chapters/vi.md)
- [VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_2_se/chapters/vii.md)
- [VIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_2_se/chapters/viii.md)
- [IX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_2_se/chapters/ix.md)
- [The Barbarians](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_2_se/chapters/the-barbarians.md)
- [The Stoker and the Stars](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_2_se/chapters/the-stoker-and-the-stars.md)
- [Wall of Crystal, Eye of Night](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_2_se/chapters/wall-of-crystal-eye-of-night.md)
- [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_2_se/chapters/i.md)
- [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_2_se/chapters/ii.md)
- [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_2_se/chapters/iii.md)
- [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_2_se/chapters/iv.md)
- [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_2_se/chapters/v.md)
- [The Rag and Bone Men](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_2_se/chapters/the-rag-and-bone-men.md)
- [Die, Shadow!](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_2_se/chapters/die-shadow.md)
- [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_2_se/chapters/i.md)
- [The Awakening of David Greaves](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_2_se/chapters/ii.md)
- [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_2_se/chapters/iii.md)
- [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_2_se/chapters/iv.md)

HTML index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_2_se/chapters