by Torn MacAlester Nils entered the habi­tat to see Deputy Miller wear­ing his cov­er­alls, look­ing like a prospec­tor her­self. He won­dered if she intend­ed to make fun of him. He moved in and watched her fix the cof­fee, notic­ing she con­tin­ued to strug­gle with it. Tak­ing a seat, he watched with­out com­ment. She filled the […]

  “Stand by for inspec­tion,” he heard Miller’s voice on the Sta­tion Com­mu­ni­ca­tions line, giv­ing him a thrill and a dread­ful feel­ing at the same moment. “Yup,” Nils mus­tered his best cheer­ful voice. “I’ve got the man­i­fest already on my pad.” Nils wait­ed in silence, hop­ing she made this easy but fear­ing the truth. She […]