Overcast 86: Backup by Edward Ashton

The Overcast

Published on Aug 6th at 6:11pm

Backup by Edward Ashton.  Narrated by J.S. Arquin.  Featuring an afterword recorded by Edward Ashton.  #SciFi #podcast #fiction

"You want me to call for a dust-off?"

Moira laughs, but it quickly turns into a coughing fit.  He hands her his water again.  She nods her thanks, and gulps down half of what's left in the bottle.  

"Look at me," she says when she can breathe again.  "Do you really think this body's worth salvaging?"

He shrugs.

"The back looks bad, but you never know.  Maybe the cord is still intact?"

She shakes her head.

"No.  And even if it were, you're talking surgery, rehab, physical therapy...  I backed up a week ago.  A trip to the tank is way cheaper, and I can be getting drunk in Fells's Point by Thursday night."

Burke looks up.  A thin white cloud slides slowly across the face of the sun.

"Oh God," she says.  "You're not one of those, people are you?"

Edward Ashton lives with his adorably mopey dog, his inordinately patient wife, and a steadily diminishing number of daughters in Rochester, New York, where he studies new cancer therapies by day, and writes about the awful things his research may lead to by night.  He is the author of the novels Three Days in April and The End of Ordinary, as well as several dozen short stories which have appeared in venues ranging from the newsletter of an Italian sausage company to Fireside magazine and Escape Pod.  Find him online at edwardashton.com and on Twitter @edashtonwriting.

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