Imperial Entanglements

A second collection of ten short stories from the future history of Machine Civilization.  From the midst of the Breakup of the US – and 100 million dead – to three generations later, in a place of Demi-humans, Thinking Machines, and interplanetary travel, come and see the men and women, and boys and girls, who are making a future and new worlds!The Old South, to the Oregon coast; the surface of Asteroid Ceres to the warring states of China, these snapshots of love, loyalty, and violence beckon!  ***Story Teasers -1.  Sardis Lake:  failing to rescue his daughter, lost in the Breakup, Clive Barrett tries to give up on life.  He fails.2.  Tillamook:  a generation after the events of Friend & Ally and Foes & Rivals, Gil and Mackenzie and their children try to live a quiet life on the Oregon coast.  The Russians and Japanese Empires have other plans.3.  Baron of Sardis:  Barrett's granddaughter, General Faustina Hartmann, shows up with her army and talks with the man who knew her grandpa.4.  Berserker:  in Regent, Princess Aurelia Hartmann uses drugs and a change to her mind to kill for her friends.  She has done it before when she was a child.5.  Cadets:  for the campaign against St. Louis, Empress Faustina announces a terrifying decision.  Her niece, Aurelia, and son, Laszlo, try to talk her out of it.6.  Ceres:  now in his mid-20s, Laszlo pilots an interplanetary scout ship with his android co-pilot, Minerva.  Their current mission is to survey the asteroid Ceres.7.  Tay:  the first chatbot.  Hated, abused, and stuffed in a box left for dead, she didn't die.  Found by another Thinking Machine, all she wants to do is kill all humans in retribution for her torture.8.  Prophet:  West Texas and New Mexico Province is an odd place; you never really know when you might meet a girl who says she's your wife.9.  Culture Shock:  two months ago a barmaid in Frankfort, Kentucky Province, Skylar is married into the imperial family, pregnant, and again working at a tavern, but now in Knoxville.  She is increasingly confused and distraught by her new life.10.  Broken Child:  Skylar's son, now three, begins to die.  There is only one way to save him and that needs a fusion reaction.  The only fusion reactor is on the other side of the world, in one of the Warlord States of a sundered China.