Many Happy Returns

“Haunting” Tangent Online.

Gemma wants out. A “Gester” for her pimp, Maddox, Gemma sells her body for unprotected sex with carefully-screened clients in a futuristic London. The resulting foetuses are aborted at five months to provide valuable material for bio-medical research and treatment. It’s good money, everyone’s a winner… despite the ever-present inter-gang rivalry that could get her killed any day. But the lifestyle is taking its toll, and though she thinks she can keep working till the end of her contract, Gemma is fast approaching burn-out. She's even planned a getaway from this dangerous life, just in case.

Then one night a stranger throws a birthday party for her, and her resolve unravels. Gemma decides to make a break for freedom. But can she? And will her veteran bodyguard, Walt, help her, or stop her?

Life, love and death have never been so personal… until now.

Many Happy Returns was originally published in Altair Magazine, August 1998, and described by Tangent Online as “…the best story of the magazine… The author's knack for characterization warrants a watchful eye for his future work.”