Lost Robot: A Sky Tate Short Story

By Dean Wesley Smith

This story resulted from an invitation from Writers of the Future to write a story around a wonderful Bob Eggleton cover done for Volume 35. One of Dean Wesley Smith's first stories appeared in Writers of the Future Volume #1, so thirty-five years later, having a story in Volume #35 excited him.

Plus, he loves Bob's art.

So, Dean wrote this story of a superhero detective from his Poker Boy universe, Sky Tate.

Dean really loves Sky Tate. Expect more stories about her regularly in coming months.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WMG Publishing
• Release date: Mar 10, 2021
• ISBN: 9781393410218

Dean Wesley Smith

Considered one of the most prolific writers working in modern fiction, USA Today bestselling writer Dean Wesley Smith published far more than a hundred novels in forty years, and hundreds of short stories across many genres. At the moment he produces novels in several major series, including the time travel Thunder Mountain novels set in the Old West, the galaxy-spanning Seeders Universe series, the urban fantasy Ghost of a Chance series, a superhero series starring Poker Boy, and a mystery series featuring the retired detectives of the Cold Poker Gang. His monthly magazine, Smith’s Monthly, which consists of only his own fiction, premiered in October 2013 and offers readers more than 70,000 words per issue, including a new and original novel every month. During his career, Dean also wrote a couple dozen Star Trek novels, the only two original Men in Black novels, Spider-Man and X-Men novels, plus novels set in gaming and television worlds. Writing with his wife Kristine Kathryn Rusch under the name Kathryn Wesley, he wrote the novel for the NBC miniseries The Tenth Kingdom and other books for Hallmark Hall of Fame movies. He wrote novels under dozens of pen names in the worlds of comic books and movies, including novelizations of almost a dozen films, from The Final Fantasy to Steel to Rundown. Dean also worked as a fiction editor off and on, starting at Pulphouse Publishing, then at VB Tech Journal, then Pocket Books, and now at WMG Publishing, where he and Kristine Kathryn Rusch serve as series editors for the acclaimed Fiction River anthology series. For more information about Dean’s books and ongoing projects, please visit his website at www.deanwesleysmith.com and sign up for his newsletter.

Book preview

Lost Robot

Lost Robot

A Sky Tate Story

Dean Wesley Smith

WMG Publishing, Inc.

Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Newsletter sign-up

Also by Dean Wesley Smith

About the Author

One

Finding clients just never seems to be an issue for me. Not sure if that stems from the vast number of total idiots in the world or my ability to attract those infected by idiocy. Not saying all of my clients are idiots. Most aren’t, but most seem to be dealing with stupidity of one sort or another.

In fact, lately, my clients have been wonderful women, attractive women, single women. That has been great fun for me, since I tend to lean toward women far more than men with my sexual life. Luckily, as a detective, there are no written rules about affairs with clients.

Truth of the matter, I was most definitely leaning toward Jean, my new client.

Her full and real name was Jeanette King. No middle name, no initial, nothing. Just Jeannette King. She went by Jean. And first time I saw her walk into Rocky’s Bar in the strip mall off Flamingo, I almost melted from the heat, even though the Vegas weather was nice at eighty and Rocky’s air-conditioning was working just fine.

Jean had a full head of bright red hair that flared out from her head like a nova and ran down over her shoulders like a lava flow. (So sue me, I get a little descriptive when it