Yellow Matter

by William Barton

Shopgirl. We all know the story, told in a hundred ways, of the poor girl who is taken under the wing/exploited by the rich man. Pygmalion. That's a version of it. When it's a story told for men, it's about a way a man can get what he needs from a woman without paying the terrible price a woman of his "class" might extract. When it's a story told for women... well, sometimes they call that Romance, and the man rises above the selfish ways of other men, and lifts the woman up to his side, all grace and beauty and... right. Pretty woman. That's a version of the story too. So meet Thomas Morley, who lives a grand life on an alien world, out among the glorious stars of a wondrous science fictional future. Thomas Morley, who will live a thousand years, and work sixteen hours a day, every day, to earn the money to pay for the healthcare that will keep him alive. Not quite the glorious future we like to imagine. Then Thomas Morley meets a huge, insect-like alien named Koprenil Eti, who wants to be his very good, and very wealthy, friend. And in Morley's world, you hear stories about these things...

54 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 1, 1993

About the author

William Renald Barton III (born September 28, 1950) is an American science fiction writer. In addition to his standalone novels, he is also known for collaborations with Michael Capobianco. Many of their novels deal with themes such as the Cold War, space travel, and space opera.

Barton also has written short stories that put an emphasis on sexuality and human morality in otherwise traditional science fiction. His short fiction has appeared in Asimov's and Sci Fiction, and has been nominated for the Hugo Award, the Theodore Sturgeon Award, the Sidewise Award, and the HOMer Award, and three of his novels (The Transmigration of Souls, Acts of Conscience, and When We Were Real) have been nominated for the Philip K. Dick Award.

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