Bird Brained

by K. Gorman

They're coming in hot, and they have a load of mutated chickens.

Captain Soo-jin Dokgo thought this small job would be easy. She should have known better. Involves fourteen genetically mutated avians, a terror plot, and one small, angry ship captain.

( This stand-alone short story is dedicated to all who have poultry-induced stress on the holidays, and particularly those who find themselves shoving a chicken into a toaster oven to make the holiday work. Good luck, godspeed, happy holidays, and welcome to the Eurynome Code Universe!)

57 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 15, 2025

About the author

K. Gorman is a Science Fiction and Fantasy author from Western Canada with a love for most things nerd. When she's not writing, she can be found devouring books, movies, television series, and attempting to keep her garden alive.

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Reviews

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve really enjoyed the previous stories featuring Captain Soo-jin Dokgo, and this one was another winner. Soo-jin has taken on a small job that should have been easy money, except it involves genetically modified avians, a terrorist, and lots of bird droppings on her ship. She has to solve the problem of the terrorist and secure the safety of the station they arrive at, as well as keeping her friend and crush, Commander Baik, from arresting her on suspicion of being involved. It’s just another adventure for the Captain, nothing some extra fees and a few drinks can’t fix.

[Liza · Rating 4 out of 5]

Soo-jin thinks it's just a simple transport job of genetically modified birds that keep escaping from their cages in the cargo hold and leaving droppings throughout the spaceship.

Complications arise due to one of the passengers and Soo-jin needs to solve all the problems.