The Scalpel

Swirl and Sparkle share one body. When the bickering sisters are mysteriously attacked, they flee for their lives, assisted by Hargie, their fast-talking, faster-than-light and morally questionable pilot. Swirl's life is not going to plan. Exiled by her alien masters to the scuzziest part of the galaxy for crimes she did not commit, the once promising combat agent is reduced to peddling drugs aboard a mile-long space slum. If there is an upside, Swirl is sure her sister isn't part of it. Regrettably, the frivolous Sparkle shares Swirl's brain and body. Nevertheless, when the sisters are attacked, they learn to cease bickering and flee for their lives. Hargie's life never really had a plan. One of the bubblefolk, a race of faster-than-light addicted lowlifes, Hargie jumps from star to star, bar to bar, forever outrunning a past best forgotten. When Swirl buys a ride on his ship, Hargie tries to see the enigmatic woman as just another job, one he can abandon when the time comes. Melid’s