West of the Texas Nebula

Ah, Space Westerns.

Okay, so this isn't exactly Firefly, but it does take the notion of the Ol' West and transports the "get out of dodge" theme to your not-so-friendly galaxy next door. Here's the blurb:

While honoring the visiting dignitaries from Tau Ceti, Sol’s Mayor, Wit Thomason, had a heart attack. He spent a good couple of minutes twitching on the floor, soiling his finest suit, right there in front of aliens, citizens, and everybody. It was only a matter of time before some gunslinger made a move to take over the job. If I wanted to save my skin, it was time for me to get out of Dodge.

Dan Devine wrote the story, I added and edited, and together we're posting this story as a free download (all e-formats available at Smashwords). It originally appeared, and can still be read online, at SpaceWesterns.com in 2008.

Dan Devine is a scientist by day and an aspiring science fiction author by night, though he'll write any genre that pops into his head. He has had short stories published online in Dark Fire, Afterburn SF, Crime and Suspense, Flash Tales, and many other magazines. His SF novels, The Cull Chronicles (Books 1 and 2), feature reluctant hero Jason Cull and are available at Writers Exchange Ebooks. More news from Dan as well as a list of his stories can be found on his website.

Enjoy! And thanks for reading.