Oberon lingers in the Atrium

Unlisted Passenger

Location: Atrium, DECK B

Oberon lingers in the Atrium, lying on soft undergrowth beneath a giant fern. He’s not fooled by this place, with its affectations of botany and organic intellectualism. He’s not sucked in by the resemblances to the world he once knew, the one he seeded before time was old enough to tell the tale. He remains unmoved by how the one who calls herself Tracy Nielsen looks just like the barbarian princess who bore his half-mortal offspring and how the one they call Nick Button speaks with the same intonation as the man who stood at the edge of a crumbling existence and cursed the name of a false idol, admitting at last that they could not save the world.

They’re just memories now, after all. Stories recalled by old gods adrift in space and time. And one day, this garden, this ship, and everything in it will be someone’s memory too. When all’s said and done, mortals are entropy embodied. Their world does not last. There’s no point to any of this.

But Oberon is here now, at any rate. And what else can he do but pass the time? This afternoon, he spends it spying on two figures in the garden—one human, one his wife.

Titania dallies again with the one called Olek—how she dotes on him.

It’s ridiculous, really, how she teases him with her body like a bird might tease a dog. Olek grasps her naked hips, overwhelmed by his biology which, though alien, is still no match for a creator of life. The silly cow even kept her crown on. Such conceit while the hapless mortal is utterly at her mercy. Is he even aware of how under her spell he is, Oberon wonders, or did the architects of these fragile creatures give them the illusion of free will?

Yet We Sleep, We Dream by JL Peridot

Love triangles get bent out of shape when restless gods come out to play.

Relationships are complicated enough when only humans are involved — something the crew of the starship Athenia know plenty about. These children of a changing climate are no strangers to conflicts of the heart. And it seems there's a lot of conflict going on, even out in space.

When an alien dust finds its way on board, the veil between realms begins to fray. Old gods of a long dead planet resume their own romantic bickering while ancient magic wreaks havoc across the ship. Grudges resurface, friends turn to enemies, unrequited love turns to passion — or does it? It's kinda hard to tell with everyone at each other's throats.

Gentles, perchance you wonder at this show; but wonder on, till truth make all things plain. Yet We Sleep, We Dream is a romantic space-fantasy inspired by Shakespeare's endearing hot mess, A Midsummer Night's Dream.

"I have had a most rare vision. I have had a dream, past the wit of man to say what dream it was."

— Bottom, A Midsummer Night's Dream

Genre(s): Science fiction romance, science fantasy romance, space fantasy, new adult, Australian romance, futuristic romance

Content advisory: Strong language. Drug use. On-page sexual encounters. References to harassment and infertility. Depictions of perilous situations. Depictions of marital disharmony. Awkward social situations. Technical language.

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JL Peridot writes love letters to the future on devices from the past. Visit jlperidot.com for the full catalogue of her work or subscribe to Dot Club for a collection of her tiny stories.