China has triumphed in a long war that has devastated much of the world and left the United States weakened and isolated. Chinese space forces maintain a cordon around the earth and patrol an uneasy peace throughout the solar system. A peace that is about to be broken by a sudden act of war. Bumbling Chinese pilot Liu Hong is ambushed and shot from orbit during an American sneak attack. He narrowly survives a landing in a vast London garbage dump... moreChina has triumphed in a long war that has devastated much of the world and left the United States weakened and isolated. Chinese space forces maintain a cordon around the earth and patrol an uneasy peace throughout the solar system. A peace that is about to be broken by a sudden act of war. Bumbling Chinese pilot Liu Hong is ambushed and shot from orbit during an American sneak attack. He narrowly survives a landing in a vast London garbage dump. He must rely on an English phrasebook to convince a group of urchins to help him navigate the criminal underworld and reach safety. He has twelve hours. It should be easy. The American liberation force raining down on the city might complicate things for him. Phrasebook is the first novelette in Outer Echelon, a series of loosely-related, satirical military science fiction from Zack Parsons, author of Liminal States, My Tank is Fight! and contributor to Welcome to Night Vale. less
