The all-brain cyborg known as Ball and I are old friends. We met as big-game hunters, stalking the most vicious creature in the Universe – the Pondoro Wolverine, also known as the Greer. Now we’re on the planet Ptolemy for an even more dangerous contest – a ritual renga competition (plus a little sport shooting of dragons). First prize is parasitic life-form with hyper-Newtonian communicative abilities. The loser gets death. The winner gets to envy the loser. And the game is about to begin.



