Kallakak's Cousins — Cat Rambo

Kallakak just wants to run his shop and mourn his mate, but instead he's plagued wtth problems: the rapacious Jellidoos want to seize his shop, while his newly arrived relatives are causing all manner of mayhem on Twicefar Station. All the while, political revolution threatens, and he's trying to recover from illness. Will he and his robot salesclerk prevail?

This short story originally appeared in Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine. Find out why Endeavour, Nebula, and World Fantasy Award nominated Cat Rambo's been called one of the strongest storytellers in a generation of speculative fiction writers. Her emotionally rich stories play out against worlds that are evocative, imaginative, and beautifully but economically realized. In her Twicefar Station series, she explores questions of class, sexuality, and political revolution against a far future backdrop.