Originally appeared in Low Port.
This won an Aurora award.
Collected in Chimerascope for ChiZine
Captain Trelayne is tortured but he enjoys it. He has become this way after encountering a scream angel. He'd been in the RIP forces, Relocation of Indigenous Peoples, convicted of treason. The scream angels are bird-like aliens, much sought after. The female produces a powerful drug during reproduction, so they force breeding pairs to remain in reproduction. The military keeps its soldiers hooked on scream, so they do as they're told just to get a dose.
The captain had fallen for Philomela [reference to Greek myth]. He "frees" her to stay with him. Though she stayed with Trelayne, he cannot believe she loves him. Trelayne gets caught holding on to a breeding pair, pushing him into crime. Although freed, Trelayne has to break his addiction and somehow get a new start on life.
The opening feels derivative and melodramatic, but once you're dropped back in the past, the story feels rich, original and potent.
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