It's six weeks until the scheduled launch of the first manned Mars fly-by, when Diana Erden—one-half of the married "Phobonaut" crew—loses consciousness. The choice facing the TransMars Collective, a private venture on the threshold of history? Proceed as planned, or fail. Under the circumstances, the replacement they find has some issues but seems almost perfect. Almost. ADULT SITUATIONS.I was invited by a genre publisher to submit a story for an anthology of stories featuring witches with attitude and embroidery—human or otherwise. I was reluctant, given my troth to the human condition, but I thought the stretch might be good for me. Long story short, I sent them "GriffonRider" and they didn't like it. Too much science and not enough occult, I'm guessing. I can't help it—I was raised by an engineer and lived through Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo. Anyway, I had fun writing it and I hope you enjoy reading it.