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Whatever you need. "
    "Can I stay with you?" asked Linda.
    "Stay with me?"
    Linda nodded.
    "At my house?"
    "For a while. At least a day or two. Longer if I could. "
    "You really need to get back on your feet," said Sarah. " This is your home and it doesn't do any good to run from it. T his is your place. "
    "My place," said Linda. She stood over the spot where Larry had lain. Now that he was gone, the room seemed much more open, almost cavernous.
    Sarah joined her. "Is this it?" she asked.
    "He fell right here next to the coffee table," replied Linda.
    "They really are quite efficient. the enforcement program is run so well. "
    "It is," agreed Linda, noticing that even the blood had been cleaned up. All that remained was a small stain, barely noticeable, no worse than the tea spill on the other side of the room. But Linda would get all the stains out, the blood, the tea, everything. After all, Miracle Madness was on its way.
    "I can stay for a bit," said Sarah, turning on the television. She folded onto the couch, pried her shoes off, and clicked through channels looking for the television version of "Phil's Follies. "
    "Stay for as long you can," said Linda. "I'll be with you in a moment. After I change. " the lavender dress was beginning to weigh on her.
    In her bedroom, Linda slipped off her high heels and set them in her closet. She then pulled off her dress and hung it neatly on a padded hanger. She lay down on her bed, closed her eyes, and folded her hands over her face. She exhaled, bathing her eyes and nose in the warmth of her own breath. She opened her mouth and made a guttural sound that echoed off her cupped hands.
    She rolled onto her stomach, grabbed her stuffed cat, Sally, and pulled her close. She wanted to be a cat. No, a ferret, she would rather be a ferret. Linda slid off the bed and crouched on her hands and knees, almost feral. She could sleep here. She could sleep on the carpet once it was clean. That would be soon; Miracle Madness was coming.
    "When clean isn't clean enough," she moaned.
    Linda reached under the bed and felt around blindly. She pulled out a shoe box adorned with a lavender bow—a beautiful bow she had tied nine months earlier. She loved tying bows and she was proud of this one, bold and perfectly proportioned. Lavender—she loved lavender. Linda untied the bow and carefully slid the ribbon off the box. She opened the box, pulled out a red card and a small revolver, and finally cried for the first time that night.

Ten With A Flag
    by Joseph Paul Haines

    Joseph Paul Haines is the author of several stories, which have appeared in magazines such as Interzone , Aeon Magazine , and Abyss & Apex . He is also the editor, with Samantha Henderson, of the anthology From the Trenches , and his short story collection, Ten With a Flag and Other Playthings , came out in November. This story first appeared in Interzone and was adapted to audio on the Transmissions From Beyond podcast.

    Newly pregnant women face a great deal of difficult decisions, and modern medical procedures have only made those decisions more complex. Once, women expected to struggle through forty uncomfortable weeks, drive to the hospital, and go through the rigors of labor with their babies' entire future being a mystery. Boy or girl, no one knew. Healthy or ailing, no one could guess.

    But today, a woman is confronted with medical technology almost from her first obstetric appointment. Should she have an ultrasound? What kinds of blood tests should she take? Should she ask for maternal serum screening? Is amniocentesis in order?

    These are the questions facing today's pregnant woman. What about the mothers of the future? What kind of tests will be offered to them? What kind of choices will they need to make?

    Our next story takes us into that future. Here is a world where it is possible to know too much about your baby's potential—or at least, a place where the government knows too much.

    J ohnnie didn't talk while he