Of Mites and Men, by Lauren Taylor Bak

First Published in Tales of Galactic Pest Control

Performed by Nikolle Doolin

Content warning: This episode includes discussion of consensual sexual activity and the transmission of pubic lice.

After shore leave on notorious pleasure moon Venera 6, the crew of the ISS Calypso are quarantined by the ship’s AI, who’s convinced an outbreak of pubic lice is part of a sinister biowarfare plot.

Lauren Taylor Bak is an emerging author of erotic romantasy and speculative fiction. In another life, she obtained a PhD in English, though these days she mostly uses it to justify dubious literary references in smutty stories. She proudly identifies as a bisexual, autistic Trekkie. Listeners interested in reading an NSFW story set in the ISS Calypso universe should check out volume two of NYGEL journal, which features the continued adventures of Commander Ophelia Koch in a story titled "Pride and Protocol". You may also like her short story "Mise en Abîme" in The Disconnected, a companion anthology to Australian cyberpunk horror novel, The Savage Aether, by Aurealis Awards finalist Henry Neilsen.

Find out more and stay informed about Lauren's forthcoming projects on her website, https://laurentaylorbak.wordpress.com/ or follow her on Bluesky @laurentaylorbak.bsky.social.

Nikolle has performed numerous narrations and character roles for a number of popular and award-winning podcasts, such as: The NoSleep Podcast, Nightmare Soup, Tales To Terrify, Creepy Pod, It's All in the Cards, Calling Darkness, The Oyster, Liberty, Vast, Sirenicide, Hearing the Haunted, StarShipSofa, and Far-Fetched Fables. To learn more about Nikolle, visit her website at nikolledoolin.com, or follow her on BlueSky at nikolledoolin.bsky.social.

This episode was sponsored by Navigator Karen Pelczar

Audio production by Andrew Gibson.

First reading by Nathaniel Matthews Lee.

Music by Ardie Son.

Art by grandfailure.

Season One hosted and produced by Seth Williams.

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