# Free Babushka short stories

These five authorized stories by Martin Erlic also appear in the *Borrowed Time* collection. Each linked reader page includes a crawlable title, summary, authorship, and canonical source; the full story text loads in the reader.

- [The Mirror Wolf](https://www.babushkabook.com/reader/stories/the-mirror-wolf): A Black Wolf sergeant patrols Gred's frozen machine graveyard.
- [Boiler Nine](https://www.babushkabook.com/reader/stories/boiler-nine): Sergeant Elina Kovalenko enters a condemned block that official ledgers erased.
- [The Last Man](https://www.babushkabook.com/reader/stories/the-last-man): Pavel Kirov enters a clinic where living code is dangerous currency.
- [Baba Medved and the Syndicate of Steel](https://www.babushkabook.com/reader/stories/baba-medved): A forest guardian defends sacred woods from mechanical beasts.
- [The Price of Water](https://www.babushkabook.com/reader/stories/price-of-water): Lev crosses the Kyzylkum desert with memories of family and a powerful AI.

The complete collection also includes *All Bodies Are Provisional* and *What the Spine Remembers*. [Browse the visual story library](https://www.babushkabook.com/journal/short-stories).