Analog Science Fiction and Fact - May 2015
Author: MikRik
Date: 2014-10-29 08:58:52+00:00

Vol. CXXXV No. 5

Next Issue on Sale

May 2015

April 21, 2015

6

55

NOVELLA

ZEN ANGEL, Rajnar Vajra ____________________________________________ 6

NOVELETTES

SLIDER, Bud Sparhawk _____________________________________________ 45

SHORT STORIES

CETACEAN DREAMS, Robert R. Chase ________________________________ 55

ARNHEIM’S WORLD, Therese Arkenberg _______________________________65

NO GAIN, Aubry Kae Andersen _______________________________________ 77

SENTIENCE SIGNIFIED, J. L. Forrest___________________________________85

SCIENCE FACT

CHALLENGES OF MANNED INTERSTELLAR

TRAVEL: AN OVERVIEW, Nick Kanas, M.D. ___________________________ 35

PROBABILITY ZERO

DOUBLE EXPOSURE, Don Sakers ____________________________________75

POEM

MATHEMATICS, John Ciminello _______________________________________84

READER’S DEPARTMENTS

GUEST EDITORIAL: NOT JUST SEMANTICS, Juliette Wade _________________ 2

THE ALTERNATE VIEW, John G. Cramer _______________________________ 72

IN TIMES TO COME ________________________________________________96

THE REFERENCE LIBRARY, Don Sakers_______________________________ 97

BRASS TACKS ___________________________________________________ 101

UPCOMING EVENTS, Anthony Lewis _________________________________104

Trevor Quachri Editor

Emily Hockaday Assistant Editor

Cover design by Victoria Green

Cover Art by Donato Giancola

Indicia on Page 3

GUEST EDITORIAL Juliette Wade NOT JUST SEMANTICS
ords are powerful.

pick the meaning we’ve heard most often.

As readers, and as writers, we un-

How, then, do we know when not to pick the
derstand this. The idea of word pow-
most common meaning? The context of the

Wer is ancient,and international.It oc- current utterance plays a critical role.The curs in many religions. The Japanese language
more elements of current context echo a pre-
even has a word for it: kotodama, meaning vious context, the stronger our tendency to

“word soul” or “the spirit of words. ” In
pick the meaning that makes a match.

school, though, when I was asked to look

These layered contexts of usage create the
words up in a dictionary, I don’t remember
complex “feel” of a word—its spirit. And this
feeling that spirit. Words tended to lose their
works not only for single words, but for
dimension in lists on a page—definition 1, de-
phrases and sentences as well. Let’s take a de-
finition 2, definition 3. But why? Where does
lightfully geeky example: a quote from The
that sense of spirit and power come from?

Princess Bride. Saying or sharing that quote Psycholinguistics can give us some insights.

will evoke its surrounding context—not only

Psycholinguistics is the study of language in
its context within the movie, but also within
the brain. There, word meanings take the
the life of the person who experienced that
form of neuronal activation patterns. When
movie. Many people are familiar with the
we hear a word, it activates neurons associat-
game where one person starts reciting a
ed with the sound of the word, its appear-
quote, and leaves another person to finish it.

ance, and its meaning. But meaning in the

If two people are playing this game, the
brain is not just a numbered list on a white
quote they share has not only evoked the
page. It is a simultaneous, multisensory mem-
film, but implied that they share the film as a
ory of all the contexts in which we have ever
social experience. And further, thereafter, be-
experienced that word. Think about that for a
cause those two people played the quote-
second: When we hear a word, for the tiniest
completion game, the quote will also imply
of moments we’re experiencing every time
the sense of social connection they just ex-
we’ve ever heard it before.

perienced.

What this implies for word meaning is that

When we think of meaning as complex lay-
meaning grows directly out of the context of
ers of context, that can have very interesting
utterance. Meaning is complex because con-
consequences for writers. Start by thinking of
text is complex. It’s visual and auditory. It’s
a writer, putting down words alone. During
syntactic, and semantic. It’s also social and
that process, the meanings the writer chooses
emotional. So the question then becomes,
to invoke with words are (necessarily) those
when our brain comes up with lots of mean-
that grow out of her or his own experience.

ings at once, how do we know which one to

As writers, we can have a clear vision of what
choose? The simplest answer to that question
the story means to us. However, we can’t have comes down to frequency. When we use a
any control over the contexts in which our
word frequently, that means certain neurons
readers have previously heard these words,
are activated frequently, and frequency of acti-
these phrases. Research on the process of
vation translates into strength of activation.

reading suggests that a great deal of the mean-

Thus, when we hear a word, we’ll typically
ing of a story comes from the mind of the

2

MAY 2015
reader—and indeed, how could it be other-

Française, for example, makes regular rulings
wise? When we write, we are not transmit-
on word borrowings to slow down the degree
ting meaning. We are evoking it, and for that of change and keep French vocabulary true to
we depend critically on our readers’ previous
a perceived French linguistic identity. Even so,
knowledge and experience.

many words have crept in. Language can be

At the same time, any story is itself a con-
difficult to control.

text for the words that appear in it. Writers

Euphemisms are a prime example of this
therefore do not only evoke, but also create
difficulty. Basically, a euphemism is an attempt
context. This gives us a rather particular su-to put a new, softer or friendlier word into use
perpower: By controlling the context in
on a topic that brings up strong negative emo-
which words appear, we can define them. A
tions—disgust, anger, hatred, or grief. It’s
word invented for a particular story takes its
something we do with bodily functions,
meaning from that stor y, and can then
death, tragedy, and illness, etc. to try to pro-
through the mechanism of shared reading ex-
tect ourselves and our listeners from those
perience, make its way out into the greater vo-
emotions. What happens over time, however,
cabular y. We owe our use of the word
is that the presence of those emotions in the

“utopia” to Sir Thomas More and his readers;
context of use will gradually strengthen the

Mary Shelley and her readers have brought us
link between the word and the negative emo-

“Frankenstein,” while “robot” comes to us
tion. Eventually, people can come to feel that
from Karel Capek and his. (The list goes on:

the word’s meaning has itself become too neg-
munchkin, L. Frank Baum; yahoo, Jonathan
ative, and they then choose another one.

Swift; gargantuan, Rabelais; ansible, Ursula K.

Another kind of difficulty arises when dif-

LeGuin; nerd, Dr. Seuss; etc.)

ferent people—even populations—have very

Of course, this means that word meanings
different experiences hearing the same word.

can easily drift and change. They can expand

Of course, this causes them to understand its
out of their original contexts, as above. They
meaning differently. A word like “values” has a
can expand the scope of their meaning, be-
vastly different context of usage in ethics ver-
come more specific to a particular meaning,
sus mathematics—but these are two contexts
or otherwise change. The cutting edge of this
that usually occur in disparate circumstances.

change is the active context of use, so dictio-

When two people bring different contexts of
naries are typically the last to catch up! (Think understanding to the same interaction, misun-how long it took the verb “google” to be ac-
derstandings are inevitable, and they are only
cepted into a dictionary.) Language change of-
the beginning. Take a word like “urban,” for
ten involves discomfort and cries of “that’s
example. Depending on who is using it and
wrong!” It’s hard to tell whether a change in
how, it can imply “city life,” “inner-city,”

usage is going to flare and disappear, or stick

“poor,” or “black.” One person may hear a rel-
around permanently. Some countries have in-
atively neutral meaning, and another may
stitutions designed to regulate the process of
hear an emotionally charged one. Politicians,
natural language change. The Académie
aware of the difference of meaning across

Analog Science Fiction and Fact (Astounding), Vol. CXXXV, No. 5, May 2015. ISSN 1059-2113, USPS 488-910, GST#123054108. Published monthly except for combined January/February and July/August double issues by Dell Magazines, a division of Crosstown Publications. One-year subscription $55.90 in the United States and possessions, in all other countries $65.90 (GST included in Canada), payable in advance in U.S. funds. First copy of new subscription will be mailed within eight weeks of receipt of order. When reporting change of address allow 6 to 8 weeks and give new address as well as the old address as it appears on the last label. Periodical postage paid at Norwalk, CT and additional mailing offices. Canadian postage paid at Montreal, Quebec, Canada Post International Publications Mail, Product Sales Agreement No. 40012460. (c) 2015 by Dell Magazines, a division of Crosstown Publications, all rights reserved.

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Printed by Quad/Graphics, Taunton, MA U.S.A. (2/23/15) NOT JUST SEMANTICS

3

ANALOG
populations, will sometimes use a word like
word that has been reclaimed without activat-
this deliberately, as a sort of code. They feel
ing the non-reclaimed meaning of that word.

safe using it because they know that to one

Then there are contextual battleground
group of people it will mean “city” while to
words. The best example I can think of is
another it will immediately suggest a shared

“Obamacare.” Originally coined with a group
context of racial animosity—a sentiment that
of other “-cares” simply to associate health
may not be detected across the social divide.

policy plans with the presidential candidates

Knowing, as we do, that writers can invent
who had proposed them, the term was quick-
words or change their meanings by creating
ly taken up by detractors who deliberately
novel contexts for them, we should ask: is it
used it to create an association between the
also possible to change the meaning of a word
policy plan and other hated aspects of the
in the real world? The answer is: certainly.

president. This association of negative emo-

Such change occurs when people alter the
tion contributed directly to support for legisla-
contexts in which particular words are used.

tive moves against the policy. Meanwhile, the

One major example of this is the reclaiming of
word “Obamacare” already had some inde-
slurs (such as “slut,” “queer,” etc.), in which a pendent staying power in the media context
group of people who have been insulted by a
of headline writing, because it saved so much
particular term deliberately use the word to al-
space. However, many who supported the
ter its traditional context. This process is most policy plan made no objection to associating
successful when the original toxic context be-
the plan’s name with President Obama, and in-
comes overridden in frequency by the re-
deed they began to use the word in their own
claimed usage within a cultural community.

contexts, without the pejorative connotations.

Trouble arises, however, when the reclaimed

When we observe the word now, it has begun
usage is encountered by outsiders, and they
to be associated not just with plans and pro-
attempt to use the word again because others
posals, but with actual contexts of medical
do. Why shouldn’t a word be usable if it has
care in people’s lives. These new contextual
been reclaimed? The answer, again, comes
associations appear to be pulling the word fur-
back to context of usage: A speaker’s social
ther toward a positive meaning. It’s impossible
identity is a critical element of context. Since
to predict precisely how usage will change the
the meanings we understand are the ones that
word’s meaning in the future.

most closely match the context in which

Thus we see that the power of words,
we’ve heard them, an outsider cannot use a
which has such wondrous significance in

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JULIETTE WADE

MAY 2015
science fiction and fantasy, at the same time
it’s perfect—but as a tool for exploring nuance
has consequences in real life power struggles.

and the experience of minority groups, it’s in-

People who are aware of this power choose
herently problematic, because it attempts to
their words carefully. In science, for instance,
remove one speaker’s valid context of experi-
the consequences of discrepancies in mean-
ence from consideration.

ing can be catastrophic, so scientists begin by

Other times a participant will refuse to ex-
carefully defining their terms, so they can
plore or negotiate word meanings because
specify the contexts to which their results ap-

“it’s just semantics.” This is another move that
ply. A rather different approach to word
attempts to invalidate a speaker’s context of
choice occurs in public discourse, where peo-
meaning. It does this by referencing seman-
ple often assume that they share the same
tics, the academic study of meaning, and thus
meaning with their interlocutor, but then dis-
invoking metaphors about the esoteric pas-
cover in real-time interaction that they do not.

times of creatures in ivory towers. When used

So what happens then? Generally, the peo-
in negotiation of meaning, it essentially claims
ple in the interaction explain their under-
that only one context of experience is normal
standings of the meaning of a word—but even
and proper, and any desire to explore further
if they are successful in identifying the dis-
is irrelevant. It says, “My viewpoint is real, and crepancy, they may have difficulty moving for-yours belongs (far away) in an ivory tower.”

ward if one or more participants refuses to

In fact, to paint academic context as less
recognize the other’s experience as valid in
valid than any other is just as problematic.

defining the word.

Each person’s experience has inherent validi-

Sometimes one participant will decide to go
ty, and at the same time is fundamentally in-
to the dictionary. If it’s a case of “I’ve never
complete. Every word, once it has been creat-
heard that word before,” dictionaries can be
ed and discovered in context by more than
helpful. However, referencing dictionaires in-
one person, begins to grow beyond its origi-
vokes the authority of the dominant cultural
nal meaning. The complex meanings of words
group, and narrows the possible contexts for
suggest the depth and complexity of human
a word’s meaning to those recognized by dom-
experience. These complexities must be en-
inant institutions. Therefore, as a tool for un-
gaged with, and explored.

derstanding the dominant’s group’s thinking,

It’s not just semantics. ■

NOT JUST SEMANTICS

5

Illustrated by Kurt Huggins

Zen

Angel

Rajnar Vajra
was teething again, which always makes

“You think?” I tried to keep my face parked
me irritable. I prefer to concentrate on liv-
in neutral, but apparently failed.

ing rather than monitor my body, but in-

“You don’t think so?”

Iflamed gums are brilliant at attracting at- I just shrugged.

tention.

And my latest doctor and

“Right. Then let’s add things up. For
self-acknowledged government stooge, Joseph
starters, how old are you?”

DeFloria M.D., wasn’t helping.

What I did was subtraction; somewhere

“Len,” he boomed as though a wall separat-
along the line I’d stopped keeping score. The
ed us, “you’ve got to be the luckiest man in
result left me uneasy, so I kept my answer
the world.”

generic, if trite. “Over a century of service.”

6

MAY 2015

His diluted blue eyes goggled at me. “‘Over’

I hadn’t put anything in the pocket and began
is the understatement of the month. You
to reach for it, but stopped when Joe caught
passed the century mark sixty-eight years ago.

my eye and shook his head slightly. Interest-

But look at you. If I didn’t know better, I’d
ing.

guess thirty, thirty-five tops. I’m forty-four, and The symphony playing below, with instru-there’s already plenty of gray in my hair.”

mentation changing as vehicles were replaced

He grabbed my datafilm chart and shook it
by others, struck me as a metaphor for my life.

as if rattling a sheaf of papers, but the thin

In essence, I’m the same symphony, but the
plastic only made a whooshing sound. “And
instruments keep changing.

the results of your diagnostics show the kind

“Remember when each car had its own
of health I would hope for on a teenager.

theme song?” Joe added in an uncharacteristi-

Yeah, I’d say lucky. Put your clothes on.”

cally mild bellow.

It pleased me that my 1900 birth certificate

“Hell, I remember when they went putt-
was holding up; I’d forged the thing in 1903,
putt. Gas engines.”

and an investigation into the Dr. Price who’d

“Maybe music is better, but whose fool idea
signed it could lead to awkwardness.

was it to network every damn vehicle in the

My briefs felt too silky as I slipped them on;
city?”

the design hadn’t changed much in decades,

The continuing irrelevance of this conversa-
but manufacturers had stopped using plain cot-
tion made me curious but wary. As did his
ton.

furtive glances at my shirt pocket. One bene-

“How does it feel to be immortal?” Dr. Joe
fit: we weren’t on our usual topic of me.

asked while handing me my shirt, a garment

I tugged my shirtsleeves up past my fore-
that reacted appropriately to ambient temper-
arms, and the fabric contracted to maintain the
ature, could change colors or display videos
new shape. “You’re no music lover, I take it?”

according to whim, could alter size if I put on

“It’s not that, but who wants to listen to it
or lost pounds, and felt clingy and cheap.

day in day out?”

“Immortal. I wouldn’t know.” For a mo-

“You preferred a street full of cars, all play-
ment, my aching gums conquered my desire
ing different melodies?” I had to grin. “Car-
for mental privacy, and I blurted some hon-
cophony.”

esty. “Maybe I’ll be alive a month from now,

He chuckled then frowned. “Admittedly,

Joe, or a century. Maybe not. The regenera-
pedestrians need to realize they’re about to
tion thing might have an expiration date.

get run over, but why not reproduce those

Plus, a stroke or heart attack could take me
putt-putts of old?” He stroked his pudgy chin.

out.” I’d been so accident-prone lately that I

“Christ, Len, you were an adult before the added, “Or some bus might run me over todays when gas-powered engines ruled the
morrow.”

Earth. Incredible!”

He snorted. “Only if you go deaf today.” He

His ignorance shouldn’t have surprised me.

jabbed a fat thumb toward the window. “I

What you don’t live through, you won’t . . .

hear at least two cellos down there, which
own unless someone teaches you about it
means local busses, and a heap of violins.”

with such skill that you experience it by

His complaint surprised me. The sounds
proxy. As a result, vast amounts of relevant
were barely noticeable.

knowledge fall through the cracks of history.

“Yet we’re on the fourteenth floor,” he con-

Hermann Hesse claimed that people born af-
tinued, “and that window is triple glazed.” He
ter 1920 lacked the background to ever fully
paused, head tilted. “What is that traffic noise?

comprehend his books. Or was it 1910? Some-

Haydn?”

times I think that I’ve truly forgotten more

Odd. He’d never spoken about anything un-
than I ever knew.

related to my health, and this variation felt

Joe gave me a meaningful look that failed to
forced. I reached for my shirt. Look Ma, no
speak volumes and rephrased. “Why use mu-
buttons, I said to myself since I doubted that
sic as a warning?”

anyone alive would get the reference. A

“Cost. Plenty more to old car noises than
downward swipe of my hand fastened the
chugs.”

garment, but on the way, something crinkled.

“Such as?”

ZEN ANGEL

7

ANALOG

I studied his face while expounding about
simple.” Not even the “tall” part. When I first
antique tires and road-surfaces, and mechani-
reached adulthood, I towered a full 5’ 6”. In
cal rattles, and how different parts of obsolete
another few centuries, I might be able to dunk
vehicles made different rackets at slightly dif-
a basketball without jumping.

ferent times, all varying with speed. He didn’t

“Let me guess. People you love keep dying,
seem that interested.

something like that?”

“Without this sonic smorgasbord,” I f in-

“Part of it.” Most of it, really. “But tell me,
ished, “the human ear might know a vehicle
do I seem particularly mature to you?”

was coming, but not necessarily how fast or

“Well, you don’t seem immature.”

from which direction. That’s why sirens

“Uh huh. One, um, distressing part of being
change pitch and the most effective ones
me is that I’ll reach a certain . . . level after a switch between notes.”

time, but I don’t get to stay there. Remember

“I hear you. They would’ve had to put mul-
puberty?” I weighed every word. “Imagine
tiple speakers on every car to get the right ef-
having your act together, if you’ll forgive the
fect. I suppose hundreds of blaring sirens
old slang, and then getting pulled back on
wouldn’t make people happy.”

that hormonal rollercoaster over and over. Re-

“Particularly people driving emergency ve-
minds me of Keyes’s story ‘Flowers for Alger-
hicles.”

non,’ only with big changes in emotional wis-

“Point taken.”

dom rather than—”

I bowed ironically at the accolade, wonder-

“Never heard of it.”

ing where this was leading.

Kids these days. “Look it up. My point is

“We done for today?” I asked, testing the
that I keep losing myself.”

waters. “Got things to do and you must have

He looked thoughtful. “Maybe I’m getting
other patients.”

it. One day you’re Buddha; the next, you’re

“Not ‘till later. The Powers What Be wanted
sulking because you’re out of pimple cream.”

me to take as much time as I needed for your

“Something like that. But without forgetting
final exam.”

being a buddha.”

“So I won’t be seeing you again? At least un-

“Okay. Class dismissed. Good luck with
til I get back?”

whatever the hell the government wants you

A hint of craftiness touched his honest face.

to do. Have they told you yet?”

“True. I’m giving you a squeaky clean bill of

“Hard to believe, but no. Only that it’s in-
health, but I’m curious about something.”

credibly important and involves going some-

“Shoot.”

where, which you already knew. Maybe I’ll see

“Shoot?”

you after whatever this is, is all over.”

“Antique slang, Joe. Means proceed. ”

“Maybe. Don’t forget your jacket. I’ll ride

School massacres had finally sunk that one.

down in the lev with you.”

“Ah. Why don’t you think you’re the luckiest person to ever walk the Earth?” He shook

While today’s magnetic levitators run
the datafilm again. “You can regrow parts like
smoother and quieter than yesterday’s eleva-
a starf ish, you’re agile as a cat, strong as a
tors, they lack charm. The plastic inner lining
power lifter, Olympic-record fast, IQ in the
seems to hoard foul odors including those re-
stratosphere. You’re even tall and good-look-
leased by their own solvents, and the selector
ing, holding three doctorates and an MD, and
buttons, designed to be pointed at from close
it says here you can accurately measure dis-
range rather than touched, produces an im-
tances just by looking, without using a
personal tactile vacuum. Yes, I’m an ancient
googleyes app. Haven’t you won the genetic
curmudgeon. Sue me.

lottery Grand Prize?”

As we stopped on various floors to harvest

He left off the periodic hormonal changes
passengers, I wondered which ones were
and my sexual orientation shifting every
government agents keeping tabs on me. Joe
eighty years or less, invariably at truly awk-
and I kept quiet until we exited on the
ward times. Still, he posed a fair question and
ground f loor and only exchanged polite
the sincerity in his baby blues kept me from
farewells, in his case a “ciao,” as we went our weaseling out of it. “Joe, things aren’t that
separate ways.

8

RAJNAR VAJRA

MAY 2015

The sky had become cloud-frosted and the

Buddhist monks chatting with the maître d’ as
temperature had dropped to chilly while I’d

I scanned tables.

been poked, palpitated, and interrogated.

The doctor sat at the farthest booth from

I slipped my smart gloves on, and they ex-
the staircase. The instant he caught my eye,
pressed their opinion of the weather by puff-
he scooted sideways beyond my line of sight. I
ing up into near-mitten status. My shirt and
smiled at a smiling woman approaching me
jacket also thickened somewhat. It dawned on
with menus and a deadly intent to seat, and
me, belatedly, that warning signals had been pointed toward the back booth. “Meeting a
at the heart of our atypical discussion. I casu-
friend already there,” I said in Mandarin. Her
ally looked around, then sprinted to catch a
smile broadened as she eased out of my way
city bus at the next corner, hoping to lose the
despite losing her grand opportunity to be my
two agents not-so-covertly on my tail. Not my
guide.

normal behavior. As the doors closed and the

I found Joe so close to the wall he could’ve
vehicle-identifying cello started up, I found a
been glued to it. Someone really didn’t care to seat and reached into my shirt pocket.

be spotted. He gestured toward the opposite

The handwritten note inside wasn’t easy to
side of the booth where I sat down, another
read, conf irming that Joe was indeed an au-
wall-hugger.

thorized writer of prescriptions, but I deci-

He looked so tense that I changed my first
phered it: “Golden Jade, 10th and E. Broad-
question. “Why meet here in particular?”

way. 2:00 P.M.”

He pointed a thumb directly behind him.

How about that, I thought. Clandestine

“There’s a fusion Chinese-French joint on the
meeting at what’s likely a Chinese restaurant.

street behind this one, ‘Magic Dragon,’ and

Unoriginal yet worrisome. I performed the ex-
they share the kitchen back there. Same own-
aggerated squint that inevitably makes various
er. That’s part of it.” He spoke at a normal vol-
people in a crowd, at any given moment, look
ume, probably his version of whispering.

like inmates of a loony bin. Left eye, to trigger I nodded. “So you entered through the fu-the basic display. My googleyes implants in-
sion place.”

stantly placed virtual printing on the seatback

“Correct. Didn’t want anyone to know we’d
in front of me informing me of the time, tem-
be together.”

perature, and exciting discounts on products I

“Someone’s keeping tabs on you too?”

didn’t want. I wished someone still made af-

He frowned. “Tabs . . .”

fordable wristwatches. The un-printing faded,

“Old term for surveillance.”

and I got off at the next stop. Would I miss the

His frown remained. “I only knew agents
appointment if I f irst returned to my China-
were shadowing you, and they’d spot me al-town hotel room and treated my gums to
most anywhere we met. Or we’d be caught on
some hot saltwater? A bad day to feel rushed, I
videocams.”

reluctantly decided, but time enough to kill

“But why any cloak-and-dagger routine?

some, and I could snag a cup of ice some-

Your hints made me ditch some agents, but
where for temporary relief. I couldn’t spot
now I probably look guilty of something.

anyone shadowing me, for what that was

What’s your big secret? Nice touch with my
worth.

shirt, by the way, if your office is bugged.”

Warning signals. Something was wrong.

“Cloak and dagger?” he repeated uncertainly. “I
remember hearing that phrase when I was a kid.

The restaurant squatted diagonally across

Means spy stuff? Something out of Shakespeare?”

the street from Grace Church, next to a food

“Seems I’m full of obsolete clichés today.

coop that a decades-old memory told me was

Care to answer my question?”

once a gym. Wasn’t hard to spot. I booted

In the muted light, his eyes appeared less
googleyes just long enough to see the local vir-
washed-out, more awake. “Are you aware
tual signs and some pricey advertising effects
there are ways to . . . tap nanolinks?”

such as huge, colored smoke rings drifting up

It was my turn to frown as I pondered how
from the far side of 10th. Past a be-dragoned
often I’d run googleyes while doing something
door, I descended a long flight of stairs into sa-I’d prefer the government didn’t know about.

vory aromas then stood behind some robed

“They’re tapping my systems?”

ZEN ANGEL

9

ANALOG

“Could be. Supposedly, they can only pick

He did his chin-rubbing thing. “Tick?”

up audio thanks to the Supreme Court ruling.

I suppressed a sigh. “Clocks and wrist-

I’m counting on that.”

watches used to do that.”

“I thought last year’s security updates—”

“I see. No doubt the government is full of

“Still left a backdoor for the NSA and other
folks who’d want immortality. Who wouldn’t?

parts of the alphabet.”

But if researchers found a way to duplicate

A truly nasty thought bit. “Even when
your abilities, it couldn’t be kept secret. Be-
googleyes is off ?”

fore long, the whole human race would be de-

“Don’t know.”

manding their slice of the pie.”

“Oh.” I snapped my f ingers softly. “This

“I suppose. But would that be so bad?” They
eatery happens to be a radio dead spot.”

say confession is good for the soul, so I went for

“Exactly. Underground, and because a ma-
a little spiritual remodeling. “Ever since scientists jor trunk-line for maglev power runs along a
could map gene sequences, I’ve been feeling
tunnel overhead, no hardwired data relay
guilty about putting my own desire for freedom
would work.”

ahead of everyone else’s needs.”

“Nice. How’d you f ind out about this

He nodded. “Understandable, but think
place?” While talking, I tested my implants
about the consequences if everyone was like
and, sure enough, couldn’t get online.

you. Nobody dies for say a century and a half,

“Len, I’m a company medic.” Ironic smile.

minimum. Overpopulation explosion, but

“Most of my patients are intelligence workers.

increasingly top-heavy with oldsters. So

I’ve learned things. Besides, the food here is
what’s retirement age? How could we keep
damn good. Pengan style. Hungry?”

paying Social Security? No one inherits ex-

“I could eat.”

cept by accident or murder. The ultra-rich
keep getting richer and more powerful while

Chinese food as typically served up in Amer-
the rest of society keeps losing traction. Doc-
ica is overly oily and laced with enough sodi-
tors would become jokes, only treating major
um for a ton of popcorn. I’d found only a few
injuries, and only until the patient regener-
notable exceptions, mostly here in Manhattan
ates. No more cancer. The pharmaceutical in-
and San Francisco.

dustry would be savaged, most hospitals

“Pengan” was the new Chinese cuisine, a
would close, and there’s the matter of food
breath of freshness, without gallons of peanut
and—”

oil and truckloads of cornstarch.

“I could get cancer.”

The Golden Jade’s Ma La prawns were fresh

“But you haven’t in all this time. I’m just get-
and delicious, and I would’ve enjoyed them
ting warmed up, but why go on? My point is
tremendously if my gums were normal, and if
that the government can’t afford to learn your
my lunch companion offered better news.

secrets, not even for their own benefit. They

“There’s a cute term company people use,
can’t afford to have anyone figure you out.”

Len. ‘Uninstalled.’ Means dead. That’s their

“So it’ll be open season on me.”

plan for you once your mission is over.”

He hoisted his water glass as if about to say

I felt a cold shock and the world suddenly
cheers. “Sorry.”

seemed farther away. “That’s . . . interesting.”

I copied his about-to-toast maneuver.

My mouth was empty, but I had to swallow

“You’re taking quite a chance, Joe. I appreci-
twice before I could go on. “Joe, I’ve switched
ate it, but why risk your career?”

identities many times because I thought that if

He clinked his glass with mine. “There’s this
the authorities caught on to my—my gifts, I’d
oath we doctors have, and some of us take it
wind up in some lab,” had to swallow again,
seriously.” He studied my face. “I would’ve

“where a bunch of damn Ponce de Leon’s in
thought you’d be more upset.”

white coats would keep taking me apart.”

“I am upset, but I’ve been in danger before.

“So how did the government find you?”

Sooner or later, trouble rolls in.”

“No idea. I thought I’d covered my tracks

He nodded. “Considering your lifespan, I
about as —never mind. But why kill me?

imagine you’ve developed serious . . . emo-

Wouldn’t they want to know what makes me
tional resources. The question is, have you any
tick for their own, um, longevity?”

resources of a, uh—”

10

RAJNAR VAJRA

MAY 2015

“Protective nature? Maybe. These days it’s
with broken safety glass and small debris. It
hard to vanish once the authorities want you.

stung. Shaking myself off, I stepped closer to

Thanks, technology. But technology can also
the killer car to check on the driver. The crum-
hide you, particularly if you know the right
pled auto appeared empty. It was only then
people.”

that a sudden pain in my side made me look

“I should’ve waited until we finished lunch
down at my jacket. A jagged, spear-shaped
to give you the bad news.”

scrap of metal had pierced the fake leather,

I lifted my chopsticks and snagged another
the shirt beneath, and my skin just below my
shrimp. “No worries, I never let anxiety ruin my
lowest rib. Couldn’t tell how deep the wound
meals.” Not exactly a lie, but a massive exagger-
went.

ation.

Gripping the tail end of the long shard
carefully with my gloves, I pulled the acci-

I insisted on paying for our lunches plus tip,
dental spear straight out. Hadn’t felt it going
and used cash to avoid credit spoor. Joe de-
in, but this gave me something to remember.

parted through the kitchen, but I waited ten

I glanced at the business end once the piece
minutes longer, sipping lukewarm tea and
was free, as if checking an old-fashioned dip-
contemplating my fortune-cookie message:

stick. I was down a quart, judging by the

“You will find friends wherever you go.”

two inches of wet blood at the end. I

As a stimulant, Joe’s warning crushed mere
clamped my forearm over the wound and
tea. My brain reacted by intensifying my senses,
kept it there.

but also by randomly interrupting those senses

Looking down at the sidewalk, I saw no
with flashes of half-forgotten memories; I sup-
bloody drips. With any luck, my genius shirt
pose seeking guidance from past experience.

would treat my leaking fluids as sweat and ab-

Outside, despite the gray day, colors seemed
sorb them until the blood clotted, which
brighter but harsh, and the sounds and smells of
wouldn’t take long. For anyone else, a trip to
the city came on like an attack. The automotive
the ER would be mandatory. Awkward from
warning music, at the moment courtesy of
having to maintain forearm pressure, I dug

Beethoven, scraped my eardrums. A brisk wind

Joe’s note from my shirt pocket, wrapped it
gave the cold air an extra bite. Meanwhile, I pe-
around the spear’s razor-sharp tip, and stuck
riodically remembered this area from various
the package into a coat pocket. I didn’t care to
times I’d been here, going back to when horses
leave any trace of me at this scene. No clear
pulled carriages through gaslit streets coated
reason, just instinct. I returned my attention to with coal dust and manure. In my mind’s ear, I
the deathmobile.

heard the innumerable horsef lies. Signs and

My diagnosis: totaled and empty. So it had
brick buildings, long vanished or reconstructed,
been driving on automatic, likely on its way to
loomed realistically. The passing people dressed
a parking garage, guided by New York’s Trans-
in antique styles appeared more ghostlike.

portation Authority, and one of the incredibly

Back in hypervigilant mode, I noticed the
rare glitches in the automated traff ic system
speeding car the instant it veered from the far
had caused the incident. Easy to believe . . . if I side of the road and headed toward me, accel-believed in Fairy Godmothers. But although
erating tremendously through a gap in traffic.

the government had marked me for death, it

I sprinted to get out of its way, but the car ad-
didn’t make sense to kill me before my mis-
justed its route to keep aiming at me. The
sion was complete. . . .

street was lined with cars, and if someone

Shaken, hurting, and in no mood to cope
planned to squish me, their idea must’ve been
with police or crowds, I lumbered to the next
to smash into a waiting vehicle, and send that
block and splurged on a cab ride to my hotel.

one flying into me.

On the way, I lifted my jacket and shirt to as-

At the last moment, I jumped. The collision
sess my injury. The bleeding had stopped, and
was horrendous, more explosion than crash,
a scab was forming. It no longer hurt like hell.

and the two-ton billiard vehicle banked my

As far as hurting like heck went, I’d say it
way missed me by a comfortable six inches.

made the cut. Flakes of half-dried blood deco-

Before I could criticize myself for having
rated my abdomen but clung enough to avoid
jumped farther than necessary, I got peppered
adding to the dinginess of the cab’s floor. I got ZEN ANGEL

11

ANALOG
some sour amusement when I noticed that
it really was off, and dashed off a quick note to both my shirt and jacket had repaired them-Dr. Joe, asking him to contact Carlos for me.

selves.

Then I slapped on fresh clothes and dashed to

Once in my room, I unwrapped the spear
the lobby. I left the note and some instructions
and set it on a dresser. Don’t really know why
with a concierge. Back in my room, I took a

I’d kept it. I scrubbed my belly with a wet
brief shower, brushed my teeth, got dressed
washcloth and set my clothes soaking in the
again, and opened my suitcase.

bathtub. The water turned rusty, and I drained

For a relatively happy second, I mistook the
the tub, rinsed and repeated, and hung every-
thing leaping out for an exceptionally large
thing to dry. I treated my gums to long baths
tarantula. By the time the third one appeared,
in the hottest saltwater my mouth could bear.

I knew better.

Afterward, I lay in bed, still shaky, gazing at a faint ceiling stain.

It’s possible to move quickly with a deep if

If the government wasn’t yet trying to mur-
healing wound in your side, but you’ll regret
der me, who was?

it. I sure did upon instinctively jumping back-

An even more relevant question: who
wards. Pardon me for being judgmental, but
among my contacts could best help me stay
these beasties were ugly. Ten legs including
alive? And how could I reach such a paragon
two front ones with rosebud-shaped claws,
immediately without the authorities or some
fanged jaws oversized for creatures with a
secret enemy catching on? Using googleyes or
mere dinner plate leg-span, and blobby bodies
any communication app was out. One prob-
suggesting octopuses more than arthropods.

lem at a time, I told myself. First, who.

Five eyes apiece, all stoplight green.

I spun my mental Rolodex—anachronism

I’d never seen anything like them.

alert—and came up with a former business

Big spiders are fast, and these things were
partner, Carlos Ramirez-Levi. Just then,
faster. But instead of immediately attacking,
googleyes informed me of a high-priority in-
one scuttled sideways to guard the main door,
coming call from one Field Agent Saunders
another scuttled to block my way to the bath-
and asked if I desired connection. I didn’t, but
room. The third waited until its partners were

I granted permission.

in position. Then it leaped straight at me.

“Doctor Leonard Silver?” asked a soft voice.

I tried to knock the creature away but only

He might’ve been acknowledging a PhD or
managed to bat it back a few feet. It was sur-
my obsolete medical training, but who else
prisingly heavy, and I learned something else
did he imagine would answer a person-to-per-
about my visitors. Fangs weren’t my only prob-
son call?

lem. In midair, one of the monster’s claws

“I’m Len Silver, Agent Saunders.” No sense
flashed out like a striking cobra, stabbing my
in both of us asking stupid questions. I dug
right palm near the thumb. The wound didn’t
deep to get a grip. “Why isn’t Agent Morgen-
penetrate entirely through my hand, but it jus-
stein the one to call me?”

tified the noise I made.

“I’ve been ordered to step in temporarily.

I used my freak distance-gauging talent,

Morgenstein’s still your handler.”

and without looking, reached behind me to

“Fine. How may I assist the human race to-
grab the metal spear off the dresser. Just in
day?”

time. The batted creature jumped toward my

He didn’t giggle. “By packing everything
face, and I slashed out with my impromptu
you brought to the hotel and being ready to
knife.

leave one hour from now. Wait for us in the

It didn’t cut the thing in half as I hoped, but
lobby.”

the tip severed a few legs, which may have dis-

“Okay. Guess I’ll be seeing you soon.”

tracted the monster a tad. At least, it failed to

“Count on it,” he said, logging out.

send a claw through one of my eyes. Unfortu-

It seemed that my mystery enemy wouldn’t
nately, it landed on my right shoulder. Mean-
have time to attack again, but the downside
while, my blade, still moving, accidently sliced
was that I couldn’t secretly enlist Carlos within the belly of the spider-puss to my left, who’d
an hour. So I followed the only idea that both-
thought this a f ine time to add a second at-
ered to knock. I turned off googleyes, hoping
tack.

12

RAJNAR VAJRA

MAY 2015

I hadn’t cut Monster Two deeply, but it
newtons, he surpassed me to the tune of
dropped to the floor as if I had. Without paus-
around forty pounds, but I’m not as good with
ing to ponder this mystery, I turned to my
weight as I am with distance.

right while trying like hell to brush monster

He examined the corpses without a decent
one off my shoulder with my injured hand.

amount of surprise, turning them various

That wasn’t happening, but the thing just
ways with the old-fashioned pen he carried to
clung there without doing anything rude and
go along with an actual paper notepad.

painful. Monster Three stared at me greenly,

“What are they?” I asked.

waving its claws in a thoughtful sort of way.

“Don’t know.” His non-autopsies complet-

Then, surprise, my shoulder-gripping buddy
ed, he grew palpably impatient.

fell, almost landing on Monster Three.

“Anything to do with the job you need me

M3 poked M1 with a stretched-out leg, gen-
for?”

tly at first, then harder. When its buddy didn’t

He hesitated. “Maybe. How’d you kill
react, it emitted a hissing whistle that
them?”

would’ve scared me out of my wits if I hadn’t

“Mostly with luck. They were hiding in my
already reached that stage. M3’s jaws opened,
suitcase. Do you know anything to explain and suddenly a chunk of M1’s body went miss-how they got there?”

ing. My odds had improved, but my original

“No. Pack whatever you can’t live without
injury had reopened, and I was down to one
and we need to leave f ive minutes ago. I’ll
usable hand. I considered stomping on my lit-
have a crew clean up in here. They’ll gather
tle enemy but had a bad feeling that I’d wind
up the rest of your stuff. Move.”

up with a hole through my foot.

While he got busy on his internal phone, I

Then M3 collapsed as well, twitched for a
stole a pillowcase and shoved some toiletries
second, and lay still.

and clothes inside along with the now-dry

“What the hell?” I said more times than re-
shirt I’d hung in the bathroom. I wore my jack-
quired. The beasts were dead, and I had no
et, also dry—modern fabrics do have advan-
idea why until I glanced at my improvised
tages. Saunders, now tighter than a cramp,
weapon. The tip now had blue-green streaks
practically pushed me out the door. I suspect-
to add to my deposited red, and it occurred to
ed we wouldn’t be checking out at the desk. I
me that my guests may have suffered from ei-
was right.

ther a literal case of blood poisoning, or had a

A light drizzle met us outside the hotel
fatal reaction to automotive alloys.

along with a black car reminiscent of the ex-

I sat for a time on the toilet seat, pressing
tinct SUV breed. Two other armed agents,
one towel against my injured hand and anoth-
both female, occupied the front seat. Saunders
er against my original wound. When the
snatched away my stuffed pillowcase and
bleeding stopped and my heartbeat slowed to
tossed it in the truck. Then he and I eased into
a gallop, I cleaned up as best I could, slapped
the back seat. Serious legroom. As the car
on some bandages from my f irst aid kit, and
smoothly pulled from the hotel into traff ic,
returned to the crime scene. I regarded my
and I dimly heard the warning cornet of an of-
open suitcase. The interior had been redeco-
ficial government vehicle, playing Wagner of
rated with brownish-green smears, no doubt a
course, we had a brief flurry of introductions
fecal gift from my visitors. I decided it would
but no handshakes. My latest benefactors
be best to travel very light.

were Agent Dean and our driver, Agent Vil-

At that point, a call came in that I was ex-
lanova. By then, I couldn’t see their faces, but
pected in the lobby. I politely requested that

Saunders’s eyes kept darting around as if
my caller first visit my room.

searching for hidden predators.

“Got things to show you,” I said.

Traffic control routed everything out of our
way, and we made it out of the city within ten

Agent Saunders might’ve been inconspicu-
minutes, a miracle.

ous if he’d been shorter and hadn’t worn a vis-

“If any of you,” I said as we exited the Hol-
ible sidearm. He stood a quarter inch over six
land Tunnel, “would volunteer a tidbit of in-
three, an inch taller than me unless I’d grown
formation about where we’re going and why,
again since I’d last been checked. In terms of

I’d truly appreciate it.”

ZEN ANGEL

13

ANALOG

Dean replied, “Sorry, sir. We’re not permit-

This time the odor reminded me of freshly
ted.”

ground maca powder. The pineapple element

After that no one spoke until we reached a
remained, but with a component of rot.

private airport, where Saunders reclaimed my

Schwartz studied me for a good ten minutes
pitiful excuse for luggage and then chivvied
as if waiting for something exciting to happen.

me into a waiting helicopter. He climbed in

At last, he nodded and informed me, in a
next, and f inally Dean joined the party, leav-
somewhat disappointed tone, that anaphylac-
ing Villanova in the car.

tic shock would be unlikely.

I radiated no warm and fuzzy love toward

“What,” I asked, “did you suspect I might
any of my present companions. One of them
be allergic to?”

might be my assassin post-mission. The pilot

“The word ‘who’ would be more appropri-
didn’t even glance at me. After some radio
ate, Dr. Silver. You’ll find out in due course.”

chatter, we took off, air-chopping blades far

He summoned googleyes with a squint, and
louder than the electric motors. We f lew
before I could ask another question, the door
south.

opened. A stranger entered the room, gestur-
ing for me to follow him.

I spotted the Pentagon in the distance short-

I did. In the hallway, he turned toward me.

ly before we landed, so we were in Virginia,

“We’ve never met in the f lesh, Len, but you
probably in Arlington County. By the time
might recognize my voice.”

we’d set down on a heliport target, I’d peeled

“I do. Agent Morgenstein, I presume.” He
the bandage off my hand and found only a
was younger and plumper than I’d expected
scab. My hand barely ached. The wound in my
from the way he’d sounded.

side didn’t hurt, but the area felt tight.

“You got it. Call me Josh. Saunders and

The agents ushered me past six heavily

Dean were sent to protect you.” He patted his
armed security officers—one absconded with
stomach. “I’m more a desk-jockey.”

my pillowcase—into a modestly sized indus-

He held out his hand for a shake, and I
trial building. Not so modest, I realized, when
obliged. Strong grip.

I noticed the walls changing colors at random

“What were they protecting me from,
intervals. I’d heard about this method of re-

Josh?”

vealing intruders in “chameleon” suits. The

“Come with me and most of your questions
hallways were very wide and tall, as if de-
will get answered. Better prepare yourself for
signed for tanks to roll through. Electronic
a shock.”

gear depended from the ceilings. We entered

He took off down the hallway so quickly
a huge elevator and descended eight f loors.

that I practically had to run to catch up.

Next stop, an office with a virtual beach scene

Maybe the desk he claimed to be jockeying
wrapped around two walls. Saunders and
was one of the treadmill sort.

Dean abandoned me to the ministrations of a

We rode an elevator down another f loor

Dr. Schwartz.

where he led me to a double-door with two

Schwartz assessed my blood pressure and lis-
armed guards directly in front, and another
tened to my heart and breathing. He then
guard to either side. We stopped there—I as-
swabbed my left forearm with mysterious liq-
sumed for a body scan—then the linebackers
uids and had me inhale a puff of air from a pres-
stepped aside and even opened the doors for
surized cylinder. This had a faint odor, a bou-
us. They closed automatically.

quet of butterscotch and pineapple. He waited

“Such gentlemen,” Josh murmured to me.

a full minute before inquiring if I felt any short-We now stood in a large conference room,
ness of breath or unusual itching. When I de-
apparently for a business with a flotilla of of-
nied all, he examined my left forearm the way a
f icers. A rectangular maple table trimmed
jeweler might examine a questionable dia-
with ebony ran thirty feet, surrounded by
mond. He made a little grunt that might have in-
pricey ergonomic chairs, the kind guaranteed
dicated satisfaction or indigestion.

to weaken back muscles and accentuate pos-

“We’ll try a stronger titration,” he said, hold-
tural f laws. A massive rectangular object be-
ing out the breathing mask again while adjust-
tween two chairs spoiled the furniture’s sym-
ing a valve in the pressurized tank.

metry. It seemed ideal as a houseplant stand,

14

RAJNAR VAJRA

MAY 2015
assuming the plant was a full-size oak. We

“Oh? This is a military operation?”

were alone.

He made a dismissive pfft noise. “Not en-

“Sit anywhere you like,” Josh offered, “ex-
tirely, but the navy and air force are involved.”

cept on the stool.”

The AC vents overhead hissed, and sudden-

Stool? He’d gestured toward the houseplant
ly I couldn’t smell anything, not even Josh’s af-
stand, a perch for those craving dangling feet.

tershave.

The thing looked to be solid steel, big enough

He must’ve noticed me sniffing. “Odor neu-
to seat three people at once without any
tralizer. Everyone attending this meeting has
thighs spilling over. Each of its legs could’ve
passed the allergy tests, but some people find
supported a mastodon.

our visitor’s, uh, ketones unpleasant.”

I caught myself smiling, and it triggered an

“What visitor?”

insight. For some time, I’d wondered why I’d

An immense door opened in the back wall,
allowed the government to draft me. Sure, Big
and secret service types poured through,

Sibling had managed to f ind me, but that
quickly moving aside to allow people behind
didn’t mean I had to stay found. I had re-
them to pass.

sources and knew people with greater re-

“See for yourself,” Josh suggested.

sources who knew . . .

Three women and six men, all in dress uni-

But the stool practically shouted that this
forms festooned with enough ribbons, metals,
was exactly where I wished to be.

and shoulder knickknacks to make them top-

Live long enough, and novelty becomes in-
heavy, strode in with the majesty of galleons,
creasingly rare and precious. Trust me. Yes,
except for some elbow collisions occasioned
technology keeps opening new possibilities,
by vying to enter f irst. Seven bigwigs fol-
but eventually you’ll catch on to the patterns
lowed—two senators, the secretaries of de-
of technological evolution, and the luster
fense and state, and three foreign ambas-
dims. After many normal lifetimes of experi-
sadors—comparatively shabby despite suits
ence under my current self-adjusting belt, I sa-
costing two grand and up. After a pause, a
vor even the promise of novelty. So Big Sibling
nondescript fellow more casually dressed
hadn’t hooked me by dangling rewards or
joined the party. Newsfeeds made him appear
punishments; I hadn’t been intimidated.

taller, but he was either the vice president of

Nope. I was hooked the instant I’d caught the
these United States or a dead ringer.

faint spoor of something truly different.

VP Thompson took a chair between the

I stared happily at the absurdly oversized

Chinese ambassador and the secretary of state,
seat and let my subconscious struggle to make
on my side of the table, and then pointed his
sense of it, trying to match it through analogy
eyes at the open doorway, where everyone
or implication with something in my experi-
except for me kept staring. No one spoke, and
ence storehouse. Should’ve been easy. I had a

I felt tension building in the room. Nothing
lot of experience to draw on. Not only direct happened for at least two minutes.

memories—most of my earliest have evaporat-

I’d risen to be polite when the f irst
ed—but also memories of memories, and of
strangers had joined us and remained standing
sharing memories with other people, the
while most of the crowd claimed chairs, but
mind’s way of storing information in a com-
when a final arrival appeared I sat down invol-
pressed form.

untarily. A strong enough shock turns knees

But my overstocked subconscious could get
into jelly, and this shock pinned the needle.

no traction whatsoever. Suddenly, a delightful

Still, I knew the latecomer was a person
inner silence replaced all mental chatter. I
rather than, say, a monster, because it project-
could almost smell the short circuit.

ed an aura of nobility and presence so palpa-

I lowered myself into the chair directly across
ble that I automatically bowed my head in re-
from the stool. If it had been scaled to fit somespect. I fought off an impulse to kneel.

one, I wanted a clear view of that someone.

Novelty in spades! I felt lighter, almost gid-

Josh plopped down in the chair to my right.

dy, as decades of accumulated cynicism

I aimed my smile at him. “This is one of
sloughed off.

those hurry up and wait situations?”

As the newcomer moved toward the table,

“The military way,” he acknowledged.

everyone stood. A mild butterscotch smell

ZEN ANGEL

15

ANALOG
perfumed the air, and I heard an increased hiss
species often clasp hands as a greeting. I lack
from the ceiling vents.

hands as such, but perhaps we could touch

First physical impressions: the creature was
fingers?”

big. It had turned sideways to clear the door-He, she, or whatever reached across the
way. It stood upright, had a torso of sorts, four wide table without leaning forward and held
long arms, and a head equipped with eyes and
one f inger-tendril six inches from my nose.

a mouth. Perhaps overequipped. The eyes

You have quite the wingspan, I didn’t say out
were large golden hemispheres coated with
loud. I pressed the tendril gently with an in-
tiny sparkly f lecks but no apparent pupils:

dex finger and felt a mild electric current run-

Two faced forward, set close beneath the
ning up my arm.

ledge of its forehead, two more orbs bordered

“I understand,” Thompson said, “that cere-
those, placed far to the sides. All eyes blinked
mony is required before we can proceed, Am-
in random order, lids corkscrewing closed and
bassador?”

open. Short golden fur covered most of the

“Nothing elaborate, Mr. Vice President. I
head, thicker on top. The mouth was set in a
only ask for you and your colleagues to for-
wide snout, currently half-opened in what
mally agree here and now that this man will
might have been meant as a smile, its many
represent your entire species among the other
teeth an assortment of interesting shapes in-
candidates. Please indicate your agreement au-
cluding front fangs with a distinct spiral. Cat-
dibly, in whatever language you wish.”

fish-like tendrils hung from the snout.

A long moment passed, probably for the il-

A multicolored robe covered most of its
lustrious panel to digest Foresight’s request,
body, but from various bulges I got an impres-
then the Chinese ambassador repeated the
sion of a bifurcated torso unified by thick con-
verb “agree” but in Mandarin, triggering a
necting cables. All four arms or tentacles, coat-
polyglot avalanche of affirmatives.

ed with a golden pelt, terminated in eight

“Excellent,” Foresight declared. “No one de-
tendril-like digits that appeared delicate and
murred. And will you accept this responsibili-
weak until I watched the newcomer hoist the
ty, Dr. Silver?”

massive stool and reposition it back a yard with

I felt tempted to say yes and ride whatever
a single tendril. The robe mostly hid the legs
wave arose, but the decades have taught me
and feet, but as the creature perched itself on
caution. “So far, Ambassador, no one’s told me
the stool by stepping over it and settling back-
what I’m being asked to do.”

wards, I glimpsed two coppery boots the size of

I could see my funhouse ref lection in the
rowboats. Unless the boots were actually feet.

golden eyes. “That is largely my fault. Tell me,

Thompson cleared his throat, and I won-
please, have you any notion of what I am?”

dered if he’d address us with his usual pom-

I shrugged. “A visitor from another world or
posity or attempt something even more stilted.

time or dimension or some combination. Oth-

“I’d like to welcome everyone and thank
erwise, I suspect you’re an adult and not hu-
you all for your efforts in making this historic
man.”

meeting possible.” He focused on me. “Dr. Sil-

“Your f irst and f inal two conjectures are
ver, we have time constraints preventing me
correct although I admire your open-minded-
from introducing you to each individual on
ness. I am indeed adult, female at present. If
the illustrious panel you see assembled. Be as-
you wish a name for my species, please refer
sured that everyone here knows who you are.

to us as the Vine.”

It behooves me, however, to introduce you to

“I will.” Female at present? Interesting. “So
our distinguished visitor.” He nodded toward
why keep me in the dark?”

the giant. “Dr. Leonard Silver, I present Am-

“That wasn’t my preference. But I learned
bassador Foresight. Ambassador Foresight, I’m
that your . . . implanted information system
delighted to say that here is the individual
can be breached and saw no way to enlighten
whose presence you’d requested.”

you, not with assurance of conf identiality.

“Honored,” I said and meant it.

Competitive outside interests already pose a

“As am I,” Foresight replied in perfect Eng-
personal danger to you, perhaps even here.”

lish. I’d heard deeper voices before, although

So Foresight knew about the wireless wire-
not many. “I’ve learned that members of your
taps. And probably my recent close calls. But

16

RAJNAR VAJRA

MAY 2015
who were these “outside interests?” I glanced

“That’s . . . incredible.”

around at faces.

The overbuilt stool squeaked as Foresight

“Do these executives know what you have
shifted her weight. “Those ancients who built
in mind?”

the artifact did not name themselves. We call

A different kind of eyelid, transparent, slid
them ‘Originators,’ to translate our term into
briefly sideways over a golden eye, and I won-

English. The carvings expressed an offer to
dered if Foresight had emulated a wink. “I’m
share what they considered most valuable
not authorized to share full details with any-
with future sentient beings, and instructions
one but you. But these others have received
for retrieving those valuables.”

the gist. Would you care to hear it now?”

The vice president, to my secret delight,

“I would.”

raised his own hand. “Ambassador, I under-

“Some two thousand Earth years ago, if I
stand that the retrieval requires more than one
may borrow your elegant numeration, we
sentient species. Is that correct?”

Vine were exploring worlds beyond our star

Foresight’s head faced me, but she didn’t
system. We happened upon a gigantic hollow
turn it to see Thompson. Side-eyes, I decid-
artifact in interstellar space with implausible
ed, could come in handy. “Six species are
attributes. Investigating, we found within it an
mandatory. The procedure requires each par-
immense, partly buried structure.”

ticipant to occupy one of the metallic plates

Foresight interlaced two sets of f inger-ten-
surrounding the plinth. How the structure
drils before continuing. Everyone watched,
will ascertain that all requirements are ful-
and no one made a sound.

f illed remains unknown as does how gifts

“We unburied this structure, a challenging
will be provided. We suspect each partici-
task in the extreme cold! Clearing all debris re-
pant will receive a segment of Originator
vealed a tall, hexagonal plinth, each side with
knowledge, the intent being to keep one
a metallic platform set before it. Symbols, pre-
species from obtaining it all, and perhaps
sumably alien letters or words, had been elab-
dominating others.”

orately carved into f ive sides of the plinth.

“Can you guess what kind of knowledge

The sixth side also displayed carvings, but
will be disseminated?”

these showed a progression from simple

“I cannot, Mr. Vice President. But we be-
shapes to ornate ones, each shape adjacent to
lieve it will be highly advanced and signif i-
a symbol or group of symbols appearing on at
cant.” Foresight waved a few tendrils in my di-
least one other side.”

rection. “Should we return, Dr. Silver, to what

I was too intrigued to pay much attention to
we ask of you?”

anyone else, but it struck me as odd that every-

“Please.”

one seemed equally fascinated, despite Fore-

“For some time, we’ve explored this galaxy
sight’s claim that they’d all gotten the “gist.” I and several others, seeking intelligent beings
wondered if the ambassador was bending her
capable of participating in such a cooperative
instructions to include extra details.

project. Doctor, please fall to the floor imme-

“This final side provided a key for decipher-
diately.”

ing the entire plinth. Interpreted, the alien

Her tone hadn’t changed, so I’ve no idea
writing claimed that the artifact’s creators had
how I knew this was an emergency. I dived off
existed in another universe previous to this
my chair, hit the f loor, and rolled toward a
one, and had found means to preserve some
wall just as something incredibly fast whined
treasures beyond the collapse of their reality
over my head. It hit the back of my former seat
and the explosive unfolding of future realities.”

like a bullet, and I glanced up to stare at what

I felt so much like a kid in a schoolroom
appeared to be an insect, its arrow-shaped
that I held up an arm. Foresight somehow un-
front end caught in the chair’s fancy mesh.

derstood the gesture. “Have you a question,

The thing gleamed neon blue and had four

Doctor?”

sets of buzzing wings blurring with frantic

“Am I getting this straight? You’re talking
speed. It began to free itself, but Foresight’s
about a universe before what we call the ‘Big arm f lashed across the table, and her f inger-Bang’?”

tendrils grabbed it. With a sound like the crack

“Perhaps many universes previous.”

of a bullwhip, Foresight smashed the little

ZEN ANGEL

17

ANALOG
monster on the tabletop. Some of the quicker-

The teleportation, in itself, didn’t exactly
reacting VIPs had just begun rising from their
stagger me, since the Vine had mastered effi-
seats.

cient star travel. But something about it that I

One of the secret service crew yelled, “P-4,”

couldn’t pinpoint impressed the hell out of
and began running toward Thompson. Before
me.

the dedicated fellow could reach the VP and

We weren’t alone, although none of the
begin protecting him from anything, Foresight
creatures visible from our location were
stood and raised all four arms. I noticed the in-
close enough to see clearly. We f loated near
sect’s corpse was gone.

one side of the great sphere. Its walls ap-

“Please,” said the Ambassador, “do not be
peared thin, almost transparent, and I
distracted! We have just witnessed an attempt
guessed the luminous dots beyond were
by some unidentif ied species to eliminate a
stars.

competitor. It has become crucial that we

I wanted to face Foresight, but before I
complete our business promptly.” Thompson
could experiment with twisting and f lailing,
waved off the security agent who reluctantly
my body rotated into the right position. Just as returned to his post.

in my flying dreams.

“Why crucial, Ambassador?” the secretary

I commanded myself to keep cool or fake it.

of state demanded, sounding out of breath.

“Please tell me something, Ambassador. How

“This room has proven itself insuff iciently
did the insect you killed get into that room?”

secure. Therefore, we dare not waste time. I

She . . . rattled, I don’t know how else to de-
beg you all to sit again.” Foresight set an ex-
scribe it, more sound than movement al-
ample. “Dr. Silver, please resume your seat as
though her body did shake a little.

well, and I thank you for your prompt re-

“Are you all right?” I asked. The effect
sponse to my warning.”

stopped.

“How’d you know that thing coming for

“My deepest apologies, Doctor. You are a
me?”

delight. Few entities in your situation would

The transparent eyelid slid sideways again.

have failed to ask where they were and how

“My hearing is acute, Doctor, relative to hu-
they’d arrived.”

mans. Now the gist of the gist: in our long

I glanced around. “I f igure this is a space
search, we have found many species qualified
station or spaceship. And you, um, beamed us
to participate in the great endeavor, and have
aboard, something like that.”

winnowed the prospects to eight powered by

“In truth this is a way station for contest
two—my regrets, I meant sixty-four. Since my
proctors to, as you say, compare notes. No
kind discovered the artifact and are hosting the
beam transported you. Location is an ad-
event, we feel justified in placing a Vine at the justable variable once the geometry of reality
plinth. To determine the other participants, we
is understood.”

have organized a competition among represen-

“Huh. I’d like to hear more about that, but
tatives of the sixty-four species. If you triumph, are you avoiding my question about the bug?”

Doctor, you may well bring a priceless treasure

“Perhaps you have guessed. I brought it.”

to Earth. I regret rushing your decision, but you She pulled the shattered corpse from a pocket
must make it now.”

in her robe and held it before my eyes. No

I had a boatload of questions, but I believed
ichor. Instead, lots of tiny metallic parts.

her. “Then I say yes. I’m honored—”

“A drone?”

No sense in finishing my sentence because

“A sophisticated one, if you will forgive a

I’d lost my audience. In fact, I’d lost the table, touch of species pride. It wouldn’t have in-the room, and evidently gravity. Foresight and
jured you, but all went more smoothly be-

I floated within an immense sphere, miles in
cause you reacted promptly.”

diameter although a faint atmospheric mist

“Glad to help. But what was the point?”

made distances uncertain even for me. I had

“I deployed it as an excuse to hurry your de-
no falling sensation, ruling out freefall. This recision before an actual attack could occur.

minded me of f lying in a dream. The air

Your enemy might be capable of vaporizing
smelled of caramel and freshly cut clover. A
that entire building.”

slight breeze cooled my face.

“I see. Good call then.”

18

RAJNAR VAJRA

MAY 2015

“Your adaptability intrigues me, Doctor.

That news shook me more than anything

Might it stem from the many changes you’ve
else had this day. “Is there any way—”

experienced since your birth?”

She stopped me by placing one of her f in-

A chill rappelled down my spine, tied to a
ger tendrils across my lips, shocking me into
nasty hunch. “Probably. After all, I’m a hun-
silence in more than one sense. Not the sharp
dred and sixty-eight years old, if that means
sting of a static discharge, but an intense tin-
anything to you.”

gling.

A brief rattle. “It means you are testing me.

“Further questions must wait. Now, I must

You were born in Cymru, on September 12,
consult with my fellow proctors to ascertain

1736 ACE. And your surname wasn’t Silver, or
which candidates declined our invitation then

Rice, or Price.”

plan accordingly. Do not attempt to leave this

She pronounced Cymru correctly, “Come-
area although you are welcome to drift until
ree,” better known to outsiders as Wales. But
you encounter the resistance of a containment

I felt more upset than impressed. Had she un-
barrier. You will f ind it possible to push
covered all my secrets?

through it, but the atmosphere just beyond is

“How could you know that?”

deadly to your species.”

Considering her side-eyes, I wasn’t sure, but

I nodded. “Do not breach invisible force
her attention seemed to drift toward other in-
field. Got it.”

habitants in this vast space.

Novelty plus fellow “immortals”! My spirit

“I attended your birth along with a medical
felt so light, no wonder I floated.

team.”

“Wait.” Implications stepped on the heels of

The proctors held their powwow not very
implications. “Did you change me, tweak my far from me. Apparently, members of the Vine

DNA? Christ! Is that why I’ve lived so long?

were required to have similar shapes, but the

And heal so fast?”

number of limbs was optional along with their

“Just so.”

symmetry. One fashion-forward Vine had four

“How did you do it? Alien hormones?

arms on one side and one on the other.

Telomere boosting? Secret blood transfusions

It came to me why the technology that had
when I wasn’t looking?”

brought me here had knocked my self-adjust-

“Isn’t it obvious? We arranged quick cellu-
ing socks off—the instant yet nonfatal change
lar death with rapid replacements. I’m sorry
in momentum. Mere minutes ago, I’d been sit-
if this disturbs you. We needed a champion
uated on a rotating world orbiting a star in a
to represent each selected species and de-
rotating and traveling galaxy. Wherever the
sired to equalize every candidate’s chances to
hell I was now, even its angular momentum
be chosen for the f inal f ive. Many species
couldn’t have matched my previous location.

have longer lifespans than humans, and thus

Yet I’d arrived without a jar, sound if not nec-
more time to develop the attributes we seek:

essarily safe. . . .

wisdom, compassion, and a cooperative spir-

This realization initiated a cascade, souring
it. To ensure your longevity, we increased
my mood as various actualities penetrated my
your self-repairing capacity, and provided ex-
thick brain. My government intended to mur-
tra—”

der me, some alien species likewise wanted

“But why me?” Strong emotion gripped me, me dead to reduce competition for some pre-but I wasn’t sure which one.

universe goodies, and my longevity was artifi-

For the f irst time, I sensed that Foresight
cial. On the luminous side, I wasn’t the only
was uncomfortable. “Prenatal testing suggest-
multi-centenarian in town. I’d been carrying a
ed you were apt for the role. We found other
special kind of loneliness for centuries, and
possible candidates and applied similar
the possibility that it might end brought hope
changes to them, but you became our prima-
intense enough to hurt.

ry choice.”

From necessity, I’d developed a coping

“Others! You mean I’m not the only . . .

strategy for times when troubles overflowed:

Methuselah on Earth?”

repeating the phrase “right now, I’m all right”

“Some have died due to misfortunes, but
until it became true. The trick worked again,
you are not alone.”

but just as my nerves settled and with no

ZEN ANGEL

19

ANALOG
noticeable transition, I found myself in a large

Meanwhile, the super-tall Vine held a little
rectangular room, lying supine on something
ball displaying its own light show—the tum-
soft, staring up at a domed ceiling. Or through
bleweed party in miniature. Obvious deduc-
it, since I could see fluffy clouds drifting high tion: Four Legs was addressing the bird, al-overhead in an orange-tinted sky. A spoonful
though the language lacked chirps, caws, or
of dizziness was already fading. The room
mentions of Polly and crackers. The speech re-
smelled of ocean in a good way.

minded me of Humpback whales complaining

“Please forgive me for altering your body’s
to each other across the deeps.

orientation,” said Foresight’s familiar voice.

Instant teleportation and atmosphere-retain-

“This was a lengthy jump, likely to affect
ing force f ields were dazzling accomplish-
your balance more than our previous reloca-
ments. But the subtler trick of directing local
tion. I feared you might have fallen upon ar-
sounds so that, for me, Foresight’s voice dom-
rival.”

inated, hit me with a new, visceral impact. I

I sat up. The ambassador stood behind the
felt like some backwoods hick in the big city.

mattress-like pad supporting me, and two

Foresight patted me on a shoulder with a
other Vine loomed nearby. One had only two
gentle tendril. “Doubtless you f ind these cir-
arms but made up for it with four legs. The
cumstances disorienting.”

other was incredibly tall. These weren’t the

“But not boring. Why these particular room-
most bizarre creatures in the room, or they
mates?”

were, but I’d adjusted to the Vine chassis.

“They are comfortable in your atmosphere

Two heavy contenders, both to my right.

and gravity, and we have eliminated both as

One emulated an eagle by having long feath-
your secret enemy.”

ers, wings, a hooked beak, and two sturdy if

“You seem comfortable under Earth condi-
birdy legs. It stretched, however, 7’ 3.2”,
tions yourself.”

each feather a spectrum from peacock blue

Rattle. “A technological boon.”

to a metallic magenta tipped with emerald,

She wore no visible machinery or tanks, but
its torso positioned horizontally as if in

I suppose her robe could’ve hidden anything
f light. Its crested head, lifted diagonally on a smaller than a tuba.

ruffed neck, had a streamlined elegance; the

“When does the big competition begin?”

eagle eyes blazed neon green. Long tail

“The initial phase is underway, but our pri-
feathers spread well beyond the torso. A sec-
mary tests commence after you f inish sleep-
ond, almost vestigial pair of wings placed be-
ing. Whenever you are hungry, say so and hu-
fore the main pair terminated in thin arms
man food shall arrive quickly. The doorway to
equipped with pencil-thin talons. The over-
your far left leads to a human-style sanitation
all effect suggested some amalgam of equine
facility. Ignore other doorways.”

and bird.

“Why not start the main tests straightaway?”

The weirdness champ, however, inhabited

“Many candidates require more time to at-
its own league. Best analogy: a six-foot in di-
tain equilibrium. Some delay is useful. Finally
ameter spherical tumbleweed infested by a
knowing which candidates will compete, we
thousand large bees. The insects, or whatever,
can ref ine our trials. Also, most species re-
kept f lying around to light on different parts
quire sleep to perform optimally. While you
of the tumbleweed but never flew far from it.

rest we will teach you what we know about

Combined, they produced a complex hum-
the Originators and the language engraved on
ming unlike the buzzing I might’ve expected.

the plinth.”

But the glaze on the sundae cherry was that

“While I’m sleeping?”

each insect, independently, randomly f lared

“We have a technique that should serve.

into incandescence, flashing a kaleidoscope’s

Modulated electromagnetic induction conveys
worth of colors and patterns. Goggling at this
the desired information.”

lightshow, I found it beautiful, dizzying, and

Christ, I thought. Lenny Silver, you’re play-
alarming.

ing in the cosmic league now.

Four Legs emitted strange noises, which be-
came muted the instant Foresight said to me,

After a quick lesson in “customizing your

“These aliens are your roommates.”

resting surface” and an apology for lacking

20

RAJNAR VAJRA

MAY 2015
time to answer more questions, Foresight and

“Most sensible, friend Engineer. What else
crew vanished with nary a pop of displaced air.

might be worthy of preservation?”

I studied my companions. The bird seemed

Ultra-advanced technology? Maybe, but
to be studying me.

how would the Originators know that whoev-

“Wish we could communicate,” I said, and
er found the artifact didn’t have hyper-ultra-ad-
a complex whale’s groan resounded while a
vanced technology?

wall panel between two doors twinkled in in-

“Collected wisdom,” I ventured. “Or how
teresting ways.

to live in universal harmony. Maybe the ideal

The great beak emitted another aquatic
power source.” How to eat gallons of ice
moan. “It will seem we can.” The artif icial
cream without gaining weight. “Your
voice retained something of a whale’s cry. As
thoughts, Investor?”

for syntax, perhaps the translating device, like

“I prefer yours, Healer. Mine are less appeal-
my roommate the tumbleweed, had bugs.

ing.”

“Wonderful! An interpreting system!” A

“What,” asked Engineer, “will be your
new voice, this one sweet and feminine, not
meaning?”

what I’d expect from your average tumble-

All Investor’s bees took off simultaneously,
weed. “And how courteous our hosts were to
running dark, orbiting the tumbleweed shape
preclude confusion by leaving it inactivated
like some insanely complicated Bohr’s atom.

until we were alone. I am honored to be in

Then the light show resumed.

your company, friends. Perhaps we should in-

“I would f ind the survival of my species
troduce ourselves?”

most worthwhile.”

Courteous? Or the Vine might’ve wanted to

Engineer emitted a deep squeak, and I
keep individual conversations private.

might’ve squeaked a bit myself. I posed the ob-

“I’m in,” I said, mental wheels spinning.

vious question.

“But our names, assuming we all have names,

“Are you suggesting the plinth might be a—a
probably can’t be translated. What say we
doorway, maybe leading to another time or an-
identify ourselves by our usual, um, roles?”

other reality? And the Originators might return?”

“A superb idea,” the tumbleweed said. “Call

“My concern is that they might return as
me ‘Investor.’”

conquerors.”

The word “Investor” seemed to enter only

“Yeah, I was afraid that’s what you meant.

my right ear while a quieter “philanthropist”

What say we share it with the Vine right away?

snuck into my left. I doubted the anthro part,

Although they’re probably monitoring us,
but my opinion of the translating system
come to think of it.”

soared.

No Vine suddenly materialized as I half-ex-

“Call me Healer,” I offered, admiring the
pected, but a verbal response came quickly.

panel’s zigzag color flashes. Talk about seeing

“We closely attend all candidates,” stated an
your name in lights. . . .

unfamiliar baritone to the accompaniment of

“And I will claim Engineer,” the bird an-
whale cries and f lashing lights. “No proctor
nounced.

available but I am Patient, liaison staff, and I as-Scores of Investor’s bees brightened. “I
sure that we are risk aware. Forgive linguistic
proffer a query.”

weakness.”

The tumbleweed seemed to be waiting for

“You believe it’s a risk worth taking?” I
permission to do the proffering, so I said,
asked.

“Sure, go ahead.”

“So we have assessed. After rest period, you

“If your species had the power to leave a
will comprehend decision. No need explain
heritage for the next universe, what would
now. Enjoy rest period!”

you two think most worthwhile to leave?”

The promise of near-future revelations

I mentally awarded Investor a platinum star.

seemed to quash our trio’s interest in conver-

That intriguing question hadn’t bothered to
sation. Engineer and Investor departed
cross my mind.

through their respective doors to visit whatev-

Engineer didn’t hesitate. “I will be suggest-
er comfort stations lay beyond, and I followed
ing detailing the technique of preserving arti-
suit after shaking my head at Investor’s mode
facts through a universal collapse.”

of locomotion: squadrons of bees landing on

ZEN ANGEL

21

ANALOG
top of the tumbleweed, gripping branches
and f lapping wings until their host rolled,

Waking, I found the dome clear, the sky
then repeating from scratch.

pink-kissed and adorned with streaming rose-

It didn’t surprise me that only my door
quartz clouds. The centuries have taught me
opened via a knob.

how to slumber like a bear, but this sleep had

My bathroom was a near duplicate of the
been something special. I felt fantastic, ready
one in my last hotel. Only it sparkled with
for anything. Engineer’s perch had vanished
cleanliness; the fake marble counters and faux
and the alien stood tilted to gaze upward. In-
travertine floor tiles were warm, and it includ-
vestor’s bees remained quiescent.

ed a long open closet with human clothes

“That,” Engineer commented, “will be the
hanging, or neatly folded on a shelf. The toi-
finest rest I’ve ever taken.”

letries I’d left on Earth, or copies, sat on the

I understood every word so naturally that it
sink counter organized exactly as I prefer.

took me a moment to realize that the alien’s

Towels hung on a typical hotel rack.

noises hadn’t been translated.

All this was boggling, but what really made

Whale sounds weren’t in my repertoire, so I
my jaw drop was seeing an ordinary toilet pa-
tried English. “Am I making sense to you right
per roll dangling next to the standard toilet.

now, Engineer?” Again, no translation.

I used the facilities and donned pajamas,

“I will grasp your meaning without effort,
which I seldom wear, and upon returning to

Healer! Amazing! Our hosts have attained a
bed, discovered it adorned with hotel-style
tremendous height; what could they have left
sheets, pillows, and blankets. I lay down and
to learn from the Originators?”

glanced to my right. Next to me, Engineer strad-

“Beats me. But the Vine haven’t gone
dled a long padded tube raised thirty inches off
through so much trouble for fun.”

the f loor. Beyond the eagle, Investor had

“I will agree, Healer. Look you, if only we
shrunk down slightly, and all bees had appar-
could duplicate each other’s vocalizations, we
ently landed, flashing only occasionally.

could now use our true names.”

None of us spoke as the light dimmed, and

True name? I’d been born Dyffad ap Rhys,
the dome overhead became almost opaque.

but had gone by many others. . . .

Soon, the emerging alien stars barely showed.

“Besides, neither of us can twinkle. Speak-

I considered saying good night, but being ig-
ing of which, I’d say our roommate is waking
norant of my roommates’ customs, I refrained.

up.”

All remained silent.

Investor’s bees burst into full hum, f light,

Except my head became noisy with
and brilliance. But the flashes came across as
thoughts. Considering the Vine’s demonstrat-
words and the sound as commentary: “Good
ed capabilities, why weren’t we given individ-
morning life/existence, I am present/aware.”

ual rooms? Risky, guessing alien motives, but I

I hadn’t realized the humming, too, carried
couldn’t help speculating. Perhaps this setup
meaning.

was part of the contest. Or the Vine believed

“Good morning,” I said, and Engineer made
we three were a perfect party combo. A less
an equivalent greeting.

cheery answer came to mind. Security. Possi-

More flashes. “I comprehend you both! Ex-
bly one or both of my new buddies was here
cellent! Also, I now grasp/settle on why the
as bodyguard rather than candidate.

Vine fear no Originator trickery. Those direc-

One nice thing about recent events; I’d for-
tives on the plinth, which the Vine have de-
gotten about my gums. Of course, now they
coded/translated, have become inscribed into
resumed itching.

my memory. Am I alone in this?”

I sighed quietly, arranged pillows, and

I checked, and the knowledge was right
closed my eyes. Engineer began making a qui-
there. “Same here. Engineer?”

et burbling-brook sound—why shouldn’t

“I also possess it. And I will agree with you,
aliens snore? Gentle f lashes from Investor’s

Investor. The plinth opening instructions re-
side of the room, viewed through my eyelids,
flect only peaceful intent.”

seemed to follow a pleasant rhythm. The com-

“Right,” I said slowly. “All that emphasis on
bined effect felt soothing, and despite strange-
diversity, cooperation, and compassion. Still,
ness, worries, and teething, I fell asleep.

we can’t rule out any possibility.”

22

RAJNAR VAJRA

MAY 2015

“Most wise, friend Healer, ” Investor
neer to return from facilities unknown, our
hummed. “And on the subject of cooperation,
suite vanished.

may I send an envoy to you both so that I may

We arrived in a huge cave, a nexus for eight
better understand and accommodate your na-
large tunnels. The incandescent ceiling re-
tures?”

vealed a polished rock f loor with winding

“Fine by me,” I said, fairly sure what the
opalescent inclusions. Mineralized cursive.

“envoy” would be. Engineer also agreed.

Small holes pierced the incurving walls, per-

Sure enough, a bee zipped over to land on
haps for ventilation. Gravity felt normal.

Engineer’s beak for a few seconds before tak-

Above us, reflecting the overhead blaze, hung
ing off to resettle on my left knee. It gazed up
thousands of miniature stalactites, as though
at me. From close range, I could see this was
someone from 1950 with a taste for popcorn
no insect. The tilted eyes weren’t the com-
ceilings had gone overboard.

pound sort. The face had a rather feline char-

“Each of you will soon observe,” Foresight
acter including tiny whiskers. Cute, but I de-
announced, “a personal identifier manifesting
cided to avoid petting.

above one of the entryways to inform you

I’d taken Investor to be the tumbleweed,
which tunnel is yours to enter. Follow your
but perhaps the actual sentient was the bee
tunnel and exit at your best speed. Ready?”

colony, or Investor was both plant and inhabi-

Nobody f ired a starting gun, but when my
tants. As my visitor returned to orbiting home
likeness suddenly appeared over one opening,
base, Foresight conjured herself into the

I sprinted across the f loor and into my pas-
room.

sageway. Engineer, whose entrance lay next to

She addressed us all in English, letting the
mine, had passed me by as I’d been crawling. I
translator translate.

doubted Investor could even reach the maze

“You should now be primed for your initial
within an hour despite so much bee power.

challenge. Appropriate nutrition will soon ar-

An unfair contest, unless each passageway
rive. After your morning needs are satisf ied,
was designed to even things out.

we four will be transported into a maze. Each

My tunnel sported a flat floor bracketed by
of you will be directed to a specif ic tunnel.

parentheses-like walls. More ventilation holes.

Your task is to exit the maze quickly as you

A glowing, longitudinal strip bisected the
can. You will then be returned here, supplied
arched ceiling. No limestone popcorn in evi-
more nutrition, and subsequently will receive
dence. The word “maze” didn’t really f it. No
a mathematical challenge. Questions? I have
branching and confusing paths, no directional
little time.”

alternatives except returning the way I’d

I had a scroll’s worth but started with the
come. Smooth sailing until I came to a door,
top one. “What kind of mathematical chal-
slightly ajar and covered with thick shapes
lenge, Ambassador?”

suggesting gears and machine parts. I pushed,

“In your case, a written test. Anyone else?”

but nothing budged. So I put real muscle into

“When your time is less limited,” Investor
it, and managed to get the damn thing open
communicated. Engineer stayed silent and af-
another angstrom or so.

ter a moment, Foresight performed her self-

No maze, but a puzzle box. And why make
vanishing act.

puzzles that have no solution?

I nibbled the hotel-style “continental” break-

I searched, but spotted no clues, secret
fast that arrived for me, wondering which con-
messages, buttons, or IKEA pictorial instruc-
tinent was guilty, and didn’t drool over Engi-
tions. Then I had to laugh. The answer stood
neer’s wriggling bugs accompanied by strips
right in front of me. Without much effort, I
of God knows what, or Investor’s bucket of
pried off some of the mechanical door decora-
brown mush, eaten and gathered by bees then
tions and assembled a leveraging system that
spread along tumbleweed branches. Engineer
opened the door easily. Voila, I stepped
pressed a few leftover strands of what I pre-
through and ran on.

tended was fruit leather on a nearby wall, per-

The next three doors involved different
haps for midnight snacking. They stuck. After
challenges, increasingly tricky. I began sweat-
a bathroom run where I dressed in clothes
ing more with each delay, conscious that the
only fit for jogging, and a short wait for Engi-
entire human race was depending on me.

ZEN ANGEL

23

ANALOG

Something told me that Investor, for one, was

I jumped backward again on general princi-
smarter than me. I hoped that my traveling
ple, but not quickly enough. The literal
speed would compensate.

tongue-lashing caught me around my left arm,

I’d just spotted the fifth door ahead when I
and I was hooked. I nearly passed out from
heard a scraping noise behind me. I turned
pain. My eyesight dimmed. I struggled to pull
around. Something huge practically filled the
the spikes from my arm, but they’d entered
tunnel, a featureless tapered cylinder on T.

from too many directions; pulling on one

Rex legs. It wouldn’t have f it through any
tightened others. I felt the tongue dragging
door I’d opened, so it hadn’t followed me.

me toward the vast mouth.

Ergo, technology had whisked it here.

So I jumped forward, hoping to get in at

“What are you?” I muttered.

least one good kick. But the mucus tongue

Another maze challenge? But then the thing
had too little give for me to reach, and I only
unrolled, revealing a slimy chamber edged managed to drive the spikes in deeper. I heard
with eye-like globes and lined with spikes.

myself screaming, but also a furious buzzing

Strands of mucus or worse hung from spike to
that kept getting louder.

spike across the chamber like some nightmare

The cavalry arrived in the form of Investor’s
spider web.

bees, enough to satiate ten apiarists. They

If the Vine hadn’t meant to include this liv-
weren’t humming, but producing a terrifying
ing iron maiden in the festivities, my unknown
thousand-chainsaw roar. Instantly, bees coated
enemies had sent it. Exiting the maze now
the maiden both inside and out. One hovered
struck me as a terrific idea, contest or no con-
near my face long enough for me to admire its
test. I backed up, cautiously, praying the hor-
three-inch stinger. Then it zipped over to a free ror was as slow as it looked. Then, as if read-spot between two mouth-spikes, stinger first.

ing my mind, the creature jumped forward

Milky blisters swelled on the monster’s
three feet so quickly that it practically tele-
body and within its maw, expanding until they
ported. Bad luck for me. But great luck it
burst. The maiden began shaking. It extruded
hadn’t kept moving forward.

dozens of mucus limbs, futilely slapping at

If I could only get through that next door . . .

bees, sounding like a drumming circle with no
but I doubted the monster would wait patient-
sense of rhythm. The obviously dying monster
ly while I solved the required puzzle. Which
shrieked, cutting through the buzzing. I don’t
left me two hopes. The Vine might be observ-
want to remember that sound. The alien
ing and come to my rescue. Or someone
tongue gripping me melted along with the
might hear shouts through the air holes.

puncturing spikes, and goo and blood ran

Iron Maiden jumped again, landing twenty-
thickly down my arm.

eight inches from my nose. From this range,

Then the creature vanished. Momentarily,
the open maw stunk like decomposing
the bees seemed confused, but then the
corpses. Panic pushed my voice even louder
swarm resumed their usual hum concerto and
than I’d hoped for.

exited though the ventilation holes.

“HELP! If anyone can hear me, I need HELP

I slid to the f loor. It seemed a wise idea to

NOW!”

wrap something around my injured arm rather

No instant salvation appeared, but some-
than, say, bleed out. My shirt was available if I thing did. One of the mucus strands thick-could get it off, a job theoretically manageable
ened, darkened, and grew a forest of four-inch
with one working arm. But the pain kept getting
spikes. It lengthened abruptly and snapped
worse, and it seemed easier to simply fade away.

out at me. If I hadn’t already been leaping

My final thought before I passed out felt in-
backward, this new tongue or tentacle
expressibly sad: The human race would have
would’ve punctured my head in a lot of im-
no representative for the great unveiling.

portant places. One spike managed to slice
across the tip of my nose, which merely hurt

I awoke in the dorm room, lying in bed. No
like hell and bled plenty. I hoped the blood
surprise to see Foresight and my roommates
would wash away any toxins. My new play-
nearby. But the human woman with intense
mate was the most infectious-looking thing I’d
dark eyes and a reassuring smile, bright against
seen in my long life.

her dark-gold complexion, made me wonder if

24

RAJNAR VAJRA

MAY 2015

I was hallucinating. Engineer munched away on

I hope you will both forgive me for insisting
one of the disgusting food strips.

that she now be transported elsewhere. It

I sat up and tried to smile back at the
might provide you an unfair contest advantage
woman while glaring at Foresight and beam-
to have the support of another member of
ing at Investor. The mixed effort must’ve pro-
your species. With your permission, Doctor
duced something unfortunate judging by the

Velazquez?”

sudden concern on the woman’s face.

Angelica looked disappointed but shrugged

“Please accept my profound apologies,”

acceptance. She vanished although her face

Foresight said quietly. “As your sponsor, I am
lingered in my mind’s eye.

responsible for your welfare. Our maze con-

I shook my head. “Amazing. And she
tains devices that limit projectile velocity and
seemed so comfortable, considering . . .” I
energy intensity, so we believed you safe. And
waved a hand in an arc from Foresight to In-
we kept alert for threats. But when you were
vestor.

attacked, equipment sabotage delayed our se-

“I promise,” the Vine continued, “you will
curity personnel in reaching you.”

have ample opportunity to converse with her

“I see. Wait! Does the, um, nature of that
after our final champions are selected.”

sabotage expose which species sent the mon-

I studied my self-declared sponsor. “So I’m
ster?”

still a contender despite not f inishing the

“It narrows our suspects.”

maze?”

“Tell me more. But f irst, perhaps an intro-

“Certainly! Penalizing you for an attempt on
duction?”

your life would be unjust. We learned enough

Foresight touched a f inger-tendril to her
from the sections you completed. Still, time
mouth. “Indeed! My regret ran so deep that
passes. Are you ready to take the mathematic
my knowledge of human manners ran shal-
test I mentioned earlier? We have postponed
low. Doctor Leonard Silver, I now present
all challenges for your trio until you recov-

Doctor Angelica Velazquez. We felt that a
ered.”

medical expert of your species might prove

“I’m ready. But tell me. Why Doctor Ve-
helpful so we invited her.”

lazquez rather than another physician?”

“Delighted, Doctor,” I said. “Strange to see

“Her qualif ications are unique. She was
another human here. Also wonderful. Please

Earth’s runner-up representative.”

call me Len.”

The implication came wrapped in a shiver.

She held out a steady hand, and we shook.

“You people fiddled with her genes?”

Her palm and f ingers were warm and dry.

“Indeed. She, too, is far older than most hu-

“Honored to meet you, Len. I’m Angelica. Are
mans would estimate.” Foresight spread all
you in pain?”

four arms. “Attend, everyone! Mathematical

I glanced at my left arm. The wounds were
puzzles will soon appear in some form appro-
covered with something shiny, thin, and
priate for each of you, with also a few solved
white. “Not at all.” I wriggled fingers experi-
samples. Eight possible answers will wait be-
mentally, then tried moving the injured arm.

neath every puzzle. Your task is to select the

“Nary a twinge,” I reported. “Is this fancy ban-
correct answer by touching one of the eight.

dage your doing?”

If you mistakenly touch one, touch it again to

She shook her head. “I wish. I’m here strict-
remove the indicator. Good solving to you
ly as a consultant. The Vine worried they’d
all!”

miss some symptom that a human medic

Then Foresight was gone. A moment later, a
could pick up.”

standard writable dataf ilm manifested in my

“So you’ve been here all along?”

lap. On it, loads of math problems and four

“No, but I’d volunteered to come whenever
sample questions. At f irst glance, the test
they wanted a backup physician.”

seemed straightforward, but the examples re-

“You mean . . . after I got hurt they brought
vealed a confusing wrinkle.

you from Earth?”

I f igured it out and got to work. Simple

Foresight did her rattling thing. “The task is
stuff, mostly pattern-identifying or equation
trivial and distance irrelevant. Since it appears solving with basic algebra. Some trig but noth-that our consultant is satisfied you are healthy, ing more advanced. No calculator required. In

ZEN ANGEL

25

ANALOG
fact, the problems seemed too easy. What from that which requires no defense. And
were the Vine really testing?

when the ego perceives any threat, it swells

I peeked at my competitors. Engineer kept
up like a smart glove in cold weather. . . .

staring at a sheet similar to mine but hovering

The question remained. My species above
in midair as if nailed there. Investor’s bees
all others? My roommates and I shared the
were to and fro-ing, examining detailed grids
same true identity, but I was humanity’s agent.

of minuscule, intricately flashing lights before

Then Engineer made a wordless squeak of
returning to home base. Below each glam grid
frustration and that was that.

hung a simpler matrix with fewer lights, likely

“Sorry to interrupt,” I said, “and I mean no

Investor’s multiple-choice section. As far as I
disrespect, but are you folks stuck?”

could tell, neither roommate had chosen any

Engineer’s squeak morphed into a meaning-
answers.

ful groan. “The example solutions will make

Why would my favorite tumbleweed bother
no sense.”

to take the test? After the bee rescue, wasn’t

“I concur with our friend,” Investor stated,

Investor’s cover blown? Then again, a job as
a touch of chainsaw edging the peaceful hum.

security backup didn’t preclude being a candi-

“The Vine,” I explained, “apparently use a
date. . . .

base eight numerical system. The sample an-

Decision time. If we three were competing
swers are correct.” Why had I assumed that
for the few spots available at plinth central,
the human race would be backward in every
helping my roommates could result in a
way relative to other intelligent species?

missed opportunity for humanity. But I owed

It developed that neither roommate knew

Investor more than thanks. And while I’d lost
that counting in anything but tens was possi-
my Zen Master cred, misplaced my ability to
ble. They had trouble grasping the miracle of
live fully in the here and now, a relevant mem-
a one’s place, an eight’s place, a sixty-four’s
ory from my monastic days bubbled up.

place, et hour-killing cetera, and couldn’t be-

One morning in Japan, completely out of
lieve the decimal number 9 was 11 in base
the blazing blue, all my sensations united into
eight. Once they finally got it, however, they
an overwhelming featureless vibration. I melt-
practically sprinted through the exam. I wast-
ed into it, losing any grip on time, space, or
ed another minute, making sure Engineer’s an-
self.

swers were correct, but ignored Investor

As my senses de-coalesced, just before nor-
since my nocturnal admissions hadn’t includ-
mality resumed, I caught on to the Big Fake,
ed reading the alien’s light-grids.

cousin to the impression of dimensionality an

I returned to my own test hoping it wasn’t
artist creates in a f lat painting; a trick of the being timed.

light, so to speak. I saw that I’m something be-But before I get anywhere, Foresight reap-
yond thoughts, emotions, sensations, memo-
peared. “That’s enough,” she said and the
ries, and my body, but that all these things
room was suddenly devoid of math.

combined create the illusion of being me, like

I suppressed a sigh. “I gather we all washed
a whirlpool that only seems to exist separately
out?” Sometimes a good deed is also a stupid
from the flowing water that generates it.

one.

This revelation brought waves of insights

Rattle, rattle. “To the contrary, Doctor. Your
like aftershocks.

roommates were never candidates, but your

The illusion of a separate self isn’t intrinsi-
protectors. Aiding them, you passed our final
cally a bad thing. Rather, it’s a gift from epochs test. Did I not say that we sought entities with
of evolutionary selection; survival in a danger-
wisdom, compassion, and a cooperative spir-
ous world depends on it. But mix it with high
it?”

intelligence in the context of a social species,

“Um. So you did. I just didn’t . . .”

and the result is ego, a prod for achievement

“And we’d already been given a superb indi-
but also a terrible trap, a barrier hiding our incation of which competitors were worthiest.”

trinsic essence, the shining energy behind all

“What indicator?” Engineer asked. “I will be
form. Worse, ego can pervert survival needs,
curious.”

making us fear and hate outsiders, cling des-

“Out of our initial sixty-four choices, eight
perately to opinions, and defend ourselves
candidates have been assaulted. From attack

26

RAJNAR VAJRA

MAY 2015
similarities, we believe a single species is

“Perfection! Then after you three receive
guilty. Thus, this species demonstrated that in
evening nutrition and another sleep period,
their judgment, Doctor Silver and his seven
we will all meet at the Originators’ artifact. By fellow victims were their champion’s only real
then, the remaining two selections will be
competition.”

made and you will have received instructions

I stared up into the front pair of golden
for comporting yourselves in a truly frigid en-
eyes. “You mean the creatures who’ve been
vironment. Good resting!”

trying to kill me have only . . . high-graded me?

“This is delightful/unexpected and excit-

If you know that term.”

ing,” Investor commented the moment Fore-

“Indeed, selecting the best gems from a col-
sight absconded with herself. “Thank you,
lection is an apt analogy.”

Healer, thank you!”

“Okay.” Bizarre irony. “What’s to stop them

“I should be thanking you, Investor. You
from attacking again?”

saved my life, and I’m glad as hell to be able to Foresight spread wide all four of her upper
repay a little of what I owe you.”

limbs and rattled as though something were

“But I,” Engineer squealed, “will not have
coming loose. “They blundered in the maze
earned any such reward.”

by revealing their technological prowess!

“Oh? What about your willingness to put

We’ve now sent home all candidates from
yourself at risk to defend me? Wouldn’t you
species whose science might be capable of af-
protect me given the opportunity?”

fecting our transportation methods. This is dis-

“That will be conceivable.” Engineer pulled
turbingly unjust to the innocent, but we could
a spare food strip off the wall and tossed it in
find no surer solution.”

the air. One wing shot out, the varicolored

I nodded thoughtfully. “Mystery remains,
feathers spreading, and the strip fell, cut into
but problem solved.” Somehow I didn’t feel
hundreds of pieces. How educational. I
safe. “Unless one attack was faked.”

would’ve thought it easy to distinguish feath-

“Against that possibility we dismissed three
ers from knives.

high-graded candidates whose science met

I whistled appreciatively. “Are you two pro-
the criteria. Most unfair, certainly. We also dis-fessional guardians or is this a hobby?”

missed two other attacked candidates who

Long whale squeak. “I will be, in life, a de-
showed . . . excessive discomfort among
signer of bridges. And my associate will work
aliens. We’ve found no such discomfort in
in the hive of business. We both were hungry
you, Doctor.”

for experience with Vine doings and pounced

Goody for me. “Maybe only because of the
on this unique opportunity.”

particular aliens I’ve met.”

Something, as the antique saying went,

“Perhaps, bringing us to an unexpected
didn’t compute. “If you aren’t trained body-
blossom. With your berth assured, four spaces
guards, why would the Vine hire you?”

remain available, and since I am your sponsor

Investor answered. “Dear friend, both our
and selection committee leader, I can offer
species evolved/survived to sting aggressive
you a choice you may enjoy.”

predators. We require no extra training to use

“Which is?”

our natural armaments. Also, our worlds are

“You may select your two bodyguards to
similar to yours in atmosphere, pressure, grav-
be among the f inal champions. We had origi-
ity and temperature. We expected the Vine to
nally disqualif ied their species since both are
quell any technological attacks.”

our close allies and would already share in

“I see. Seems our nutrients have arrived,
whatever secrets we uncovered. Now, how-
glory be, and I hope yours are more appetiz-
ever, their trustworthiness outweighs our
ing than mine. Let’s eat. My meal won’t im-
previous ethical considerations, and I am per-
prove with age.”

mitted to modify the rules. Your bodyguards
have displayed a cooperative spirit and

I woke up with a head stuffed with cau-
courage in volunteering for a dangerous as-
tions. The Originators’ artifact was irregularly
signment.”

shaped, immense and hollow, spinning fast

“That—that sounds good to me. I hereby
enough near the plinth to simulate gravity a
nominate my roommates for plinth duty.”

bit weaker than Earth’s. Regrettably, the

ZEN ANGEL

27

ANALOG
plinth generated shifting electromagnetic
handy for squeezing us into our spacesuits.

fields so strong that the Vine didn’t trust their Mine had a clear head bubble and thin tubing
equipment to teleport us directly to the site,
wrapping the interior that reminded me of in-
or even to ground level anywhere within the
testines. Quaint. Foresight claimed the guts
artifact. This meant we’d be, f iguratively,
would provide O and remove CO . Investor’s

2

2
parachuting in and then hoofing it—very fig-
rig was a big transparent balloon with some
uratively—for some distance. Because the
fancy machinery that constantly stayed at the
area where we’d land was spinning faster
bottom while bees rolled the thing along.

than the area containing the plinth, we’d be

Secure in our new homes-away-from-
feeling the centripetal equivalent of 1.4 g until homes-away-from-homes, we got zipped to a
we moved closer to our destination. That
huge practice obstacle course where we fol-
wasn’t the only problem.

lowed a winding trail between tall, blade-

The environment we’d be traipsing
studded objects. I had to meander using my
through, though sheathed in temperature-less
walker, which made me feel increasingly sor-
vacuum, hadn’t been warmed by any star for
ry for those needing them. When our guides
billions of years. As a result, the weather re-
declared themselves satisfied by our progress,
port would be dry and a balmy fraction of a
we were returned to our room, peeled out of
degree above absolute zero.

our gear, given another un-scrumptious meal,

Hydrogen freezes below 14.1 K and helium-
allowed to do whatever for a full ten minutes,

4 at .95 K. In the artifact, all gasses would be
then shoved back into our spacesuits. Fore-
rock hard.

sight called a warning, and the room van-

The ground we’d be traversing retained
ished.

traces of those two lightweights, but also

For a stomach-lurching moment, I drifted in
methane and argon, inadequate for Olympic
freefall, f loating in a vast enclosed space be-
ice-dancing, but enough to form sneaky patch-
tween titanic concave surfaces textured with
es of ultra-black ice. These could become slip-
jagged, glistening forms. Brilliant lights hung
pery as hell, or even explode, if we trod over
suspended here and there; I figured the Vine
them because the minuscule friction of our
had installed these. The entire place appeared
passing could melt such sensitive material. In
to be spinning around me, a dizzy-making
fact, brushing against any surface could re-
view. Then acceleration caught me, increasing
lease surprise energy.

until my speed matched that of the nearest

Worse news. The Vine rarely had to operate
surface, well over a mile away. The same force
in airless, cryogenic environments. So while
carried me toward that wall. Finally, I was set
their spacesuits were an upgrade from NASA’s,
down gently in a space between two giant ir-
they weren’t worth phoning home about.

regular protrusions of sharp angles and sharp-

Once inside the artifact, we’d remain toasty
er edges. I looked straight up. What I could
but our suits would gradually become some-
see of the wall miles above seemed only mild-
what brittle as they lost surface heat through
ly reticulated, flattened by distance.

radiation and ground contact—another cause

My environment gear, awkward but man-
for possible banana-peel humor. Should we
ageable in the practice room, had become a
fall, more likely for us bipeds, our spacesuits
leaden anchor. My weight right here was only
might crack, and we’d die. Did I mention that
supposed to be 40 percent higher than Earth
the artifact came fully stocked with sharp
normal, but apparently a hippo had climbed
edges?

onto my shoulders.

To minimize risks, Engineer and I and all

“Don’t move yet,” advised Foresight via the
other upstanding citizens would be issued the
audio system in my head-bubble.

kind of walkers usually reserved for the in-

Ensconced in a cave bear of a spacesuit and
f irm. I wondered what kind of spacesuit In-
gripping my walker, she alighted next to me.

vestor would be wearing.

As she passed me the ambling aid, my room-

After the morning routine, including for me
mates settled nearby, and we were off, follow-
another “continental” repast, Foresight and
ing a winding path between razor edges.

two other Vine appeared bearing gifts. All

I’d been in hairy situations before. But noth-
those delicate-looking finger-tendrils came in
ing came close to this little stroll.

28

RAJNAR VAJRA

MAY 2015

Thank God for the walker, was my main
longer than mine. Foresight and I exchanged
thought. Every twenty steps or less, the path
glances then followed our crew to the plinth.

beneath me seemed to explode, silently vom-

Four Vine stood near the plates, compan-
iting a puff of thick roiling mist, blue or green ioned by two aliens of unfamiliar shape. Gen-or white, up into my face. An instant later, the
eral impression: large and lumpy. These indi-
mist would vanish or fall as powder, but I’d
viduals, I assumed, would complete our
find myself sliding across the ground, clutch-
quorum. One of the waiting Vine gripped a
ing the walker for all I was worth. I doubt our
complex device in two finger-tendril sets.

journey took even half an hour, but it stripped

“We have arrived,” Foresight announced un-
decades off my supposedly immortal life.

necessarily.

My piggybacked hippo progressively lost

After centuries of preparation, I would’ve
weight as we traveled, but my suit progres-
expected some ceremony of the opening-a-
sively stiffened, maintaining the discomfort
new-bridge variety. But no. Our quorum sec-
level. I’d sweat less in a sauna, but my space-
tion wasn’t even introduced to the f inal
suit absorbed most of it. It dawned on me that
third.

after we’d visited the plinth, we’d be making

“Mine is the honor of representing my
the same trip through hell in reverse.

species,” Foresight stated casually. “I will oc-

“Foresight,” I panted, assuming I had my
cupy the hexagon beneath the plinth facet
own two-way radio, “why do you suppose the
where the Originators’ explanatory instruc-

Originators decorated this place with blades?”

tions are inscribed. My associates will guide

“We suspect these articulations are wave-
you all to other facets. In maximum unison,
guides, promoting whatever forces preserved
we will ascend onto our respective hexagons.

the artifact though the collapse of a universe.”

Let us proceed.”

Intriguing idea, but I hadn’t breath enough

One of the Vine nudged me toward a plate
to pursue it. I hoped the Vine had accurately
next to Foresight’s, and I moved to within a
calculated my efforts here and stocked my O
short stride from it, bringing the walker along

2
accordingly. In for a penny, I told myself, in for for moral support. Waiting, I glanced up at the
a ton.

alien symbols on the facet ahead and under-

Foresight led us between two colossal piles
stood them thanks to my sleep briefing.

of weirdness into a circular clearing. Here, the

It seemed to be a poem. “Those with eyes
mini-explosions ceased, and traction, to my in-
to see beauty, and hearts to feel beauty, and
finite relief, remained dependable. Ninety feet
minds to recognize beauty are charged [dou-
ahead, the plinth towered: two hundred and
ble meaning here, “charged” as in duty-bound
twelve feet of tapering grace, polished and
but also in the electrical sense] to draw from
flawless, black to the blackest. If I hadn’t been our common source and express [also radiate
winded, it would’ve taken my breath away. I
and intensify] beauty.”

could see three sides from where I trudged,

My interpretation felt right although I’d sub-
each facet 9’, 3.3” at the base.

stituted “eyes” and “hearts” from untranslat-

“You may now abandon your balance aid,”

able terms.

Foresight suggested. Nope, not after the con-

“Now,” Foresight ordered. “As quickly as
traption had saved me dozens of times. But
you can.”

now I carried it.

In six different ways, we all eased onto our

The clearing was gently concave with the
plates.

plinth dead-center. Halfway up a slope so mild

Nothing visible happened, and I wondered
it barely deserved the name, I saw the hexago-
if after billions of years the technology here
nal plates Foresight had mentioned, f lat
had f izzled. Foresight’s question gnawed at
against the ground, each big enough to fit an
me. How could the plinth determine if all re-
elephant and provide it wiggle room. We
quired conditions had been met?

stopped, and I turned to check on Investor’s

Easy one. Those pesky, shifting EM f ields
progress. The big balloon rolled uphill past us,
did the dirty work.

its cryogenic stiffness actually assisting In-

A second ago, I hadn’t known that! But now
vestor’s speed. Engineer passed next, moving
a river of understanding was pouring directly
in cautious hops after discarding a walker
into my brain, better than Vine inductive

ZEN ANGEL

29

ANALOG
teaching because I was awake, more awake

Unfortunately for the smonkeys, their tim-
than awake. I felt a tremendous joy and a close
ing was slightly off. And when they tried to
connection with everyone present, and at one
transport their commandos, a sudden EM
remove, with the Originators. I understood.

pulse bounced all but six soldiers God-knows-

Two feet from my helmet, a small hexagonal
where. Of course, four of those that made it
section of the obsidian facet slid inward ex-
here, more or less, would probably wish they
posing a compartment. The information
hadn’t.

pump informed me that the f ive other com-

None of my newfound comprehension sug-
partments had also opened. Three objects lay
gested how to deal with the two remaining
inside mine, and I was just reaching for them
hostiles, but I understood their reasoning.

when Foresight called a warning.

Seeing that we hadn’t yet taken our gifts,

I turned around. Six nightmare figures had
fearing that the goody baskets would close if
materialized near us. Giant spider-monkeys,
any of us abandoned our hexagons, and wor-
more spider than monkey. Four of these were
r ying that the plinth had registered our
missing parts; two had arrived headless and
weights, they’d improvised. New strategy:

another two were neatly bisected, horrid justi-
shoot Foresight, the champion most closely
f ication of the Vine’s concern about direct
matching their size, and as she fell, one assas-
teleporting. The damaged bodies collapsed,
sin would pull her off the plate while the oth-
bloating slightly and turning ice-white as they
er stepped onto it. That way, they might get at
froze. A gush of whatever they used for blood
least one Secret Santa package.

had begun spurting, but that too fell frozen to

I saw their pincers working, but their toys
the ground and shattered.

emitted no bullets, energy beams, or spitballs.

The f inal pair, however, seemed all too

The Vine had apparently installed some form
functional. Both stood nine feet tall. Clear
of anti-weapon technology here, as they’d
helmets revealed demon faces adorned with
done in the maze.

six beady orange eyes. These seemed to

When the guns failed, they chose another
glower, not blinking but frequently popping
option: skewer Foresight. Quick minds.

inside the elongated heads to return drip-

Quick feet as well. The hostiles became vi-
ping. Each charmer had six skinny arms end-
sual blurs, dodging between two Vine techni-
ing in large pincers, judging by the spacesuit
cians. One feinted with its spear while the oth-
shapes. Every pincer held an object, appar-
er went in for the kill. I jumped to the end of
ently handguns of various designs, but each
my hexagon to see past the facet edge, just in
alien also gripped something spear-like. In
time to watch Foresight lean away from a
perfect sync, both pointed their weapons at
spear thrust and grab the alien responsible. In

Foresight.

one convulsive motion, she threw the smon-

In my expanded state, I experienced con-
key halfway across the clearing where its suit
cern without fear. Instead, the plinth brought
cracked upon impact, immediately hidden in
me another profound connection, this time
a burst of freezing fog. I couldn’t imagine the
with the invaders. Paranoia motivated their at-
strength required for such a throw. Through
tacks, terror that other species would snag all
the plinth, I experienced Foresight’s pain at

Originator goodies and gain power over them.

having to kill a being that she felt so close to, I felt a paradoxical empathy at how badly their
also due to the plinth.

plans had gone wrong.

I reached out to grab my walker.

Despite the obstacles of electromagnetic in-

Misery distracted Foresight. The surviving
terference, Vine counterspy gear, and meters-
enemy leaped forward, throwing its spear, and
thick rock, alien technology had provided the
the Vine reacted too slowly to avoid it. I’d
spider-monkeys frequent glimpses at Team
swung my walker too late to def lect the

Foresight’s progress inside the artifact. Their
weapon. The blade didn’t penetrate far into
idea was simple. They’d teleport a platoon

Foresight’s chest, but injury didn’t matter. I
here after we champions received our sur-
watched her freeze solid, a timeless moment of
prise packages, kill us, and steal the prizes.

horror, and my grief only deepened as my tubu-

They’d barely been inconvenienced by getting
lar club bashed into the assassin, shattered, but booted from the contest.

cracked the enemy’s suit. It was over.

30

RAJNAR VAJRA

MAY 2015

Through my induced empathy, I sensed a

I glared up at the giant. Hadn’t anyone told
vast triumph f looding the emotions of the
this insensitive clod that I’d just left behind

Vine technicians. I didn’t share it. Foresight

Foresight’s frozen corpse? How could—
was dead, and it didn’t matter to these people

Mental sunburst! I’d been the clod. Vine at all. They hadn’t lifted a tendril-finger to help spacesuit technology alone should’ve clued
their comrade. My grief was too strong for me
me in, and I’d missed so much more.

to understand their callousness.

Why would the Vine vary so much in num-

Then an uncomfortable silence f illed me,
ber and symmetry of limbs? How likely was it
and I realized that the plinth had shut down.

that aliens could perfectly duplicate human

I’d never felt so isolated.

speech? Or that such talented mimics would

The Vine holding the fancy machine spoke.

be comfortable under Earth conditions? Why

“Well done, all. Claim your prizes and we will
had I felt an electric charge whenever Fore-
then move each of you to a secluded area
sight and I touched? And the distance she’d
where you may explore them in private. Leave
hurled that huge assassin, even considering

Foresight’s prizes to us. As we’d hoped, my de-
the reduced gravity, seemed suspiciously im-
vice reports the collapse of all electromagnet-
probable.

ic interference, so we can transport you di-

“You’re Foresight,” I whispered.

rectly. I suggest you hurry. We cannot guess

“Excellent! As you have obviously surmised,
what physical consequences here might at-
you have never seen my actual body or that of
tend the field termination.”

any Vine. This construct is hardier and more

As if in a dream, I pulled out my three gifts.

useful for my present purposes than the real

Two were blocks the size and shape of a card
thing.”

deck. The third appeared to be an empty glass

I wondered what the “real thing” looked
cylinder with one f lattened side, suitable for
like. My jaw ached, not from teething but grin-
the cola of your choice. The plinth had taught
ning too widely. “You’re operating this body
me how to activate the blocks, but not what
by, um, remote control?”

they were. I only knew one thing concerning

Rattle. “Nothing remote about it. Now that
the bottle: It alone was a personal gift for me.

we’ve been reintroduced, would you care to

I turned to step off the plate. Poof, I was
hear what I came to tell you?”

somewhere else, clouds of fog streaming off

Still grinning, I waved my bottle-holding
my spacesuit.

hand with a certain joie de vivre. “Why not?”

“We are aware that human authorities have

Fairly private, yes. Solitary, not quite. The
decided to end your life once you return to
room around me was as large as the spacesuit

Earth. And they intend to conduct a thorough
training area, but obstacle-free, maybe the
search to f ind any others with similar attri-
same space unfurbished. A Vine, four inches
butes, and destroy them as well.”

and change taller than Foresight, stood near

I’d almost forgotten about the death sen-
me, golden front eyes fixed on mine.

tence back home and hadn’t considered that

“Congratulations, Doctor!” The pronuncia-
those like me might be in danger.

tion was exactly like Foresight’s, but the voice

“How many others?”

even deeper. “I wished to inform you of a few

“Twelve survive, including Doctor Ve-
things before you opened your gifts.”

lazquez whom you met, and all have been

In my black robe days, I could rapidly snap
brought to this haven. None currently have
back from the heaviest emotional blows.

families.” Not surprising, considering my own

Somehow I’d lost my elasticity. After all, here I preferences after watching so many loved
was, holding three of what might be the great-
ones age and die. “Returning to Earth for any
est treasures in the Universe and, no small
of you wouldn’t yet be advisable.”

thing, still breathing.

I nodded agreement, and Foresight contin-

Yet I couldn’t begin to sound pleasant when
ued, “We have discussed the matter with your

I said, “Who the hell are you?”

peers and have a proposition that I believe

Rattle, rattle. “I hoped your intellectual
none of you will refuse.”

powers were keener, Doctor. If you will apply

Brando’s delivery was better, but this sound-
reason, who am I most likely to be?”

ed promising. “Go ahead.”

ZEN ANGEL

31

ANALOG

“With our project now concluded, we feel
f iddled with genes or whatever so that natu-
that information gleaned from Originator gifts
rally long-lived candidates wouldn’t have one
should be shared, when possible, between
of your abhorred unfair advantages, and the
species who participated in this success. We fur-
list marches on. For me, here’s the weirdest
ther feel that useful information should be made
part: when this incredible, massive undertak-
available to all friendly species where a need exing is a complete success, you seem to treat it
ists. To effectuate all this, an immense amount
as no big deal. No f ireworks, parades, not a
of bargaining will doubtless be required.”

drop of champagne.”

“I get it. You want to hire us humans to bro-

Foresight reached down to pat me on the
ker everything.”

shoulder. “We were ecstatic when the success

“Just so. Pardon any tactlessness, but your
occurred, but why dwell on the past, even to
people have refined the . . . art of negotiation
relish it? When you lived in Japan, a teacher of
to a unique degree.”

dhyana, did you encourage your students to I chuckled. “Right, our nations have prob-drift for long from the present moment?”

lems playing nice.”

Dhyana: Sanskrit for absorption, medita-

“Weakness often becomes strength. Doctor,
tion. I had to laugh; I’d just been out-Zenned.

we invite you to organize and lead these trad-

“Touché, I’d just been thinking about those
ing missions, but you may better engender
days. But really, it’s f ine with me if you stay
trust as interspecies brokers by adding nonhu-
while I peel the wrapping off my gifts.”

mans to your staff, perhaps representatives

“You are generous, but the opportunity
from all species given Originator gifts. You
would render me uncomfortable.”

should also have bodyguards, a means of trans-

“I’ll respect that, although I’d appreciate
portation to places where instantaneous trans-
your company.” Something nagged at me.

port is impractical, and a way to communicate

“You know, it wouldn’t feel right to do this
with many alien races. Also, of course, life-sus-
alone; these blocks aren’t just for me. You re-
taining minutiae such as nutrition and air. We
ally brought the full card collection of us
will supply whatever you require. And the
tweaked humans along?”

knowledge you harvest during your missions

“Certainly. You wish them to join you
should provide you enough negotiating lever-
here?”

age to ensure your safety on Earth.”

“For the Grand Opening.”

Opportunity wasn’t just knocking; it was

“I will invite them personally. Should you all
practically knocking me down. “Sounds fan-
accept our trading proposal, perhaps a Vine
tastic. Count me in! Do you suppose my for-
could be included in your missions?”

mer roommates would consider the body-

I grinned up at her. “Any particular Vine in
guard positions? That would also cover two of
mind?”

the champion spots.”

“Having had practice in ambassadorship, I

“Why speculate? I will inquire.”

might not be the worst choice. We shall meet

“Perfect.” I held out the blocks in my left
later.”

hand. “According to Mr. Plinth, these should
belong to my species. How do I get them to

I wasn’t alone for more than a minute be-

Earth?”

fore company arrived, an absurdly healthy and

“We will deliver them wherever you sug-
young-looking bunch. They stood before me,
gest. If you have no more immediate ques-
six women, five men, and an attractive person
tions, I shall leave you alone to inspect your
of ambiguous gender; various races. Naturally
gifts. It might reduce your trading power with

I only recognized Angelica Velazquez.

my kind if I knew what they contained. We

She smiled at me and asked, “How’s the
must not be provided an unfair advantage.”

arm?”

Hate to admit it, but I might’ve snorted.

“I’d forgotten all about that.” Gums healed

“Seems to me the Vine deserve every advan-
as well.

tage. Look. Your people found the artifact,

“That answers my question.”

translated the instructions, traveled God

I looked at all the unfamiliar faces. “Wel-
knows how far to locate intelligent species,
come, everyone, and thanks for coming. I’m
spent centuries picking potential candidates,

Len Silver as you probably know. I hope to get

32

RAJNAR VAJRA

MAY 2015
acquainted with each of you. But f irst, if no
rectangle filled in with vivid colors while radi-
one minds, let’s start the party by finding out
cally expanding. When the growth spurt
what’s inside these things.” I held up the mys-
stopped, the object remained basically f lat
tery boxes. “You wouldn’t want me to die of
and rectangular but was now 4’, 2” wide and
curiosity, would you?”

twice that in height.

That got a general chuckle but no objec-

“That’s a painting!” Angela announced.

tions.

No doubt. The eerie colors appeared to be

“You’ve been told about the Originators and
exotic pigments in oil, thinly applied, not ex-
where these things came from?”

actly luminous but seeming to ref lect an un-

A round of nodding heads.

earthly light. I noticed a faint texture, delicate

“Good. The only thing I know about these quattrocento brush strokes. Fascinating, but a
blocks is how to open them. Angelica, I might
sideshow compared to what the piece depict-
need a free hand. Would you mind holding
ed: an alien f igure painted so skillfully that it one block and the bottle? Or I could put them
practically jumped out of the frameless frame.

on the floor.”

This alien had an oval face with two large

Wordlessly, she reached out and took the
front-facing violet eyes, another pair set far to two items.

the sides, a scaled and snakelike body in

I turned to put my back toward the audi-
shades of gold and blue iridescence, two
ence. “Ready, everyone? There’s never a
translucent wings to make all butterf lies
drumroll around when you really need one.”

weep, and four delicate arms ending in—I

It was a mental thing, based on the technol-
stared a moment longer to make sure—f in-
ogy allowing the plinth to directly stream in-
gers like tendrils. Part angel, part dragon,
formation. The instructions were to hold a
beautiful and serene. . . .

block, visualize four specif ic symbols, and

“What did you say, Len?” Angela asked and I
imagine those symbols inside the block. Good
almost forgot to keep my eyes pointed for-
thing that humans have eyes. Or perhaps the
ward.

plinth had distributed gifts according to

“Wasn’t listening to myself, but probably
species that could use them.

something along the lines of ‘holy shit.’ I’ll

I followed instructions without any sense
have to show this to Foresight. I learned some-
that something was actually happening. . . .

thing about the Vine today. They’ve been us-

Then the air f illed with hundreds of small
ing artificial bodies here.”

colorful shapes, from simple circles to polyhe-

A general murmur and the good Doctor Ve-
drons so multisided they resembled spheres.

lazquez acted as spokesperson. “Really? What

Dead silence in the room. I turned to check
do you know about their real bodies?”

audience reactions, and the decorations fol-

“Nothing, but look at this painting. Look at
lowed suit, blocking my view of faces and star-
the eyes. Think about robots back home,
tling everyone. I heard gasps and someone
folks, the kind built to do household chores.

jumped backward, but the forms had no sub-

Think about their arms and hands.”

stance. I turned back and so did my levitating

A new voice piped up, “I see what you’re
flotilla.

driving at, Doctor Silver. The Vine probably

The block in my hand vibrated. I concen-
used their own gripping style in designing
trated on a rectangular f igure, and it bright-
their robots.”

ened as the others faded to near transparency.

“Not sure the artificial bodies qualify as ro-

My choice tilted slightly in midair, revealing
bots, but wouldn’t it be easiest to manipulate
scores of flat rectangles hidden behind it like
the kind of hands you’re used to?”

stacked thumbnail images on datafilms.

“You’re right!” Angela breathed. “Those

“Playing cards?” someone asked.

f ingers are very like Vine f ingers. So you

“Good question,” I muttered. “Quite the
think the Originators survived and the Vine
joke if all this is for some stupid game. Hang
are their . . .”

on. Let me try something.”

“Descendants. Or we’re looking at a coin-

I randomly selected a “card,” largely hidden
cidence. Let’s check out a different shape.”

behind others, and focused on it. Oohs and

With a thought, I shrunk the picture, re-
aahs wafted from the crowd as my chosen
turning it to the pack and dismissing the

ZEN ANGEL

33

ANALOG
rectangle. The other f loating forms resumed

“Oh. Right.” With a thought, I skipped
full visibility. They faded again as I concen-
ahead a few hundred pages. The new page was
trated on what seemed an icosahedron until
dense with symbols, most unfamiliar but pre-
it brightened, unfolding into hundreds of tri-
sumably explained earlier in this floating tome.

angles. A moment of attention on just one,

“Equations?” Angelica offered. “Any math
and the triangle practically exploded into a
gurus around?”

large and elaborate shape, smooth as pol-

After a moment, a woman with a f lutelike
ished brass and much the same color.

voice and a Filipino accent spoke up. “Bituin

“And that,” Angela pointed out, “has to be

Andrada at your service.”

a sculpture. Len, that box in your hand. It’s

I began turning to face her but caught my-
an art book.”

self. “Thoughts?”

I nodded, making the sculpture bobble in

“Many. I understand you are charged to de-
midair. “Someone asked me what I’d choose
liver these gifts to Earth, but I wish the Vine
to preserve for the next universe, and this is
could somehow make a copy. This, I would
a damn good answer. I’m guessing this gift
adore to study.”

displays the Originators’ Top Art Hits. Alter-

“We can ask.”

native suggestions?”

“We should. Some of those constructions

No takers. “Okay,” I said, refolding the
remind me of . . . tensor calculus, maybe field
sculpture. “I’d love to explore more of this,
potential equations, something practical. Or
and we can come back to it later. But now,
this could also be another form of art, if I
let’s see what’s behind door number two.”

may think outside the tesseract.”

The chuckles gave me a chilly little frisson

That earned a group giggle. When it faded,
as I realized that these people were old

I said, “If we’ve already reached Maxwell-
enough to remember antique game-show
type equations this short way into the book,
tropes. I shut down the block and exchanged
what’s at the back?”

it with Angela’s.

“Antigravity instructions,” Deep Voice sug-

I opened it, and a single white rectangle
gested. “How to build a perpetual motion
appeared, large enough to distinguish the
machine in your spare time.”

many black symbols on it. Due to the Vine

I grinned. “The Universal Theory of Uni-
learn-as-you-snooze program, I recognized
versal Theories.”

the symbols at the top: numbers, from one to

A wave of exhaustion hit me, and the magic
f ifteen, each matching the quantity of little
box shut down on its own. I swayed, but An-
hexagons to one side. I smiled, thinking
gelica put a steadying arm around my waist.

about Engineer and Investor trying to cope

“You need rest,” she said sympathetically.

with hexadecimal, and wondered what

“It’s been a long day,” I admitted. “Let’s all
they’d gotten from the plinth grab bag.

sit down and get comfortable.”

Numbering system def ined, arithmetic op-

We did so, and I studied the faces around
erators came next: Four-squiggle-four-bull’s-
me. “Could be that operating Originator toys
eye-eight. So squiggle meant plus, and bulls-
takes something out of you. Let me get every-
eye meant equals. Etc. The section below
one’s name and then we could vote on Fore-
waded into algebra.

sight’s proposition to become an information

Probably more to this than one page, I
brokerage f irm.”

thought, and the rectangle did another tilting

“But what is this bottle for?” Angelica
trick, revealing an encyclopedia of pages in
asked, handing over the f inal gift.

back.

I stared at the glistening thing, repeating

I laughed. “Remember those electronic
the routine I’d used to open the boxes. Noth-
readers from the dark ages?”

ing happened.

“We all do,” a deep voice stated dryly.

“Haven’t the faintest idea.” ■

34

RAJNAR VAJRA

Science Fact

Challenges of

Manned

Interstellar

Travel:

An Overview1

Nick Kanas, M.D.

raveling to a distant star presents a num-
there, the long-term effects of time and space
ber of challenges. First and foremost is
on the physiology and psychology of space
the immense distance involved. For ex-
travelers, and the chances of f inding planets

Tample,the nearest stars to us are in the with life around a selected star.It is likelythat Alpha Centauri system. The closest of these,
the f irst manned interstellar missions will be

Proxima Centauri, is 4.22 light-years away,
decades to centuries long, requiring a multi-
which translates into nearly forty trillion kilo-
generational approach where crewmembers
meters (or 24 trillion miles). This is around
will live, give birth, and die during the course

271,000 times the distance between the Earth
of the mission. But putting some or all of the
and the Sun. Other stars are much farther
crew in suspended animation is also a possi-
away. These tremendous distances raise a
bility. Both of these scenarios will be dis-
number of issues related to methods of getting
cussed.

1

This article is a modified version of original material published as scientific support in the appendix of the science fiction novel entitled The Protos Mandate, by Nick Kanas (Springer, 2014). Parts have been reprinted from the original with permission from Springer Science+Business Media, and all references to the novel have been deleted. See the original paper for a complete referencing and bibliography of all the topics.

35

ANALOG

Traveling to the Stars:

effects are important to consider when travel-

Distance, Propulsion, Radiation
ing close to light speed, but they are relatively In considering where to go, the stars closest
negligible at speeds in the range of .10c.

to us are the likeliest candidates for the f irst Three kinds of propulsion system have
multigenerational starship mission. In our
been identified for interstellar missions: those

Sun’s neighborhood, the closest stars and
that carry their own fuel, those that rely on
their distances in light-years (in parentheses)

some sort of external energy source to move
are: Proxima Centauri (4.2), Alpha Centauri A
them along, and hybrids of these two.2
and B (4.4), Barnard’s Star (5.9), Wolf 359

Interstellar vehicles using internal energy

(7.8), Lalande 21185 (8.3), Sirius A and B
sources: Traditional rocket-based propulsion (8.6), UV Ceti A and B (8.7), Ross 154 (9.7),
systems are self-contained: they carry along

Ross 248 (10.3), and Epsilon Eridani (10.5).

their reaction mass, energy source, and en-

All of these stars are a long way away: tril-
gine, all of which greatly increase their total
lions of miles. Using current technology, inter-
mass and cost. One type is the nuclear fission
stellar travel is highly unlikely. For example, a rocket, which uses a nuclear reactor to ther-starship traveling at the same speed as Voy-
mally accelerate hydrogen atoms to provide
ager 2 would take around 497,000 years to
thrust; a variant adds a thermal-to-electric gen-
reach the Sirius star system . In contrast, a ship erator to expel charged atoms at high velocity
traveling at 5% the speed of light (.05c) would

(the nuclear electric rocket). An example of
take 88 years to reach Alpha Centauri. Al-
the former was a program called NERVA (Nu-
though an improvement, this still would be
clear Energy for Rocket Vehicle Application),
longer than the expected lifetime of most of
which developed some prototype engines in
the crewmembers and would necessitate a
the late 1950s and 1960s but was terminated
multigenerational approach or the use of sus-
in the early 1970s. An example of the latter,
pended animation.

proposed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in

Since faster than light speeds, traveling

California in the mid-1970s, was the TAU
through wormholes, or using a “warp drive” to

(Thousand Astronomical Unit) mission. Al-
distort space-time are not scientifically credible though useful for outer Solar System travel and
options at present, new propulsion systems
transport, such fission rockets do not produce
that can reach a signif icant fraction of the
enough thrust to reach a star in a reasonable
speed of light will be necessary. In a typical
amount of time.

mission, the vehicle must first accelerate up to

A second and more powerful system that
this speed, then coast along through much of
contains its own energy source is the nuclear
the mission at this velocity, and finally deceler-pulse rocket, which is propelled by small nu-
ate to orbital or landing speed as it approaches
clear bombs ejected and exploded every few
its destination. By accelerating such a starship
seconds or so against a heavy-duty pusher
at the force of one g (producing an Earth-like plate at the back. The pusher plate absorbs
gravity situation for the crewmembers), it
each impulse from the hot plasma and trans-
would take about a year to reach a cruising
fers it to the vehicle through large shock ab-
speed close to that of light. The acceleration
sorbers. The prototype system for this method
time would be less for a ship reaching a more
of propulsion was Project Orion, proposed by
manageable cruising speed, say around 10%
the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New
the speed of light (.10c). Relativistic time

Mexico in the late 1950s and early 1960s to

2

For good reviews of these propulsion systems, see: Mallove, E.F., Matloff, G.L.: The Starflight Handbook: A Pioneer’s Guide to Interstellar Travel, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 1989; Kondo, Y., Bruhweiler, F.C., Moore, J., Sheffield, C. (eds): Interstellar Travel and Multi-Generation Space Ships, Apogee Books, Burlington, Ontario, Canada, 2003; Matloff, G.L.: Deep Space Probes: To the Outer Solar System and Beyond, 2nd ed. Springer Science+Business Media, New York, 2005; Johnson, L., McDevitt, J. (eds.): Going Interstellar, Baen Publishing Enterprises, Riversdale, NY, 2012; Benford, J., Benford, G.

(eds.): Starship Century: Toward the Grandest Horizon, Microwave Sciences and Lucky Bat Books, Charleston, SC, 2013.

36

NICK KANAS, M.D.

MAY 2015
use small nuclear fission bombs and in the late
would produce electrically charged elemen-

1960s by Freeman Dyson to use fusion de-
tary particles that could be focused by a mag-
vices. It was estimated that some three hun-
netic nozzle and expelled out the back of the
dred thousand bombs would be needed to
rocket ship as exhaust. Although more power-
propel the massive space ship, which would
ful than fission or fusion, this system presents
weigh four hundred thousand tons and ac-
technical issues related to storing antimatter in commodate a crew of several hundred.3
a manner that would prevent it from touching

A third internal energy system was explored
and reacting with the walls of the ship, such
by members of the British Interplanetary Soci-
as in a magnetic or electric field. In addition,
ety in the 1970s and was termed Project
antimatter is very rare, and it would be a chal-

Daedalus. This was a fusion-powered interstel-
lenge to obtain enough of it to propel a giant
lar rocket where pellets of helium-3 and deu-
starship.

terium were compressed and heated in a

Hybrid interstellar propulsion systems: Ex-combustion chamber inside the ship by high-
ternal energy propulsion systems solve the
energy electron beams or lasers. The resulting
major problem that decreases the eff iciency
fusion reaction provided energy to power the
of systems using internal energy: the need to
vessel. Although some have proposed using
take along large amounts of heavy fuel. Hybrid
tritium instead of helium-3 since the reaction
systems likewise rely on external energy
is easier to initiate, helium-3 results in charged sources to decrease mass, but they also use
particles that can be confined and directed by
small amounts of internal energy. One such
a magnetic nozzle (rather than the leaky neu-
system was the Bussard interstellar ramjet,
tral neutrons that are produced by the tritium
which was proposed in the early 1960s by
reaction). Since helium-3 is rare on Earth, it

Robert Bussard. This vehicle consisted of the
would have to be mined elsewhere, such as
payload, a fusion reactor, and a large electrical the atmosphere of Jupiter or Saturn, possibly
or magnetic scoop to collect onrushing
using robotic helium mines suspended by bal-
charged particles along the flight path. Inter-
loons. Deuterium could be obtained from
stellar hydrogen was the main fuel source.

cometary nuclei in the Oort cloud. A follow-

However, some supplemental intrinsic fuel
up version to Daedalus, Project Icarus, was ex-
was necessary for travel through low hydro-
amined in 2009 to explore similar concepts
gen areas, such as in our Sun’s vicinity. Al-
using newer twenty-first-century notions and
though this model employed a heavy rocket
to develop some sort of deceleration mecha-
engine whereby the energized helium exhaust
nism when the target star was reached. Other
resulting from hydrogen fusion was expelled
variants included the novel use of au-
from the rear of the spacecraft to accelerate it
tonomous robotics and artif icial intelligence
forward, such a starship would not need to
for onboard planning, maintenance, and self-
carry a lot of fuel during the trip, thus cutting repair, and new propulsion concepts, such as
down on mass and cost. Since the amount of
plasma jet driven magneto-inertial fusion. An-
hydrogen collected by the ramscoop increases
other Daedalus follow-up examined the use of
with speed, this system could reach high ve-
the entire spacecraft as a magnetically-insulat-
locities and would be suitable for interstellar
ed capacitor which would ignite the deuteri-
travel, assuming it was designed well enough
um-tritium reaction using an intense ion
to minimize drag. The scoop would need to
beam.

be large and structured using lightweight ma-

A fourth internal energy system depends
terial, or it could consist of a magnetic or elec-upon the reaction of matter and antimatter to
trostatic f ield that would collect hydrogen
provide energy to move the vehicle. Although
that has been ionized by a forward pointing
the concept has been discussed since the
laser.

1950s, it was more fully developed in the early

One variant of the Bussard approach is the

1980s by Robert Forward.3 The notion was

Ram-augmented Interstellar Rocket. This sys-
that the reaction of protons and antiprotons
tem incorporates a separate fusion reaction

3

Forward, R.L.: Ad astra! In: Kondo, Y., Bruhweiler, F.C., Moore, J., Sheffield, C. (eds): Interstellar Travel and Multi-Generation Space Ships, Apogee Books, Burlington, Ontario, Canada, 2003, pp. 29–51.

CHALLENGES OF MANNED INTERSTELLAR TRAVEL: AN OVERVIEW

37

ANALOG
that uses a small amount of intrinsic fuel such

Several of the above propulsion systems are
as helium-3 and deuterium (see above). But in
capable of achieving very high speeds that
this case, the reaction serves to energize the
would cut down on travel time. A round trip
hydrogen that is collected from space by a
to Proxima Centauri could be made in 11
ramscoop, which it does in a very eff icient
years, assuming a one-year acceleration to
manner. Note that the hydrogen is not used as
near-light speed, then a 31⁄2-year coast in deep
fuel but as reaction mass to produce thrust for
space, a one-year deceleration to the star, then
the starship.

a similar flight plan on the return. But travel-

Interstellar vehicles using external energy
ing at near-light speed presents difficult tech-
sources: A purely external energy system dis-nological problems. In addition, the rapidly
cussed as far back as the 1920s employed
oncoming flow of interstellar gas and dust par-
beamed power. The type usually mentioned
ticles and cosmic rays on the starship and its
uses the momentum of massless light photons
inhabitants could present unique particulate
from the Sun to “push” against a solar sail,
and radiation hazards.4 Some kind of deflector
thus moving the vehicle in the direction of the
shield and laser combination in the front will
beam. In contrast to the solar-electric drive
be necessary to block oncoming dust particles
that uses sunlight falling on solar cells to con-
and vaporize larger bodies, although it has
vert fuel to ion propulsion, a beamed system
been pointed out that a massive deflector sys-
would only need a payload and the structure
tem might interfere with the maneuverability
of the vehicle; there would be no need for
of a starship traveling at relativistic speeds. In heavy intrinsic fuel or any kind of engine. The
a ramjet type of vehicle, micron-sized bits of
solar sail concept has been tested on Earth
dust likely will be vaporized by protons in the
and in space with some success by several
electromagnetic field of the scoop. To protect
space agencies. Being located within our Solar
against oncoming cosmic rays, a passive rock

System, the beaming system could be moni-
or metal shield or an active magnetic or elec-
tored and maintained relatively close to home.

tric field deflector could be used.

However, the space vehicle would be a rela-
tively slowly accelerating system, and the larg-

Economic Considerations
er the payload, the greater the need for a very

The technology to propel and protect a star-
large sail. This system would likely be better
ship would be enormously complicated and
for unmanned interstellar missions carrying
expensive, especially when one considers the
small payloads.

massive size of the ship itself. Consider the

A number of other beam/sail systems have
scenario of a huge, self-contained multigenera-
been suggested, such as using small charged
tional starship full of colonists needing to be
pellets accelerated by an electromagnetic
kept alive for decades while traveling to a dis-
mass driver that strike a magnetic f ield sail;
tant star. Strong has envisioned giant one-hun-
microwave photons pushing against a wire
dred-megaton starships containing 100-150
mesh sail containing microcircuits at the wire
people that would be equipped for a century-
intersections; or lasers aimed by a Fresnel lens
long journey to the stars.5 Woodcock imagines
reflecting against a large light sail. Much like a even larger one million metric ton starships
tacking sailboat, some of these systems allow
the length of 11 football fields that would car-
the craft to turn or even decelerate upon
ry ten thousand people.6 Accelerating to a
reaching a stellar destination. Methods for us-
maximum velocity of 15% the speed of light
ing the solar wind have also been considered

(.15c), then decelerating to reach a star some
for travel in the Solar System. More novel ap-
ten light-years away, such a behemoth would
proaches for beamed propulsion have been
complete its journey in about 130 years.

proposed as well, such as using gravitational

Zubrin has taken a look at the economics of
waves and antimatter to generate thrust.

a starship with a dry mass of one thousand

4 Semyonov, O.G.: Radiation hazard of relativistic interstellar flight. Acta Astronaut. 64, 644–653, 2009.

5

Strong, J.: Flight to the Stars. Hart Publishing Company, New York, 1965.

6 Woodcock, G.R.: To the stars! In: Schmidt, S., Zubrin, R. (eds): Islands in the Sky: Bold New Ideas for Colonizing Space, John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1996, pp. 183–197.

38

NICK KANAS, M.D.

MAY 2015
tons that can cruise at .10c and carry a few
economic stakeholder considerations (e.g., na-
score colonists on a trip lasting several
tional policy priorities, scientif ic benef its,
decades.7 He estimates that if this ship oper-
profit generation) will also influence the likeliates at 100% eff iciency (an unlikely occur-
hood of such a mission.

rence), the energy costs alone would amount

Assuming that there is a will to undertake
to 12.5 trillion dollars. The addition of other
such an interstellar mission, that appropriate
costs, such as technology development and
resources are devoted to it in a sustained man-
hardware manufacture, raises the price tag to
ner, and that technological breakthroughs oc-

125 trillion dollars! This is roughly one thou-
cur in a timely sequence, it is reasonable to
sand times the cost of the Apollo program in
assume that small, unmanned, beam-powered
today’s dollars. He estimates that to keep the
interstellar probes could be launched to a near-
cost of this interstellar mission at Apollo levels by star like Alpha Centauri by the twenty-third
in proportion to the total wealth of human so-
century. Such probes might even use nan-
ciety (about 1% of GDP), a future spacefaring
otechnology. After they report back their find-
civilization will need a GDP two hundred times
ings, massive, manned, fusion-powered colony
greater than today and a total human popula-
ships could be built and launched by the twen-
tion of some forty billion. He foresees fusion re-ty-fourth and twenty-fifth centuries. Due to the
actions using helium-3 and deuterium for fuel
scale and economics of the situation, a fusion
as the power source to most cheaply meet the
propulsion system may not be used for the
high-power needs of this civilization. The fuel
colony ship. Instead, beamed propulsion
could be mined from the atmospheres of the
might be adequate, especially if several probes
outer gas giant planets in our Solar System. He
are launched sequentially that can use the
believes that the helium-3/deuterium fusion re-
same beaming source. However, travel by this
action would be the power source for an inter-
method would be slow and require much
stellar vehicle as well, with the super-hot,
more time to reach the destination stars.

plasma-charged particles being conf ined and
reacting in a vacuum chamber using magnetic

Psychological and Sociological Issues
fields, and the exhaust mixture being directed

In past Analog Science Fiction and Fact ar-away by a magnetic nozzle to provide the
ticles, I have discussed a number of psycho-
thrust. A number of technological issues need
logical and sociological issues that affect
to be addressed before such a system is possi-
crewmembers during long-duration space mis-
ble (e.g., containing the super-hot plasma, us-
sions.8 These are reviewed in Table 1 with par-
ing catalytic methods to enhance fusion at a
ticular reference to an interstellar mission and
lower temperature), but Zubrin presents a
won’t be discussed further here.

good case. Of course, political, scientific, and

* * *

Table 1. Psychological and Sociological Issues during an Interstellar Mission 1. Selection issues: Who would want to go? Who would be excluded? What kind of diversity would there be in the crew?

2. Feelings of isolation and loneliness in deep space 3. Earth as an insignificant dot in the heavens—Earth-out-of-view phenomenon 4. Lack of novelty and social contacts in deep space 5. Dealing with monotony and leisure time through meaningful activities and habitability design

6. Autonomy from Earth and over-dependence on on-board resources: computers, machinery 7

Zubrin, R.: On the way to starflight: The economics of interstellar breakout. In: Benford, J., Benford, G. (eds.): Starship Century: Toward the Grandest Horizon, Microwave Sciences and Lucky Bat Books, Charleston, SC, 2013, pp. 83–101.

8

Kanas, N.: The psychology of space travel. Analog Science Fiction and Fact, October 2009, pp.

33–41; Kanas, N.: To the outer solar system and beyond: Psychological issues in deep space. Analog Science Fiction and Fact, May 2011, pp. 38–43.

CHALLENGES OF MANNED INTERSTELLAR TRAVEL: AN OVERVIEW

39

ANALOG

7. Dealing with mentally or medically ill people in a confined space 8. Unknown physical and psychological effects of radiation due to traveling at near-relativistic speeds

9. Starship environment: sustainable resources, artificial gravity, population control 10. Intolerance of diversity: cultural factors, religion, language differences 11. Feelings of homesickness, especially people in the first generation who directly remember the Earth

12. Dealing with myths and folklore regarding the Earth in later generations 13. Keeping the original colonizing goals: rebellion by later generations who want to go back or keep traveling in space, flexible governance

14. Dealing with criminals and sociopaths in a relatively small social network 15. Psychological and ethical effects of social engineering: regulating coupling, birth rate 16. Psychological and medical issues related to suspended animation Suspended Animation
tion has yet to be developed, and the process

Putting crewmembers in suspended anima-
is fraught with difficulties.9 Although freezing
tion has been a well-utilized novum in science
is used to preserve red blood cells and corneas
f iction as a way of conserving resources and
for transplantation, the ability to freeze and lat-dealing with the long durations inherent in in-
er thaw complete organ systems and whole
terstellar missions. It has been employed in
bodies composed of differentiated cells with
written stories (e.g., Don Wilcox’s 1940 “The
different freeze-thaw rate prof iles is beyond

Voyage that Lasted 600 Years,” A.E. van Vogt’s
our abilities in the foreseeable future. Ice crys-1944 “Far Centaurus” ) and popular movies
tals can form, which can be lethal to cells, and

(e.g., 2001, Alien). In this scenario, after the areas of the body can be deprived of oxygen
critical activities involving the launch and the
from blood clotting or premature freezing be-
setting of the course for a distant star have
fore metabolism is slowed down. Even the use
been accomplished, the crew would be put in
of cryoprotectants such as glycerol, sucrose,
a state where their physiological functions are
or ethylene glycol presents technological chal-
slowed down until such time as they are near
lenges. The thawing of previously frozen cells
their destination, when they would be “awak-
and tissues presents risks of ice crystal forma-
ened” to perform their landing and explo-
tion and damage as well.

ration duties. This notion proposes the

A related idea is to cryopreserve sperm,
effective cessation of metabolism in the
ova, or actual embryos in liquid nitrogen or
crewmembers due to drugs and/or extreme
via other techniques for later implantation in
cold (i.e., cryosleep). Certain key crewmem-
female crewmembers or in an artificial womb.

bers could be revived periodically to perform

This would present a possible backup system
mission critical activities, then go back into
for fertility problems that might develop in
suspended animation when these are com-
transit to a distant star, or it could be used to pleted. The starship would be on autopilot
increase the colony population after landing
during the bulk of the mission, and computers
on a suitable exoplanet. Such preservation for
would handle life support and navigation, as
up to two decades has resulted in successful
well as the revival process.

implantation and birth.

The problem is that the technology to put

One notion of preserving cells in the human
an entire human being in suspended anima-
body is through the process of vitrification. In

9

For a complete and thoughtful review of suspended animation, see: Stratmann, H.: Chapter 7: Suspended animation: Putting characters on ice, in Using Medicine in Science Fiction: The SF Writer’s Guide to Human Biology, Springer Science+Business Media, New York (in press). An older and briefer discussion of this topic is also found in Mallove, E.F., Matloff, G.L.: The Starflight Handbook: A Pioneer’s Guide to Interstellar Travel, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 1989, pp. 199–205.

40

NICK KANAS, M.D.

MAY 2015
this process, the water in the body and its cells spectrum due to this wobble; pulsar timing
is cooled in such a way that it does not actually variations resulting from planet-caused gravita-freeze. Instead, it is supercooled to a kind of
tional perturbations as the pulsar rotates;
glass-like state where cellular molecular mo-
changes in a star’s luminosity resulting from a
tion and metabolism cease and cell compo-
transiting planet; and gravitational microlens-
nents are preserved in place due to the
ing, where the light from a background star is
arrested state of motion. In theory, the dangers
bent by the gravitational effects of a closer in-
of freezing should not be present; however, ice
line star with planets.10 Often, the mass and
crystal formation and cell damage could still
distance of the exoplanet from its star can be
occur during the thawing process.

determined. These detection methods bias the

Even if suspended animation becomes tech-
search in favor of finding larger planets, but as nically possible, problems could still occur.

the techniques become more ref ined, more

Perhaps there are unknown physical and phys-
and more exoplanets approaching the size of
iological effects of long-term suspended ani-

Earth are being discovered. Thanks to the sen-
mation lasting up to a century or more that
sitivity of the Kepler Space Telescope, the
might result in permanent organ damage or

NASA Exoplanet Archive on December 3,
impaired brain function. This risk could be en-

2014, listed 1,780 confirmed exoplanets (and
hanced by power surges or breakdowns of the

459 multi-planet systems), and more continue
equipment during this long period of time. In
to be listed every week as the Kepler data are
addition, psychological problems could result
processed.11 Some of these planets are in the
prior to freezing in people fearful of being in-
star’s so-called habitable (or “Goldilocks”)

capacitated for years at a time or worrying
zone: not too hot or too cold, but at the right
that some catastrophe could occur, such as a
distance to have surface temperatures in the
collision or equipment failure. For example,
range supporting the presence of liquid water,
what if a meteoroid hit the ship and negatively
thus making them possible candidates for life.

impacted life support equipment before

In fact, a recent study found ten Earth-size ex-
crewmembers could be aroused? Computers
oplanets orbiting in their respective star’s hab-
and other machines are not perfect; the no-
itable zone.12 The study results supported the
tion of being helplessly dependent on them to
conclusion that 22% of Sun-like stars in our
maintain your body and revive you later is not
galaxy may in fact harbor Earth-size planets
a comfortable thought and could create anxi-
that orbit in their habitable zones, and that the ety. Many people would prefer the awake
nearest such planet may well be within 12
multigenerational option for the f irst space
light-years from us. Nineteen single or double
colony mission, since they would be in more
star systems lie within this distance.

control over their destiny.

Three of these systems are thought to have
at least one planet orbiting a star.13 In Novem-

Exoplanets and Colonization
ber 2012, an Earth-like star was thought to

Planets revolving around distant stars can
have been detected around Alpha Centauri B,
be detected using several techniques, such as
located 4.4 light-years from Earth. If con-
astrometry, which measures a star’s wobble
firmed, the planet would likely be very close
due to the gravitational influences of an orbit-
to its star and therefore too hot to be habit-
ing planet; Doppler changes in stellar able. Work published in December 2012 has 10

For recent discussions on detecting exoplanets, see: Coughlin, J.L.: Extrasolar planets: What can be known before going there. J.Brit. Interplanet. Soc. 66, 47–50, 2013; Kanas, N.: Solar System Maps: From Antiquity to the Space Age. Springer Science+Business Media, New York, 2014, pp. 227–230.

11
http://exoplanetarchive.ipac.caltech.edu/index.html.

12

Petigura, E. A., Howard, A. W., Marcy, G. W.: Prevalence of Earth-size planets orbiting Sun-like stars.

PNAS, 110(45), 1–6, 11/4/13. http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2013/10/31/1319909110.

13

Matloff, G.L.: Deep Space Probes: To the Outer Solar System and Beyond, 2nd ed. Springer Science+Business Media, New York, 2005, pp. 141–154; Baxter, S., Crawford, I.: Starship destinations. In: Benford, J., Benford, G. (eds.): Starship Century: Toward the Grandest Horizon, Microwave Sciences and Lucky Bat Books, Charleston, SC, 2013, pp. 225–237.

CHALLENGES OF MANNED INTERSTELLAR TRAVEL: AN OVERVIEW

41

ANALOG
suggested that the Sun-like star Tau Ceti, locat-
star matching the solar constant and UV flux
ed 11.9 light-years away, may host a system of
experienced on Earth, this distance looks
up to five planets ranging in size from two to
promising for any planet found in this location
seven Earth masses, and that two of these are
to harbor life. Recently, the Kepler telescope
close to the habitable zone.

discovered two Earth-size planets orbiting an-

A bit nearer to us at 10.5 light-years away,
other K2 star (Kepler-62) that is two-thirds the
and better studied than the other two star sys-
size of our Sun and is located 1,200 light-years
tems, is the interesting system around Epsilon
away from us in the constellation of Lyra.15 No

Eridani.14 With an apparent magnitude of 3.7,

Earth-size planets have been found yet in the
this young star is probably less than a billion
habitable zone of Epsilon Eridani, but should
years old and has a mass of about 80% that of
they exist, this would be a good place to look
our Sun. It is of spectral class K2 and has an orfor extra-solar life.

ange hue. A number of components are

In time, it is likely that exoplanets will be
thought to surround the star. These include:

found relatively close to us that are good candi-
an inner asteroid belt some three astronomical
dates for colonization. If so, what would such
units away (1 AU = the Earth-Sun distance, or
a colony be like? Based on his analyses of thir-

149,597,871 kilometers); a large planet dis-
teen post-migration communities on Earth,
covered in the year 2000 that is likely 1.5

Schwartz has conceptualized three typical
times the mass of Jupiter and is around 3.4 AU
stages of organization following a migration.16
away from its star, with an orbital period of

The first is the pioneering phase, lasting two
about seven years; an outer asteroid belt some
to four years, where the new settlement may

20 AU away; a more Earth-sized planet about
experience tension and factionalism over is-

10% the mass of Jupiter and around 40 AU
sues related to physical survival. After food has away, with an orbital period of some 280
been provided in a reliable manner, and after
years; and a Kuiper belt-like dust disk 35–90
permanent shelters have been established, this

AU away that is relatively devoid of cometary
sense of impermanence disappears. The com-
nuclei. There is speculation that other planets
munity now enters into the consolidation
exist in the system, especially bordering and
phase, where it crystallizes and formalizes its
helping to form the belts and disk.

social institutions and associations, and a sense Young K2 stars like Epsilon Eridani are seen
of group solidarity begins to develop. In some
as good possibilities to harbor planets that
colonies, there is pressure to retain the old
support life. This is because they are numer-
ways of doing things despite changing condi-
ous, are stable for long periods of time, and
tions, but in others new norms are established
potential planets orbiting them are less likely
and cultural changes occur. As the potential
to be trapped in a synchronous rotation due to
factionalism of the f irst two stages are dealt
tidal damping than planets around older stars.

with, and ways of resolving disagreements are

Although determining the location of a star’s
established, the community enters into the
habitable zone is dependent upon many fac-
third phase—stabilization—where it continues
tors, such as the star’s age, luminosity, and
to develop in ways not directly related to the
f lare activity, as well as assumptions about a
resettlement. Although initially the settlers may planet’s magnetic f ield, climatic conditions,
experience a sense of equality with each other,
and cloud formation, a reasonable estimate of
the social class structure of the original migratthe distance of the habitable zone of Epsilon
ing group could be reestablished later on. Al-

Eridani is around .5 to 1 AU. Furthermore,
ternatively, new social interactions may result
with a distance of around .5 to .6 AU from this
from the new conditions. In a similar manner,

14 For a complete and referenced review of the Epsilon Eridani system, see: Wikipedia: Epsilon Eridani.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epsilon_Eridani.

15

NASA: NASA’s Kepler discovers its smallest ‘habitable zone’ planets to date. April 18, 2013.

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/kepler/news/kepler-62-kepler-69.html.

16 Schwartz, D.W.: The colonizing experience: A cross-cultural perspective. In: Finney, B.R., Jones, E.M.

(eds.): Interstellar Migration and the Human Experience, University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1985, pp. 234–246.

42

NICK KANAS, M.D.

MAY 2015
either weak or strong authority systems could
aquatic plants and colonial filter feeders to de-
occur, largely as a result of the nature of the
velop in water environments, and for unicellu-
structure in the pre-settlement culture. In
lar extremophiles and organisms living in rock
terms of religion, Schwartz outlines three pat-
crevices to develop in subterranean and sur-
terns: a simplification of the religious system in face environments. With this amount of activi-the early years following the migration; a rise
ty, it is possible that oxygen would have
in its importance as a factor increasing the uni-
accumulated relatively early in the atmosphere
ty of the community; or as a vehicle for fac-
as a byproduct of ongoing photosynthesis. It is
tionalism after the initial period of settlement.

unclear how likely photosynthesis would be

How these factors will apply to a new inter-
in the light of a low-luminosity K2 star like Ep-
stellar community is dependent upon the spe-
silon Eridani. But it should be kept in mind
cific conditions and social conventions of the
that 4.4 billion years ago, shortly after the
group. Economically, Hodges has written that

Earth was formed, the Sun’s brightness was
a newly settled star system community will ex-

25–30% less than today, and that its relative
perience a period of great scarcity of goods,
faintness continued for at least another 1.5 bil-
but after basic survival needs are met, and after lion years. Even under these conditions, pho-the population has grown and becomes self-
tosynthesis-using plants managed to develop
sufficient, the standard of living will improve
and eventually produce oxygen that forms the
as industries are established that produce
basis for our existence.

goods beyond the basic necessities.17

Irwin and Schulze-Makuch further speculate
that life could be present in such exotic envi-

Extraterrestrial Life
ronments as a watery subsurface on Europa or

Could life evolve on a planet orbiting a dis-
in aqueous ammonia or liquid ethane habitats
tant star, especially one like Epsilon Eridani
on Titan. Alien life has been depicted in a vari-
that is less than a billion years old? On Earth,
ety of ways living under a variety of condi-
there is fossil evidence that suggests that prim-
tions, but an exoplanet that has been carefully
itive microbes had developed in shallow
selected for human colonization will likely
ocean environments by one billion years, and
have a number of Earth-like characteristics
that these organisms evolved in many ways,
with respect to gravity, a rocky surface, mod-
from obtaining their energy through chemical
erate temperatures, tolerable radiation, an
means (chemoautotrophs) to using photosyn-
atmosphere with oxygen, liquid water, and
thesis (photoautotrophs). There likely was lit-
plant-producing soil. As a result, any life found tle oxygen in the atmosphere at this time, but
will likely be carbon-based and require sun-
later on the increasingly wider use of photo-
light and water. But even on Earth there are a
synthesis began to change things, as atmos-
number of extremophilic microorganisms that
pheric carbon dioxide was consumed and
survive under inhospitable conditions of tem-
oxygen was produced. Irwin and Schulze-
perature, radiation, acidity/alkalinity, and pres-Makuch have provided intriguing arguments
sure, and some give off methane as a
that under the right conditions, the life evolu-
metabolic byproduct. Organisms with silicon-
tionary process can be speeded up as com-
based structures exist, and there is evidence
pared to that which took place on Earth, and
that silicon may have played a role in the
that such a process could have happened on
emergence of life on Earth.19 So it is anybody’s

Mars.18 Specifically, they believe that a billion guess as to what kinds of alien life future
years would be long enough for multicellular
colonists will have to deal with.

17

Hodges, W. A.: The division of labor and interstellar migration: A response to “Demographic Contours.” In: Finney, B.R., Jones, E.M. (eds.): Interstellar Migration and the Human Experience, University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1985, pp. 134–151.

18

Irwin, L.N., Schulze-Makuch, D.: Cosmic Biology: How Life Could Evolve on Other Worlds, Springer Science+Business Media, New York, 2011.

19

Cairns-Smith, A.G.: Seven Clues to the Origin of Life, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 1991; Dessy, R.: Could silicon be the basis for alien life forms, just as carbon is on Earth? Scien.Am. 2/23/98, http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/cfm?id=could-silicon-be-the-basi&print=true.

CHALLENGES OF MANNED INTERSTELLAR TRAVEL: AN OVERVIEW

43

ANALOG

One possibility is a life form similar to slime
will take many decades, and a multigenera-
molds on Earth, which are very interesting or-
tional approach likely will be necessary. This
ganisms. Some types live as a syncytium of nu-
will result in a number of psychological and
merous cell nuclei embedded in a glob of
sociological sequelae. Putting some or all of
cytoplasm surrounded by a single large mem-
the crewmembers in suspended animation is
brane. Other types typically exist as single-
theoretically possible but practically very difficelled microorganisms that lead solitary lives
cult. When a distant Earth-like exoplanet is
when their bacterial, yeast, or fungal food is
reached, setting up a colony creates its own
plentiful. However, when food is scarce, they
problems, and if life is found, it may be quite
merge together via chemical communication
primitive or exotic. Yet, population and cli-
to form a giant amoeba-like organism that is a
mate change pressures at home may lead us in
very eff icient f inder of food. In addition, in
the direction of interstellar travel, not to men-
their merged state they adaptively form stalks
tion our curiosity of the unknown and our de-
that produce fruiting bodies that release
sire to find life among the stars. ■
countless spores to reproduce themselves dur-
ing difficult times.

About the Author

In studies where the merged organism is

Dr. Kanas is Professor Emeritus (Psychiatry)

placed on a grid depicting a city like London
at the University of California, San Francisco;
or Tokyo with its surrounding suburbs, and
and a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Soci-
where food is placed at these suburban loca-
ety (London). He has been a NASA-funded re-
tions, the slime mold will extend its
search Principal Investigator, and for over
pseudopods to find the most direct routes to
forty years he has written about psychosocial
the food, essentially replicating the city’s effi-issues affecting humans in space. He also is a
cient highway or railway system. Similarly,
life-long amateur astronomer, a collector of an-
slime molds are able to traverse complex
tiquarian celestial maps, and a science fiction
mazes in order to find food and to learn ways
writer. He has over two hundred professional
of anticipating unpleasant cold and dry condi-
publications, including (with Dietrich
tions in the laboratory. This has given rise to

Manzey) Space Psychology and Psychiatry
the notion that these primitive organisms pos-

(which won the 2004 International Academy
sess a kind of rudimentary intelligence.20
of Astronautics Life Sciences Book Award and
is now in its second edition); Star Maps: His-Conclusions
tory, Artistry, and Cartography, also in a sec-There are many issues to consider when
ond edition; and Solar System Maps: From
talking about interstellar travel. Due to the

Antiquity to the Space Age. He has published great distances, more efficient propulsion sys-articles in Analog Science Fiction and Fact
tems are needed, some of which require tech-
and two science f iction novels in Springer’s
nology not yet developed. In addition, there is

Science and Fiction series: The New Martians
great expense involved, which necessitates a
and The Protos Mandate, with a third novel strong f inancial commitment. The mission
on its way.

20

Nakagaki, T., Yamada, H., Toth, A.: Intelligence: Maze-solving by an amoeboid organism. Nature, 407, 470, September 28, 2000; Barone, J: 71: Slime molds show surprising degree of intelligence. Discover Magazine, January 2009. http://discovermagazine.com/2009/jan/071; Fountain, H.: Slime mold proves to be a brainy blob. New York Times, January 26, 2010. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/26/sci-
ence/26obmold.html?adxnnl=l&adxnnlx=13884.

44

NICK KANAS, M.D.

Slider

Bud Sparhawk
ad.”

the season. It’s just the rest of his team that

I had been about to take a
couldn’t hit for crap.

mouthful of meatloaf when Todd

Ever since Todd was old enough to throw a

“Dsuddenly broke the silence ball,I’d been emphasizing the balanced ap-around the dinner table. Millie looked up:

proach to playing baseball. He’d inherited my

Talking at dinner was unusual behavior for
arm and had more muscle than I ever did,
our typically silent teen.

which meant he could put some real heat on

“Dad,” he repeated after several moments
the ball. I’d been telling him all through his
as I waited in silence. He took a big drink of

T-ball, little league, high school, and summer
milk, picked up his fork, and took up the pur-
league that it’s the total package he needs to
suit of a tiny carrot around his plate. “I got a
keep in mind: batting, pitching, and f ielding
call today.”

are equally important, and, to succeed, you

“That’s nice,” I replied as I helped myself to
have to be good at all three.

an extra serving of potatoes. “Who was it?”

So he got a call. Hughes probably told Todd

“It was from Mr. Hughes, the scout for the
that if he worked hard in college, made the

O’s who called us last month.”

school team, and continued to improve,

Do I remember him? I had been on cloud
maybe, just maybe, there would be the possi-
nine since the Oriole’s scout had said Todd
bility of a minor-league offer. That courtesy
had “potential.” Hughes said that he’d heard
was more than most scouts would have giv-
about Todd’s ninety-mile-an-hour fast ball, de-
en, and I appreciated Hughes’ manners. Todd
ceptive slider, and pill-sized curve ball. Any
was probably disappointed, but a call was a
one of those was reason enough to put my
lot more encouragement than most high-
boy on the sports pages; that is, if his school’s school hopefuls would get.

team was having a decent season.

Still, for somebody Todd’s age, waiting a

But Todd’s team wasn’t doing so well this
few years would seem an eternity. He proba-
season; the rest of his teammates didn’t have
bly thought that he’d failed, poor kid. I won-
the cajones to win, despite Todd’s monu-
dered what I could say to make him feel
mental efforts on the mound. Not only that,
better.

but Todd’s batting average was darned good

“Anyhow,” Todd said, still moving that
for a pitcher—0.315 since the beginning of
damned carrot around as if touching all the

45

ANALOG
bases was important before he could put away
can you make scooping poop?” I asked.

the rest of his food. “Anyhow, he wants to talk

“Training camp will be a lot more fun than
to us about signing a pre-contract agreement.”

college. Pays better, too.”

Finally he looked up, and I could see the grin

Todd sat down and went back to pushing
running from one ear to the other.

some more food around the plate before he

“A contract!” With a whoop, I pushed back spoke again. “Mr. Hughes said you’d have to
the chair and did a little dance right there at
sign a release. Something about viv . . . viv-
the end of the table, rattling the dishes in the
io . . .”

cabinets. Todd jumped up and swung around

“Vivioplasty,” I said softly. “They must real-
and around, the two of us whooping and hol-
ly want you bad if they’re thinking about pay-
lering like a pair of crazy Bird’s fans.

ing for that.”

Zowie! Hughes was going to offer Todd a

“What’s this?” Millie asked. “What do they
contract before he was even out of high
want to do to Todd?”

school! Man, I knew he was damn good, and

I tried to explain, even if I didn’t fully un-
that wasn’t just my parental pride talking. If a
derstand the age-retardant treatments myself.

major league scout like Hughes thought he

“Vivioplasty is a way of keeping the body in
was good, too, where couldn’t Todd go?

tip-top shape instead of running down as you

Visions of Todd on the mound in Camden
age until it takes practically all your energy

Yards, wearing the orange and black, throw-
just to lift your useless dingus. “
ing his fast balls, sliders, and curves to one

“But isn’t that dangerous?” Millie was ever
frustrated batter after another, holding them
wary of doctors since her complications a
back as the team advanced to the top of the
few years earlier.

standings, ran through my mind in a montage.

“No, they’ll just adjust Todd’s biological

“What does that mean?” Millie asked, still

‘clocks’ with teleomatic synchroniz . . . some-
sitting at the table with a puzzled look on her
thing or other.”

face, vaguely confused by all of this baseball

Millie looked worried. “So he just gets a
talk and our antics.

shot or some medicine to get this done? I

“It means that they’re interested enough to
thought performance enhancement drugs
talk contract, and contract means that they
were illegal.”

think Todd here has what it takes to play in

I wondered if she ever read the sports
the majors!” I replied, thinking about the
page. “No. It’s more like those aging treat-
fame and money. Todd wouldn’t have a wor-
ments rich people get. They have to be timed
ry once that contract was signed, wouldn’t
to when Todd hits his peak. That’ll take sev-
have to struggle like I did.

en, maybe eight years of treatments.”

“But isn’t he too young? I mean, what

“That’s a long time,” she said slowly.

about college? Don’t they usually wait until af-

“A long time? My God, think about it, Mil!

ter college to offer contracts?” Millie was try-

Todd’s going to stay young and healthy for
ing hard to f igure out what this would do to
years!” I tried not to think of what the down-Todd’s college plans.

side of the process might be—using up all his

“I guess our boy’s got lots of potential. Isn’t
teleo-whatevers too fast. The process was still
that right, son? No need to go to college if
so new that nobody had actually seen if that
they sign you up. Probably put you in training
would happen. Most of those treated were
right away, build those skills up to where
very much alive, and medical science always
you’re a major threat. Probably give you a per-
advances, doesn’t it? Todd might not live a
sonal pitching coach. Yeah, you won’t need
shortened life at all.

college at all, not with what they have

“If they offered to pay for treatments, then
planned for you.”

they must believe that Todd is worth the in-

“But what about my job next summer?”

vestment,” I said. “Borros and Zlebinsky had

Job? I didn’t think cleaning out the cages at the treatment.”

the zoo was much of a job, but Todd had

“Are they ball players?” Millie asked—she
been a nut for animals ever since he was a
hadn’t a clue.

kid. Always had something in his aquarium or

“Great shortstop and pitcher,” Todd said with
outside in a pen. “Ha, what kind of money
a grin. “But not as good as I’m going to be.”

46

BUD SPARHAWK

MAY 2015

I slapped him on the shoulder. “Jesus, what

I was Dad’s luck in one way: because of
a glorious opportunity! You won’t have to
me, he hadn’t thought of enlisting for the
sweat for wages like my dad, or be a minor
money, and didn’t risk dying someplace in
league has-been like me. No sir, you’ll be in
the Middle East like his two brothers. Dad
the majors, pitching for years. No failing arm
kept their medals in a drawer. As a kid, I
for you.”

thought they were the neatest things and

The rest of the evening was a blur of activi-
couldn’t understand why they made him cry.

ty, calling my brother to tell him the good

I still have them upstairs in the trunk and take
news, giving Coach Philips the word, al-
them out occasionally, along with the faded
though I suspect he already had a glimmer
pictures of two grinning, eternally young men
when Hughes had asked for Todd’s number,
in tan camo who bore an uncomfortable re-
and f inally calling Mom. She wasn’t in, so I
semblance to Todd and me.

left the happy note on her voice mail. I’d for-

Pop died of a heart attack in ’24, while I
gotten it was bingo night, a weekly ritual with
was out of town at an away game. I think it
her widow friends and a few old guys who es-
was against the Padres, but I could be mistak-
corted them everywhere. Todd ran out on a
en. He’d collapsed in the middle of the living
date, jittering with nervous energy to tell his
room. Mom found him, called the doctor, and
latest girlfriend, Darlene.

put away the groceries. She didn’t seem par-
ticularly upset until the funeral, when she

While Millie smeared some greasy, smelly
sobbed so heavily nobody could hear the eu-
stuff on her face in the dark and f luffed her
logy. I had to put her in a hospital for a few
pillow, I put my hands behind my head and
days after that; it seems that she hadn’t slept,
thought about my own brief time in the mi-
afraid that she wouldn’t wake up.

nors.

She mourned his passing for four years and

Getting on a baseball team wasn’t the same
knew it was over when she awoke one morn-
deal back when I’d tried, not like it was to-
ing, saw the empty pillow beside her, and
day. Low pay and poor home life were the lot
didn’t cry.

for most of us, and even the big leagues
wouldn’t pay that much unless you were su-

The next day Mom finally returned my call.

per special.

She was quiet for a long while after I told her

Throwing a baseball was one of the few
about Todd and the path I had planned for
things that I did well, and baseball was the
him. I was surprised that she knew about the
love of my life. I’d delivered papers and cut
treatments, but then I guess that’s the sort of
lawns to earn the cash to go to every Ori-
thing retirees talk about.

ole’s game I could until I got out of high

“Think of what the boy will be missing,”

school and was faced with a decision about
she said. “He won’t be able to live out a nor-
what to do with my life. I went into the army
mal life, won’t be able to see his family grow
and trained at Fort Leonard Wood. After
up. He won’t know what real life is all about.

training, they put me in special services be-

Listen to me; life isn’t just for the young.

cause of my pitching arm and let me spend

There’s a lot of joy in the later years too.

the rest of my hitch playing ball all over

You’ll find that out yourself, one day.”

Africa and Asia.

Sure, I thought, joys like struggling for

When I got out of the army, I tried out for
enough cash with a rotten pension like Dad,
the minors. The alternative was to find a reg-
suffering with the aches and pains of aging
ular job, sweat and slave like my father, and
joints and failing organs that even now were
only get out to the stadium to see a game on
making themselves evident in my own f ifty-
the occasional weekend when there was
year-old body. How much of what she said
enough spare cash on hand.

was simply rationalization, a way of reconcil-
ing herself to her own aging?

I’d sworn early on that I wasn’t going to be

“You’ll take away so much if you go along
like Dad, sweating his life away at a dull labor-
with this. Todd doesn’t know what he’ll
er’s job for the promise of a pitiful pension
be missing; all he sees is the promise of eter-
and monthly Social “Insecurity” payments.

nal youth. For a boy his age, even forty is a

SLIDER

47

ANALOG
lifetime away, but there are so many good
me into the majors and out of double-A ball.

years after that . . .” she continued. “Why, I re-Even had one of their coaches come around
member, after I turned forty . . .”

to talk to me about my pitiful, declining bat-

Yeah, and I remembered those years too:

ting average.

Dad coming home drunk, fed up with his job,

Reason I hadn’t moved up, even with the
angry at the traff ic and taxes, worn down
golden arm, was the stupid 0.197 and falling
from a running argument with his boss, tired
stats in ‘24. I just didn’t have the eye it took to of being tied to the same frumpy woman for
hit a real ball. Bloopers to center f ield, pops
the rest of his life instead of some sweet hon-
into right, and a lot of comebacks to the
ey like those he’d probably seen dancing in
pitcher and grounders to the short stop were
some bar. I remembered every word of it as
my habit. Got on base through errors more
he screamed and yelled his frustration at his
than effort and been damn lucky in that re-
life night after night; I remembered hearing
spect. “Pull the batting up and we’ll talk some
more than one slap.

more,” the coach had said, and I hadn’t, and

I just wish I didn’t feel the same way, some-
the coach didn’t, not for the rest of the sea-
times, myself. Not that I had a bad job, you
son, not for the rest of my short career.

understand. Selling cars might not be a glam-

“Too old,” was the scuttlebutt, meaning
orous, but it did pay well if you were any
that my thirty-second birthday put me out of
good at it. I’d started when I told my coach
the running for the young-and-coming catego-
that I was looking for an off-season job that
ry that seemed to be required for the majors
would help pay the bills we couldn’t cover on
in those days. Of cour se, the fact that I
my meager salary. The job at the dealership
couldn’t put the mojo on the curve ball any-
didn’t pay well, but it was a gimmie from one
more and had lost a good ten mph on my fast
of the team’s owners. I suspected the cus-
pitch had hurt my chances as well. The f in-
tomers that were steered to me the first year
ishing touch had been the lousy batting. I
were easy marks; people who had that certain
didn’t get a hit during the whole of spring
look that said they wanted to buy a new car
training, even against the raw rookies trying
then and there. But while I took the easy
to make the pitching cut. Damn embarrass-
marks, I watched the other salesmen, and I
ing, having to turn in my gear while the oth-
learned how to chat up the customers. The
ers were getting ready for the season.

next year, I didn’t need any help in making
the close and made enough to live on in the

“Please tell him to reconsider,” Mom went
months between seasons, which I couldn’t
on, pulling me back into the present. “I know
do on my pitcher’s salary.

Todd’s at an age where you don’t have a lot of

I often wonder if I could have done so well
control, but tell him not to do it. His life is too without the golden arm. I’d doubted it
precious to waste.”

enough to try to stay on the team even after

“Sure, Mom. I’ll try,” I said and hung up.

all the indications that I wasn’t ever going to

Yeah, and I’ll go back and have another try for
make the majors became evident.

the majors, too. There was no way was I go-

I’d thought I had a shot at moving up once,
ing to let Todd miss this opportunity, not af-
back in that fifth season when I was hot and
ter all the work that we’d— he’d put into it, had a 0.329 earned run average. Struck out
damn it. When that parental release came, I
fifteen batters on my best series. A dozen run-
was going to sign it. No way was I going to let
ners who died on bases during that season
anything stand in the way of Todd’s success.

were walked on signals from my pitching
coach; a pull on the left ear, a brush of his ass, The next night, Todd came out on the deck
two slaps at the left forearm, and a tug on the
to talk while Millie cleaned up after dinner.

cap. Whenever he did that, Kozawski, our

“Dad, should I really go through with this?”

catcher, would put two f ingers down, and

“What do you mean? Suddenly you don’t like
that meant low and inside for the heavy hit-
baseball? What the hell have we been working
ters who couldn’t choke the bat enough to
on since you were in diapers?” I asked.

pull them out, not if they wanted to get the

Todd shuff led his feet for a few moments
long balls. Ten hits in four games almost got
and then said softly, “I talked to Darlene last

48

BUD SPARHAWK

MAY 2015
night. She doesn’t want me to do it. Says hav-
unleash a hellion’s fury, and then . . . just
ing treatments would be selling my soul.”

stopped. Whatever she was about to say nev-

“Don’t listen to her, son. If God didn’t want
er made it past her lips. For my part, I com-
us to do this, he would have stopped us long
pletely lost interest in the game and
ago. Besides, you don’t believe in all that reli-
everything else.

gious stuff about vivioplasty anyhow, do

Did you ever hear people talk about feeling
you?”

the world stop for a moment that seems to go

“She said she wouldn’t see me any more,”

on forever? Well, that’s the best way to de-

Todd continued stubbornly. “She says that I’d
scribe what happened to me—to us—there
just be a kid that keeps going on and on while
on that f ield. The upshot was that we had
everybody gets older. She said she wouldn’t
dinner that night, babbled endlessly, and
go to the prom with me. Gave me back my
screwed like a couple of randy bonobos in
school ring, too.”

the front seat of her old coupe. I still had the

Now I knew what was the matter: It was
rich, sexy smell of her on me when Stan
just a bad case of frustrated adolescent hor-
caught me sneaking into the hotel waaaay
mones. Darlene was the latest of the cute lit-
past curfew and nailed me with a monster
tle bints he’d gone with since he started high
fine.

school. He’d been dating her ever since his se-

It had been worth it.

nior year started. I’d seen some serious texts

After that Millie and I became inseparable.

on his cell; not that I deliberately looked, you

She moved down to Bowie to be near our
understand.

practice camp. I moved out of the apartment

I chuckled at him. “You won’t have any

I shared with a couple of guys and into hers.

worries about who to sleep with, if that’s

We were married two months into my sixth
your problem. Once you make the majors,
season, on a long weekend with no sched-
the gals will be after you all the time. Have to
uled games. Honeymooned in beautiful
f ight them off with a bat. Hell, look at that
downtown Glen Burnie at the Honey Bee Mo-
sweet honey that Borros had on his arm in
tel and Restaurant so the rest of the team
the paper. Women throw themselves at ath-
wouldn’t find us.

letes, you know.” I rubbed his hair with one

Todd came along a year and a half later,
hand. “Come on, Darlene isn’t everything.”

when I was in a slump and couldn’t hit a

“I wish I could believe she wasn’t, Dad. But
thing. I’d just turned thirty and was taking a
it really hurts. I think I love her.”

good share of kidding from everyone about

“I’m sure you think that you do,” I replied.

being over the hill. Not having Millie along on

“But give it a day or two, okay?” By then the
the out of town games was a real downer and
release would be signed, we’d be talking con-
didn’t help my depression a bit.

tract, and he’d have the stars back in his eyes.

Back home it was Todd and Millie, with me

Major leagues, here we come—to hell with
out on the road, trying to keep my mojo and

Darlene and all those who thought like her.

struggling to eke out another season. I was
sure I could improve my batting if I just bore

I’d met Millie on one of our road trips in
down. That had been my motto for too many

’22. She had come to the game to drink beer
years.

and have a good time with a few friends and
had blundered into our dugout when the oaf

“Are you really doing the right thing?” Mil-
behind her had pushed her forward when he
lie asked in the darkness, her voice muff led
went after a stupid little pop foul over third.

by the surrounding pillows. “I mean, is this

She’d fallen on the shed roof and practically
honestly good for Todd? He really wants to go
fell into the lap of old Stan, our coach. Stan
to college in the fall. Shouldn’t we let him
helped her up and probably snuck a feel
make the decisions?”

while doing so, the old fart.

“Are you out of your mind? This is the best

I’d walked up just as somebody behind me
thing that could happen. If he’s good enough
made some smart remark about how cute her
to be offered a contract at his age, and if
ass looked in those shorts. She whipped
they’re willing to put up the big bucks for the
around, saw me standing there and started to
treatments, then he’s guaranteed to be

SLIDER

49

ANALOG
famous, not to mention rich. Jesus, woman!

“Of course I’m going to have somebody

Do you think just anybody can get an offer look them over! Do you actually think that I
like this? You have to be really, really spe-
would do something as important as this oth-
cial.”

erwise?” I snapped back, disturbed by Todd’s

“But what if it doesn’t work out? What
lack of enthusiasm. “Now what’s the prob-
would he do? Where would he go?”

lem, Todd? Aren’t you excited?”

What would he do? What a question for her

Todd kept his head down and kept digging
to ask. Hell, if I had a body that kept me at
at the potatoes. “Yeah,” he answered. “I guess
that magic peak, I’d play ball and chase tail
so.”

until I dropped. I’d find another sport if I had

“All right,” I said and threw my napkin
to and play it well. I’d visit my old fart friends down on the table. “Now just what the hell is
and rub their noses in my youth. I’d lie to
going on around here? The opportunity of a
every girl I met, and make all my old, ageing lifetime comes along and you act as if your
girlfriends envious. And I wouldn’t need any
best friend just died. What the hell is the mat-
college degree to help me either, no sir.

ter?”

After I’d stopped playing ball, I’d gone to

Millie laid a hand on my arm. “Don’t yell at
f lab. I still had the measurements of my
him,” she said. “He’s just working things out.”

youth, although the chest and waist f igures

“Have you been telling him your crazy ideas
seemed to have switched places. Now I had a
again? Damn it, Millie, I thought we had
f lat stomach only when I was on my back,
agreed that this was the right thing to do.”

and sometimes not even then. I was turning

“Wasn’t Mom,” Todd said. “I was talking to
into one of the guys I used to laugh at from

Grandma today, that’s all. She made me think
the field: paunchy, loud, and gray, a bottle of
about some other things.”

beer in one hand and a hot dog in the other.

I was furious. So the damn women were

Sure, I wouldn’t mind having the perfect
ganging up on me now? Just like them; they
body up to the day I died. Seemed like a good
never understood what baseball was all
trade-off to me.

about. And they’d never really understand

“I don’t think that will be a problem,” I
what a long youthful life would mean to an
replied.

athlete like Todd. Damn it! Couldn’t they see

“I just don’t feel right about this,” she said
that this was what he wanted; that this was
softly by way of good night and, as usual and
what all our work and sweat and effort and
as too often lately, rolled over.

struggles to pull his fielding and batting stats

“Just don’t try to talk Todd out of this,” I
up were for? “C’mon Todd. Let’s take a walk,”

said leaning over for a kiss and maybe more.

I said and left the table.

“Okay?”

Only when I reached the porch did I real-

Silence. Angry, I guessed, and rolled over
ize that Todd wasn’t following. I looked
to think about lithe young bodies and eternal
back through the window and saw him
good looks, frustrated, as usual.

helping Millie with the dishes. Instead of
joining them, I jumped in the car and drove

Todd went over to Mom’s to help her move
over to Rudy’s, where I watched the Orioles
some furniture one afternoon—at least that
game against Minnesota and cried in my
was the excuse she used to get him where
beer over the stupidity of women and the
she could talk to him without me being
f ickle nature of adolescents. Todd would
around. That evening he was even more qui-
come around by the time Hughes came. I
et than usual, answering me with grunts and
was certain of it.

nods, shoveling the food in like he was stok-

He had to.

ing a furnace. “Hughes is coming to talk to
us,” I said, relating the call I’d made from

The time for Todd’s last game of the season
work. “He’s going to bring the papers along
was getting close as I was closing a deal with
for us to look over.”

an elderly couple that insisted on paying top

“Are you going to have a lawyer look at
dollar, even though I tried to tell them that a
them f irst?” Millie asked. “I wouldn’t want
less expensive ’42 model was a better bar-
you to sign anything that might hurt Todd.”

gain. But old fools aren’t prone to listen to car 50

BUD SPARHAWK

MAY 2015
salesmen; they assume we’re all outright liars

Todd looked up with tears cutting rivulets
at best.

in the dirt on his cheeks. “Dad, it hurts like

I shuffled them to the finance kiosk to take
hell. Can we get to a doctor, please?”

care of the formalities and drove across town

Stupid me, thinking about the speed of his
to the school’s stadium. The team was facing
pitch while he’s sitting there in pain. “Let’s

Northside this afternoon. Coach Phillips—
go.” One of the assistant coaches ran up with
sold him a nice little sedan last year, lime
an ice pack and wrapped it around the elbow
green with real leather seats—had told Todd
as Coach and I helped Todd into my car; the
that he was opening.

hospital was only a few miles away.

By the top of the sixth inning the score was

On the way there, ignoring traffic lights as

Northside 3–1, with two runs on our team’s
much as was safe, I cursed the insurance
errors, and Northside had gone through three
companies and what they had done to school
rotations with their best batter coming to the
sports. Couldn’t pay the premiums, so the re-
plate. I watched the batter’s feet as he braced
sponsibility fell on the parents. And damn the
for Todd’s pitch. He aligned his hips with
lawyers, too, for all of the litigation that made right field and leaned forward, squeezing the
the schools afraid to do so much as put on a
strike zone as small as possible.

bandage without fearing a lawsuit. So here I

Todd threw wide for a ball and followed
was doing fifty in a thirty-mile-per-hour zone
with a classic slider, down and inside, break-
and praying that Todd’s arm was going to be
ing at the last minute for a clean strike. The
all right.

computerized umpire f lashed it barely in the

The doctors took lots of expensive images
zone at forty-three meters per second. I
of Todd’s arm and ran them through their di-
didn’t like Todd tossing sliders. It took a low,
agnostic computers while Todd kept com-
wide pitch to get the right spin and speed
plaining about the pain and the tingling in his
and that put enormous strain on the rotator
fingers.

cuff.

“Might be some nerve sheath damage,” the

I noticed Todd rubbing his elbow as the
doctor said. That was the little bundle of
catcher got a new ball. For luck, I thought, as
f ibers that ran along the outside of the right

Todd tossed another wide pitch, making it
elbow and controlled the hand and f ingers.

two and one.

“No way to tell for sure. We have to depend

The next one came across the center of the
on your son’s reports of symptoms,” he said.

plate, just below the batter’s waist, meaning

“I don’t see any inflammation as yet and that’s
the best he could hit would be a grounder.

a good sign.”

That is, if he’d connected, which he didn’t,

“So Todd has to have some cortisone treat-
for two and two.

ments,” I said, remembering the tendonitis

Todd took a long time reading the signal,
that had kept me from playing my last season.

glanced up into the stands where Hughes and

Since than, every time I tried to throw some-

I were sitting, nodded as he made his deci-
thing or twisted my arm the wrong way, I was
sion, wound up, and threw it right over the
reminded of the injury. Not only that, but my
plate for a pop foul into the stands.

elbow throbbed whenever the weather

“Forty-f ive meters!” Hughes yelled, clearly
turned cold; a sign of future decrepitude for
impressed by the radar reading.

sure, like the hint of bursitis in my shoulder.

But I didn’t care. As soon as I saw Todd

“Okay, when can we start the treatments?”

drop his glove, fall to his knees, and grab his

The doctor shook his head. “I’m afraid that
elbow, I was over the chain-link fence and
won’t help. Cortisone or steroids are only
racing to the mound. The coach got there
good when there’s inflammation. If it is sheath
only a few seconds before me.

damage, your boy might never recover. Even if

“Cramp?” I asked, hoping against sense.

he did, there’s the danger this could reoccur at

“Something snapped,” Todd groaned. “It
any time for the rest of his life.”

hurts bad.”

“No!” I yelled in disbelief. “There’s got to

“Just threw his arm out, probably,” the
be some sure way to fix this. Maybe an opera-
coach said. “I f igure that ball must have bro-
tion? Yeah; an operation. You docs can f ix
ken a hundred! Awesome.” I agreed.

that sheath thing, can’t you?”

SLIDER

51

ANALOG

The doctor put his hands together in a little
progress and tried to sound as cheerful as I
tent. I’m sure that they teach them that ges-
could under the circumstances.

ture in medical school; makes them look so

It was five long weeks before our appoint-
damn learned when they’re probably just as
ment with this Sherman character. I was in
puzzled as the rest of us. “I’m afraid not. In
miserable shape. Five weeks with my stom-
general, sheath f iber can’t be rebuilt, espe-
ach constantly in knots. Five weeks during
cially in a place like this where it’s subject to which my rotten disposition affected sales
constant wear. There are some new tech-
down at the shop. Five weeks of looking at
niques, but I’d only give it about a f ifty-f ifty that damn splint on Todd and wondering if
chance of success, and then only if we get a
his golden arm was ever going to be un-
specialist in this sort of thing.”

packed again.

“So why don’t we get the specialist? Damn

Todd seemed to accept his lot with grace
it, Doc, this boy is a pitcher. He just threw a
and tried to learn to use his left hand for every-fastball that broke one hundred, and he hasn’t
thing. “Maybe I can be ambidextrous,” he
hit his peak yet. His arm has to get better. It
joked, “and throw lousy with either hand.”

just has to! Who do I have to call?”

I felt like crying.

The doctor shook his head sadly. “I’ll give
you a name, but keep in mind what I said

The night before we were to go up to Hop-
about the long term chances for success.

kins to see Sherman, I was sitting around with

Pitching . . . putting constant strain on the
a beer and watching the O’s lead a desultory
arm, I just don’t know: The type of stress it

0-0 game against Ottawa that seemed to drag
will place on his elbow might be too much. It
on forever. Todd came in, plopped down on
wouldn’t take much additional trauma on that
the sofa, watched Fernandez fan two in a row
elbow to permanently cripple him. I’d advise
past Plozcsa, and then said “Dad, what if the
he consider another career. His baseball days
doctors say nothing can be done?”

are probably over.”

I roused myself from the stupor that a dull

“No,” I said, gripping the arms of my chair
summer night’s game can put you into and
and trying to make him understand what was
thought about what he had said. “Don’t think
at stake through sheer mental pressure. “My
that way, son. Doesn’t do either of us any
boy has too much ahead of him. He can’t just
good to consider the down side. Keep a posi-
walk away from this.”

tive attitude; isn’t that what your coach al-

The doctor sighed and rummaged around
ways tells you?” I was sure that he was
in his drawer for his address book. “I’d rec-
worried about what Sherman was going to
ommend Sherman. He’s up at Hopkins and
tell us tomorrow.

probably the best micro-surgical operator

Todd didn’t appear to be listening to me
around. I’ll have our receptionist set up an ap-
but kept going. “I’ve been thinking hard
pointment.”

about this, Dad. Even if the doctor is right and

“What about vivioplasty,” I asked. “Would

I’m able to pitch again, how will I know it
that fix the problem?”

will last? What if he f ixes it and I take those

The doc raised an eyebrow. “Probably not.

treatments. What happens to me then if my

Neither would stem cells, yogurt, or any oth-
arm goes out for good?”

er experimental treatment. Surgery is the

Now that idea brought me up short. I’d
only, and I repeat, exceedingly thin, possibili-been assuming that a successful operation
ty.”

would mean a successful career—the shot at

“But . . .” I started to argue.

the big one for Todd, years at his youthful

“Let’s go, Dad,” Todd said. “Come on, let’s
peak, years of wonder and pleasure—money
go home and tell Mom. ” I f igured the
and willing gals galore! What could I say; that
painkillers they’d given him were making him
he’d have a longer run at youth than his
too stupid to understand how this was going
peers, even if he might not live as long? Hell,
to affect our chances.

about 10 percent of kids his age would die be-
fore forty from car accidents, cancer, or some-

I was on the phone to Hughes about ten
thing else. Nobody had any guarantees these
times a day. I kept him up to date on Todd’s
days, if they ever did.

52

BUD SPARHAWK

MAY 2015

Todd continued babbling about things I
to place that call to Hughes. Yeah, chew on
never thought he cared about—stuff about
that for a while.” I said and watched his face
college, having a family, seeing other parts of
crumble. The kid knew when he was beat.

the world, finding out if he was good at any-

“We’ll pay for your college,” Millie said
thing besides baseball, and about following
from behind me in a voice barely above a
his love of animals.

whisper. I don’t know how long she had been

“You’ve been talking to your mother,
there, listening to our argument. “It is your haven’t you?” It would be just like Millie to
decision, Todd, and we will support it,” she
put some of her dumb ideas into his head dur-
finished.

ing this vulnerable and delicate time. “She

I started to turn and let out a few choice
doesn’t know crap about the game, you
words when I saw her expression. It was that
know. It’s all just play to her.”

lip pursing, hard eyed, chin jutting one that

“Don’t bring up Mom,” Todd replied angri-
said her mind was made up. I knew then that
ly. “I’m talking about me, Dad. Me!”

she’d starve and wear rags to put college

I decided to take a different approach.

money in Todd’s pocket and the hell with my

“You’re just upset about your arm, that’s all.

feelings. I felt the heat start to build up in me, Once we have the operation and your arm is
a rage unlike any that I’d ever felt before. How
better, we’ll get back into the swing of things,
could she do this after all I had done for
you’ll see. Everything’s going to turn out all
them? I spun toward her, ready to let her
right.”

know what I thought of her Goddamn stupid

Todd stood up and towered over me.

idea and . . .

When had he grown so large? “I’m not going

“Your father really does love you, you
to Hopkins, Dad. I’m not going to have an
know,” she continued. “And I am certain that
operation. I’m going to call Mr. Hughes and
once he gets over his disappointment about
tell him to f ind somebody else for his pitch-
this baseball business he’ll tell you the same
ing lineup.”

thing. ” She took hold of my arm and

I jumped up, scattering popcorn in every
squeezed “That’s why I love him so much.”

direction and making Todd back away. “You’ll

Hughes never even bothered to return any
do no such thing! I won’t have you throw
of my many, many calls after he heard Todd’s
away something we’ve worked on for years;
decision.

something I never had the chance to do.

You’re going to be a star. We’re going to make

Todd went off to college in the fall and
the big leagues. Why are you talking so
earned letters in soccer and lacrosse. I went
crazy?”

to every game and rooted as loudly as the

“Damn it, Dad. Listen to yourself! It’s ‘I’ and
rest, screaming, “That’s my boy!” whenever

‘my’ all the time. This isn’t about you and
he scored a goal, as if he was playing some
what you want. This is about me and my life.

real sport.

This is about having a chance at a different

I didn’t go to the Orioles games for two
life than the one you’ve been trying to make
whole seasons, didn’t even know—didn’t, by
me live for more years than I can remember.”

God, want to know—how the team was do-

Tears were streaming down his face as he bit
ing.

out the words, just like he was still a kid.

Todd graduated with honors in biology

“Yeah, and what happens to your athletic
and got a nice job with the Smithsonian re-
scholarship when they find out that you can’t
search place by Annapolis. Met Mary, a nice
pitch? Where are you going to f ind a school
girl from the north end of Baltimore who
that will pay your way then?”

worked there, and they were married last

“I’ll f ind some way to do it. Sports aren’t
year. She had nice parents—drove a black ‘39
everything. I’ll get the money somehow—

Imperial with most of the options—with
maybe I’ll get a job to pay my way.”

good taste.

“Shit! Do you have any idea of what it costs

Millie went on a diet, took up aerobics,
to go to college these days? You couldn’t earn
trimmed down, and started attracting a few
enough to pay for your rent, much less tuition
looks from the guys on the lot. Mom was still
and books. Think about that when you start
going strong, dating a guy six years her junior

SLIDER

53

ANALOG
and dancing up a storm at the senior center—
counting my money and f ighting off the
a model for everyone in their eighties. Me, I
babes, right?”

hung on as best I could, too old and tired to

From the way he said it, I knew he was
change. Todd had been my chance, and he’d
pulling my leg. He looked more and more like
blown it.

my uncles and less and less like that faded, un-
changing photograph of me as a has-been mi-

On a late, balmy, summer evening, Todd
nor league player. He’d thrown away his
and I were walking along the beach at Ocean
chances with that last, blazing pitch and would

City and chatting while Millie and Mary were
probably end up driving some cheap electric
back at the motel taking care of Tommy,
the rest of his life instead of a Lamborghini.

Todd’s new baby boy.

Someday Todd would realize what life was

Todd was picking up pebbles and bits of
really about and regret his missed opportuni-
shell and idly tossing them into the heaving
ty. “But you should have tried to have your el-
waves that crashed ashore this late in the sea-
bow fixed,” I said bitterly. “You could at least
son.

have tried!”

We were talking about Ricardo Cisneros,

“No, Dad,” he replied. “That wouldn’t have
the new first baseman for the Eagles who was
changed a thing.” About fifty feet ahead of us,
in the middle of his vivioplasty treatment. He
a gray sea gull had landed and was tearing at a
had a ten-year contract and all indications
dead fish on the sand. Todd flipped the peb-
were that he would be getting better and bet-
ble in his hand for a moment, drew his arm
ter as the years passed. Borros and Zlebinsky
back, and threw it, hard.

were still going strong, young as ever. Their

The pebble followed a tight curving line
continuing youth made me feel my f ifty-six
that went to the right and then, at the last
years more than ever.

minute, broke down and to the left, explod-

“Any regrets about the way things turned
ing the fish in a spray of scales and guts right
out?” I said, “You could have been on the
out from under the gull. It was his classic slid-
mound this year, throwing to Cisneros if it
er. I noticed that he didn’t rub his elbow. “I
hadn’t been for the accident.”

don’t have any regrets at all,” he smiled.

“Well,” Todd said. “I figure that I wouldn’t

Just the same, in three years I’d be able to
have met Mary if I was doing that. Wouldn’t
put my grandson into T-ball and start him on
have graduated, wouldn’t be thinking about
his way.

my son’s college years right now. Be too busy

I still had hope. ■

54

BUD SPARHAWK

Illustrated by Karla Castaneda

Cetacean

Dreams

Robert R. Chase
fter all the training, the tests in Earth’s
tion staff crowded expectantly along the near
deepest marine trenches, the months
side of the pool. Jason Sloan did a last check of in deep space with its extended hiber-the readouts. Heart rates were elevated, but

Anation periods and the final six mile de- that was probablyjust excitement.He tapped scent through Europa’s icy crust, it came
in the okay signal. For a few seconds, nothing
down to this: walking four coffin-shaped con-
happened. Then the front of the containers
tainers down a long slope to a pool larger and
fell open, spilling water into the pool. The
much deeper than the National Aquarium. At
rear legs of the containers extended and the
the base of the ramp, they lined the contain-
dolphins slid under the waves, almost imme-
ers up along the edge of the pool. Europa Sta-
diately hurling themselves into the air in a

55

ANALOG
series of aerial pirouettes. The onlookers
things not as constrained on Clarke High Orbit
laughed and applauded as the four dolphins

Station or the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Sta-
raced around the perimeter of the pool. As
tion? Indeed, yes, but one is on Clarke for no
they sped by him, Jason could hear the chirps
more than six months at a time, and at the
that meant happy happy happy to this group pole one can almost always step outside for a
of dolphins.

walk. Here, that is not available.

For the first time since leaving Earth, Jason

“So for science we are pressed together like
felt himself relaxing. Maybe this will work out sardines for five years. But then we hear that
after all.

this structure, which has sucked up so much
of our research funds, will be added on to our

Afterward, at the welcoming party, held
station for nonhumans. We do not even know
poolside:

if an addition can be made that will stand up

“So, you and your friends will f ind
to exterior pressures.”

Leviathan for us.” Station Director Emile De-

Thinking of the tons of ice pressing in just
voyon looked at him frankly as he shook Ja-
beyond the walls of the pool, Jason nodded.

son’s hand. Everything about Devoyon was

“You said ‘at f irst.’ Something changed your
neat: his haircut, his small mustache, his mut-
opinion?”

ed business suit. He was an inch or two short-

“First of all, we found we really could make
er than Jason yet without apparent effort pro-
the addition without compromising the sta-
jected the impression of being taller.

tion’s structural integrity,” Devoyon said.

“We’ll do everything we can,” Jason said. “If

“Then we found we could make our own uses

Leviathan exists.”

of the extra space. We set the tank up for cliff

Devoyon’s shrug expressed multitudes.

climbing before the water was added. We are

“The pilots swear this creature has appeared
hoping to use it for diving and swimming now
on their instruments a dozen times, but it al-
that it’s filled.”

ways retreats or simply vanishes before they

He gave Jason a hard look. Realizing that
can approach close enough to do more than
some response was expected, Jason said,
note its monstrous size. The biologists insist

“There shouldn’t be any problem. Dolphins gen-
nothing that large could feed itself, but at least erally get along with humans and this set is quite half of them hope that you’ll be able to prove
used to sharing the water with swimmers.”

them wrong.”

Devoyon grunted, which seemed to indi-

“I can’t imagine anything being able to out-
cate satisfaction with the answer. “Perhaps the
swim these dolphins,” Jason said.

greatest benef it is the open space. You may

They walked around the edge of the pool.

have noticed the semi-abstract pastels decorat-

Coming to a refreshment table, Devoyon
ing all the rooms and corridors. All done on
handed Jason a drink.

the advice of the psych teams who helped de-

“Not to be described in your off icial re-
sign the station. The fear was that after
port,” the station director said. “Otherwise, I
months enclosed in this station, even the non-
shall be answering queries from Earthside for
claustrophobic would become, how you say,
at least a year.

stir crazy.”

“You know, we were very much against this

He waved his hand to encompass the entire
at first.” Devoyon waved his hand to encom-
dome. “Our would-be Michaelangelos intend
pass the entire area.

to turn this into a huge planetarium. The ini-

“Why?” Jason asked. His sipped his drink care-
tial image will be of a mountain valley that ex-
fully; the mixture of fruit juices barely concealed tends to a distant ocean. If that is successful,
something locally brewed that he suspected
they will give the image a night and day cycle
would, in any quantity, take his head off.

corresponding to Earth’s. This canvas would

“You will understand when you have seen
not be available to us without the construc-
the rest of the station,” Devoyon said. “Your
tion of this facility for your dolphins.”

room, it is the size of a walk-in closet on Earth.

The corridors, the lunchrooms, they are al-

There was a gap.

ways crowded. It is a strain if you have the

Devoyon had been introducing him to the
least amount of claustrophobia. You ask, are
members of the station community. He shook

56

ROBERT R. CHASE

MAY 2015
hands with doctors Ellis and Ma, joint heads of

“Aihe,” Jason supplied.

the xenologist research team. Then there had

“Aihe over and showed me how the im-
been the Norwegian woman who was in
planted chip allows you to keep track of all
charge of both waste recycling and (not coin-
her vital signs. In the middle of your explana-
cidentally) the garden stacks that provided
tion you paused and looked around uncertain-
fresh vegetables for all station personnel. He
ly. That was when I realized you were having a
had met the lead medical doctor. (“I’ll see you

‘moment.’”

tomorrow for your post-f light physical.”)

Jason stood up carefully. “Thank you for the

There had been the head engineer whose
explanation. I’m still feeling a bit strange.

team was not only responsible for heat and

Maybe I should get back to my quarters. I’m
light within the station, but also for keeping
sure we’ll see each other again.”

the column of water leading to the surface ice-

“We certainly will,” Anahira said. “I’m your
free. Faces and names blurred together.

pilot.”

Then with no sense of any transition, he
was kneeling at the side of the pool, checking

The next morning he had breakfast with the
on Aihe. The gap could not have been long:

crew of the Starry Messenger, the spacecraft the poolside party was still going on.

that had transported him, the dolphins, and

A woman crouched beside him. Dark-
sundry other supplies from Earth. In between
skinned, her elf in face was surrounded by
bites of ersatz scrambled eggs, he had another
curly black hair. “You have just had a mo-

“moment.” All attention was focused on an ar-
ment,” she said.

gument between the first mate and the engi-

“Excuse me?”

neer about the performance of the fusion

“A memory skip. The last thing you can re-
drive, so nobody noticed. When he brought it
member was maybe five minutes ago.”

up during his physical an hour later, the doc-

“I don’t—”

tor grunted and told him that while it might

“Don’t worry.” She extended her hand, not
recur at odd times during the next few weeks,
quite touching his arm as if fearing he would
it was nothing to worry about.

shy away from physical contact. “You haven’t

After lunch, the dolphins’ deep suits were
done anything odd in the gap, just checked on
uncrated and hoisted into the pool. From a dis-
your friends and talked to me. It’s called
tance, the suits looked like larger versions of
dream fugue. Do you feel as if your head is
the dolphins. Then you noticed the cameras
stuffed with cotton?”

and spotlights studded all over the exterior.

Jason nodded. Aihe, seeing that she was be-

When the bomb-bay doors opened in the ven-
ing ignored, ducked her head back in the pool
tral side of the suit, the illusion was complete-
and swam away.

ly destroyed.

“It seems to be a side effect of the hiberna-

Pock was the first to enter a suit. She swam
tion drugs all of us took on the way here,” she
in and closed the doors behind her. Then, in
said. “You may have fugue moments for as
rapid succession, Aihe, Scar, and Splasher
much as a month.”

sealed themselves inside their suits. Jason fol-

“Why wasn’t I told about this?” Jason asked.

lowed their checkout procedures on his

“It’s fairly minor, it goes away, and nobody
tablet.

wants to draw the attention of Earthside

“They’re going into the deeps in those
psychs.” She paused a moment. “I guess this
things?” Anahira asked.

means I should reintroduce myself. Anahira

“The suits have been tested to the bottom

Kelly, late of New Zealand.”

of the Challenger Deep,” Jason said, hearing

Jason took her outstretched hand. “And I
the skepticism in her voice. “This is just a
said—”

check to make sure nothing was broken in

“You said you were Jason Sloan, biologist
transit. The real test will come during tomor-
and dolphin researcher. You were telling me
row’s dive.”

how worried you have been about your dol-

The last dolphin f inished sealing himself
phins after the long period of confinement on
into his suit. Jason gave the signal to com-
the voyage here. That was when you called,
mence the test. The tail of Pock’s suit lifted
uh—”

and fell in three powerful strokes that

CETACEAN DREAMS

57

ANALOG
propelled it to the far side of the pool. The
sensors were baked into the hull when it
other three followed. Then, together, they
came off the printer. Not only does this give us
dived for the bottom.

three-sixty visibility, I can magnify any section

“The suits aren’t at all like submarines!”

I like.”

Anahira said.

“Of course,” Jason said through gritted

“Hardly,” Jason agreed. “Their only purpose
teeth. He was familiar with a similar technolo-
is to provide oxygen and protect the dolphins
gy used in the dolphins’ suits, but somehow
from the pressure. We wanted the actual
that didn’t help at all.

propulsion to mimic the dolphins’ mode of

“Okay. Now we come to the interesting
swimming as closely as possible. It’s what they
part,” Anahira said. “Pen Control is going to
are used to, as well as being close to the most
raise our water pressure to that of the water
eff icient way of moving through the water.

outside. We do this as gently as possible, but

The power enhancements allow them to
there’s no way to avoid a pressure spike. If any-
maintain a cruising speed of twenty miles per
thing is going to go wrong with your dolphin
hour. Which I understand is important to your
suits, this is where it is most likely to happen.”

research.”

“We’re ready,” Jason said.

Anahira nodded. “There are . . . things in the

“Good. Pen Controller, this is the Nemo.

depths that f lee when they sense our pres-

Equalize.”

ence. The hope is that your dolphins will be

The vibration shook the craft like a steel
able to keep up with them.”

drum. The dolphins made a series of squawks,

The dolphins themselves seemed to be get-
then subsided into silence. Jason scanned his
ting impatient. Too small, Splasher signaled, tablet anxiously.

apparently referring to the size of the pool.

“Everything is still green,” he said.

Faster, Pock said.

“Excellent. Pen Controller, we are ready to

Tomorrow, Jason tapped into his screen. To-exit.”

morrow.

The bottom of the pen opened and they
dropped into darkness. Not complete dark-

The submarine pens, naturally enough,
ness—beside the Nemo’s own lights and
were located at the base of the station. It was
those on the dolphins’ suits, there were spot-
the one area where there was no apparent at-
lights all around the base of the station. Look-
tempt to make it seem larger or more human-
ing up, Jason could see the station nestled into
friendly. It smelled wet and metallic.

the base of the moon girdling ice pack. De-

Jason stepped down on the top of the mini-
voyon insisted that the station and the six-mile
sub, which wobbled in the water from his
snorkel of open water that connected it with
weight, and strapped himself into the re-
the surface were engineering feats compara-
searcher’s seat, directly behind Anahira. The
ble to “beanstalk” orbital elevators now being
cockpit was cramped, and for the first time he
constructed around Earth’s equator. For the
was aware of the scent of her hair. The cock-
f irst time, Jason found himself sharing that
pit cover closed and sealed. Jason felt the pres-
conviction.

sure on his ears.

A warm plume from hypothesized hot vents

“I’m going to tell Pen Controller to f lood
sixty miles below had hollowed out this sec-
the basin,” Anahira said. Jason scanned his
tion of the ice, creating an immense natural
tablet. Rows of green checks followed each
dome. Huge icicle-like formations, ice stalac-
suit name. The heart beat rate for all the dol-
tites, extended hundreds of yards down from
phins was between ninety and one hundred
the ceiling. The Nemo approached one of the
beats a minute. “We’re ready,” he said.

largest and circled it as it descended. Ice crys-

The upper part of the hull suddenly became
tals caught the Nemo’s lights and shattered
transparent. Jason watched with increasing ap-
them into rainbows. Jason caught his breath at
prehension as the water level rose until they
the unexpected beauty.

were completely submerged.

It was a miracle of rare device,

“Portholes would be weak points,” Anahira

A sunny pleasure-dome with caves of ice!

said. She sounded amused, as if she could tell

Jason shook his head afraid that he had

Jason’s heart rate just by looking at him. “The
been about to drop into a dream. This was not

58

ROBERT R. CHASE

MAY 2015
the time for him to have a “moment.” At least,

The Nemo continued dropping in near si-
this time he had been able to catch himself
lence.

and f ight it. So maybe Anahira was right and

“We’ll level off soon,” Anahira said. “Then
the effects of the hibernation drugs were
we’ll make a f ive-mile circuit before we rise
wearing off.

back to the station.”

Long, dark streamers grew from the end of

Something caught Scar’s attention. The dol-
the icicle and fanned out in the gentle current.

phin dived below them, swimming at close to

Shadows darted among fronds.

top speed. Jason pressed the return signal.

“Seaweed?” Jason asked

Scar ignored him. It clicked and squealed furi-

“It’s similar in some ways,” Anahira allowed,
ously. The dolphin’s heartbeat increased to

“but it doesn’t photosynthesize. It subsists by
one hundred ten . . . one hundred twenty . . .

straining nutrients out of the plume. It also

Jason put all data feeds but Scar’s in the
provides a home for organisms the size of
background. Now the tablet showed only
your thumbnail that look like crabs, only with
what Scar was seeing.

four feet and no shell. They are fed on by

“Something on the sea f loor has really got
those f ish-like creatures we call scurries that

Scar upset,” he said.

you see zipping in and out of the weed mass.

“I doubt it,” Anahira said. “The sea floor is

It hasn’t been easy to study any of these or-
ninety miles down.”

ganisms. Take them into the station and they

“Then what am I looking at? Take the feed
explode.”

from my tablet.”

Aihe and Scar nosed in among the vegeta-

There was a moment of silence.

tion. Jason saw what they saw on his tablet.

“I think we’ve found the Leviathan,” Anahi-

Small, pink creatures, which to Jason looked
ra said. “Call your dolphin back. Now!”

more like spiders than crabs, scampered up the

Jason tried again. Scar continued to ignore
tendrils and out of sight. Splasher wandered off
him. Details were beginning to come clear in
to investigate another ice column. Jason
the tablet. The upper surface of whatever they
pressed a square on the tablet to call him back.

were looking at was uneven. Interlocking

The Nemo continued sinking. Europa sta-
ridges stretched in parallel lines like stitched-
tion dwindled above them.

up wounds. Sections of the creature rose and

Dimmed.

fell in waves. The way the Leviathan propels

Vanished. Only the dolphins were visible,
itself? Jason wondered.

swimming around the Nemo like fireflies.

Scar was getting very close and still acceler-

Down, down, to Goblin town . . .

ating.

“Your dolphins are pinging me,” Anahira

The data feed from Scar’s cameras stopped.

said.

Jason’s tablet defaulted to the three dimen-

“They rely much more on sonar than sight
sional image constructed from input from the
on deep dives,” Jason said. “We designed the
other three dolphins.

suits as much as possible to be extensions of

“He just crashed into the Leviathan,” Anahi-
their own bodies.”

ra said, sounding as if she could scarcely be-

“Send your data feed over to my console,”

lieve her own words. “There was no mouth,

Anahira said. Jason did so. A minute later Anahi-
but it swallowed him up.”

ra fed back not the four separate sonar images

From their chatter, the remaining three dol-
he had provided, but a holographic image of
phins sounded as confused and upset as Jason.

surrounding space, the Nemo in the center

He shook his head, at a loss. He should cancel
with a guard of dolphins. Aside from them, Ja-
the dive. It was Scar who had been the aggres-
son was astonished at how empty the water
sor; the Leviathan had not even bothered to
was. There were a few fugitive images of crea-
defend itself.

tures that might be scurries. And a few things

“I’m calling this—” Anahira began.

almost two-dimensionally long and ribbon-like.

Something burst from the Leviathan. Frag-

“What are those?” Jason asked.

ments of flesh rose from the eruption and be-

“No idea,” Anahira said. “I have never seen
gan to swim away. Scar rose from their midst,
anything like them. That’s what makes this job
propelling himself with swift, powerful
fun.”

strokes of his tail.

CETACEAN DREAMS

59

ANALOG

Jason sent the recall signal again. For a mo-
istence with your first dive, you show that it is ment, it appeared Scar was complying. Then
a colony creature like nothing on Earth. And
he turned, initiating a second attack.

that it uses sound both to sense its environ-

The central section of the Leviathan sank, as
ment and as a means of defense.”

if trying to flee from the dolphin. At the same

“Why did —Scar, is it?—attack the
time, the edges rose forming something like a

Leviathan?” Devoyon asked.

pit, or a huge mouth, or a concave mirror

“I don’t know,” Jason said.

with a focal point—

In the submarine pen, he had shaken off

Something slammed into the Nemo. Jason
the hands of those crewmembers trying to as-
felt it in his chest, in his f ingernails, in the sist him and insisted that they help get Scar to
roots of his teeth. His vision blurred. Blood
sickbay. The dolphin was unconscious. Left
was streaming from his nose. He squinted at
alone, it might have rolled into the water in
his tablet, trying to force it into focus. The
its suit and drowned. The medics lifted Scar
transparent cover was cracked, but the tablet
onto an examination table. None of the med-
still functioned. On the screen, Scar’s motion-
ical staff were veterinarians, much less spe-
less suit rose slowly, fail-safe buoyancy taking
cialists in cetacean physiology, but they didn’t
over when the occupant was unconscious. Or
need to be to determine that the dolphin’s
dead.

heart was beating, its airway was clear, and

Jason punched in the codes for RESCUE SCAR.

that it was horribly bruised. The good news

But Aihe, Pock, and Splasher were already
was that there was no serious internal hemor-
making their way, albeit slowly, to their in-
rhaging.

jured friend. They formed a triangle around

Unable to do anything more, they lowered

Scar and followed the Nemo back to Europa
the dolphin into the pool in a sling. Its skin

Station.

would be kept wet while it would be kept
from drowning. Only then did Jason let the

“What the hell was that all about?” Anahira’s doctors treat him. While they were doing that,
bruises were visible against her dark skin. She
the summons from Devoyon arrived.

had to be as exhausted as he was. Only rage

“I thought dolphins were supposed to be in-
was keeping her going.

telligent and nonaggressive,” Anahira said.

“Please,” Devoyon said. “Your partner is in-

“I can’t believe a New Zealander could say
jured and should probably be in sickbay, as
anything so naive,” Ma said reproachfully. “Dol-
you should be also. Let us get his report.

phins are always intelligent and usually friendly Blame, if any, can be assigned later.”

to humans. But they can be violent as well.”

He put a cup into Jason’s shaking hands. If

Jason nodded. “They’ll work together to aid
its contents were basically the same as at the
a comrade, like Scar’s friends did today. But
party, they were much less disguised by fruit
some will also cooperate in gang rapes, or in
juice this time. A sip disinfected every bruise
battering sharks to death.” He smiled weakly
and cut in his mouth before burning its way
at Anahira. “Really, they’re very much like us.”

down his throat. Yet it did steady him.

“Scar will tell you why he attacked?” Devoy-

“Thanks.”

on said.

“My partner and his homicidal dolphin near-

“If— when Scar recovers consciousness, I’ll ly got us all killed,” Anahira said. “And I do
ask him,” Jason said. “I hope I’ll understand
mean all of us. If Leviathan associates Scar’s athis answer.”

tack with this installation, it may attack us here.

“Why should that be a problem?” Anahira

This station couldn’t withstand a prolonged at-
asked. “You know their language.”

tack like the one that was focused on us.”

Jason shook his head. “I don’t know their

They were seated around the table in the
language, not really. And except for a few
meeting room adjoining Devoyon’s office. Dr.

commands, they don’t know ours. What

Rosemarie Ma looked up from her tablet on
we’ve done together is construct a pidgin for
which she had been studying the Nemo’s
communication.”

recordings.

Devoyon frowned. “Pidgin?”

“This is wonderful,” she said, looking at Ja-

“An artificial language that isn’t English and
son. “Not only do you confirm Leviathan’s ex-
isn’t cetacean, though it has terms from both,”

60

ROBERT R. CHASE

MAY 2015

Jason said. “People have been trying to com-
pressure surrounding the station were just as
municate with dolphins for more than a hun-
hostile and deadly.

dred years, but it’s been very diff icult. With-

There was no way he was going back to
out mechanical help, I can’t make the sounds
sleep soon. He got up and took one of the
dolphins make, and dolphins can’t mimic hu-
pain pills the doctor had prescribed. Then he
man speech, as hard as they try.

dressed, grabbed his tablet, and went out to

“So with the help of tablets and underwater
the corridor in the direction of the pool.

communications systems, we’ve evolved a

Europa station operated on a Terrestrial
rough, simple language that has name identi-
twenty-four-hour clock. Local time was 0200,
f iers and basic commands like, “come, go,
and corridor lights were dimmed. Engineers
help, retreat,” but very little in the way of ab-
staffed life support on all three shifts, and
stract concepts. Conveying the idea of leaving
there was always at least one person in the

Earth for years in order to explore the seas of
communications room, but aside from them

Europa was almost impossible. I kept asking
and a few insomniac scientists overseeing
the question and they kept saying yes, but I was
long running experiments, the inhabitants of
never sure they knew what they were saying.

the station were asleep. Jason’s tread sounded

“That is why I decided to accompany them.

ghostly on the green runner.

I couldn’t be sure they knew what they were

The f irst thing he noticed on entering the
getting into and I felt responsible for them.”

pool area was the empty sling. He looked

“Your fears may have been well-founded,”

around in momentary panic. Pock and Aihe

Devoyon said, “but there is nothing we can do
were asleep, bobbing up and down in the
about them now. Sleep. Then tomorrow, if
overly tall waves that made their languid
you are feeling well enough, we will investi-
way to the edges of the pool. Scar and
gate further.”

Splasher swam slowly together. Watching

Jason nodded. He pushed himself out of the
them, Jason had the image of two men walk-
chair and staggered back to his room. He re-
ing down the street, the one with his hands
membered opening the door. He did not re-
in his pockets, the other offering advice or
member falling into bed.

encouragement.

Dangerous thoughts, Jason admonished

In his dream, he was in the Nemo as the
himself. It was all too easy to anthropomor-

Leviathan attacked it. Water squirted into the
phize these creatures. They were so like hu-
cabin from hair thin cracks in the hull.

mans in some ways that it was easy to forget

“This is not a World War Two submarine
that in others they were very different.

movie,” Anahira said. “Any cracks at all and

Jason seated himself on the edge of the
our craft would implode.”

pool, his feet dangling in the water. Scar ap-

“Sorry,” Jason said, acknowledging the
proached without being called; Splasher hung
truth of her statement. He ran the dream back
back. Both seemed to have guessed the pur-
to the beginning. This time, when the
pose of his visit. The tablet had healed itself in Leviathan attacked, there was a loud snap and
the time since the attack. Jason turned it on,
a section of hull slammed into him, snapping
called up terms from the vocabulary, and sent
his neck and collapsing his rib cage. Cold
them.

black water surged about his bones, numbing

WHY SCAR ATTACK HUGE CREATURE
all pain save for a dull, persistent ache.

The answer was immediate. SCAR NO ATTACK

But being dead, he should not feel or think

“For chrissake, Scar,” Jason muttered,
anything. So he ran the dream back to its be-

“show me some respect. Don’t ask me to be-
ginning again. And again. And again, caught in
lieve an obvious lie.”

an endless cycle of death.

He called up the recording of the attack on
the tablet and edited it. Then, as he had done

His eyes opened to near darkness. He knew
so many times on Earth, he hung the tablet on
that he was in his cubicle in Europa Station,
the side of the pool with the screen facing the
but that did nothing to quell the residual pan-
dolphin. A hand-held remote unit allowed him
ic from the nightmare. The station was just a
to control the series of images and their verbal
bigger version of the Nemo. The cold and labeling.

CETACEAN DREAMS

61

ANALOG

Sonar image of the dolphin. SCAR

“That makes sense,” Jason said. “Still, I’ve

Sonar image of Leviathan. CREATURE
never had any of these dolphins lie to me be-

The series of images showing the dolphin
fore. Or attack anything without reason.” Ja-
diving into the Leviathan and then forcing its
son shook his head again. “I’m too tired to fig-
way out. SCAR ATTACK CREATURE.

ure it out. Maybe inspiration will strike

Scar was making low, distressed sounds.

tomorrow.”

SCAR ATTACK NO CREATURE.

He walked Anahira back to her room, then

Jason made a disgusted sound. Okay, wise
continued on to his own. Something nagged
guy. WHO ATTACK CREATURE.

at him. He had the feeling that he was miss-

NOT SCAR ATTACK CREATURE.

ing something hiding in plain sight.

I got that, Jason thought, you’re not the one. So tell me who is. WHO ATTACK CREATURE he The feeling was still there when he woke
repeated.

the next morning. From previous experience,

Whatever Scar said was drowned out by
he knew that racking his brain to find it would

Splasher who had come up to the edge of the
be fruitless. These fugitive thoughts were like
pool with body language bespeaking com-
timid mice. Searching furiously for them
plete determination and conviction. NOT SCAR,
would only frighten them into hiding. If he
it said loudly.

just went about his business and ignored

Jason threw up his hands in frustration. So
them, they would eventually creep out and re-
your buddy is backing up your crazy story?

veal themselves.

That’s it. I give up. I’m too tired to figure out He staggered over to the cafeteria for an ear-why you think I’ll believe that sort of fairy ly breakfast. He had stiffened up overnight, so
tale.

the pain this morning was, if anything, worse.

He swung his legs out of the water and

A few people, who must have heard some-
stood up. Anahira was standing at the pool en-
thing about the previous day’s debacle,
trance looking at him.

glanced at him curiously as he made his way

“What are you doing here?” Jason asked.

through the line. Not wanting to be disturbed,

“I hurt too much to stay asleep,” Anahira

Jason bagged his coffee, generic fruit juice, and said, forcing a small smile. “Then I thought

Danish and took them back to his room. He set
you might be here. So I came down to apolo-
everything on the room’s small pull-down
gize.”

desk, and turned on his tablet so he could

“What for?”

study the recording of the dive while he ate.

“For yelling at you the way I did in the di-

Seeing everything for the second time, he
rector’s off ice. It was unprofessional and un-
was able to better appreciate the beauty of the
fair. It was my bad reaction to being scared to
ice spires, the strangeness of the ecosystem
death. Which is not an excuse, but it is an ex-
growing on them. By contrast, the dolphins,
planation.”

even in their pressure suits, were almost nos-

“Oh, that’s okay.” Jason felt obscurely em-
talgically familiar, swimming in the sort of ex-
barrassed by the apology. “We were closer to
ploratory patterns he had seen hundreds of
death than I ever want to be again. And all be-
times on Earth.

cause of a dolphin I can’t even understand,

He focused on Scar, looking for anything
much less control.“
odd. And there, two minutes before the at-

“The two of you were talking just now.”

tack, Scar seemed to go limp. The suit floated

“I was asking Scar why he attacked the
upward for maybe twenty seconds. Jason

Leviathan.” Jason shook his head. “Scar denies
hadn’t noticed it at the time because all the
that he did, even when I confront him with
life support readings stayed green. Then Scar
the evidence. And Splasher backs him up!”

began swimming again, and shortly after he

“When I was a kid, we had a dog named
launched his attack.

Shadow,” Anahira said. “Whenever we left the

Next, Jason replayed the previous evening’s
house for an extended period, he would get in
conversation with Scar. At its end, he had said
the trash. Then when we came home and
something that Splasher had covered up with
scolded him, he would pretend he had noth-
his interruption. Jason went back over that
ing to do with it.”

section a dozen times.

62

ROBERT R. CHASE

MAY 2015

Dolphins have names that bear no relation

“When can we go out?” Jason asked.

to the names humans give them, though they

“We can’t,” Anahira said. “Devoyon has can-
learn to respond to human names. In the pid-
celed all research dives until we can be sure
gin Jason had developed, his tablet simply sub-
that we won’t draw a Leviathan attack. That
stituted the dolphin name for the human
goes double for you.”

name. What Scar had said was a dolphin name,

“I found out why Scar attacked the
but not one that Jason had ever heard before.

Leviathan. I’m pretty sure it won’t happen

Then, with no transition, he was in the cor-
again.”

ridor outside his room, the tablet tucked un-

Anahira gave him a measure look. “Let’s go
der his arm, heading toward the pool.

see the director.”

As he had the night before, he sat on the

Devoyon’s expression was an interesting
side of the pool with his feet in the water. The
mix of hopefulness and skepticism. “You
dolphins swam slowly around the pool’s
have solved the problem?” he asked politely,
perimeter. Jason hooked the tablet to the side
glancing from Jason to Anahira and back
of the pool and called Scar over to him. The
again.

dolphin approached warily, reminding Jason

Jason nodded. “Ever since coming on to the
of Anahira’s story about her dog.

station, I’ve been experiencing short memory

Jason tapped out NOT SCAR ATTACK CREATURE.

loss periods; what the station personnel call

YES Scar agreed.

‘moments.’”

[Unknown name] ATTACK CREATURE.

“That happens to everyone coming off the

YES.

hibernation drugs,” Devoyon said with con-

There was no point in completing the syllo-
trolled impatience. “It will stop in a week or
gism.

so.”

The other dolphins had come over to moni-

“I understand that it’s the general human
tor the conversation. Now to generalize from
reaction,” Jason agreed, “unanticipated by
the specifics. Start with Splasher.

the medics, but not important enough to re-

WHO IS NOT SPLASHER.

ally complain about. As far as I know, I

It was more than possible that Splasher
haven’t done anything dangerous or embar-
would f ind the question incomprehensible.

rassing while in that state. But it didn’t occur

But then it responded with a name. Another
to me until recently to wonder if the drugs
name he had never heard before.

might have a corresponding effect on the

Jason repeated the procedure two more
dolphins.

times. He wound up with four names of un-

“The other day we were talking about how
known dolphins. Ghostly stowaways, he had
similar dolphins are to humans. That makes it
never noticed them though they had always
easy to forget how different they are.” He
been present.

turned to Anahira. “What would happen if

There was just one more question to ask. It
you fell into the pool while unconscious?”

applied to all of them, but especially to Scar.

“I’d wake up,” she said.

SCAR GREATER THAN NOT SCAR YES/NO.

“And if you could not wake up?”

YES from Scar. YES YES YES.

“I’d drown.”

Good.

“Right. Those are the only options for hu-
mans. Now dolphins need to sleep as much as

He found Anahira in the submarine pen
we do, but they have to do it on the high seas.

testing out the Nemo.

They do it by letting one half of their brain

“How is it?” he asked as she stepped through
sleep while the other half stays awake. This
the airlock into the observation lounge.

has been known for more than a century.

She looked at her minisub through a win-

What we did not know is that creates a sec-
dow that took up one entire wall of the
ondary personality in each dolphin. I don’t
lounge.

want to make too much of this. This isn’t

“It’s tougher than both of us,” she said. “No

Jekyll and Hyde, or Jung’s shadow personality.

leaks anywhere. Of course, I did have to clean

In most interactions between dolphins, or be-
up a fair amount of blood.”

tween dolphins and humans, it has no effect.

CETACEAN DREAMS

63

ANALOG

But given the extended period of time this sec-
pattern around the minisub, Scar hanging
ondary had control on the trip from Earth as
back as if emphasizing his desire to cause no
well as the after effects of the drugs, the sec-
trouble.

ondary was able to take control for short peri-

The Leviathan was all around them, its con-
ods of waking time.

stituent elements swimming freely as separate

“So when Scar was on that dive, NotScar
creatures. They ignored the Nemo as some-woke to see his companions perilously close
thing nonliving, as boring as a rock or a block
to a monster it could not identify with a size
of ice. The dolphins, however, even in their
he could scarcely comprehend. He attacked
pressure suits were clearly alive and worthy of
trying to protect us.”

study.

Devoyon considered this for a few mo-

Suddenly, the Leviathan coalesced into exis-
ments. “Suppose everything you say is cor-
tence below them. Anahira stopped their de-
rect. How can you be sure this will not hap-
scent. Jason held his hand over the tablet,
pen again?”

ready to hit the abort signal. The dolphins

“The spells should come less often in time
stayed level with the Nemo, their calls soft and just as they do in humans. I can set override
tentative.

controls in the pressure suits and take control

The Leviathan echoed them. Then, as if re-
if anything goes wrong. Scar wants very much
acting to the lights carried by both dolphins
to show he is a reliable part of the team.”

and the Nemo, bars of glowing color swept

“Anahira?” Devoyon asked.

across the Leviathan, broke into whirlpool like

“It sounds plausible to me. Plausible enough
swirls, erupted into fireworks patterns. There
that I’ll be his pilot again.”

was a structure complex and redundant. A lan-

“Good. We cannot stay shut down forever.”

guage both Terrestrial species could spend
decades trying to understand even as they

Again, the Nemo dropped into darkness.

would spend the same time trying to under-

The dolphins swam their regular patrol
stand each other. ■

64

ROBERT R. CHASE

Arnheim’s

World

Therese Arkenberg
o you like it?” Arnheim asked me
overwhelming the estate grounds. It never
as we looked out over the lake.

failed to throw me off balance, but by dinner

“Yeah,” I said, watching flashes
of the third day I’d f igured it out: It was his

“Dof azure through the mist.“Nice mist a groundcar might crash in. His salt flat a color.”

windraft might capsize over. His forest that

“It’s yours.” He grinned. “At least, its name
burned. And his fire, too, I suppose.

is yours. Sara Vransi Lake.”

The f ire, luckily, remained hypothetical

He never named anything on that world af-
here on the windward side of the Ian Storr
ter himself.

mountains, where the northern continent’s
sparse clouds piled against sheer walls of

Julia and I were the only people to visit Jo-
rock. Ian would have loved climbing them,
sua Arnheim at his new home on the planet
we all agreed. And we drank a toast to another
he called his own. The terraforming had just
friend who hadn’t lived to see the consumma-
progressed to the point of making it habitable;
tion of Arnheim’s dream.

on f lyby, the lander passed over craters still

Now Arnheim just had me, and Julia, too, I
raw-edged where comets had been brought
suppose. He flirted shamelessly with both of
down years before, bearing water and trace
us, in the easy way that came from knowing
gasses. Arnheim had been living here at the
he’d never had a chance. He himself had
time, sheltered in the impermeable hut his
helped design our silver-and-sapphire engage-
mansion was eventually built around. He was
ment rings. And, with the wedding only three
very proud of the mists.

months away, we flirted playfully, shameless-

“Soon we’ll have enough to crash your
ly back. Arnheim was charming enough that it
groundcar in,” he said, and laughed.

made no difference.

We had been kids together, but I never saw

He hadn’t named my lake out of flirtation,

Arnheim laugh as much as he did that f irst
though. That was more serious—the fruit of a
week. He chuckled at odd things, like the
long, loyal friendship. We hadn’t always been
prospect of a groundcar crash or a forest fire
close, geographically not at least. But we’d

65

ANALOG
always kept in contact, always celebrated each

“You have it now,” I said softly.

other’s triumphs and mourned losses together.

He chuckled. “Exactly.”

Even if we hadn’t had that history, I think he
would still have been the most amiable man

Parnassica first came up in passing.

I’d ever guested with.

Julia had stayed at the house while the two

The planet made him that way.

of us made another expedition over the new-

He showed us plans for the terraforming, as
born landscape, an increasingly common state
meticulous as any he had ever made for a suite
of affairs. It didn’t seem to signal any strain in of jewelry, and with an end product nearly as
our relationship. At dinner, she gave us a run-
beautiful. Gaiametrics had provided the frame-
down of the news she’d gleaned from the dai-
work, and assistance came from a f lurry of
ly Leybound infocast.

contractors he’d tracked down and hired for

“Have you heard of the new colony just a
sums that would feed small nations for years
few weeks down hyperspace Ley from here?”

(standard or long; though Arnheim’s world it-
she asked Arnheim.

self had a rather short orbit). The cost was

His knife scraped across the plate. “Once or
negligible compared to the prospect of an en-
twice,” he said. “‘Hyperspace Ley’ is a redun-
tire planet of one’s own, especially one that
dancy. A Ley is by def inition a thread of hy-
could be made habitable in only two decades.

perspace permitting FTL travel in either

And the globe itself cost only the outlay of the
direction along it.”

expedition that discovered it and the fee to

“Parnassica’s having trouble,” Julia contin-
sign on with the Registry.

ued. “Major misestimates about the chemistry

I was sure at the time that Arnheim had
of gas pockets among the permafrost.” Her
paid that fee, but it would be rude to ask.

tone took on the somewhat f lat quality she

We did discuss some details of business. He
used when speaking from memory. I smiled
would prof it enormously from the gold and
fondly as her eyes crossed in the search for an
platinum deposits in the crust—he had a jew-
unmemorable piece of information. “They’ve
eler’s workshop in the mansion, too; given his
freed up way too much . . . something and not
renown, it was practically a duty—and from
enough nitrogen. The weather stations are
excess lumber once the forests became suffi-
working overtime just trying to keep things
cient. But his motives were never economic.

livable.”

All his life he had been rich enough, Julia re-

Arnheim raised his eyebrows, but said noth-
marked to me once, that they never had to be.

ing.

His true profit from the planet was entirely

Julia gathered noodles in the bowl of her
spiritual. Some would say egotistical, and
spoon. “It’s scary, isn’t it? That something
they’d be right, too. It’s the same thing at the
could go wrong and throw your entire world,
core. There’s nothing you can do for someone
literally your entire world, off balance . . . and else’s soul.

the nearest help is dozens of light years away

“Remember our trip to Olympia?” he asked
on a hyperspace string.”

me. At the time we were driving along the Mai

Arnheim sighed, then carried his glass of

Cobett Plateau, and as the aircar rounded a
red wine to the window. He looked over the
butte, the most magnificent canyon imaginable
lichen meadows, the low clouds pearlescent
opened up before us. “How crowded it was?”

with sunset, and said, “It would never happen

“Sure,” I said. “It was a tourist designation
here.”

for half the Suwasi Arm.”

“Why not?” I asked.

He winced, as if at a memory of physical

“Because this is my world. I would never let
pain. “All those eyes, staring at everything.

it get out of control.” His f ingers, curled

And all those eyes that had stared before.

around the stem of the glass, were f irm but

Olympia Canyon was sticky with looking.”

not tight. He sipped the wine, and his lips

“Really? Sticky?”

formed a thin smile of pleasure as he savored

“Really. Sticky.” His hands tightened on the
the taste.

wheel until the narrow, olive-skinned knuck-
les became sallow. “All I’ve ever wanted was a

The southern continent of Argounova was
place that didn’t belong to other people.”

being seeded with a fern forest, hardy fronds

66

THERESE ARKENBERG

MAY 2015
and spores shipped off one of Saritor Enter-

“Even so—”

prise’s farmworlds. We landed the aircar in a

“Even so, there’s no reason for me to give
clear patch and walked out in climate suits.

my privacy up. Sara, this is . . .” He spread his I’d convinced Julia to come along this time.

arms, an all-encompassing—and unconf in-

She walked bowlegged in her suit with obvi-
ing—embrace. “This is something I’ll share
ous discomfort. But her face had been pressed
with whoever I choose. But right now, you’re
to the window the entire f light. She was
the only ones I choose to share it with.”

falling in love with Arnheim’s planet, too.

I folded my arms tight on my chest. “That

Arnheim crouched over a bunch of spread-
so?”

ing leaves. He waved us over with a grin. As

We watched Julia trace the curve of a fern
we approached, he flipped off his helmet fas-
leaf with her fingertips, seemingly oblivious to
tening.

our conversation.

Bareheaded, he took a deep breath of the

“You,” he said, “and anyone you choose to
forest air.

invite.” He brought his hands together in a

Julia’s yelp was muffled by her own helmet.

sharp clap. “There’s my one concession.

I smiled at her, trying to be reassuring even

Enough for you?”

while coping with the realization that my own

I smiled. “Enough.” I didn’t really like to ar-
instinct was to freeze in shock rather than cry
gue with him.

out a warning.

But his generosity wasn’t over. “Julia!”

A warning proved unnecessary in any case,

She looked up so fast a lock of hair fell in
as Arnheim was taking further, deeper
her face. “What?”

breaths. “Try it,” he called to us.

“Who does this forest remind you of ?”

Still silent, I unfastened my helmet and took

She let me brush her hair back as she
it off. The air that greeted me was cool and
frowned in thought. “Someone who . . .”

damp, with a scent so fresh it scoured the

“Anyone! But it needs a name, don’t you
lungs.

think?”

“They’ve done their work,” Arnheim said,

At last she said, “Indira. Indira Rosi. You re-
patting a rhizome protruding from the soil.

member her, Sara?”

“Yes.” Julia sounded a bit breathless even as

“Of course. She’s still out there, I think—on
she opened her faceplate.

Radagest last I heard. With her sister.”

“Congratulations, Josua.” I offered him a

Arnheim piled us into the aircar to visit the
hand up. “A living planet.”

next site. We stayed out late, taking the names

His hand grasped mine and pulled me into a
of old friends and putting them to things that
hug with a gesture as graceful as dancing. He
had never had names before.

laughed, whooped, his voice wordlessly soar-
ing for joy.

Because no one had been at home, Arn-

“I can help you f ill out the forms for the
heim left the aircar’s transmitter unactivated

Registry,” I volunteered, willing even to do pa-
that day. This explained why we didn’t receive
perwork on my holiday for the sake of his de-
the urgent-coded message earlier—and why
light.

we were so untroubled even by the flashing,

Arnheim’s laughter suddenly stopped.

drumming signal that greeted us when we

“Well . . . shouldn’t you?” I faltered.

powered up the house system. After all, noth-

“No need. I don’t intend to make my world
ing had happened to any of us.

a destination.”

THIS IS A TRANSMISSION FROM THE BRIDGE OF

“But what if someone needs to know

MATTHEW 10:29, OUT OF PARNASSICA.WE ARE IN
there’s a habitable planet along this Ley? If

PRESSING NEED OF ASSISTANCE, grainy letters spelt there’s an emergency?”

across the tabletop screen. THIS VESSEL HOLDS ALL

“They can find somewhere else.”

SURVIVORS OF COLONY ONE, SEEKING REFUGE—

“That’s . . . rather cold.”

“It collapsed, then.” Arnheim snorted and

He shrugged, even as he smiled at me once
shook his head. “That’s what happens, ter-
again. “You’re the one who created the hypo-
raforming in a rush.”

thetical emergency in the first place, Sara. It’s The words of the message were repeated
highly unlikely anyone will need my help.”

aloud, read out in a grainy woman’s voice.

ARNHEIM’S WORLD

67

ANALOG

WE NEED SHELTER. MATTHEW 10:29 IS NOT SET UP

“Colonists do that for the next town, next

FOR LONG-TERM HABITATION. OUR LARGER TRANS-
region—the next planet. As soon as the last

PORTS WERE OUT OF SYSTEM AT THE TIME OF THE CATAS-terraforming contractor moves out, construc-

TROPHE IN OUR CIRCUMPOLAR—
tion companies move in. But in Parnassica’s

He turned away.

case, that’s how they contracted the very ter-

I reached for the transmitter control pad.

raforming. Once they got the license from Gia-

“Should I key in our coordinates?”

metrics they brought everything in piecemeal:

“Don’t touch it.”

tanker by tanker of atmospheric starter algae

I shrank away as if his vehemence burned
and trace gasses, water from asteroids brought
me.

in impact by impact. Instead of a mastermind

“There are other worlds along this Ley,” he
synthesizer, they set up monitoring stations
said, speaking to the window. “If the Matthew on each continent, the kind miners use on
moves fast they’ll reach them soon. They may
small moons. As soon as the equatorial region
even have overshot us already.”

had soil they paid for forestation, just as an

Unlikely, I thought, looking at the coordi-
overlooked volcano erupted and plunged
nates of the transmission. Even along Leyline,
them into a yearlong winter. To say nothing of
ships didn’t move that fast. And this was not a
the shifts in the polar ice.”

densely inhabited—or hospitably inhabit-

“It got them there,” I said. “It’s not a bad
able—region. It was a region that needed Ga-
idea—committing, and then doing as much as
iametrics to come alive.

you can with what you have at the time.”

And help to stay alive. “Josua,” I said.

“No, not bad,” Arnheim agreed. “Provided it

“I didn’t build this place to be a way sta-
doesn’t take so long that the foundations crum-
tion,” Arnheim said.

ble before you raise the walls up on them. Pro-

“They’re on a life raft,” Julia said. Her voice vided someone comes to monitor each
echoed down the long room.

adjustment and ensure it proceeds smoothly.

“It’s none of our business.” He strode to the

Provided things don’t backslide too much be-
doors, which opened for him at a gesture for
tween contracts. Provided your house doesn’t
the servitor program. “They should have built
fall down before you can move in.”

more carefully. Most of us only get one

“Or,” Julia said—her f irst addition to the
world.”

conversation—“fall on your head right after
you move in.”

Shaping an entire planet’s ecosystems is ex-

Arnheim laughed. “Right.”

pensive. Prohibitively expensive in many cas-
es. Some would-be colonists scrimp and save

He was never in such danger. Arnheim had
their entire lives without ever gathering
calculated the transformation of his world per-
enough together to venture it. Others can only
fectly. After saving enough to make a down
afford the lease of a continent or region on an
payment on the major ecowork, he’d man-
already developed world.

aged his investments to provide a steady

Parnassica’s model was a little different. Not
stream of income for continuing the project.

original, though. Arnheim had fallen into a lec-

We were able to monitor the success our-
ture on it one night, not long after Julia re-
selves.

ported its problems. He could care less about

“You sure you don’t want to come?” I asked
the troubles of settlement, but the means had

Julia.

always fascinated him.

She rolled over in bed, her hair a jet-colored

“Not original,” he said again. “It’s a model
halo. “No. That is, yes, I’m sure.”

lots of people use planetside to build houses.

I leaned over to kiss her on the forehead.

Or vehicles, or intelligence systems, or any-

“Okay. See you around eleven.”

thing expensive that could possibly come in

“How can you?”

smaller parts. They construct it as they can

I leapt back, surprised more at the inherent
afford, piece by piece and section by section.

venom of her question than the soft tone she

Pouring concrete for a home’s foundation,
asked it in.

then setting up walls—sometimes room by

“Well, I know you’re . . . erm, not feeling
room.

well, but I’m up to it and Jos wants another—”

68

THERESE ARKENBERG

MAY 2015

“I don’t want anything else to do with Josua

“Mind if I set down? I’d like to run a few tests

Arnheim.”

on . . . my lake.”

I had nearly backed across our narrow bed-

He didn’t protest the possessive pronoun,
room by this point. “Well . . .” What could I
as I’d feared he might. If anything, his expres-
say? That he’d been our fast friend for years?

sion seemed even prouder. As if, like the ferns,

That the rings we wore were his gift? That he
he saw me growing.

had shared his planet, his precious, private

“I can walk back from here, can’t I?” I called
planet only with us?

as I rummaged in the trunk for the sampler.

I met Julia’s eyes. I saw anger, disappoint-

“If you want.” He was ready to indulge me.

ment—but not pain. She didn’t feel betrayed.

It made me feel . . . small. Crowded in by his

She and Josua hadn’t grown up together. They
generosity. “Take it easy. The oxygen con-
were never very close. He had been my fast tent’s not that heavy yet.”

friend.

“It’s enough,” I said. I tapped my jacket

He’d shared his planet with me. Only me.

pocket where my communicator rested. “I’ll

Me and whoever I chose to invite.

call if I have trouble.”

“I guess I don’t feel the same way,” I stam-

“Make sure you do.”

mered.

As he was about to climb into the pilot’s seat

“Why not? Sara, he’s leaving those people to
again, I went on tiptoe and kissed his cheek. I’d die.”

seen his elder sisters do the same, long ago

“It’s not . . .” But there was nothing I could
when we got home after a day rambling over
deny.

the fields. Avoiding everyone but each other.

Julia turned her back to me, pulling the

He’d always rubbed those kisses away.

blanket high—but not before I saw the mus-

A glow touched his olive skin.

cles tense beneath the smooth, dark skin of

“Bye, Jos.”

her shoulders. “Let’s go home,” she said, so

“See you around, Sara.” I had the oddest
softly I wasn’t certain I was meant to hear.

feeling he could have been talking to me or to

“Soon,” I murmured, equally soft.

the lake.

I grabbed my jacket from the hook on the

Once he’d f lown away, I powered up the
back of the door. Arnheim and I didn’t bother
sampler and took the communications relay
with suits or masks anymore.

from my pocket. I didn’t turn it on yet. It was
fully charged, but juice drained pretty rapidly

High up on a hillside in Argounova, we
on any farcast call.

measured the new growth. Cyclads had

“Verbal commands on.” I had to clear my
sprouted up further and grown taller even
throat and repeat myself before the sampler
over the three days since we’d last come
acknowledged me. “Register: breathable atmo-
by.

sphere.”

Josua was grinning broader than the Masát

A high whine as the sampler’s dish spun,

Defile.

collecting and analyzing. “Positive.”

“Goodness, you’re proud of your wittle

“Temperature within range of human com-
ferns, aren’t you?” I teased.

fort.”

He laughed at me.

“Positive—23 degrees Centigrade.”

But a certain distance remained, as if the

“Terraforming completion parameters
new atmosphere was too dry to carry real hu-
met?”

mor between us.

“Negative.”

We didn’t speak on the way back. I sat look-

“Terraforming completion parameters met
ing out the window. Arnheim yawned, just as
sufficiently to support human settlement?”

light lanced from the opal-and-azure surface of

“Balance of probability, positive.”

a lake.

I swallowed. “For how long?”

“That’s Sara Vransi Lake, isn’t it?” I asked.

It named a span of years that would support

“Absolutely,” he drawled, the word heavy
my great-grandchildren’s great-grandchildren.

with sweetness and pride.

That reminded me of the womb tanks Julia

I tried to force answering sweetness, and
and I had been examining before our visit
some vanity, into my smile as I turned to him.

here. A conversation we’d need to have. Later.

ARNHEIM’S WORLD

69

ANALOG

I f lipped on my communicator. “Put me
and there—well, some might blame him, but
through to the Registry—wait, scratch that.”

nobody would stop him.

Silence, for a moment. The slap of waves on

After I f inished speaking, he left the
the shore. Internal clamor as I tried to get my
house. On his way out, he gestured for me to
thoughts in order. “Patch me through to the
follow.

receivers on Matthew 10:29.

Though they’d had to f lee in a hurry, and

“I have an invitation.”

looked very glad to be on solid ground, the

Parnassicans were not desperate looking.

I told them to land at the far end of the

They were well dressed and weren’t starving,
lichen meadows before the house. It wasn’t a
although many had the air of having gone
secret we could keep from Arnheim anyway.

without for a little too long. The leaders were

He was in his office on the upper floor. I sat
no better dressed than the others, but they did
in the games room, with its vast windows
look much more strained.

onto the veranda, staring half outside, half at

They introduced themselves—a dozen of
the holographic match in progress before me.

them, with a dozen unfamiliar names.

Dust danced among the graphics display. This

We introduced ourselves—Josua Arnheim,
room was hardly ever used; why play games

Sara Vransi.

when there was a planet to explore?

“She’s the one that invited you here,” Arn-

Of course I heard the thing before I saw it.

heim said.

A descending spaceship isn’t exactly quiet.

I nodded, and they nodded back.

The Matthew 10:29 came down slowly. Its

Then Arnheim stepped forward. He held
manner might even be called stately. The sun
out his hands.

of Arnheim’s world gleamed on a hull black-

“Let me give you a tour,” he said. He hesitat-
ened in places from atmospheric entry, but
ed and looked around at them. “But I’m afraid
otherwise pale as the moons. Its name stood
my aircar wouldn’t f it you all. Do you have
out in sharp, elegant blue script in three lan-
anything bigger?”

guages.

“There’s the scout ship,” a younger man

The whole thing was vast—so big there was
said. For all his youth, his hair was graying,
nothing manmade on the planet to provide a
ashen against his skin. “It’s big enough, at
proper comparison, although it could have
least.”

been swallowed by Sara Vransi Lake.

A woman’s eyebrows rose, but Arnheim

Arnheim’s footsteps pounded down the
said mildly, “There’s no reason a minor inter-
stairs.

stellar craft wouldn’t work as well in the atmo-

Before he reached the veranda, he stopped.

sphere here.”

He turned to the open door of the games

Only as they were boarding did he turn to
room.

me. “Sara.”

I stopped my half-hearted play and told him

I stood straighter unconsciously, respond-
everything. While we spoke, the gates of the
ing to something awakened within me by the
ship opened and figures began streaming out.

tone of his voice.

“See to the others.” He folded his jacket all

Julia remained in bed. She probably wasn’t
the way up to his sharp chin. “Make them feel
sleeping, but she could have slept through it
at home.”

all. Though loud, the Matthew 10:29’s engines emitted an almost soothing drone that

I did get Julia out of bed, then. The re-
grew in volume in intervals as it descended
sources that kept three people in luxury could
and just as gradually stopped as the f inal
not quite keep three thousand in comfort, but
refugees left the ship.

the Parnassicans carried some remaining sup-

Arnheim was very nearly silent.

plies with them, and the mansion could hold

And I was very quiet.

six to a room.

The fact is, Josua Arnheim’s word was law

We had started setting up tents, from our
on the planet he had bought, built, and paid
camping stores and their emergency kits,
for. If he’d taken out his personal security
when the tour returned. A dozen figures hik-
piece and started a war for his property then
ing across the lichen.

70

THERESE ARKENBERG

MAY 2015

After their tour, Josua had left the Parnassi-

But that was fast changing. Construction sup-
can leaders off not far away.

plies were already being ordered from Parnas-

I never saw him again.

sica Common Holding’s meager savings.

Soon they could start building cabins from

“A scoutship can travel pretty far,” the young
the trees to the south of the Ian Storr range.

man, whose name I never could remember, ex-

It was a simple matter of an account switch
plained to me. “Especially on a Ley. It wouldn’t
with Gaiametrics. They had to wait a while,
be comfortable, even for one . . .”

though, to be sure Arnheim didn’t resurface. It

“Yet their capacity for fuel is considerable,”

helped that he had written a note during the
a woman added. “Our tour of the planet bare-
tour that shared his account access informa-
ly expended an interval of it.”

tion.

“How was the tour, anyway?” I asked, as if I

Arnheim’s world was not made into a way
was curious or trying to be polite.

station for Parnassicans. It became a home, I

“He was very gracious. Told us how every-
guess. I haven’t been back in a while. We ex-
thing was progressing, and told us all the
changed messages a few times, sharing news.

names.”

Julia and I received a present at our wedding.

They kept all his names for things.

The Registry wanted to talk to me about
questions Josua Arnheim couldn’t answer. Co-

It’s strange, what keeps you up at night.

ordinators among the refugees wanted to talk

These past years it’s been bothering me that
to me about questions their leaders couldn’t
nothing in this Universe is named for Josua
answer. Those that couldn’t get to me went to

Arnheim. But it’s a problem there’s no way to

Julia. We did our best.

fix. He never named anything for himself. To

We fell into bed together as the sun was ris-
give his name to a place or landmark or even a
ing. Only then did I properly get the chance to
building on any other planet would be an in-
talk to her.

sult.

“I’m sorry,” I sobbed.

And on that world—that nameless world,

She rubbed my back and listened, just lis-
not his any longer but not quite not his, ei-tened, even to the apologies that weren’t
ther—I’ve talked to the others, the ex-
meant for her.

Parnassicans there, and they agree with me.

Three days later, Central off icers arrived,

You can give something a name on that world
and Julia and I were able to pack up our things.

if you have to, for clarity. But it’s hard to shake We left our room to the officers—there wasn’t
the feeling that you’re being redundant—that
much space anywhere else for them to stay.

it was named already. ■

ARNHEIM’S WORLD

71

THE ALTERNATE VIEW John G. Cramer THE SPECIFICATIONS OF

EXTRATERRESTRIAL INTELLIGENCE
he eminent Har vard biologist and
ture. Then, if the conditions are just right, the philosopher of science, Edward O. Wil-existence of that cooperative social structure
son, noted for his creation of the field of
pushes the development of intelligence. He

Tsociobiologyand for his manybooks, traces the development of intelligence from has written a new book, The Meaning of Hu-the primarily vegetarian Australopithecines
man Existence. It should be of great interest (which had a 600 cc brain volume) to meat-to the readers and writers of science fiction.

eating Homo habilis (680 cc brain volume) to The book attempts to explain how humanity

Homo erectus (900 cc brain volume) to Homo has come to its present state of existence be-sapien s (1,400 cc brain volume). Wilson sug-cause of the forces of natural selection as they
gests that the initial innovation in Homo ha-
act on individuals and on groups. In particular,
bilis of including meat in their diet led to the based on the lessons learned from the record
establishment of semi-permanent camps in
of evolution that lead from viruses and bacte-
which the young were protected and to
ria to vertebrates to human beings, Wilson has
which roving cooperative hunters brought
attempted to produce a list of specifications of
meat to feed the group. This led to villages
how some hypothetical intelligent beings that
with complex cooperative social structures.

might have evolved on an Earth-like planet of

These ultimately led to cities, civilization, and another star system would look and act.

technology. At each step along this path, in-

SF writers usually base their Intelligent
creased intelligence provided group and indi-
aliens on the assumption that the processes of
vidual advantages, and so high intelligence
evolution on an alien planet have produced
emerged.

some intelligent life form that in the course of

Wilson points out that such cooperative so-
time, because of its intelligence, proceeds to
cial structures are very rare among the animal
develop a complex technological civilization.

species. The four hundred million years of

Some of my favorite SF writers have invented
evolution on Earth have produced only twenty
fascinating alien species that combine instinc-
examples of species with complex social
tual animal behavior with high intelligence.

structures, and most of these are insects. All of Examples are Larry Niven’s tiger-like carnivo-these social species developed rather late in
rous Kzin, his sheep-like herbivorous Pup-
the game, and all have been very successful.

peteers, and Poul Anderson’s eagle-like terri-

For example, among all of the highly variable
torial Ythrians. All became intelligent enough
insect species, only two groups of socialized
to form highly developed technological civi-
insects—ants and termites—comprise about
lizations, carrying their innate animal behav-
half of the total global insect biomass by
iors with them to the stars.

weight, which can be taken as a measure of

However, Wilson would say that the SF writ-
their success.

ers have it backward: the random walk of evo-

In chapter ten of his book, Wilson uses the
lutionary development and varying conditions
lessons learned in analyzing the intellectual
of environment generates a species that by
and social development of Homo sapien s to chance develops a cooperative social struc-predict the characteristics of a hypothetical

72

MAY 2015
intelligent alien species that might develop on
mandibles and massive grinding teeth are typi-
an Earth-like planet of another star system. In
cally vegetarians that eat coarse, low-energy
what follows I have condensed and para-
vegetation. Animals with fangs and horns use
phrased Wilson’s logic, but the arguments are
them for defense against predators and for
basically his. We will consider his predictions
competition among males. The hypothetical
one at a time:

aliens should have progressed by cooperation

(1) Intelligent aliens will be land-dwellers, and strategy rather than brute strength and
not aquatic. The final ascent to human intelli-combat. Only a broad, high-energy meat and
gence required the use of fire as a portable
vegetable diet could sustain the relatively large high-energy source in developing technology
populations needed for the later stages in the
beyond the stone-age level. It is difficult to
development of intelligence. Hence, moderate
imagine an ocean-dwelling species reaching
jaws with no fangs or horns.

iron-age technology.

(6) Intelligent aliens will have a very high

(2) Intelligent aliens will be relatively
social intelligence. All social insects (wasps, large animals. The most intelligent land ani-bees, termites, ants) and the most intelligent
mals, in descending order, are Old World apes
mammals live in groups whose members si-
and monkeys, elephants, pigs, and dogs, all at
multaneously compete and cooperate. Func-
the high end of the animal size spectrum.

tioning in such a fast-moving and complex so-

Small body size means smaller brains, on the
cial network requires a great deal of social
average, less memory capacity, and lower in-
intelligence.

telligence. The hypothetical aliens would

(7) Intelligent aliens will have a small
probably have a body mass around 10 to 100
number of free locomotory appendages, lev-
kg, i.e., somewhere between a dog and a hu-
ered for maximum strength with stiff inter-
man.

nal or external skeletons composed of hinged

(3) Intelligent aliens will be biologically
segments (as by human elbows and knees),
audio-visual. In terms of sensory perception, and with at least one pair that are terminat-humans, with their reliance on sound and
ed by digits with pulpy tips used for sensitive sight in very restricted frequency bands, rep-touch and grasping. The four-legged-ness of resent a rather isolated group. Most of the ani-land vertebrates is perhaps because fishes
mal world depends much more directly on
with four lobe-fins (instead of six) colonized
smell and on the use of specialized body-gen-
the land. Insects have six locomotory ap-
erated pheremone chemicals for signaling and
pendages, and spiders have eight. Evidently a
communication. However, pheromones are
relatively small number of such appendages is
unsuitable for rapid communication, and
good for evolutionary success on land. Only
therefore represent a road block on the path
chimps and humans invent tool artifacts, pre-
to high intelligence. The hypothetical aliens
sumably because of the utility of fingers with
could use facial expressions or sign language
soft, sensitive tips. A technological civilization for communication. However, “telepathy” is
that depended on beaks, talons, scrapers, or
ruled out, unless a species developed the ca-
claws for tool manipulation is difficult to imag-
pability of internally generating and detecting
ine.

radio waves or electrical signals as communi-

(8) Intelligent aliens will be moral. The cocation. While electric eels and catfish have
operation apparent in all of the highly social
some capabilities in this direction, it has de-
species of the Earth is based on some degree
veloped because they are adapted to murky
of altruism and self sacrifice. It has arisen from environments in which vision is not useful.

natural selection at both the individual and the

(4) Intelligent aliens will have a large dis-
group levels and has led to our sense of moral-
tinct head located up front. All land animals ity. Presumably alien intelligences derived
have elongated, bilaterally symmetric bodies,
from similar group evolution would inherit a
with brains and key sensory inputs located in
similar sense of morality.

a head adapted for quick scanning and action.

(9) Intelligent aliens skilled in genetic en-

The hypothetical aliens should be similar.

gineering will not have used genetic modifi-

(5) Intelligent aliens will have light to
cation to significantly change their social na-moderate jaws and teeth. Animals with heavy ture. Our technological civilization has only THE SPECIFICATIONS OF EXTRATERRETRIAL INTELLIGENCE

73

ANALOG
very recently reached the beginnings of an
planet we currently occupy, and that we
ability to modify and manipulate the human
should take better care of it if we wish to con-
genetic code. It is not difficult to imagine a fu-tinue doing so.

ture in which we take the human genome in
hand and change it to eliminate genetic dis-

These discussions of intelligent aliens and
eases and disease tendencies, to give us better
interstellar colonization, while perhaps of
memories, more intelligence, bodies better
most interest to SF readers, represent only a
adapted to hostile environments, and more
small fraction of Wilson’s book. He displays
longevity. Perhaps we might even decide to
his expertise in the study of social insects with take this process a step further and edit out
fascinating details on the behavior of driver
the inherited “baggage” of instinctual behav-
ants, leaf-cutter ants, termites, and bees. He
ior that we call “human nature.” Wilson be-
addresses the “two culture” problem, the dis-
lieves that we will not do this, and instead will connect between the sciences and the hu-choose to retain the inherently messy, self-
manities, by announcing and promoting the
contradictory, internally conflicted, endlessly
dawn of a New Enlightenment in which the
creative human mind that exists today, and
new insights into provided by science on the
that similarly Intelligent aliens will do the
origins and outlines of human nature can
same. We and they will be existential conserv-
shape and encourage a new flowering of art,
atives.

literature, and philosophy. He also takes on re-
ligion, describing it as an essentially destruc-

Another aspect of Wilson’s book that
tive syndrome that exploits the tribal us-vs.-
should be of interest to SF readers is his as-
them tendencies of human nature, promotes
sessment of the prospects for interstellar colo-
unreason, and ultimately causes good people
nization. Wilson has serious reservations
to do bad things.

about the colonization by humans of the plan-

Overall, The Meaning of Human Existence
ets of other star systems. These reservations
is an important contribution to our under-
are similar to those expressed in Paul Davies’

standing of humanity and of our place on the

Afterword in the recent book Starship Centu-

Earth and in the universe. It is disturbing,
ry (in which I wrote a chapter).

thought provoking, fascinating, and highly

Basically, any planetary ecology is a vast ar-
recommended.■
ray of interacting viral, bacterial, plant, and animal life that, after many eons of natural selec-
tion and responses to random events,

SF Novels by John Cramer: My two hard SF
challenges, and catastrophes, has arrived at a
novels, Twistor and Einstein’s Bridge, are stable system. The ecology of an alien world
newly released as eBooks by the Book View
would necessarily be qualitatively different

Café co-op and are available at: http://
from that of Earth and would be wholly in-
bookviewcafe.com/bookstore/?s=Cramer.

compatible with our own ecology. The two
worlds would necessarily have radically differ-

Alternate View Columns Online: Electronic
ent origins, different molecular machinery,
reprints of over 174 “The Alternate View”

and would differ in fundamental ways, due to
columns by John G. Cramer, previously pub-
the endless paths of evolution that produced
lished in Analog, are available online at: the inhabiting life forms.

http://www.npl.washington.edu/av.

The typical grocery store contains only a
tiny subset of the Earth’s plant and animal ma-

References:

terial, a subset carefully selected to be edible

The Meaning of Human Existence, Edward
and nontoxic. The vast majority of terrestrial

O. Wilson, Liveright Publishing Corporation,
organisms are unsuitable for human consump-

NY (2014); ISBN: 978-0-87140-100-7.

tion. The organisms of alien planets would be

Starship Century: Toward the Grandest
much more so. Wilson argues that the prob-

Horizon, Gregory and James Benford, eds., lem of transplanting the Earth’s ecosystem to

Microwave Sciences (2013); ISBN: 978-1-
another planet basically has no solution, that

93905-129-5.

we must resign ourselves to living on the one

74

JOHN G. CRAMER

Probability Zero

Double

Exposure

Don Sakers
ou’re a science fiction writer,
yourself. Maybe you’ll see something the rest
aren’t you?”

of us can’t.”

She was tall, with mahogany

The bartender set down a fresh drink; I

“Yskin and close-cropped,nappy stirred it and sipped.“Tell me your problem.”

dark hair. Her attire was business casual, navy

“We sent two teams into the past. They
blazer and skirt with white blouse and sensi-
came back dead.” I raised an eyebrow, which
ble shoes.

she took as a signal to continue. “For the first

“That’s what they say.” I gestured to my
trial we sent a team of three about fifty years
nametag. It was Sunday evening, and the con-
into the past. We were in constant contact. At
vention was over, but my flight wasn’t until to-
the two-hour mark, they reported some nau-
morrow. I’d been in the bar since mid-after-
sea and headaches. An hour later, they were
noon, having goodbye drinks with departing
vomiting. After four hours they weren’t able
friends; I’d been nursing a lonely gin and tonic
to communicate any longer. We aborted and
for an hour when she showed up.

brought them back.”

She nodded. “I came here to find you. I

“And they were dead,” I said. She nodded.

work for . . . well, never mind. I’m a physicist,

“You did autopsies?”

and my outfit is working on time travel.” She

“Of course. These were healthy volunteers
looks around. “This is all confidential, you un-
in excellent physical condition. There was no
derstand.”

apparent cause of death.” She frowned.

“Right,” I said, giving her the skeptical eye.

“So you tried another team?”

“Time travel.”

“A month later. This time we sent a fully

She waved at the bartender. “Another one.

equipped physician along. The pattern was

I’ll pay his tab.”

the same: after a couple hours, nausea and

“All right, I’m listening. Why did you come
headache. That escalated to vomiting, fever,
looking for a science fiction writer?”

bleeding . . . when the doc reported their hair

“We have a problem, and we don’t know
falling out, we retrieved them.” She spread
how to solve it. Time travel’s old hat in sci-
her hands. “Same story. Dead for no apparent
ence fiction. You’ve written stories about it
cause.”

75

ANALOG

I cocked my head. “You didn’t do animal

“Of course they do, we—”

tests first”

“No, I mean his particles already exist. In

She looked at me over the top of nonexis-
the past. They’re scattered all over the place.”

tent eyeglasses. “We needed subjects who

She frowned, so I pressed my point. “Fifty
could report on the experience. Besides, it
years from now, those particles will be togeth-
takes unbelievable power to send things
er in his body. So what you’ve done, in that
through time. We have a dedicated nuclear
frame, is you’ve created duplicates of those
plant.” She looked down. “The budget didn’t
particles.” Comprehension lights in her eyes.

allow for animal testing.”

“There can’t be two of each particle. The new

“Live and learn.” I still didn’t believe her,
ones must cease to exist.” I took a gulp of my
but as long as she paid for drinks, I’d play
drink. “They . . . evaporate. Not all at once. Say along. “Sounds like radiation sickness. You
one-tenth every few hours.” My eyes narrow.

sent them into an atomic bomb test.”

“What would happen to you if, say, one-tenth

She shook her head. “No. We know the his-
of your electrons disappeared?”

tory of the site. It’s been perfectly safe for a

Now she gets it. “Ions all over. DNA dam-
century.”

aged, cells malfunctioning. All the effects of ra-My turn to frown. “Why did you choose fifty
diation sickness.”

years?”

“Exactly. When the bodies return, all their

“Not exactly fifty. The first team went back
particles are together in this time frame. That’s 47 years, the second 53.”

why they seem in such good shape.” She was

“Why?”

still reeling, but my mind was off and running.

“We added a year to the age of the oldest

“I’ll bet the effect is more pronounced the fur-
team member.” I must have given her a blank
ther you travel. Probably along a power distri-
stare, because she added, “To avoid having
bution curve. You were lucky you went with
two of them existing at different ages.”

fifty years—if you’d tried five hundred, they’d

I nodded. “You didn’t want them to cross
probably have disintegrated in seconds.”

their own time-streams, I get it.” The glimmer-

“B-but . . . how can we test this hypothesis?”

ing of an idea stirred. She started to speak, but I had an answer for that, too. “Send some-I held up a hand. “Wait. I might have some-
one back three hours. Measure what happens
thing.”

to them. See if they recover at the three-hour

In my mind, I felt the familiar sensation of
mark.”

pieces coming together, the way they do

She stood and offered her hand. “Thank
when I’m brainstorming a story. Crossed time-
you. You’ve given me a lot to think about.”

streams, duplicate bodies . . .

She threw five twenties on the bar and turned

“Okay,” I said, “bear with me here.” I set my
to leave. Then she stopped and looked back at
glass down in front of me. “Here’s your time
me. “If this is true—and it sounds persua-
traveler. You lift him out of the present, and
sive—then we’ll never have true time travel.”

put him down fifty years ago” I lifted the glass

“Trouble with you scientists, you give up
and moved it a foot to the left. “He doesn’t al-
too easily.” I raised my glass to her. “I’m a
ready exist in this time frame—but his parti-
writer. Get back to me in a few weeks. I’ll have
cles do.”

a gimmick for you.” ■

76

DON SAKERS

No

Gain

Aubry Kae Andersen
aggie offered a foil-wrapped choco-

“You can have a treat now and then,” she
late across the kitchen table. Sabina
said. “I used to act as tough as you do, but my
stared at it blankly, like she regarded
mom knew my weakness. After every meet,

Ma rock.

she’d take me out for ice cream. The better I

The sixteen-year-old had spent every morn-
did, the bigger the sundae. When I won gold
ing with Maggie for the last two weeks, train-
in Rio, I ate a mountain of rocky road.”

ing under her supervision. Sabina would

Sabina looked up, blinking with the same
execute a hundred deadlifts for her, no ques-
perfect timing. Still she said nothing.

tions asked. Run f ive miles without resting,

“Come on,” Maggie wheedled. “I bet you
without even a sigh of complaint. She’d bend
snuck treats into the gym back in Tashkent.

over backwards, literally, and hold that pose

Tell me what candy you want and I’ll smuggle
for minutes at a time.

some to you.”

But Sabina wouldn’t take the chocolate, as

Artur, the head coach, walked in before
if Maggie were a stranger on the playground.

Sabina said anything.

She wouldn’t even say “No, thank you.” She

“Ready, Sabina?” he asked with his thick
returned to her lunch, a beige shake made of

Uzbek accent, clasping his hands together.

whey, egg whites, and the cocktail of vita-

“Let’s work on the routines for Montreal.

mins the doctors fed her. One sip, then six

You’ve been wobbling on the beam.”

seconds swallowing before she took another

Sabina stood up and walked past him to the
one. Her posture was just as regimented, the
gym, without giving Maggie a second look.

stripes on her tracksuit forming ninety de-

But Artur turned his full attention to Maggie.

gree angles at her hips, her elbows, her

He stared her in the eyes far too long—long
knees.

enough to make her f idget with the choco-

Maggie shifted in her own chair. Her back
late’s foil.

began to ache, so she stood up and stretched.

“You do a good job, Ms. Greenburg,” Artur

Thirty years old, and these hard seats made
said. “Sabina’s life has been rough, but she
her feel eighty.

doesn’t need sweet things. And her English,

77

ANALOG
you know, it’s not the best. Just keep her on
zipped to his neck. Under the harsh fluorescent
task, keep her from hurting herself too badly,
lights, his eyes were like holes.

and she’ll be happy.”

Sabina’s performance was amazing enough

Maggie nodded and rubbed her back. “I
to win gold on floor exercise. But she’d been
will.”

utterly unknown before this event, not even

He glanced at her discomfort. “Do you need
participating in the Asian Games. Now she
more oxy?”

was bound for the Olympics.

“No, I’ve got enough.”

And the broken finger . . .

“Tell me if you need more,” he said, then

Sabina hadn’t even complained about it as
left.

she was ushered from the stadium to the clin-

She unwrapped the chocolate and ate it her-
ic. Adrenalin could be a powerful painkiller,
self.

but it wore off quickly. The girl should’ve
been crying as the doctor set and splinted the

A thousand camera f lashes lit up the stadi-
f inger, but she complained more about the
um’s bleachers like a disarranged Broadway
pain of getting her blood drawn.

marquee. Maggie sat in the middle of it, her

Maggie had often been subject to the in-
eyes fixed on the blue mat below.

spectors’ scrutiny. Their tests always seemed

Sabina tumbled across, bending and pound-
excessive, but their methods had grown less
ing like she had a rubber spine and magnetic
transparent since she had competed. As a
feet. The sequins on her leotard became a blur
trainer, she had to know what drugs were
of red sparkles. She twisted and twirled in
banned from competition. She let Sabina’s
ways that made the crowd roar and made
doctors handle that and never gave the girl

Maggie cringe. The girl was f lexible but not
anything, not even acetaminophen. Pregnant
this flexible.

women were allowed more medication than a

Artur pumped his fist, encouraging Sabina
professional athlete.

from the sidelines. Faster, higher, stronger.

The inspectors would check for more than

The panel of judges gawked.

that, too. Blood doping—enriching the cell

At the f inish, Sabina traversed the entire
count in an athlete’s blood with hormones or
mat with a furious series of back handsprings.

a centrifuge, then pumping it back into their

She bounced into the air, spun, and somer-
veins before competition. More red blood
saulted, fast as a power drill. Talc burst from
cells, more oxygen, more endurance.

the mat as she landed, like smoke from a gun.

That probably wasn’t the WADA’s concern,

She raised her hands and smiled the toothy
though. They could detect doping with a mass
smile Maggie had taught her to make.

spectrometer in a matter of minutes. Maggie

The crowd jumped to their feet, clapping
heard they’d been doing genetic testing more
and yelling. They didn’t seem to notice Sabi-
regularly, searching for doctored up DNA after
na’s skewed index finger. Maggie stared at it,
so many rumors that coaches started using
though, as did the judges.

gene therapy. Like Repoxygen, which treated

Artur ran over and took Sabina’s broken
anemia by permanently increasing production
hand, hiding it in his own while the girl con-
of EPO, a hormone for red blood cell produc-
tinued to smile, and the crowd continued to
tion. The inspectors could detect that,
cheer. The judges glanced at each other before
though. The viral vectors used to modify DNA
resuming their straight faces.

also left antibodies in an athlete’s blood.

Maggie grew tired of thinking about the in-

The World Anti-Doping Agency tested Sabi-
spectors’ suspicions. Like every other coach,
na’s urine f ive times. Her blood, three. They

Artur’s methods probably toed the line, but he
had two different doctors check her sex and
insisted on following the rules.

her age. They even ran her through a full-body

Maggie grew tired of her chair, too, so she

CAT scan, checking for God-knows-what.

stood up slowly and massaged her back. The

Maggie waited the entire time, in a room that
oxycodone had worn off hours before. She
felt more like a police station than a doctor’s of-didn’t dare take another pill in here.

fice. Artur sat across from her in the chairs lining Like mercy, the double doors to the clinic
the wall. His arms were crossed, his tracksuit still bumped open and a pantsuited woman

78

AUBRY KAE ANDERSEN

MAY 2015
walked in—the lead inspector. She went to
he was pushing through the double doors. She
the nurse at the triage desk.

looked at Maggie and hesitated to say more.

“They won’t f ind anything,” Artur mut-

Maggie tried to follow Artur, but the inspec-
tered. He seemed to be talking to Maggie, but
tor grabbed her arm.

he watched the inspector and spoke loud

“Watch that girl,” she whispered. “She’s
enough to grab her attention.

pushing herself too hard, and—”

The inspector glanced at him, tight-lipped,

“Ms. Greenburg!” Artur shouted back.

and walked over, holding forth Sabina’s Uzbe-

“She’s tough,” Maggie said. “Like any good
ki birth certificate.

gymnast. Excuse me.” She shrugged off the in-

“We’re unable to contact the health ministry
spector’s hand and followed Artur.

that issued this,” she said.

Artur rolled his eyes. “Try the mail. Her vil-

That day, Artur’s team flew back to Colorado
lage has no electricity, no internet.”

Springs, to the small training center tucked

“Where are her parents, then?”

among the mountain pines. As soon as Sabina

“My country doesn’t have the money to fly
returned, she swapped her dress for exercise
them out for every meet. Why do you need
clothes and began running on the treadmill.

proof she was born, anyway? Clearly she

Maggie turned it off. Sabina slid down, giv-
was.”

ing Maggie a stare of subdued annoyance.

A grimace f lashed across the woman’s

“You need to rest,” Maggie said. “Your f in-
straight face. “Mr. Babayev, the girl has a bro-
ger and wrist might be sprained, and you
ken f inger, two torn wrist ligaments, a
shouldn’t be walking on that ankle. That
sprained ankle, and five bruised vertebrae.”

bruised spine is the worst of all. It might feel

“And she’s going to the Olympics for it. Let
fine now, but it’ll hurt like hell in five years.”

us leave so the girl can rest and heal.”

“I iced my back on the plane,” Sabina said.

“But she should be writhing in pain right

“Ice it more.”

now.”

Sabina tensed her face, as if she physically

“She’s clean,” Artur insisted. “You should
swallowed her complaints. She went off to the
see that by now. My doctors will take care of
kitchen.

her down in Colorado Springs.”

“You’re not invincible,” Maggie said, raising

The woman shook her head. “She needs
her voice. “I thought I was at your age, and
further treatment before boarding a plane.”

I’m still feeling it.”

“You’re not her doctor,” Artur said.

Sabina didn’t reply. Maggie heard her f ish-

“But on good conscience, I can’t—”

ing in the freezer.

“I’ll get a second opinion on that, in Col-

She rubbed her back again. The flight from
orado Springs.”

Montreal would’ve been torture without the

The inspector clenched her jaw, but she
painkillers. If only they’d last. She pulled a bot-had no authority to keep them there. Maggie
tle from her jacket and popped another pill.

knew that, though she was concerned about

After a few minutes the pain melted into tin-

Sabina’s injuries, too. Still, Colorado Springs
gling relief. Her entire body relaxed, and she
was only a few hours away, and the girl hadn’t
sighed.

even been limping on that sprained ankle.

By then, Sabina had returned. She stared at

The inspector lingered. “Look,” she said,

Maggie from the kitchen door, holding a bag

“some people are born with this condition
of ice against her own back.

where they can’t feel pain, and—”

“Go f ind Artur,” Maggie said. “He said the

“She doesn’t have congenital insensitivity,”

doctors would take care of your injuries.”

Artur said, like he’d said this before. “I was

Sabina left without a word or a nod.

there when you drew her blood. She flinched
every time. And she would’ve died years ago if

Artur’s doctors didn’t think Sabina needed
she couldn’t feel pain. She’s just tough. You
much rest. Her youthful body could take the
wouldn’t give a damn either if you grew up
wear and tear, they said, like she was a set of
eating rats on the steppes of Uzbekistan.”

tires. They gave her an injection of platelet-

He snatched away the birth certificate. Be-
rich plasma to speed her healing. After two
fore the inspector could say anything further,
weeks of light exercise, training began anew.

NO GAIN

79

ANALOG

Every morning, Maggie found Sabina in her
pumping the dumbbell harder rather than
sparse room, sitting on the plain white bed,
slowing down.

gazing at the pines outside. They’d go through

Maggie noticed an imbalance in Sabina’s
the routine—f ive miles on the track, then
lifts, one side slightly lower, slightly jerkier.

weights. Maggie would watch the sports chan-

“Keep your legs even,” she said.

nels while Sabina did her workout. They were

“I am,” Sabina grunted.

abuzz about the dark horse gymnast from

She was right. Her feet were planted cor-

Uzbekistan, more so as the Olympics in Nairo-
rectly. Still, she was leaning, and her back
bi grew near.

muscles twitched wildly.

“You know,” said a broadcaster wearing a

“Stop,” Maggie said.

three-piece suit. He gesticulated every word.

Sabina didn’t. “Fifty, you said.”

“Sabina is being trained by Maggie Greenburg,

Maggie grabbed the dumbbell. “I said to
if you remember her. She won ten medals in
stop.”

two Olympics, her specialty being the uneven

Sabina dropped it suddenly. Maggie lurched
bars.”

forward as it slammed into the f loor. Pain

“Where’s she been?” the other broadcaster
surged across her back. She fell to her knees
asked, a woman in a tailored pink jacket.

and held herself.

“You know, she retired at twenty-two. She

Sabina limped away.

couldn’t even do the circuit after a major in-

“Sabina—” Maggie started.

jury in the Tokyo qualif iers eight years ago.

“I’ll ice it!” Sabina shot back.

There were rumors she went through rehab.

Maggie reached into her pocket and took

Off the radar ever since.”

another pill. She chewed instead of swallow-

“That’s too bad.”

ing it whole, letting the bitterness f ill her

“I know, but, you know, Sabina’s coach was
mouth, knowing that would stop her pain
smart to choose her. Judging by that broken
quicker.

finger in Montreal, Sabina is driven to win, no

In less than a minute, she could stand again.

matter the pain. She pushed through her in-

She was nauseous, but she could limp to the
juries to take gold on floor exercises, but she
phone.

needs grounding to last through the all-
around. And if anyone understands firsthand

The doctors checked Sabina, but they
how far you can push the human body, it’s
wouldn’t tell Maggie the results, as usual.

Maggie Greenburg.”

They just said she’d be good for Nairobi after

Yes, Maggie knew. They showed how she
another infusion of platelet-rich plasma.

knew, too—old footage of Maggie performing

Maggie, on the other hand, had a herniat-
a series of flips, bouncing around the uneven
ed disk. The doctors were kind enough to
bars like a flywheel in a fog of white powder.

examine her and said she shouldn’t tax her-

Then she missed a catch, flew into the other
self, or chew the pills again. At least the cor-
bar, and slammed against the ground. The TV
tisone injection they gave her lessened the
showed her collapsed beside the apparatus,
pain.

her legs skewed, unable to move. The audio

She and Sabina would sit on the couch
wasn’t there, but clearly she was crying out.

watching TV; Maggie f idgeting to f ind a

Her coach and family ran over. The crowd
comfortable position and Sabina just staring
rose, covering their mouths.

forward. Maggie had given up trying to talk

“Heartbreaking stuff,” the woman in pink
to her, but she still regarded Sabina with
said. “I’m sure Sabina will have better luck in
envy.

the upcoming games.”

The plasma infusions weren’t anything to

The TV showed a picture of Sabina back in
take lightly. Sabina wasn’t allowed to take any

Uzbekistan, standing before some dusty hills.

painkillers while they did their work, not even

She was smiling, slightly out of focus, arm-in-
simple remedies like ibuprofen or ice packs,
arm with her parents.

because inflammation sped the healing. Mag-

Maggie looked at the real Sabina, wonder-
gie had the procedure before, and, after f ive
ing why the girl couldn’t smile like that any-
days of feverish suffering, swore never to have
more. Sabina had a sweaty, satisfied grimace,
it again.

80

AUBRY KAE ANDERSEN

MAY 2015

Yet Sabina was completely fine with it. She
surprisingly yellow. Someone had written on
was unhappy she couldn’t train, but she didn’t
the back in Uzbek, but she could make out
seem to be in agony, just bored.

the date, f ive years before, though the girl

During a story on the Kenyan endurance
looked the same age as Sabina did now.

runners, Maggie’s back felt particularly bad.

Maggie glanced anxiously at the door, then

She couldn’t sit still at all, to the point that
dug into the folder again. At the back, she

Sabina glared at her across the couch.

found a document in Korean. The logo in the

“Why are you doing that?” Sabina asked.

letterhead had a blue double helix. It looked

Maggie frowned at that silly question. Still,
like a medical bill, and a hefty one at that—
she stated the obvious. “I hurt my back.”

more than f ive-hundred million won. Half a Sabina looked at the TV again. “Just ice it,”

million in American dollars. Part of the bill
she mumbled.

was in English. Some numbers, some letters,

Maggie sighed and grabbed another pillow,
some comments about enzymes and sodium
shoving it behind herself.

channels. A’s, G’s, T’s, and C’s all over the

A week later, when Maggie felt well
place. Then—
enough, she packed her and Sabina’s luggage

The defective SCN9A gene was identified
in preparation for the f light. Mostly she
in isolated Uzbek population with pain in-
packed for herself because Sabina had little to
sensitivity.Donor sperm and eggs were taken
take. No books, no toys, no mementos, just
from male and female with recessive defect.

clothes and shoes. The doctors would put to-

Twelve fertilized zygotes reached blastocyst
gether other provisions.

stage. SCN9A defect found in three. Eight had While Maggie folded one of her track suits,
the recessive gene. One completely lacked the a piece of paper tumbled out of the pocket—a
defect.

business card from the anti-doping agency.

An unaffected zygote was selected for im-

The inspector must’ve slipped it in Maggie’s
plantation. Cells were aspired from the meso-
pocket back in Montreal. She had written
derm of a defective zygote and replaced in
something on the back.

fraternal target.The modified zygote was im-

“Please let us know if you’ve seen anything
planted in surrogate mother.

suspicious about Sabina.”

Gestation of female lasted 287 days. No se-

Maggie shook her head—not because she
vere developmental problems or natal inci-
hadn’t seen anything suspicious, but because
dents observed.Due to germ layer separation
suspicious methods were par for the course.

in blastocyst, pain insensitivity only mani-

Exceptional athletes did exceptional things.

fested in musculoskeletal structure of the fe-Difficult things. Uncomfortable things.

male child, from the defective gene in the

Maggie reached for the bottle of pills on her
mesoderm.Normal nociception confirmed in
nightstand. Just one rattled inside. She needed
organs and skin after birth, developed from
a few refills before spending the next month
the nondefective genes of the unaffected
in a foreign country.

germ layers.A successful chimera.

She went to Artur’s off ice. His door was

Maggie shook her head. “A chimera,” she
open, and his TV was tuned to ESPN, but he
whispered.

wasn’t in. Working on the routines with Sabi-

She didn’t understand everything in the
na, most likely.

document, but she knew what a chimera was.

The filing cabinet was open, a bulky folder

She’d heard the term a million times at the
on top. Sabina’s birth certificate peeked out of
games in Rio de Janeiro. The WADA inspec-
the stacks.

tors found cells from two different people in

Maggie looked around. The TV’s sportscast-
the blood of one of the French marathon run-
ers were her only company, so she reached
ners, from an illegal transfusion. He contend-
into the f iles. There were random effects—
ed he was really a chimera, someone born
passports and old photos, inspector reports
after two fertilized eggs fused in their mother’s and event registrations, maps and medical
womb.

records.

He had been lying, but another sprinter had

She found a familiar photo of Sabina, the
the genuine condition, back in 1950—Foekje
one used in all the news stories, scratched and

Dillema from the Netherlands. The inspectors

NO GAIN

81

ANALOG
thought she was male and threw her out be-

“You never said you were engineering hu-
cause she wouldn’t let them test her true sex.

man beings. That she didn’t really have par-

Later people found out she had different cells
ents, that she was your slave. She—”

with the chromosomes of both a man and a

Artur grabbed Maggie’s arm and shoved
woman, X’s and Y’s jumbled together.

her into the f iling cabinet, knocking the

But according to this medical record, Sabina
wind from her. She cried out. Her back mus-
was no accident of nature. A true chimera.

cles tightened like they’d snap her own

A sucking sound came from the door, star-
spine.

tling Maggie. She dropped the stack of papers.

“Those papers were a genetic analysis,” Ar-

Sabina was there, holding her protein shake
tur said. “Nothing more than verif ication of
with both hands, drinking through a straw . . .

her special talents.”

staring.

Maggie would’ve argued with him if she

Maggie took a deep breath but hesitated to
weren’t in agony, if being right mattered. She
say anything. The girl looked normal enough.

met his eyes, silently asking for mercy.

Cold, but still innocent with her wide eyes

Artur pushed her into a chair. She held her-
and ponytail. Did she know what Artur had
self while he went to the desk, jotted some-
done?

thing, and ripped off the paper. He shoved a

And did he do anything wrong? This girl
check into her hand. The amount was nearly
would never know the ache of fatigue, the
illegible, but too big to ignore.

agony of a broken bone, the everlasting burn

He grabbed her shoulder and squeezed.

of arthritic joints. Still, Sabina didn’t even

“Your work has been commendable, Ms.

seem to feel pleasure, either.

Greenburg,” he said f latly. “Take some time

“Do you know your parents?” Maggie asked.

off. Spend it with your parents, over in Ana-

Sabina lowered the shake and regarded
heim, in the brick rambler on Highland Street.

Maggie for a moment, like she didn’t under-

The one with orange trees out front.”

stand the question.

Maggie couldn’t reply. How did he know

“Artur invented you,” Maggie said.

what her parents’ house looked like?

“Invented me?” Sabina asked.

He let her go and pulled out his phone. “Se-

Maggie held up the bill. “He genetically en-
curity,” he said. The rest was in Uzbek.

gineered you. Do you know what that means?

Sabina watched, still in the doorway, still

Just to compete, he made you like this. Pain
f inishing her shake. She stepped closer to
free. Did he ever tell you that? Has he even let

Maggie and tilted her head curiously.

you play with other children?”

“Sabina,” Maggie whispered. “Please, you

Sabina frowned, confused. She took a step
don’t have to live like this. There’s more than
into the hallway and yelled, “Artur! Ms. Green-
just the game. I—”

burg has a question for you!”

“Sabina!” Artur yelled.

Footsteps came closer. Frantically, Maggie tried

Sabina looked up and asked something in
to pick up the other papers she had dropped, but

Uzbek—a question, spoken with a concerned
her back wouldn’t cooperate. Artur strode in and
frown and a glance at Maggie. He replied in
saw her struggling, saw the mess.

Uzbek, too, the exchange getting louder and

“What are you doing?” he asked, snatching
angrier until he commanded in English, “Go
up the papers himself. “Why are you reading
take a shower!”

those?”

The girl clenched her jaw and left the room.

Maggie had no excuses, so she held up her

And when the security guards showed up,
chin, acting proud to be caught. “Sabina was a

Maggie left, too.

test tube baby,” she said. “You created her
without muscle or bone pain.”

Maggie lay on the couch in her parents’

“No, she was just born with that gift.”

house. The shades were lowered, the room

“That’s not what these papers say.”

dim. It was morning there, but late in Nairobi.

Artur looked Maggie in the eyes, his jaw set

The gymnastics finals played on TV.

in anger. “We told you not to ask questions. Just She held the uncashed check in her hand.

keep her f it enough to perform. Keep quiet,

By then, it was smeared with oil from her fin-
and we’ll make you happy, keep you drugged.”

gers, crumpled in the corners.

82

AUBRY KAE ANDERSEN

MAY 2015

The TV showed Sabina in her sequin leo-
through the sequined spandex, Maggie could
tard, twisting the cap from her water bottle,
see that.

drinking methodically while she watched her

Sabina somersaulted the length of the beam
competition on the balance beam. Artur stood
and slipped on the landing. She didn’t fall, but
beside her, arms folded, chewing gum.

the crowd began to mumble as she recovered.

“There she is,” the announcer said. “Looks

Maggie shook her head. “Don’t try the flip-
like Sabina knows the all-around gold’s in the
flop. Dismount.”

bag. Not even breaking a sweat.”

Sabina started a flip-flop but slowed in the

In Maggie’s other hand, she held the busi-
middle, with her hands clutching the beam.

ness card for WADA’s tip line. She hadn’t even

Her entire body trembled. She pushed
dared to dial the number, in case Artur was
through and stood again, then took a deep
monitoring her phone.

breath.

Maybe the inspectors would protect her.

Artur tentatively lifted his hand, trying to sig-

Maybe they wouldn’t. Maybe the crowd
nal his concern yet at the same time hide it. For would be disappointed to learn Sabina was
a second, Sabina seemed to heed the warning.

cheating, or maybe they wouldn’t even care.

She frowned with her usual disgruntlement

In the end, they just wanted the performance.

but stopped as if she’d step down.

They didn’t care so much about what came

“Looks like she might be injured,” the an-
before or after—the hard work and frustration
nouncer said. “A tragedy, because there’s only
to get there, the fallout after victory fades.

one requirement left in—”

“There she goes,” the announcer said.

She leapt into a clumsy back salto. Halfway

Sabina stepped up to the balance beam,
through, her head knocked into the beam
smacking the talc from her hands.

with a sickening crack. She plummeted to the

“There’s that determined look we’ve all
floor, a mess of limbs.

come to know.”

The entire arena gasped.

Sabina sprung onto the apparatus with a

“Oh, my God . . .” the announcer muttered.

back layout somersault and full turn—g-plus

Artur ran over f irst, then the cameraman.

point value, executed perfectly. The crowd

Sabina was still conscious, still moving. She
held their collective breaths.

pulled herself up with the beam, showing

“Brilliant,” the announcer said.

more annoyance than agony, her hips skewed,

Like a pulley over a wire, Sabina tumbled,
her left arm and leg dangling. Despite that, she
not even a wobble as she continued the rou-
attempted her f inishing pose. Only her right
tine. The bleachers were silent except for the
side cooperated. With pride, she gave the
hums of appreciation.

crowd a lopsided sneer.

Then Sabina made the slightest misstep and

Artur threw his jacket over her and pushed
almost fell off. The crowd let out a tiny gasp as away the camera.

Sabina made an uneasy adjustment. A look of

Maggie raised her hands to her face, drop-
worry flashed on her face.

ping the check, the card. She didn’t want to

Maggie sat up and leaned toward the TV.

cry, if Sabina wouldn’t even cry for herself.

Sabina’s back was twitching, overtaxed. Right

But Maggie still did. ■

NO GAIN

83

Illustrated by Joel Iskowitz

Sentience

Signified

J.L. Forrest
e made our f irst studies of Joon at

Joon, few dominant to any other. Not seven

1,089 kilometers, mean low orbit.

continents but seven hundred thousand islets,

The world filled a 160-degree arc in
a hundred major archipelagos complete with

Wour planet-side viewports,an enor- volcanic chains,salt seas thicker than Earth’s, mous violet and blue disc capped at its poles
pleasant enough weather punctuated with fre-
by ice. Land constituted 50 percent of Joon’s
quent clouds and pummeling rains. Rain
surface, the rest water with only two major
moved across a third of the surface, two hun-
seas: one centered on the equator, 3,113
dred million square kilometers of light drizzle
klicks east-west and 3,948 north-south, the
to hurricane flood. Joon wasn’t Earth: gravity
other nearer the south pole. Islands freckled
one-point-two standard; oxygen rich, enough

85

ANALOG
that field scientists without rebreathers would

He stood in a plum-colored f ield that re-
feel high as kites, ferrous metals would rust at
f lected the barest emerald. The majority of
twice the rate they would back home, and

Joon’s life photosynthesized, plant and animal.

fires burned twice as fiercely; thirty-three tril-Purple rhodopsin, Bilit thought, not green
lion mature tree-like organisms. Shortly after
chlorophyll.

arrival we stopped calling them this and sim-

The biologists had not yet determined
ply referred to them as trees.

whether the kingdom animal could apply to Joon’s more mobile and often intelligent life.

Above the blue-white arc of Joon’s sky

Some so-called animals utilized cellular walls,
shone two major moons, the ash-gray Orelius
while others did not; some so-called plants
and rust-red Corius. Eleven minor moons fol-
employed proto-muscular structures, but most
lowed stable orbits, all visible from the ground
did not. The boundaries between plant and
at some time or another. A cushion of low
animal proved uncertain on Joon.

clouds eased across the sky. Above the firma-

Bilit kneeled and placed a gloved hand near
ment, the exploration vessel Curiosity orbited a tuft of long grasses. They leaned from him.

at twenty-eight thousand klicks per standard

“Remarkable,” he said.

hour, but during the day Bilit couldn’t see her;

Bilit traveled with ample protection. A light
at night the ship glistened in the light of Joon’s carbon exoskeleton compensated for Joon’s
primary star, Piscium.

1.2g. Nonetheless, he felt the gravity in his in-

Renamed Secundus by the team, the sec-
ternal organs, on his skin and bones. Mission
ondary star resided nearly twenty AUs away,
command preferred f ield scientists keep ex-
merely another bright point among the con-
cursions to four standard hours; Bilit liked
stellations. The two stars orbited one another,
fourteen. Yet while the exoskeleton gave him
so Secundus followed its own arc as seen from
a gorilla’s strength, pressure on his lungs and
the ground, independent of the rest of the
intestines took its toll.

Universe.

Gravitationally aggravated exhaustion.

For three months the Curiosity studied the Four robotic spiders accompanied Bilit. The
system from asynchronous orbit. The crew de-
eight-legged carbon-titanium AIs followed
ployed satellites that established communica-
complex algorithms, but they extended Bilit’s
tions, sensor and power arrays, and a defen-
body and mind. Their wif i communicated
sive net.

with nanite arrays in Bilit’s brain. He felt,

We won’t need that here, Bilit thought, but
touched, heard, and electroreceived through
the decision to waste payload on defenses had
their sensors. They could prompt him to
belonged to bureaucrats who were likely long
peace or alarm, or allow him to better ob-
dead.

serve. The spidery sentries needled gracefully

He stood on a grassy escarpment overlook-
over nitrogen-rich exoplanetar y soil and
ing a scalloped valley. From edge to edge,
through tangled undergrowth.

trees packed freshwater drainages as densely

Bilit stood at the jungle’s verge. He left his
as in any rainforest on Terra, yet no one could
armored dhopter parked on the grass, the ve-
mistake this place for Earth. Every plant, as
hicle folded on itself. Bilit stepped into the
loosely as Curiosity’s biologists classif ied shadows beneath the canopy.

them, leafed in purple shades. A breeze
touched Bilit’s cheek, and the entire forest re-

He was born in the Freestate of Chicago. Af-
sponded to a rolling north wind. The treetops
ter an illustrious academic tenure, thirteen
undulated in faint lavenders and deep violets.

years’ service in the Terran Science Corps,

Nearby, the broad serrated leaves of native
two Martian tours, and a Magisterial Honor,
trees whispered like any tree on Terra.

Bilit volunteered for the Curiosity. He trained Bilit wiped a tear from his eye. He removed
with the crew for three years. Six days before
his rebreather. For a few moments he

Curiosity left Earth’s orbit, mission command breathed the Joonian air, but soon his head
administered Bilit a fatal dose of sodium
swam, and he felt made of the air itself. He re-
thiopental and pancuronium bromide. His
placed the rebreather to recover from the oxy-
heart stopped within seconds.

gen high.

86

J. L. FORREST

MAY 2015

As Bilit walked through the southern jun-

We were never alone, he thought, and
gles at Joon’s sweltering fortieth parallel, he
twenty-four light years is our next-door neigh-
struggled for scientific objectivity. What won-
bor. It’s nothing. What abundance the Uni-
der! Centuries might pass before ecologists
verse must hold!

could build a reasonable taxonomy. He saw

Next door, but Curiosity had needed two
beauty and all the bases of biological life as
hundred years to cross that distance.

they existed on Terra, made breathtakingly dif-
ferent. Life in distinct fractals, colors, and pat-Six months before liftoff, the crew under-
terns subtly or shockingly unfamiliar; life at a
went treatments. Engineers applied nanites
pace quicker.

designed to augment biomechanical perfor-

Here too he found Darwinian laws; every-
mance, to supplement active cells, to
thing became food for something else. Crea-
strengthen bone, to reinforce muscle.

tures filled each niche—bug-like, pests, para-

“I thought the idea was to kill this body?”

sites, herbivores, f lesh-eaters, crawlers,

Bilit had asked them.

swimmers, climbers; the camouf laged, the

“We’d like you to get accustomed to high-
rapid, the vicious, the cooperative; flyers and
level augmentation now,” they’d replied, “way
gliders; the armed and armored. For the first
before you reach the other side.”

time, Bilit felt visceral dread that something

Artif icial neurons sidled to living neurons,
might prove big enough, fast enough, or ag-
mirroring the host’s connectome. Too expen-
gressive enough to overcome the sentries, to
sive and impractical to ship several hundred
shred his armor, and to eat him. Hydrogen,
living bodies 2.24e+14 kilometers, so the
oxygen, carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, and phos-
neural nanites created a continuity of con-
phorous—any flesh-eater on this planet could
sciousness, which allowed the crew to survive
digest Bilit quite well.

death, to sidestep the Lockesian problem of

Praying mantises, he thought, hexapodal
broken identity.

traits, but not those of Terran insects.

Bilit had signed on without a second

Most Joonian life exhibited no insect-like
thought. Stars, here I come.

traits, save for size and niche. Lithe-limbed herbivores or powerful predators, whose back

A pack (a herd, a gaggle, a troop?) of
four limbs synchronized tetrapodally, peram-

Labrador-sized omnivores crossed Bilit’s
bulated as efficiently as any jaguar. Many ani-
path. He recorded them while his sentries
mals, plant-eater and f lesh-eater, possessed
established a defensive perimeter, f ive me-
forelimbs for grasping or cutting, some with
ters to a side. As an extension controlled by
prehensile digits. Animals chased each other
his neocortex and amygdala, Bilit trusted
through trees or undergrowth. Bilit smiled at
the sentries. Their response resembled a
the noise.

f irst jolt at any startling movement, driven

Cries and chirps and chatters. Calls and car-
by the amygdala, then rationalized at higher
ols. Growls. Clicks. Animals shook and raised
levels.

bristles.

Scientists had designed the sentry algo-

He looked closely at these —not mam-
rithms, not soldiers. They would be slow to vi-
malian, but something between fur and
olence without some intentionality from Bilit’s
feathers, hairs that grew smaller hairs. On
frontal lobe.

some organisms it looked worth a cuddle,

Unless shit got really serious.

save many possessed a row of pearlescent,

The labrivores had evolved hexapodally.

shovel-shaped, razor teeth. Other creatures

They walked on four sturdy limbs, three-toed
grew fur in latticed, armored coats. Toothy
feet negotiating each step. Hinged claws grew
and tough.

from a bony extension glazed by violet enam-

Bilit recorded images and dictated his notes.

el, weapons not at all like Terran chitin. Their

He collected samples. He drank the splendor
short thorax sported prosimian front limbs,
that here, two-dozen light years from the
ending in prehensile paws—two f ingers and
mythical Garden of Eden, existed the real
one thumb. The labrivores picked through un-
thing. It had evolved from its own DNA helix
dergrowth, pulling roots or snatching smaller
for hundreds of millions of years.

creatures, spitting out what they disliked.

SENTIENCE SIGNIFIED

87

ANALOG

Their brown and violet feathery fur camou-
advantages—accommodations for unexpect-
flaged them.

ed local conditions, as well as avoiding degen-

Bilit stepped forward. The lead animal stood
erative conditions and cellular errors associat-
on its hind legs, its front legs and arms hang-
ed with long suspended animations.

ing. It faced him, thirty meters distant, and
raised its head. Its slender nostrils flared.

The crew awoke with their continuity of

The animal squeaked and the troop ran,
consciousness intact, identities unbroken, on
crashing through the undergrowth, their
approach to an Earth-like world twenty-four
short-tailed rumps bobbing up and down as
light years from home. The journey had taken
they disappeared into the foliage.

over two centuries. Upon arrival, command

Bilit examined the vegetation along their
deployed robotic explorers and satellites, es-
path. He noted what they had eaten or expec-
tablished orbit, and gathered oceans of data.

torated. He collected tufts of feather-fur, as

Orbital arrays transmitted reports to Earth,
well as stool for the laboratory.

missives that would not arrive for twenty-four

He looked up. Animals climbed and swung
years.

and jumped through the canopy, their bodies

They received news too. Transponders
tinted like amethyst, serpentine, or amber.

stacked every incoming message that had orig-

They jostled and played and fought. He ob-
inated from Earth since the moment of their
served degrees of prehensility in proto-hands
departure until twenty-four years before their
and tails. He found binocular and omnocular
arrival. The crew opened an extra bottle or
vision in creatures with two, four, or eight
two of champagne; it appeared the Terran
eyes. One species’ hind legs had fused evolu-
race had survived the last twenty decades, de-
tionarily with a long tail, and Bilit wondered
spite one last global war, several nuclear disas-
what ecological advantage this offered.

ters, and continued suffering which remained

He looked down his exoskeletal legs into
despite heroic efforts. Among thirteen billion,
the scrub. Ten thousand species surrounded
four billion suffered on in poverty.

him, many more if he included microbes. A

Ten-year-old messages arrived from the
thousand tree species grew within the hectare

Gliese system, as well. Curiosity’s crew mar-where he stood, their evolution constrained
veled at this. When they had left Earth, no
within their genotype-environment expres-
planned mission to Gliese 105 existed. The
sion, guided by similar forces to those which

Gliese mission departed after Curiosity, but it existed on Earth.

arrived at its destination forty years before.

Life, Bilit mused, might be both wildly

Aerospace technology had improved.

unique and astoundingly predictable on every

In expectation of Curiosity’s arrival, Gliese Earth-like world in the Universe. Yet the forms
had transmitted schematics for an ansible, a
of Joon’s life varied from anything that Bilit
device that employed quanta and variations in
had known before, variations that stole his
the so-called gravitational constant to transmit
breath at every turn.

data faster than light—or rather sidestep rela-

He lifted his chin to feel Piscium’s rays on
tivistic limitations entirely. No such thing as
his face, filtering through the garnet canopy.

warp speed existed yet—the trudge between

The Universe admitted nothing but causality
stars remained—but useful messages became
and quantum mechanics, but in that moment,
possible.

Bilit felt nothing but magic.

On the f irst successful test, Curiosity sent the message: HELLO, GLIESE.

The AI that piloted Curiosity had woken

Four minutes later, Gliese replied: WELCOME
the command crew as she’d entered Piscium’s

TO THE FAMILY, JOON.

Goldilocks zone. She began printing their new

This warranted yet another bottle of cham-
nervous systems eleven months prior, con-
pagne. The deep freeze had preserved it well,
structing a lattice of neural tissues around the
bubbles and all.

crews’ sleeping synthetic nets. The AI com-
pleted their bodies with carbon, calcium, and

The naturalist John Burroughs wrote, “Love
potassium retrieved from Joon and its star
sharpens the eye, the ear, the touch; it quick-
system. Body-printing in situ offered ens the feet, it steadies the hand, it arms 88

J. L. FORREST

MAY 2015
against the wet and the cold. What we love to
a normal optical range, which meant he saw
do, that we do well. To know is not all; it is
nothing. He focused his other senses. Joonian
only half. To love is the other half.” Burroughs
rain almost smelled like Terran rain.

would have loved Joon as much as his trea-

The ground gave off a scent of soaked clay
sured Catskills.

and loam. Plants smelled like plants, but an

Bilit waited for dusk before setting base
unfamiliar pepperiness spiced the forest. The
camp. His sentries established a perimeter. As-
jungle resounded with strange animal cries.

sembler robots raised a tent and tarp. Bilit es-

Something walked through the under-
chewed the sturdier structures preferred by
brush, somewhere beyond the sentries. Bilit
most other f ield scientists—the hard-shelled
guessed its size between a deer and a horse,
erector sets, the nano-assembled arcologies,
moving quadrupedally but undoubtedly a
the mobile labs. He valued the tent’s simplici-
hexapod, forelimbs for other tasks. He heard
ty, its tininess, the way the membrane left so
only one, and it circled his camp not once but
little between him and the waving grasses, the
twice.

blowing trees, the singing leaves, the thou-

An unusual visitor, he thought.

sand animal calls. Insect-like animals moved

At last he modif ied his vision and the tent
through the air like Terran eels moved
interior resolved in pale grays and blues. He
through water. They oscillated more like cen-
sat up and turned his head, augmenting his
tipedes than f litted like mosquitoes, trilling
hearing, the nanites within his skull reconfig-
sometimes quietly or other times in cacopho-
uring to the purpose. He detected deliberate
ny. Once every few minutes, their bodies
steps, twenty meters distant, just beyond the
blinked like Christmas lights and then dark-
sentry line.

ened again.

Something tapped solid wood, but no ligni-

Protected by the tent’s filtration, Bilit rested
fied plant grew so close to his tent.

without his rebreather. He lay on his back,

Carrying a tool, he thought, and his heart hands folded on his stomach, smiling as he fell
raced. His adrenals stepped into high produc-
to sleep.

tion. He forced himself to calm, to temper his
excitement and unbidden fear. Tools meant in-

No sentient life, the first robots and survey telligence, and intelligence suggested real dan-teams reported. Aerial reconnaissance never
ger. The approaching visitor took another ten-
touched ground. They composited low-orbital
tative step forward, followed by another—
data with drone scans and high-speed manned

The sentries triggered their f irst defenses.

f lights. Within f ive weeks, they surveyed a

Eight hundred lumens turned the pitch black
f ifty-kilometer grid above Joon’s entire sur-
into a blinding violet-white, and a whine
face.

echoed from their speakers. A powerful blow

No sentient life. Sentient was defined as ex-knocked one sentry onto its side. The visitor
hibiting one or more of these: the ability to
fled into the jungle, and, as it crashed through
solve novel problems through creative ap-
the undergrowth, the pattern of its feet or
proaches; language; compound tool making;
hooves reminded Bilit of an antelope.

or complex cultural transmission, verbal or

The sentries ended their alarm, but their
otherwise. Recon searched for domiciles, vil-
lights remained. The fallen robot righted itself
lages, towns, or cities. They found none. They
and suffered no further attack, but Bilit waited
identified no alterations of land, no agricultur-
before stepping from the tent, his rebreather
al patterns.

restored to his mouth and nose. The moist

No sentient life, they reported. Proceed night raised goose bumps on his naked body.

with Phase I ground reconnaissance.

He examined the damaged sentry—a long

No sentient life.

scratch ran across its LED shield, but it
showed no other damage.

Bilit awoke to rain. For a while, drops pat-

That shield, he considered, was made of
tered on the shell and then, for seventeen min-
diamondide.

utes, became a deafening kettle drum. Bilit lay

He searched the grasses and found a rigid
still, hands still folded on his stomach, eyes
two-meter shaft of lignif ied plant f iber
open to the dark. For the moment, he retained
wrapped by a braided cord. A sharp point,

SENTIENCE SIGNIFIED

89

ANALOG
fifty centimeters long, emerged from one end.

He smiled in amusement. “Is that so?”

A spear.

“It is.”

Within his ear, his comm beeped. “Bilit, this

They joined Reginald in the port laboratory.

is Stephanye. You all right?”

The spear hovered within a scanning cham-

Curiosity’s primary AI, Stephanye, would ber. White light contrasted the earthy tones of
have detected his sentries’ defenses. He
the spear. The haft was of a fine-grained pale
replied through remote satellite array, “I’m in
wood, five centimeters in diameter. Its grains
awe of the Universe.”

held the preserving oils of other plants, as

“Can you clarify?”

well as old sweat. For one hundred twenty

“Sentient life.”

centimeters of its length, a braid of woven

Silence. Then, “The patterns recorded by
grass wrapped the shaft. Elaborate knots held
your sentries suggest a high probability of sen-
it in place.

tience signified.”

Bilit pointed at these. “Designed grips,

“I’m looking right now at one beautiful ex-
craftsmanship, and singular care.”

ample of a tool.”

Another cord and a splint held the dark-

“Did you sight the life form with your own
gray spearhead. Its nonferrous edge could
eyes?”

f lay meat from bone. A capable thrower

“No, unfortunately.”

could drive such a weapon through a man’s

“Can you record the tool in situ,” the AI
body.

asked him, “and then bring it in for analysis?”

“We’re still having trouble,” Reginald said,

He sighed. Hands akimbo, he looked out

“distinguishing any familiar DNA sequences
into the darkness, though his low-light vision
here, but we found remnants of many animals’

revealed nothing but silvery trees.

DNA imbedded behind the spearhead.” He ad-

“I’m tempted not to,” he replied.

justed his well-cut shirt collar as he examined

“Reasoning?”

two holomonitors. His trimmed hair contrast-

“It doesn’t belong to us, and I’m not sure
ed with Bilit’s, who like many field ecologists
we should begin first contact by stealing.”

cut his perhaps once per month. “My bet is

Hesitation. Then Stephanye argued, “We
this weapon has killed many times.”

can borrow it then.”

“What life forms would it have killed?” the

AI asked. “A cross-section of animals for con-

Back upon the Curiosity, Bilit walked the sumption, or enemies and other predators?”

outer corridor alongside a foglet projection of

Reginald shrugged. “With these data alone,

Stephanye, a being as physical as he but capa-
we’ve no way to know, but food animals is a
ble of vanishing in a millisecond, of reconfig-
safe assumption.”

uring herself into a new form, of translating

“Food for what?” Bilit asked.

herself to any part of the ship. Dark hair

He leaned close to examine the wrappings,
pulled back in a bun, bright blue eyes,
and then he looked at them under magnifica-
straight-lined white suit—an entirely comput-
tion. Faint blue threads interlaced with the
er-generated beauty. She carried an old-fash-
purple-brown of the wrapping.

ioned clipboard and wore anachronistic glass-

“That’s not random,” he said.

es. Bilit mused that this merely added to her

“My conclusion, as well,” Stephanye said.

appeal.

“Hypothesize writing?”

“Why the glasses?” he asked the AI.

“Insufficient data,” Reginald said. “Let’s not

“They look cute,” she replied.

get ahead of ourselves.”

“Why would you, an AI, want to look cute?”

Bilit shrugged. “Who knows? But someone

She affected a shrug. “It makes me happy.”

took great care making this. No idea what the

“Tell me, Stephanye, can you truly feel hap-

DNA says about the owner?”

py?”

Reginald hemmed and hawed. “Probably

“Emotions occur in the brain,” she said,
omnivore, certainly vertebrate.”

tucking a wooden pencil behind her ear.

“Not much else, huh?”

“They’re cognition. I cogitate better than you

“Nope.”

do. Ergo not only can I feel happy, Bilit, but I

“That’s not illuminating.”

can feel happier than you can.”

“No baseline, you know?”

90

J. L. FORREST

MAY 2015

Stephanye touched a manicured f inger to

He walked the beach, following GPS to find
her lips, her eyebrows drawn down in an AI’s
a path inland, and he carried the spear with
simulacrum of thought. “It’s your grid-sector,
him. He wanted to return to the escarpment

Bilit. How do you wish to proceed?”

meadow—he called it Spear Meadow now—

“You’ll inform the other f ield ecologists of
as efficiently as he could. The walk reminded
the sentience signified?” he asked.

him of beach strolls on Earth, as if Jimi Hen-

She nodded.

drix had sung the Indonesian islands into exis-

He looked again at the haft’s intricate stitch-
tence. At one point, Bilit removed his footgear
ing. Every quality of the weapon indicated fre-
and walked barefoot, curling his toes in the
quent use and loving upkeep.

sand. He realized the foolishness of this; early

“Someone values this,” he said. “Its owner
data indicated many venomous lifeforms on
will return for it.”

Joon, most of which could kill a biological

“You’re bringing it back to the surface?”

transhuman like Bilit, or at least make his life

Reginald asked.

extremely unpleasant.

“It’s polite to return what you borrow.”

He replaced his boots, walked near the

Stephanye nodded. “Take another contin-
trees, and found a log-carved boat. It had long
gent of sentinels with you,” she said.

lain abandoned, dried, cracked, and bleached

“No. Only one sentry this time.”

in the rain and daylight. A broken oar rested

“That is inadvisable for your personal safety.”

beside it. Bilit transmitted images and three-di-

“Agreed,” said Reginald, “we don’t know
mensional point scans to Curiosity.

how dangerous a species we’re talking about.”

“Are you getting this, Stephanye?” he asked

“Perhaps not,” Bilit said, “but it is the best through his comm.

course.”

“We are,” she replied. “I’ll inform the near-

“Reasoning?” Stephanye asked.

by teams and field ecologists.”

“Last night a sentient native encountered an

“We shouldn’t be surprised.”

alien species—me, and I frightened it. All

“The ability to construct a composite
bright lights and scary noises. We were only
weapon suggests sufficient skill to construct a
missing the tractor beam and the abducted
boat,” she said. “The islands are proximate
cow. I’d like the next encounter to be peace-
enough that no open-water navigation would
ful.”

be necessary. We can assume localized travel

Reginald nodded, understanding perfectly,
or extended migration.”

and the AI readjusted her model of human val-

“Does this lead you to other hypotheses?” he
ues.

asked, looking up and down the waterline as if
the boat’s owner might return at any moment.

Bilit left his dhopter on a wide stretch of sil-

“We can presume extensive sentience upon
icate beach, white sands dividing gray-blue

Joon,” the AI said, her voice melodic, “at least
seawater and mauve jungle. Strong and com-
at some range from the fortieth parallel south.

plex forces left Joon’s beaches wide and

We can hypothesize trade and assume some of
clean—eleven moons, not one—and on a
their diet is marine. Low population density
bright day the waters became translucent
and reproduction rate appear evident, sug-
aquamarine to the bottom. The sea teemed
gesting long lifespan and high survival rates
with life, but it would be months before Cu-
past some critical age. Odds are more remote
riosity’s undersea explorers began their work.

on maritime cooperation, organized govern-

Clouds lent the landscape a peculiar heavi-
ment, or extensive codified laws.”

ness. Lightning glittered on the horizon be-

“Anything else?”

neath weighty black thunderheads. Bilit

“They make fire, at least on occasion.”

guesstimated the wind’s direction, but it mat-

Bilit furrowed his brow. “How can you tell?”

tered little whether this storm struck the is-

“Your scans indicate the boat is f ire hard-
land or not; rain fell everywhere. He looked
ened.”

out at other nearby islands, some close

He knelt beside it. Bilit couldn’t tell
enough to distinguish individual trees, others
whether the wood had ever been f ire hard-
so distant they appeared as hazy smears.

ened or not, but he trusted Stephanye’s analy-

Bilit’s heart swelled.

sis.

SENTIENCE SIGNIFIED

91

ANALOG

“They spend most of their time in the jun-
narrow but it existed, and it carried voice and gles,” she continued, “deep beneath the
abstract data. E. T. phoned home.

canopy. Dispersion suggests territoriality, but

Several crew spoke with great great great
we cannot know for sure. May I again recom-
grandchildren. Others reconnected with old
mend some caution on your part, Bilit?”

friends or family whose transhuman augmen-

“As before, your advice is well taken, but I’ll
tations had allowed them to thrive through
go in with some faith—”

the intervening years. Many a conversation led

“Faith is not a statistically acceptable basis
to tears, joyous or sad.

from which to make decisions.”

Of f ive near-system missions—twenty-f ive

“I’ll have some faith,” he repeated, “I can
light years or less—all confirmed worlds that
make a good impression this time around. We
could support humans or augmented humans.

are the interlopers, and I’d mitigate the stain

Four reported at least one planet with bacteri-
of five thousand years of human invasion, im-
al life; three, worlds rich with multicellular
perialism, and violence.”

CHNOPS-based life, none sentient; one, a

“We all understand,” she said, “and every-

Goldilocks-zone gas giant where radically un-
one trusts your approach. Other teams have

Terran creatures sailed within the clouds.

reported signs of sentient life, and each has

All but the Joonian mission had established
reaffirmed a commitment to protocol.”

bases on bacteria-only worlds or on moons

GPS plotted a likely route to Spear Meadow,
amenable to terraforming. To create human-
and Bilit entered the trees. The canopy ex-
hospitable planets would take centuries, but
tended a hundred meters up; in places the un-
hollowed asteroids and protoplanets already
dergrowth rose above his head, and he felt as
hosted colonies at Goldilocks, reflecting day-
if he had become an ant, crawling through the
light into their cores, centripetal spin equal to stalks and fronds of a gargantuan garden.

one g.

He followed a ridge to the north, ten kilo-

Humanity undertook its excursion to the
meters through a jungle with sudden drops,
stars.

ravines, and rises. He recorded major findings
as he went, including a primate-like species all

Bilit waited hours. After months on the is-
but furless from its middle limbs to its head.

land, his lungs and muscles and guts felt more

The troop grazed through the lower canopy.

accustomed to compression, so he didn’t

They hung from tree limbs, clinging with their
mind the wait. He had logged more hours
back four feet, picking soft shoots from the
than most of his peers, recorded more
branches.

species, and constructed a more complete

How like spider monkeys! Bilit thought.

taxonomy of his local ecosystem than had any-

How like humans! One made eye contact with
one else. He preferred solitary work, unlike
him. Joonian and Terran gazed at each other
most others, who collaborated daily. He imag-
for some seconds, and then the creature re-
ined himself a twenty-third century John Muir.

turned to its gathering.

Rain drowned the jungle, cascading over

Shortly after, he reached a plateau. He rec-

Bilit’s body, dripping into his eyes, sometimes
ognized the geology. Bedrock breeched the
interrupting his rebreather. The rain cut visi-
soils, and the trees thinned until they gave
bility to f ifteen meters. It barred any chance
way to grasses. Bilit returned to the Meadow.

he might hear the approach of anything small-

He left the spear where he had found it, and
er than an elephant.

then he searched for any sign the owner had

After three hours, the rains ceased, and an
already returned. Finding none, he and his
elegant mist clouded the meadow and tree-
sentry retreated to the trees, hid, and wait-
tops. The jungle quieted; all its denizens held
ed.

their breath and some minutes would pass be-
fore the cacophony began anew.

The engineers refined the ansible. Commu-

The rustle of leaves, a series of cautious
nication to Earth and between four other out-
footfalls—the spear owner approached. She
posts became, for all intents and purposes, in-
reached a tentative hand from the tree cover
stantaneous. Messages arrived and returned in
and brushed a frond aside to watch the clear-
seconds or minutes. The data pipe was
ing.

92

J. L. FORREST

MAY 2015

Is it a she? Bilit wondered. Almost androgy-

Instead, she examined the trees, saw noth-
nous, but so feminine. He scarcely saw her
ing, and drew closer to the fallen spear. She
face, but she possessed eerily humanoid fea-
examined the ground, sniff ing, her ears laid
tures, bowed lips, a slender nose which
half back against the sides of her head. She
seemed both human and feline. Her eyes glit-
held her other weapon in both hands, fol-
tered sharp tourmaline. She held back the leaf
lowed some pattern in the grass, and looked
with a five-fingered hand—three fingers and
up—
two koala-like thumbs. At the ground ap-

—toward Bilit.

peared just the hint of a unique foot structure,

His gut tightened. He froze, not daring to
two splayed toes to the front and two to the
blink. Of course she would notice details! Of
back, with a dew claw at the hock joint. Sharp
course she would be able to track!

claws adorned her hands and all four feet.

The centaur glared into the trees, looking

Brown-violet fur covered her from her mid-
nearly at him but not seeing him. She reached
body through a lion-like tufted tail. Longer fur
down, took hold of her fallen weapon, then
ridged her spine. Save for that ridge, which be-
stopped, slack-jawed at what she saw there.

gan above her forehead, the rest of her thorax

Take it, Bilit willed her.

was hairless. Though her lithe muscles and

She grabbed both her spear and the spool of
lean anatomy suggested that of a strong
woven nanof iber that he’d set beside it. She
woman, she had no breasts.

looked up again in his direction, now holding

Though everywhere the f ield teams found
both spears in her right hand. She turned to-
sexual divergence similar to that in Terran
ward him, took a few steps forward, and tilted
species, no one had observed anything like
her head.

placental mammals on Joon. Every creature

Shit, Bilit thought. Shit, shit, shit.

ate vegetation or meat from its first days.

She took a few more steps, now only fifteen

A centaur! Bilit thought. This f irst impres-
meters away. She passed a spear to her right
sion stuck with him, though nothing about
hand, holding them both with a steady ease,
her appeared horse-like. Her hind-body
the shafts crossed just beneath the spear-
seemed more like a gazelle’s; her feet almost
heads. She took another cautious step—
goatish; her thorax and chest uncannily hu-

—and Bilit stood slowly, his hands up, palm
man, all of her structure with a dancer’s light-
outward. He neither smiled nor frowned, try-
some muscles. Her bone structure seemed
ing to make no expression whatsoever. Who
prepubescent, though he’d no idea whether
knows what a smile means?

Joonian creatures experienced puberty; in any

The centaur’s muscles tensed like bow-
case she acted as an independent adult and en-
strings, her every f iber ready to run or to at-
gaged her environment accordingly.

tack. She leaned back on her legs, and the cor-

She held a spear in her right hand, a
ners of her mouth drew downward.

weapon almost identical to the one she’d

Who knows what a frown means?

come to retrieve. Bilit remembered the An-

She took several steps back.

cient Greeks, always carrying two spears and

“I hope you like the gift,” Bilit said.

for good reasons. She wore a braided belt

Another step back.

around what he thought of as her human

He continued, “We really do come in
waist, and from it hung a scabbarded
peace.”

longknife. On her gazelle-like back, she car-

“Sörd!yeus çarad!ya eylamya cç!yet,” she
ried a pack and ample supplies. Weaves with
said, and though her voice too sounded pass-
colored stones decorated her zebra-like mane
ably human and female, she made sounds
from her crown to her tail set. Her tapered
which he could not.

ears flicked as she listened to the jungle.

He raised his hands farther. With some will,

Bilit’s heart thumped so loudly he feared
he kept his sentry behind him, but the AI’s al-
she could hear it, but she took one hesitant
gorithms wanted to place the sentry in harm’s
step into the open, followed by another. She
way, to establish a shield between Bilit and the
circled the clearing nearer to the trees, and,
centaur. Yet Bilit suspected anything that
for a few moments, Bilit expected she would
looked too much like magic would frighten
approach within only a few meters.

her—or anger her.

SENTIENCE SIGNIFIED

93

ANALOG

“I hope we get to know each other,” he said
forty-five seconds. The relative motion to the
and, just as slowly as she had, he backed
planet left Bilit faintly nauseous, or perhaps
through the trees. The sentry followed, its de-
the feedback loop of popular-science idiocy
fenses relaxing by degrees.

made him sick. The planet eased into the cen-

This is enough contact for now, he thought.

ter of his view and then began to slide to the

Best not to push it.

right.

The centaur ran the other direction, and

“It’s not vicarious nothings,” Reginald said.

Bilit watched her bound toward the under-

“The entire human race has an enormous
growth at the far side of the clearing. She gave
right to elation. We’re not alone! They want to
one strong kick, leapt with her tail held high,
know something about our newfound
and disappeared into the amethyst verge.

cousins.”

Def initely female, he thought. Field biolo-

Bilit sighed, his shoulders sagging. “I under-
gists had seen closer standard sex differentia-
stand, but they can read the field reports and
tion on Joon than in some instances on Terra.

digests. They can wait for good science, not a

Bilit had yet to record any variation as extreme
factually bereft stand-in for it. We’ll make qual-as, say, the female spotted hyena.

itative statements when the f ield ecologists

Though the danger of the moment passed,
and xenologists reach reasoned conclusions.

Bilit’s heart continued to race. He’d never seen

Nothing could be more important than getting
anything so beautiful in his life.

this right.”

He leaned to the edge of his seat, his elbows

“For sure,” Reginald said, “centaur still on his knees, hands clasped before him. In the
works. The word had nothing to do with hors-
window, Joon swung back into full view.

es.”

“Our f irst encounter with a sentient ex-

“It was the closest thing I could think of,”

traterrestrial,” he continued, “and it’s not little Bilit said.

green men with disintegrators or big-eyed

“I see why.”

grays in spaceships for anal-probe fetishists.

They sat in Curiosity’s starboard observa-No alien techno-a-technos to marvel the view-
tion deck. Panoramic windows showed the
ers back home. I wish the ansible had never
arc of Joon’s horizon on the left, Orelius in full been invented and that no one but our teams
view before them, three-quarters lit by Pisci-
would ever know of extraterrestrial sentience.

um. The spangled infinite blackness of space

She had spears, Reg, and it looks to me like extended to the right. They watched the re-they’re her most valuable possessions. She
play of Bilit’s encounter, recorded by ocular
doesn’t know anything about industrialization,
cameras and by the sentry. The holomonitors
computers, nuclear physics, quantum me-
emphasized detail that Bilit had missed at the
chanics. We have nanotechnology which
time.

amounts to doomsday weapons to these peo-

“The entire corps is talking about it,” Regi-
ple. We are as gods to them. We could squash nald said. “Word has spread to the other sys-them with the scantest effort—”

tems, back to Earth. The ansible has made you

“Bil, you know we wouldn’t—”

an instantaneous interstellar celebrity.”

“Do I? You wouldn’t, Stephanye won’t, but

“Just what I didn’t want.”

what about the politicians? We have to be

“Dignitaries are tripping over each other.

clear—this isn’t the New World. We’re not

They want to ask you one on one what it was

Columbus. There is no Jamestown. There’ll be
like. They want to share the experience with
no colonies. We’re scientists and this is a field billions.”

station. Ethical protocols say we don’t take the

“The last thing I have time for.” Bilit pointed
home of sentient natives, period. But you
to the holomonitor. “She and her kind are far
know half the willfully uneducated, infotained
more important than any public-relations op-
numbnuts back home are expecting some
portunity.”

conf lict up here, some commercial opportu-

Bilit leaned back in the black leather couch,
nity, some us versus them.”

kept there by a half-kilometer thick, kilometer-

Reginald sat back, knowing his friend’s pas-
diameter cylinder spinning at seventy meters
sions. Any word in edgewise would only pro-
per second. It completed a full rotation every
long the diatribe.

94

J. L. FORREST

MAY 2015

“There will never be any us versus them,”

still are; all of us are augmented. Before Cu-Bilit continued, “and the protocols prevent
riosity, we were PhDs or savants or off-
any commercial interest under these circum-worlders with a love of exploration, or con-
stances. Joon is more valuable than any Gala-
servation, or raw straight-up science. We are,
pagos.”

at least, apes plus.

Bilit crossed his arms.

He returned to the island to establish a

Reginald waited a moment, then said,
meticulous survey matrix. Bilit plotted way-

“You’re not John Muir and this isn’t the Hetch points in a tight spiral from the beaches

Hetchy. The message will go out—primitive
through the island’s heart. It took him seven-
sentient life discovered, and Joon has now be-
teen Joonian days to survey the island’s cir-
come the largest nature preserve in all of his-
cumference. Though he had flown over the is-
tory. Satisfied?”

land many times, the dhopter’s sonar, infrared,

Bilit nodded.

and ultraviolet did little to resolve detail be-

“Incidentally, why give her the carbon
neath the canopy. Nothing replaced under-
rope?” Reginald asked. “That’s an observation-
standing a place on foot, seeing it with one’s
al violation.”

own eyes.

“Do I look like an anthropologist? In the big
picture it seemed more important to make a

During those f irst seventeen days, Bilit
friendly impression. I’m sure she’ll find some
found three more native boats in excellent
carbon-fiber cord useful enough.”

condition: oiled, oars stowed, a handful of

“You may not be an anthropologist, but you
personal effects in each. He recorded these
know better.”

but touched nothing. Their design, he real-

“I wanted to let her know we were friend-
ized, fit the centaur or individuals somewhat
ly.”

larger than she. He wondered what form their

“Oh, bullshit.”

sexual dimorphism might take. After scanning

Bilit frowned. “How do you figure?”

the boats, he hypothesized the males would

“You gave high technology to a primitive,
be larger. He looked for footprints (hoof
and either she can’t f igure out what to do
prints?) but found none; the rains washed all
with it over the next few weeks and discards
tracks from the beach.

it, or she finds it immensely useful, a techno-

The kentauros. He’d looked them up on the logical advantage over her environment. Not
ship wiki. Piercers of bulls, the name had good observational science, I’d say.”

nothing to do with horsemen, though no one

“I see.”

agreed upon the etymology. The ancients con-

“So what was your thinking?”

sidered the Kentaurides, female centaurs, Bilit shrugged. “It was an intuition, a rare
beautiful from head to tail, though in no ex-
impulse.”

tant story did kentaurides take human lovers.

Reginald gave Bilit a smug grin. “So?”

Bilit remembered the myth of Jocasta and the

“To communicate somehow.”

bull and how it had ended. He chuckled to

“Then you’re not so different from everyone
himself.

Earthside. We’re all trying to communicate

Along the beaches he catalogued several
somehow.”

dozen species; in his first month in the forest,

“I suppose. Except—”

he recorded almost three hundred. For each

“Except?” Reginald prompted.

he logged, a thousand appeared to his eye,

“We’re trained and we’re here first. Whatev-
and for each appearing to his eye, a thousand
er harm we do will be much less than what
remained unseen. Coordinated between field
some of the other monkeys will do.”

biologists and ecologists all around Joon, with

“Elitist. We’re apes, Bil. Don’t forget we’re
lab scientists on Curiosity, and with decision-all apes.”

support AIs, the first rudimentary Joonian tax-
onomy took form.

But we’re not, Bilit thought. For two cen-

Bilit adopted a rigid schedule: three days in
turies, all of us on the Curiosity existed as the f ield, one in the labs, three in the f ield, pure ones and zeroes on solid-state and quan-two of rest. He kept this routine for three
tum processors; some of us, like Stephanye,
months, but during this time saw only one

SENTIENCE SIGNIFIED

95

ANALOG
other sign of centaurs: a small f ire pit, the
a seventeen-thousand-square-kilometer range,
bones of an eaten animal, and a broken
only Bilit had seen one.

scraper. He bagged dozens of samples.

Her allure remained with him.

In the thirty days following, the rains truly

His alienness to her world changed nothing
came to the island. Ground exploration halt-
of the desire he felt, the want of her, the poet-
ed. Visibility dropped to meters, and the mon-
ry of hunter and hunted, the rhyme of the land
soon lasted for weeks. Bilit returned to the Cu-itself. He shared these feelings with no one.

riosity. Thirty days to organize notes, to share When next he walked upon the island, he
with his peers. He appreciated a month of ei-
stood at the verge between jungle and beach,
ther weightlessness, or one g of nearly perfect
his dhopter landed just above high tide. He
artif icial gravity, but he could tell the differ-wore a smile. For a moment, he removed his
ence between centripetal spin and the gen-
rebreather and tasted pure Joonian air. He
uine thing.

stepped into the violet undergrowth, mindful

The other ecologists adopted the name:

of his duties, determined toward some re-

Kentauros sapiens, the centaurs. Yet while sponsibility. Yet he hoped then, as on every
other field teams had discovered signs across
day, he might meet her again. ■

IN TIMES TO COME

Next month, we hope you’ll join us in commemorating a historic milestone: Analog’s 1,000th issue! Naturally, we’ll have an assortment of excellent pieces, from Richard A. Lovett’s tale of possible distant battle by proxy, “The Wormhole War,” to Sean McMullen’s story of the inadvertent dangers in First Contact, “The Audience,” with plenty more in between, like William F. Wu and Ted Reynolds’ Studs-Terkle-esque oral history of “The Kroc War,” a (too) close (for comfort) encounter in, “Ships in the Night,” from Jay Werkheiser, Gwendolyn Clare Williams’ “Very Long Conversations,” Brenta Blevin’s “Strategies for Optimizing Your Mobile Advertising,” “The Odds,” from Ron Collins, C.C.

Finlay’s “The Empathy Vaccine,” and Seth Dickenson’s “Three Bodies at Mitanni,” as well as a fact article from Michael Carroll on the business of sightseeing in space, “Really Big Tourism.”

But we’ll also have a few extra-special Special Features, from Stanley Schmidt, Ben Bova, and SF editor/anthologist/author/historian Mike Ashley, as well as all our regular columns (and maybe even one irregular column).

You don’t want to miss this one!

All contents subject to change

96

THE REFERENCE LIBRARY Don Sakers hen it comes to planetary explo-books. In 1934 Burroughs started his own
ration, Mars is all the rage, especially

Venus series with Pirates of Venus (four sequels these days. Science fiction and the
eventually appeared).

Wred planet have been best buds for a As the Campbell Age dawned,the picture long time, and we’ve been through a lot to-of a wet, primitive Venus was taken for grant-
gether. And yet, truth be told, SF has always
ed. The works of two female writers are par-
carried the torch for another world: a veiled
ticularly notable. Several of Leigh Brackett’s
beauty called Venus.

stories deserve notice (including “Lorelei of

As usual, it all started with second-century
the Red Mist,” written with Ray Bradbury, and
author Lucian of Samosata’s fantasy-satire True

“Enchantress of Venus,” featuring the in-

History, in which unwitting adventurers from domitable Eric John Stark). C. L. Moore’s anti-Earth get caught up in a war between the King
hero Northwest Smith visited swampy Venus
of the Sun and the King of the Moon over the
several times. Meanwhile, C. S. Lewis took his
right to colonize Venus. (Spoiler: the Sun
hero Ransom to the oceans of Venus in Pere-
wins.)

landra (1943).

Two scientific fashions shaped the way

A swampy, rainy, or oceanic Venus contin-

Venus was depicted in SF. The telescope
ued to be the setting for SF books through the
showed the surface of Venus perpetually ob-

1950s and early 1960s, in works as varied as
scured by clouds. And the nebular hypothesis,

“The Big Rain,” by Ray Bradbury (1951), The
popular among eighteenth centur y as-

Space Merchants by Frederik Pohl and C. M.

tronomers, proposed that Venus was much

Kornbluth (1953), Revolt on Venus by Carey younger than Earth (and, similarly, that Mars

Rockwell (1954), Lucky Starr and the Oceans
was much older). Together, these fashions
of Venus by Isaac Asimov (1954), “All Summer gave us the vision of a warm, wet world popu-in a Day” by Ray Bradbury (1954), and several
lated by dinosaurs or even more primitive life.

books by Robert A. Heinlein: Space Cadet

If Venus wasn’t a planetwide ocean, it was at

(1948), Between Planets (1951), and Pod-best a swampy marshland.

kayne of Mars (1962).

This view was popularized in various proto-

Alas, beginning in 1962 a combination of ra-

SF novels, including Voyage to Venus by
dio astronomy and space probes (both U.S.

Achille Eyraud (1865), The Great Romance
and Russian) established the current scientific

(1881), Journey to Venus by Gustavus Pope view of an immensely inhospitable Venus,

(1895), A Trip to Venus by John Munro (1897), with searing heat, crushing pressure, and a
and A Columbus of Space by Garrett P. Serviss corrosive atmosphere.

(1909).

Science fiction, heartbroken, reeled. While

In the wake of Edgar Rice Burroughs’s John
a few authors dealt with the new reality of

Carter of Mars books, various authors used

Venus (notably Larry Niven in “Becalmed in

Venus as a setting for “planetary romance” sto-

Hell,” 1965), most shied away from the place.

ries.

In 1968, the old Venus was both celebrated

Ralph Milne Farley’s The Radio Man (serialand mourned in the anthology Farewell, Fan-
ized in Argosy in 1924) was followed by four se-tastic Venus! (edited by Brian W. Aldiss and quels and followed the adventures of Earthman

Harry Harrison).

Myles Cabot on a Venus whose deaf inhabitants

Subsequent visits to Venus were few and far
communicate via radio. Planet of Peril, by Otis between. Frederik Pohl’s The Merchants of

Adelbert Kline (1929), had two sequels and

Venus (1972), a sequel to The Space Mer-was a clear imitation of Burroughs’s Mars
chants, reconciled human colonization with 97

ANALOG
the new, hostile Venus. In 1980’s The Venus

A few authors establish some sort of ratio-

Belt by L. Neil Smith, a future culture based in nale for Venus being habitable—alternate uni-the Asteroid Belt decides to blast a useless
verses, time travel, that sort of thing—but

Venus apart to form another belt. Pamela Sar-
most simply assume the classic Venus. Readers
gent chronicled the terraforming of Venus in
just have to suspend disbelief at this; those

Venus of Dreams (1986), Venus of Shadows who do so will find much reward.

(1988), and Child of Venus (2001). Ben Bova All the stories are worth it. I found particu-told of an expedition to Venus as part of his
lar enchantment in Lavie Tidhar’s “The

Grand Tour series (Venus, 2000). Most recent-Drowned Celestial,” a tale of a tough old
ly, the Chinese have undertaken the job of ter-
spaceman’s encounter with the annoyed deity
raforming of Venus in Kim Stanley Robinson’s
of a lost civilization; Gwyneth Jones’s “A Plan-

2312 (2012).

et Called Desire,” in which a visitor from Earth

It’s fair to say that the relationship between
finds love in the swamps; and Joe R. Lansdale’s

SF and Venus has become more than a bit dys-

“The Wizard of the Trees,” the story of a half-
functional, and I think it’s our fault. We blame
black, half-Cherokee cowboy who survives
her for not being the sweetheart we imagined.

the wreck of the Titanic to bring peace to a When we’re not ignoring her altogether, we
war-torn Venus.

have nothing good to say about her. If we’re

Definitely a fun anthology.

not threatening to batter her severely, we’re in-
sisting on giving her a major makeover; we’re

The Human Equations
obviously not yet ready to accept her as she is.

Dave Creek

Maybe one day we’ll be mature enough to

Hydra, 220 pages, $14.99 (trade paperback)

patch things up. In the meantime, we have

Kindle, Nook: $3.99 (ebook)

our memories.

ISBN: 978-1-942212-01-0

Genre: Short Fiction

Old Venus

Edited by George R. R. Martin and

Dave Creek is a name familiar to Analog

Gardner Dozois
readers; every once in a while he appears in

Bantam, 608 pages, $30.00 (hardcover)

these pages with yet another superbly con-

Kindle: $11.99, iBooks, Nook: $14.99 (ebook)

structed story of human-alien relations set on

ISBN: 9780345537287
one or another of his marvelously realized

Genre: Original Anthology, Retro SF
worlds. These stories—most often featuring
heroes Leo Bakri, Matt Christian, or Mike

As a follow-up to 2013’s Old Mars, editors Christopher—are all part of a coherent future

George R. R. Martin and Gardner Dozois pre-
history.

sent sixteen stories set on the old, wet Venus

Two previous volumes collect many of
that SF gave its heart to so many decades ago.

Creek’s stories: A Glimpse of Splendor (2009) In doing so, they gather an impressive variety
and Some Distant Shore (2012). Now The Hu-of big names and lesser-known but talented
man Equations collects a dozen more Creek writers, old-timers, and newcomers. Among
gems, including the title story. And don’t just
the more recognizable authors are Eleanor Ar-
think you’re getting a bunch of Analog
nason, Elizabeth Bear, David Brin, Tobias S.

reprints: one quarter of this collection is

Buckell, Michael Cassutt, Joe Haldeman,
pieces that appear here for the first time.

Matthew Hughes, Gwyneth Jones, Joe R. Lans-

I’m not going to talk about the stories that
dale, Garth Nix, Mike Resnick, and Allen M.

were published in these pages; either you’ve

Steele.

read them, or you trust Stan and Trevor’s edi-

You might expect a certain uniformity here,
torial choice enough to know they’re good. In-
but you’d be wrong. About all these stories
stead, let me whet your appetite with a few
have in common (besides being good reads) is
words about the three original stories.

somehow being set on a warm, wet Venus.

“The Day That Reveals” is a great example

Otherwise, they range from hardboiled detec-
of how SF can shed light on present-day prob-
tive stories to horror to good old pulp adven-
lems. Sadiq Salam, a diplomat on an Islamic or-
ture to (yes) love stories.

bital habitat, must deal with a conf lict

98

DON SAKERS

MAY 2015
between tradition and the demands of the
fight allergies, then move on to unexpected
modern world. In “On the Welkin Shone the
consequences: ways that technology could be

Starres Bright” Creek explores the relationship
used for nefarious purposes.

between Human Matt Christian and his aquat-

That’s just three of the stories; there are
ic partner Sarbin, and shows more of the fasci-
fourteen more, each as entertaining and
nating ecology of an all-ocean planet. And in
thought provoking as the one before.

“Kutraya’s Skies” two scientists battle with re-
ligious and societal inertia to save the habit-

Upgraded
able moon of a gas giant.

edited by Neil Clarke

Whether you’ve been a Dave Creek fan for

Wyrm, 368 pages, $16.95 (trade paperback)

decades, or you’re just discovering his work

Kindle, Nook: $6.99 (ebook)

for the first time, The Human Equations is a ISBN: 978-1-890464-30-1
no-brainer for any Analog reader.

Genre: Biological SF, Man and Machine, Origi-
nal Anthologies

Carbide Tipped Pens
edited by Ben Bova and Eric Choi

Upgraded is billed as “an all-original cyborg Tor, 400 pages, $27.99 (hardcover)

anthology edited by a cyborg.”

iBooks, Kindle: $12.99, Nook: $14.99 (ebook)

Here’s the story: Neil Clarke, editor of

ISBN: 978-0-7653-3430-5

Clarkesworld magazine (and three-time Hugo Genre: Hard SF, Original Anthologies
award winner in the Best Semiprozine catego-
ry), survived a near-fatal heart attack in 2012

Before Trevor was the editor here at Ana-
and a year later had a defibrillator implanted.

log, Stan Schmidt filled the position. And long-While recovering, he conceived of this anthol-
time readers may remember that before Stan,
ogy.

Ben Bova sat in John W. Campbell, Jr.’s chair

In 368 pages there are no fewer than 26 sto-

(quite literally: Bova succeeded Campbell
ries by the same number of authors. The list of
upon his death in 1971).

contributors skews a bit newer and more on

Carbide Tipped Pens is like an artifact from the literate side than Old Venus or Carbide a parallel universe, one in which Bova didn’t

Tipped Pens, although you’ll notice some fa-leave Analog in 1978, but kept editing to this miliar names such as Elizabeth Bear, Tobias S.

day. Together with Eric Choi, Bova has put to-

Buckell, Greg Egan, Ken Liu, Robert Reed, and
gether a collection of seventeen hard SF sto-

Rachel Swirsky. (Bear, Buckell, and Reed in
ries by a diverse group of authors, focused on
particular seem to be able to pull off the diffi-
rigorous extrapolation of current science and
cult trick of being simultaneously prolific and technology melded with three-dimensional
good.)

characters and engaging plots. You know, the

Again you might expect a certain narrow-
kind of stories Analog prints.

ness of field, and again these stories cover re-

You’ll recognize some of the names in this
markable breadth. There are detective stories,
anthology: Doug Beason, Gregory Benford,
postapocalyptic tales, psychological studies,

Bova himself, Nancy Fulda, Jack McDevitt, and
space opera, and transhumanist parables.

Robert Reed. The sciences represented in

Some of the stories are plainly told, others
these stories include artificial intelligence, bio-more avant-garde, and a few frankly experi-
medicine, chirality (handedness), climatology,
mental. These are definitely not Analog sto-ecology, nuclear physics, probability, relativi-
ries—which makes sense, as Clarkesworld is-ty, robotics, set theory, transfinite math, and
n’t Analog and Clarke isn’t Trevor. Still, there’s sports medicine.

a lot here to like.

Ben Bova’s story, “Old Timer’s Game,” spec-

Genevieve Valentine’s “Small Medicine” is a
ulates on the future of baseball. “SIREN of Ti-
poignant story of a little girl’s relationship
tan” by David DeGraff is a tale of a charming
with her beloved grandmother’s cyborg re-
robot probe on Saturn’s largest moon. Leah
placement. “Tender” by Rachel Swirsky ex-

Peterson and Gabrielle Harbowy’s “Skin
plores the relationship between human and

Deep” is hard SF at its most pure: The authors
machine through the agency of a machine
postulate a technology that uses tattoos to
struggling to protect the woman it loves from

THE REFERENCE LIBRARY

99

ANALOG
harm. Helena Bell tackles the nature of tran-
advanced technology revolutionized the world
shumanism with “Married, ” in which a

. . . but at a cost. For the Gurus have been fol-
woman confronts the changes that her hus-
lowed by an inimical race that Earth media dub
band undergoes during conversion to cyborg

“Antags” (for Antagonists). The Antags are es-
form.

tablishing a base on Mars, and the Gurus want

By far the standout story, for me, is Benja-

Humans to get rid of them.

nun Sriduangkaew’s “Synecdoche Oracles.”

So Venn and his comrades are off, dropped

Set in a far future and based on what can only
onto the surface of the red planet to fight and,
be called biological cyborgs, this is one of
if possible, to survive.

those total immersion stories that takes the

It’s a fairly straightforward story. Bear makes
reader to a completely different universe filled
it sing through his characters and the technol-
with wonderful and amazing people. Charin-
ogy they use.

da, who keeps a cyborg peacock within her

Michael Venn is a science fiction soldier in
rib cage, is sent on a mission to execute a no-
the tradition of Robert A. Heinlein’s Starship torious general. The story reads like a myth

Troopers and the best of David Drake—pro-from a far future culture.

fane, capable, loyal to a fault. He and his fel-

If you’re in the mood for a batch of cyborg
low grunts are full of opinions about the war,
stories, and particularly if you’re ready for
the Antags, the Gurus, and their leaders.

more consciously artistic fare than you usually

There’s adventure, tension, and sardonic hu-
see in Analog, give Upgraded a try.

mor enough to keep the story moving briskly.

The technology, as is typical for Bear, is well

War Dogs
thought out, wondrous, and totally familiar to

Greg Bear
the characters. Bear hasn’t simply updated

Orbit, 304 pages, $25.00 (hardcover)

current military technology; instead, he’s
iBooks, Kindle: $8.99, Nook: $12.99(ebook)

done a thorough job of reimagining military

ISBN: 978-0-316-07283-0
equipment based on sophisticated nanotech-

Series:War Dogs 1
nology and other alien tech.

Genre: Military SF

Artful yet authentic-sounding, War Dogs is a compelling story well told. A good beginning

Greg Bear is one of the most successful hard
to what looks to be a good series.

SF writers around. He’s won every award in

With that, I’m out of space. Until next time,
the field several times over. In War Dogs, the take a few moments before sunrise or after
first book in a new series, he turns his atten-
sunset to look for Venus. She’s there most of
tion to military SF.

the time, indifferent to the opinions of her

Michael Venn is a Skyrine, a space marine,
erstwhile suitor, science fiction. ■
and when War Dogs begins he’s about to go into combat on Mars.

Don Sakers is the author of Children of the

Thirteen years earlier, a peaceful alien race

Eighth Day and Meat and Machine. For more known as the Gurus landed on Earth. Their
information, visit www.scatteredworlds.com.

100

DON SAKERS

BRASS TACKS
ear Trevor:

some use of radio-frequency broadcasting.

In regards to Ed Lerner’s “Alien

That’s a technological assumption, rather than

AWOLs” (October, 2014), it looks to me
a behavioral one.

Dthat there is a hidden assumption in If an ATC relies on modulated neutrino both the Drake Equation and in SETI. This as-beams, our radio-based search will fail.

sumption is that any alien intelligence or alien

—Ed Lerner
technical civilization (ATC) will manifest itself exactly as, or in congruent ways to what, our

Dear Mr. Quachri,
culture does—that is, any ATC will be inter-

The December issue was phenomenal.

ested in the same things that we are, have the

Right out of the gate, your anchor story (“The
same technical interests and developments—

Anomaly,” C. W. Johnson) was a super-smart,
in brief, think, behave, and look at the world
all too plausible slice of (future) life that some-like we do.

how managed to be fresh and old-school at

Given the chaotic state that the search for
the same time, and delivered some emotional
exoplanets has revealed outside our Solar Sys-
punch. Outstanding.

tem, if an alien civilization developed, there is

“Citizen of the Galaxy” (Evan Dicken) was
no reason to assume that it would be like ours.

one of the best stories in years. Powerful

It is just as likely that “The Great Silence” ex-
theme, background detail that was both well
ists not because of absence of alien intelli-
presented and accurate (he is obviously a
gence, but because any ATCs are on a differ-

Japanophile like me), unusual aliens (which is
ent “wavelength” than we are.

not easy to do after all the aliens we’ve seen),

Michael Regan
and lots of good sentences. Loved it.

Vacaville, California

“Mammals” (David D. Levine) was a delight.

I like unusual points of view, and this one was

The author responds:

brilliant. Also the ending was satisfying, with

Agreed: it’s prudent not to assume other civ-
the good guys coming out on top. I like happy
ilizations are just like ours. (That’s a good rule endings like that, up to a point.

of thumb even without looking beyond this

I could go on. Great fact article. Can’t go
planet.)

wrong with a sonnet. And so on.

As to SETI, the assumptions involved, con-

Titles, though . . . You are bad at titles. I sup-sciously or not, depend upon the specific
pose your authors supply their own titles, but
search strategy. If we seek ET artifacts in our
it’s your responsibility to improve them. Take
native solar system, we’re presuming that an

“The Anomaly,” for example. That’s a terrible

ATC not only could, but chose to, dispatch in-
title. Lazy. It says nothing about the story and
terstellar probes or spacecraft. If we listen for gives me no reason to want to read it. “Rogue
a laser or radio beacon, we’re presuming an

Anomaly” would have been much better. See

ATC has built such a beacon for the purpose
how this slight change introduces an element
of revealing its presence. Both are behavioral
of conflict and action? Even better: “Ketkam’s
assumptions. Humanity has (just barely,

Rogue Anomaly.” Now we have introduced a
through plaques affixed to the Voyager
human element and an exotic tone. This is at
probes) exhibited the first behavior. We have
least a hundred times better than “The Anom-yet to choose to construct a beacon for pur-
aly.”

poses of interstellar communication.

So, anyway, please work on your titles. Oth-

But what if all we do is listen for radio emis-
erwise, great job.

sions that differ—in some way—from the

Chris Myers
emissions of known natural processes? In that

Lovelock, Nevada
case, we’re assuming only that an ATC makes

* * *

101

ANALOG

Dear Editors,
spacecraft in various otherwise impossible or-

I note, unless I am mistaken, that Mr. Hen-
bits. In particular, the creation of “artificial La-drix [Guest Editorial, “A Choice of Apoca-
grange points” to park space probes there in-
lypses,” December, 2014] appears to have
definitely, to study the Sun, the tail of the
adopted the Puddleglum argument for the ex-

Earth’s magnetosphere, etc., is an idea that
istence of Narnia from “The Silver Chair,”

has been around for quite some time. Other
where he says, “Suppose we have only
possibilities include placing satellites in geo-
dreamed, or made up, all those things—trees
stationary orbits on planes other than the
and grass and sun and moon and stars and
equator. These ideas have their mathematical

Aslan himself. Suppose we have. Then all I can
foundation on a special solution of the many-
say is that, in that case, the made up things
bodies problem known as the “restricted
seem a good deal more important than the
three-body problem with solar radiation pres-
real ones . . . I’m on Aslan’s side even if there sure.” And, among them, there is the “statite,”

isn’t any Aslan to lead it. I’m going to live as
proposed by Robert L. Forward and explained
like a Narnian as I can even if there isn’t any
by him in the “Science Fact” section of the De-

Narnia.”

cember 1990 issue of Analog, whereby a so-Steve Tollyfield
lar-sail-powered spacecraft could be parked,
hovering, right on top of either of Earth’s

Dear Mr. Quachri,
poles, to be used as a communications satel-

In the “Science Fact” section of the latest is-
lite serving the polar regions, where the equa-
sue of Analog (“Orbits to Order,” January/Feb-torial geostationary ones are of little use.

ruary 2015), Stanley Schmidt writes about spe-

A second, minor point I would like to com-
cial non-gravitational spacecraft orbits, the
ment on is the statement, earlier in the same
result of applying thrust in such a way as to ob-
article, that “unlike the quadratic equations
tain some unusual and potentially useful trajec-
familiar to high school algebra students,
tories. The article is very interesting and well-
there is no handy general formula for solving
written, although there are a couple of points
the (cubic) equations analytically, but they
that I feel might need some clarification.

can be solved by graphical and/or numerical

The main one, as I see it, is about the state-
methods,” and ends recommending the use
ments he makes toward the end, observing
of a “cloud” approach: “equation solvers”

that the rockets that provide the non-gravita-
available on the Internet. Maybe it is just a
tional force that makes such highly non-Kep-
matter of word choice, but taking the state-
lerian orbits possible, do run out of fuel even-
ment literally, it is incorrect: it is true that al-tually, and concluding from this obvious fact
gebraic equations above a certain degree do
that permanent orbits of that sort are not fea-
not have a general solution in the form of
sible, barring some unexpected developments
closed (finite algebraic) mathematical formu-
in the future, perhaps involving some scientif-
las, handy or otherwise, according to the
ic breakthroughs. Because, as he explains, “as

Abel-Ruffini theorem. But the minimum de-
science fiction writers, we can imagine (care-
gree at which this happens, as stated in that
fully!) whole new kinds of science that can
theorem, is five, not three. In fact, a general
conceivably be discovered in the future that
solution for cubic equations, Cardano’s
would make this continuous thrust possible.”

method, is several centuries old; a general so-

As a matter of fact, there is no need for that:

lution for quartics is somewhat more recent.

continuous thrust for indefinitely long periods

And going as far back as Babylon, mathemati-
of time is quite within the bounds of what is
cians already knew how to solve some spe-
feasible today (if, perhaps, not entirely practi-
cial quartic equations (although they did not
cal, as yet) using existing science and engi-
think of them as such).

neering ideas.

There is plenty about this online, including

Concretely: Solar sails can provide continu-
two good Wikipedia articles on “cubic func-
ous thrust indefinitely, as the Sun always
tions” and “quartic functions.” That said, I
shines in (most of) outer space, and their use
must thoroughly acknowledge that, from a
has been proposed and studied seriously at
practical point of view, using the “cloud”

NASA, ESA, and other space agencies, to put
method recommended by Schmidt is much

102

BRASS TACKS

MAY 2015
better than trying to solve the equations using
orbit that you obtain by starting in a circular
the closed general formulas, particularly in the
orbit and applying an acceleration directed in-
case of quartics. Which, nowadays, one would
ward. As pointed out in the article, this re-
use a computer to do anyway, if the job did
sults in a lower, faster circular orbit, maintaincome up on a regular basis.

ing angular momentum. So far so good. Then

I end here by expressing my best wishes for
the discussion moves to what happens if you
the continuing success of Analog, now under turn the engine producing the inward acceler-your stewardship, on its already very long and,
ation off. According to Stan, the modification
one hopes, endless journey into the unfath-
process repeats itself in reverse and the mass
omable future.

“spirals outward into a new [orbit]” which is

Oscar L. Colombo
the same one that it started out in. I can ac-

College Park, Maryland.

cept that this might happen if thrust were
slowly reduced until the engine was com-

The author responds:

pletely off, but it’s clear that this isn’t what

Actually, I did acknowledge that there were

Stan was saying. He goes on to say that when
things that could be done without requiring

“you’re finished (or run out of fuel), turn the
fundamentally new science, and Mr. Colom-
rocket off, and you automatically return to
bo’s suggestions are certainly among them—
your original orbit.”

but in general, they’re not easily applicable to

Sorry, no. As soon as you turn the engine
this particular problem. Solar sails can provide
off, the mass becomes an ordinary ballistic
outward force on an object orbiting the Sun
projectile and it must immediately follow a

(such as an asteroid), but not on one orbiting
normal orbit. Spirals are not allowed. If the
the Earth. Also, they can’t provide inward
engine is suddenly turned off in this case, the
force, which, for reasons I described in the ar-
orbit will immediately become a conic sec-
ticle, is more likely to be useful. Statites and
tion. The new orbit will be an ellipse with

“artificial Lagrange points” are completely dif-
perigee at the height of the lower forced orbit
ferent kinds of orbits than I was discussing.

and apogee somewhere higher than the origi-

Algebraic solutions to cubic equations do
nal unforced orbit, unless you’ve added
exist (and maybe I should have mentioned
enough energy during the orbital modification
them), but they’re so much more complicated
to turn it into a parabola or hyperbola.

than the quadratic formula that I can’t consid-

Still, it was a fun article. I hope Stan sees fit er them a “handy general formula.” But I
to provide us with more pieces in the future.

should probably add that there’s still another

Steven Gray
approach available: Some calculators have
built-in capabilities for solving equations,

The author responds:

sometimes algebraically, sometimes numeri-

Oops! I did speak a bit hastily here, and will
cally. I haven’t tried mine to see how well it
fine-tune the wording if the article is ever
handles this kind of equation, but I suspect
reprinted. “Spiral” was not the best choice of
most people will find the online solvers quick-
word, and for the case where the added force is
er and more convenient.

stopped abruptly, Mr. Gray is right that, rather

—Stanley Schmidt
than returning to the original circular unforced
orbit, its orbit becomes a conic section subject

Dear Mr. Quachri,
to the conditions he describes. It would be in-

I read with interest Stan Schmidt’s fact arti-
teresting, though, to consider what happens if
cle “Orbits to Order.” As I’ve come to expect
the force is removed gradually, and what it
from Stan’s many editorials, the fact article
would take to get back to the original orbit.

was interesting and thought provoking, deal-

Those are more complicated calculations, but I
ing, as usual with Stan, with a subject that we
may do them if the article is reprinted. Mean-
usually don’t think much about.

while, if anybody else cares to work it out, I’d

I could quibble over a few minor points, but
be interested in seeing the results.

won’t. However, there’s one discussion that I

—Stanley Schmidt ■
just can’t let stand. It deals with the forced

BRASS TACKS

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