To the Stars -- and Beyond. Damien Broderick
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INFORMATION
Editing Copyright © 2011 by Robert Reginald
A number of these pieces have been previously published, in whole or in part, and are reprinted by permission of their authors, authors’ estates, or agents:
“Introduction: 37 Divided by 3,” by Robert Reginald, is published here for the first time. Copyright © 2011 by Robert Reginald.
“The Meek,” by Damien Broderick, was originally published in Synergy SF: New Science Fiction, ed. by George Zebrowski, Five Star, 2004. Copyright © 2004, 2011 by Damien Broderick.
“Innsmouth Bane,” by John Glasby, was originally published in H.P. Lovecraft’s Magazine of Horror #2, 2005. Copyright © 2005, 2011 by John Glasby.
“Helen’s Last Will,” by James C. Glass, was originally published in Analog, March 2008. Copyright © 2008, 2011 by James C. Glass.
“I Can Spend You,” by Charles Allen Gramlich, was first published in Strange Days, Vol. I, No. 5, 1992. Copyright © 1992, 2011 by Charles Allen Gramlich.
“The Voice of the Dolphin in Air,” by Howard V. Hendrix, was originally published in Starshore #2, Fall 1990, and reprinted in Human in the Circuit: Collected Stories, by Howard V. Hendrix, Borgo Press, Wildside Press, 2011. Copyright © 1990, 2011 by Howard V. Hendrix.
“This World Is Ours,” by Philip E. High, was originally published in Fantasy Adventures 13, ed. by Philip Harbottle, Wildside Press, 2008. Copyright © 2008, 2011 by the Estate of Philip E. High.
“The Last American,” by James B. Johnson, was originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, February 1990. Copyright © 1990, 2011 by James B. Johnson.
“Small World,” by Michael Kurland, was originally published in Two Views of Wonder, ed. by Thomas N. Scortia and Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, Ballantine Books, 1973. Copyright © 1973, 2011 by Michael Kurland.
“The Channel’s Exemption,” by Jacqueline Lichtenberg, was originally published in Galileo Magazine, #4, July l977. Copyright © 1977 by Jacqueline Lichtenberg; Copyright © 2011 by Sime~Gen Inc.
“My Guardian,” by Gary Lovisi, is published here for the first time. Copyright © 2011 by Gary Lovisi.
“Black Mist,” by Richard A. Lupoff, was originally published in Omni Online, April 1995. Copyright © 1995, 2011 by Richard A. Lupoff.
“The Five Biographies of General Gerrhan,” by Don Webb, was originally published in Science Fiction Age, January 1997. Copyright © 1997, 2011 by Don Webb.
Published by Wildside Press LLC
www.wildsidebooks.com
DEDICATION
For Charles Nuetzel,
With thanks for his help in seeing
my very first book to publication,
and
For Bill Hughes,
Wherever he is,
For providing the cover.
INTRODUCTION
“37 DIVIDED BY 3”
It seemed like such a simple request. My publisher wanted me to put together two anthologies featuring short stories by authors from my Borgo Press list. One of the books would include science fiction tales, and the other mystery pieces. The volumes would be distributed as near-gratis ebooks on the internet, with inexpensive print-on-demand versions as well, to help publicize some of the good folks who were publishing full-length books with us.
Easy, right? Well, yes and no.
Getting the material wasn’t difficult at all. I suddenly found myself overwhelmed with quality submissions, both reprints and originals. I quickly adopted a policy of only one story per writer per volume—and still they kept coming! In the end, I received sixty-three tales by sixty-six writers—thirty-seven SF and twenty-six crime stories. The total wordage was enormous. But the books had now become too large. So what to do?
“Divide them into more workable pieces,” was the suggestion, and so that’s what I’ve done. I divided 37 by 3, and the one SF volume became three: Yondering, To the Stars—and Beyond, and Once Upon a Future; the crime book became Whodunit? and More Whodunits, with appropriate linking subtitles.
* * * *
This second anthology in the sequence includes twelve stories, both reprint and original, by a variety of Borgo Press authors.
In Damien Broderick’s haunting tale, “The Meek,” the survivors of humanity’s drive toward racial suicide must pay an awful price for their continued survival. John Glasby’s “Innsmouth Bane” tells how the alien entity Dagon first came to nineteenth-century America. In “Helen’s Last Will,” James C. Glass shows us that death may not always be “the end.” Charles Allen Gramlich’s “I Can Spend You” is a futuristic western which puts prospecting in a whole new light!
“The Voice of the Dolphin in Air,” by Howard V. Hendrix, is a poignant tale of life and death on Mars and the LaGrange space stations. In Philip E. High’s “This World Is Ours,” David Hacket is given the task of revitalizing a declining city (and world), and finds himself facing an alien invasion. James B. Johnson’s “The Last American” is fighting to preserve the memory of the old U.S. of A.—in a last stand at the Alamo! In “Small World: A Small Story” by Michael Kurland, Vanspeepe invents a new transportation device, hoping to change the world—and he does!
“The Channel Exemption: A Sime~Gen Story,” by Jacqueline Lichtenberg, focuses on the tensions between Sime and Gen when a mixed party of humans is stranded on an alien planet. Gary Lovisi’s tale, “My Guardian,” tells how mankind is finally able to end wars and mass killings. “Black Mist,” by Richard A. Lupoff, is a stunning mystery puzzle set at a Japanese research station on the Martian moon, Phobos. Don Webb, in his fascinating tale, “The Five Biographies of General Gerrhan,” demonstrates how easy it is for a professional writer to (mis)interpret, deliberately or otherwise, the story of a space hero.
—Robert Reginald
San Bernardino, California
17 June 2011
THE MEEK
by Damien Broderick
And seeing the multitudes, Jesus went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:
And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,
Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom
of heaven.
Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be
comforted.
Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
—The Gospel of St. Matthew, 5: 1-5
In the childhood of the garden there is much I remember, much I regret. And much has brought me pleasure. I see in memory the great spindles floating effortless as snowflakes, bright against the sky’s iron. The rust of time obscures these memories, but when I see the cold clear moon I see also the ships of light.
They came once, in an angel’s song, in silver fire, and they come again in the garden, the garden of my dreams.
Now bright birds swoop in a spray of tropical hues, and the river whispers secrets to the lake. You could say I am happy, though the future is gone and the earth rolls lonely as a child’s lost balloon. They are gone and I am glad and I am sad. The garden is a place of peace, but the flame has guttered out.
* * * *
Once I was a man in my middle years and the world was a bowl of molten, reworked slag, a lethal place where the stuff of the soil humped up into delirious fractal corals that glowed blue and crimson in the night. Now fireflies flicker, and warmth rises where it is needed. But no warmth in the soul, no fire, just the moonglow of age and a forsaken dream.
I was young and the earth was a sphere of maddened terror, for we