488 lines
30 KiB
Plaintext
488 lines
30 KiB
Plaintext
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+-+ +-+ +-+
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+-+--+-+--+-+ VOLUME ONE NUMBER THREE
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| | ==========================================
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+___________+ FFFFF SSS FFFFF N N EEEEE TTTTT
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| ++ | F S F NN N E T
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| ++ | FFF SSS FFF N N N EEE T
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| | F S F N NN E T
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|_________| F SSS F N N EEEEE T
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/___________\ ==========================================
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| | BITNET Fantasy-Science Fiction Fanzine
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|
___|___________|___ X-Edited by 'Orny' Liscomb (NMCS025@MAINE)
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<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>
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CONTENTS
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Editorial Orny
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Flyby Fiction by Jim Owens
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Featured Author: TANITH LEE Orny
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The Narret Chronicles Fiction by Mari A. Paulson
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<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>
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Editorial
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Well, folks, welcome to issue three of FSFnet! After last issue's slump,
|
|
we have got some real treats for you with some excellent fiction. I must
|
|
thank Jim Owens (J1O @ PSUVM) for most of this issue - his loyalty and
|
|
productiveness... well... if only all readers were so avid and so
|
|
talented...
|
|
I must again remind you that FSFnet is a fanzine, and that I must have
|
|
submissions for it to continue. I know that many of you have commented
|
|
about sending things in, but haven't found the time. Please do... FSFnet
|
|
needs your support to continue.
|
|
Also, it has come to my attention that many people are having problems
|
|
reading FSFnet onto their disks. VAX users want DISK DUMP CLASS N, IBM
|
|
users want SENDFILE, and so forth. I would like to hear from people as to
|
|
which format they consider most desirable. And thank you for putting up
|
|
with any inconvenience due to this problem, past or future.
|
|
One more thing before I send you off into space... Issue four will be a
|
|
special tribute to H.P. Lovecraft, famous author of horror, particularly the
|
|
Cthulhu mythos. If you have anything that might be acceptable, please send
|
|
it in! As always, letters are welcome, as is almost anything I can get my
|
|
hands on!
|
|
But I grow long-winded, and I would not presume to detract from the two
|
|
wonderful pieces of fiction in this issue, so READ ON!
|
|
Orny <NMCS025 @ MAINE>
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|
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|
<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>
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FLYBY
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The asteroid flashed past, turning slowly. He could feel the power in the
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twin-spool behind him. He knew, however, that there were more powerful
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engines in the warship behind him.
|
|
"Easy run." Elein had said as she pulled him to the booth. "Just lure the
|
|
ships out to the Belt and they pay our way back!"
|
|
The Paixites needed ships, he knew. But they needed the men even more.
|
|
The Paixites were not wimps. They held more power than the rest of space
|
|
combined. They just weren't takers. They were more likely to give you a
|
|
planet than to try to take yours. They had a fantastic, outgoing way about
|
|
them, an attitude unmatched for niceness. Without that, mankind would have
|
|
been in trouble. Some, however, saw niceness as weakness. Ever since they
|
|
had appeared in human space they had been the target of many a siege, and
|
|
were under one now by a group whose sole interest in life was the acqusition
|
|
of other people's goods. The pay was good, however, and the the assignment
|
|
easy. Besides, he had wanted to fly the VAS Butterfly for many months now.
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|
Ever since it came out all he had heard was how fast and maneuverable it
|
|
was. And here was the chance. So he signed up, took off within the hour, and
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now here they were.
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"Greg, you got ..."
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The transmission was cut off as he reacted, swinging around and heading
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for a nearby point of light he knew to be a large asteroid. As he did, he
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caught sight of the capture ship swinging around in a larger arc in an
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attempt to keep up with him. The men flying it had one concern: the
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electronics in the tail of his little ship. If they could get his ship in
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|
range of their tractor field...
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|
Even as he watched, he saw one of the large vessels slide up behind
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Elein's ship. Even as he yelled for her to evade, she hit her emergency
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boosters. They pushed her forward - just far enough for the nose of the
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Butterfly to escape. But the rest of the ship was still in the capture jaws,
|
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which slammed shut, neatly severing the cockpit from the rest of the craft.
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The life compartment, with Elein in it, drifted off to one side, like the
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head of a fish out of a shark's mouth.
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|
He had little time to reflect on how long Elein could survive on the
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little bit of emergency air provided in the cockpit, because even as he dove
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around the asteroid it's surface came alive with sparks and flashes of
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light. It only took a moment to realize that he was being fired upon.
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Apparently the pirates had caught all of the other nine craft, and had
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decided that this last one wasn't worth the effort, and that now all they
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had to do was eliminate it. He felt like screaming. Instead he hit the
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emergency thrusters and rounded the asteroid marginally ahead of the
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pursuit.
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He flashed past a pinnacle, and then straightened out his flight, hoping
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to loose his followers. Then, to his surprise, he saw, just ahead, th
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Paixian transport ship, it's landing bay wide open, it's landing field
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activated and waiting. All he had to do was reach it, as fast as possible,
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and he was safe. No weapon could reach him, they would cancel his immense
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|
velocity, they would protect him. A little further...
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500 meters out the plasma bolt from the pirate ship caught him in the
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engine. It vaporized it's way through the composite hull, and slammed into
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the ship's skeleton. Even as it ignited the fuel, the shock wave reached the
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cockpit and split the canopy. Milliseconds before the heat from the
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exploding engines could reach him, Greg was blasted out into vacuum by the
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exploding ejection seat bolts.
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"Greg..."
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He opened his eyes. The light was bright. Heaven?
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"Greg..."
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He turned his head. If this was heaven they sure had modern landing bays.
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He was hanging upside down in what could only be a Paixian landing field,
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staring at a pair of feet that could only belong to one person.
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"Elein, why aren't I dead?"
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"You blew it right in front of the landing field. You passed out on the
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last 100 meters through the void before you hit the field."
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Greg rolled to his feet. Standing behind Elein at a respectable distance
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was the Paixian who had hired them.
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"Congratulations Greg. You survived the longest. In fact, you are the
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first person in history ever to bring any part of his ship to the delivery
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point."
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Greg followed the pointed finger. There lay the assembled wreckage of his
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ship.
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"Am I to take it you can salvage that?"
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"No, of course not. Why would we want to? It's you we really wanted after
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all, someone who would fulfill his contract without turning back, regardless
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of what gauntlet they had to run."
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"And I did it, eh?" There was little left of the ship but shards.
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"Yes. After all, it's the attitude we want, not merely the product."
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Jim Owens <J1O @ PSUVM>
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<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>
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Featured Author: TANITH LEE
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Tanith Lee is one of the prolific female FSF authors of this age. The
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London librarian's books are in the vanguard of todays literature. Although
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she has a devoted following of readers, her books are not the kind often
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found on neighborhood bookstore shelves.
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Her style is very unique and mature, and, if I may venture a subjective
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opinion, among the best writings I have ever read. Lee deals effectively
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with fantasy, love, horror, ethics, and mystery as well as any author. Her
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twisting the expected and the traditional can be seen in many of her works.
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Her Flat Earth series, including "Death's Master," "Delusion's Master,"
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"Night's Master,"and, soon to be released, "Delirium's Mistress" are
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excellent works of wonder and mystery. Her Birthgrave series, "the
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Birthgrave," "Vazkor, Son of Vazkor," and "Quest for the White Witch" are
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masterworks of science fiction, combining sexual sophistication, literary
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maturity, and unique insights into morality.
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"Sung in Shadow" retells a famous Shakespearean tale, with Lee's
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typically atypical twists of plot, as "Red as Blood" retells many well-known
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childrens yarns. But these works are not for the young at all! Perhaps
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Lee's master work, "Cyrion," is an enthralling, captivating work, following
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episodes in the life of a wandering legend. Her tales are never entirely
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what is expected, and they provide fresh, mature, perceptive insights into
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the realm of wonder.
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Although most of Lee's works are published by David Wollheim's DAW Books,
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Lee has also written two books for the new Tempo MagicQuest series, "the
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Dragon Hoard" and "East of Midnight." The former is a wondrous tale of
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fantasy, more simplistic than her other works. The latter is typical Lee,
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full of unexpected twists and deep thought.
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The future seems to hold many new developments for Tanith Lee. Scheduled
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for publication by DAW are: "Delirium's Mistress" and "the Gods are
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Thirsty," and recently published are "East of Midnight" and "the Gorgon."
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For those who are interested, there is an excellent interview with the
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author in Heavy Metal magazine (Nov 84-v8n8).
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Orny <NMCS025 @ MAINE>
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<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>
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"THE NARRET CHRONICLES"
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BOOK THE LAST
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It was a night just like any other night on Amrif, nothing at all out of
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the ordinary. The sky was dark white, and the stars were all glimmering
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bright black. High pressure systems over this solitary ocean were the norm
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for this desert world. Since the desert wasn't conducive to normal life
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forms, the people of this third planet in the Narret System lived in giant
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floating cities, and satellite suburbias connected by an intricate system of
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channelways.
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Samo Ht was skimming along in his Hydrocar, thinking about the lecture he
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was going to give to his class, when Cyri, a familiar cons tellation caught
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his eye. "Oh Cyri, when woulds't thou lower thy head. When woulds't thou
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drop thy weary DASER, and end thy warring ways." He quoted the famous line
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from Steadywound the ancient poet. Whatever did Bill Steadywound see in a
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constellation as old as Cyri? He asked himself True, there was something
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romantic about the old asterism, but the legend about how Cyri had cut down
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400 desert creatures with a single charge fro m his Dark Amplification by
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Stimulated Emission of Radiation gun gave him shudders. "How disgustingly
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advanced" Samo thought to himself. "Oh, well, that's what the future's
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about, as for now: Backward and downward."
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Samo Ht glanced out the window of his Hydrocar again. This time
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something else caught his eye. "Ah ha, the Dusty Lane!" Samo exclaimed "My,
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it's exceptionally clear tonight. Humh, I guess I'll have to close the
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observatory before class tonight..."
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"...so class we have an entire system here: the nucleons, which consist
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of the neuterons and the negatrons and orbiting shells of particles called
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positrons. Remember that the atom in its resting state is always balanced
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in charge, and the total number of positrons always equals the number of
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negatrons. Any questions? Yes, Lexia?"
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"Dr. Ht, what happens to the atom if it gets excited? Will the positrons
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go flying off and leave the atom negatively charged?"
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"That's exactly right Lexia. The resulting charged atom is called an
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ion. You'll learn more about ions in the next lower course."
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Just then the green light on the Vidcom came on.
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"Well class it looks like your luck ran out again. Class dismissed."
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Samo knew that when the green light came on, it could mean only one of
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two things, and both of them spelled trouble. The light meant that there
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was an incoming wave transmission, and the transmissions always came from
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one of two sources. Either it was some stupid-ass general, a clerk who
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messed up and shattered an important document, (since this was a desert
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world, all records were kept on diamond etched glass plates) usually some of
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his inreproducible research, or it was a lower ranking private ordering him
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on an important mission. Fortunately the former didn't happen too often,
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and something told him that this time it would definitely be the latter.
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It was only a matter of millicentons before his suspicions were
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confirmed, and the image of the planet's commanding officer, Private Stark,
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formed from a solitary centered dot, to a horizontal line, to a circle, and
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finally a tubular hologram on the Vidcom. Samo saluted.
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"No time for formalities, Sgt. Ht." the commander bluntly began. "There's
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an inter-planetary crisis, involving all nine planets of The Narret System.
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It deals with Trivia-Antitrivia reactions,and we need you to be one of our
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foremost experts on the subject. There's an emergency
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conference being held on the Planet Sunaru in one On. We're calling in
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our lowest minds on this one. Your orders are to report to the Central Sea
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on Sunaru in exactly 95 centons. Any questions?"
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"Yes, does this at all concern our counter-planet sir?"
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"Unfortunately, yes it does. They're playing God again. And you know as
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well as I do what that could mean. If that's all, you better get going' you
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now have 94.5 centons."
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"Yes, that's all. Thank you sir."
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"Thank ME? Bad luck to YOU, Sergeant. Stark out."
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"Well, no time to close the observatory now. Got to get going."
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Mari A. Paulson
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<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>
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From WHITEJL%DUVM.BITNET@PUCC.PRINCETON.EDU Thu May 13 14:59:59 1993
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Received: from pucc.Princeton.EDU by eff.org with SMTP id AA10483
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(5.65c/IDA-1.4.4/pen-ident for <RITA@EFF.ORG>); Thu, 13 May 1993 14:59:56 -0400
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Message-Id: <199305131859.AA10483@eff.org>
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Received: from PUCC.PRINCETON.EDU by pucc.Princeton.EDU (IBM VM SMTP V2R2)
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with BSMTP id 6317; Thu, 13 May 93 14:58:47 EDT
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Received: from DUVM.OCS.DREXEL.EDU (NJE origin MAILER@DUVM) by PUCC.PRINCETON.EDU (LMail V1.1d/1.7f) with BSMTP id 0160; Thu, 13 May 1993 14:58:47 -0400
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Received: from DUVM (WHITEJL) by DUVM.OCS.DREXEL.EDU (Mailer R2.08 ptf039) with
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BSMTP id 7028; Thu, 13 May 93 14:59:38 EDT
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Date: Thu, 13 May 93 14:59:32 EDT
|
|
From: SilentElf <WHITEJL@DUVM.BITNET>
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|
Subject: FSFNet Vol01N3
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|
To: RITA@EFF.ORG
|
|
Status: OR
|
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|
|
|
|
|
|
+-+ +-+ +-+
|
|
+-+--+-+--+-+ VOLUME ONE NUMBER THREE
|
|
| | ==========================================
|
|
+___________+ FFFFF SSS FFFFF N N EEEEE TTTTT
|
|
| ++ | F S F NN N E T
|
|
| ++ | FFF SSS FFF N N N EEE T
|
|
| | F S F N NN E T
|
|
|_________| F SSS F N N EEEEE T
|
|
/___________\ ==========================================
|
|
| | BITNET Fantasy-Science Fiction Fanzine
|
|
___|___________|___ X-Edited by 'Orny' Liscomb (NMCS025@MAINE)
|
|
|
|
<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>
|
|
|
|
CONTENTS
|
|
Editorial Orny
|
|
Flyby Fiction by Jim Owens
|
|
Featured Author: TANITH LEE Orny
|
|
The Narret Chronicles Fiction by Mari A. Paulson
|
|
|
|
<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>
|
|
|
|
Editorial
|
|
|
|
Well, folks, welcome to issue three of FSFnet! After last issue's slump,
|
|
we have got some real treats for you with some excellent fiction. I must
|
|
thank Jim Owens (J1O @ PSUVM) for most of this issue - his loyalty and
|
|
productiveness... well... if only all readers were so avid and so
|
|
talented...
|
|
I must again remind you that FSFnet is a fanzine, and that I must have
|
|
submissions for it to continue. I know that many of you have commented
|
|
about sending things in, but haven't found the time. Please do... FSFnet
|
|
needs your support to continue.
|
|
Also, it has come to my attention that many people are having problems
|
|
reading FSFnet onto their disks. VAX users want DISK DUMP CLASS N, IBM
|
|
users want SENDFILE, and so forth. I would like to hear from people as to
|
|
which format they consider most desirable. And thank you for putting up
|
|
with any inconvenience due to this problem, past or future.
|
|
One more thing before I send you off into space... Issue four will be a
|
|
special tribute to H.P. Lovecraft, famous author of horror, particularly the
|
|
Cthulhu mythos. If you have anything that might be acceptable, please send
|
|
it in! As always, letters are welcome, as is almost anything I can get my
|
|
hands on!
|
|
But I grow long-winded, and I would not presume to detract from the two
|
|
wonderful pieces of fiction in this issue, so READ ON!
|
|
Orny <NMCS025 @ MAINE>
|
|
|
|
<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>
|
|
|
|
FLYBY
|
|
|
|
The asteroid flashed past, turning slowly. He could feel the power in the
|
|
twin-spool behind him. He knew, however, that there were more powerful
|
|
engines in the warship behind him.
|
|
"Easy run." Elein had said as she pulled him to the booth. "Just lure the
|
|
ships out to the Belt and they pay our way back!"
|
|
The Paixites needed ships, he knew. But they needed the men even more.
|
|
The Paixites were not wimps. They held more power than the rest of space
|
|
combined. They just weren't takers. They were more likely to give you a
|
|
planet than to try to take yours. They had a fantastic, outgoing way about
|
|
them, an attitude unmatched for niceness. Without that, mankind would have
|
|
been in trouble. Some, however, saw niceness as weakness. Ever since they
|
|
had appeared in human space they had been the target of many a siege, and
|
|
were under one now by a group whose sole interest in life was the acqusition
|
|
of other people's goods. The pay was good, however, and the the assignment
|
|
easy. Besides, he had wanted to fly the VAS Butterfly for many months now.
|
|
Ever since it came out all he had heard was how fast and maneuverable it
|
|
was. And here was the chance. So he signed up, took off within the hour, and
|
|
now here they were.
|
|
"Greg, you got ..."
|
|
The transmission was cut off as he reacted, swinging around and heading
|
|
for a nearby point of light he knew to be a large asteroid. As he did, he
|
|
caught sight of the capture ship swinging around in a larger arc in an
|
|
attempt to keep up with him. The men flying it had one concern: the
|
|
electronics in the tail of his little ship. If they could get his ship in
|
|
range of their tractor field...
|
|
Even as he watched, he saw one of the large vessels slide up behind
|
|
Elein's ship. Even as he yelled for her to evade, she hit her emergency
|
|
boosters. They pushed her forward - just far enough for the nose of the
|
|
Butterfly to escape. But the rest of the ship was still in the capture jaws,
|
|
which slammed shut, neatly severing the cockpit from the rest of the craft.
|
|
The life compartment, with Elein in it, drifted off to one side, like the
|
|
head of a fish out of a shark's mouth.
|
|
He had little time to reflect on how long Elein could survive on the
|
|
little bit of emergency air provided in the cockpit, because even as he dove
|
|
around the asteroid it's surface came alive with sparks and flashes of
|
|
light. It only took a moment to realize that he was being fired upon.
|
|
Apparently the pirates had caught all of the other nine craft, and had
|
|
decided that this last one wasn't worth the effort, and that now all they
|
|
had to do was eliminate it. He felt like screaming. Instead he hit the
|
|
emergency thrusters and rounded the asteroid marginally ahead of the
|
|
pursuit.
|
|
He flashed past a pinnacle, and then straightened out his flight, hoping
|
|
to loose his followers. Then, to his surprise, he saw, just ahead, th
|
|
Paixian transport ship, it's landing bay wide open, it's landing field
|
|
activated and waiting. All he had to do was reach it, as fast as possible,
|
|
and he was safe. No weapon could reach him, they would cancel his immense
|
|
velocity, they would protect him. A little further...
|
|
500 meters out the plasma bolt from the pirate ship caught him in the
|
|
engine. It vaporized it's way through the composite hull, and slammed into
|
|
the ship's skeleton. Even as it ignited the fuel, the shock wave reached the
|
|
cockpit and split the canopy. Milliseconds before the heat from the
|
|
exploding engines could reach him, Greg was blasted out into vacuum by the
|
|
exploding ejection seat bolts.
|
|
"Greg..."
|
|
He opened his eyes. The light was bright. Heaven?
|
|
"Greg..."
|
|
He turned his head. If this was heaven they sure had modern landing bays.
|
|
He was hanging upside down in what could only be a Paixian landing field,
|
|
staring at a pair of feet that could only belong to one person.
|
|
"Elein, why aren't I dead?"
|
|
"You blew it right in front of the landing field. You passed out on the
|
|
last 100 meters through the void before you hit the field."
|
|
Greg rolled to his feet. Standing behind Elein at a respectable distance
|
|
was the Paixian who had hired them.
|
|
"Congratulations Greg. You survived the longest. In fact, you are the
|
|
first person in history ever to bring any part of his ship to the delivery
|
|
point."
|
|
Greg followed the pointed finger. There lay the assembled wreckage of his
|
|
ship.
|
|
"Am I to take it you can salvage that?"
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"No, of course not. Why would we want to? It's you we really wanted after
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all, someone who would fulfill his contract without turning back, regardless
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of what gauntlet they had to run."
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"And I did it, eh?" There was little left of the ship but shards.
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"Yes. After all, it's the attitude we want, not merely the product."
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Jim Owens <J1O @ PSUVM>
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Featured Author: TANITH LEE
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Tanith Lee is one of the prolific female FSF authors of this age. The
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London librarian's books are in the vanguard of todays literature. Although
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she has a devoted following of readers, her books are not the kind often
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found on neighborhood bookstore shelves.
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Her style is very unique and mature, and, if I may venture a subjective
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opinion, among the best writings I have ever read. Lee deals effectively
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with fantasy, love, horror, ethics, and mystery as well as any author. Her
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twisting the expected and the traditional can be seen in many of her works.
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Her Flat Earth series, including "Death's Master," "Delusion's Master,"
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"Night's Master,"and, soon to be released, "Delirium's Mistress" are
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excellent works of wonder and mystery. Her Birthgrave series, "the
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Birthgrave," "Vazkor, Son of Vazkor," and "Quest for the White Witch" are
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masterworks of science fiction, combining sexual sophistication, literary
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maturity, and unique insights into morality.
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"Sung in Shadow" retells a famous Shakespearean tale, with Lee's
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typically atypical twists of plot, as "Red as Blood" retells many well-known
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childrens yarns. But these works are not for the young at all! Perhaps
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Lee's master work, "Cyrion," is an enthralling, captivating work, following
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episodes in the life of a wandering legend. Her tales are never entirely
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what is expected, and they provide fresh, mature, perceptive insights into
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the realm of wonder.
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Although most of Lee's works are published by David Wollheim's DAW Books,
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Lee has also written two books for the new Tempo MagicQuest series, "the
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Dragon Hoard" and "East of Midnight." The former is a wondrous tale of
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fantasy, more simplistic than her other works. The latter is typical Lee,
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full of unexpected twists and deep thought.
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The future seems to hold many new developments for Tanith Lee. Scheduled
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for publication by DAW are: "Delirium's Mistress" and "the Gods are
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Thirsty," and recently published are "East of Midnight" and "the Gorgon."
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For those who are interested, there is an excellent interview with the
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author in Heavy Metal magazine (Nov 84-v8n8).
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Orny <NMCS025 @ MAINE>
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"THE NARRET CHRONICLES"
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BOOK THE LAST
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It was a night just like any other night on Amrif, nothing at all out of
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the ordinary. The sky was dark white, and the stars were all glimmering
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bright black. High pressure systems over this solitary ocean were the norm
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for this desert world. Since the desert wasn't conducive to normal life
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forms, the people of this third planet in the Narret System lived in giant
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floating cities, and satellite suburbias connected by an intricate system of
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channelways.
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Samo Ht was skimming along in his Hydrocar, thinking about the lecture he
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was going to give to his class, when Cyri, a familiar cons tellation caught
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his eye. "Oh Cyri, when woulds't thou lower thy head. When woulds't thou
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drop thy weary DASER, and end thy warring ways." He quoted the famous line
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from Steadywound the ancient poet. Whatever did Bill Steadywound see in a
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constellation as old as Cyri? He asked himself True, there was something
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romantic about the old asterism, but the legend about how Cyri had cut down
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400 desert creatures with a single charge fro m his Dark Amplification by
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Stimulated Emission of Radiation gun gave him shudders. "How disgustingly
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advanced" Samo thought to himself. "Oh, well, that's what the future's
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about, as for now: Backward and downward."
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Samo Ht glanced out the window of his Hydrocar again. This time
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something else caught his eye. "Ah ha, the Dusty Lane!" Samo exclaimed "My,
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it's exceptionally clear tonight. Humh, I guess I'll have to close the
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observatory before class tonight..."
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"...so class we have an entire system here: the nucleons, which consist
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of the neuterons and the negatrons and orbiting shells of particles called
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positrons. Remember that the atom in its resting state is always balanced
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in charge, and the total number of positrons always equals the number of
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negatrons. Any questions? Yes, Lexia?"
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"Dr. Ht, what happens to the atom if it gets excited? Will the positrons
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go flying off and leave the atom negatively charged?"
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"That's exactly right Lexia. The resulting charged atom is called an
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ion. You'll learn more about ions in the next lower course."
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Just then the green light on the Vidcom came on.
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"Well class it looks like your luck ran out again. Class dismissed."
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Samo knew that when the green light came on, it could mean only one of
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two things, and both of them spelled trouble. The light meant that there
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was an incoming wave transmission, and the transmissions always came from
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one of two sources. Either it was some stupid-ass general, a clerk who
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messed up and shattered an important document, (since this was a desert
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world, all records were kept on diamond etched glass plates) usually some of
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his inreproducible research, or it was a lower ranking private ordering him
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on an important mission. Fortunately the former didn't happen too often,
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and something told him that this time it would definitely be the latter.
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It was only a matter of millicentons before his suspicions were
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confirmed, and the image of the planet's commanding officer, Private Stark,
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formed from a solitary centered dot, to a horizontal line, to a circle, and
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finally a tubular hologram on the Vidcom. Samo saluted.
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"No time for formalities, Sgt. Ht." the commander bluntly began. "There's
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an inter-planetary crisis, involving all nine planets of The Narret System.
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It deals with Trivia-Antitrivia reactions,and we need you to be one of our
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foremost experts on the subject. There's an emergency
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conference being held on the Planet Sunaru in one On. We're calling in
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our lowest minds on this one. Your orders are to report to the Central Sea
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on Sunaru in exactly 95 centons. Any questions?"
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"Yes, does this at all concern our counter-planet sir?"
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"Unfortunately, yes it does. They're playing God again. And you know as
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well as I do what that could mean. If that's all, you better get going' you
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now have 94.5 centons."
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"Yes, that's all. Thank you sir."
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"Thank ME? Bad luck to YOU, Sergeant. Stark out."
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"Well, no time to close the observatory now. Got to get going."
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Mari A. Paulson
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