Escape Velocity: The Anthology

Published by Adventure Books of Seattle

Edited by Geoff Nelder and Robert Blevins

Escape Velocity: The Anthology

© 2011 by Adventure Books of Seattle

Stories are copyright by their respective authors

and presented here under special license.

Published by Adventure Books of Seattle

‘
The Small Press from the Great Northwest’

All Rights Reserved

No part of this book may be used, stored by digital, print, or electronic means, or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

www.adventurebooksofseattle.com

ISBN 13: 978-0-9823271-9-7

First edition in paperback

April, 2011

Images

Front cover – Artist’s rendition of Mount Olympus on Mars

Back cover – Earthrise from lunar orbit, Apollo 11 mission

Courtesy of NASA

Kindle Reader version available at Amazon.com

Editorial by Geoff Nelder

Chester, Great Britain

A lump formed in my throat when we decided to put Escape Velocity, the innovative magazine of science fiction and fact, on ice after only a handful of print runs. However, many talented writers had sent us their gems to read for future issues and it was a privilege to read through them all. Some shone through, worthy enough for competition winners, all were excellent. I hated the notion of returning those stories without using them and so the idea of an Escape Velocity Anthology was born. Past contributors had suggested the best of their stories could also find their way into the collection. The anthology is a collector’s item, a fabulous gift for any lover of science fiction and a significant brick in the cathedral of speculative writing.

Editorial by Robert Blevins

Seattle, U.S.A.

I sometimes say that Escape Velocity was an experiment that failed beautifully, like a shooting star streaking across the heavens. The magazine business is highly competitive, and it is much more difficult to do a magazine than to edit a book, for example. To produce a book you only need to prepare the manuscript, create a cover, and assign an ISBN and a barcode. To create a magazine, you have to work with multiple contributors, insert images, and many other things. It was rewarding, yet very difficult, especially with our small staff. However, these efforts resulted in several very good issues of the magazine.  

       Presented here are forty-eight great science fiction tales, one poem, and a cute cartoon. We certainly hope you enjoy them.

Table of Contents 

Finding Farber.......................................
T.M. Crone

Zuggyzu and the Humans.....................
Sheila Crosby

A Smaller Step......
.........................Michael Anderson

The Zozoian..........................................
Duane Byers

Sixes, Sevens..........................................
Simon Petrie

Birthright...................................................
Ian Smith

Being of Sound Mind..................................
Roy Gray

Auditory Crescendo.................................
Geoff Nelder

Caveat Emptor!..........................................
Bec Zugor

First Class........................................
Barbara Krasnoff

Heaven As Iron, Earth as Brass....
Richard J. Goldstein

Galactic Collision................
Poem by Magdalena Ball

Testing......................................................
Kaolin Fire

Freer Enterprise............................
Lawrence Buentello

The Rising Cost of Insurance.............
Branden Johnson

Caitlin Invisible......................................
Ben Bamber

Scream Quietly......................................
Sheila Crosby

An Empty Kind of Love........................
Adam Colston

Hole Card...........................................
Robert Blevins

Chester...................................................
Karl Bunker

Perfection of the Mind............
David Wallace Fleming

Borrowed Time...............................
Gustavo Bondoni

The Inn Between............................
Michael Anderson

The Prettiest Star.......................................
Jaine Fenn

One Way Trip...........................................
Rick Novy

Table of Contents Continued

The Cat Comes Back......
Cartoon by Roberta Gregory

The Shower..............................
Mark and Tony Ricca

Outside the Grid........................................
D.J. Emry

Silver.............................................
Derek Rutherford

Free Market..........................................
Gavin J. Carr

Jutzi Coblentz – Amish Time Traveler....
Joshua Blanc

Relativity..........................................
Gareth D. Jones

Oveio..................................................
Kevin Gordon

Target Audience.......................................
Mark Lewis

The Insult.............................................
Paul Freeman

Goodbye Maggie..........................
Catherine Edmunds

Of Honeysuckle and Sunsets......
Koscienski and Pisano

Doc.....................................................
Barry Pomeroy

Symbiosis
.......................................Jonathan Pinnock

It’s Easier to Pretend in the Dark.......
David Tallerman

Wet Life............................................
Gayle Applegate

One Long Holiday...............................
Ben Cheetham

Home in Time for Breakfast.................
Clyde Andrews

A Handful of Stars.......................................
Mark Iles

The Oceans of Mars......................
William C. McCall

Jack in the Box...................................
Robert Harkess

Whisper in the Void.............................
Robert Blevins

Thank You for the Music.........................
Rosie Oliver

Royal Flush...............................................
Ian Whates

Red Monkeys.................................
Rebecca Latyntseva

About the Editors
.. .Robert Blevins and Geoff Nelder

Finding Farber

T. M. Crone

The early morning tram from East Park entered Station 12 ten minutes behind schedule. A lucky break for Banger Dunn. He hurried to catch the rail-runner, grabbed onto what was left of Farber’s arm and shoved him through the tram door. Covered with blood, Farber’s coat sleeve hung like a limp fire hose.

      
Banger thrust a token into the pockmarked metal depository and pulled Farber up from the floor, where he had fallen. Blood trailed behind them as they walked down the aisle. The tram moved onward, toward 39
^th
Street.

      
Banger shoved a newspaper off the back seat and guided Farber into it, next to him. Farber’s thin body trembled beneath the big overcoat. Banger moved him closer. Then he noticed the kid, the only passenger on the tram, sitting six rows ahead staring at them. Too early for the commuter crowd. This kid didn’t look like the working type; he had that street-gang, hood look about him: hollow face with glossy eyes, strip of orange hair perched on top of his scalp. The kid would probably forget he ever saw Farber and him. Nothing to worry about.

      
Farber leaned over, his sullen face nearly resting on Banger’s lap. Patches of hair had already begun to fall off Farber’s head.

       “
We’re almost there,” Banger said. He rested his badly cut left hand on Farber’s shoulder, being careful not to touch the sleeve of Farber’s coat that concealed the stubble of muscle and bone. Banger looked at the kid, who now watched with a more alert gaze. No wonder. The way he and Farber dressed, both wearing brown pants tucked into heavy black boots and enormous matching gray overcoats stained with mud, blood, grease, and God knows what else, would invite attention anywhere.