Ibn Qirtaiba's Australian readers will understand what I mean when I say that science fiction television isn't given much respect in this country. Many of the most popular and successful SF series ever produced are relegated to late night time slots, receive first-run screenings years after their US debuts, and are given no promotion whatsoever.
For example, popular shows such as the three latter-day Star Trek series, Space Precinct, VR5 and The Outer Limits have all been scheduled for around 11pm at night, and have often actually commenced around half an hour later, when they were not dropped altogether in favour of sport broadcasts. For many fans, the last straw came recently when the final episode of Babylon 5's fourth season was unexpectedly screened on a different day of the week to that on which it was usually transmitted, causing many fans to miss it.
There are certain exceptions to this pattern of disrespect shown to science fiction television, generally involving the "softer" shows that the networks consider more compatible with mainstream viewing tastes, including The X Files, The Burning Zone, Sliders and in previous years seaQuest, Earth 2 and Space: Above and Beyond. Whilst there are signs that attitudes to SF are beginning to change, Australian fans are still entitled to ask: exactly what do networks here have against our favourite genre?
By way of fiction this issue, a new short story What Now? is illustrated by its author Dante Sampang, and we begin a new SF serial, Dear Sis by SF humorist Leann Arndt, who previously contributed to issue 21. Fred Noweck's Sci-Fi Corner column will return next issue, but a movie and two book reviews are included in his absence, along with another of W Gregory Stewart's poems, Stopping by my Father's 'Roid, I Cannot Say Goodbye, which originally appeared in STAR*LINE, the Journal of the Science Fiction Poetry Association.
Short story: What Now?
by Dante Sampang
Serial: Dear Sis, part
1 by Leann Arndt
Poem: Stopping by my Father's 'Roid, I
Cannot Say Goodbye by W Gregory Stewart
"What? Now?" She asked softly.
I nodded in silent affirmation. She fingered the remote and the silent reality of night disappeared as the building was incinerated in a flash of light. She was enthralled by the light of the explosion in front of her.
"And we're out of here!" I roared over the thunder of our work. I grabbed her and we bolted through the bush.
"Think we got anybody?" she panted.
"Nah."
"Damn."
I looked at her then and smiled inwardly. What a strange girl, I thought. How did she come to be with me again? This little viscous, bitter, gnasher of teeth. I couldn't remember. I guess it didn't matter.
We had just blown up the place of residence of one billionaire CEO. He wasn't there but we got our message through, "Corporate America, stay away from our minds!"
You're probably thinking, "What the hell is he talking about?" Well, back in the day, of say the mid 1990's, I came to the realization that business men were the conglomeration of all that was evil and putrid. I was, at the time, a quasi-neo-beatnik-hippie. That was 15 long years ago, before the fall of the United States Government and the rise of the Corporate America, acting as a government bringing order and keeping anarchy in check. The fascist had been planning that coup-detat since the days of Mike Eisner, who wrote the book on corporate "fascism."
Well the good old boys on top had taken power from the local and state governments. Their leaders were unethical and were hard to keep in check. Today they check on everybody else. people who dare complain about the iron fist rule of the corporations end up in the prison factories in the bowels of the cities. They forced terrible edicts, slave labor for criminals, forced caste systems and mandatory propaganda re-education. Our dignity and self respect was exchanged for CA's greed.
"The chopper's been hit!" she said as she pulled on my pack.
As we broke from our stride I could see the wreck of our only ride in and out of here. The first reaction of panic lasted a few seconds. We were stuck on a guarded estate, whoever took out the chopper was probably looking for us right now. Chief Exec Adkin was probably very disappointed with us for blowing up his house and we were at least fifty miles from a safe house. All in all it was not a good situation. I switched into Computer Mode:
"Doria bust out the guns. Eyes open, they're out there and they're looking for us."
"All right, pops."
"Get ready to move. Perimeter search, looks like an ambush."
She could take care of any immediate problems. She had a sniper auto, a silenced machine pistol and explosives. I had to figure a way out of here. It wasn't impossible. It wasn't impossible. I just had to think, think fast. I just had to be smooth.
"Let's go," I said in my small voice. "We're gonna hunt them down." Her glance at me said, "Are you crazy?"
"Listen, we'll take out one of their groups and use their GPS transponders to get out of the area." Their transponders were our passport out of Goth.
She found them. They were two miles north of the burning mansion. Two were ahead of the group and six were in the main body from what we could tell.
She knew the plan. I left her and approached the main detachment quietly. I crept in closely like a shadow. I remembered what I felt when I first did this type of thing. My heart would try to break out my chest as it beat harder and harder. Then it would be as if I were in some dream state. I couldn't feel my movements, I just moved. Time slowed down and anything was possible.
Now as I came closer to the group I lost
visual contact for a moment and I realized that it wasn't the
same as back then. Now I was detached and unexcited. I took out
my blade and prepared to spot and liquidate the enemy. That was
the idea at least. As I cleared some brush I saw a soldier before
me with his gun leveled at my chest.
My eyes raised as I thought, "This is it." I didn't see his face. My eyes were focused on the heavy weight in his arms.
"Bastard." He snarled. He hesitated as if to request permission from his superior but thought better of that and smirked at me.
As I prepared to die there, there was a bright flash of light on the man's chest and I was blinded. The poor guy disappeared as an intense flame engulfed him. Behind what once was a soldier was another soldier, now exposed. I saw his mouth and eyes open wide as he fumbled his auto-gun towards me. I instantly moved into action deftly manipulating my blade into important nervous systems of his.
All of a sudden, it was as if it were clockwork again. The heat of Doria's gun woke the sleeper in me. I moved swiftly to my next target. I wielded my combat sword and saw it turn white as it reflected another explosion. I continued my motion and took off my opponents head. The flash had blinded me. I repositioned my self and prepared to fight sightless. I thrusted forward with the blade over my head. As I swiped downward there was another bright flare of brilliant light...
'"So what now?" I asked as I looked on her intensely. I ignored the flow of people around us. The Airport was busy that day.
"I don't love you." She saw the pain in my eyes and she said,"I can't love you," she tried to explain after. "I'm too far gone."
"But I love you!" I tried to say quietly. I was at the point of breakdown. My eyes that were on the verge of tearing, focused on her still.
She mocked me, "I love you! I love you! I love you! That's all you fucking say. You don't love me."
"What were these last months to you, nothing? I can't believe that." She could see it in my eyes. She always could. My pain broke any attempt I made at being calm.
"I can't. It's not you. l can't love anyone. I'm just fucked up."
She was hard. She tried to hide her emotions from everyone, even me for a long time. But she let me in once. She just had to lock me out again.
"I'm sorry. Marriage is too much. I'm sorry I was stupid. Don't leave me Rebecca."
"Stop. Just stop." She turned halfway as if to leave and put her hand up as if to defend herself from me. She was blocking me out.
"You just don't understand." I couldn't say anymore. There was nothing more to say. "I've got to go," she said.
"Go then. I'll be here." I lost her. I knew it then.
She looked at me for the last time and told me she'd write and I told her that I'd always wait for her.
She turned away and never looked back. I stood there. I stood there for a while. I couldn't do anything else. I don't remember leaving. I don't remember much around that time.'
The transponders we got off what was left of the troopers fooled the orbital tracking satellites long enough for us get out of the immediate area. We ran until the early morning. We found ourselves off the grounds and in a large urbanized area. We waited in an abandoned building for city traffic to slow down. It had the smell of neglect on it, of rain on old wood.
"What happened to you out there?" Doria said with disapproval.
I ignored her. "Thanks, for saving me. "I guess I'm losing it."
"Damn straight! You about lost your life, idiot."
"I blew it, but I got control back. Thanks again."
I stared at Doria. I wanted to tell her that I didn't feel the same way about this business, that I was slipping. I wanted to tell her about my waking-dream of Rebecca. But I couldn't, I've never been able to tell anyone about her. As I admired Doria's beauty I started to compare her with Rebecca. They were both beautiful. Rebecca didn't hold the most perfect form, but the emotions I felt for her made her significant to me. Doria was different though. Her perfect form was not concealed by her dark body suit. She was forged hard through the lean years of war and persecution.
"Just one mistake..." She said as she turned away in disgust.
"How's it look out there ?" She asked a moment later, after she had calmed down.
"We'll leave after seven. We'll get lost in the crowds. If we clear the city we should be home free." Well that was the plan.
We dumped most of or equipment and started off in plain clothes. We piled into a railway southbound. So far it was working.
As we left the train we saw them. Doria walked to the edge of the elevated platform and motioned for me.
"Looks like trouble. At least twenty cops down there," she whispered. Just as she was telling me I saw a passenger pointing us out to an officer of the city. I pulled Doria and we started running. We gave ourselves away and the troopers on the ground started filing up the stairs. We ran through a crowd to the other side of the platform.
We looked a each other. "Jump!" We landed in some fresh mud and pushed on. We had a few moments. But we were two dirty, desperate looking people. There was no way we'd mix with the crowd now. We ran. We ran some more. It was just a matter of time before they closed in.
A person in a doorway stared at me. He made eye contact. I saw in his eyes that he recognized me. Doria saw him too and approached him with her pistol in hand. "Let us in, now", she said with out saying a word. He moved inside staring at her gun and we followed.
"We're in a bad situation here, sir, so after you" she said in a harsh, polite manner. He complied and we moved into his apartment. We went to a table and he stared at me. He didn't beg us to not kill him he merely watched me in amazement. He and I sat opposite to each other with Doria holding a gun at him.
"You can put that away. I think he'll cooperate." I stared and began to recognize him.
This was a strange happenstance. Our being here was too random and meeting this man was just unnatural. No man made scheme could accomplish the shock I felt.
"Lee? Is that you?" He knew me.
"Yes, it's me," I said in amazement. "You've gotten so much older, Abraham."
I could feel Doria's eyebrow raise. "You two know each other?
What, is this a setup?"
"Definitely not," I said. "We used to go to school together.
Abraham is one of my best friends. He was one of the fraternity brothers I really bonded with. You work for them now don't you?"
"Yeah. I do. And you're doing... this?" He held out his palm towards Doria's gun.
"Yup, since I last saw you, I think I've been terrorizing." I said and then pausing. "I'm not ashamed."
"You seem so hard. What happened to you? After Rebecca you were never the same" He looked to Doria. "After she left he was a wreck. Lee, I remember you sitting outside staring at the sky forever, just waiting to die or something. Nothing we said could bring you out of it. And then you left. A lot of us thought you were dead and gone."
"That part of me is dead." I said flatly. I was ashamed. I was a kinder, gentler person back then. I was a fool. Or was I. I was more human then. I cared for someone.
"Who is this Rebecca?" She asked both of us. I looked at Abraham and remembered. The wince of pain was unnoticeable.
I did not answer Doria.
"Rebecca Lindsay. Her and Lee had a Ôthing' years back. Always together. I was happy for Lee but I never really trusted her. There was too much hurt in her."
"Glad to see that you were so observant." I said gruffly. He could tell I didn't want him to talk about that anymore. He went on anyways.
"Lee you helped her though, You were able to touch her."
I said nothing. I didn't want to think about this ache. After a long silence Abraham spoke.
"Stay here for a while. I work for Corporate America, yes. I think I can get you out of here but now I have to go to work. Lay low until I get back. then we'll figure a way out of here for you and your friend. "
"You gotta be kidding. There's no way you're leaving here." She looked at me and said, "Let him leave so he'll rat on us?" She reached for her gun and stood up.
"Doria it'll be ok. I'll trust him for the both of us."
He left and let us alone. Doria was jumpy. I had time to think. I had been killing for more than a decade now. My life had been Blood and guts and hate. I loved it. I loved the blackness of my heart. No mercy. No one loved me and I loved no one. It was easier this way. But what if I had died last night? I would have died a bitter unhappy person. All the joys and happiness that I had deprived myself would never be realized.
I had to find a new line of work.
I sat next to Doria and waited to get her attention. "Doria, I don't think I can do this anymore." I saw pure anger in her. I almost reached for her gun just in case she lost her mind.
"You bastard. You can't leave me like that. Are you kidding?"
She asked observing me closely.
"It's time" I said looking down. When I looked her in the face she knew I was serious.
We looked each other in the eyes and the bitterness changed to something else.
"Please don't leave me. I need you."
Now I had been thinking of leaving the business and her. She was the business. Doing this was all she knew. There was nothing left for her. I had to make my break. I had to get out of this stuff before I killed myself, before I couldn't, before I wouldn't want to make a choice like this. What would happen to her though? She looked so helpless. I could leave her just like that and start over. I wouldn't do that.
Over the last couple of years I had grown attached to her. Besides her physical beauty she needed to be loved. She needed me.
The door slammed open and we jumped up from where we sat.
Abraham found himself looking down the barrel of two angry guns.
"We got to get out of here now!" There are three platoons downstairs looking for you.
"Damn...What else?" I demanded.
"There is a tank troop rolling down the Eisenhower expressway! Listen, I think I can get you out. It's kind of risky..."
We found ourselves on the roof of an Adkin Corporation building 60 stories in the air. In the distance we saw a blinking light. It was our transport according to Abraham.
I squared up with him. I stared at him for a moment and then gave him my hand. I thanked him as I pulled him close to embrace our savior.
Doria watched from behind me. We gazed at Abraham for a moment as he stood behind the clear elevator platform. The lighted floor gave his upper body a sharp silhouette as he descended into the floor.
"What now?" she asked me.
"I say we move out of this place, I mean really get away from civilization. May be the Fiji Islands?" I replied.
"And do what?"
I looked down and saw the immense dirigible that was right next to our building. As it passed under us I grasped Doria's hand. We paused there for a moment and looked each other.
"Anything we want." And we jumped onto the still moving craft.
'Lee,
I'm glad to hear about you and Doria! I wonder if your kids will kick ass too. Tell her I said hello and to put her guns down.
I just wanted to say good-bye. It seems that one of my neighbors is a local intelligence agent, or rat rather. I have heard a rumor that I am to be prosecuted. I don't know what that will mean. I do not know if that is true. But I think so. I think they may be spying on me now.
Whatever happens, please don't come after me. You both have put your guns in the ground. Leave them there. I will find my way.
This mail is encrypted, so by the time they de-cipher it you guys will have already left the Andes.
God's speed old friend,
Abraham'
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The time: the future - our future. The
Earth is populated by less than 1 billion people after years of
war and natural disasters. Earth is peaceful now, there are
weather satellites to control our climate, but the outlook is not
rosy. As we see in the middle of the book, crops are declining
and the population is in for a severe setback. The prognosis is
bad. Famine, riots, a general decline in civilization.
Pastwatch is a program whereby viewers utilizing the TruSite machines can follow events in the past to see history in the making as it were. Taigiri is one of the youngest and brightest of the viewers. After following her family line to a point where she is overcome by the sorrow one of her ancestors, she decides to follow and chronicle the life of Christopher Columbus. It is during this endeavor that she witnesses the slaughter of the Caribe Indians. Two of the Indians are under the influence of drugs, trying to seek help from their Gods when they spy Taigiri and her co-worker. The Indians are killed but leave Taigiri with the sense that she can somehow influence the past.
Diko, daughter of Taigiri, begins her own quest years later into the life of Columbus as this has become a family, life time project. Diko discovers a moment when Columbus is spiritually down, alone, without hope. An angel (in the guise of a hologramatic projection) tells him not to give up hope, to look to the West, God is on his side. Diko surmises that another alternate future line has changed their past into our future. Why change their future? How did they invent time travel?
Hunahpu, working on the TruSite project in Central America, come to Diko and family with a theory. What if the Tlaxcalan conquered Europe and began a reign of bloodshed that is unequaled in our time line? Columbus can be credited with the wholesale slaughter of tribes when the Spanish came to explore the New World. Slavery flourished in the New World, but what if there was something worse. Hunahpu predicts that the Tlaxcalan continued their blood sacrifices in Europe and decimated the Old World. The time watchers of that future found Columbus (who had never discovered the Americas in their line) and put him onto the "correct" track. What to do?
The TruSite supervisors come to the family and tell of their work on a time travel device. They also bring the news that their future is not rosy. How can they change the past? Diko and the others come up with a plan. She will go back to meet Columbus on the Caribe islands, a fellow worker, Kemal, will go back to destroy Columbus' ships, and Hunahpu will go to Central America to stop the Tlaxcalan. They are to be sent to different time spots. When they leave their present, it will vanish as did the alternate future and all their loved ones will be gone in less than a blink of an eye. The future they seek is a compromise between all they can envision. Life without slavery, life without blood sacrifices, life with men living in peace. Can they do it. Sure.
I enjoyed the book more than any other Card book I've read recently. Although you know they will triumph in the end, it makes a good read and provides a fictionalized look into the life of Christopher Columbus. A good percentage of the book deals with his life from childhood to death. I liked it and I hope you'll give it a chance.
-- reviewed by Butch Colbert
The most important event in young Lewis
Crane's life was the Los Angeles earthquake of 1994. In it, he
lost his home, his parents, and almost his life. Time passes.
World events change life radically. The Israelis eliminated the
ozone layer when they used the Masada Option to evade invasion by
the Arabs, foreign corporations control the U.S. government, and
racial and religious hatred are out of control. Lewis Crane grows
into a man with a mission. Despite the huge problems facing
mankind, he fixates on earthquakes. He wants to be able to
predict their occurrence accurately and ultimately to be able to
stop them.
He sets up the Crane Foundation and assembles a top-notch team of scientists to work on the problem. He meets with early success predicting an earthquake on a Japanese island which is described in graphic detail. However, he is still unable to convince the world that he knows enough about earthquakes to be able to eliminate them. So he tries for a second prediction. His team of scientists are able to predict that a devastating earthquake will occur in the Mississippi river area. Specifically the New Madrid Fault (the one that was supposed to go a few years ago) would slip. But, what he doesn't know is that there is sabotage within his team and that the numbers have been "cooked" so that he predicts that the quake will come earlier than it actually will. Of course, he is discredited. Now, how will he save the people in the soon-to-be-quake-stricken area and how will he carry out his grand plan to eliminate earthquakes?
I don't believe in ghosts, demons, and alien abductions and I am sure that the only things going bump in the night in my house are the cats and the burglar, but earthquakes happen, even in Connecticut. A few years ago we had a little one (4.3 on the Richter scale) around 6 AM and we cowered in our beds while it shook this old house like a rag doll for an eternity. So, when they describe an earthquake in graphic detail, I cringe. This novel is scarier than any horror story I have ever read. California M's, take this as fair warning: you might like to pass on this one.
Richter 10 is everything one expects of a Clarke novel. There is a grand scientific endeavor, engineering problems to overcome, gadgets galore, social and political comment and satire, interpersonal relationships including a grand romance, etc., etc., etc. The climax can only be described as Apocalypse Wow. The epilogue is mawkish, but after the climax it comes as a relief.
-- reviewed by Sandra Cunningham
Writer/director Luc Besson's first science fiction feature The Fifth Element has received a mixed reaction from fans and reviewers. Many of its harshest critics - including those at Cannes - have derided it as being just another clichéd American sci-fi blockbuster. The irony, of course, is that it is a French film - although if you didn't know this, you would never guess. Fast pacing, overblown characters and even gratuitous product placement sequences combine to make this a movie experience as enjoyable yet as unsatisfying as the popcorn you'll munch while watching it.
We begin with a scene reminiscent of Stargate as an
Egyptologist uncovers the secret of a cosmic evil in the form of
a sun-like orb that threatens the Earth every 5000 years. 
Flash forward to the 23rd century, a world of flying
cars and untenably large skyscrapers, when the same evil is
poised to strike again. Unfortunately the building blocks of an
ancient weapon against the evil - four stones representing the
elements of water, fire, earth and air - were removed from their
Egyptian storehouse in the previous scene by the benevolent
Mondoshawan who created them.
Keeping the faith on Earth have been the aliens' disciples, represented in 2259 by Cornelius (veteran Ian Holm) and David (Charlie Creed Miles), who advise Earth's President that a Supreme Being known as the Fifth Element is being sent by the Mondoshawan to unite the other four elements and form a weapon against the evil.
The Supreme Being's ship is unfortunately shot down by Mangalores, monosyllabic aliens who can morph into human form (an ability apparently included for its special effects value only, as the expected plot twists from this device don't eventuate). Thankfully the Fifth Element is able to be reconstructed in the form of a beautiful woman named Leeloo (Milla Jovovich, who learned 400 words of an alien tongue to play the part). Escaping from the government laboratory where she was recreated, she falls into the lap (or taxi) of Korben Dallas (Bruce Willis), an ex-military commando who rescues her from the authorities and takes her to Cornelius.
To cut a short story shorter, our
heroes, accompanied by camp drivetime DJ Ruby Rhod (Chris
Tucker), set off to the pleasure planet of Fhloston Paradise
aboard an orbiting cruise liner, seeking to recover the four
elements required to construct the weapon. Opposing them at every
turn are the Mangalores mercenaries led by redneck business
tycoon Zorg (Gary Oldman), an underutilised villain whose
motivation for siding with the Evil Ball of Fire is never
investigated.
The Fifth Element is mythological science fantasy at its glossiest. For the most part the movie's plot and characters are too over-the-top to be taken seriously (after all, the movie is based on a novel the writer/director began at age 16); however its harshest critics must concede The Fifth Element to be at least a visually memorable film. The spectacle of its splendid sets, luscious costumes (designed by Jean Paul Gaultier) and mind-altering special effects were worth the ticket price for this reviewer. It's no Blade Runner; it's certainly not "Star Wars for the 1990s", but it is an enjoyable night out, and is recommended on that basis.
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August 20,2075
AIFAAES
The Albright Institute For The Advancement Of Archeological Earth
Studies
Dear Distinquished Colleagues:
The following letters were found at the excavation of the Los Angeles ruins. They are reputed to be the handiwork of the infamous Mina Harkeway. After careful study, we are still unable to validate their authenticity. So, in the hopes that one of you can, I hereby present the Dear Sis letters. They are preserved in their original form.
Professor Daniel Hurtley
07-31-2005
Dear Sis:
I was wearing nothing but my favorite pink baby doll nightie when those pesky aliens up and abducted me.
Could they give me a few minutes to get dressed? Of course not; they were aliens. I couldn't believe the nerve of those little green stinkers. Here I was, with the goodies put on display, and they wanted to display them in an alien zoo.
Well, to be entirely honest, I thought that it would be an alien zoo. I truly didn't know that they'd been talking about a brothel.
I'd finally convinced them to let me talk to their leader, captain, whatever the heck they called him. I figured that I could ask him for more appropriate clothing. I figured that he wouldn't want me scaring off the kiddies.
Here I am, babbling away and what passed for a mouth on his face seems to be smiling, either that or maybe he was going to eat me, when this flunky slithers up and hands me this tissue paper to wear.
Okay, I thought. Maybe it's their version of an exam gown. They probably want to examine me for earthly diseases. So, after some ruminating, I decided to go along with the deal and follow tentacle face down the hall. That was one of many big mistakes.
Tentacle face led me into this room full of assorted aliens and I'll tell you that you don't want to know what they were doing. How should I put this? It had something to do with tissue paper, ahem, lingerie and some mature Earth magazines like, oh say, Penthouse. At least that's what I could make out from seeing all those mixed up body parts, I think they were parts and not play toys.
So, one thing leads to another, and before you know it, I'm the leading porn queen on planet Zartos and on, ah well, King Zartos. Our little illegitimate offspring is due any day. If one day, late at night, when you're watching cable television and you see this cheesy Sci-Fi flick with a scantily clad heroine that looks like me; well, you've plugged in to our ten at night news.
Take good care of yourself. Oh yeah, don't wear pink baby doll nighties. You never know what could happen.
Mina
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Whose mines this 'roid - oh, yes, I know;
I read his beacon down below.
He cannot see me hover here -
Or wonder that I have to go.
I think my ship must think it queer,
The fact I do not choose to near
The only rock the sensors make -
Or could have made - this final year.
A warning ping begins to break
As distant radar springs awake
To find me in its cautious sweep.
I leave, with what I cannot take.
The 'roid is distant, dark and deep.
But there are stars I wish to reap,
And things I want to take to sleep,
And things I want to take to sleep.