Asimov's SF March 2006 Read online

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  Asimov's SF, March 2006

  by Dell Magazine Authors

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  Science Fiction

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  Dell Magazines

  www.dellmagazines.com

  Copyright ©2006 by Dell Magazines

  NOTICE: This work is copyrighted. It is licensed only for use by the original purchaser. Making copies of this work or distributing it to any unauthorized person by any means, including without limit email, floppy disk, file transfer, paper print out, or any other method constitutes a violation of International copyright law and subjects the violator to severe fines or imprisonment.

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  Asimov's Science Fiction

  March 2006 Vol. 30 No. 3

  Cover Art for “The Kewlest Thing of All” by J.K. Potter

  NOVELETTES

  The Gabble by Neal Asher

  Dark Eden by Chris Beckett

  Dead Men Walking by Paul J. McAuley

  The Kewlest Thing of All by David Ira Cleary

  SHORT STORIES

  46 Directions, None of Them North by Deborah Coates

  Rwanda by Robert Reed

  Companion to Owls by Chris Roberson

  POETRY

  O the Angels and Demons by Laurel Winter

  Aliens Captured Me... by Leslie What

  Demon Armies of the Night by William John Watkins

  DEPARTMENTS

  Editorial: Science Fiction Sudoku by Sheila Williams

  Reflections: Plutonium for Breakfast by Robert Silverberg

  Thought Experiments: More Than Halfway to Anywhere by Joe Lazzaro

  On Books by Paul Di Filippo

  The SF Conventional Calendar by Erwin S. Strauss

  Asimov's Science Fiction. ISSN 1065-2698. Vol. 30, No. 3. Whole No. 362, March 2006. GST #R123293128. Published monthly except for two combined double issues in April/May and October/November by Dell Magazines, a division of Crosstown Publications. One year subscription $43.90 in the United States and U.S. possessions. In all other countries $53.90 (GST included in Canada), payable in advance in U.S. funds. Address for subscription and all other correspondence about them, 6 Prowitt Street, Norwalk, CT 06855. Allow 6 to 8 weeks for change of address. Address for all editorial matters: Asimov's Science Fiction, 475 Park Avenue South, New York, N.Y. 10016. Asimov's Science Fiction is the registered trademark of Dell Magazines, a division of Crosstown Publications. (c) 2006 by Dell Magazines, a division of Crosstown Publications, 6 Prowitt Street, Norwalk, CT 06855. All rights reserved, printed in the U.S.A. Protection secured under the Universal and Pan American Copyright Conventions. Reproduction or use of editorial or pictorial content in any manner without express permission is prohibited. All submissions must include a self-addressed, stamped envelope; the publisher assumes no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts. Periodical postage paid at Norwalk, CT and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER, send change of address to Asimov's Science Fiction, 6 Prowitt Street, Norwalk, CT 06855. In Canada return to Quebecor St. Jean, 800 Blvd. Industrial, St. Jean, Quebec J3B 8G4.

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  CONTENTS

  Editorial: ‘Science Fiction Sudoku’ by Sheila Williams

  Reflections: ‘Plutonium for Breakfast’ by Robert Silverberg

  Thought Experiments ‘More Than Halfway to Anywhere’ by Joe Lazzaro

  The Gabble by Neal Asher

  46 Directions, None of Them North by Deborah Coates

  O The Angels and Demons

  Dark Eden by Chris Beckett

  Rwanda by Robert Reed

  ALIENS CAPTURED ME, IMPLANTED ALIEN COOKIES IN MY BRAIN, USED ANAL PROBES, LEFT ME NAKED IN A CORNFIELD, AND ALL I GOT WAS THIS T-SHIRT by Leslie What

  DEAD MEN WALKING by Paul J. McAuley

  Companion to Owls by Chris Roberson

  The Kewlest Thing Of All by David Ira Cleary

  Demon Armies of the Night

  On Books: ‘Colorful Chills’ by Paul Di Filippo

  SF Conventional Calendar

  Next Issue

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  Editorial:

  ‘Science Fiction Sudoku’ by Sheila Williams

  This month's editorial introduces the “Science Fiction Sudoku” puzzle. It's a brand-new kind of puzzle that evolved from the logic number-puzzle craze that has recently engulfed our planet. With the introduction of this puzzle, Asimov's returns to a tradition begun in the earliest years of the magazine's history. From the late seventies until the mid-eighties, we published a number of puzzles in the pages of the magazine. From the magazine's inception through 1986, the magazine carried a brainteaser by Martin Gardner in every issue. From October 1982 until January 1984, we published science fiction crossword puzzles by Merl H. Reagle, and in 1977 and 1980, we published a couple of word searches and a logic puzzle by SF author Susan Casper. In 1992, we joined Dell Magazines, the world's first crossword-magazine publisher, when we were purchased by the owners of Bantam Doubleday Dell. Coincidently, though, I don't believe a puzzle has appeared in Asimov's since we became part of Dell. Recently, though, while brainstorming with my associate publisher, Chris Begley, I came up with the idea for this new puzzle. I've decided to run a couple in the open pages of this month's Asimov's.

  The first time I ever heard about “Sudoku” puzzles was on a Sunday morning radio program. Will Shortz, the New York Times' puzzle editor, and Liane Hanson, of NPR's Weekend Edition, discussed the pleasure they found in the puzzles that had recently begun appearing in the New York Post. The received wisdom at the time was that the puzzles had been invented in Japan (su is Japanese for number/digit and doku means single). The puzzle had made its way from Japan to England, where it was introduced to The Times of London by a retired New Zealand judge named Wayne Gould. It then spread to other parts of the world.

  I first encountered the puzzles while vacationing in England this summer. I found the puzzle in an English newspaper and was an immediate convert to the craze. As TheTimes of London says, “Sudoku is dangerous stuff.” Family and work obligations faded as I attempted to resolve more and more fiendish puzzles. Like any fanatic, it was hard for me to understand why others might not share this passion. Yet, in some dim rational corner of my mind, I thought it unlikely that I'd come up with a good enough reason to inflict the puzzles on the SF public.

  Upon returning to the United States, it occurred to me that my own parent company must surely have made a foray into the Sudoku market. I went down the hall to Dell's Editor-in-Chief, Abby Meyer Taylor, to see if I could pick up a freebie, and there I made an amazing discovery. Abby told me that Sudoku puzzles were actually first published by Dell Magazines in 1979. According to Will Shortz, the puzzles were probably invented by Howard Garns, a retired architect and frequent contributor to Dell, who died in 1989. The Dell puzzle was called “The Number Place.” It was picked up, with a couple of modifications, by an editor of Japan's Nikoli puzzle magazines in the eighties, and, eventually, retitled “Sudoku.” My company was about to release three new magazines—Dell Original Sudoku, PennyPress Easy Sudoku, and DellExtreme Sudoku. Fortunately, I was able to cadge a copy of the highly coveted first issue of Original Sudoku off Abby.

  The traditional Sudoku puzzle is a logic puzzle without words. Sudoku usually uses the numbers 1 through 9 in a nine times nine grid of eighty-one boxes. To solve a Sudoku puzzle, you place a number into each box so that each row across, each column down, and each small nine-box square within the larger diagram (there are nine of these) will contain every number 1 through 9. In other words, no number will appear more than once in any row, column, or smaller nine-box square. The solution is determine
d through logic and the process of elimination. A puzzle exists that uses letters instead of numbers, and I've modified that puzzle further by adding a science fiction theme.

  Our first SF Sudoku puzzle uses the letters “AEFGIMNSZ.” Although given to you in alphabetical order, when one letter is doubled, these letters can be rearranged to spell out a ten-letter science fiction phrase. I've set up the blanks for the phrase for you under the grid below, and filled in the one duplicate letter. The anagram and the grid can each be solved independent of the other. When the grid is completed, each unique letter will appear nine times. As with the number grid, no letter will be duplicated in any row, column, or smaller nine-box square. Be sure to use logic and a pencil and not to guess. Unlike crossword puzzles, Sudoku does not forgive mistakes easily. If you don't catch an error immediately, you may have to redo the entire puzzle. The answers to the first puzzle appear on page 141.

  The second puzzle is a little more complicated. The grid uses the following letters: ADEHKNSTU. With a duplicated “E” and “N,” they make up an anagram of a science fiction novel by someone associated with this magazine. The title of the book is three words long. When finished, it will fill up the following E N. Again, I've placed the duplicate letters ahead of time, so all you have to do is place the nine unique letters to come up with the book's title.

  Once you've filled in the grid and figured out the name of the novel, send us the book's title along with suggestions for future science fiction Sudoku puzzles based on SF authors’ names, books, movies, story titles, or SF phrases. You can write to us at Asimov's Puzzle Contest, 475 Park Avenue South, New York NY 10016, or email us at asimovs @dellmagazines.com. Be sure to put “Puzzle Contest” in the subject line. The authors of our favorite entries will receive an autographed copy of Coyote Frontier by Allen M. Steele or Seeker by Jack McDevitt. Don't wait too long to send in your suggestions. The answers to this month's puzzle will appear in the next issue.

  I've managed to sneak in these Sudoku puzzles without stealing any space from the fiction and nonfiction scheduled for this issue. Let me know if you have fun with it. If the puzzle is popular, I'll cram some more into future free spots in the magazine.

  (c)Copyright 2006 by Sheila Williams

  [Back to Table of Contents]

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  Isaac Asimov: Editorial Director (1977-1992)

  Sheila Williams: Editor

  Brian Bieniowski: Associate Editor

  Gardner Dozois: Contributing Editor

  Victoria Green: Senior Art Director

  Shirley Chan Levi: Art Production Associate

  Carole Dixon: Senior Production Manager

  Evira Matos: Production Associate

  Abigail Browning: Manager Subsidiary Rights and Marketing

  Scott Lais: Contracts & Permissions

  Bruce Sherbow: Vice President of Sales & Marketing

  Sandy Marlowe: Circulation Services

  Peter Kanter: Publisher

  Christine Begley: Associate Publisher

  Susan Kendrioski: Executive Director, Art and Production

  Julia McEvoy: Manager, Advertising Sales

  Connie Goon: Advertising Sales Coordinator

  Phone: (212) 686-7188

  Fax: (212) 686-7414

  Display and Classified Advertising

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  Stories from Asimov's have won 42 Hugos and 25 Nebula Awards, and our editors have received 17 Hugo Awards for Best Editor. Asimov's was also the 2001 recipient of the Locus Award for Best Magazine.

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  Please do not send us your manuscript until you've gotten a copy of our manuscript guidelines. To obtain this, send us a self-addressed, stamped business-size envelope (what stationery stores call a number 10 envelope), and a note requesting this information. Please write “manuscript guidelines” in the bottom left-hand corner of the outside envelope. The address for this and for all editorial correspondence is Asimov's Science Fiction, 475 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10016. While we're always looking for new writers, please, in the interest of time-saving, find out what we're loking for, and how to prepare it, before submitting your story.

  [Back to Table of Contents]

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  Reflections:

  ‘Plutonium for Breakfast’ by Robert Silverberg

  Most discussions of the possibility of life on other worlds eventually bring in the qualifying phrase, “Life as we know it.” The definition of “life” that is most commonly cited usually involves such requirements as the ability to obtain energy from an outside source for the purpose of sustaining the metabolic reactions, the ability to reproduce in order to provide replacement organisms against the day when the parent organism can no longer perform the metabolic functions, etc. The “as we know it” part provides further qualifications: life as we know it here on Earth, it is generally said, exists within thus-and-so temperature range (from something above freezing to something below boiling) on a planet where water is widely available and which has an atmosphere made up mostly of oxygen and hydrogen. And so we think we know what life-on-Earth is: dogs and cats, squids and elephants, ferns and algae and redwood trees, kangaroos and wombats and koalas, grasshoppers and ants and butterflies and moths, and a great many other species, including, of course, us.

  When science-fiction writers set their stories on other worlds of the universe, most of the beings with which they populate those worlds are patterned after life-as-we-know-it beings of our own world: oxygen-breathers who occupy that climatic comfort zone that lies somewhere between McMurdo Sound at one extreme and Death Valley at the other. That way they can insert human characters who are able to move about on those worlds without great difficulty and have the interesting adventures that science fiction stories are supposed to provide. Thus we get whale-like aliens, squid-like aliens, bear-like aliens, and a lot of aliens who are basically just human beings with corrugated foreheads. (Hello, Commander Worf!)

  Of course, many science-fiction stories are populated by life as we don't know it—the sort of life that might be found on planets with methane-ammonia atmospheres, for example, or on planets where the gravitational pull is seven hundred times what it is here, or where the temperatures go beyond what we consider the habitable limits. I wrote a story once about a species native to Pluto whose blood is the superconductive fluid we call Helium II. The temperature on Pluto is just a couple of degrees above absolute zero, which is fine for creatures with a superconductive metabolic system, but when the sun comes up and the temperatures rise five or six degrees they have to go dormant until that nice superconductive chill returns. And so on, literally ad infinitum: science-fiction writers have invented a vast and ingenious multitude of peculiar critters that live in uncomfortable places.

  All well and good, but I want to return today to our own planet, and that convenient phrase, “life as we know it,” so that I can point out that a great many organisms native to this very world do not fall into that category at all—are, in fact, as alien as anything Frank Herbert or E.E. “Doc” Smith or Hal Clement ever conjured up.

  The first ones that come to mind are the anaerobes: primitive creatures, mainly bacteria but nothing more complex than worms, for whom oxygen is poisonous. This unfortunate trait makes life on Earth difficult for anaerobes, of course, because oxygen is practically everywhere; but they have, nevertheless, managed to find niches for themselves in certain very bleak soils and in oceanic mud, among other disagreeable places. There they conduct their miserable little lives, absorbing such foodstuffs as they are able to metabolize in the absence of oxygen, deriving energy from them, and carrying out their reproductive processes in order to bring forth new generations of anaerobes upon the face of the Earth.

  Since Earth is an oxygen-rich planet, what are these creatures doing here at all? One theory is that they are degenerate forms of normal oxygen-loving species that were modified by evolutionary pressures to live in oxygen-poor environments and eventually in environments that had no ox
ygen whatever. That makes some sense, at least to those of us who put credence in Darwinian theory. (This magazine has some readers of the other kind, as I have discovered by getting irate letters from them.) But in 1927 the brilliant biologist J.B.S. Haldane proposed a far more ingenious explanation for the existence of anaerobic organisms: the original atmospheric mix of most planets, he suggested, is mostly hydrogen, ammonia, and methane, and the development of an oxygen-based atmosphere on our world was a relatively late event, the result of the breakdown of the primordial methane and ammonia into carbon, hydrogen, and nitrogen through the action of ultraviolet light from the sun, and the release of oxygen through photosynthesis once chlorophyll-bearing plants evolved. Therefore, Haldane suggested, anaerobic life-forms would have been the default mode on Earth until an oxygen atmosphere appeared. At that point aerobic life began to evolve, and the anaerobic beings that survive today are surviving vestiges of that long-vanished oxygen-free world of Earth's early days.

  These oxygen-shunning inhabitants of Earth seem almost ordinary, however, compared with some of the really strange items with which we share our planet—beings that routinely put up with such hostile living conditions that they seem to have wandered into our world out of the pages of this magazine. Extremophiles is what scientists call them.

  Let's take a look at a few.

  Here, for example, is Deinococcus radiodurans, a small pink organism that has been nicknamed “Conan the Bacterium.” Scientists who were experimenting with the use of hard radiation as a food preservative in 1956 noticed an odd bulge in one of their experimental cans of horsemeat, and when they opened it they found that a colony of unfamiliar pink bacteria had established itself inside. Deinococcus wasn't simply untroubled by the radiation that was bombarding it; it seemed to thrive on it, as Popeye the Sailor does on spinach.