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535 lines
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+-+--+-+--+-+ VOLUME TWO NUMBER ONE
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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<>
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CONTENTS
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Editorial Orny
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Narret Chronicles 6 Mari A. Paulson
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Featured Author: ROBERT ANTON WILSON Orny
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The Thrust Jim Owens
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Game Review: TWILIGHT:2000 Guy Garnett
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Island Murph
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<>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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Greetings, all! Well, first let me apologize for the lateness of this
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issue, but things have been going on mighty fast. Two-two will be out sooner,
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I promise!
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Well, this summer has a wonderful lineup of fantasy and science fiction
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films, and I heartily suggest that you keep your eyes open for them. Also,
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Terry Brooks' new Shannara book is out, as is a new book by Larry Niven and
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Jerry Pournelle about an alein invasion of Earth, called "Footfall". FSFnet
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is in need of some submissions (as always), and this is the first issue of
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volume two, which will last through the summer, and then volume three will
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begin in the fall. Now that summer is here, most people have gone home, and
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FSFnet needs both contributors and members! Be sure and recruit people who
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are into fantasy and SF for the zine, so we can continue to send it out. And
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if anyone has any neeto ideas about a special issue, by all means, speak to
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me!
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For those of you at VAX/VMS and MVS nodes, FSFnet is being sent out in a
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new manner which can send the file by CMS DISK DUMP or SENDFILE. I have taken
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the liberty of using sendfile for those nodes for which DISK DUMP is awkward;
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however, if you have trouble reading FSFnet in, just drop me a line, and I'll
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work on it. Aiming to please, you know...
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Well, have a great summer, all! And send in those reviews and so forth,
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and spread the word! Now on to the REAL stuff...
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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<>
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The Narret Chronicles
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Book the Sixth
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Samo flew over the nighttime skies of North America, his mind reeling. "The
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largest urban centers will have the highest photon emissions." Samo said to
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himself. "Shock waves travel through this mainly nitrogen medium at lets see,
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exactly, yes, that should do it. Now all I've got to do is fly over a large
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metropolitan area such as that one on the east coast, veer upward at an angle
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of, yes and return from over the ocean at half that velocity. There. That
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should do quite nicely," Samo continued as he set the controls on a course for
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New York City.
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Samo broke the sound barrier as he flew over Kennedy International Airport,
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sending a sonic boom crashing through the city.
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"Did you see what I think I saw, Albright?"
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"I was just going to ask you the same question. I've never seen anything
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like that radar pattern in my twenty-three years in this tower!"
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"It looked rather like a ball, or a bubble. Say, do you think it could
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have been a weather balloon?"
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"No way. I've seen balloons before, and they're much smaller, besides that
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thing, whatever it was, had to be doing at least Mach 3, and SR-71's only
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reach Mach 2.2 at top cruising speeds! I'm calling Dover Control."
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"Hello, Operator? Please connect me with Dover Air Force Base's Control
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Tower, 301-716-2000, Person-to-person with Maj. Jeffries"
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"Maj. Jeffries, here."
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"Hi Bill, it's Jim Albright at JFK. Listen, we just got a bogie on two
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screens, simultaneously that had a pattern similar to a weather balloon only
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larger and it was doing about Mach 4. Are you boys testing a new toy, or is
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this thing a possible threat?"
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"Well Jim, I'll level with you. We've been monitoring it on the national
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scopes, and we don't know what it is either. It came out of nowhere, suddenly
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appeared over Chicago 15 minutes ago, Made a beeline for New York, headed out
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over the Atlantic, and now it's starting back for the midwest. As to Soviet
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threats, we've received no messages by diplomatic courier, and intelligence
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has made no reports about any new aircraft. The 71's we keep on 24 hour
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standby are being fueled, and we've got two of our best pilots suiting up for
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an intercept."
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"I hate to think of the possibilities if it is Soviet. A bird like that
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could bomb any American city and escape completely unscathed before we could
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even fire an anti-aircraft missile."
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"We know, and the President is being notified. Say Jim I'll need to ask a
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favor of you."
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"Anything--name it."
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"Make sure this stays under wraps for now. Inform your staff--anyone who
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saw that thing, not to talk about it, the last thing this country needs right
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now is a panic created by the press."
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"Sure, you got it, we didn't see anything."
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"Great, thanks. I've got to go now, but I'll let you know what
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develops..."
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"...Ah, NORAD, Seeker-1 here, this is Colonel Roberts, neither Captain
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Phillips nor I have seen the bogie. What is it's present position? Over."
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"Seeker-1, NORAD here, bogie heading 270 at 25,000 ft. slowed to Mach 2.
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Fly on heading 285 at 25,000 full-open to intercept in 2.45 minutes. Over."
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"NORAD, Seeker-1, proceeding 285 at Mach 2.2 . Roberts out ."
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"What do you think we'll find sir?" Phillips asked.
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"Your guess is as good as mine captain. But since you asked my opinion, I
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think that ever since the top brass closed the Bluebook Project a lot of weird
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things have happened."
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"What kind of things sir?"
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"Well it just seems to me that since the books have been closed on extra-
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terrestrial visitation research the number of bogie sightings hasn't really
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dropped. Now if most of the reported cases were hoaxes as the project's final
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report states, then why do people continue to report sightings with the same
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continuity as before. Even when they don't have the chance of our
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investigating their story to back them up. I don't know captain, I just don't
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know."
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"You're right sir that doesn't make sense. Now this...could the soviets-"
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"I know what you're thinking and the answer is doubtful. They couldn't even
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get to the test level without our intelligence finding out. Besides, at the
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briefing we were told the craft created a sonic boom at Mach 3 and the
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russians don't have the metallurgical technology to create an alloy malleable
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enough and heat resistant enough to prevent heat fatigue of the metal due to
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air friction. "
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"In other words your saying this bogie really could be extra-"
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"I'm saying no such thing, Captain. I'm merely pointing out the
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possibility that there is more out there than we are capable of understanding.
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and that's all. I make no allusions as to what those possibilities are.
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Listen Dave, I've given more than half my life to this Air Force, and there
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are a few things I've learned. One of them is that if you come across
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something you can't explain, and you're enjoying your career you don't ask
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questions. Most likely there's someone who doesn't want you to know
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something, and if you don't get curious, you'll be fine. I've lost more
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pilots for "Disturbances of an emotional nature," than anything else. Is any
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of this registering, captain?
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"Uh, yes sir, sort of."
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"'Uh, yes sir sort of.' What kind of cocka-maime answer is that son? Give
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me a big 'Yes Sir!' or 'No Sir!'"
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"Sir would you please look out your starboard window. It's the bogie,
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three o'clock low!"
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Mari A. Paulson
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Ed. Note: This work is a piece of fiction. All characters, places, and events
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portrayed in this work are fictitious. Any similarity with actual people,
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places, or events, are disclaimed by the author and this publication.
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"The Narret Chronicles" are copyrighted (C) 1985 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<>
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Featured Author: ROBERT ANTON WILSON
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Robert Anton Wilson is a very interesting author. His works deal almost
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entirely with the Illuminati and other mystic horrors of the modern world.
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Wilson's life has been filled with strange probings into all forms of the
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occult, and he was a close friend with the late Professor Timothy Leary, a
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well-known occultist.
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Wilson's works began with the "Illuminatus!" series, originally written by
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Wilson and Robert Shea as a parody of modern mysticism, the Illuminati, and
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the U.S. government. "The Eye in the Pyramid", "The Golden Apple", and
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"Leviathan" were originally meant to be farcical, written in a style similar
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to that infamous style of James Joyce. The "Illuminatus!" series was
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reprinted recently by Dell. The better-known "Schrodinger's Cat" trilogy (the
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two other volumes being titled "The Trick Top Hat" and "The Homing Pigeons")
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is a master work of confusion and fear, and is perhaps Wilson's best work.
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"The Masks of the Illuminati" is a single volume work, describing the
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encounters one Sir John Babcock has with Albert Einstein and James Joyce, and
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the trick Aleister Crowley plays upon them all. "The Cosmic Trigger" is
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Wilson's attempt to explain the events of his life that have convinced him
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that there is something other than that which we know, and is very interesting
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and persuasive. All the previous are available from Pocket Books. Also
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available in hardcover only is "And the Earth Will Shake", a full-length novel
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by Wilson.
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Wilson's unique style cannot be adequately put into words. His writing
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often tries to shock the reader, sometimes becomes philosophical, and
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sometimes becomes disjointed, but his tales of the Illuminati are so
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absolutely bizarre, and yet, somehow, plausible, that his books often leave
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the modern reader horrified. Lovecraft and Chambers wrote of books that would
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drive one insane to read. Wilson has created the horror that these authors
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have written about. I once lent a copy of "Masks of the Illuminati" to a
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friend. She reported to me that when she finished it one evening, she pulled
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the sheets over her head and hoped she'd wake up sane in the morning.
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Wilson's writing is truly unique.
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Orny <NMCS025 @ MAINE>
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The Thrust
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The forest stretched out as far as the eye could see, tall green pines and
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spruce trees. But here there were no trees, only charred stumps. A long wound
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had been made by the ship as it crashed. Now it lay, buried in dirt, inert.
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Yet it was not a wreck. A repair ship stood beside it. The repair robots had
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done a good job. The ship now had wings to replace those destroyed in the
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brief but violent landing. Those new wings flexed as repulsor fields lifted
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the ship into the air.
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"Take care. Remember, wait until you get to op temperature before going to
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full thrust. I'll take care of those bogeys."
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"Roger, Gabriel. Have fun." The ship's main engine came to life gently
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pushing the ship up into the afternoon sky.
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One hundred miles away two interceptors rammed through the atmosphere.
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The pilots watched in anger as the first ship slid across their radar scopes.
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Then the repair ship rose up to replace it, and the pilots gleefully armed
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their nuclear missiles when they saw that it was hovering.
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Greg, alias Gabriel, watched his own detector scope in quiet joy. On one
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side of the scope the blip representing the survey ship built up velocity. On
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the other side the interceptors closed rapidly. The survey ship was not going
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to be able to outrun the attacking craft before they could launch their
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missiles. Greg didn't worry for the survey ship, though. He touched a few
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controls, and the repair ship started to slide through the air at a right
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angle to the path of the other ships.
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The pilots of the interceptors considered. If they continued their pursuit
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of the far craft, they might still catch it. On the other hand, the closer
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craft was almost in range. They decided to take the closer, more sure victory.
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At a distance of twelve miles, the interceptors fired their missiles.
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They banked hard, and put as much distance as they could between themselves
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and the target as they could. In the repair ship, Greg smiled as the scope
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reported that the survey ship had reached operational temperature and had gone
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to full thrust. With it safely out of the way, Greg could now leave. He
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reached out and touched a button, just as the missiles fired their warheads.
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Twenty miles away, the interceptor pilots' stomaches clenched in thrilled
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excitement as they watched the blast through their flash goggles. Had they
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been one hundred miles further away, they might have seen something even more
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spectacular. In the instant before the nuclear explosion, a seemingly pencil-
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thin line of violet flame drew itself five hundred miles straight up. It then
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curved, as Greg punched in the command to go home.
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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<>
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Game Review: TWILIGHT:2000
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"Division commander to all units: Good Luck, You're on your own." So ends
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the player's introduction to "Escape form Kalisz", the starter scenario
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included in GDW's new Role-playing Game, Twilight:2000.
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Twilight:2000 is set in Europe in the year 2000, after a five year long
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world war. World-wide casualties are over 50%, and rising. The governments
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of most major countries (the US included) have been eliminated or fragmented.
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Wide-spread convertional warfare and liberal use of both tactical and
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strategic nuclear weapons has destroyed most communication and trade routes.
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The Black Death (Bubonic Plague) has run rampant, and lingers in some areas.
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Most major cities are radioactive ruins. The players are (or were) soldiers
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in the US Army, part of the last NATO drive into Poland.
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The primary objective of a Twilight:2000 player is to stay alive. If that
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gets boring, he can also try to strike a blow for freedom, democracy, and the
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Joint Chiefs of Staff (the de facto government of the United States).
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Twilight:2000 consists of 2 rulebooks, one for the players, which describes
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how to generate a character and conduct simple combat. The Play Manual (as GDW
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calls it) has plenty of illustrations and examples. The Referee's Manual
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covers many of the same topics as the Play Manual, but in greater depth. It
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also includes sections on experience, disease, and the campaign background.
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With the manuals are a set of tables, again divided into separate player's and
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referee's charts. In the way of campaign support, GDW has included a detailed
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price list and equipment descriptions separately from the rulebooks. There is
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an introductory adventure, "Escape form Kalisz", to start the campaign, and a
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map of Poland.
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Twilight:2000's strong points include: Randomly rolled attributes, but the
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player can select a character's skills. Character generation, while not
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extremely fast, is straightforward. The combat system is detailed, and covers
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all of the weapons in the game well.
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On the other hand, Twilight:2000 is plagued by typos. Most of them are
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easy to figure out (like switching from B for Back in the chartbook to R for
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Rear in the manual) but can be confusing when they are first encountered.
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Compounding this is the extensive use of abbreviations (all skill names are
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abbreviated to 3 letters), again easy to figure out, but confusing untill you
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are used to the system.
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The only serious problem with the design is the heavy use of charts. The
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referee really needs a copy of the Player's Manual, the Referee's Manual, and
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the Referee's Charts open in front of him at all times. The combat system is
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completely table-driven, which means that in combat the referee has to
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organize his time, or forever flip through the chartbook.
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All in all, Twilight:2000 may be the best new RPG released in the last
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year, my complaints above notwithstanding. (I have many more gripes about
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every other RPG I can think of) Twilight:2000 is complete all by itself, and
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well worth the $17 price tag.
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Guy 'WildStar' Garnett <GG822C @ GWUVM>
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<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>
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4/1/85
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Island
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An island unto myself. Where I can sit and watch.
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I can look around and see all the beautiful things.
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The simple and the complex, the large and
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The small, the conspicuous and the not-so-conspicuous.
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I am in awe of it all, of them.
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And they, of me. For I am here to care for
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And protect them, to keep the balance.
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I am here to prevent what happened the last
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Time this project was attempted. Responsibility to
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One's position was not my predecessor's strong suit.
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It is so beautiful here. How could he have left
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His garden unattended for so long? It was so
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Unmanageable by the time he got back to it that it
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Had to be razed and left barren for a mere eternity.
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Well, it is beautiful now. And my task is to keep
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It this way, maintain the balance. Not necessarily
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An easy task, but an enjoyable one. Yes..., maintaining
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The beauty while balancing the evolution will not be
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Easy, but it will have its rewards. My garden will become
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Something infinitely more special than it is already.
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The sun is setting now for the sixth time. I shall rest tomorrow.
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Michael Murphy <MURPH @ MAINE>
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<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>
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XPAGE
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1 +-+ +-+ +-+
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+-+--+-+--+-+ VOLUME TWO NUMBER TWO
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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
|
||
| | F S F N NN E T
|
||
|_________| F SSS F N N EEEEE T
|
||
/___________\ ==========================================
|
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| | BITNET Fantasy-Science Fiction Fanzine
|
||
___|___________|___ 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<>
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CONTENTS
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X-Editorial Orny
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Man's Best Friends Alex Williams
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All's Well that Ends. Well... Cliff Thayer
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Review: THE COLOUR OF MAGIC Orny
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Alas, Babble On Jim Owens
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Selection Orny
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<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>
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X-Editorial
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Well, greetings, all! Another issue of FSFnet has come, and I'm sure
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you'll find this one rather refreshing. Due to circumstances beyond our
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control, there is neither a featured author or a Narret Chronicles in this
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issue, although both will continue in issue 2-3, with Narret 5 and a column on
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Christopher Stasheff, author of 'The Warlock in Spite of Himself', 'The
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Warlock Unlocked', 'King Kobald Revived', and 'Escape Velocity'.
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But this issue contains some excellent works of fiction, including a
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wonderful poem by Jim Owens (a poem I sympathize with), and my own newest
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imaginings in 'Selection'. If anyone who receives this is still having
|
||
problems with the sending format, please let me know. I'd also like to
|
||
welcome those few people who have been added to the mailing list since May,
|
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and hope that they will continue to spread the word to interested parties.
|
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Well, enough of the propaganda... on with the show!
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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<>
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Man's Best Friends
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"You know John, the Telrani are man's best friends. And there is nothing
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you can say that will change my view of them."
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John Stevenson picked up his beer and resumed drinking it. He stared
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blankly at the ring of moisture it left on the bar.
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"I know that they have given us some good things...", he started.
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"Some good things?!? What about the De-armatron? That's more than good,
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John. That's the end of war. Flick the mother on and Zap! No weapons, even
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nukes, work! And what about Super-Wheat? The solution for world hunger. Grows
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anywhere. And the cures for all the diseases man has ever known. I just don't
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understand you, John."
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"I know what they've done, Dan. I just have a bad feeling about them. It's
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just too good. One day a hundred flying saucers come out of the sky, some
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aliens get out that look like Bigfoot, they say they are from Rigel and are
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here to help us, and Wham! all the world's problems are solved. I just have a
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funny feeling about it."
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Dan took a pull at his drink, set it down and continued.
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"And now they are offering trips to their home planet. What a deal!" So
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what if when we get back everyone who knows will be dead or at least a hundred
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years old, we're not married, so what do we care?"
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"Yea, but..."
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"No buts about it. I'm going. In fact I'm going in just a month. And get
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this, so are you!"
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John, who was drinking, suddenly sputtered and splashed beer all over the
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bar.
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"What?!?",he yelled,"How come you didn't ask me? How can we pay for it? I
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don't want to leave Earth forever!"
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"It isn't forever, only for 8 months, our time. It's free, and I didn't ask
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you because I know you'd say no. Anyway we're going, so it's settled."
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"No it isn't, but I have to go home, so we'll talk about it tomorrow."
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"See ya, John."
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"Later."
|
||
|
||
"Hi Dan! Whatcha lookin so pale for? Are you sick? Hey bartender, get this
|
||
man a drink!"
|
||
"Dan, last night I decided that I might as well go to Rigel with you. Hey,
|
||
I mean my 'funny feeling' is unfounded, and there's no reason why we
|
||
shouldn't. Right, Dan?"
|
||
Dan sat down, and stared straight ahead.
|
||
"John, you know how I taught myself the Telranian language and alphabet,
|
||
even though it's forbidden. Well I finally got a chance to use it. I found a
|
||
Telrani handbook yesterday for sale at a bookstore, and I bought it."
|
||
"But possesion of any Telrani text is illegal!"
|
||
"I know that, but I bought it anyway, just to see if I could read it. And
|
||
I could."
|
||
"Well, what was the book about?"
|
||
"The title was 'How to Serve Man', which they have been doing, right? The
|
||
De-armatron, Super-wheat, free interstellar trips, stuff like that."
|
||
"Yea, so what's wrong?"
|
||
"Well, I read the first chapter, and I thought I must have read it wrong,
|
||
so I read it again, and I found out I didn't."
|
||
"And?"
|
||
"It isn't a handbook on how to help us, Dear God John, it was a cook-
|
||
book!!"
|
||
Alex Williams
|
||
|
||
<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>
|
||
|
||
All's Well That Ends. Well,...
|
||
The hall was dark, but the thief carried a torch, and could see rather
|
||
well. He needed to see, but he also knew where to look, and so his job was
|
||
made a little easier.
|
||
He moved his hand across the wall. It slid quietly, and then fell into a
|
||
recess. He edged his hand up and down what appeared to be a slot cut from the
|
||
floor to the ceiling. Near the bottom he found it; a break in the slot, where
|
||
the wall seemed uncut. He held the torch low. On the wall beside the break
|
||
there was what seemed to be a rectangular metal inlay. The thief knew better.
|
||
He set the torch into a wall bracket, and licked the palm of his hand well. He
|
||
then placed his hand, palm first, against the metal. He then pulled his hand
|
||
away suddenly. The inlay moved out just enough for him to get a grip on it.
|
||
He slid it out, revealing it to be a square steel peg. He took it and ran it
|
||
inside the top of the lower half of the slot. It caught, and he deftly slid it
|
||
up and out of sight. It just as easily slid out of the hole when he pulled his
|
||
hand away, however. He set it down, and took off his pack. Taking the tent out
|
||
of it, he once more inserted the peg. He then tossed the tent onto the floor a
|
||
short distance ahead. The floor sank perceptibly. The break in the slot also
|
||
moved, trying to slide into the wall. The peg caught it, and it stopped.
|
||
The thief crossed the drop-away floor, leaving behind his tent to hold the
|
||
peg in place, for his escape. He had already crossed three such floors, evaded
|
||
two patrols, crossed two revines, traversed endless dark halls, and even
|
||
outwitted a maze. If his source was correct, he was now home free.
|
||
His target was a small ceremonial table. It was gold, with gems set in each
|
||
corner. Legend had it that it had never been touched since it had been set in
|
||
its place eons ago. No one had even approached it, only gazed on it from a
|
||
distance. Now he wanted to take it.
|
||
He walked down the hall. His source had been a priest once, and had studied
|
||
this temple. He knew how the traps worked, and what the walls and floors would
|
||
look like when a trap was built in. The thief now recognized such a pattern in
|
||
the walls. A low ceiling, with square pillar lining the walls. That meant that
|
||
the roof would drop on him if he put weight on the center of the floor without
|
||
putting weight first on sides near the walls. He accordingly edged along the
|
||
wall, and was soon past.
|
||
That was the last trap. He turned the corner, and there was the altar room.
|
||
Rich furnishings lined the wall, but he had eyes only for the gold table on
|
||
the far wall.
|
||
He walked fearlessly forward. Nothing impeded him as he went to claim his
|
||
prize. He lifted it off its stand, although not without some effort, as it was
|
||
very heavy. He turned, and staggered down the steps. He reached the floor,
|
||
took two steps, and, without warning, the floor collapsed under the
|
||
unaccustomed weight. The thief fell down to the next floor, which happened to
|
||
be the dining hall for all the novices. He escaped with his life, but, alas,
|
||
without his prize, as the one thing he had not planned on was running with
|
||
such a great weight.
|
||
Cliff Thayer
|
||
|
||
<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>
|
||
|
||
Review: THE COLOUR OF MAGIC
|
||
Terry Pratchett is a British author of several SF short stories and a novel
|
||
entitled 'Strata', available in a Signet edition. 'The Colour of Magic',
|
||
printed in England in 1983, has recently been released in an american
|
||
paperback edition by Signet, and has been a main selection of the Science
|
||
Fiction Book Club.
|
||
The book recounts the adventures shared by "Twoflower, a naive insurance
|
||
salesman turned tourist" and his reluctant native guide, an inept wizard named
|
||
Rincewind. The first of four short stories in the book tell of Twoflower's
|
||
arrival in the corrupt city of Ankh-Morpork. After meeting Rincewind,
|
||
Twoflower's adventures in the city, reminiscent of Aspirin's Sanctuary,
|
||
culminate in the destruction of the city. The second book describes their
|
||
awakening of an ancient horror in an abandoned temple. The third is an
|
||
account of how Twoflower finally gets his wish to see a dragon, and the final
|
||
story sends the two reluctant adventurers over the edge of the Discworld into
|
||
space.
|
||
Pratchett's style is very readable, and spotted with just the right touch
|
||
of humor. At times 'The Colour of Magic' reminds one of Anthony's Xanth or
|
||
Adams' Hitchhiker series, yet it always retains a new and unique frame of
|
||
fantasy. An excellent book for those who are intrigued by the unusual, and
|
||
the interaction of modern ideas and medieval technology. This book is
|
||
thoroughly enjoyable light fantasy reading, and quite amusing as well.
|
||
Orny <NMCS025 @ MAINE>
|
||
|
||
<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>
|
||
|
||
Alas, Babble On.
|
||
|
||
Here I sit, with page all plain,
|
||
With nary an image in my brain.
|
||
Not spaceship fast or slaughter gory,
|
||
to be embellished into a story.
|
||
So contrary to my charitable wish,
|
||
I'll have no story in your next ish.
|
||
And why is my mind all turned to rock?
|
||
I'll tell you. I've got writer's block.
|
||
|
||
Jim Owens <J1O @ PSUVM>
|
||
|
||
<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>
|
||
|
||
Selection
|
||
The air was stale, and he felt very little. His plastic environment suit
|
||
made a crumpling noise as he turned to face her. "Lisa?"
|
||
"Yes, Lloyd?"
|
||
"What happened to us? I mean, we can't touch any more..." He left the
|
||
sentence hanging, contemplating. Lisa knew what he wanted to say, and she
|
||
shamefully looked at the floor a moment before answering.
|
||
"I'm sorry, Lloyd. I know. But if we were to remove these suits, you know
|
||
what would happen..."
|
||
"Yes, the germs in the air would kill us, since our bodies have no natural
|
||
defenses. So we have to live all our lives in these shells, in our own self-
|
||
contained environment, but why? When did it all start?"
|
||
Lisa was a mother, explaining a difficult and harsh reality to a child.
|
||
"Well, it all started a long, long time ago, when mankind was first developing
|
||
intelligence, and made houses to keep him safe and warm, so that he didn't
|
||
have to face the elements. But it really got worse in the last hundred years,
|
||
when we concentrated on welfare programs, health care, and started taking care
|
||
of the physically or mentally deficient. We cheated natural selection.
|
||
Because the weaker members of our society were protected, they survived, and
|
||
because they survived, they bred. The weaker genes were not weeded out due to
|
||
natural selection, and gradually the entire human species became weaker, until
|
||
we became wholly dependant on our man-made artifices to cheat natural
|
||
selection."
|
||
Lloyd also looked thoughtfully downward. "And then there was the Great
|
||
Plague? Is that why we have to wear these suits?"
|
||
Lisa's eyes burned with tears. "Yes, love. The Great Plague came upon us
|
||
not long ago. A sudden outbreak of disease became a worldwide horror, because
|
||
our scientists couldn't find a cure for it fast enough. The disease spread
|
||
quickly, and millions upon millions died, because they had no natural defenses
|
||
left, and we couldn't even find the cause of the disease. Now we must remain
|
||
isolated from the natural environment, or else we will die like they did."
|
||
Lloyd mustered the courage to look into Lisa's deep brown eyes. "But it's
|
||
unbearable! Is this what mankind has come to?
|
||
What can we do about it?"
|
||
Lisa broke the contact by averting her eyes. "Nothing, Lloyd, except
|
||
live."
|
||
Lloyd looked about him, through the clear plastic suit, at the antiseptic
|
||
white walls, and the sterile linoleum floor. "If you can call this life."
|
||
Orny <NMCS025 @ MAINE>
|
||
|
||
<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>
|
||
|
||
Orny <NMCS025 @ MAINE>
|
||
|
||
<>X<>X<>X<>X |