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Issue 146 Volume 14 September/October 2010

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Archives Editorial Serials and Long Fiction Poetry and Filk Music Short Stories Features Series

Editorial

Dan L. Hollifield

The Senior Editor's usual rants about whatever…


Serials and Long Fiction

The Hot Bolt Kids
Cody L. Stanford
A steampunk horror tale about sweatshop orphans, werewolves and a nosy reporter.

Freedom!
Ché Frances Monro
Civil war has left the planet in a shambles, its technology in ruins. However, its biotechnology has a will of its own and plans to survive.

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Short Stories

Welcome to the Short Stories section of the special September / October edition of Aphelion. Put up your feet, turn the lights down low except for the reading lamp next to your favorite chair, and dig in…

September

Darkhall
McCamy Taylor
A story that spans almost 80,000 years, from a time when the gods of the Hindu pantheon walked the land to the far future when the human race spans the stars… Bridging the two, the not-place called the Darkhall.

Reichenbach Falls
McCamy Taylor
In this sequel to A Study in Silicon and The Lost Clones of Sakumoto Hero, the artificial intelligence named Mycroft vanishes. The game's afoot — but what game, and who are the players?

The Quiet Woman
Chris Sharp
Anthony was homeless, and found himself depending on Leona, a woman he barely knew, for a place to sleep. They got along pretty well, but there was something odd about her…

Martin's Vow
Jason Atwood
A virus had killed much of the human race. Power struggles between the nations still strong enough to fight had almost finished the rest. Now Martin Carter lives day to day, clinging to the vow he made when the world began to fall apart.

Galilee
Dustin J. Monk
Their house was gone, and there was nothing left for them at the remote colony. The ship headed for oldearth would not leave for days —if the colony itself lasted that long.

Grandpa Eddie
Stuart Plotkin
Aaron and Bart had to decide where their brain-damaged brother Cal would live — in New York, near Aaron, or in California, with Bart. Their heated argument was sidetracked the appearance of a pair of legs — complete with shoes and baggy trousers — but no upper body — that wanted to lead them somewhere.

Last Chance
E. S. Strout
The guided missile cruiser U. S. S. Chancellorsville was obsolete and slated for retirement even though it had only been in service for twenty years. The arrival of the alien warship forced her crew to prove that 'obsolete' and 'worthless' were not at all the same thing.

The Kafka-Harrier
David Hox
In a near-future America, the justice system is anything but soft on criminals. And instead of putting offenders in jail, the State sends the punishment directly to them.*** Contains graphic adult situations ***

The Tale of the Heavenly Bureaucracy
Stephen Weinstock
The spirit Cta was not conventionally religious in life, so she had no firm idea of what the afterlife might be like. But she never expected a bureaucracy that made the Department of Motor Vehicles and the Passport Office seem downright sensible and efficient by comparison.

October

Poppenella
Kami Schexnayder
Disease had killed off most of the people and all of the animals. The cities were crumbling ruins, filled with the detritus of years of neglect. But the girl Poppenella still found magic in the air…

The Cobbler's Off
Daniel Ribot
The news that practical — if limited — teleportation of solid objects had been achieved brought together some of the world's most powerful men. The possibilities were endless, and endlessly frightening. And the food wasn't very good, either.

High Tide
J. S. Watts
The good ship Safe Returns was the first vessel in years to visit the long-prohibited fishing grounds. Her Captain didn't like the odds — a long voyage, far from any help, with no guarantee of a good catch.

The Prickling Inside
Morva Shepley
The machines controlled everything. The only jobs were in factories patrolled cold, soulless robots. The girl, Elly, had to trust Lockey, her University-expelled mentor, to find a way to beat the system. But there's more than one way to be soulless.

The Unfriendly Skies
Alvin G. Chua
If you think the glamor of air travel has faded, wait until you fly the unfriendly skies of 2030.

Sunshine City
Dave Weaver
Matthew didn't really fit in among his friends, all well-rounded reality-pad addicts. His love of reading old books was about to make things worse.

2:54
James A. Andrew
Everything changed for Frederick Drake and his wife when the clock displayed 2:54 AM.

Results of Forum Flash Challenges for August 2010

Congratulations to J. B. Hogan, author of the favorite entry in the August 2010 Forum Flash Fiction Challenge. Check out "Hielo" and seven more tales of icy worlds — after reading the other fine stories, poems, features, etc., etc.

Results of Forum Flash Challenges for September 2010

Congratulations to Bill Wolfe, author of the favorite entry in the September 2010 Forum Flash Fiction Challenge. Check out The Applicant and five more tales of people whom the world actually is out to get (note that this does not mean that they aren't paranoid anyway)

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Poetry and Filk Music

Aliens
Stephanie Smith

Crystal Material
Robert William Shmigelsky

Death Ships
Stephen Jarrell Williams

End Times
Thomas Reynolds

Hairy Mutant
Mike Berger

Lament for the House of Arender
Joshua Hampton

Marriage of Earth and Antares
Richard H. Fay

Not Forgiven
William Landis

QBTS
Richard Tornello

Sensuous and Strong as the Serpent
by Bruce Whealton

Siren's Song
Heather Kuehl

Soul Shard
Robert William Shmigelsky

Appliances
Richard Tornello

Becoming
Bruce Whealton

Fantasy Tower Defense
Robert William Shmigelsky

History Class
Mike Berger

Ride a Broomstick
Richard Tornello

Sorceress Devolution
Richard H. Fay

Valhalla
Iain Muir

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Articles and features

Thoughts on Writing #23: Embrace Revision
Seanan McGuire
Seanan McGuire takes apart the engine of writing to find out how it works, and offers her insights into how to put it back together again.

Nurarihyon no Mago: A Manga Review
McCamy Taylor
McCamy brings you the best of manga and anime.

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