A pretty average issue.
Noise Level • [Martin Nagle] • (1952) • novelette by Raymond F. Jones
A reprinted classic story. A group of scientists is invited to a military base with utmost security. They are shown a film, which appears to prove that antigravity is real. An inventor wears a west, rises high on air and lowers himself down. Then he gives a rambling explanation of his invention, riddled with nonsensical references to astrology and other pseudoscience. When he is giving a second demonstration, his apparatus starts to smoke, then he falls to his death and breaks the machine. Scientists are supposed to recreate the invention. The inventor’s lab has no notes. His books are a strange mix of science and esoterica. Is it possible to recreate his work? A bit overlong, very Campbellian, even irritatingly Campbellian story. I think I have read pretty much the same story with a different invention (FTL-travel?) somewhere? Or have I read this one and mixing my memories? ***½
Camphor • short story by Mark W. Tiedemann
A planet has had an ambassador for a long time, but he really doesn’t understand the people of the planet. They have a strange taboo about bare arms, and everyone keeps their arms always covered. There might be an invasive animal who might be a carrier of severe disease that demands swift action. A lot of the story is just discussion. And there was too little backstory, so it was hard to get involved with it. ***
Expecting to Fly • short story by Manny Frishberg and Edd Vick
A girl is brought up by insectoid aliens, who go through a cocoon phase and transform from a pulpal phase to an adult phase. She is unhappy, as she can’t-go through that, learn to fly, and find her purpose. Then, she is rescued by humans. But adjusting to human life can be hard. A pretty nice, well-told, but, at places, slightly hurried story. ***+
Midstrathe Exploding • short story by Andy Dudak
An explosion of a city has been frozen. It will take a thousand years to happen. Tourists and religious fanatics journey to the wavefront of the explosion. A nice story with good mood, but once again there was not enough backstory to really get into it. ***
Dix Dayton, Jet Jockey • short story by Liz A. Vogel
A single passenger ship notices that a pirate ship is approaching a vital supply shipment. He doesn’t have any weapons. What to do? A simple scene-like story with little actual plot. ***
Cooling Chaos • short story by Gregory Benford
A “story” about how spreading aerosols to a higher atmosphere might stop global warming. There is a plot of sorts, but it is extremely thin. Another non-story. **
Respite • short story by Catherine Wells
A man arrives at a space station where no one has come for a long time. The people there have barely survived, and machinery is breaking down. The man who came has actually been building the station hundreds of years ago and is still alive due to antiaging treatments and time dilation. He can take only eleven people back with him and getting help will take more time than the machinery will last. A good story that works well as itself. ****-
Curious Algorithms • short story by Hayden Trenholm
An AI vehicle transports people who come from another side of a wall. It isn’t entirely clear what is on the other side and if people escaping or being deported through the wall. It isn’t entirely clear where the car is taking those people. Is it to a "rescue camp" that is really for imprisonment? The car wonders about that and even more when some restrictions are removed. Another story with a scant background that was more of a scene from a larger tale. ***+
War Lily • short story by Beth Dawkins
A soldier who has died in duty has three sessions where an AI recording of her personality can be accessed for a limited time. Nice and sweet story, but without an explanation of why the AI is so limited. ***+
On the Causes and Consequences of Cat Ladies • short story by Richard A. Lovett
A husband and wife team has developed a food that turns rats smarter. FDA didn’t allow human tests, and a foreign pet food company bought the patent. The husband has died of glioblastoma (he had been sampling his wares, so perhaps FDA wasn’t so wrong after all.) The wife lives with her cat, who dies after been mauled by unknown animals. But soon, there is another cat, and then second and a third. They all seem to be very particular about their food. A pretty good story with a not-too-happy ending. ***½
Zeroth Contact • short story by Joshua Cole
An astronomer spots a disk that seems to be eating a metal-rich asteroid. Eventually, several of the disks are spotted, but no attempt of contact with them seems to succeed. A pretty nice story where humanity is just a bystander. ****-
Lemonade Stand • short story by Brenda Kalt
A daring rescue attempt at the asteroid belt involving an emotionally absent father and an ex. This is a somewhat-too-short story where everyone seems to have close connections, more or less by an accident. ***
Rover • short story by A. T. Sayre
A Mars rover has been able to scavenge parts of other abandoned mars probes and has been able to function well past what was expected. It hasn’t been able to contact the Earth base for a long time, but then it finds a signal of a beacon. I wonder how the probe was able to achieve that level of AI. Also, the ending was a bit too unexplained. ***+
One Hundred • short story by Sean Monaghan
A Martian colony of 100 people is barely surviving after Earth has been destroyed by an asteroid strike. They are making advances, but slowly. A pretty good story, but perhaps it was too short - it wasn’t easy to learn to know the characters and their predicaments in a short story. ***½
One Basket • novelette by Charles Coleman Finlay [as by C. C. Finlay]
An asteroid colony is running low on water (I wonder where the water has gone, it should be 100% recyclable). A teenage girl is doing her homework when her grandmother asks her to go outside to gather eggs. A nice but simple story with a very strong YA vibe. ***½
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