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    Lost Worlds, Retraced
    Lost Worlds, Retraced
    Lost Worlds, Retraced
    Ebook148 pages2 hours

    Lost Worlds, Retraced

    By Third Flatiron Publishing

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    About this ebook

    Ever wonder what became of those fantastic worlds described by
    A. Conan Doyle and Edgar Rice Burroughs? Third Flatiron Publishing
    presents "Lost Worlds, Retraced," a spate of new speculative fiction
    short stories by an international group of award-winning and emerging
    writers. Contributors include Maureen Bowden, Ron Collins, Neil
    Davies, Judith Field, Bruce Golden, Sarah Hodgetts, DeAnna Knippling,
    Andrew Kozma, Marilyn K. Martin, Will Morton, Konstantine Paradias,
    Soham Saha, and Jonathan Shipley.

    These storytellers retrace the lost paths of an ancient
    sun-worshipping civilization, a doomed planet, a tribe of persecuted
    witches and robots, a cartoon world stalked by death, and an abrupt
    end to fossil fuel use. Meet a spy at the end of the universe, a Sons
    of Chaos motorcycle chick, a TV survival show host, and, of course,
    that icy rock we once knew as the planet Pluto.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherThird Flatiron Publishing
    Release dateAug 27, 2013
    ISBN9781301181490
    Lost Worlds, Retraced
    Author

    Third Flatiron Publishing

    Juli Rew is a former science writer/editor for the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, and is a software engineer by training. She is a believer in the scientific evidence for global warming. She also publishes fantasy and science fiction stories by other authors at Third Flatiron Publishing.

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      Book preview

      Lost Worlds, Retraced - Third Flatiron Publishing

      Lost Worlds, Retraced

      Third Flatiron Anthologies

      Volume 2, Fall 2013

      Published by Third Flatiron Publishing

      Juliana Rew, Editor

      Smashwords Edition

      Copyright 2013 Third Flatiron Publishing

      Discover other titles by Third Flatiron at Smashwords.com:

      (1) Over the Brink: Tales of Environmental Disaster

      https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/163855

      (2) A High Shrill Thump: War Stories

      https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/218304

      (3) Origins: Colliding Causalities

      https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/257367

      (4) Universe Horribilis

      https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/288540

      (5) Playing with Fire

      https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/321325

      (7) Redshifted: Martian Stories

      https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/381618

      (8) Astronomical Odds

      https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/417022

      (9) Master Minds

      https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/446292

      Smashwords Edition, License Notes

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of these authors.

      *****~~~~~*****

      Table of Contents

      The Sun Greeter by Marilyn K. Martin

      Gods & Emperors by Jonathan Shipley

      The Grim by Konstantine Paradias

      Parallelobirds by Soham Saha

      Jango Rides Again by Maureen Bowden

      The Story of How Akamu and Elikapeka Created the City Under the Ice by DeAnna Knippling

      Lindow Five by Judith Field

      Schrödinger's Soldier by Ron Collins

      Breach of Contract by Andrew Kozma

      Not Alone by Sarah Hodgetts

      Grins and Gurgles (flash humor): Ninth From the Sun by Bruce Golden

      Parallel Universe by Will Morton

      The Real Story by Neil Davies

      Photo and Art Credits and Acknowledgments

      *****~~~~~*****

      The Sun Greeter

      by Marilyn K. Martin

      Rory adjusted her hiking boots, placing one foot on a rocky outcrop to steady herself. She was dressed straight out of a Glam-biz Traveler's Guidebook: stretch jeans with a Time Device for a belt, held together by an anti-rape combo-lock buckle, below a fluffy, weatherproof pink blouse. Her hair was in a curly bob, with tattooed make-up and permanently sealed earrings in her pierced ears.

      Sitting cross-legged nearby, on the very edge of a cliff facing the rising sun across a mass of churning fog, was a handsome young native. He had a smooth, forward-leaning face dominated by a large hook nose, and steady dark eyes that missed nothing. He wore a colorful loincloth woven by his wife, decorated with colorful geometric patterns, and thick sandals. His long, dark hair was bound up on the back of his head in a woven headband with more geometric patterns.

      Otherwise he was naked, his dark rusty skin smooth and clear, except for a few ceremonial tattoos on his shoulders and hands. He represented an attractive, well-decorated subject. With no radiation, pollution or weaponry scars, and no grotesquely distorted skin or appendages. Which absolutely wouldn't do for Rory's documentary. So she was hoping for a productive shoot.

      Once her gel soles had solidified on the jagged rocks to hold her securely, she raised the motion-camera to her face. Introduction: This is Rory Cochran, of future date 03-27-2639. I'm somewhere on ancient earth's South American continent around August 3000BC Julian Calendar. I found a native male on a rock cliff facing the rising sun, with a pre-Jump Time Locator, and thought he would be a perfect subject.

      She glanced around at the misty mountain plateau with little interest. I, uh, couldn't locate any nearby population with scans once I got here, but it really doesn't matter. This guy is obviously some shaman or other ancient religious guy, worshiping the rising sun. Just what I'm looking for. So this is research sequence number 31 of my proposed documentary, Ancient Mystical Solar Beliefs and Practices. Translator on. And here we go. . .

      She raised the camera and motioned to the young man at the cliff edge. But he wasn't sure what her hand making impatient little circles meant. So he continued to stare at her over his shoulder.

      Rory sighed, and then looked around her camera. Uh, Mr. Tukul? echoed the whine of the translator from her camera. Please, start your sun-rise ceremony.

      Now Mr. Tukul understood. He turned back to the rising sun, his skin glowing bronze in the sunlight now peeking over the distant, craggy mountain tops, across the deep, mist-shrouded ravine. He then raised his muscular arms dramatically, fingers splayed, his tattooed fingertips seeming to glow in the sunlight. Rory smiled, as she looked through her view-finder. It was a great silhouette shot. Now hopefully the audio would be just as entertaining.

      We greet you, Great Sun, for another day of warmth and bounty, intoned the native man loudly.

      Pause!

      Rory looked around her camera with a pinched face. Uh, that's lovely, Mr. Tukul, Rory's translator called out. Really. But why don't you talk a bit about, uh, who you think the sun is.

      Mr. Tukul lowered his arms, and again looked over his shoulder at her. He frowned. It's. . . the sun. It always has been, and always will be.

      "No, I mean, talk about what god you think it is, gestured Rory, fluttering the fake pink nails of her free hand, that matched her blouse. You know, the Bringer of All Life, or. . . BungaTunga, the Giant Fire God. Or. . . the Shimmering Prism God of Light. Something like that."

      It is just the sun, answered Mr. Tukul carefully over his shoulder, unsure what this strange woman wanted. It is not a god. It is just part of All That Is. And we are grateful for the warmth and the light it brings, and how it helps things grow.

      Rory swore quietly in 2639AD fury, the translator clicking and pinging, unable to hear enough to translate. "Come on, Mr. Tukul—you must think the sun is a god! she pleaded. Every primitive civilization on this blasted planet thought their sun was a god. I mean, don't you even have a special name for the sun?"

      Tukul shook his head. No. It is just the Great Sun.

      Pause! Well, how about your Creation Mythology, Mr. Tukul? asked an agitated Rory, now resting her camera on a shoulder. Was your sun created out of dusty chaos by some ancient monster god? Maybe the sun was shot here by powerful gods from somewhere else in the universe? Or maybe gods arrived on a dark earth from a distant, destroyed world? And they made the sun a hundred times brighter, so the earth could now grow life?

      No! answered Tukul, shaking his head with frustration. We were taught that the sun is just a ball of ever-light, and has always been as it is now. It is in balance with the ball of our moon and the ball of our earth. A Sacred Triangle of perfection.

      Rory pursed her lips, thinking hard. The visuals were great, but she needed more entertaining audio than just boring mathematical concepts. Well, what about the seasons? she offered testily. Does the sun have a different name during different seasons? Something like, I dunno, the Cold Sun of Winter? Or, uh, the Bountiful Sun of Harvest?

      Tukul shook his head again, still looking over his shoulder at this curiously dressed woman. Her brightly colored shirt and metal objects could be seen so far away, that he'd never want her in a hunting party. But then, if she did have the skills of a hunter, Tukul realized, she would neither be dressed like that, nor bouncing around from one unrelated question to another. Hunting required keen focus, concentration on a goal, and a certain respect for what was being hunted. She appeared to possess none of those skills.

      No. It is just the sun, answered Tukul deliberately, as if to a child. It is part of the Sacred Triangle. It is the same today as it was yesterday, and will be tomorrow. Which fits in with the Sacred Triangle of Time.

      Rory waved her hand and looked away, denoting her lack of interest. Then she turned back to stare at the native man with a peeved look. Suddenly, she dropped the small camera to her side, and then cautiously approached and squatted by the native man.

      Look, you won't understand this, Mr. Tukul—May I just call you Tukul? —but I've got an educational grant to go back in time and record ancient man's mythological beliefs about the sun. Her voice had taken on a slight whine of distress. And I've got to have more interesting elements, more human interest here, than just some. . . Sacred Triangles. So work with me, OK? Please?

      Tukul continued staring at her, still unsure what this pushy, flailing woman from the future wanted. I am telling you what I know, he offered solemnly. I cannot lie. The Elder Gods have taught us that the Truth is the only path through darkness.

      I don't want you to lie, I just. . . well, OK, that might work, answered Rory thoughtfully, as she abruptly stood up. She then refocused her motion-camera on Tukul from a higher, closer angle.

      Resume. So demonstrate to me what your Elder Gods taught you about the sun, Tukul.

      Tukul turned back to face the rising sun, and again raised his strong arms and glowing fingertips toward the distant sunrise. Take news of our well being and gratitude on your golden light, Great Sun, to the Elder Gods in their high places. Tell them that we are grateful for their knowledge, and assurances that every day you will rise to bathe us in your warm light of Life.

      Rory swore softly, then looked around her camera at Tukul's arm-raised silhouette against the rising sun. The shot was perfect. But how was she going to get him to say something more interesting about his sun-beliefs? Then she had another idea.

      She looked back through her view-finder. Still rolling. OK, let's forget about the Elder Gods, Tukul. So you. . . don't think the sun is a god, and it doesn't have any special name. Maybe this. . . Sacred Triangle is represented by magical animals? Like star constellations in the sky? Maybe a ferocious big cat represents the sun?

      Tukul shook his head slowly as he lowered his arms, and turned to look back and up at her. No. The sun is not an animal, he explained with more than a touch of exasperation. And it is too hot for an animal to live on the sun. It would burn up.

      Rory pressed on gamely, her camera still focused on Tukul. "OoooooKaaaaay, how about the moon? It's another part of your, uh, Sacred Triangle. Do you

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