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    Aurealis #105
    Aurealis #105
    Aurealis #105
    Ebook98 pages1 hour

    Aurealis #105

    By Stephen Higgins (Editor)

    ()

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    About this ebook

    Aurealis has been publishing quality speculative fiction for over 25 years. It has won numerous awards, discovered major new talents and provided an outlet for established writers from all over the world. This issue of Aurealis provides more of the quality writing, art, reviews news and humour that our readers have come to expect.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherChimaera Publications
    Release dateOct 18, 2017
    ISBN9781922031624
    Aurealis #105

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      Book preview

      Aurealis #105 - Stephen Higgins (Editor)

      AUREALIS #105

      Australian Fantasy & Science Fiction

      Edited by Stephen Higgins

      Published by Chimaera Publications at Smashwords

      Copyright of this compilation Chimaera Publications 2017

      Copyright on each story remains with the contributor.

      EPUB version ISBN 978-1-922031-62-4

      ISSN 2200-307X (electronic)

      CHIMAERA PUBLICATIONS

      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 the authors, editors and artists.

      Hard copy back issues of Aurealis can be obtained from the Aurealis website: www.aurealis.com.au

      Contents

      From the Cloud—Stephen Higgins

      Upgrades—Emma Lomman

      Winder’s Cleaning Services—C H Pearce

      Flesh Crash—Barry Charman

      Neuroscience in science fiction: brain augmentation in an increasingly futuristic world—Claire Fitzpatrick

      Crossing Genre: Exemplars of Literary Speculative Fiction—Eugen Bacon

      Secret History of Australia—Tippi Presbyter—Researched by Michael Pryor

      Reviews

      Next Issue

      Credits

      From the Cloud

      Stephen Higgins

      Those who can remember the last editorial will know that I have developed an interest in astronomy. To be honest I should say I have developed an ‘active’ interest in astronomy as, like many other readers of science fiction, I have always been a bit interested in what is going on upstairs. A recent major birthday (don’t ask) has delivered a lovely flashy telescope. It is in pieces in my study. I didn’t drop it or anything I just haven’t put it all together yet. Normally I would have had it put together ASAP but given the appalling weather we have been enduring, I decided there was no need to rush.

      In lieu of actual stargazing I have made do with reading about it. There seems to be a lot going on, but then with that much material it is no surprise that there is a lot of events in the night sky… and the day sky too I suppose. It’s funny how one simply doesn’t think about the stars and planets and everything when they aren’t visible. All of this has led me back to a sub-genre of writing that I haven’t read for a while and I am getting stuck into a fair bit of Space Opera as a result. I enjoy the times that my general life interests are supported by my reading interests. I suppose I should be thankful I have not been a huge fan of horror.

      I have since thought that it is weird how I move back and forth between sub genres in my reading. I also move back and forth from mainstream to genre fiction and from fiction to non-fiction. I do the same in music. I can be heavily into earthy dylanesque obscure folk music one day and then spend weeks listening to nothing apart from electronica for a week or two. I suppose it is one of those ‘variety is the spice of life’ things. I have spoken to a few people who read this magazine about this as I wanted to find out something about people’s reading habits. Some people just read the stories in one issue all at once. Some said they jumped around from issue to issue, reading stories that seemed linked thematically. Others said they only read the fantasy stories or the SF stories. We do try to mix it up a bit to cater for all tastes, so I hope you get your fix of whatever works for you in this issue. And if you don’t, flick back through all of the other issues from this year and even from further back. There are tons of fantastic stories waiting for you.

      All the best from the cloud.

      Stephen Higgins

      Back to Contents

      Upgrades

      Emma Lomman

      Prime Fleet’s brand-new prototype was certainly a beautiful ship. She was glittering jet-black, all slick curves and low-friction surfaces. Only the clearance lights made her visible in her secretive little corner of the spaceport that night. The man who walked towards her didn’t study her lines, though. He was more occupied with checking and re-checking his flight suit, trying to reboot his smart-goggles and hoping perhaps his new assignment as test pilot would turn out to be a practical joke.

      It wasn’t that Rex Tinsley was a bad pilot. He’d started his career in the fleet’s oldest and most battered freighters and quickly developed a reputation for bringing junkers home when other pilots would have abandoned them in scrap orbits. The chance to test the new prototype rather than command yet another near-derelict should have been a dream come true.

      As Rex came close to the ship, the access hatch opened and a ladder folded out. A message scrolled across his goggles. Nadia welcomes you aboard, Captain Tinsley. Would you like to engage voice control?

      Rex touched the side of his goggles, sending the signal for ‘no.’

      ‘Voice control enabled.’ The cool, slightly digital-sounding voice came through the speakers in Rex’s helmet. ‘Launch is currently scheduled for T-minus ten minutes. Is this enough time for you to get to the cockpit?’

      Oh, no, Rex thought. The bugs were popping up already. Was it possible to abort the test flight? Probably not. Rex had a feeling if he spoke or moved just then, Nadia would probably shift the launch to ten seconds instead of ten minutes, retract the

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