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Aphelion: The Webzine of Science Fiction and Fantasy

Issue 112, Volume 11 -- July 2007

Editorial

Hello!  This is Jeff Williams, sitting in for Dan Hollifield.

Change.  The only constant, they say, is change.  The landscape changes subtly after every storm.  The political will shifts after every election cycle.  The way we drive to work alters with every wreck, with every traffic slowdown, with every blatant act of wanton highway construction.  Yes, change is part of the grand cycle of the universe, of the ever spinning wheel of this thing which we call existence.  No two leaves are made the same, no two snowflakes fall in identical ways…

Okay, I’m getting pretentious.  The gist of it is that change is coming once again to Aphelion.  As of the September issue, Aphelion will officially have a new serials editor.  Actually, she’s not new to us at all.  McCamy Taylor is simply changing responsibilities.  McCamy is a wonderful and talented author, and I’m equally certain that she will be a wonderful and talented serials editor.  Judging from the stories she’s already selected, you’re in for a treat!

However, the change doesn’t stop there.  In a wonderful and selfless act of sheer loyalty, Ralph Benedetto, Jr. has decided to throw himself onto the sword with me, and filling the void created by his departure is none other than Larissa March, who has already given readers a treat with her award-winning flash fiction!  Please join me in welcoming (or re-welcoming, as the case may be) them to the webzine and in wishing them the best of luck in the future!

As for me, I’m not going anywhere!  I still have duties to perform as the Darth Vadar to Dan’s Dark Emperor, though these are by necessity and by act of congress something that must take place outside of the public view.  Trust me, you don’t want to know about the droids stationed outside each of the editor’s houses, or about the terrible oaths allegiance they’ve been forced to swear, not to mention the strange incantations muttered during each full moon…  I may have said too much, actually.  It would be best if you simply forgot about the whole thing and called me Production Editor.

And then there’s Nightwatch as well, which will return in full force in 2008.

Change occurs all of the time, especially here, but every change is designed to give you, the reader, the best experience possible.  I don’t know about you, but I look forward to what the future holds for this noble quest of ours.

And now, I free you from pretension and send you on your journey into this month’s issue!

Serials and Novellas

On The Corner of Galaxy and Fifth
Part Four of Five
By Rob Wynne and Jeffrey Williams
Trauma and his companions team up with an unlikely ally and devise a plan to try and rescue the damaged timestream.
(Read Part One, Part Two, and Part Three here.)

Nightwatch: Sed Quis Custodiet Ipsos Custodes
Part Three of Three
By Bill Wolfe
Simon and the Nightwatchers rush desperately to save the psychic child...

Grip Henshaw Goes To Hell
By Hoagie DeFalco
When his commander told him to go to hell, Grip Henshaw did not think that he meant it literally.

Luna Rose
By Nick Ragusa
The story of Amanda Pyner, a Horticulturist on the futuristic Luna Station. She's remarkably attractive and her work is important to the well-being of her peers. But she's having a hard time dealing with the day-to-day tasks of a lifeless Moon and is struggling to maintain a stable life there.

The Heart Of A Warrior
By Dan Devine
Brandon can't believe his luck when he's sent on a mission with the woman he loves. Now would be the perfect time to win her heart, only Shara takes an unfortunate liking to the third member of their team while Brandon finds himself doubting whether the rebels he's supposed to be hunting are really his enemy...

Storylistener's Borning Work
By Bill Gillard
Below the thunders of the upper deep - Far, far beneath in the abysmal sea,
His ancient, dreamless, uninvaded sleep - The Kraken sleepeth: faintest sunlights flee
--Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Short Stories

Keepsake
By Michelle Bobier
Great Aunt Ellen had been a strange one, and her house was stranger still. Now he had inherited the place, complete with Ellen's collection of peculiar herbs and ... other things.

Insurgents
By Joseph Vadalma
When the Spakerusm came and took over the world -- for our own good, of course -- factions that had been enemies for centuries joined to fight the outsiders. And in this fight, there were no rules.

A Pocket Filled With Posies
By Michele Dutcher
The Space Elevator stretched all the way from the surface of the Earth to geosynchonous orbit, with a few stops along the way. Those stops were small, self-contained -- and much safer than the planet below, until ...

November
By Philip Hamm
Jason Runner lived in a drug-induced limbo as punishment for the crime of trying to teach an unapproved version of history. But he was not the only one who knew the truth.

Flight of the Dragon
By Tara McFadden
Once, Auray's ancestors had spoken with dragons, enormous fire-breathing creatures that ruled the skies. Now the only dragons left in the world were hardly bigger than cattle, and were prey instead of predators. But everything would change if Silverwing's sacrifice proved worthwhile.

Voyages of the EarthShip Horus: La Miria
By Michael Joseph
The Horus and her motley crew came to La Miria mostly by accident -- they needed supplies and parts to repair the ramshackle freighter if they wanted to stay in business. But La Miria turned out to be a very complicated place to visit.

Yagyalgo
By Vincent Seagraves
There was oil in the deep water off the coast of Venezuela. But there was something else there, too, something older than the organisms whose corpses had been changed by the eons into black gold, something evil...

Off Road
By Michael Loughrey
Billy Grockle had made two mistakes. The first was obtaining a god-awful excuse for transportation from Rent-a-Pod. The second was getting lost. Extremely lost.

Results of Forum Flash Challenge for June 2007

Congratulations to Nate Kailhofer for grabbing a poll-topping 5 votes (out of 20) in the second-ever Forum Flash Challenge for his entry "Larry the Lizard". This time the 9 entries were presented without author names to avoid any bias in favor of (or against) editors, Challenge-posers, etc. Check out Nate's entry and 8 more bite-size servings of fantasy, science fiction, and horror in the June 2007 Challenge! (Advance Notice: Nate says that there will be a new Challenge for July, online around July 8th...)

Poetry and Filk Music

Paper Moon
by Seanan McGuire

An Evening Dress
by Richard Tornello

Resurrection
by James Matthew Byers

Scifaiku
by Richard H Fay

The Escape
by A.K. Sykora

Gotham, Oil on Canvas
by Michael Lee Johnson

An Astro-Naughty!
by Ana Bowlova

Love, Motion-Sickness, and Other Comatose States
by Bryon D. Howell

Features

The Listening Room: Stars Fall Home
By Rob Wynne
Rob reviews Seanan McGuire's debut studio album.


Aphelion Webzine is © 1997-2007 by Dan L. Hollifield