In this week’s Futures, we welcome back S R Algernon with his story The palimpsest planet. S R Algernon is no stranger to Futures — he’s written a number of pieces for us, including a paean to tardigrades, a look at heaven and hell, and a revelation of the pitfalls on a human ark. In fact, one of his stories, Asymmetrical warfare, was nominated for a Hugo in 2016. Here he reveals the inspiration behind his latest tale — as ever it pays to read the story first.

Writing The palimpsest planet

The palimpsest planet had two inspirations.

First, I wanted to explore the lives of extremophiles within a human-centric society. I believe that it is too early to say that intelligent life requires water or organic chemistry, and the idea of living chemistry at higher or lower energies than the human range intrigues me. If there are intelligent life forms out there with vastly different niches from ours, I imagine that we and they could use our different abilities to help one another in collaborative ventures. This would challenge us physically, organizationally and morally.

Second, I wanted to explore some of the characters in my earlier story End times, which appeared in Stupefying Stories (August, 2014). I envisioned the Space Exploration and Emergency Corps (SEEK) as a largely well-meaning but flawed bureaucracy staffed with a mix of idealists, opportunists, career politicians and functionaries. It is a manifestly Earth-centred organization with the power to save — or confound — the efforts of frontier worlds. Readers, incidentally, have pointed out that SEEK’s name does not match its acronym. That is intentional. SEEK does not quite cohere; its lofty goals do not quite match practical reality. This creates ethical and logistical blind spots that SEEK’s employees have to fill or paper over. Raccoon (8666) appeared in End times as a supporting character. Palimpsest planet gave her, as a non-human character, a chance to provide a different perspective on SEEK.

End times is currently out of print but will be included in Walls and Wonders, a short-story collection that is slated for publication by ReAnimus Press in early 2018. Walls and Wonders also includes another SEEK story (Sculptors) along with reprints of some stories that have previously appeared in Nature Futures.

This week’s Futures story presents a remarkable travel solution in the shape of The Everywhere Bus, courtesy of Jonathan L Howard. As well as being a BAFTA-nominated games writer, Jonathan is the author of the Johannes Cabal, Carter & Lovecraft, and Russalka Chronicles series of novels. You can find out more about his work at his website or by following him on Twitter. Here, Jonathan reveals the machinations behind his latest tale — as ever, it pays to read the story first.

Writing The Everywhere Bus

Dull humans that we are, we never really appreciate the problems omnipresent entities have to put up with (not least being inside and outside all the other omnipresent entities all the damn time. No privacy). We track along in our three dimensions, leaving a prism of ourselves in our temporal wake (making us look something like enormous millipedes according to the Tralfamadorians, although I’m not sure how far we should trust them), utterly unaware of how we’re worming through the intimate bits of Yog-Sothoth and, indeed, God. Damon Knight once pointed out that since we are created by God in his own image, but that God is also omnipresent then, by definition, we’re all up God’s nose. Knight was being polite; we’re all up all of God’s things. All of them. They skip that bit in Sunday School. 

I write, among others things, stories that use the Cthulhu Mythos of H. P. Lovecraft, and so I have considered at length the ramifications of the assorted creatures and entities that populate that bestiary. I have considered the linguistic ramifications of ghoulish meeping, the reproductive cycle of Deep Ones, and just why Nyarlathotep is such a big bastard. One thing that has always troubled me is Yog-Sothoth’s coterminosity with all of space and time, yet its ability to ‘be’ somewhere specific when necessary. I also thought it would be quite unpleasant if it were ever to die, because then everything would smell bad forever and always would have. How could we deal with that? The random idea generator it pleases me to call my imagination popped up a mental picture of the Catbus from My Neighbour Totoro at that, and the eminently practical solution became clear. 

In closing, I would point out that when Yog-Sothoth does manifest visibly in one location, it does so as bunch of bubbles. ‘Bubbles’, you will notice, is an exact anagram of ‘bus’, give or take a few letters. Take, as it happens, one or two. Four. You take four letters. The synchronicity (coterminosity, even) of it is undeniable. 

Thank you.

This week, Futures is delighted to welcome back Hall Jameson with her story Breaking and entering. Hall previously appeared in Futures when she revealed the secrets of The offering. You can find out more about her work at her website or by following her on Twitter. Here, she reveals what inspired her latest tale, as ever, it pays to read the story first.

Writing Breaking and entering

Breaking and entering started life in a much different form. I wanted to take a broken yet resilient character, lock them in a tin can in space, and see how they coped. My original protagonist was a murderer and there were many, many more bugs involved (and, unlike Neil, they were robotic). The problem: I hated my main character and the robotic ‘rehabilitation’ bugs sealed in the pod with him were giving me nightmares. So I hit backspace and changed the story.

Enter Kelly, a female protagonist who knew she was a screw-up, but was also proud of the fact that she could break out of any type of lock down. It was her choice — her’s alone — as to whether or not she stayed in a place; even a pod drifting in outer space.

The ‘relationship’ between Kelly and Neil was lightly influenced by my love of the novel Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes, one of those books you read as a kid that stays with you forever. The fluctuating emotion that Charlie felt for the mouse, Algernon, as he gradually became more intelligent, paralleled Kelly’s bond with Neil and her growth and realization throughout this short piece. In the end, it was no longer about her ability to escape, but about the great lesson she learnt from a bug. Of course, Neil wasn’t brainy like Algernon, he was just a cockroach.

On second thought, (spoiler alert) maybe he was. He escaped after all.

This story was great fun to write. I hope you enjoy it.

This week, Futures is pleased to welcome Steve Pantazis and his tale of alien family life, The daughter you’ve always wanted. You can find out more about Steve’s work at his website or by following him on Twitter. Here he reveals the background to his latest tale — as ever, it pays to read the story first.

Writing The daughter you’ve always wanted 

Face it. When you saw the movie Alien, you were appalled and fascinated at the same time when you were introduced to the lil’ chest-busting xenomorph. Perhaps you thought, “Don’t kill it; it’s small and defenceless!” Once it grew up to be a baddie, you rooted for the good guys, of course, and when the creature was flushed out of the airlock, perhaps you experienced vindication.

I’ve given a lot of thought to this most dangerous of interstellar lifeforms over the years. One question that’s crept into my mind recently was, “Why isn’t anyone telling the story from the alien’s perspective? Wouldn’t that make for an interesting tale?”

The daughter you’ve always wanted is just that: it’s the world told from the point of view of the alien. In this case, it’s the unborn alien and her connection with her host — her ‘mother’ — as she grows within her. It’s about the link that transcends species, about the special bond only a mother and daughter could have.

I hope you enjoy the story.