Interzone Science Fiction and Fantasy Magazine #226 by TTA Press Authors Page B
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for me. Not really. Your friend stole something of yours, and you wanted to get revenge. That's what this has all been about."
"That's not true,” I said. But even as I denied it, I knew she was right, if only in part.
"I confessed everything to Rossi, and he forgave me."
Of course he would. “What about me, Miranda? What about what you've done to me?"
She remained silent for a long time. When she finally spoke, she said: “After everything I've done, you could never love me again."
I shrugged. “Yet I do."
She raised an eyebrow. “It's over, Max. It's been over for a long time now. You just didn't know it. Well, you know the truth now. Leave us alone. Don't come after me again."
With that, she turned and left the room, left my life.
If what she said was true, if what we shared had died a long time ago, why did her words cut so deep?
I staggered over to the porthole plexi and looked outside. Rossi waited at the end of the ramp. Miranda ran to him and he lifted her off her feet in a tight hug.
The door behind me slid open and Joriander entered. “You shouldn't be standing up, Maxwell,” he said, exuding concern as always.
"Where's Hexa?” I said. “I want to leave as quickly as possible."
"Hexa has decided to stay behind with Olbodoh, Miranda and Rossi. She and Olbodoh are much more compatible for mating than she and I would have been."
"Oh?” This was the first time I'd ever heard a Wergen talk about mating. I didn't know what to say. “I'm...sorry."
"Why?” Joriander looked truly perplexed. “They make a perfect genetic match. In fact, they've already tethered."
"Tethered?” I said.
Joriander looked at the ground and didn't respond.
But then I looked out the plexi and I caught sight of Hexa and Olbodoh. They no longer wore their leafy headdresses. Instead, a single rubbery cord extended out of Olbodoh's flat cranium into Hexa's skull, binding them together. Olbodoh carried much of the long, bunched-up tether in his hands to avoid tripping over it.
"So this is how members of your species commit to one another?"
Again, Joriander said nothing. The Wergen seemed embarrassed by my question.
Neptune had retreated all the way west and was now just a distant blue-green marble. A dark emerald hue filled the night sky.
"I'll never get used to the way that planet sets in the sky,” I said.
"Millennia ago,” Joriander finally said, “this world was an asteroid floating freely in what your people call the Kuiper Belt. Then it came too close to this beautiful planet, Great Neptune, too close to the harsh glow of its incandescent beauty, and got captured in its orbit. That's why it rotates in the opposite direction of the other moons."
Joriander recited more facts about Neptune and Triton, but I tuned him out. I was focused on Miranda, almost a speck now, walking hand in hand with Rossi toward the terminal, the two Wergens trailing close behind.
Copyright (C) 2010 Mercurio D. Rivera
[Back to Table of Contents]
READERS’ POLL—Vote for your favourite (and not so favourite) stories of 2009
* * * *
Once again we're asking you to let us know what you enjoyed (and what you didn't) during the previous year. You may vote for and against any number of stories or artworks published in issues 220 to 225 inclusive (see the list below). As always, we're as keen to hear your opinions of the magazine as we are to get your votes, so don't be shy in letting us know what you think—and we may publish the most interesting comments.
* To vote by post: Martin McGrath, 48 Spooners Drive,
Park Street, St Albans, Herts AL2 2HL
* To vote by email: [email protected]
* To vote online: ttapress.com (website and forum)
The results will be published in Interzone issue 228, so please make sure your votes are in before 31 March
* * * *
A Clown Escapes From Circus Town (221)
Will McIntosh
illustrated by Warwick Fraser-Coombe
After Everything Woke Up (220)
Rudy Rucker
Black Swan (221)
Bruce
"That's not true,” I said. But even as I denied it, I knew she was right, if only in part.
"I confessed everything to Rossi, and he forgave me."
Of course he would. “What about me, Miranda? What about what you've done to me?"
She remained silent for a long time. When she finally spoke, she said: “After everything I've done, you could never love me again."
I shrugged. “Yet I do."
She raised an eyebrow. “It's over, Max. It's been over for a long time now. You just didn't know it. Well, you know the truth now. Leave us alone. Don't come after me again."
With that, she turned and left the room, left my life.
If what she said was true, if what we shared had died a long time ago, why did her words cut so deep?
I staggered over to the porthole plexi and looked outside. Rossi waited at the end of the ramp. Miranda ran to him and he lifted her off her feet in a tight hug.
The door behind me slid open and Joriander entered. “You shouldn't be standing up, Maxwell,” he said, exuding concern as always.
"Where's Hexa?” I said. “I want to leave as quickly as possible."
"Hexa has decided to stay behind with Olbodoh, Miranda and Rossi. She and Olbodoh are much more compatible for mating than she and I would have been."
"Oh?” This was the first time I'd ever heard a Wergen talk about mating. I didn't know what to say. “I'm...sorry."
"Why?” Joriander looked truly perplexed. “They make a perfect genetic match. In fact, they've already tethered."
"Tethered?” I said.
Joriander looked at the ground and didn't respond.
But then I looked out the plexi and I caught sight of Hexa and Olbodoh. They no longer wore their leafy headdresses. Instead, a single rubbery cord extended out of Olbodoh's flat cranium into Hexa's skull, binding them together. Olbodoh carried much of the long, bunched-up tether in his hands to avoid tripping over it.
"So this is how members of your species commit to one another?"
Again, Joriander said nothing. The Wergen seemed embarrassed by my question.
Neptune had retreated all the way west and was now just a distant blue-green marble. A dark emerald hue filled the night sky.
"I'll never get used to the way that planet sets in the sky,” I said.
"Millennia ago,” Joriander finally said, “this world was an asteroid floating freely in what your people call the Kuiper Belt. Then it came too close to this beautiful planet, Great Neptune, too close to the harsh glow of its incandescent beauty, and got captured in its orbit. That's why it rotates in the opposite direction of the other moons."
Joriander recited more facts about Neptune and Triton, but I tuned him out. I was focused on Miranda, almost a speck now, walking hand in hand with Rossi toward the terminal, the two Wergens trailing close behind.
Copyright (C) 2010 Mercurio D. Rivera
[Back to Table of Contents]
READERS’ POLL—Vote for your favourite (and not so favourite) stories of 2009
* * * *
Once again we're asking you to let us know what you enjoyed (and what you didn't) during the previous year. You may vote for and against any number of stories or artworks published in issues 220 to 225 inclusive (see the list below). As always, we're as keen to hear your opinions of the magazine as we are to get your votes, so don't be shy in letting us know what you think—and we may publish the most interesting comments.
* To vote by post: Martin McGrath, 48 Spooners Drive,
Park Street, St Albans, Herts AL2 2HL
* To vote by email: [email protected]
* To vote online: ttapress.com (website and forum)
The results will be published in Interzone issue 228, so please make sure your votes are in before 31 March
* * * *
A Clown Escapes From Circus Town (221)
Will McIntosh
illustrated by Warwick Fraser-Coombe
After Everything Woke Up (220)
Rudy Rucker
Black Swan (221)
Bruce
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