And they loaded him in the sedan again. And they took him away.
At dawn on the third day, the aliens began to build a Machine.
Dr. Kruger listened to the tinny, unliving voice of Miss Fredricks until it scratched into silence, then he hung up the telephone. He shook his head, massaged his stomach, and sighed hugely. He got out a memo form, and wrote on it: “MBD/hyperactive, Thomas Nolan, 1 50ccs. Ritmose t b ad. dly. fr. therapy,” in green ink. Kruger admired his precise, angular handwriting for a moment, and then he signed his name, with a flourish. Sighing again, he put the form into his Out basket.
Tommy was very quiet in school the next day. He sat silently in the back of the class, with his hands folded together and placed on the desk in front of him. Hard slate light came in through the window and turned his hands and face gray, and reflected dully from his dull gray eyes. He did not make a sound.
A little while later, they finished winding down the world.
About the Author
GARDNER DOZOIS is the editor of Asimov’s Science Fiction magazine and the annual anthology series The Year’s Best Science Fiction, now up to its 19th annual volume, as well as many other anthologies. He has won an unprecedented twelve Hugo Awards as the year’s best editor, and 2 Nebula Awards for his own short fiction. His short fiction has been collected in Geodesic Dreams: The Best Short Fiction of Gardner Dozois. He is the author or editor of better than 70 books, including the anthologies Roads Not Taken: Tales of Alternate History, The Good Old Stuff: Adventure SF in the Grand Tradition and The Good New Stuff. He has also edited such theme anthologies as Dinosaurs! and Dog Tales! He lives in Philadelphia.
“Intense, well-rendered and colorfully done… a careful sculptor of ideas, a sensitive observer of human responses and a narrator who cares about the way things are said.”
“A unique writing talent who speaks with a distinctive voice. He is a writer’s writer, and what’s more, he is a reader’s writer.”
“One of the most important collections of the decade. Gardner Dozois is one of the most powerful writers of his generation.”
ALSO BY GARDNER DOZOIS
published by ibooks, inc.:
Strangers
Copyright
A Publication of ibooks, inc.
Copyright © 2004 by Gardner Dozois
Introduction copyright © 2004 by Gardner Dozois ● “Morning Child” copyright © 1984 by Gardner Dozois. First appeared in Omni. ● “Ancestral Voices” copyright © 1988 by Gardner Dozois and Michael Swanwick. First appeared in Asimov’s. ● “The Hanging Curve” copyright © 2002 by Gardner Dozois. First appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. ● “The Peacemaker” copyright © 1983 by Gardner Dozois. First appeared in Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine. ● “A Special Kind of Morning” copyright © 1971 by Gardner Dozois. First appeared in New Dimensions 1. ● “A Dream at Noonday” copyright © 1970, 1998 by Gardner Dozois. First appeared in Orbit 7. ● “A Kingdom by the Sea” copyright © 1972, 2000 by Gardner Dozois. First appeared in Orbit 10. ● “Machines of Loving Grace” copyright © 1972, 2000 by Gardner Dozois. First appeared in Orbit 11. ● “Chains of the Sea” copyright © 1971, 1999 by Gardner Dozois. First appeared in Chains of the Sea.
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First ibooks, inc. printing August 2004
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