The Best of Bova: Volume II
To Toni and Tony and the radiant,
resplendent, romantic Rashida.
And to Lloyd McDaniel,
without whose unstinting help this book
would never have seen the light of day.
The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.
Introduction © 2016 by Ben Bova
«The Angel’s Gift» first published in The First Omni Book of Science Fiction © January 1984
«Isolation Area» first published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction © October 1984
«The Lieutenant and the Folksinger» first published in Maxwell’s Demons © September 1978
«The Next Logical Step» first published in Analog Science Fiction and Fact © May 1962
«Sword Play» first published in Escape Plus © December 1984
«The Shining Ones» first published in Notes to a Science Fiction Writer © September 1975
«The Sightseers» first published in Future City © July 1973
«The Supersonic Zeppelin» first published in Analog Science Fiction and Fact © January 2005
«The Secret Life of Henry K.» first published in Maxwell’s Demons © September 1978
«Jovian Dreams» first published in Thrilling Wonder Stories–Summer 2007 © July 2007
«Brillo» first published in Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact © August 1970
«Answer, Please Answer» first published in Amazing Stories © October 1962
«The Man Who Saw Gunga Din Thirty Times» first published in Showcase © June 1973
«Out of Time» first published in Omni © November 1984
«Béisbol» first published in Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact © November 1985
«Re-entry Shock» first published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction © January 1993
«The System» first published in Analog Science Fiction–Science Fact © January 1968
«Battle Station» first published in Battle Station © October 1987
«Primary» first published in Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine © February 1985
«Those Who Can» first published in Maxwell’s Demons © September 1978
«The Mask of the Rad Death» first published in Challenges © July 1993
«Thy Kingdom Come» first published in Science Fiction Age © March 1993
«Love Calls» first published in The Best of Omni Science Fiction No. 4 © 1982
«In Trust» first published in Tombs © June 1995
«Appointment in Sinai» first published in Analog Science Fiction and Fact © June 1996
INTRODUCTION
Here it is, a lifetime’s work in three volumes containing eighty stories published over fifty-four years, from 1960 to 2014. They range from the Baghdad of The Thousand Nights and a Night to the eventual end of the entire universe, from the green hills of Earth to the fiery surface of a dying star, from corporate board rooms to a baseball field in heaven. With plenty of stops in between.
Re-reading these stories—some of them for the first time in decades—I am struck with a bitter-sweet sadness, recalling friends who have died along the way, passions and problems that drove the invention of the various tales. It’s as if I’m a ghost visiting departed scenes, people whom I have loved, all gone now.
Yet they live on, in these stories, and perhaps that is the real reason why human beings create works of fiction: they are monuments to days gone by, memories of men and women who have been dear to us—or visions of what tomorrow may bring.
Every human society has had its storytellers. There is a fundamental need in the human psyche to produce tales that try to show who we truly are, and why we do the things we do.
Most of the stories in this collection are science fiction: that is, the stories involve some aspect of future science or technology that is so basic to the tale that if that element were removed, the story would collapse.
To me, science fiction is the literature of our modern society. Humankind depends on science and technology for its survival, and has been doing so since our earliest ancestors faced saber-toothed cats. We do not grow fangs or wings, we create tools. Tool-making—technology—is the way we deal with the often-hostile world in which we live.
Over the past few centuries, scientific studies of our world have led to vastly improved technologies, better tools with which to make ourselves healthier, richer and more free. Science fiction is the literature that speaks to this.
Every organism on Earth is struggling to stay alive, to have offspring, to enlarge its ecological niche as widely as possible. We humans have succeeded so well at that quest that there are more than seven billion of us on this planet, and we are driving many, many of our fellow creatures into extinction.
The stories in this collection examine various aspects of humankind’s current and future predicaments. Some of the tales are somewhat dated: written half a century ago, they deal with problems that we have already solved, or bypassed. Many of the stories tell of the human race’s drive to expand its habitat—its ecological niche—beyond the limits of planet Earth. Many deal with our interactions with our machines, which are becoming more intelligent with every generation.
The people in these stories include heroes and heels, lovers and loners, visionaries and the smugly blind.
I hope you enjoy their struggles.
—Ben Bova
Naples, Florida
November 2014
THE ANGEL’S GIFT
Everybody from Goethe to the high school kid next door has written a story about a deal with the deviclass="underline" you know, a tale in which a man sells his soul in exchange for worldly wealth and power. Sometimes the story ends happily, as in Stephen Vincent Benét’s «The Devil and Daniel Webster.» More often it’s a tragedy, such as «Faust.»
Here’s a story about a man making a deal with an angel. He has to give up all his worldly wealth and power in order to save his soul. I believe that this story explains the seemingly inexplicable fall of a former President of the United States.
Sort of.
He stood at his bedroom window, gazing happily out at the well-kept grounds and manicured park beyond them. The evening was warm and lovely. Dinner with the guests from overseas had been perfect; the deal was going smoothly, and he would get all the credit for it. As well as the benefits.
He was at the top of the world now, master of it all, king of the hill. The old dark days of fear and failure were behind him now. Everything was going his way at last. He loved it.
His wife swept into the bedroom, just slightly tipsy from the champagne. Beaming at him, she said, «You were magnificent this evening, darling.»
He turned from the window, surprised beyond words. Praise from her was so rare that he treasured it, savored it like expensive wine, just as he had always felt a special glow within his breast on those extraordinary occasions when his mother had vouchsafed him a kind word.
«Uh… thank you,» he said.
«Magnificent darling,» she repeated. «I am so proud of you!»
His face went red with embarrassed happiness.
«And these people are so much nicer than those Latin types,» she added.
«You… you know, you were… you are… the most beautiful woman in this city,» he stammered. He meant it. In her gown of gold lamé and with her hair coiffed that way, she looked positively regal. His heart filled with joy.