Hither & Yon
Past is prologue. There are so many spots in history where a small change would evidently create a very different outcome. Historians call them counterfactuals and extrapolate how society might have differed. Science fiction writers populate that different world with characters and tell a story. Harry Turtledove dominates this topic possibly more than any single author does any other.
"Soames, you haven't by any chance solved those fourth-dimensional differential equations of yours, have you?"
My valet's face remained impassive, but I had learned by now to read his eyes, which most would term "steady" with perhaps a touch of "stern," and they told me a sad tale of continuing futility.
The mutation probably arose in the twelfth century, almost certainly in northern Italy. Several generations later, a Venetian trader married the local beauty, both most likely endowed with the copy of the young gene. Their son might have been the first human who felt the full impact of HETERO3. A tall adolescent with an inclination for romance, Marco Polo found himself embroiled in such scandal that his father and uncle had to carry him off on a journey across Asia, saving him from the revenge of various husbands and fathers. Twenty-four years later and dying of cancer, Marco returned to Venice, surviving long enough to dictate an account of his spectacular adventures. The court of the Khan and the lost lands of the Orient have fascinated generations of historians, but the unexpurgated texts are what remain famous among schoolboys: Tales of a thousand beautiful women lying down with the tall foreigner who leaves his seed in cities and villages across two continents.
But Marco Polo didn't invent the modern world. Venice was the premier seaport of its day. Its sons and their genetic cargo sailed across the Mediterranean. Where other travelers would drink and brawl, these warriors sought women of every color, every faith. By the fifteenth century, one in every four Greeks was at least heterozygote for the trait. Norse and the English populations grew taller and better looking. The Spanish Variant arose in Catalonia, and it proved particularly efficacious. Columbus' voyage ended without gold or spices, but he presented five native maidens to the spellbound court and stories of their exotic beauty captured the imagination of millions.
Alternative History
Past is prologue. There are so many spots in history where a small change would evidently create a very different outcome. Historians call them counterfactuals and extrapolate how society might have differed. Science fiction writers populate that different world with characters and tell a story. Harry Turtledove dominates this topic possibly more than any single author does any other.
by Edoardo Albert
"Ring the bells. It is dawn, and this day at least, God willing, we will endure."
I watched the man scurry from the room. The bishop stared out of the window as if by sheer force of will he could force the barbarians from the walls of his city.
"Write this down. Take it with you to Possidius and see that it is added to my Confessions." Augustine turned to look at me. "I want to tell how I lost my son."
Published on Oct 15, 2010
by Lou Antonelli
***There is swearing in this story. -Editor's Warning***
I was poking at my drink with a swizzle stick, killing time waiting for my connecting flight. The American Airlines Admiral's Club was nearly empty. I stared at the D/FW runways and watched the flights taking off and landing. I had lost interest in the television a long time ago.
Published on May 11, 2012
by Brian K. Lowe
Published on Mar 22, 2013
by Lon Prater
Undated journal and loose pages of manuscript found beneath the floorboards of The Daily Confederation, formerly McConnell's Printing Shop, Montgomery, Alabama, CSA, 1885.
Published on Dec 3, 2010
by Robert Reed
Published on Sep 12, 2011
by Lavie Tidhar
Abraham Stoker's Journal
--From the archives of the Bureau of Secret Intelligence, Pall Mall, London, Classified Ultra, for Head of Bureau Eyes Only--
Published on Jan 20, 2012
