Analog Science Fiction & Fact, November/December 2024

Astounding/Analog

by Trevor Quachri (Editor), Shane Tourtellotte, Auston Habershaw

Vol. XCIV No. 11 & 12.

Novella:
- THE OUTSIDERS, Shane Tourtellotte

Novelettes:
- THAT FAR, UNCHARTED OCEAN, Auston Habershaw
- MIRRORSTAR, Sean McMullen
- A SHORT FUTURE HISTORY OF WHALES, Jenny Williams
- THE TOUCHSTONE OF OUROBOROS, David Cleden

Short stories:
- LADY BALLISTIC: FAST AND ACCURATE CLEANING, Alexander Jablokov
- HELL FIVE, Arlan Andrews, Sr.
- EMERGENCY CALLS ONLY, Kelsey Hutton
- DEATH OF AN INTELLIGENCE, Mjke Wood
- IF THIS FLESH WERE THOUGHT, Matt McHugh
- IN YOUR DREAMS, Jerry Oltion
- A GARDEN IN THE SKY, Wiliam Paul Jones
- THE NEW SAHARAN ENERGY COMPANY, ANNUAL REPORT 2058, David McGillveray

Flash fiction:
- GALILEAN CROSSING, Pauline Barmby
- POST HOC ERGO PROPTER HOC, Mary Soon Lee

Science fact:
- INTERSTELLAR PARANOIA, Dr. David S. Lindsay

Poetry:
- WHEN I HEARD THE LEARN’D ASTROPHYSICIST, Robert Frazier
- GARDENERS AND COSMOLOGISTS, Mario Milosevic

Reader's departments:
- GUEST EDITORIAL: HOMO OBSOLESCENS?, Howard V. Hendrix
- IN TIMES TO COME
- BIOLOG: KELSEY HUTTON, Richard A. Lovett
- THE ALTERNATE VIEW, John G. Cramer
- GUEST ALTERNATE VIEW: HOW THE SCIENCE OF MORAL UNDERSTANDING CAN REDUCE POLARIZATION IN POLITICS, Richard A. Lovett
- THE REFERENCE LIBRARY, Sean CW Korsgaard
- BRASS TACKS
- UPCOMING EVENTS, Anthony Lewis.

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Genres: Science Fiction

206 pages, digest magazine

Published October 15, 2024

About the author

Trevor Quachri (b. 1976) has been the sixth editor of Analog Science Fiction & Fact magazine since September 2012.

Previously, he was “a Broadway stagehand, collected data for museums, and executive produced a science fiction pilot for a basic cable channel.”

Quachri started as an editorial assistant in 1999 at Asimov's Science Fiction and Analog. Former editor of Analog, Ben Bova, was an early influence.

Reviews

[John Loyd · Rating 4 out of 5]

10 • That Far, Uncharted Ocean • 21 pages by Auston Habershaw
Very Good. Amos Tambly is selected to accompany a Thraad spaceship. He doesn’t know why, but when they tell him they are going to an ocean planet to join a regatta he gets it. He’s done a lot of competitive sailing. What he doesn’t understand is why this mixture of alien races is having this race in the first place. Same universe as the Faceless stories, but no mention of that particular Thraad.

36 • Lady Ballistic: Fast and Accurate Cleaning • 10 pages by Alexander Jablokov
OK. Sirina cleans a house that had seen creatures from another dimension. Unfortunately the fistula wasn’t closed properly and otherworldly bees were getting through.

46 • Mirrorstar • 15 pages by Sean McMullen
Good+. Nolene Wright works in the cage of the mirrorstar for three weeks and then freezes. Dr. Connel is the closest this telescope at the edge of the solar system has to an investigator, so he’s called on to look into what happened. When they bring the body back to the habitat, Connel looks at a finger that had broken off. There was none of the overt cell destruction that should have happened in that temperature. How is that possible? It must have something to do with the radiation being picked up from the planet they were studying.

61 • Hell Five • 7 pages by Arlan Andrews
OK. Leroi is a thirteen year old living on the streets and in the sewers getting by by thieving and begging. The street rats aren’t official citizens and Leroi thinks they’re mostly dead by the age of twenty.

68 • Emergency Calls Only • 4 pages by Kelsey Hutton
OK. Zohra sends a dying message to Ren.

72 • Galilean Crossing • 2 pages by Pauline Barmby
OK. Billie has to skate from one base to the other. Unfortunately the landscape has changed since the map was made.

78 • Death of an Intelligence • 10 pages by Mjke Wood
Good. Alyssa is invited along with Marcus as they go to investigate who killed Aesara, an intelligence. Was it one of the technicians? The contractor? Mystery.

88 • If This Flesh Were Thought • 10 pages by Matt McHugh
Good. A proxy is stolen and then used to kill someone. Proxies are supposed to be biometricly linked to the user, but it’s an open secret that there is a workaround. Marie is put on the case because she has prior contact with Doreen. She goes to interview Doreen who wants her lawyer present. He is present, by proxy. From there it’s Marie and the lawyer solving the mystery.

98 • A Short Future History of Whales • 15 pages by Jenny Williams
OK/Good. A few months ago underwater microphones picked up an enormous sound. Now whales have started beaching themselves and other sea life has also been affected. Phoebe is a marine biologist looking into it. The navy assigns Estuardo the job of looking into the error message NANCY gave during a test. The test being at the exact same time that the whale song happened.

113 • In Your Dreams • 9 pages by Jerry Oltion
Good+. Dr. Stevens is a dream researcher with an idea about alternate universes. When Brian and Amanda survive a near death accident Stevens surmises that their alternate selves nearby all died freeing them from all the decisions their counterparts make. Also that dreams can cross these world lines.

135 • Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc • 1 pages by Mary Soon Lee
OK/Fair. Martians consult their cats. Saying all these tunnels with no failures, rather than giving themselves credit for being meticulous and reliable.

126 • A Garden in the Sky • 8 pages by Wiliam Paul Jones
OK+. The crops that Larysa grows are suspended below the main habitat in Venus’s atmosphere. While returning to the habitat her tether snaps and she is saved only by the safety line. Whatever broke her tether also fused the hatch, she is unable to get help from the rest of the crew. All these accidents allow her to use her garden to save her life.

134 • The New Saharan Energy Company, Annual Report 2058 • 12 pages by David McGillveray
OK+. The company with the backing of the EU has monopolized the energy production in Africa with little regard for the native peoples. Ammar usually wanders the desert alone with his goats. He’s on his way home when he comes upon a crash site where the company had taken out a couple of Coalition vehicles.

146 • The Touchstone of Ouroboros • 14 pages by David Cleden
Good. Cardino Vassiri is losing his faith. He thinks his religion is just taking advantage of an artifact, but being a cardino is for life, he can’t just quit, so he makes plans to leave the planet.

160 • The Outsiders • 40 pages by Shane Tourtellotte
Very Good. Yehf was seeded with a virus that made the yehdol stupid, “The Malady.” They were able to overcome it, figure out that Outsiders brought it, and are now in search of them. They find Tianwai inhabited by an intelligent race capable of doing the deed. They demand access to judge for themselves whether or not these humans are guilty or not. Before we get that answer there is a lot of world building where we see at first glance a well maintained society but looking more repressed the closer we look.

[Marta E C R · Rating 4 out of 5]

There were enough good stories in this issue to warrant a 4 star rating for it in its entirety, IMHO. My absolute favorite was A Garden in the Sky. After that, my favorites were (in no particular order) Death of an Intelligence, In Your Dreams, the Guest Alternate View: How the Science of Moral Understanding Can Reduce Polarization in Politics, and the novella, The Outsiders. Regarding the latter, I really liked that it was written in discrete segments by people with different careers, each with their own perspective on the situation. It took a bit for me to straighten everyone out, but once I did, the last segment became much more meaningful. There are unfortunately some hard truths about humans in this novella.

[Brendan Powell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some good stories in there ... I don't think the Novella was all that great ... but the Novelettes (especially "A Short Future History of Whales" by Jenny Williams were fun to read ... the Whales story was great as it has a nice technical troubleshooting arc that I enjoyed and seemed entirely possible.

[Oleksandr Zholud · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the November/December 2024 issue of Analog Science Fiction and Fact. Overall, a solid issue

Contents:
Homo Obsolescens? [Editorial (Analog)] essay by Howard V. Hendrix a lot of topics, from do we die out if the developed world has less than 2.1 kids per woman to are we as a species crazy enough to harm ourselves? 3*
That Far, Uncharted Ocean novelette by Auston Habershaw the story of Lieutenant Commander Amos Tambly of the United States Coast Guard, whose presence was requested by snail-like aliens. He is to captain their sail ship in a century-long regatta (where ships are allowed to fight each other as well). Written as a light humorous piece it is a nice easy read. 3*
Errata (Analog, November-December 2024) [The Analytical Laboratory] essay by uncredited
Interstellar Paranoia [Science Fact (Analog)] essay by Dr. David S. Lindsay Fermi’s paradox as a result that high-speed space ship may be used as weapons as well. 3*
Lady Ballistic: Fast & Accurate Cleaning short story by Alexander Jablokov the protagonist is a cleaning lady, but what she cleans is rubble from other universes. She is hired to clean a house from cobwebs before the sale, but it turns out that webs prevent alien bees that make hives in human bodies from invading, so she ought to solve this as well. 3*
Mirrorstar novelette by Sean McMullen at Neptune orbit a part of the system-wide lens, which allows high-def view at far-away planets. One of the crew that works there is found covered in fur and dead-frozen. It starts a murder/suicide investigation, but a bit later the victim turns alive. a far-away planet on elliptic orbit emits radiation that allows deep-freeze w/o formation of ice crystals However, on Earth decides it is an alien invasion and attempts to blow them… a nice idea, even if not very scientific. 3.5*
In Times to Come (Analog, November-December 2024) [In Times to Come (Analog)] essay by uncredited
Hell Five short story by Arlan Andrews, Sr. a cyberpunk story, a teen boy, who lives from petty theft and is given a guitar and a system to help learn to play. He wants to get a better life up there… you can guess the rest. 2.75*
Emergency Calls Only short story by Kelsey Hutton the final love letter by Captain Zohra West to Stargazer Renwick, as she slowly falls into a black hole. Maudling. 2.75*
Kelsey Hutton [Biolog] essay by Richard A. Lovett
Galilean Crossing short story by Pauline Barmby a woman moves across Europe icy moon to deliver bone marrow to a patient with leukemia across the globe. 3*
A Mitochondrial Jumpstart for Age Reversal [The Alternate View] essay by John G. Cramer the author is 90! And plans to check a re-juvenation treatment with ‘fresh’ mitochondria. Good luck! 5*
Death of an Intelligence short story by Mjke Wood the year is 2100 and the world is governed by a group of AI – all is almost a paradise, no crime. However, someone kills one of AI and because there is no police, a history professor is asked to solve the case. 3.25*
If This Flesh Were Thought short story by Matt McHugh the idea of the setting is the same as in Scalzi’s Lock In series: humanoid ‘robots’ remotely operated by disabled people. Even their appearance is described similarly: “Proxies look like a Star Wars robot the prop department cobbled together in an hour. They have two arms, two legs, a head, dents and bumps where eyes and a nose should be, and not much else.” – in Scalzi’s world they are called 3POs. the story starts with a proxy killing a man in a restaurant. A police officer with the help of a proxy through whom works a lawyer representing the woman who owns the killing machine, investigates the case. 3.5*
A Short Future History of Whales novelette by Jenny Williams some strange sound (?) in an ocean causes marine creatures distress, which kills all whales. Two POV: a pregnant woman Phoebe who is a marine biologist and a Navy officer, who investigates possible bugs in the new, AI-controlled sonar system On February 22, 2024, the U.S. Navy conducted a highly coordinated training exercise, code-named Trident, across all six active global fleets. During the exercise, 86 vessels equipped with the newly installed AN/BQQ-20 sonar system and the AI agent NANCY served a consistent error message (ID: 6011A) to the user interface for a time period ranging from a minimum of 42 seconds to a maximum of 2 minutes and 37 seconds. In all cases, the issue was resolved when human operators enabled manual override and adjusted the upper bound of the sonar amplitude to a standard level.. They slowly converge on a possibility that Phoebe’s 3 years ago deceased husband can be linked to what happened. 3.5*
In Your Dreams short story by Jerry Oltion
How the Science of Moral Understanding Can Reduce Polarization in Politics [The Alternate View] essay by Richard A. Lovett in the USA people aren’t polarized in moral issues as they assume, but in questions with trade-offs. The fight over gun control, for example, is a conflict between preventing harm to our loved ones (and ourselves) and overall community safety. Both are valid, but they lead in opposite directions. This means is that the clashes aren’t so much about competing values as about competing harms. We argue about abortion and gun rights and immigration, because [in these cases] there are competing harms.
Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc short story by Mary Soon Lee flash fic about Martians, who “won’t so much as drill a five-meter mini tunnel without consulting their cats. Methods of gauging feline opinion vary. Some Martians talk to their cats, describing their plans in meticulous detail, then measuring approval by head bunts or the forward angling of an ear.” And maybe they are right 😊 3*
A Garden in the Sky short story by William Paul Jones a woman refugee from Earth (about which later), tries to grow food in a Venus flying station. After an accident, she appears outside the station and her harden saves her. A fine story, but what triggered me is that she is from Ukraine. More in my comment to the author’s QA The story is fine, but I was very disappointed with probably a minor point for the author, but a major one for me. The protagonist, Larysa is from Odesa (spelled Odessa in the story. I understand, that people still don’t care that Ukrainian locations are known to them in Russian transliteration. This hurts but let it be), Ukraine. She had not a very happy childhood here. First, she “was only two years old, and a little busy fleeing the purification squads in Odessa”. Then her grandma had to escape the Ukrainian Security Service, think a FBI analog: “When the SBU came for you in the night and you had to flee.” Finally, and this is mentioned in the text above “Ukraine until the warlords”…
The author states that he write the text in 2021, before the February 2022 full-scale invasion and that he was in the Balkans (for readers with vague knowledge of Europe’s geography, Ukraine doesn’t even border a Balkan state). His presentation of Ukraine is as an oppressive state (see the SBU), supposedly with at least locally powerful Nazi groups (I guess ‘purification’ means supporters of ‘pure’ race on nation) and a failed state (warlords). All of the above are propaganda points of Russian disinformation machine and it is very disappointing to see propaganda’s echoes in Analog. Meanwhile, in the real life, Russia bombs Odesa (as well as other cities), killing civilians. And Okay, the story was written before, but the author hasn’t had time to change it for the period between the initial submission and the publication in November/December 2024?! Or the author believes in the Russian statement that their ‘operation’ is to de-Nazify Ukraine?
. 3*
The New Saharan Energy Company, Annual Report 2058 short story by David McGillveray Europe exploits Sahara’s sun but solar power plants greed. A refugee moves across Africa, where the power plant owning corp is the true rule, with own murderous military thugs. The refugee received an important info which is then spread by free radio. 2.5*
The Touchstone of Ouroboros novelette by David Cleden on a planet a cult is formed around alien stone/device that may consume objects, including people. One of the monks is disillusioned while scientist appeared to study the artifact… 3.25*
Gardeners and Cosmologists poem by Mario Milosevic
The Outsiders [Malady] novella by Shane Tourtellotte in this installment they finally meet humans, who possibly created the plague. The planet is a benevolent totalitarian Chinese regime. 3*
The Reference Library (Analog, November-December 2024) [The Reference Library] essay by Rosemary Claire Smith
Brass Tacks (Analog, November-December 2024) [Brass Tacks] essay by various
 Letter (Analog, November-December 2024): The author responds essay by Stanley Schmidt
Upcoming Events (Analog, November-December 2024) [Upcoming Events] essay by Anthony R. Lewis [as by Anthony Lewis]

[Kevin Phyland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lieutenant Amos Tambly has been selected to meet with the snail-like aliens known as the Thraad, in a First Contact scenario. Little does he know that the seemingly peaceful aliens are determined to win a sailing race on a distant planet and the prize may be the opportunity to visit Earth for a deadly invasion. Some heavy diplomacy in “That Far, Uncharted Ocean” by Auston Habershaw. “Lady Ballistic: Fast And Accurate Cleaning” has been called in for a most unusual cleaning job. A real estate agent needs her to clean a house quickly but she finds a transdimensional fistula which has allowed giant bees and a huge spider which feeds on them to come through into our reality. A lot of fun from Alexander Jablokov making his Analog debut. Sean McMullen takes us to a giant ice mirror functioning as a telescope which is imaging distant worlds. The “Mirrorstar” however has also focused strange emanations which are changing the physiology of the observers, and Earth reacts with predictable paranoia. Interesting tale. Mjke Wood gives us “Death Of An Intelligence”, where an historian is dragooned into solving the murder of one of the ruling Board Of Intelligences, a crime that has not been committed on human or AI for decades. In a future where the differently-abled can use proxy bodies (mechanicals) to get around, a murder has been committed of an executive at a company which makes them. Matt McHugh’s “If This Flesh Were Thought” gives us a satisfactory solution but leaves us vaguely angry, while “A Short History Of Whales” by Jenny Williams only adds to our outrage when a military sonar experiment may be the cause of mass whale extinctions. Sobering stuff. After a near-fatal car crash Brian and the driver of the second car, Amanda start to experience dreamless sleep and high levels of energy. A physicist is excited because he thinks there is communication “In Dreams” between alternate universes in Jerry Oltion’s fascinating tale. Larysa is a member of the crew of a floating experimental hab in the atmosphere of Venus when an accident leaves her hanging by her safety line beneath the hab in the actual atmosphere - minus water and with no chance of external help for sixty hours. “A Garden In The Sky” by William Paul Jones is an excellent race-against-time puzzle piece. While Ammar travels through the vast solar energy farm in Algeria he comes across a data stick which the venal energy company is willing and able to kill for. “The New Saharan Energy Company, Annual Report 2058” by David McGillveray is sadly plausible. “The Touchstone Of Ouroboros” is an alien artifact which has become an object of reverence and profit for a manipulative and greedy cult but a cardino who has had a crisis of faith may just prove how powerful the artifact really is in David Cleden’s story. The alien yehdol, seeking revenge for having been crippled by the intelligence-reducing virus known as The Malady, find that the finger points rather neatly at the humans. Who really did this terrible deed and how they might be punished is the gist of this tale from Shane Tourtelotte. It completes a thoroughly satisfying series. Recommended issue.

[Michael Goodine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Favorite stories this issue include "That Far, Uncharted Ocean" by Auston Habershaw, "In Your Dreams" by Jerry Oltion and "The Outsiders," by Shane Tourtellotte.

[Jamie H. · Rating 3 out of 5]

“A Short Future History of Whales” by Jenny Williams