The Mammoth Book of Apocalyptic SF - Mike Ashley [203]
I joined Danny and Kat, and together we set up the rig and dropped the longest bore through the crazed surface of the old sea-bed.
"Where's Edvard?" I asked as I locked the final length of drill column into place.
Kat nodded back to the truck. "In there, trying to translate the print-out."
Danny stabbed the controls that dropped the drill-head, then stood back mopping the sweat from his brow. It was still dark, but the sky in the east was turning magnesium bright with the approach of dawn and already the temperature was in the high thirties.
Dog tired, I returned to the truck to catch some sleep.
An hour later I was awakened by a cry from outside. I surged upright, thinking we were under attack. I launched myself from the truck, into the heat of the day, and stared around in panic.
Kat and Danny were standing in the shadow of the rig, holding hands and staring at the bore.
As I watched, the trickle of water bubbling from around the drill column became a surge, then a fountain-head. I ran to join them and we embraced as the water showered down around us.
I opened my mouth and drank. "It's fresh!" I shouted. "My God, it's fresh!" I held Kat's thin body to me, looking into her eyes and crying with more than just the joy of finding water.
We dismantled the rig and stowed it aboard the truck. Danny marked the position of the bore on the map, and the three of us sat in the cab as we accelerated up the incline of the trench.
Later, Edvard joined us. I glanced at him as I drove.
Kat said, "What is it?"
Edvard seemed subdued. He sat between us, staring down at the print-out in his lap.
Danny said, "Ed? You okay?"
He lifted the sheaf of papers. "The colonists," he said in barely a whisper, "number some 5,500, and they were selected to found a new world on some far star. Among them are ..." his voice caught "... are doctors and scientists and engineers, specialists in every field you can imagine."
He looked around at us, tears in his eyes We drove on in silence, into the blazing sun, towards Tangiers.
LIFE IN THE ANTHROPOCENE
Paul Di Filippo
Paul Di Filippo is a prolific science-fiction writer and critic noted for his colourful, quirky and highly original, vivacious stories that have been appearing at a relentless pace for over twenty years. A selection will be found in Ribofunk (1996), Fractal Paisleys (1997), Lost Pages (1998), Shuteye for the Timebroker (2006) and a half-dozen other volumes. Although he's American, I sometimes wonder if his often surreal stories appeal more to the SF community outside of the US, because his stories have won the British SF Award and the French Imaginaire Award but he has yet to win a Hugo or Nebula, although his short novel A Year in Linear City (2002) was shortlisted for just about everything. I always know that when you come to read anything by Paul, it will be unlike anything else.
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1
Solar Girdle Emergency
AUROBINDO BANDJALANG GOT the emergency twing through his vib on the morning of August 8, 2121, while still at home in his expansive bachelor's digs. At lLDK, his living space was three times larger than most unmarried individuals enjoyed but his high-status job as a Power Jockey for New Perthpatna earned him extra perks.
While a short-lived infinitesimal flock of beard clippers grazed his face, A.B. had been showering and vibbing the weather feed for Reboot City Twelve: the more formal name for New Perthpatna.
Sharing his shower stall but untouched by the water, beautiful weather idol Midori Mimosa delivered the feed.
"Sunrise occurred this morning at 3.02 a.m. Max temp projected to be a comfortable, shirtsleeves thirty degrees by noon. Sunset at 10.29 P m- this evening. Cee-oh-two at 450 parts per million, a significant drop from levels at this time last year. Good work, Rebooters!"
The new tweet/twinge/ping interrupted