THE MENTOR 76, October 1992
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THE MENTOR AUSTRALIAN SCIENCE FICTION CONTENTS #76 THE EDITORIAL SLANT 1 - EDITORIAL SLANT by Ron Clarke Eugene Naoumov emigrated from the Ukraine to ARTICLES: Sydney several months ago and recently got into contact 28 - NOT BIG BROTHER... by Rachel McGrath-Kerr with me. Last week while walking down one Sydney's streets, watching the crowds, he commented that Australia 33 - RECOLLECTIONS OF SYNCON '92 by Alan had "socialism, without communism". Stewart I have been thinking lately about what sort of 64 - THE R & R DEPT - Reader's letters political systems we are likely to see in the future, both near 77 - REVIEWS by Ron Clarke and several hundred years hence. I have also been noticing that pundits on TV, from various countries, have been COLUMNISTS : commenting on how "democracy" has triumphed in the last 16 - ARGENTINIAN SF HISTORY by Claudio Omar couple of years. Yet the citizens of the "old" USSR wanted Noguerol. to have democracy, but aren't sure quite what it is, or how to obtain it now that communism fallen. 41 - THE YANKEE PRIVATEER #15 by Buck If we take a common dictionary meaning (The Coulson. Penguin Macquarie Dictionary) the first two definitions are: 46 - C.S. LEWIS by Andrew Darlington "government by the people" and "a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and 54 - IN DEPTH by Bill Congreve exercised by them or by their elected agents under a free electorial system". These are very broad definitions, but FICTION: neither says what I thought democracy meant: "The form of 2 - LOOKING FORWARD, LOOKING BACK by government in which the laws and the exercise of them is by Sean Williams and for the majority of those people". That is, the majority 24 - USED BOOKS by Shane Dix rules, and the rules benefit the majority. Going by this definition - which I think is the widely held one - neither the 31 - NOTHING NICE by Duncan Evans UK, the USA, Canada, New Zealand nor Australia is a 35 - THE AFFAIR OF THE MARTIAN CADAVER by democracy. Evan Rainer In how many of these countries has a minority, 43 - COMPACT by James Verran through legislation or other means, eg. through the force of the media, convinced the politicians to change the laws so 51 - TREES ALONG A DELTA by Brent Lillie that they are get a better deal than the majority of the 59 - THE FARM by Gra i Hughes people in that country? OK, you can say, some people - those handicapped, or those whose racial background is POETRY: looked down upon by the majority, or whose sex or 84 - HALLEYS' COMET by Julie Vaux proclivities is not equal to others in day to day activities (workplaces, etc) - need that extra power behind them to Front Cover by Steve Carter; enable them to live as (they think) they should. All to the Back Cover by Jozef Szekeres good, says I, but the country, or state, they live in after this Internal Illos: Peggy Ranson p. 15, 30, 45 comes through is NOT then a democracy. Steve Carter p. 23 Democracy used to be the rule of the people, but Jozef Szekeres p. 27, 53. there are ways around that. Activists know this. Rod Williams p. 58, 76 Contributions may be on an IBM ascii file or typed, single or double THE MENTOR 76, October 1992. ISSN 0727-8462. Edited, spaced, preferably a go od photocopy (and if you want it returned, printed and published by Ron Clarke, 6 Bellevue Road, Faulconbridge, please type your name and address)! Contributions are not paid; NSW 2776, Australia. THE MENTOR is published at intervals of however they receive a free copy of the issue their contribution is in, roughly three months. It is available for published contribution and any future issue containing comments on their contribution. (fiction [science fiction or fantasy]), poetry, article, or letter of comment on a previous issue. It is not available for subscription, but Contents (C) Copyright 1992 for the Contributors is available for $5 for a sample issue (posted). THE MENTOR 76 page 1 LOOKING FORWARD, LOOKING BACK by Sean Williams Drifting along the Screw, Officiator Gauntley Gauntley studied the hologram of the Screw. One ruminated upon his lot. He was tired, frustrated, sick of flashing light was his ship, the ESS Nelson; the other, being manipulated by faceless authorities and high-flyers, further ahead along the Screw, was the target. A black dot and he felt old. Yet, despite this, an unusual excitement was nil primum mobile, a series of crimson arcs the burned within him. Forbidden Zones. Both flashing lights and the black dot He was there -- brushing the pivot about which the were flashing inside one of these red segments, rapidly history of humanity turned -- where no man had been but coming closer together. The You-Are-Entering-A- him, apart from those that lived there. He supposed he had Forbidden-Zone indicator in one corner of the tank had earned the right to be elated. His career in the Arm would been chiming and flashing for over two relative days, and certainly be over when he returned Home, some fifteen would have changed to You-Have-Entered-etc had he not billion years hence. sabotaged that part of the machine's programming. He had, however, only a few minutes to He hadn't anticipated this, having disabled the contemplate his fate before he was abruptly startled from his Bore alert overrides, but not the Zone command structures. meditation. He cursed fate for conspiring against him. Invading a The Bore Alarm sounded. With a screech the Forbidden Zone was crime enough, but the Arm would inspiration of a thousand tearing fingernails, the computer crucify him for actually integrating within it. alerted him to the presence of a major spatio-temporal Again. The dots were already much closer. catastrophe in their immediate vicinity. His craft -- without 'Preparing to snatch and grab,' said the ship, and awaiting confirmation from its pilot -- swung immediately various displays shifted position and changed colour on towards the disturbance, seeking its source with a single- the board. minded determination that required no human intervention. 'Abort,' he ordered. 'Display manual instruments.' 'Shit.' 'Request denied. Priority override function in He swung down out of his bed and propelled operation.' himself across the chamber of the crew quarters towards the 'Disengage override function. Command: return pilot bay. The spacious room spun dizzyingly around him -- control to pilot.' white surfaces and disjointed planes whirling in the 'Command refuted. Authority unrecognised. absence of gravity -- until he obtained the peak of his Emergency conditions apply.' trajectory. His black jumpsuit settled weightily upon his 'Directive instruction #788. As supervisory wide shoulders and his shoes clicked contact with the floor. member aboard this craft I demand the manual control of His loose, dark brown hair fell in disarray across his this ship which is my right and privilege.' The computer was forehead, and he absent-mindedly brushed it back. unimpressed. 'Where, dammit?' he asked, anticipating the 'In circumstances which dictate one and only one answer. course of immediate and compulsory action which can be 'Forty-three tee, one sixty-five tau, eighty-eig ht undertaken with greatest efficiency by the ship's automatic teh,' said a pleasant male voice, indicating the direction of systems, said systems will have complete authority over the the temporal vector. Magnitude: 'Five years and closing.' THE MENTOR 76 page 2 control board until said circumstances have passed. device, and the intense light revealed it to be roughly Directive confuted.' cylindrical, quite small -- only a hundred metres in length 'Damn you, you god-damned machine! Give me and thirty in diameter -- and possessed of a low albedo. It back control of my ship!' He slammed his fist onto the had a rough, black surface, undetailed and unfamiliar; not control board. metal or plastic, Gauntley was certain. Organic? he 'Aligning with local spatio-temporal vector,' replied wondered, interested despite himself. the voice, apparently ignoring him. On Gauntley's left there He supposed that, at another time, the artifact was the sudden whirring of the hard-copy printer. A piece might have awoken the sense of mystery and wonder he'd of paper issued from its mouth, and on it were the words: lost over the years; it was a piece of another time, another 'This conversation is being recorded. Your space, snatched from its reality -- something touched by behaviour will be reported to the appropriate authorities.' hands long-dead. But the appearance of the object was the An unwelcome reminder that he was but a temporary guest last thing he needed, at that moment. onboard an alien ship, instead of the bold pioneer he'd once 'Move me closer,' he said, and the gentle forces hoped to be. wafted him away from the wall. Despite the irregularity of Gauntley viciously screwed the piece of paper into its exterior, the object showed no obvious detail that might a ball and threw it across the compartment. The scrap have suggested a door or window, or even an external followed a complicated trajectory as it passed through free- instrument of any sort. Gauntley supposed that any that fall and bounced into various fielded compartments -- had once existed had been blasted away. kitchen, storage, observation, and hygiene bays. It 'Take a sample.' Dust puffed into the airless void eventually rustled to a halt against the aluminium box in the as some invisible manipulator chipped away a fragment of storage bay, and there Gauntley, drawing a sudden breath, the material. was content to let it rest. 'Organic carbon compounds,' came the quick The storage bay was blind to the computer.