“Live and Let Live” by Linda D. Addison. First published in How to Recognize a Demon Has Become Your Friend. Copyright © 2011 by Linda D. Addison. Reprinted by permission of the author. “The Pavilion of Frozen Women” by S.P. Somtow. First published in Cold Shocks (ed. Tim Sullivan), 1991. Copyright © 1991 by Somtow Sucharitkul. Reprinted by permission of the author. “Un Aperitivo Col Diavolo” by Darius James. First published in German in The Gold Collection: Neue Weihnachtsgeschichten (eds. Karsten Kredel, Jörn Morisse), Suhrkemp Verlag, 2007. First published in English in Paraphilia Magazine, Issue 4, 2009. Reprinted by permission of the author. “A Brief History of Nonduality Studies” by Sofia Samatar. First published in Expanded Horizons, Issue 36, August 2012. Copyright © Sofia Samatar. Reprinted by permission of the author. “Protected Entity” by Daniel José Older. First published in Salsa Nocturna: Stories by Daniel José Older (Crossed Genres Publications, 2012). Reprinted by permission of the author. “Northern Lights” by Eden Robinson. First published in The Fiddlehead, Issue 253, August 2012. Reprinted by permission of the author. “The Aphotic Ghost” by Carlos Hernandez. First published in Bewere the Night: Tales of Shapeshifters and Werecreatures (ed. Ekaterina Sedia), Prime, 2011. Reprinted by permission of the author. “The Pillar” by Farnoosh Moshiri. First published in The Crazy Dervish and the Pomegranate Tree (Black Heron Press, 2004). Reprinted by permission of the author. Sample file “Between Islands” by Jaymee Goh. First published in Expanded Horizons, Issue 19, June 2010. Reprinted by permission of the author. “Fées des Dents” by George S. Walker. A previous version of this story originally appeared in Electric Spec, Vol. 5, Issue 3, August 2010. Reprinted by permission of the author. “The Taken” by Tenea D. Johnson. First published in Whispers in the Night: Dark Dreams III (ed. Brandon Massey), Dafina, 2007. Reprinted by permission of the author. “Monstro” by Junot Díaz. First published in The New Yorker, Copyright © 2012 by Junot Díaz. Reprinted by permission of the author. “Good Boy” by Nisi Shawl. First published in Filter House (Aqueduct Press, 2008). Reprinted by permission of the author. Contents Bill Campbell and Edward Austin Hall Introduction i Victor LaValle I Left My Heart in Skaftafell 1 N.K. Jemisin Too Many Yesterdays, Not Enough Tomorrows 12 Ernest Hogan Skin Dragons Talk 22 Kawika Guillermo The Last of Its Kind 39 Thaddeus Howze Bludgeon 41 Ibi Zoboi The Farming of Gods 51 Carmen Maria Machado The Hungry Earth 60 Rabih Alameddine The Half-Wall 64 Lauren Beukes Unathi Battles the Black Hairballs 74 Charles R. Saunders Amma 85 Chinelo Onwualu The Homecoming 100 Ran Walker The Voyeur Sample file 109 Vandana Singh Life-pod 111 Tobias Buckell Four Eyes 120 Silvia Moreno-Garcia The Death Collector 131 Kiini Ibura Salaam Bio-Anger 134 Indrapramit Das The Runner of n-Vamana 143 Minister Faust In the Belly of the Crocodile 147 Linda D. Addison Live and Let Live 152 S.P. Somtow The Pavilion of Frozen Women 153 Rochita Loenen-Ruiz Waking the God of the Mountain 180 C. Renee Stephens Culling the Herd 187 Joseph Bruchac Dances with Ghosts 191 Darius James Un Aperitivo Col Diavolo 205 Andaiye Reeves Othello Pop 210 Sofia Samatar A Brief History of Nonduality Studies 212 Daniel José Older Protected Entity 218 Anil Menon The Parrot’s Tale 229 Eden Robinson Northern Lights 233 Tade Thompson One Hundred and Twenty Days of Sunlight 234 Carlos Hernandez The Aphotic Ghost 258 Farnoosh Moshiri The Pillar 266 Greg Tate Angels + Cannibals Unite 268 Lisa Allen-Agostini A Fine Specimen 274 Jaymee Goh Between Islands 279 George S. Walker Fées des DentsSample file 293 Tenea D. Johnson The Taken 303 Katherena Vermette The Buzzing 312 Junot Díaz Monstro 314 Nisi Shawl Good Boy 330 About the Authors 351 Introduction “When we look up at the night sky, space is black as far as the eye can see. Yet, when we read novels about it or watch something on TV or in the movie theater, it is white beyond all comprehension.” That was the thought that launched the collection you hold in your hands. It happened this past December while I was, oddly enough, looking up at the night sky. I’d just finished watching an SF movie and had gone outside, men- tally ranting about what I’d just seen. It was a tired and familiar rant, and I was tired of ranting it. Yet, there I was. It went something like this... Mainstream, American corporate culture “white washes” all culture—past, present, and future—giving people the false impression that America has been, is, and always will be the “White Man’s Country.” For example, people have no clue that the Revolutionary army was, at times, 16% black and fully integrated. They have no idea that the “Wild West” was 25% African-American. Watching movies of late gives one the impression that the Civil Rights movement was a battle between crusty, old white folks and bright-eyed, determined white girls. And, in the magical hands of Martin Scorsese (in Gangs of New York), over 100 black corpses disappeared and this country’s largest race riot ended up having nothing to do with race at all. Hollywood executives tell us that no one wants to see movies or watch TV shows focusing on people of color, though we make up almost 30% of their domestic market and the vastSample majority of their file foreign one. Once you take out Denzel Washington, Will Smith, and Morgan Freeman’s narration, people of color are nearly invisible. Science fiction often implies that racism will be dead in the future. At least, they never really address it so we can only assume it will be. We can also assume that it’s dead because a melanin-devouring plague (Schuylerosis?) either killed all people of color or that same plague killed all the melanin on the planet, leaving only a handful of affable sidekicks in its wake. Because, if racism were truly dead, roughly 6 out of every 7 cast members would be people of color as opposed to, say, 2 out of every 15. So, that’s the rant. That’s one of my problems with popular culture. Hope- fully, Mothership is part of the solution. After all, as this collection exemplifies, there are a lot of creative people out there doing quality work who are more than ready and are exceptionally qualified to give this culture some much needed … color. I thank them all for helping to make Mothership possible. This anthology would not have happened without them. As always, I thank my family and friends for their support. I thank Edward Austin Hall, John Jennings, Kyra [ii] INTRODUCTION Baker, and my brother Gerald Mohamed for all readily jumping aboard the Mothership and helping it fly. Bill Campbell Only after the Sci-Fi Channel rebranded itself as Syfy did I finally understand a connection I had long sensed between science fiction and blackness. My own physical ambiguity in a racial sense—people of almost every ethnicity you can think of have wondered (or decided) what I am—taught me the truism that others “like” you when they presume you are like them. The confusion I fos- tered in white folk and black folk as I grew up in Mobile, Alabama, during the 1960s and ’70s helped make me a writer by letting me know that few people outside my kin perceived me as “like them.” Fine. Be that way. I retreated into science fiction, read way too much of it, studied its history, and met its creators. I read that the New York Times reputedly banned the re- viewing of fantasy or science fiction in its weekday pages—the same New York Times that employed book critic Anatole Broyard, another racially ambiguous American of black ancestry, under the impression that he was … well, some- thing other than what he was. In certain precincts, always, if a work of art is good—i.e., if a critic likes it—it cannot be science fiction. Excuse me, sci-fi. Um, sorry, I meant syfy. Similarly, years ago a white bigot whom I had just met revealed himself amid our affable conversation after I identified myself as black. He said, “You’re not black!” I laughed and walked away fromSample him. file When Bill Campbell invited me to be part of this project, with its open-arms, fantasticated-tales-by-and/or-for-and/or-about-people-of-color approach, I knew the book I had been waiting a lifetime to assemble lay ahead of me. And now here it is. Edward Austin Hall Edward Austin Hall wishes to thank his parents, Gwendolyn Mae Balasco and First Lieutenant Leander Arnold Hall. He also extends heartfelt gratitude to the following for their invaluable assistance and support in the making of this book: Nisi Shawl, Kit Reed, Gerald Page, Nicola Griffith, and Pearl Cleage. Special Acknowledgment of Support During July and August of 2013, a crowdfunding campaign was conducted to raise money to support the authors contributing to the Mothership anthology. This thirty-day campaign was very successful, thanks to a generous outpouring of support. Over 650 people helped fund the Mothership campaign, raising over $15,000. It was all due to thousands of people spreading the word through Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Tumblr, posting, pinning, and shouting from the rooftops. We thank them all. We especially thank Tananarive Due, Ann and Jeff VanderMeer, and Ekaterina Sedia for being such incredible advocates for the project. Our infinite gratitude goes out to Troy Bernier and Bart R. Leib, whose last-minute advice was truly invaluable.