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Analog Science Fiction & Fact Magazine
October 1998

This month's issue of Analog starts with an editorial by Stanley Schmidt who gives a new answer to "Fermi's Paradox" (about alien life). His answer is chilling; in an advanced civilisation, it may be possible for one maladjusted individual to wipe out everybody, possibly through a biological plague. This may have happened to any alien civilisation out there. As previous headline making news has shows, this is now possible in some situations.

Stories featured in this issue are:

• "Trade Warriors" by F. Alexander Brejcha tells a fascinating tale of an alien world where business competition is used as an alternative to continual warfare. To set up a business, a human must under go training in their business school (with is part boot-camp). Can she survive and, more importantly, make a profit?
• "Near-Term Nanotechnology" by Stephen L. Gillett, PhD., looks at the prospects for nanotechnology. He considers such topics as self-assembling machines, the use of resources (to a nanomachine, everything may be a resource) and to a possible future where metals may be less important since materials like C60 'buckytubes' and variants built by nanomachines may be more important.
• "Artifacts" by Jerry Oltion looks at the exploration of a deserted alien ship. However, as the story goes, not all may be well and it may need some hard decision making by the captain of a supply ship to decide what to do with the alien artifacts.
• "Drawn Words" by Brian Plante is set in a future where civilisation has retreated to a middle-age type era with writing being forbidden. Into this steps a young boy who is an expert at drawing; except when he starts to 'simplify' his drawings of various farm animals and heads into trouble.
• "O'Carolan's Revenge" by Rick Cook looks a look at an old Irish bard who is offered a chance to have his songs recorded by some time-travelers. The deal offered to him is not very good but he may have some just revenge in mind.
• "Phoenix" by H.G. Stratmann shows what can happen when a time traveler from the future makes a mother smoke for the sake of the future.
• "Nor Through Inaction" by Charles Ardai and Michael A. Burnstein gives an uncomfortable look at what may happen when a computer must keep the occupant of a crashed space-ship alive against all odds.
• "Living in a Stranger" by Paul Urayama shows how life can be like for one person who is unable to remember anything past a certain day. Everyday, he wakes up thinking it is the morning after that day. His efforts to start a journal mount to nothing as he cannot remember writing it. How will it end?
• "Ashes to Ashes" by Grey Rollings tells the story of a man who owns an intelligent computer trying to make his way to safety in a future America where it is considered immoral to be rich. In his flight, he is helped by an unlike source.

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