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Decision Point (ARC)

Page 46

by Bryan Thomas Schmidt


  came in. The food line had already closed down, but Wiggin saw

  him and stood up and waved him over. He was slow raising his

  hand to wave, though, what with his chest hurting and all.

  Zeck approached. “Got lunch for you,” said Wiggin, stepping

  away from his chair so that Zeck could sit in it.

  The other kids at the table were obviously poising themselves

  to leave if Zeck sat down there.

  “No, I’m not hungry,” said Zeck.

  Had he been crying? No. And what was with his hand? He

  kept it in a fist, but Dink could see that it had been injured. That

  there had been blood.

  “I just wanted to give you something,” said Zeck.

  He laid a stocking down on the table beside Wiggin’s tray.

  “Sorry it’s wet,” said Zeck. “I had to wash it.”

  “Toguro,” said Wiggin. “Now sit and eat.” He almost pushed

  Zeck down into the chair.

  It was the stocking that did it. Wiggin had given Zeck a gift—

  a Santa Claus gift, of all things—and Zeck had accepted it. Now

  Wiggin stood with his hands on Zeck’s shoulders, staring at each

  of the other Rat Army soldiers in turn, as if he was daring them

  to stand up and go.

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  329

  Edited by Bryan Thomas Schmidt

  Dink knew that if he got up, the others would too. But he

  didn’t get up, and the others stayed.

  “So I’ve got this poem,” said Dink. “It really sucks, but

  sometimes you just gotta say it to get it out of your system.”

  “We’ve just eaten, Dink,” said Flip. “Couldn’t you wait till

  our food is digested?”

  “No, this will be good for you,” said Dink. “Your food’s

  turning to shit right now, and this will help.”

  That got him a laugh, which bought him enough time to

  finish coming up with the rhymes he needed.

  “What do you do with Zeck?

  You want to break his neck.

  But I warn you not to try

  Cause Zeck’s too stubborn to die.”

  As poems go, it was pretty weak. But as a symbol of Dink’s

  decision that Zeck should be given another chance, well, it did

  the job. Between Wiggin’s stocking and Dink’s poem, Zeck had

  returned to his previous status: barely tolerated.

  Dink looked up at Wiggin, who was still standing behind

  Zeck, who now seemed to be eating with some appetite.

  “Merry Christmas,” Dink mouthed silently.

  Wiggin smiled.

  Orson Scott Card is the author of the novels Ender’s Game ,

  Ender’s Shadow , and Speaker for the Dead , which are widely

  read by adults and younger readers, and are increasingly used

  in schools. His most recent series, the young adult Pathfinder

  series ( Pathfinder , Ruins , Visitors ) and the fantasy Mithermages

  series ( Lost Gate , Gate Thief ) are taking readers in new

  directions. Besides these and other science fiction novels, Card

  writes contemporary fantasy ( Magic Street , Enchantment , Lost

  Boys ), biblical novels ( Stone Tables , Rachel and Leah ), the

  American frontier fantasy series, The Tales of Alvin Maker

  (beginning with Seventh Son ), poetry ( An Open Book ), and

  many plays and scripts.

  Card was born in Washington and grew up in California,

  Arizona, and Utah. He served a mission for the LDS Church in

  Brazil in the early 1970s. Besides his writing, he teaches

  occasional classes and workshops and directs plays. He

  frequently teaches writing and literature courses at Southern

  Virginia University. Card currently lives in Greensboro, North

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  Decision Points

  Carolina, with his wife, Kristine Allen Card, where his primary

  activities are writing a review column for the local Rhinoceros

  Times and feeding birds, squirrels, chipmunks, possums, and

  raccoons on the patio.

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  331

  C O P Y R I G H T N O T I C E S

  Introduction © 2016 Bryan Thomas Schmidt. Original to this

  volume.

  “Sisters (A Story of the Rot and Ruin)” ©2016 Jonathan

  Maberry Productions, LLC. Original to this volume.

  “Sankofa” ©2016 Nnedi Okorafor. Original to this volume.

  “The Prince of Artemis V” ©2010 Jennifer Brozek. Originally

  published in Crossed Genres Issue 15, February 2010

  “Aftermaths (A Vorkosigan Story)” ©1986 Lois McMaster

  Bujold. First published in Far Frontiers, Volume V, Spring

  1986.

  “Driving A Bargain” ©2002 Robert J. Sawyer. First published

  in Be Very Afraid! , edited by Edo Van Belkom, 2002.

  “My Father’s Eyes” ©2010 E.C. Myers. First published in

  Sybil's Garage No. 7, Senses Five Press, July 2010. This is its

  first anthology appearance.

  “Like a Thief in the Light” ©2015 Alethea Kontis. First

  published in Orson Scott Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show,

  November 2015. This is its first anthology and print

  appearance.

  “Clockwork Fagin” ©2013, Cordoc-Co LLC, Some Rights

  Reserved under a Creative Commons BY-SHAREALIKE-

  NO-DERIVATIVES 3.0 license.

  First

  published in

  Steampunk! , edited by Kelly Link and Gavin Grant.

  “Postcards” ©2005 Rebecca Moesta. First published in

  Gateways, edited by Martin H. Greenburg.

  Decision Points

  “The Outbreeders” ©1959, 1987 by Agberg, Ltd. Reprinted by

  permission of the author and Agberg, Ltd. First published in

  Fantastic Universe, Sept 1959.

  “Rivalry on the Sky Course (A Davi Rhii Story)” ©2011 Bryan

  Thomas Schmidt. Originally published in Residential Aliens,

  October 2011. This is its first print and anthology appearance.

  “An Echo in the Shell” ©2013 Beth L. Cato. First published in

  Waylines Magazine, January 2013.

  “The Milky Way Dance Hall” ©2016 Lou Antonelli. Original

  to this volume.

  “Blood and Water (A Spark Story)” ©2016 Kate Corcino.

  Original to this volume.

  “The Boy Who Yelled ‘Dragon’” ©2005 Mike Resnick.

  Originally published in Young Warriors, edited by Tamora

  Pearce and Josepha Sherman.

  “Newts” ©2006 Kevin J. Anderson. Originally published in

  Jim Baen’s Universe, 2006. This is its first anthology

  appearance.

  “Babydoll (A Lightbringer Tale)” ©2016 K.D. McEntire.

  Original to this volume.

  “Shade (A Jumper Story)” ©2008 Steven Gould. First

  published at Tor.Com August 2008. This is its first print

  anthology appearance.

  “Granted” ©2016 Jody Lynn Nye. Original to this volume.

  “The War of Gifts (An Ender Story)” ©2007 Orson Scott Card.

  First published in A War of Gifts, novella hardback, by Tor

  Books. This is its first anthology appearance, and the first in a

  form slightly abridged by the author.

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  333

  A B O U T T H E E D I T O R

  Bryan Thomas Schmidt is an author and Hugo-nominated

  editor of adult and children's spec
ulative fiction. His debut novel,

  The Worker Prince received Honorable Mention on Barnes &

  Noble Book Club's Year's Best Science Fiction Releases. His

  short stories have appeared in magazines, anthologies and online

  and include entries in The X-Files and Decipher's WARS,

  amongst others. His anthologies as editor include Shattered

  Shields with co-editor Jennifer Brozek, Mission: Tomorrow,

  Galactic Games, and Little Green Men—Attack! with Robin

  Wayne Bailey (forthcoming) all for Baen, Space Battles: Full

  Throttle Space Tales #6, Beyond The Sun, and Raygun

  Chronicles: Space Opera for a New Age. He can be found online

  at www.bryanthomasschmidt.net.

  I F Y O U L I K E D …

  If you liked Decision Points, you might also enjoy:

  The Worker Prince

  Bryan Thomas Schmidt

  Best of Penny Dread

  Quincy J. Allen and Kevin J. Anderson

  Launch Pad

  Jody Lynn Nye

  O T H E R W O R D F I R E P R E S S T I T L E S B Y

  B R Y A N T H O M A S S C H M I D T

  The Worker Prince

  Our list of other WordFire Press authors and titles is always growing.

  To find out more and to see our selection of titles, visit us at:

  wordfirepress.com

 

 

 


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