The Fifth Di... December 2014

By J Alan Erwine

The Fifth Di... brings you some of the best science fiction and fantasy available on the web. In this issue you'll find soldiers caught in a battle they can't understand, a character "haunted" by an unexpected duplicate, and a look at what might come at the end of the universe. Join Jennifer Rachel Baumer, Robin Wyatt Dunn, and Ian Brazee-Cannon on these wonderful adventures.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Nomadic Delirium Press
• Release date: Nov 29, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310498312

J Alan Erwine

J Erwine was born Oct. 15, 1969 in Akron, Ohio. Early in his life he was exposed to science, and specifically astronomy. From there on, J's passion turned to science fiction, a passion that's never died. Due to family issues, J eventually found himself in Denver, Colorado, where he still lives (well, right outside now.) From the time he could put subject and predicate together on paper, J has been writing stories. None of those early stories exist anymore (thankfully), but that passion for writing has never waned. After several years of rejection, the story Trek for Life was eventually sold to ProMart Writing Lab editor James Baker. It wasn't Asimov's, but it was a start. Since that time J has sold more than forty short stories to various small press publishers. In addition ProMart also published a short story collection of J's entitled Lowering One's Self Before Fate, and other stories, which is still available. ProMart also published a novel from J entitled The Opium of the People, which sold a few copies before going out of print. The relevance of the novel after the events of September 11th caused J to self-publish the novel, as he felt the story had a lot to say in the new reality we now find ourselves living in. Now, this same book has been re-released by Nomadic Delirium Press. Eventually J would become an editor with ProMart. Then, after the untimely death of ProMart editor James Baker, J would move on to ProMart's successor Sam's Dot Publishing. J also spends most of his time working as a freelance writer and editor. J's novel was voted a top ten finisher in the 2003 annual Preditors & Editors contest, and his short story The Galton Principle won a ProMart contest for best story over 5,000 words. In addition, a number of his stories have been voted "best of" in various issue of The Martian Wave and The Fifth DI… and have been included in Wondrous Web Worlds Vols. 2, 3, 4, and 6. In 2009, the Ephemeris Role Playing Game was released. J is the co-creator of this game, and has written numerous supplements for the game. J has now sold three novels and four short story collections, all of which are still available from various sources, including Smashwords. J currently lives with his amazing wife, three wonderful children, three cats, and a very quiet turtle.

Book preview

THE FIFTH DI…

December 2014

Edited by J Alan Erwine

Published by Nomadic Delirium Press at Smashwords

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Copyright 2014 by Nomadic Delirium Press

All stories and poems are copyrighted in the names of their respective authors

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any informational storage and retrieval system, without the written consent of the publisher, except by a reviewer who wishes to quote brief passes in connection with a review written for inclusion in a magazine, newspaper, broadcast, etc.

Nomadic Delirium Press

Aurora, Colorado

Table of Contents

Dispatches from the Past by Jennifer Rachel Baumer

Micky and Micky by Robin Wyatt Dunn

The End by Ian Brazee-Cannon

Dispatches from the Front

by Jennifer Rachel Baumer

Against the coming night, the mountains were the shapes of crows in flight. The desert shimmered with heat. Low, round foothills made ground shapes, silhouetted against the night. Cactus raised thick club arms against the brilliant, fading sky and arms reached up for help, fingers etched black against the oncoming twilight opened and curled. The dry hot air reeked of blood, thick and sweet.

Dark against the darkening sky, figures moved through the fallen. Bulky with armor, they carried standards, flags pale and limp in the early evening. They moved amongst the soldiers and the battlefield went still, a collective breath held. Against the dark, Dispatchers sought the living and those nearly dead. An arm rose, fingers seeking, the owner too far gone to know what he reached for. The dispatcher found him, towered over him. Raised the standard and drove the sharpened steel end into his chest. Three times. Definitely overkill. Once would have been enough. The boy fell back, gone, became low rubble indistinguishable on the dark desert floor,

lifeless as rock.

The Dispatchers moved on into the night.

Lynx started to pull back, pulling the spy eye out of the kill zone. She couldn't be hurt, so far away she might as well be on another planet, but the equipment could be damaged. Destroyed. Tracked back. That's why remote operators had to be fast and alert and good, able to get the cameras in and out unseen. It wasn't her job to get involved. The smells, the sounds, the broken, torn boys on the sand: None of that could matter. War was definitely a Big Picture kind of undertaking.

Just before she pulled