What If? A Collection of Short Fiction By J. Paul Cooper

By J. Paul Cooper

WHAT IF? A COLLECTION OF SHORT FICTION BY J. PAUL COOPER includes both previously published and new short stories by the author.
Science Fiction
"The Equation" is a story about a university professor who is targeted by an alien race because he discovers a working model of the light speed equation. "How Jason and George Saved the Earth" describes how a couple of drunk university students save the Earth from enslavement by an alien fleet, and have no idea what they have accomplished. "The Dinner Guest" tells of how a famous chef finds himself on the menu. "Erlok's Problem" describes how a student on a distant planet transports dangerous mining equipment to a teenager's birthday party. In "The Cold Climate Tourism Assignment," an alien is tasked with trying to determine if Canada is a good place for inter-galactic tourists to visit. "The National Resource Allocation Protocol" considers how dangerous it may be to allow artificial intelligence to make important decsions for humans.
Other Stuff
"A Singed Tail on Christmas Eve" tells the story of a fighther pilot who has a life changing encounter, after almost shooting down Santa's sleigh on Christmas Eve.In "The Poodle and the Golfer," an accountant finds his life threatened, because he hurts the paw of a dog that belongs to the wife of a crime boss.

• Language: English
• Publisher: J. Paul Cooper
• Release date: May 22, 2016
• ISBN: 9781311893451

J. Paul Cooper

J. Paul Cooper has a Bachelor of Arts (Political Science) and is a Member of the Writers' Guild of Alberta. He has been writing for over twenty years. His articles, essays and short stories have been published in newspapers, magazines, print anthologies, and online literary journals. He has also written several unproduced screenplays. J Paul Cooper has also created a blog to encourage new writers; Writing: Your Voice, Your Passion. www.jpaulcoooper.wordpress.com.

Book preview

What If?

A Collection of Short Fiction

By J. Paul Cooper

Copyright 2016 By J. Paul Cooper

Copyright registered with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office

The Equation was first published in Next Stop Hollywood: Short Stories Bound for the Screen, St. Martin’s Griffin. (2007)

How Jason and George Saved the Earth was first published by www.Pages of Stories.com (April 2010)

The Dinner Guestwas first published in Canadian Tales of the Fantastic Volume 1, Red Tuque Books(2011)

The Poodle and the Golfer was first published by The Maple Tree Literary Supplement www.mtls.ca Issue # 20 (November 2015)

All characters in these short stories are fictional, any resemblence to persons alive or deceased is purely coincidental.

Smashwords Edition, License Notes: Thank-you for downloading this ebook. This book remains the copyrighted property of the author and may not be redistributed to others for commercial or non-commerical purposes. If you enjoyed this book, please encourage your friends to download their own copy from their favorite authorized retailer. Thank-you for your support.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Science Fiction

The Equation

How Jason and George Saved the Earth

The Dinner Guest

Erlok’s Problem

The Cold Climate Tourism Assignment

The National Resource Allocation Protocol

Other Stuff

A Singed Tail on Christmas Eve

The Poodle and the Golfer

About the Author

Introduction

For a writer, a story idea is like a marble rattling around in a tin can. You aren’t going to find any relief until you write the story. Before you’ve finished writing the first story, however, you’ll have several new ideas. The rattling in your head never really stops; all you can do is start working on the next project and hopefully keep the rattling in your skull down to a manageable volume level.

I hope that you enjoy reading this selection of short stories. If after you’ve read a story you either hate or love the characters, then I’ve done my job as a writer.

J. Paul Cooper

May 2016

The Equation

Professor George Anderson hung up the phone and looked out his office window. He watched students walking across the campus, and wondered how the news he had just received would change their lives. He had finally been invited to present his research on light-speed travel at a prestigious science conference.

In one month he would be standing in front of scientists from around the world at the conference in Los Angeles. By the end of the speech, they would either consider him a genius or an idiot from Canada.

He’d told himself a thousand times that it didn’t matter what others thought, but he knew it wasn’t true. He wanted to be recognized as the scientist who discovered light-speed travel. He wanted to be there when the first light-speed vessel left earth’s orbit to explore the galaxy and beyond. Perhaps he could arrange for the first light-speed vessel to begin its historic voyage on a Tuesday at 8:15 PM. It was 8:15 PM on a Tuesday evening when the theory first began to take shape in a karate class.

Sensei Johnson was talking about how to deliver devastating power with a reverse punch. Even if you were running towards your opponent, your feet had to make contact with the floor, but only for the instant when the fist started moving towards the target. Shoulder muscles had to be tense enough to producer power, but fluid enough to allow lightning-fast delivery of the technique. It was all about balance and flow, using the natural movement of the body to transfer kinetic energy to the target.

Professor Anderson was convinced that light-speed travel involved plotting a course so that a vessel continued moving through one planet’s gravitational field to the next in a constant slingshot action. The vessel would be close enough to use the force of a planet’s gravitational field, without being drawn toward the surface. Properly timed bursts of energy from a rocket or fusion engine would maintain the slingshot process, until the final destination was reached.

He looked at his watch and realized that he was going to be late for his next class. He grabbed his briefcase and rushed out of the office, slamming the door behind him. When the Professor arrived at the classroom, he was breathing heavily from running across campus. He walked over to the podium, grinning from ear to ear, and began laughing. He had no other way to express his emotions. Years of self-doubt had instantly faded away.

He took a moment to calm down before he addressed his students, because he always stuttered when he spoke too quickly. It was simple a case of letting the mouth catch up with the brain.

Professor Anderson relaxed and smiled at the confused students. Just in case you think a case of insanity might get you out of writing your final exam, you’re out of luck. I want to state for the record that I am perfectly sane.

Several students responded with nervous laughs, others stared in silence.

Several years go I began developing a theory of light-speed travel, but no one was willing to listen. I’ve lost count of how many rejection letters have been mailed to me by the editors of academic journals around the world. A few minutes ago, that all changed. I have been invited to present my theory of light-speed travel at a science conference in Los Angeles.

Irzak Sullar, President of the Thorzalene Planetary Council looked out the conference room window at the busy streets of the capitol city. In the distance she could see the Monument to the Ancestors at the gates of Thorzalene City Park. Naturally, the monument was a statue of a deep-space freighter captain. Thorzalene was not rich in natural resources, so it’s prosperity was due to the skills of the officers and crews of the inter-galactic merchant fleet. Now, because of one human’s discovery, it appeared a new trade route would be opened to the planet Earth. The problem was it threatened to draw trade away from Thorzalene.

The President glanced at her reflection in the window and wondered how a human would react to her appearance. Like other Thorzalenes, she had light grey skin, red eyes and no exterior formation for auditory organs. White hair formed a triangle on her forehead, with the tip starting at the bridge of her nose. As it reached the top of her forehead, her hair became red and then became grey as it flowed over her shoulders. She held up her hands and tried to comprehend what it would be like to have two less digits on each.

The President turned to face her cabinet ministers seated around a large, oval conference table of polished metal. Are you absolutely sure that he knows?

The Minister of Military Operations pointed a small device at the wall opposite the table, and a large screen appeared. On one side of the screen was an e-mail message sent by Professor Anderson to a colleague at another university. On the other side was the translation in Thorzalene: I’ll see you at the West coast conference. The title of my presentation is called ‘A Theory of Light-Speed Travel.’

Normally, began the Minister, any mention of light-speed travel by humans is ignored. It’s nothing but harmless speculation about the future. However, because of the potential impact that the development of light-speed travel might have on our planet, our long-range scanners are programmed to search for the Light-Speed Equation in all human electronic media. Our scanners have detected The Light-Speed equation stored on Professor George Anderson’s computer at the university where he teaches, and on the computer at his residence.

"We could destroy the data on his computers, but that won’t solve our problem. He has the Light-Speed Equation memorized. If we are