Beyond Now

By Andy McKell

A short-fiction cocktail transporting the reader through the realms of YA, space opera, horror, time travel, post-apocalyptic Earth, alien contact, fantasy, and the undefinable...
 
Stories to take you beyond the here and now:-

* A teenager recruited to save an alien race despite her greatest fears.

* A man alone in space fights to save his wife and child from a runaway asteroid.

* Dragon ships are destroying a planet's weather systems.

* A boy who yearns for the stars.

* Testing the Grandfather Paradox - to the extreme.

* ... and many more

• Language: English
• Publisher: Imaginary Friends Lux
• Release date: Dec 1, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386364641

Andy McKell

Andy was abducted by science fiction pulp magazines and fell in love with classic noir in his teens. After graduating, he worked in marketing, franchising, and computing in London and Luxembourg before launching his own web design company. In 2011, he sold the company and retired early to write, act, and travel.

Book preview

Beyond Now

Andy McKell

A collection of published short stories

- LEGALITIES & MENTIONS -

Copyright

© Andy McKell, as per each story’s first publication date.

Contact details: andymckell.com/feedback

Disclaimer

These stories are works of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Dedication

To the kind editors who chose my stories for their anthologies

Cover Design

Yvonne Less, Art 4 Artists https://www.art4artists.com.au

~ ~ ~

- OTHER WORKS -

As at April, 2024: Latest list here

Sign up to Andy’s Newsletter

https://andymckell.com/andys-newsletter

For notifications of new releases

bit.ly/NewNovels

Legends of the Imperium

(Empires rise and fall in space as on Earth)

Exodus

Revolt (coming soon)

Janus Paradisi Series

Faces of Janus: The Beginning

Janus: Final Flight

Janus Challenge: The Journey

Janus Arrival: Journey’s End

Bright Lights, Dark Lives

(Classic Noir Series)

Private Vices

Short Story Collections

Beyond Now

Galaxies and Fantasies

- WHAT, WHERE, WHEN -

All stories © Andy McKell, 2014-2018

For a full up-to-date list see: AndyMcKell.com/bibliography

A version of these stories first appeared as follows:-

Short Stories

Finspace

No Revolution Is Too Big: Helping Hands Press (May 8, 2014)

A Shepherd No More

Science Fiction Consortium: Jot Russell (Oct 22, 2014)

Dragon Ship

Final Ships In The Neighborhood: Prof. Limn Books (Nov 4, 2014)

Ascent

Visions of Leaving Earth: Lillicat Publishers (Dec 2, 2014)

My New Life

31 Days of October #1: CreateSpace (Sep 30, 2016)

Micro Fiction

Boyhood’s End

The Future Is Short: Lillicat Publishers (Jun 29, 2014)

Conservation

The Future Is Short: Lillicat Publishers (Jun 29, 2014)

Obsidian and Gold

Dangerous Days #4: Professor Limn Books (Sep 11, 2014)

In Other Hands

Dangerous Days #4: Professor Limn Books (Sep 11, 2014)

Exodus

The Future Is Short #2: Lillicat Publishers (Jun 11, 2015)

A Big Thing

The Future Is Short #2: Lillicat Publishers (Jun 11, 2015)

Then As Now

The Future Is Short #3: Lillicat Publishers (Jan 30, 2017)

Let The Children Sleep

Your Secret Library Online Magazine (Oct 20, 2018)

Bonus Features

Grandfather?

Winner LEAPA Play Contest, 2018

Grandfather?

Alternate ending

Let The Children Sleep

Original full version, unpublished

~ ~ ~

SHORT STORIES…

- FINSPACE -

Can you swim, G-4?

The question was addressed in a flat monotone to an Earth-human who lay asleep on a sofa in a room lit only by the flickering of a nearby TV screen.

To her own folk, this G-4 category creature was labeled, ‘Janie Lee.’

The words sounded distant through her deep slumbers. She had fallen asleep in front of the TV in her parents’ home. On the screen pranced a bunch of twenty-somethings pretending to be teenagers on some never-ending soap. Empty cereal boxes and food wrappings lay about. The fridge was stocked, and her folks were gone for the weekend. It was summer break. She was doing her best to make the most of it. Student heaven. All her cares had been far, far away.

Until now.

What? She stirred in her sleep.

Can you swim, G-4? When she didn’t respond, the voice asked, Let’s try, can you swim... human?

Janie sat bolt upright. There was someone in the room. In the middle of the night. She saw the outline of a person in the glare of the TV. The visitor seemed to glisten.

What? Janie repeated. She was not sure whether to be terrified or curious.

The visitor waved a hand, and the broadcast fell silent. I asked if you can swim, human. Are you deaf? You are not telepathic. How else can I communicate with such primitive peoples? The voice was flat, despite the implied irritation. It was somehow familiar as if once heard in a dream, long ago...

Janie bit her tongue to stop herself from saying ‘What?’ again. The question sounded stupid, even to her, and asking did not get an explanation. She tried another tack.

Who?

Goodness, human, we could play these games all night. I have contracts to fulfill, and it’s a big universe out there. Lots of contracts, lots of revolutions, and lots of G-4 swimmers.

Something—some tiny, tiny thing in the back recesses of her mind—rang a tiny bell. Revolutions?

That flat voice continued, "One human is as good as another. I believe you even have a name for it... now, what is it called? He put a gloved hand to his chin Oh, yes, ‘democracy,’ that’s it. It says you are all the same. Hence, any of you will do. But you performed within acceptable levels last time."

Janie squeezed her eyelids together. Last time?

Oh, wake up, human, the galaxy is spinning while we talk, and I haven’t much time.

It had been many years since Janie first heard that voice speaking of revolutions. She still possessed the business card that somehow had never faded or bent or become discolored. Its big, black lettering was reassuring in some way.

Stelfson, Rescue Broker

No Revolution Is Too Big

Yes, she still had that card. And the plastic toys Stelfson had left were still stored away in the loft. They were her reward for being small enough to clamber through a ventilation shaft and...

Janie opened her eyes and came awake. "Stelfson! Elf! You are my Elf. You made me steal a document. She bounded from the sofa like an excited puppy. You have to tell my Mom and Dad it was all true, what I told them."

No. He sounded a little ruffled. "My name is Stelfson. You recovered a highly important piece of military information which saved millions of Zamedian lives. I will not meet your parents." He stopped speaking in a manner that suggested the topic was now closed.

I remember now. It was because I was small enough to fit through the ventilation tubes.

She had been young. Without the pile of toys overflowing her bed in the morning, Janie would have thought the whole adventure had been nothing more than a dream. Her stories about an Elf and spaceships and green buttons just confused her parents. The doctor assured them she was not crazy. The police had not received a single report of a toy store being robbed in the local area. So they all agreed not to talk about the dream and the toys.

She hit the remote, and the room lit up. Sure enough, there stood the creature she remembered, Stelfson, in his silvery jumpsuit. He looked almost, but just not quite, human. The way he stood was also not quite right. He had not aged a day since the ventilation adventure even though that was years ago. That same streak of gray still touched his jet-black hair, and his eyes were still like pebbles made of empty space.

So. Can you swim? Stelfson was becoming agitated.

Yes, I can swim. Very well, in fact. She waved a hand, gesturing at the row of medals and trophies on the wall above the TV. Very well indeed.

Stelfson turned his head in an odd manner. It was as though it connected to his body differently than Janie’s. He looked around the room, his eyes not settling on the awards. He had no idea what the decorative objects on the wall were anyway, she figured. She felt a little queasy when she realized that his head had turned in a full circle.

I see, he said, seeing nothing. Then we have a deal.

A deal?

I shall explain as we travel. Now, step on the plasma grid, and let’s go.

Janie pondered his request for a moment.

Did I mean ‘step on the gas’? Anyway, let’s go.

She laughed to herself. Not a request. An order. Stelfson was not one for subtlety back then, and he hadn’t changed. Still, the thought of another adventure with him excited her. And really, how bad could it be? I’ll grab a warm coat and my swimming bag. She turned away as she spoke.

You will need nothing. I have a suit which will allow you to breathe underwater and enable you to communicate with my clients—and their oppressors. And it will keep out the toxins.

Then she stopped. She stood very still, a deep frown on her face. Toxins?

Oh, Stelfson made a dismissive gesture, nothing for us to worry about. As I said, the suit will protect you. You may keep it as part of your reward if you wish.

Janie thought for just a moment, then declared herself ready. Deep inside, she wondered why she was doing this; it was not just for a clever swimsuit. She also wondered where in the universe they would travel to, tonight. All she knew for sure was that it would be definitely very watery and certainly very exciting, and—she reminded herself—more than a bit dangerous, there being poisons in the water.

Stelfson nodded and waved a hand. The kitchen door opened. Outside, something shone bright enough to illuminate the entire garden.

The flood of light cut off as Stelfson approached the object. Her eyes