Eric Flint's 1632 & Beyond Issue #4: Eric Flint's 1632 & Beyond, #5

By 1632 and Beyond

1632verse:  "Fire on the Mountain" by Bjorn Hasseler came from a 2023 gathering in Mannington, WV, the model for Grantville. A real case combined with discussions about 1632 refugee housing led to this story. "A Knight's Tale-Therapies" by Edith Wild is the third story about Amalia and Maggie, first met in "A Christmas Stollen" (A 1632 Christmas) and again in "Leftovers," in Grantville Gazette 100. Odd things have been occurring. "Another Country Heard From" by Jack Carroll fills in some gaps. In 1637: The Coast of Chaos, a certain Dutch radio was very important. Jack asked how the Dutch got to that point, and this story is his answer.

 

Assiti Shards: Iver P. Cooper brings us an Alexander Inheritance story: "Birds of the Muses" in which Melissa, a Queen of the Seas passenger, uses her beekeeping skills.

 

Editor's Notes: Issue 1 began with a story by Jody Lynn Nye, taken from an upcoming 1632 novel set in England. Issue 2 has a story by Gorg Huff and Paula Goodlett tying in with 1638: The Sovereign States. Robert E. Waters, coauthor of 1637: The Transylvanian Decision, had the first story in Issue 3. My co-editors informed me I was on deck for this issue, since my books formerly with Ring of Fire Press are in the process of being republished by Baen Books. I think we will keep to this pattern for a while.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Flint's Shards Inc.
• Release date: Feb 29, 2024
• ISBN: 9781962398060

Book preview

1632 & Beyond Issue 4

1632 and Beyond, Iver P. Cooper, Jack Carroll, Edith Wild, Bjorn Hasseler

Flint's Shards Inc.

ERIC FLINT'S 1632 & BEYOND ISSUE #4

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters places, and events portrayed in this book are fictional or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to real people (living or dead), events, or places is coincidental.

Editor-in-Chief Bjorn Hasseler

Editor and Webmaster Bethanne Kim

Editor Chuck Thompson

Cover Artwork by Garrett W. Vance

Art Director Garrett W. Vance

1. Science Fiction-Alternate History

2. Science Fiction-Time Travel

Copyright © 2023-2024 Flint's Shards Inc.

All rights reserved, including the right to copy, reproduce and distribute this book, or portions thereof, in any form.

eBook ISBN: 978-1-962398-06-0

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-962398-07-7

Distributed by Flint's Shards Inc.

339 Heyward Street, #200

Columbia, SC 29201

More 1632 Universe Books

1 632 by Eric Flint created the universe. Free download available at Baen.com/1632.html.

Short-List of Titles to Jump into the Series (available through Baen.com and other booksellers):

Ring of Fire anthology edited by Eric Flint

1633 and 1634: The Baltic War Eric Flint and David Weber

Also Available:

Grantville Gazette Volumes 1 – 102 (magazine) available on 1632Magazine.com

1632 Universe novels and Eric Flint, Ring of Fire Series on Baen.com

Recently Released:

Security Threats Bjorn Hasseler

An Angel Called Peterbilt Eric Flint, Gorg Huff, and Paula Goodlett

Missions of Security Bjorn Hasseler

A Matter of Security Bjorn Hasseler

A Diogenes Club for the Czar Gorg Huff and Paula Goodlett

Forthcoming:

Odd numbered months: New issues of Eric Flint's 1632 & Beyond

Security Solutions Bjorn Hasseler (April 2, 2024)

Ongoing: Baen is re-releasing select 1632 books originally released by Eric Flint's Ring of Fire Press, starting with Bjorn Hasseler's NESS books. Please check the Baen.com e-arc bundles and new releases regularly!

Key Points

Timeline

April 2, 2000/May 25, 1631 - The Ring of Fire transports Grantville, West Virginia, to Thuringia during the Thirty Years War.

December 1635 - Allied naval forces clash with the Spanish in the Battle of Vieques off Puerto Rico.

April 1636 - Allied naval forces intercept the Spanish flota on its inbound leg.

April–August, 1636 - The Challenger cruises down the coast of North America, stopping in the various colonies.

May 14–15, 1636 - The Battle of Zolling is Third Division's major action in the war with Bavaria.

July 1636 - The Battle of Vienna - The Ottoman Empire attacks the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

July 1636 - The USE hold elections.

August 1636 - Ed Piazza takes office as Prime Minister of the USE.

September 1636 - Forces of the Central Europe Treaty Organization (MEVO) clash with Ottoman forces near Steyregg in a battle with air, riverine, and land components.

September 23, 1636 - The Danish airship Royal Anne sets out for India.

October 6, 1636 - The Royal Anne returns to Copenhagen from India.

October 12, 1636 - The new royal governor arrives in New Amsterdam.

October, 1636 - Mike Stearns sends Jeff Higgins and the Hangman Regiment to reinforce Gretchen's army in Breslau, Lower Silesia.

December, 1636 - The Allied fleet clashes with the Spanish off St. Maarten.

Terms, Concepts, and Groups of People

Committees of Correspondence (CoC) - Organized to spread up-time ideals; leaders include Gretchen Richter, Gunter Achterhof, and Joachim von Thierbach (Spartacus).

United States of Europe - Successor to the CPE, although it is a nation rather than a confederation, formed October 1633.

Contents

Introduction

Magdeburg Messenger

1632 Fiction

1.Fire On The Mountain

1. Bjorn Hasseler

2.A Knight’s Tale—Therapies

2. Edith Wild

3.Another Country Heard From

3. Jack Carroll

Assiti Shards

Alexander Inheritance

4.The Birds of the Muses

4. Iver P. Cooper

News & New Books

1632Con, Available Now, and Coming Soon

1632Con

April 19-21, 2024

Available Now

Security Threats, An Angel Called Peterbilt, Missions of Security, A Matter of Security, A Diogenes Club for the Czar

Coming Soon

Security Solutions

Connect with Eric Flint's 1632 & Beyond

Introduction

The Magdeburg Messenger

(1632 Fiction)

F ire on the Mountain by Bjorn Hasseler comes out of last year's gathering in Mannington, West Virginia. Mannington is the model for Grantville. It's partly inspired by an actual case we were told about and partly by recent discussions about the refugee housing in Grantville.

A Knight's Tale—Therapies by Edith Wild is the third story about Amalia and Maggie. We first met them in A Christmas Stollen in A 1632 Christmas. We saw them again in Leftovers, in Grantville Gazette 100. If you've been following along, you know odd things have been occurring.

Another Country Heard From by Jack Carroll is an example of filling in the gaps. In 1637: The Coast of Chaos, a certain Dutch radio was very important. Jack asked himself how the Dutch got to that point, and this story is his answer.

The Assiti Shards

Iver P. Cooper brings us a story set in the Alexander Inheritance universe: Birds of the Muses. Melissa, one of the passengers on the Queen of the Seas, is a beekeeper.

Editor's Notes

Issue 1 began with a story by Jody Lynn Nye, taken from an upcoming 1632 novel set in England. Issue 2 has a story by Gorg Huff and Paula Goodlett tying in with their 1638: The Sovereign States. Robert E. Waters, who co-wrote 1637: The Transylvanian Decision, had the first story in Issue 3. My co-editors informed me I was on deck for this issue, since my books formerly with Ring of Fire Press are in the process of being republished by Baen Books. I think we will keep to this pattern for a while.

Magdeburg Messenger

1632 Fiction

Flint's Shards Inc.

image-placeholder

Fire On The Mountain

Bjorn Hasseler

This story takes place between chapters six and seven of Security Threats, the third NESS novel (available on Baen.com). It is also a sequel to Clique, Clique, Boom ( Grantville Gazette 82).

Calvert Hill

Tuesday, May 8, 1635

When the three o'clock bell rang, Amalia Ramsenthalerin packed up her books and papers and joined the exodus of students streaming out the front doors of Grantville High School. She turned left. At the end of the building, she turned left again, cutting between the main high school building and the auditorium. Neatly laid boards on the ground bridged a shallow drainage culvert.

Just a few steps beyond, a narrow passage between the woods and the girls’ softball field rose steeply. Not long after the Ring of Fire had deposited Grantville in Thuringia, volunteers had built stairs into this slope. Once it reached the level of the softball field, the hillside spread out for hundreds of feet, and the steps were wide enough to accommodate several people at once.

Amalia felt that having gym class three days a week was unnecessary for students who lived in the Calvert Hill dorms. Admittedly, there was an easier path—even paved most of the way—but it circled the tennis courts and part of the track. It took at least twice as long to get to her dorm that way.

The first building she came to was a small square office. Volunteers still met with newly arrived refugees there, but immigration to Grantville had shifted from people seeking protection to people seeking work, an education, or medical treatment.

The first of the long, narrow log buildings began just feet from the office. Hermann Pfuster lived in the first unit. He was the mayor of Calvert Hill. Not legally, Amalia knew, but practically speaking, he was their contact with the high school administration and janitorial staff as well as the city. He also settled disputes, and many of the students preferred to take those to him rather than to the dorm parents.

Amalia reached her dorm. The students called it a cabin, even though it was only one part of a long building divided into several sections. She shared this one with five other girls. Maria, Justina, and Margaretha were fellow high school students. Anna and Sophie were in middle school and Maria and Justina's sisters respectively.

Justina and Margaretha were already at the door, reading something tacked there. It could be anything from a note left by another student to their dorm mother's instructions, although Frau Elisabetha usually left those inside on the table.

Justina was a tall, dark-haired girl. She moved through life with a poise that made her seem like more than a shopkeeper's daughter, but Justina was such a nice person that Amalia couldn't hold that against her. Margaretha was shorter and stockier. While an up-timer might consider her heavy, Alicia, like most down-timers, tended to categorize her as prosperous enough to eat well. Which might be true on the weekends, she reflected, but Margaretha ate what they all ate during the week.

"'Tag, fräuleins."

Justina and Margaretha both jumped at Amalia's greeting.

Shh!

Amalia saw that Justina didn't look composed at all, and Margaretha appeared downright scared.

What is it?

Justina worked the tack loose and took the sheet of paper down. She unlocked the door and ushered the others inside.

What is going on? Amalia asked.

Justina flipped the switch for the overhead light, then closed the door.

You should lock that, Margaretha told her.

Sophie, Maria, and Anna aren't here yet, Justina pointed out.

What does that notice say? Amalia asked.

Justina handed it to her. The words were German, and they were handwritten and loopy. Little splashes of ink marked the page.

Uppity commoners should mind their stations or there will be consequences. They should leave Grantville.

Amalia dropped the note on the table.

I think it is a prank, Justina said. A cruel one, to be sure, but do not let it scare you.

Amalia was touched that Justina was trying to calm her when she'd looked so upset herself, just moments before. Then she shook her head. "Nein, that is not why I dropped it. We must give this to Barbara Kellarmännin and Georg Meisner tomorrow. They will know what to do. But do not touch it further, in case Georg can learn something from it."

Why them? Justina asked. I know who they are. They are both in the university track. What can they do about it?

"They work for the polizei," Amalia replied.

What? Justina asked.

How is that possible? Margaretha asked.

They help with investigations. Amalia shrugged. I do not understand all of it, but I am sure they can explain.

"If we tell them, will we not be 'in trouble' with the polizei?" Justina asked.

"Nein. They're 'cool.' Barbara is the one who rescued Alicia."

Oh! There were notes then, too, Margaretha recalled.

That is why I want Barbara and Georg to see this, Amalia agreed. I did not see those notes myself. I let people scare me away from Alicia.

Justina cocked her head. It cannot have been for long, since the two of you seem to be best friends now.

I felt bad about it, but Alicia was trying to push all of us away to protect us. Amalia felt her expression harden. "This note feels like those sent to her. I do not mean it was the same people, but it feels the same."

To put us in what used to be our place, Justina supplied.

"Ja."

Someone knocked on the door. Justina jumped up from the table to unlock it. Her sister Sophie and their roommate Anna were waiting.

Why was the door locked? Sophie asked.

Come, sit down. We have something to show you, Justina said.

They repeated everything for the junior high girls, then had to go over it a third time when Maria came home after band practice.

By then, Amalia was tired of the whole thing. We can tell Barbara and Georg about it tomorrow. Come, we have time to straighten up before dinner. You know how Frau Elisabetha likes to check our quarters while we are at dinner.

Sophie and Anna groaned. In their minds, Frau Elisabetha was a little too devoted to The Rules and was certainly not above making spot checks before a more formal inspection Friday afternoon.

Amalia tuned out their grumbling. Ja, Elisabetha was a little too intense. Ja, once they were adults with their own households they could (and almost certainly would) hire servants. She'd cleaned house herself before the Ring of Fire dropped Grantville next door to Schwarzburg and opened up educational opportunities her home town hadn't even dreamed of. She'd happily crammed English, math, science, and everything else she could take at the high school.

Everyone seemed to think it was about the science. The math was to make the science work, and the English to talk to the people teaching the science. But the girls had their eyes set on the business track. They were going to be burghers’ wives, not servants. Increasingly, that had become and maybe go into business myself, on the