Federations

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Many thanks to the following:

Sean Wallace and Stephen Segal, my commanding officers at Starfleet Command Prime Books, for assigning me to this mission and laying out the course for me. Also, to Dainis Bisenicks, for making a few course corrections along the way.

Gordon Van Gelder, the Yoda to my Luke Skywalker. Wise he is, in the ways of editing.

Agent Jenny Rappaport, my Ackbar, who shouts “It’s a trap!” when appropriate.

Jordan Hamessley, the Ender Wiggin to my Mazer Rackham, who reviews my battle plans and points out my mistakes. She will destroy us all someday if we’re not careful.

Haris Durani and Rebecca McNulty, my young padawans. The Force is strong in these two.

My Parental Unit, for the dream, and helping me realize it.

The NYC Rebel Alliance—consisting of Christopher M. Cevasco (C-3P0), Douglas E. Cohen (R2-D2), David Barr Kirtley (Chewbacca), Andrea Kail (Leia), and Rob Bland (Han Solo), among others (i.e., the NYCGP Rebel Reserves).

The Quorum, who I turned to when I needed sage advice or assistance: Ellen Datlow, Mike Resnick, Jonathan Strahan, Vaughne Lee Hansen, Ross Lockhart, Kathleen Bellamy, Ty Franck, Steven Silver, and to anyone else I’ve neglected to think of.

And last but not least: the writers who either wrote original stories for this book, or otherwise allowed me to include their stories. For you lot, there’s no comparison.

ABOUT THE EDITOR

John Joseph Adams is the editor of the anthologies Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse, Seeds of Change, and The Living Dead. Forthcoming work includes the anthologies By Blood We Live, The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, and The Living Dead 2. He is also the assistant editor at The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction.

He has written reviews for Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Weekly, and Orson Scott Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show, and his non-fiction has also appeared in: Amazing Stories, The Internet Review of Science Fiction, Locus Magazine, Novel & Short Story Writers Market, Science Fiction Weekly, SCI FI Wire, Shimmer, Strange Horizons, Subterranean Magazine, and Writer’s Digest.

He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in English from The University of Central Florida in December 2000. He currently lives in New Jersey.

PERMISSIONS

“Mazer in Prison” by Orson Scott Card. © 2005 Orson Scott Card. Originally published in Intergalactic Medicine Show, October 2005. Reprinted by permission of the author.

“Carthago Delenda Est” by Genevieve Valentine. © 2009 Genevieve Valentine.

“Life-Suspension” by L. E. Modesitt, Jr. © 2009 L. E. Modesitt, Jr.

“Terra-Exulta” by S. L. Gilbow. © 2009 S. L. Gilbow.

“Aftermaths” by Lois McMaster Bujold. © 1986 Lois McMaster Bujold. Originally published in Far Frontiers, Volume V, Spring 1986. Reprinted by permission of the author.

“Someone is Stealing the Great Throne Rooms of the Galaxy” by Harry Turtledove. © 2006 Harry Turtledove. Originally published in Space Cadets. Reprinted by permission of the author.

“Prisons” by Kevin J. Anderson and Doug Beason. © 1992 Kevin J. Anderson and Doug Beason. Originally published in Amazing Stories. Reprinted by permission of the authors.

“Different Day” by K. Tempest Bradford. © 2009 K. Tempest Bradford.

“Twilight of the Gods” by John C. Wright. © 2009 John C. Wright.

“Warship” by George R. R. Martin and George Guthridge. © 1979 George R. R. Martin and George Guthridge. Originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. Reprinted by permission of the authors.

“Swanwatch” by Yoon Ha Lee. ©2009 Yoon Ha Lee.

“Spirey and the Queen” by Alastair Reynolds. © 1996 Alastair Reynolds. Originally published in Interzone. Reprinted by permission of the author.

“Pardon Our Conquest” by Alan Dean Foster. © 2009 Thranx, Inc.

“Symbiont” by Robert Silverberg. © 1985 Agberg, Ltd. Originally published in Playboy. Reprinted by permission of the author.

“The Ship Who Returned” by Anne McCaffrey. © 1999 Anne McCaffrey. First appeared in Far Horizons. Reprinted by permission of the author and the Virginia Kidd Agency, Inc.

“My She” by Mary Rosenblum. © 2009 Mary Rosenblum.

“The Shoulders of Giants” by Robert J. Sawyer. © 2000 Robert J. Sawyer. Originally published in Star Colonies. Reprinted by permission of the author.

“The Culture Archivist” by Jeremiah Tolbert. © 2009 Jeremiah Tolbert.

“The Other Side of Jordan” by Allen Steele. © 2009 Allen M. Steele.

“Like They Always Been Free” by Georgina Li. © 2009 Georgina Li.

“Eskhara” by Trent Hergenrader. © 2009 Trent Hergenrader.

“The One with the Interstellar Group Consciousnesses” by James Alan Gardner. © 2009 James Alan Gardner.

“Golubash, or Wine-Blood-War-Elegy” by Catherynne M. Valente. © 2009 Catherynne M. Valente.

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FOOTNOTES

1

Let me explain the Talus. In short, it’s a loose alliance of the Milky Way’s starfaring races—or at least those who’ve built starbridges—formed to promote diplomacy, trade, and cultural exchange. Sort of a galactic club, so to speak, with humankind as the members who’ve only recently paid their dues.