Carbide Tipped Pens Read online

  Visit him on the Web at www.aerospacewriter.ca.

  COPYRIGHT ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Preface copyright © 2014 by Eric Choi

  “The Blue Afternoon that Lasted Forever” copyright © 2014 by Daniel H. Wilson

  “A Slow Unfurling of Truth” copyright © 2014 by Aliette de Bodard

  “Thunderwell” copyright © 2014 by Doug Beason

  “The Circle” copyright © 2014 by Liu Cixin

  “Old Timer’s Game” copyright © 2014 by Ben Bova

  “The Snows of Yesteryear” copyright © 2014 by Jean-Louis Trudel

  “Skin Deep” copyright © 2014 by Leah Petersen and Gabrielle Harbowy

  “Lady with Fox” copyright © 2014 by Gregory Benford

  “Habilis” copyright © 2014 by Howard V. Hendrix

  “The Play’s the Thing” copyright © 2013 by Cryptic, Inc. Originally published in La Salle Magazine

  “Every Hill Ends with Sky” copyright © 2014 by Robert Reed

  “She Just Looks that Way” copyright © 2014 by Eric Choi

  “SIREN of Titan” copyright © 2014 by David DeGraff

  “The Yoke of Inauspicious Stars” copyright © 2014 by Kate Story

  “Ambiguous Nature” copyright © 2014 by Carl Frederick

  “The Mandelbrot Bet” copyright © 2014 by Dirk Strasser

  “Recollection” copyright © 2014 by Nancy Fulda

  This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in these stories are either products of the authors’ imaginations or are used fictitiously.

  CARBIDE TIPPED PENS: SEVENTEEN TALES OF HARD SCIENCE FICTION

  Copyright © 2014 by Ben Bova and Eric Choi

  All rights reserved.

  Cover design by FORT

  Cover art by Getty Images

  A Tor Book

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  The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.

  ISBN 978-0-7653-3430-5 (hardcover)

  ISBN 978-1-4668-1019-8 (e-book)

  e-ISBN 9781466810198

  First Edition: December 2014

  * In accordance with Chinese custom, Mr. Liu Cixin’s name is written in the order of surname followed by given name. This story is adapted from an excerpt from Liu Cixin’s novel The Three-Body Problem.

  * This story is set during the Warring States Period, when China was divided into several independent states: Qin, Qi, Chu, Wei, Zhao, Yan, and Han. King Zheng of Qin would eventually conquer the other six states and unify China under the Qin Dynasty. He is known more familiarly as Qin Shihuang, the First Emperor of China.

  * For the benefit of English readers, Chinese measurement units (such as li, zhang, chi, cun) throughout the text have been translated and converted into approximate English equivalents.

  * One of the four great generals of King Zheng’s campaigns against the other six states. The historical Wang Jian was responsible for the destruction of the states of Yan (where Jing Ke was from), Zhao, and Chu.