Written by John Victor Peterson
The Lightning's Course
by John Victor PetersonIt was only a robot, tiny, chubby, for all the universe like a Ganymedean monkey. It stood in the dark old mansion alone, stiff, immovable. Its pink, bewhiskered, rubberoid face seemed twisted with abject loneliness.... Aye, it stood alone and lonely, as if awaiting the return of its master—The song pulsed in a vibrant, ominous cadence through the ..
Lie on the Beam
by John Victor PetersonSweeping from perihelion, the black destroyer curved toward the gibbous white ball of Venus, its jets stabbing mocking fingers at the majesty of the sun whose clutching gravity it had cheated. Within the heavily shielded control cabin, the hard skull-face of the commander split into a fleshless smile. Back on dead sea bottoms the word had been but ..