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The breeze off San Francisco Bay was cold and dank.  James Chalmers still had his laboratory windows well open, with his laboratory hood drawing maximum draft.  Working behind lab coat, gloves, dust mask, and smock cap he was still adequately … Continue reading →

&&&&& The air circulators on the pinnace Hiram Percy Maxim provided the softest background noise to the conversation between Gabriel Smith and his senior officers. They had all been taken aback by the sumptuous splendor of what was supposedly a … Continue reading →

Winston shrugged and raised his hands in surrender. “No progress,” he said slowly. “Folks at Berkeley say I found two new minerals, not part of my job. They say the minerals contain three new chemical elements, also not part of … Continue reading →

The four junior officers all looked at their belt-comps.  “Yes, sir,” Pavel Vladimirovitch said. “Two in the afternoon.” “That seems remarkably late,” Smith answered, “but I suppose there must be yet another difference in your customs.” “Usually we’d start at … Continue reading →

Winston Cooper strode into the Sheriff’s office, waving a newspaper in one hand. A glance at the wall clock confirmed that he was on time. Grand-dad Radnor Cooper came in at six in the morning, took a break for lunch, … Continue reading →

She, Smith thought, had been his fourth companion at dinner, had politely asked a pair of extremely sensible questions of him, directed to understanding the internal politics of the Anglic Union, but had not been very informative when asked questions … Continue reading →

At the final remark, Chalmers felt a great sense of relief. He thought he had put together all the evidence, made sure it was all consistent, and reached his conclusion. But here was a new piece of evidence, which he … Continue reading →

“You are from very far away,” Chiang said, “and doubtless have very different customs than we do, but the answer is that there is a bidding process, in which the ship officer who wishes to be in an especially favorable … Continue reading →

“I’m James Chalmers.  My title today is ‘An Anomalous Mineral from the Arizona Blasted Heath.’  I know it’s traditional to start with conclusions, and then give the data supporting it, but I’d rather have my data considered before I give … Continue reading →

“Yes, battle choreography,” Tuan answered.  “Battle choreography, the step-by-step plan of how our ships move and what damage they take, before we carry out the choreography to give the press some colorful images.  Don’t you barbarians know anything?” Smith contemplated … Continue reading →