When high school student Ernesto Suarez wins the Lamplighter Prize for Best Amateur Space Blog he finds himself thrust into the heart of a hidden conspiracy that will forever change the course of human space exploration.
This short story is the 2013 grand prize winner in the James Patrick Baen Memorial Writing Contest sponsored by Baen Books and the National Space Society.
A dozen of the best young spellcasters in the land. The heir to the throne, determined to beat them all. And Maddy Dune, a half-human enchanter who'll settle for getting through the competition without killing anyone.
This story was first published in L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Volume 27.
The Book says she's supposed to search for any survivors. Check. One survivor, armed and dangerous.
The Book says she's supposed to classify any survivors as friendly or hostile. Check. He's a friendly. Sort of.
The Book says she's supposed to kill any survivors. Kill him especially if he's a friendly.
She's beginning to have a bit of a problem with the Book.
A man on the move, without a past, without a future. An unwanted package bearing police reports, disturbing photographs, hints of escalation. And a handwritten plea in a lady's delicate hand, a summoning invocation Merlin Thorn dare not refuse. "Come home."
Forced to defend his position on Ace Cola, ninth-grader Rob Stangle hands off the task to his alter ego, the imaginary author Cliff Stone. Cliff will stop at nothing to get at the truth, barreling headlong toward a confrontation that will shake the foundation of Rob's world, tearing loose on a meta-fictional voyage of discovery into the heart of a strange mystery Rob doesn't dare face alone.
A blind harper; harsh tongued, hot blooded, bearing a grudge that could spark a war. A merciless judge; discarded, exiled, determined to see the Queen's law enforced to the letter. And Daniel Duncanava; a mild man who must stop their war of words before it ignites a hidden powder keg that will divide his family, shackle his nation, and ravage the future of the world.
A curse followed the Keane family to America and only young Matty Keane can lift it - if he dares. A mysterious uncle from Ireland. A magic fiddle. And a dark secret from beyond the grave that will destroy a family — or save it. Old magic and traditional Irish music entwine as Matty Keane fights to rescue the future from the sins of the past - before it's too late.