{"id":2597,"date":"2013-08-23T08:00:47","date_gmt":"2013-08-23T13:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.revolutionsf.com\/revblogs\/geekcurmudgeon\/?p=2597"},"modified":"2013-08-20T09:02:42","modified_gmt":"2013-08-20T14:02:42","slug":"rayguns-over-texas-preview-sanford-allen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.revolutionsf.com\/revblogs\/geekcurmudgeon\/2013\/08\/23\/rayguns-over-texas-preview-sanford-allen\/","title":{"rendered":"Rayguns Over Texas preview: Sanford Allen"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Cover<\/a>

Cover by Rocky Kelley<\/p><\/div>\n

As we barrel toward the August 29 premiere of\u00a0Rayguns Over Texas\u00a0<\/em><\/a>at\u00a0LoneStarCon 3<\/a>\u00a0(aka the 71st Annual World Science Fiction Convention) in San Antonio, I am presenting book excerpts, one contributor per day.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s selection comes from\u00a0Sanford Allen<\/a>‘s “Pet Rock.”<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The crew of the Carpathia transport a\u00a0strange rock, whose secret rattles even\u00a0the most experienced space travelers.<\/p>\n

A\u00a0crash, metal on metal, jarred Noor awake. She pulled on her\u00a0jumpsuit and stumbled into the hall.<\/p>\n

Kirby and the captain stood in their open cabin doors.<\/p>\n

\u201cScience bay?\u201d Kirby, shirtless, blinked his eyes, adjusting to the\u00a0hall lights. \u201cThat where it came from?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSounded closer,\u201d Xiu said. \u201cThis deck, I think.\u201d<\/p>\n

The captain pounded on Palacios\u2019 door. \u201cYou in there?\u201d<\/p>\n

No response.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou think she went down to the lab?\u201d Noor asked, rubbing sleep\u00a0from her eyes. She took a few steps toward the ladder well to the lower\u00a0deck.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt 3 a.m.?\u201d Xiu pounded the door again and got no response.<\/p>\n

The captain slid his entry card into the panel. The door hissed\u00a0open and he stumbled back, jaw hanging like someone had punched\u00a0him in the stomach.<\/p>\n

\u201cJesus,\u201d Kirby said.<\/p>\n

Noor jogged toward them. Xiu extended an arm to keep her away.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t want to see,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

She pushed past.<\/p>\n

He\u2019d been right. Palacios\u2019 severed head lay on the floor beside her\u00a0desk in a spreading pool of blood.<\/p>\n

Her decapitated body slumped in the chair, a pen-sized soldering\u00a0torch still clutched in one hand. Strips of silver mesh \u2014 the unfinished\u00a0Faraday cage \u2014 scattered the desktop.<\/p>\n

The steel panel from the room\u2019s air-conditioning duct lay detached\u00a0behind the corpse, a makeshift but perfectly lethal guillotine.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Excerpt from\u00a0\u201cPet Rock\u201d \u00a9 2013 by Sanford Allen.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As we barrel toward the August 29 premiere of\u00a0Rayguns Over Texas\u00a0at\u00a0LoneStarCon 3\u00a0(aka the 71st Annual World Science Fiction Convention) in San Antonio, I am presenting book excerpts, one contributor per day. Today\u2019s selection comes from\u00a0Sanford Allen‘s “Pet Rock.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2597","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books","category-rayguns-over-texas"],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n