Lightspeed #148, September 2022
“The CRISPR Cookbook: A Guide to Biohacking Your Own Abortion in a Post-Roe World” by MKRNYILGLD
“The Inheritance of Dust and Leather” by Jenny Rae Rappaport
“Civilian Assumptions” by Dominique Dickey
“The Queen of the Earless Seals of Lake Baikal” by Kristina Ten
“The Application of Strawberry Lip Gloss in a Low-Gravity Environment” by R. J. Theodore
“Her Five Farewells” by Martin Cahill
Reviewed by Kevin P Hallett
There are six newly published stories in Lightspeed’s 148th issue, plus two previously published stories. The new tales include one flash story. Overall this was an entertaining collection of tales.
“The CRISPR Cookbook: A Guide to Biohacking Your Own Abortion in a Post-Roe World” by MKRNYILGLD
This short SF story is set in the future and includes a recipe for using CRISPR to enhance the human immune system to reject all foreign DNA. The improved immune system would destroy tumor growth, whether benign or cancerous.
Of course, it would also eliminate any chance of receiving an organ transplant. But for American women who hate that Congress is forcing them to carry any unwanted pregnancy to term, it assures they can no longer get pregnant since the new embryo contains only half of their DNA.
This easy-to-read prose delivered a crisp but heavy warning for humanity.
“The Inheritance of Dust and Leather” by Jenny Rae Rappaport
Rappaport’s flash fantasy continues the story of Beauty and the Beast. It seems that all is not well after the Beast transforms back into a handsome prince, and Bell must flee with her children to relative obscurity. The story could end there, except her eldest son wakes one morning with a lion’s mane and green, scaly legs.
The author presented an entertaining snippet to extend the famous story.
“Civilian Assumptions” by Dominique Dickey
In this short SF story, a mental link bonds a young Maddox to their battleship named Olivia. Maddox loves Olivia, though it’s assumed Olivia can’t love them back; after all, it’s a battleship.
Maddox commands the ship as it is used in the endless wars to expand the Consortium’s interstellar border. Then one day, Olivia is breached by enemy fire, and Maddox calls for everyone to abandon the spaceship. The only problem is that Maddox loves Olivia; really loves her.
The well-structured story was barely longer than flash fiction, yet it pulled the reader into the futuristic tale.
“The Queen of the Earless Seals of Lake Baikal” by Kristina Ten
She grew up listening to fables about the earless seals in this short fantasy set on the shores of Lake Baikal. Dia is good with people, so she trains as a hotel manager. But Adam changes all that when she falls in love with him. For years Dia endures his decline and the resultant bruises. Then she becomes pregnant with his daughter.
Her grandparents tell her about the earless seals in the lake and how they can grant a wish during a full moon. So Dia goes to the city and learns to scuba dive so she can make her request of the queen of the earless seals.
The author’s story carried a sense of mystery until the end, making for a good read.
“The Application of Strawberry Lip Gloss in a Low-Gravity Environment” by R. J. Theodore
In this SF story, the bounty hunter Sera Gordon accepts a no-lose contract to allow a young empath to experience adventure during a bounty hunt. Sera had just lost her previous ship to her traitorous girlfriend. And this contract offered her a new spaceship.
Sera selects an easy bounty and spices it up to please the empath and her two fathers. But Sera’s ex lingers in the background, waiting to pounce.
This lightly told story held the reader’s attention until the end.
“Her Five Farewells” by Martin Cahill
The queen commissions him to build her coffin in this short fantasy. He is one of the Execharan, and she has volunteered to die to stop the tyrannical king. No Execharan has ever died, so her sacrifice threatens to devastate her people.
While the queen is dying in five tranquil phases, the king rants and threatens everyone, especially the coffin-maker. But the queen soothes the coffin-maker’s fears, giving him the secret to how she’ll defeat the king who once stole her heart.
The author’s short story was unusual and hard to put down.
You can follow Kevin P Hallett’s writing on www.kevinphallett.com. There are links there to join his mailing list for a weekly newsletter on the recent release of his debut novel, Defender of Vosj.