Jake’s Monthly
(Part 5)
Punk Anthology
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Table of Contents
Copyright Page
Preface
Cold Portents by Mike Jansen
A Growing Problem by John H. Dromey
The Tick-Tock Heart of StarrBat by T. Fox Dunham
Unparalleled Problems in the Multiverse: A Baker’s Dozen Flashes of the Future by John H. Dromey
The Ghost in the Wire by Don Raymond
Next Time
About the Editor
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Published by Jake’s Monthly on Smashwords.
All featured authors now receive their reprint-rights
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Welcome to Jake’s Monthly. It’s time to introduce the fifth volume in this monthly series, where talented authors have written Punk stories of all kinds- from steam to diesel to cyber, and a few you probably haven’t even heard of. Get ready for some strange alternate technologies, because it’s time to begin!
What follows is a short description of the stories in this volume- like the summary on the back of a book. There are no real spoilers, but if you don’t want to know the premises before you read, please skip over the next section.
Cold Portents is by Mike Jansen, and is a great example of an alternate history done well. Make sure to keep on the lookout for more stories set in these worlds.
A Growing Problem by John H. Dromey is a sturdy story in a world of steam and clockwork, where progress looms sinister on the horizon.
The Tick-Tock Heart of StarrBat is another tale by modern bard T. Fox Dunham, which appears in his new Ragtime setting. If you enjoy steampunk-dystopias spiced with the elements of spy novels, be sure to check it out.
Unparalleled Problems in the Multiverse is an amazing concept which I'm proud to present to you- the pinnacle of variety in Punk, presented by John H. Dromey. About every Punk genre has been included in these thirteen stories- twelve of them 100 words exactly and one 180. I highly recommend it.
The Ghost in the Wire is the birth of a new Punk genre- Frankenpunk. Our Post Apocalyptic anthology's story "Body Builders Here to Stay" is an example of it, even though it wasn't intended to be. This new genre stems from an alternate history of the novel Frankenstein. The corporations have golem technology, a massive need for corpses, and a bunch of graveyards which are starting to run dry.
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‘Hi.’
‘So nice of you to come and visit me. Thanks for the chocolates.’
‘You’re probably wondering what an old man like me is doing in a place like this.’
‘I mean, besides staring out of the windows. Nothing much happening of course. Seasons still come and go. Have been for dozens of years.’
‘Yeah, yeah, before I was institutionalised as well. But you’re too young to remember that, eh?’
‘Because that’s why you’ve come, isn’t it?’
‘I saw you driving through the gates in your new car.’
‘Oh, hydromovile is what you call them nowadays. Let me guess, beats burning fossil fuels any day, right? Good for the environment too, I’ll bet ya.’
‘But you know about me, don’t you? Been sifting through the files, came across my name. And wondered.’
‘Of course I know that. It happens with every new director of the ward. I’ve been around long enough that I can see a pattern. You’re not the first. Won’t be the last either. Or maybe you will be.’
‘So you found me out. Tough geezer like me spending his life in an asylum. Brain so split you could park your car... Yes, car... between the hemispheres.’
‘Too bad the way I look on the balance sheet, at over a hundred years old and not looking over forty. Made you wonder, didn’t it?’
‘So you came to talk to me.’
‘Good. Because I’m ready to talk.’
‘Did you ever wonder if there was another world than this world?’
‘I used to, back when.’
‘Believed in a God too, then. Ah, ignorance.’
‘I was born in the eighties, last century. Good time to grow up. I used to play in parks just like the one outside.’
‘No, I was quite healthy then, physically and mentally. Normal childhood, nice parents. I had a dog. I loved that dog. Really hurt when a car killed it. Got mad as hell at the driver, even if he was my father.’
‘As I said, I always wondered if there were other worlds than our own. Not in the other planet kind of way. No, like in parallel worlds.’
‘But I used to believe in a God too. So there. I was young. Time to make mistakes and learn.’
‘I joined an extremist right wing group when I was twenty-five. The new depression had made us beggars. The differences between poor and rich were staggering. Seemed like a sensible choice at the time.’
‘Yeah, I know in the end the depression ended and the comsen economy made everybody happy.’
‘But it didn’t. And you don’t know about that. But I do. I’ll get to that.’
‘So I wore the black uniform and we marched for the cause.’
‘People do that, yes, when desperate –or hungry- enough. Anger makes you do it, too. Like me. And for that alone I deserve to be here for another hundred years.’
‘So when I said I no longer believed in parallel worlds, that’s because there aren’t any. The name is wrong.’
‘I know that may be a contradiction. What I’m trying to tell you is that they’re divergent.’
‘No, there aren’t infinite divergent worlds around. It doesn’t work like that.’
‘There are two at this moment that I’m aware of. Don’t give me that look. I’ve been around and I can tell when your scepticism kicks in. Sure there may be more I’m not aware of.’
‘Our movement grew strong, many adherents. I moved up the ranks. University material, don’t let your education go to waste, they said.’
‘I killed for them, for the movement. Not one, not two... dozens.’
‘That’s not in the record, is it? You don’t believe I could be a killer. It was easy. I just painted the face my father had on them, the moment he said “we’ll just get another one”.’
‘Of course I’m rusty, but you don’t forget how to deliver a quick, killing blow. To the thorax, the vagus nerve on your chin or behind the cartilage of your nose. I can give you pain you never felt before. Or silence you in a second.’
‘I was given a target, an influential and extremely networked individual, Gerhard Streuer, extremely wealthy, old and new money. Many influential positions in major industries.’
‘Yes, Streuer. The comsen wonder worker.’
‘I had been having doubts about the cause for some weeks then.’
‘Of course extremism is not the way. When I had herr Streuer in my sight, I had to think about all the work he had done in recent months, the message he was giving to people and industries all over the world. Good words, matching deeds.’
‘I hesitated. Waited and waited. His face didn’t change.’
‘I don’t really know what happened next, but for a moment the world seemed bathed in darkness.’
‘And then I shot a high velocity bullet through his brain from no more than a hundred yards. Blew his goddamn head nearly off!’
‘You seem confused. So was I back then.’
‘Because he was still there, ready to get into his car.’
‘But I knew I had shot him.’
‘That’s where the divergence happened. That exact moment the world, yes, the universe itself hesitated. And split apart.’
‘The way you nod you’re probably remembering the part in my dossier about the delusions of grandeur I seem to be suffering of.’
‘Of course I read my dossier. Your predecessor thought it good therapy.’
‘You see, I was split too. Unfortunately, I squeezed the trigger, I, the focal point. And the mind is a curious thing. There on that road I watched worlds slide apart. Minds don’t take that well.’
‘Streuer lived of course. But what if he did die on that day?’
‘No comsen economy, like the one that emerged from the ashes over here. Instead, a merciless world that cared not for environment or people. Only cold, hard cash and bitter self-indulgence.’
‘I saw it evolve. Really thought it would end some thirty years ago. There was a change in climate. Ice caps growing and people forced from lands they had occupied for centuries. There was some exchange of nuclear fire and that only added to the cold.’
‘I was there all the time, like I was over here. He grew colder over the years. The other me. More aware of that world. Became what he used to despise most. Corporation slave, executive rank. Assassin, always.’
‘You seem to have trouble with my words. Do I sound like some deranged lunatic who screams and tears at his hair? No, sit. You wanted to hear this. So listen.’
‘We are aware of each other, like twin brothers. Thoughts leak over. That’s what your predecessors diagnosed. Schizophrenia. Incurable, for some reason; medication won’t work.’
‘Now this is where it gets strange.’
‘I see you still know how to laugh. Good. Keep an open mind. You’ll need it.’
‘It’s a strange world –no wonder- it has been diverging for more than eighty years. Corporations hold more power than small governments. People live harsh lives. Grinds them down. They would die of old age if they had the resources to grow old. Most are worked to death as wage slaves.’
‘I know, it sounds like something out of a bad scifi movie.’
‘Be happy you live in this world. Other me sometimes wishes it so hard I can hear his thoughts.’
‘It’s hard to believe, I can imagine. You believe it’s a figment of my mind. Sometimes I wish I could believe that, too.
‘But sometimes there is the waking nightmare, when the silent one awakes. It is not a figment of my imagination.’
‘You noticed my use of the word “it”. Very good. No need to look on your screen. I know it says “multiple personality syndrome” somewhere.’
‘When the divergence happened, we knew we both existed in our own worlds. But I like to believe a part of us was caught between worlds.’
‘It’s the part of us that squeezed the trigger. At least that’s what I think it is. Its rage is incredible.’
‘No, no name. Just raw emotion, furious and unrelenting anger. Yes, it sometimes takes over. You think I’m here for no reason? It’s strong. So strong.’
‘But it’s unthinking. Isolated. Can do no real harm.’
‘Something is happening. Other me has also sensed it. He is afraid of the future. He agrees with my theories, knows about the silent one. In his world he is infamous. His killing sprees are textbook examples for would be corporate assassins.’
‘But he is terrified of death himself. Uses all available techniques to stay young and healthy. I guess that reflects on me as well.’