Selected Stories: Volume 1 Read online

  “Inexpensive? You’ve changed in the last ten years, Sheldon.”

  The lawyer chuckled. “How could I help it? The whole world has changed. But you’re not going to like what I have to say.”

  Mitchell braced himself, clutching the receiver; thankfully, Freiburg could not see his tense expression.

  “Precedents have been set in this area. In every dispute about the use of materials from alternate universes, Alternitech has come out the winner. I’m convinced the company spends as much money each year on their team of lawyers as they did developing their parallel universe gateway. You’d be wasting your money to try and block the publication. Compared to the rest of the entertainment industry, authors and books are minnows in an ocean. Even the big fish in the music and film industries haven’t won a single case.

  “Alternitech’s timeline hunters bring back intellectual property that might conceivably belong to a counterpart in this universe. The first big case was when one of their music specialists, a guy named Jeremy Cardiff—”

  “That’s who sent me the novel.”

  “Great,” Freiburg said, then continued, ignoring the interruption. “In Alternitech v. the Carpenter Estate, Cardiff found several new albums by the Carpenters, in an alternate reality where Karen Carpenter never died of anorexia. The CDs sounded like the same old shit to me, but don’t underestimate the huge amount of money generated by piped-in background music. The Carpenter Estate sued, citing copyright infringement and unlawful exploitation of a creative work.

  “Alternitech countered that since Karen Carpenter was dead in this universe, she could not ‘create’ new works after the date of her death. They also argued, using an old favorite of the pharmaceutical companies, that since Alternitech had made such a substantial investment developing their technology, they deserved to reap the benefits of its commercial exploitation.

  “The ruling sided with the Carpenter Estate insofar as establishing a ‘fair percentage’ of profits that should go to the creator’s counterpart in this reality—fifteen percent, I think it was. But since Alternitech’s timeline hunters did all the work to obtain the property, kind of like salvage hunters on the high seas, they were granted full control of its use. Similar lawsuits have been raised by individual movie producers, screenwriters, directors, and even actors who resent the release of ‘new films’ starring them for which they never got paid. Like I said, in every case, they lose.”

  Mitchell remembered that one of the alternate Mel Gibson films had caused something of a stir, because the parallel-universe-version of the actor had received an Academy Award for a role that this timeline’s Gibson had turned down.

  Freiburg continued: “When you get right down to it, Mitch, record companies and movie studios don’t want the individual artists to win. Alternitech provides them with completely finished new work for a fraction of the cost or effort of making it themselves. Much less hassle, too. They just distribute the work through their normal channels and pay a standard percentage of artists’ royalties directly to Alternitech. Then, if and only if the court orders it, Alternitech cuts a teeny-weeny check to our own world’s parallel artist or company or estate, and everyone is happy. Well, almost everyone.”

  “So you’re saying I shouldn’t even try, Sheldon? It’s not … not right!”

  “Mitch, if Paul McCartney can’t win, then a mere sci-fi novelist doesn’t stand a snowball’s chance.” He paused as if reconsidering. “On the other hand, Mitch my friend, I just thought of a factor that’s ironically in your favor, if you really want to stop publication. There’s a very real chance that Alternitech won’t even bother with your little book. Look at your royalty statements. You’re a science fiction writer ten years out of the public eye. Oh sure, there’d be a limited audience for a ‘lost unpublished work’ by Mitchell Coren … but it isn’t exactly a Margaret Mitchell sequel to Gone with the Wind. If this Cardiff guy is a fan of yours, contact him and tell him how you feel. Who knows, he might do you a favor and pretend he never found it.”

  Mitchell didn’t know whether to feel stung or take heart from the possibility.

  DISTRACTED AND FRETTING, he polished the two awards on his mantel—something he hadn’t done for the better part of a year. They looked quite impressive, he had to admit, and certainly gave him bragging rights. His occasional visitors asked about them, and he answered with feigned modesty. The awards seemed so irrelevant to his current life.

  These days, Mitchell used his skills as a wordsmith in the unglamorous but stable profession of technical writing, producing essential documentation and annual reports for a manufacturing firm. Although it was a challenge to write compelling prose about new cereal box designs or recyclable plastic bottles, he was a master at slanting his text toward investors or consumers or environmental agencies, as needed.

  Many of his coworkers—what the science fiction world called “mundanes”—were aspiring writers who never managed to finish or submit stories. Few of them knew about his past, however, since Mitchell rarely mentioned his novel.

  As he rubbed a fingerprint off the Nebula’s clear Lucite surface, looking at the suspended bits of metal shavings and semi-precious stones that formed a sparkling galaxy, he thought back to those brief, heady days. They were just memories now, but he wouldn’t trade them for anything.

  Divergent Lines had appeared with a splash like a giant water balloon. An excerpt of the novel had been published in Analog as the cover story and won that month’s readers’ poll. The novel itself had generated rave reviews and was immediately dubbed “a new classic” by critics and his fellow SF authors.

  He had been welcomed as a hero at the World Science Fiction Convention. He’d always read science fiction, but had never attended a con before. The fans surprised him at panels, listening to everything he said. They lined up for his book signings in the autograph hall or followed him and asked embarrassingly earnest questions about details he himself had never considered.

  When Mitchell went to the Hugo Awards ceremony, he found himself plunged into a sea of unreality as the emcee announced his name as the winner. Astonished and grinning, he stumbled up to the podium and held up his silver rocket ship with mixed feelings of shock and giddy triumph.

  The following spring, thanks to the continued buzz, Divergent Lines had been a shoo-in for the final Nebula ballot. New to the entire experience, Mitchell stood like a lost puppy in the lobby and the bar, surrounded by luminaries of the genre. He recognized their names from the covers of well-loved books, famous writers ranging from Grand Masters to prolific hacks, all of them legendary and, for the most part, personable.

  He’d been in a daze. These Titans of science fiction talked to him as a peer, praised his novel. Mitchell found it unnerving, and he began to wonder how he could ever live up to their expectations. Did he deserve so much praise and success? What if his next work didn’t measure up to their expectations? Would he be exposed as a fraud and cast out of this distinguished circle of authors? How would he bear the humiliation?

  His publisher paid for his Nebula banquet ticket, and Mitchell was treated as a celebrity at their table. With his stomach tied in knots, he could summon no appetite at all. In an agony of anticipation, he endured the drawn-out meal, the mandatory chitchat, the interminable banquet speaker. By the time the awards finally began, plodding through each category as if in a calculated effort to increase his anxiety, Mitchell had convinced himself that he had no chance of winning. He was a newcomer. He had no track record. He had never played the politics of exchanging recommendations. He had not campaigned for the award. These writers couldn’t possibly consider him a friend and certainly didn’t owe him any favors.

  And yet the name in the presenter’s envelope said Divergent Lines. The Nebula seemed even more amazing than the Hugo, because this honor came from his peers, fellow professionals who supposedly knew good writing when they saw it. As Mitchell stood clutching the award, he imagined that someday, when he stood at the Pearly Gates and look
ed back on his entire life, this would be the high point.…

  After that night, though, Mitchell Coren never wrote another word of fiction. He had left the science fiction community behind and let Divergent Lines stand as his sole legacy.

  EVEN IN HIS HEYDAY, Mitchell had not spent much time with die-hard science fiction fans. Not because he didn’t like them—he appreciated anyone who bought and loved his novel. But he didn’t understand their intensity or their passions and usually ended up feeling outclassed when they wanted to talk shop.

  He met Jeremy Cardiff at a quiet place called Mrs. Coffee, a small bistro with shaded outside tables where they could have a conversation in a pleasant atmosphere. Mitchell didn’t know which of them was more nervous. He could see in the timeline hunter’s eyes that Jeremy was a bona fide Fan.

  “This is really an honor, Mr. Coren. I’ve always been an admirer of Divergent Lines, and now that I’ve read Infernities, there’s no doubt in my mind that you’re one of my all-time favorite authors. I felt so surprised and fortunate to have found the book.” Jeremy, a youngish man with a thin face, long hair, and a neatly-trimmed brown beard, looked like a waif hoping for a pat on the head. His blue eyes were wide, his smile tentative.

  Mitchell took a drink of coffee, then cleared his throat. “Well, Mr. Cardiff, that’s what I’m here to talk to you about.”

  “Please, call me Jeremy.” Then the younger man’s face fell as he interpreted Mitchell’s reluctant tone.

  Mitchell chose his words as carefully as he would have in preparing a viewgraph presentation for the board of the manufacturing company. He wasn’t sure his reasons would make sense to anyone but himself. Though he knew he didn’t exactly have a legal case, he might be able to play the celebrity card. Perhaps by asking a special favor from his number one fan, he could get what he needed. “I think you’re perceptive enough to understand why I don’t want the novel published here. It’s not my book. Somebody else wrote it.”

  “No, Mr. Coren. You wrote it. Another version of you, maybe, but it was still your talent, your creativity. When I was in college I read and reread Divergent Lines until my copy fell apart, and I’ve been waiting ten years for a new novel by the same author. When I found Infernities, I sent you the physical book I brought back through the portal, but I made a photocopy. I’m already on my second time through it. It’s brilliant—full of intricate layers and nuances.”

  Mitchell desperately wanted to ask which book he thought was better. Dedicated readers like Jeremy were generally his toughest customers and his harshest critics and, because Mitchell didn’t think a new novel could ever live up to their expectations, he had decided not to try.

  “That man may have the same name and the same genetics as I do, but he grew up in a parallel universe with a different set of circumstances. He’s not me. He obviously reached a different decision about his career. But I didn’t write Infernities, and if you published it here in our universe, people would see it as my own work, no matter how many disclaimers you put on it.”

  “But it’s good, sir. Have you read it?”

  “No, I don’t dare. It would seem almost … plagiaristic.”

  As if clinging to hope, Jeremy said, “So … are you writing something of your own? Maybe a book that’s similar to Infernities?”

  “No. I’m not writing anything.”

  The young man looked at his coffee as if it were poison. He didn’t seem angry at Mitchell’s attitude, just deeply disappointed. “Then I don’t understand. What made you stop writing? I mean, you got the royal treatment. People were lined up waiting for your next book. You had a contract to fulfill, didn’t you?”

  “Yes. And I … decided to return the advance.”

  “But why? It just doesn’t make sense.”

  “Why? I’d already won the highest accolades in my field.” Mitchell spoke softly, but his voice grew more intense. “Whether through brilliance or sheer dumb luck I muddled my way to the pinnacle of success my first time out of the starting gate. Divergent Lines was hailed as the best book of the year, won all the awards, got spectacular reviews in every periodical from Publishers Weekly and Kirkus to Locus and Chronicle. Library Journal called it an instant classic.”

  Mitchell sighed. “Don’t you see? The weight of it all gets oppressive. Where could I possibly go from there? There’s no place but down.” An edge of bitterness sharpened his tone. “It’s a very long way down. No matter how good it was, my second book—Infernities or whatever I might’ve called it—would never be good enough. The fans and the critics certainly aren’t kind unless your sophomore effort is unbelievably spectacular.

  “As it stands right now, I’ll go down in history as the author of a great novel. But if I published twenty other books, regardless of how well-written they might be, I can tell you some of the review quotes already: ‘A solid novel, but not as inspired as Divergent Lines.’ Or ‘A fine effort, though it doesn’t live up to the promise of its predecessor.’ Or, worse yet, ‘A disappointing follow-on to the author’s first novel.’”

  Jeremy frowned at what Mitchell was saying. “I think you’re too hard on your fans, sir. We would have followed you. Even after ten years, most of us still want to read whatever you have to say.”

  “Maybe I don’t have anything else to say,” Mitchell said. “I can name author after author who falls into that category. Being successful is a Catch-22. If your first novel is a smash hit, an award winner and a critical success, it might mean your career has momentum and you’re launched. On the other hand, it could mean your writing will never be good enough again. What should I have done—expanded Divergent Lines and written a couple of unnecessary sequels, so I could call it a trilogy? I could have licensed my universe, farmed it out to other authors, but that just didn’t seem right to me. Either way, I would have been crucified by the fans and the critics.”

  “Just by the snobs,” Jeremy said, “not by the fans. But you disappeared from fandom altogether. When’s the last time you went to a science fiction convention?”

  “The WorldCon where I got my Hugo was the first and last. I stopped reading Locus and Chronicle and Ansible after one of them ran an editorial about one-hit wonders that led off with ‘What ever happened to Mitchell Coren?’” He looked at his coffee. “I didn’t stand a chance of keeping up the momentum in my career. Fans and critics are too unpredictable. So I controlled the only part of the equation that I could control: I stopped writing fiction. My life is stable now that I’ve accepted the wisdom of anonymity. But if Alternitech publishes this apocryphal second novel that I didn’t really write, then I’ll be at the mercy of the public’s expectations again. Please, don’t do it.”

  Disappointment and resignation filled Jeremy’s eyes as he unzipped his backpack and reached inside to withdraw a thick stack of photocopied pages. “Look, this is my only copy. What happens to it is not really supposed to be my decision. Alternitech owns proprietary rights to whatever I bring back through parallel universes. Still, no matter how much I loved this novel, I have to admit that this doesn’t have the equivalent value to Alternitech of, say, an unknown collection of Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle or the Dean Koontz/Stephen King collaboration I uncovered once. I think people deserve to read it. I was going to have you autograph this for me.” Jeremy slid the stack of papers across the table. “But now I guess you’d better keep it, so you’ll know there aren’t any other copies in existence. You decide what to do. It’s your call, Mr. Coren. It’s your book.”

  “I—” Mitchell started to speak, but found his voice choked with emotion. He took a long drink of his now-tepid coffee and started again. “Well … don’t you want to keep it? You said you were reading it.”

  Jeremy shook his head. “If you know I have a copy, you’d always worry that someday I’d be tempted to post it on the Internet. It’s better if you keep it.”

  The papers felt warm in Mitchell’s hands. His vision blurred, and he took a moment to compose himself. “I �
�� didn’t expect this.”

  “I’m a musician myself, Mr. Coren. I write and record songs, but I haven’t had much success so far. It was a minor consolation when I found that I did have a hit record in an alternate universe, but nothing here yet. I was the one who brought back the new music for that whole Karen Carpenter debacle, and I don’t feel very good about it. As a musician, I thought Carpenter or her estate should have had some control over her own creative work, no matter which incarnation made the album. The same goes for you, sir. If you’re uncomfortable about having Infernities published, then …” He shrugged.

  “I can’t tell you how much this means to me.”

  “I think I understand.” Jeremy slurped his decaf cappuccino. “Besides, I’m your fan. I can’t think of anything cooler than to know I am the only person in this entire universe who’s read your new novel.”

  DOZENS of the loose photocopy sheets wadded up under the fireplace grate made for good kindling. Mitchell rolled the remaining loose pages of twenty-pound bond into plump literary logs, rubber-banded them, and set them on the log holder above the crumpled pages. Then he fanned out the hardcover book and flattened it across the white paper logs. He stood back to observe the diminutive funeral pyre with a sense of uneasiness.

  He should have felt relieved.

  This potential source of humiliation or disruption would soon be dealt with. The book would no longer be in his life, could no longer irritate or goad him by its very existence. No fans would have a chance to either criticize or clamor for more. The chapter would be closed.

  Yes, Mitchell was definitely relieved.

  After he lit the match, he hesitated for a long, indecisive moment before finally touching the flame to the edge of one of the loose sheets. There. A burnt offering to a cruel muse.

  As the fire caught, guilt gnawed at the ragged edges of his mind. There was something intrinsically criminal about burning a book, especially the only copies of a book. While this event would not go down in history with the sacking of the Library of Alexandria, it was still a loss to at least some tiny backwater of the literary sea—especially to the hopeful fans who had waited so long for any work by Mitchell Coren.