The US President is coming to dinner, here in the tense Thatcher household as well as everywhere else in the nation too. The elected leader of this overcrowded, sorely tested democracy arrives as a projection, speaking to everyone and listening to everyone, including those who don't want to hear what he has to say.
"First Tuesday" is a prophetic story published more than two decades ago.
"Yancy Thatcher was even paler than his stepson. Blonde hair worn in a short, manly ponytail; a round face wearing a perpetually sour expression. He wasn't large, but he acted large. He spoke with a deep, booming voice, and he carried himself as if endowed with a dangerous strength. Like now. Coming down the slope, he was walking straight toward their guest. The President was offering both hands, in his trademark fashion. But no hand was offered to him, and the projection retreated, saying, 'Excuse me,' while deftly stepping out of the way.
"'You're excused,'" Yancy replied, laughing in a low, unamused fashion. Never breaking stride."
Robert Reed is the author of many short stories and novels. His novella, "A Billion Eves," won the Hugo Award in 2007.
Genre: Science Fiction
"First Tuesday" is a prophetic story published more than two decades ago.
"Yancy Thatcher was even paler than his stepson. Blonde hair worn in a short, manly ponytail; a round face wearing a perpetually sour expression. He wasn't large, but he acted large. He spoke with a deep, booming voice, and he carried himself as if endowed with a dangerous strength. Like now. Coming down the slope, he was walking straight toward their guest. The President was offering both hands, in his trademark fashion. But no hand was offered to him, and the projection retreated, saying, 'Excuse me,' while deftly stepping out of the way.
"'You're excused,'" Yancy replied, laughing in a low, unamused fashion. Never breaking stride."
Robert Reed is the author of many short stories and novels. His novella, "A Billion Eves," won the Hugo Award in 2007.
Genre: Science Fiction
Used availability for Robert Reed's First Tuesday