The dead inhabit this future earth. In more ways than one.
"Able dies while trying to save a drowning child. He is crawling on his belly, crossing weak ice, and the ice opens and the lake takes him. As it happens, the child is plucked from danger just minutes later, but the young man is immersed for two hours, his limp body found by robots and flown to the nearest trauma center. Once identified, a computer search is begun. Fredrick Able is found to meet the minimum fifteen of twenty-one criteria employed by the Agency. Intelligence. Education. Creativity. Absence of family. Lack of religious taboos. And with that a team of physicians set to work, confident that someone is paying for their efforts."
Robert Reed is the author of a multitude of science fiction stories. "Water Colors" is a dense, intense, and surprising story from his first decade as a professional.
Genre: Science Fiction
"Able dies while trying to save a drowning child. He is crawling on his belly, crossing weak ice, and the ice opens and the lake takes him. As it happens, the child is plucked from danger just minutes later, but the young man is immersed for two hours, his limp body found by robots and flown to the nearest trauma center. Once identified, a computer search is begun. Fredrick Able is found to meet the minimum fifteen of twenty-one criteria employed by the Agency. Intelligence. Education. Creativity. Absence of family. Lack of religious taboos. And with that a team of physicians set to work, confident that someone is paying for their efforts."
Robert Reed is the author of a multitude of science fiction stories. "Water Colors" is a dense, intense, and surprising story from his first decade as a professional.
Genre: Science Fiction
Used availability for Robert Reed's Water Colors