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AFTERWORD



Working on Depth Charge was my first real glimpse behind the scenes, and it introduced me to how Baen brings these stories—stories written thirty, fifty, eighty years ago, and have stood the test of time—back in front of new readers’ eyes.

One of the things that struck me, as I read over the multitude of proposed sea stories was how much knowledge has changed over the years. I’m a Xennial—when I was a child, Pluto was still considered a planet, the only place one saw a flip phone was in Captain Kirk’s hands, and Geordi La Forge’s touch-screen iPad in engineering was firmly in the fiction category. But scientists, researchers, and engineers are out there, every day, researching, testing, creating new devices and new tests, new revisions and new updates to the body of human knowledge and understanding.

Could humanity create microscopic life in more-or-less its own image?

Could we colonize the ocean floor, if aliens abruptly shut off the sun?

How would intelligent life civilize, when the underwater environment is so hostile to that essential tool of civilization—fire?

Hank mentioned in his introduction our unfortunate, incorrect assumptions about Venus’s environment and how technology revised those beliefs. Today, as I write this, when I google “Oceans on Venus,” the top two responses include “Venus never had oceans, it’s always been far too hot” and “Venus could have been habitable, eons ago.” Clearly they can’t both be true, and thus do the research and hypotheses continue.

These fundamental changes in human “knowledge” remind me of a particular quote from Tommy Lee Jones in Men in Black: “A thousand years ago, everybody knew the Earth was the center of the universe. Five hundred years ago, they knew the Earth was flat. Fifteen minutes ago, you knew we humans were alone on it. Imagine what you’ll know tomorrow.” And that, I think, is the wonderful thing about science fiction, especially older, harder forms of sf where a particular theory or principle becomes an essential part of the plot. It asks the big “What if?” questions and, sometimes, the real world responds as if to say “Let’s find out!” (I’m also reminded of the saying, “The difference between screwing around and scientific method is writing it down.”)

Many thanks to Hank Davis, for working with the new guy and teaching him the ropes, explaining his reasonings for decisions made and stories selected or cut. Hank’s personal knowledge of many decades of short stories across all manner of magazines, anthologies, and other publications is astounding (ahem) and invaluable. Thanks also to Jason, David, Joy, Leah, and the rest of the folks at Baen who patiently answered my questions. Lastly, special thanks to Toni for giving me this opportunity.

—Jamie Ibson, north of the ice wall



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Framed