18
Wheels of Science Fiction:
A
Long Haul into the Fantastic
Genre:
Science Fiction Anthology
with
Stories by
Eric
Miller, editor, John DeChancie, Del Howison, Bond Elam, Lisa Morton,
Paul Carlson,
Janet Joyce Holden, Michael Bailey, Carla Robinson,
Jeff Seeman, Kate Jonez, Gary Phillips,
Lucio Rodriguez, Terry
Bisson, Eric Miller, Edward M. Erdelac, Michael Paul Gonzalez,
Alvaro
Zinos-Amaro, Sean Patrick Traver
"...Definitely
fun." --Analog Science Fiction and Fact
Take
a trip through the imaginations of 18 visionary writers as they
explore the future of trucking in this new science fiction anthology!
There's something for every genre fiction fan in this follow-up to
the hit "18 wheels of Horror - a Trailer Full of Trucking
Terrors."
From the back
cover: An alien fuel additive shows just how fast a big rig can go...
A disembodied driver wages war on self-driving trucks... A haul
through time takes an unexpected turn... Reality shatters for a
trucker using an experimental delivery device... Stargazing gives an
overweight driver a new lease on life... A young girl risks her life
to hitch a ride out of an apocalyptic wasteland...
The
highways of the universe will never be the same!
THE
WRECKERS by JOHN DECHANCIE
“The
Wreckers” is a continuation of DeChancie’s highly popular
“Skyways” trucking Science Fiction novel series, in which
legendary driver Jake McGraw (now an AI) and his son Sammy find new
adventures on the mysterious skyway between worlds.
SPEED
TRAP by JEFF SEEMAN
In
“Speed Trap,” a chicken hauler’s misfit co-driver buys an
exotic alien fuel additive at a truck stop, and the two find out just
how fast their Big Rig will go.
THIN
ICE by BOND ELAM
In
“Thin Ice,” A trucker running mineral ore on an ice planet gets
caught in a rebellion, and learns a terrible secret about her past
that affects not only hers and her beloved daughter’s lives, but
threatens humanity itself.
Q-BITS
by LUCIO RODRIGUEZ
A
trucker’s reality fractures in “Q-Bits” due to an experimental
quantum delivery device, and has to make a choice that could re-unite
him with his son, or take him to a unknown future.
I,
TRUCK by GARY PHILLIPS
“I,
Truck” features an unemployed trucker who signs up for an
experimental driving program, but a cyber-attack by hackers turns him
into an revenge-fueled ghost in the machine.
OVER
FLAT MOUNTAIN by TERRY BISSON
In
the classic SF story “Over Flat Mountain,” which appeared in OMNI
Magazine, a trucker helps out a young hitchhiker as they travel over
the miles-high mountain that an apocalyptic seismic event has thrust
through the heart of America.
WHEELS
OF WRATH by JANET JOYCE HOLDEN
In
“Wheels of Wrath,” a breakdown stops the massive train carrying
hundreds of trucks through the blasted wasteland of middle America,
and a group of drivers discover a secret that could change the
world—if it doesn’t get them killed first.
SHOTGUN
SEAT by PAUL CARLSON
In
“Shotgun Seat,” a trucker and his new trainee learn to cope with
the robot drivers that threaten to take over human jobs—and who
also yearn for freedom.
JOB
NO. 34264 by LISA MORTON
“Job
#34264” features two truckers who travel back through time to find
water for a droughtriddled future, but encounter a time paradox
threatens to destroy everything they know.
ESSENTIAL
OILS by MICHAEL BAILEY
In
“Essential Oils,” a trucker hauling tankers full of essential
oils deep into the Arctic tries to find out what the Canadian
government is doing with the odd cargo.
BIG
RIG, BIG RIP by ALVARO ZINOS-AMARO
The
pilot of a long-haul space cargo carrier in “Big Rig, Big Rip”
flies through a hidden wormhole and winds up thousands of light years
from home. Scared and lost, he struggles to find a way back to his
family.
A
FLICKER OF BRIGHT LIGHT by DEL HOWISON
“A
Flicker of Bright Light,” is about a young girl living in an
apocalyptic wasteland, who risks her life to stow away on a truck
that could carry her to freedom.
HIT/RUN
by EDWARD M. ERDELAC
In
“Hit/Run,” a trucker runs from two mysterious men who are chasing
him years after he committed a hit and run accident. But things are
far from what they seem...
EVERYTHING
LOOKS SO SMALL by CARLA ROBINSON
An
overweight trucker in “Everything Looks so Small” gets a new
lease on life thanks to the fantastic things he sees while looking at
the stars.
SILENT
PASSENGER by KATE JONEZ
In
“Silent Passenger,” a driver on her last run finds the
experimental technology propelling her truck has somehow brought back
a ghost from her past.
INDICA
ASTERION & THE WIZARD OF OZYMANIDAS by SEAN PATRICK TRAVER
In
“Indica Asterion & The Wizard of Ozymandias,” a trucker falls
afoul of a government agent when he tries to smuggle contraband alien
technology, and his fugitive sister in-law works to save him with a
seemingly magical interdimensional artifact.
HUMAN,
TRAFFICKING by MICHAEL PAUL GONZALES
“Human,
Trafficking” is about a trucker who signs his life—and body-—away
when he goes to work for a high-tech autonomous trucking company.
DRIVE
by ERIC MILLER
“Drive”
follows the Greatest Driver Alive as he takes a tanker full of
volatile rocket fuel through gang-war torn Los Angeles, and nothing,
not bullets, bombs, or bad luck, will stop him from delivering his
incendiary cargo.
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Excerpt from “Speed Trap” By Jeff Seeman
...The g-force slams us back in our seats as the truck shoots out of the parking lot like a rocket sled on rails. Tires squealing. Sparks flying out from under the hood. Burning rubber in the air. We blast down I-20 at 90 miles an hour. 100. 110. Other drivers blaring their horns. Slamming on screeching brakes. Police sirens Dopplering behind us. Donnie whooping and hollering like a drunken lunatic on a mechanical bull. Me gripping the steering wheel with white knuckles and raw terror.
“Oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit.”
120. 130. 140. I don’t know how fast we’re going now—the speedometer’s run out of numbers. I’m pumping the brake but it ain’t doing shit. Fighting with the wheel just to keep us on the road. Like trying to steer while strapped to the front bumper of a rollercoaster.
Going even faster now. Faster. Faster. We’re barreling past cities and towns that shoot by in a blur. I’m struggling like hell to control the wheel, but my reflexes—any human’s reflexes—aren’t that fast. Crashing through guard rails, toll booths, billboards. Objects smash off our bumper and windshield—traffic signs, mailboxes, God knows what else. I feel like a human pinball in an arcade machine gone berserk...
...The g-force slams us back in our seats as the truck shoots out of the parking lot like a rocket sled on rails. Tires squealing. Sparks flying out from under the hood. Burning rubber in the air. We blast down I-20 at 90 miles an hour. 100. 110. Other drivers blaring their horns. Slamming on screeching brakes. Police sirens Dopplering behind us. Donnie whooping and hollering like a drunken lunatic on a mechanical bull. Me gripping the steering wheel with white knuckles and raw terror.
“Oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit.”
120. 130. 140. I don’t know how fast we’re going now—the speedometer’s run out of numbers. I’m pumping the brake but it ain’t doing shit. Fighting with the wheel just to keep us on the road. Like trying to steer while strapped to the front bumper of a rollercoaster.
Going even faster now. Faster. Faster. We’re barreling past cities and towns that shoot by in a blur. I’m struggling like hell to control the wheel, but my reflexes—any human’s reflexes—aren’t that fast. Crashing through guard rails, toll booths, billboards. Objects smash off our bumper and windshield—traffic signs, mailboxes, God knows what else. I feel like a human pinball in an arcade machine gone berserk...
**scroll
through the slideshow to find out more about the authors!!**
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