The Four Ages of Death
and Other Stories
The three novellas and one novelette examine catastrophic weather events, the tragedy of living forever, the future of the war on terrorism, and being judged by a non-human entity, to reveal who we really are.
The Day It Snowed Forever — A violent storm inundates the US Eastern Seaboard, burying towns and cities and resulting in mass evacuations. A family stays behind, confident they can survive the indefinitely prolonged Arctic conditions. However, they are not ready for the horror that materializes out of the snow to threaten the sanctuary of their home and endanger their lives.
The Four Ages of Death —The ability to live for thousands of years will require fundamental changes to both body and mind. Such lifespans will also profoundly alter the way we coexist with each other as partners, families, and friends. All these challenges come together when two ex-lovers and their families struggle with the reality of what it is to be “post-human” with bodies and minds engineered to allow life spans measured in millennia.
November Sky — There is an alien observer on Earth; by what standards will s/he/it judge our behavior? As a species, and how we treat other species? As nations, and how we treat other nations? As groups — scientists, politicians, cultures, and religions — and how they treat each other? Or by our leaders, our great men and women, and how they behave with their peers? Turns out we will be judged by one of the very weakest among us, with no power and no influence at all and only the most tenuous will to live. Will we pass? Or fail?
The Immersion Chamber — We have a right to protect ourselves when our lives and our way of life are threatened. How far does that right extend when faced with people who are, in turn, threatened by our way of life and prepared to use violence to protect their way of life? When those groups operate outside the accepted codes of war, we classify them as terrorists. We consider them extremely dangerous. Given the threat they pose, is there a limit to how far we can go to stop them from committing acts of terror against us?