Atomjack - Main

Soon after the United States invaded Afghanistan, a group at my university decided to take a trip to D.C. to protest the “war.” I didn't really care one way or the other, but it was a $25 trip to D.C., and we learned that there might be violent demonstrations.

Our protest merged with another much larger protest against Israel's treatment of Palenstine and the idiots in the 4-20 “Legalize It!” protest, and despite the small army of riot police pulled from all over the Eastern seaboard, no violence happened.

Contrast this with a story (which I'm probably embellishing since I wasn't there) of a protest that my little brother went to a few years ago. It was a lawful, peaceful protest that took up a few blocks of an avenue, and then exploded into violence as police officers began to push against the protesters, ordering them to disperse. See, there was an ambulance that really needed that small stretch of street, and the police, instead of telling people “There is an ambulance; please clear the street temporarily!” just started pushing against the crusties, inciting a mass riot. My sister (being an adult) grabbed my brother and tried to pull him away from the conflict, but they both saw another young boy being beaten with a nightclub until his fingers were broken. Then the police officer pulled the boy's hands behind his back and began to cuff him with riot cuffs. My brother jumped away from my sister, put himself between the police officer and the screaming kid, getting himself Tasered in the process. My sister, trying to protect my brother, also got herself Tasered.They both went to jail, and if it hadn't been for someone videotaping the entire event, they might have suffered even worse.

War and rebellion and protest are pretty common themes throughout fiction, and science fiction is no exception. And this issue, we've got some wars and rebellions against flying saucers, spiders, iconoclasts, more aliens, terrorists, and the animals of the world. Fiction by Leah Erickson, Russ Colson, Barton Paul Levenson, Nick Cole, J. D. Riso, Sue Burke, and former champion, Ben Burgis. We also have Atomjack's third-ever poem, also by a former Atomjack champion, Bruce Boston. Reviews of new fiction, and one review of some old fiction.

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Atomjack is a publication of the Cyrus Corporation, a subsidiary of the United Securitarian Authority.