The Doppelgänger Effect
Blue shift
The grey drizzled down around him, and Christain knew the time had come for them to kill him again. The tram tracks glistened silently in front of him as he walked down the middle of the dimly lit road. How long had it been since the trams had run through the city? It hadn’t mattered before, but for some reason, now that he could see the twin shining lines stretching out through the city’s nightscape, it was important. Parallel, always parallel, he thought. If they weren’t parallel, it just didn’t work.
He twirled his umbrella slightly and thick drops momentarily cascaded around him. He tried a half-hearted whistle – even thought for a moment about a silly dance step – in the vain hope that something frivolous would forestall the inevitable. In the end he didn’t have the will for it. He just kept walking and waiting, the blood rushing behind his ears.
And then it came. Not as he had anticipated – it was always impossible, somehow, to anticipate how it was going to happen. He could hear the sound of a car in the distance. So, was he going to be run over this time? Was that how they were going to do it? The pitch increased in frequency as the car approached him… he braced himself. Please no, not again. Not again. He closed his eyes.
The grey drizzled down around him, and Christain knew the time had come for them to kill him again. The tram tracks glistened silently in front of him as he walked down the middle of the dimly lit road. How long had it been since the trams had run through the city? It hadn’t mattered before, but for some reason, now that he could see the twin shining lines stretching out through the city’s nightscape, it was important. Parallel, always parallel, he thought. If they weren’t parallel, it just didn’t work.
He twirled his umbrella slightly and thick drops momentarily cascaded around him. He tried a half-hearted whistle – even thought for a moment about a silly dance step – in the vain hope that something frivolous would forestall the inevitable. In the end he didn’t have the will for it. He just kept walking and waiting, the blood rushing behind his ears.
And then it came. Not as he had anticipated – it was always impossible, somehow, to anticipate how it was going to happen. He could hear the sound of a car in the distance. So, was he going to be run over this time? Was that how they were going to do it? The pitch increased in frequency as the car approached him… he braced himself. Please no, not again. Not again. He closed his eyes.
Praise for "The Doppelgänger Effect"
In the accomplished and subtle story "The Doppelgänger Effect", Strasser explores the personal, reflective effects of faster than light travel.
Jack Dann
When the empty hyperspace vehicle, the Web, appears in the sky one day, no-one knows where it came from. A science fiction writer is offered a place on the spaceship as part of the team to undertake a journey and report back as they approach lightspeed. As the speed increases an unexpected effect occurs... A good idea for an SF story.
BuchKritik (translated from German)
Honorable Mention in Year's Best Science Fiction 16th Annual Collection (edited by Gardner Dozois).
Dreaming Down-Under won the 1999 World Fantasy Award for best anthology and the 1999 Ditmar Award for best Australian magazine or anthology.
Jack Dann
When the empty hyperspace vehicle, the Web, appears in the sky one day, no-one knows where it came from. A science fiction writer is offered a place on the spaceship as part of the team to undertake a journey and report back as they approach lightspeed. As the speed increases an unexpected effect occurs... A good idea for an SF story.
BuchKritik (translated from German)
Honorable Mention in Year's Best Science Fiction 16th Annual Collection (edited by Gardner Dozois).
Dreaming Down-Under won the 1999 World Fantasy Award for best anthology and the 1999 Ditmar Award for best Australian magazine or anthology.
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