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Introducing the first Nova Genesis World novel Dispensing Justice by Fritz Freiheit and illustrated by Matt Howarth.
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Rainbows End
| Rainbows End | |
|---|---|
| Author | Vernor Vinge |
| Length | Novel |
| ISFDB | ISFDB entry |
| wikipedia.org | Rainbows End |
| Genre | Science Fiction |
| Story Survey | |
| Starting Perspective | 3rd |
| Starting Tense | past tense |
| Starting Action Level | 2 (out of 5) |
| Starting Hook Level | 2.5 (out of 5) |
| Starting Tension Level | 4 (out of 5) |
| Starting Genre Level | 3 (out of 5) |
| Reviewer | Fritz |
| First Paragraphs | |
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CHAPTER 00: Dumb Luck and Smart Thinking
### The first bit of dumb luck came disguised as a public embarrassment for the European Center for Defense against Disease. On July 23, schoolchildren in Algiers claimed that a respiratory epidemic was spreading across the Mediterranean. The claim was based on clever analysis of antibody data from the mass transit systems of Algiers and Naples. CDD had no immediate comment, but in less than three hours, public-health hobbyists reported similar results in other cities, complete with contagion maps. The epidemic was at least one week old, probably originating in Central Africa, beyond the scope of hobbyist surveillance. By the time CDD got its public relations act together, outbreaks had been detected in India and North America. Worse yet, a journalist in Seattle had isolated and identified the infectious agent, which turned out to be a Pseudomimivirus. That was about as embarrassing a twist as the public relations people could imagine: Back in the late 'teens, CDD had justified its enormous budget with a brilliant defense against the New Sunrise cult. The Sunrise Plague had been the second-worst Euro-terror of the decade. Only CDD's leadership had kept the disaster from spreading worldwide. The Sunrise Plague had been based on a Pseudomimivirus. There were still good people at CDD. They were the same specialists who had saved the world in 2017. They quickly resolved the July 23 issue. Public Relations could now spin a more-or-less accurate statement: Yes, this Pseudomimi had evaded the standard announcement protocols. The failure was a simple glitch at the Center's "Current Events" website. And yes, this Pseudomimi might be a derivative of the Sunrise Plague. Denatured strains of the original, death-optimized, virus continued to echo around the world, a permanent addition to the background noise of the biosphere. Three had already been sighted that year, one just five days before the July 23 scare. Furthermore (and here the Public Relations people regained their usual élan), all such events were subclinical, having essentially no perceptible symptoms. The Pseudomimiviruses had an enormous genome (well, enormous for a virus, small for almost anything else). The New Sunrise Cult had transformed that genome into a Swiss Army Knife of death, with a tool to counter almost every defense. But without such optimization, the Pseudomimis were clunky bags of DNA junk. "And so, in conclusion, we at CDD apologize for failing to announce this routine event." | |
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Rainbows End
| Author: | Vernor Vinge |
| Genre: | Science Fiction |
| Published: | 2006 |
| ISFDB: | Rainbows End |
| Wikipedia: | wikipedia:Rainbows End |
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