Free Astounding! by Kim Fielding

anywhere in a long time.” Except an overnight visit to Portland, which he didn’t mention. “So I figure I can hang out with you guys, have a little fun, and maybe I’ll get my act together. Maybe I’ll figure out what to do next.” That had been his epiphany—he had nothing to lose, so why not go for it? The last time he’d given in to impulse had been in John’s hallway, and that had turned out well enough.
    “I’m really glad to hear this,” Freddy said. “It’s what you need. Get out of that shitty apartment and get some perspective. Besides, maybe Keith and I can help you plan your next move.”
    “Sure,” said Carter, although he didn’t know whether he liked the idea. Advice was fine, but a couple of guys who lived in a house with ocean-view terraces and a goddamn infinity pool might not have the faintest clue what someone like Carter could do. Yeah, Freddy had once been as miserably poor as Carter was now, but that was a long time ago. And Freddy never had to see his dreams die.
    “So. Three weeks?” Freddy asked. “Will you be ready then?”
    Carter did a quick calculation in his head. “Yeah, that ought to do it. Where will we go?”
    “Dunno. You pick. Keith and I aren’t on any kind of timeline. I can write anywhere. You decide what you want to see first.”
    “Okay. And Freddy? Thanks.”
    “For what?”
    “Being a good friend.”
    After a brief pause, Freddy chuckled. “Jesus. Now I’m really beginning to think you’re a pod person. Get to work. We’ll see you soon.”
    Carter hung up the phone and then did exactly what Freddy had ordered. He found his place in the onscreen manuscript and got back to work.
     
     
    C ARTER GOT through the first round of edits on all the stories except one. Usually he sent the stories out to contract editors for a second or even third round, but that wasn’t going to happen this time because he had no way to pay them. Luckily all the manuscripts had come in very clean, and he just had to hope he’d done well enough. He didn’t want the final issue of Astounding! to suck, and he truly wanted to do justice to some fine authors.
    But as he waited for those authors to respond to his edits—hoping none of them would throw tantrums over his comma insertions or passive voice corrections—the final story loomed over him. John’s, of course. And not only was Carter going to have to do hard-copy edits, which he hated, but he also knew that all the red ink in the world couldn’t improve “The Vynsmak of Hoolaty.”
    Carter remembered violet eyes and the smell of lavender, and he figured he’d do the best he could.
    In the end, he didn’t actually mark up the text very much. From a technical standpoint, the story was a gem. None of the participles dangled and all the modifiers were neatly in their proper places. Semicolons, em dashes, and apostrophes all knew their roles. But the descriptions were flat and the plot held about as much excitement and tension as an Ikea manual. Aside from proper grammar and punctuation, the only thing the tale really had going for it was a strangely sympathetic protagonist—the Vynsmak, of course—who just wanted to go home.
    Things went very quickly after that, and Carter got almost no sleep for the next couple of weeks. The art came in for the cover, and the edits came back from the authors. He’d mailed John his story without attaching a personal note, because he didn’t know what to say. John returned the revised manuscript Express Mail, and Carter typed it into the computer. He shelled out some of his last money to proofreaders while he fiddled with his production software. Eventually everything was ready except his editor’s note, which he’d already composed in his head.
    Thank you for joining us on this adventure , he wrote . Thank you for reading. I wish you every happiness, and may all your journeys be good ones .
    He felt hollowed out when he sent it off for printing.
    The next day he sorted through his