STERLING, E(LIZABETH) J(ANE) (1933- )
UK writer who began publishing work of genre interest at the age of 19 with submissions to Worlds Beyond, Imagination and others. EJSs early work consisted mostly of vignettes and portraits of aliens and other worlds, which were critically praised for their stunning attention to detail. However, these works were not to the general taste due to the lack of a HUMAN VIEWPOINT and were greeted with little enthusiasm from the average reader. In response to John W. Campbells suggestion, EJS began her long-running series of adventures centered around Cody Shiloh, an explorer/scientist in the late 22nd century who was obsessed with discovering the mythical Well of Creation, from which sprang all life in the cosmos. The Shiloh stories were hailed as a more realistic twist on SPACE OPERA and still allowed EJS to indulge in her liking for complex ALIEN SOCIETIES. In the mid-1960s, EJS made a concerted effort to move to the novel form and was rewarded handsomely, winning the HUGO and the NEBULA for her first novel, Wanderers (1964 US). Other works of interest by EJS include To Touch The Stars (1966 US), Down to Earth (coll 1968), Beyond the Void (1976 UK) and A Silent Summer (1982 US).
The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
entry by Jefferson Nicholls
St. Martins Press, 1993
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The grand dame of science fiction and the woman of tomorrow met on the worlds only civilized battlefield the chessboard. Liz as she was known to Tesla began, as she often did, with a feint involving one of her rooks. Tesla allowed herself a slight smile and responded to the challenge with only a knight.
You know me too well, my dear, the older woman said with a chuckle. At 72, she could pass for 60, thanks to a vitality she attributed to a long walk each morning and an endless supply of green tea.
Their friendship had begun with a letter. Correspondence, Tesla would call it when pressed by friends. Fan letter, her friends would reply. And, indeed, the letter could have been fairly described as having been on the gushing side. The only evidence to the contrary was a comment near the end of the letter pointing out a mistake in Lizs use of a wormhole in one of her Shiloh stories.
There were undoubtedly authors who would have taken offense at having their errors pointed out by a six-year-old. Liz Sterling was not one of them. She wrote back almost immediately upon receipt of Teslas letter, fascinated by the prospect of corresponding with a girl prodigy. In return, she was rewarded with the knowledge that she was likely the only person on the planet who knew that Tesla Morrow had wanted to grow up to be just like Cody Shiloh.
Letters had been their primary method of communication early on, given Lizs deep fear of flying, the sole exception being a trip to Europe which had taken the Morrow family briefly to Lizs home in Hastings. Three days of heaven had followed for Tesla as she and Liz spent hours upon end discussing extraterrestrials, space travel and the latest scientific breakthroughs.
The friendship had grown more firm still with the plunge in long distance phone rates and then the arrival of the wonders of e-mail and the Internet. Later, when Tesla had begun to make her fortune in a variety of scientific fields shed had the resources to visit frequently. Even with the work of the Tomorrow Foundation, she still made time to cross the pond, as Liz put it.
Tesla slid one of her own rooks across the board and collected a pawn for her efforts. Almost immediately, Liz responded by moving her queen to capture the rook.
A pawn for a rook is a poor trade, she remarked.
If thats all it is, replied Tesla as she rested a finger on her own queen. She dropped it into its new position. Check.
Liz studied the board for a moment. Tesla knew that it would be easy enough to break the check and, given the older womans aggressive style of play, she expected Liz to come back with metaphorical guns blazing.
Instead, the author sighed and made a little motion with her hands before she tipped over her king. Not in the right frame of mind for it, I suppose. Im afraid I didnt come here just to catch up with an old friend.
Tesla leaned back in her chair. Around them, the work of the Tomorrow Foundation went on as usual. More than a dozen research tracks were in progress, the archives were in the process of being updated, and there were always deliveries being made. From Teslas office, it was possible to hear chatter from dozens of conversations if you listened closely when the door was open. Many people found it distracting; Tesla found it stimulating.
She steepled her fingers. Given that you were motivated to take your first flight in 72 years, Im not surprised.
You wont believe me when I tell you why. Youll think Im quite insane.
Try me.
So E. J. Sterling told the woman of tomorrow one last mad, beautiful story. And, in response, Tesla Morrow agreed to move Heaven and Earth to help the grand dame of science fiction.
Any opinions expressed above are merely the poster's own and do not necessarily coincide with the goals or beliefs of the Secret Ruling Forum Cabal.
Elizabeth Jane (E. J.) Sterling
(?) 1933 - January 18, 2006
The celebrated science fiction writer succumbed at her country home near Hastings after a lengthy battle with cancer.
Sterling, along with contemporaries such as Andre Norton and James Tiptree, was obliged to adopt a gender-neutral pen name in order to make headway during the male-dominated 1950s and 1960s. In later years, she would often remark that she was deeply proud of the fact that, upon revealing her true name, she had helped inspire a generation of young women to try at their hands at both writing and scientific careers.
The remarkable story of Sterlings early years remains something of a legend among her fans. Found wandering within the ruins of a Kipling Mews home destroyed during the London Blitz, Sterling was never able to reclaim any memories of the first eight years of her life, nor did any individual presenting credible evidence that they knew her during that period ever emerge. Adopted by a local family... (cont.)
The London Times
19 January 2006
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WOOMERA, SOUTH AUSTRALIA Launch of the crew exploration vehicle Falcon, an NX-designated spaceplane prototype put forward at one point as a potential replacement for NASAs shuttle fleet, has been pushed back by 24 hours due to weather conditions.
The Falcon, now operating under the auspices of the European Space Agency, will establish orbit at the Lagrange 2 point of the Earth-Sun system. There it will carry out a series of maneuverability tests, as well as collecting scientific data, in what has been termed by ESA sources as a potential shakedown cruise to establish the viability of renewed interest in manned space exploration.
The prototype was designed and built by a consortium of international interests, including Boeing, Feust and Morrow Interests Ltd. Crew members have been drawn from participating ESA nations, but protests were initially raised over the abrupt addition of an American scientist...(cont.)
Associated Press wire bulletin
January 28, 2006
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You owe me.
Tesla Morrow put no anger into the statement; she didnt even raise her voice. She simply kept her gaze evenly on Dr. Sebastian MacLeod as the older man chewed his lower lip, an action that made his thick mustache twitch as though it had a life of its own.
To his credit, MacLeod didnt sweat, not even in what was technically still Australias summer. The air conditioning at the Woomera outpost administrative offices left a great deal to be desired, but the project chief had explained that most of the temperature control focus was on the various labs, control rooms and engineering areas.
Ill catch merry hell for this, he told her. I already had the devils own time convincing them to take you aboard the flight in the first place.
Tesla shrugged. I designed some of the major components for the CEV, Sebastian. When NASA dropped its funding, I used some of my influence to help keep things going. Without me, you wouldnt have a prototype to test.
Yes, I was rather surprised by that, MacLeod admitted. I thought your organizations remit limited you to Paragon City.
My involvement with Falcon had nothing to do with the Tomorrow Foundation then, and it has nothing to do with it now, Tesla replied. This is purely my personal and private interest.
I see. MacLeod nodded, but Tesla knew it was simply a stalling tactic to allow him time to assess the situation.
You can do this. Offering it up as a statement rather than a question eliminated any possibility of wiggle room for him. Plus, it had the added bonus of playing on his pride.
MacLeod puffed just a little. Of course I can. I just said Id catch hell for it.
Youre going to do this. Another jab at his ego.
His gaze slid off her and moved to the dull grey metal cannister that shed placed on the filing cabinet upon her arrival.
Its hardly an unheard-of request, Tesla said calmly.
I know that. Its just that theres usually all sorts of rigamarole before someone gets the singular honor of having her mortal remains committed to the stars...
For me, Sebastian.
Whatever resolve he had crumbled with a sigh as he continued to look at the cannister. I must confess... I can still remember the first time I read a Cody Shiloh story...
Tesla allowed herself a rare smile. Me, too.
Any opinions expressed above are merely the poster's own and do not necessarily coincide with the goals or beliefs of the Secret Ruling Forum Cabal.
met[sup].[/sup]a[sup].[/sup]mor[sup].[/sup]pho[sup].[/sup]sis
A change in the form of an animal during normal development after the embryonic stage. Metamorphosis includes, in insects, the transformation of a maggot into an adult fly and a caterpillar into a butterfly and, in amphibians, the changing of a tadpole into a frog.
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Falcon was little more than a silhouette as Teslas EMU suit continued to carry her farther into the void. Singh had, of course, protested her actions, but hed done nothing overt to stop her departure from the ship. Hed even waited until the airlock had completed cycling before rousing the rest of the crew.
Tesla knew, however, that his tacit approval would be of no benefit once the voyage was over. With her high profile, criminal charges were unlikely, but there was no doubt in her mind that she would never board an ESA ship again. She felt a momentary twinge at the way shed bullied and manipulated Sebastian, as well as several others, in order to hitch the ride in the first place. But sometimes the end did justify the means, didnt it? True or not, at that moment it was a convenient way to keep her focus on the task at hand.
She gently pressed her chin against a pad at the base of her helmet. A string of information scrolled across the inner surface of the helmets faceplate in response distance from Falcon, distance from destination, speed, etc. Carefully squeezing one gloved hand, she used the suits attitude jets to gently bring her to a halt. This was far enough.
The cannister was firmly strapped to her waist, and she struggled for several moments to detach it and keep a firm grasp at the same time. Finally, though, it came loose, the strap floating slowly away from her.
Another minute passed as she unscrewed the cannisters top. Air trapped inside seeped out, and Teslas mind filled in a hiss where there was no sound at all. Some of the ashes were carried along with the air, but that was unimportant... because those ashes didnt belong to E. J. Sterling. Instead, they came from the remains of a slowly-fossilizing tree in Gemini Park that had long ago been struck by lightning.
Tesla scattered the rest of the ashes, then pushed hard on the interior of the cannister. It sprung loose, and she gave it a tap to send it tumbling away. Beneath, trapped in a thin net of mesh, lay the real remains of Elizabeth Jane Sterling. Tesla used a slender blade to carefully sheer away the mesh, and let the contents float into her hand.
She held the dark oval shape for a long moment, feeling its peculiar warmth even through the protection of her suit. If she took it back aboard Falcon, all would be forgiven. Thered be a rush of excitement. Talk of careers being made. Chatter about the discovery of a lifetime. But that wasnt going to happen, because shed made a promise.
Throwing an object in a zero-g environment is trickier than it sounds, thanks to actions combined with equal and opposite reactions. Tesla managed it with grace, using the toss to give herself a bit of a push back toward Falcon. Drifting back toward the ESA ship, she watched as the oval the egg, she supposed, although that wasnt an accurate description in the strictest technical sense broke open.
Then the swirls of light made their way toward her and, to Tesla, they looked like nothing so much as beautiful dancers...
Later, she would awaken aboard Falcon, and the crew would, with no small amount of awe, tell her about the angel who had brought her back to the ship. And Tesla, in turn, would tell them how the tale would live forever.
But that would be later. For now, there were only the swirls of light and the calm, deep black as Tesla Morrow was swept across the void.
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TOMORROW FOUNDATION INCIDENT REPORT
Filed By: Tesla Morrow
Incident Date: 1/31/06
Incident Level: Delta Green 017
Continued Threat Level: n/a
Database Entry Point: A/85
Permit Access By: Wyldfire
CC: Abigail Foster, Augren Grind, Melanie Proudwind, Joseph Young
Incident Summary (Brief): Extraterrestrial first contact
Incident Summary (Full): The Dynmeraa consider themselves the galaxys premier archivists and storytellers. Traveling from one inhabited world to another, these energy-based creatures are able to assume native form as needed via unknown means. They may spend years or even decades observing and recording anything and everything they find pertinent to their pursuits events, songs, literature, myths, legends, etc. In return for this information, they exchange tales collected from other worlds and times, seeing this as a fair and necessary trade. In the case of civilizations which have not yet reached an advanced xenobiological comfort level, they may impart those stories in various unobtrusive ways. (cont.)
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Even in the end, she refused to tell me the name to which she had been born, instead insisting that I call her by the one which I knew (and she liked) best.
It had taken the pain of the cancer and the treatments that followed to restore her memory of who she really was. The great irony is, of course, that regardless of the memory loss, she had spent her entire human life in the pursuit of the same goals she would have otherwise sought. She was a student of human nature and human literature, and in return, she gave us tales of wonder and awe. For her, there was no higher calling. For us, there was no greater gift.
How much of what E. J. Sterling wrote was fiction and how much was truth flowing from her untapped memories? I did not ask, and I do not want to know. It doesnt matter, in the end, because the inspiration they continue to provide is far more important than any origin I could attach to them.
The crew of Falcon described her as an angel. For too brief a time, it was my honor and my privilege to simply call her my friend.
Rest in peace, Elizabeth Jane Sterling, for you will be missed.
From the private journal of Tesla Morrow
Any opinions expressed above are merely the poster's own and do not necessarily coincide with the goals or beliefs of the Secret Ruling Forum Cabal.
They floated silently in the darkness, borne toward Shiloh by the solar winds. He drew in a deep, involuntary breath, then cursed himself for wasting what little precious oxygen remained in his damaged spacesuit. His last coherent thought before the black took him was that the swirls of light looked like nothing so much as beautiful dancers...
"Cody Shiloh and the Dancers in the Void"
by E. J. Sterling
Galaxy, June 1958
(reprinted in The Adventures of Cody Shiloh (coll.), Bantam, 1964)
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Tesla Morrow closed her eyes and moved her gloved hands carefully across the EMU spacesuit. The movements should have been clumsy and slow in the bulky pressure suit, but repetition had brought a certain grace to them. The process of checking seals and connections had been drilled into crew members relentlessly during training, and it had taken on the air of a religious ritual. Of course, in this case, as the final authority on the suits integrity, you were responsible for your own salvation.
Satisfied, Tesla turned to the keypad and entered a string of numbers. There was a barely audible hiss as the inner airlock door cycled through and popped open. She pushed the door a bit to widen the gap, then turned to pick up the dull grey metal cannister that rested by her right elbow.
Doctor Morrow? The question came from Singh, the Indian astrophysicist, as he appeared in the narrow corridor. Educated at Oxford, his British accent was as perfect as any performer on Masterpiece Theater. He was dressed in the standard dark blue flight suit bearing the ESA logo, and he raised an eyebrow as he studied her. What are you doing?
Would you believe I just needed to stretch my legs?
Singh chuckled. I wasnt aware of any scheduled spacewalks. In fact, as far as I know, you and I are the only members of the crew awake at the moment.
Tesla sighed. Honesty was always the best policy... if you got caught. Words of wisdom from her father. This isnt a scheduled spacewalk.
Then what is it?
A favor for a friend.
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The girl, unclothed and described as being some eight years of age, was discovered in the remains of the Kipling Mews area by air wardens surveying damage from the previous evenings Luftwaffe bombing. She had no visible injuries but was unresponsive to questions asked. She was transported to the Albion Hospital, where she remains at the present time. Police ask that any person or persons who may have knowledge of her identity come forward, as searches of the registration rolls have thus far proved fruitless.
Mystery Girl Found Untouched in Shattered House
The Watford Chronicle
10 April 1941
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There was magic in that battered cardboard box. And magic was not a word six-year-old Tesla Morrow used lightly.
Shed been carefully attaching the state-of-the-art 5mb hard drive to her homemade computer when one of the screws had slipped through her grasp. It had bounced once on the concrete floor of the family garage, then rolled out of sight into a disorderly pile of boxes in the corner.
Tesla had knelt by the pile, squinting into the shadows to catch sight of it. The screw had somehow threaded its way through the maze of cardboard and wedged itself in between the boxes at the back of the group. Murphys Law in action.
Shed grunted with the effort as shed shoved one box after another to the side in an attempt to reach the screw. Her parents were natural packrats, a fact evidenced by the container full of receipts from 1972 and the box holding her mothers entire run of junior high school reports and projects. Convinced that the rest of the boxes held the same sort of junk, Tesla was less than careful in shifting them, picking up the pace of her work.
Then it had happened. One box, pushed at the wrong angle, had tipped onto the floor sideways, disgorging its contents, which slid in all directions. Paperbacks of every width, texture and color had skittered across the floor.
Tesla Morrow, with her staggering intelligence, had long since passed the years of See Spot Run and fairy tales. On those wonderful occasions when her father had taken her to the university library, shed concentrated on scientific and medical texts. A book to her was merely a non-volatile storage medium, and nothing about which to get sentimental.
And yet, for reasons she was unable to fathom, she couldnt take her eyes off these paperbacks. Instead of immediately tidying them away, she reached down and carefully picked up one of them. Foundation by Isaac Asimov. She began to read, Hari Seldon...born in the 11,988th year of the Galactic Era...
The rest of the day was merely a haze of momentary interruptions from her all-important reading. By the time she finished the book, her father had returned home from work, more than slightly bemused to find his daughter sitting on a dirty garage floor surrounded by yellowing paperbacks. To her delight, hed bequeathed the box to her, and shed struggled her way to her room with it, refusing his offers of help.
In the golden days that followed, she read every paperback in the box the Ballantines, the Del Reys, even the DAWs with their distinctive but off-putting yellow spines. She devoured Heinlein, Niven and Clarke. Known Space and the Future History opened their borders to her. She met the Heechee, the Kzin, and the Fremen, among so, so many others.
And best of all, to Teslas mind, she discovered E. J. Sterling.
Any opinions expressed above are merely the poster's own and do not necessarily coincide with the goals or beliefs of the Secret Ruling Forum Cabal.