The Adjoa Gambit

  • Title: The Adjoa Gambit
  • Genre: Science Fiction
  • Length: 5593
  • Written: January-May 2006
  • Published: Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show #3, October 2006.


    • Excerpt:
    Shannon pressed the door firmly closed before embarking on the long walk to the rationing station. Today marked the sixth anniversary of her arrival at ARIP, the Antarctic Reservation for Indigenous Population, but she still couldn't get used to the bitter cold. Shannon's mind drifted to the memories of a warm Phoenix evening from somewhere in her childhood, then shook it off to concentrate on the task at hand--collecting the family's food ration for the week.

    As she approached the rationing station, Shannon saw the line snaking around the corner of the two-story corrugated aluminum building. The wait would be at least an hour today.



    Reviews
    Little Adjoa has a grasp of "headology" that Terry Pratchett’s Granny Weatherwax would approve of. I think the Procs are in for a rough time.
    -- Janice Clark, Tangent Online



    Discussion
    My first professional sale.

    This story had its roots in thoughts about how the white man pushed Native Americans off their land and corralled them onto reservations. I thought, what if somebody else came to earth, pushed us off our land, and corralled us all in onto a reservation in the worst land available, Antarctica.

    The invaders from a planet orbiting Procyon (the Procs) have a gambling problem. Many reservations have casinos, so the gambling idea came naturally.



    (c) 2005-2007 by Rick Novy

    Last update: 25 March 2007