Download the Book - Islam and Science Fiction
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whim, he found a sheet of sensitized plastic used in passive detection<br />
of ionized particles <strong>and</strong> set a small piece of it adrift. He steered <strong>the</strong><br />
grape in pursuit of <strong>the</strong> target, <strong>and</strong> zapped it repeatedly. Each shock<br />
left a black mark on <strong>the</strong> sensitized sheet.<br />
Within two hours, Hussein had finished inventing killer-grape<br />
combat, soon to become one of <strong>the</strong> most popular diversions aboard<br />
<strong>the</strong> Dreamer. The object was to mark a small target on your<br />
opponent's killer-grape before he marked yours.<br />
It was popular, at least, until a year later, when somebody figured<br />
out that Erica Thompson had never been properly graped. After that<br />
episode, all killer-grapes were confiscated <strong>and</strong> locked in her lab, <strong>and</strong><br />
strict controls were put on <strong>the</strong> supply of high-voltage inverters.<br />
From <strong>the</strong> Confessions:<br />
At my new job at SPOL, my duties were to complete a project<br />
begun by my predecessor, who had been dismissed over some<br />
nameless sc<strong>and</strong>al. Whatever his faults, he was a meticulous<br />
professional, <strong>and</strong> my work was straightforward. The project was a<br />
specialized spectrometer designed to resolve certain fine lines of<br />
stellar emissions. On <strong>the</strong> surface, <strong>the</strong> assignment was mundane, but I<br />
knew, even <strong>the</strong>n, that it held potential for <strong>the</strong> study of certain<br />
important astrophysical phenomena likely to involve travel to o<strong>the</strong>r<br />
stars.<br />
Upon completing <strong>the</strong> project, I was promoted to team leader, <strong>and</strong><br />
was assigned a small staff to utilize <strong>the</strong> new instrument. I needed a<br />
technical writer, <strong>and</strong> one was quickly found for me. I knew<br />
something was afoot when Zeid showed up to fill <strong>the</strong> position.<br />
Zeid had been at <strong>the</strong> station for about a month when his reader<br />
broke down. I lent him mine, not remembering that I had several<br />
crystals in <strong>the</strong> case with it. When I stopped by his berth to retrieve it<br />
later that day, I found him in rakatin. I was embarrassed, not having<br />
prayed myself in over a year. I admired him for doing what was right<br />
even when <strong>the</strong>re was nobody around to know.<br />
Since his arrival I had noticed that he had cheered up<br />
considerably, so his depression over our last mission was evidently<br />
behind him. Nei<strong>the</strong>r of us knew what our next mission was to be, but<br />
we couldn't imagine better circumstances for training.<br />
At <strong>the</strong> moment, though, some of <strong>the</strong> old blue aura hung around<br />
him. "How are you?" I asked, a little less casually than <strong>the</strong> usual<br />
habitual question.<br />
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