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Merino. You do not deny having carnal relations with one of the Fanzoii you were transporting?
     
    merino: No.
     
    prosecutor: Nor do you deny that said relations, by chaining your will to that of the alien referred to hereafter as “Tess,” were ultimately responsible for the deaths of your entire crew and the total failure of your mission?
     
    merino: No, I do not deny that.
     
    prosecutor: Can you suggest any reason why the court should see your actions as anything other than arrogant self-indulgence that resulted in the most dishonorable tragedy in the Aristarchy’s history? How can your actions fail to besmirch all Aristarchs by implication, in the eyes of the lower classes? How can we be lenient with you, and not appear to condone your deeds?
     
    merino: [ After a pause ] I cannot by any means justify what I did. And it would be reprehensible to lay the blame on those above me, who chose an imperfect tool for their task. I can only express my sincerest sorrow for the men I doomed, and wish that they had had a better captain. As for the taint I placed on the Aristarchy, I hereby affirm that I alone am culpable. I heartily wish that events had not transpired as they did. Yet who can undo the past? I only caution all those involved in similar ventures in the future, who might be quick to pass judgment on me, to examine their own souls and hearts and ask if they too might not fail when put to the test.
     
    judge: Refrain from instructing us in morality, Aristarch Merino. You are hardly in a position to do so.
     
    merino: I realize that, your Honor. I only sought to point out the possibility that others might act as I found myself acting, should the Aristarchy persist in this misguided scheme.
     
    judge: I, for one, find such an imputation baseless and arrogant. And your attempt to shape policy is itself misguided. In fact, your whole attitude during this trial has struck me as overbearing and lacking in contrition.
     
    merino: I repeat my deepest regrets for the suffering I have caused.
     
    judge: Protestations of sorrow are easy to make, yet truly felt perhaps only under the hands of the Inquisitors.
     
    merino: [ Silent ]
     
    prosecutor: Do you have anything further to say in your defense?
     
    merino: No.
     
    judge: The jury will now adjourn.
     
     

 
    II
    Adventures of a Restless Mind
     
     
    We’ve all heard the famous adage about the fox knowing many small things, and the hedgehog knowing one big thing. It seems to me that this truism applies to writers more so than to those in other professions.
    There are writers who focus on the same material from book to book, digging deeper and deeper into seemingly inexhaustible motherlodes of theme and topic. Then there are writers who feel the need to prospect across vast literary Alaskas, hungry for new horizons and possible riches in anyplace other than where they’ve already been.
    It should be obvious to anyone who’s read my stuff that I’m one of the latter. A fox on the move, a butterfly or industrious bee, zipping from flower to flower. I like to think such constant change keeps me flexible and fresh, makes me widen the tunnel vision we all inevitably develop.
    So here in this section, you’ll see me dabbling in realism, fabulism, ribofunk, horsepowerpunk, and what might be called “galactic core values.”
    I might not have struck gold yet, but I keep looking.
     
     

 
    My, my, how times do change! Once, not so very long ago in a more innocent age, the notion of “monkey-wrenching” or “culture-jamming” seemed like good, clean fun. A stolid, stable, somnolent society can always use a few jesters to speed up its pulse and awaken the stupefied masses to thoughts of alternatives to their daily grind. But in a world where society teeters on the brink of collapse (or is perceived to be so teetering), due to enemies within and without, where the majority of citizens are scared stiff and a premium is placed on not rocking the boat, the