Challenge 1114

Place the Names

In Daniel P. Douglas’s Mathematical Showdown:
1. Do readers know why Cecil Higgins “fled” Boston?
2. What is Cecil’s tragic flaw?
In Sylvia Hines’ She’s My Cousin:
1. Why must time travelers switch to an “alternate universe” to escape threats rather than simply return home? Why can’t fright alone interrupt their meditation?
2. What is the “cord” that a time traveler must pull to escape to an alternate universe? Is it a literal cord or rope, or is it a figurative concept?
3. Does the story avoid the “grandfather paradox” inherent in time travel or is the paradox implicitly set aside? Does anyone in the story actually enforce rules of time travel?
4. Why would the narrator be unable to return safely to her own timeline under the time-travel rules of “Don’t Get Noticed”? What would happen to her?
In Morgan Kohler’s, Fire Escape:
1. Is the fire important or is it a background event?
2. Does Jim ever make contact with the prospective lady friend?
In Dan Rodriguez’ Professor Strike:
1. What is the story’s geographical setting?
2. Prof, Strike’s “Nez Perce” glasses are named for a Native American nation of the Pacific Northwest. Are any ethnic Europeans or Africans present in the story? What difference does ethnicity make to the plot, if any?
3. What does Mara appear to learn that causes her to refrain from taking revenge on Strike for killing her father?
4. What action might precede and follow this chapter in a longer story?
In John Hogland’s Strange Incense: Why might the shrine to Buddha have been hidden where it was?

Responses welcome!