A professional terraformer is hired to teach his art to a difficult young woman. The lessons begin well, but then comes the awful moment when the teacher realizes that he couldn't be more helpless.
"The old man was corpulent like a seal, muscle clothed in fat to guarantee warmth, his skin smooth and his general proportions -- stocky limbs and a broad chest -- implying natural, almost unconscious power. He wore little despite the damp chill. The brown eyes seemed capable and shrewd. And humorless. We were standing on a graveled beach, staring at his tiny sea; and after a long silence, he informed me, 'I don't approve of what you do, Mr. Locum. It's pretentious and wasteful, this business of building cruel places. You're not an artist, and I think it's healthy for both of us to know my objections to your presence here.'"
Robert Reed is the author of nearly 300 published science fiction stories. "A Place With Shade" is a favorite from his early career.
Reed won a Hugo Award in 2007, for his novella "A Billion Eves."
Genre: Science Fiction
"The old man was corpulent like a seal, muscle clothed in fat to guarantee warmth, his skin smooth and his general proportions -- stocky limbs and a broad chest -- implying natural, almost unconscious power. He wore little despite the damp chill. The brown eyes seemed capable and shrewd. And humorless. We were standing on a graveled beach, staring at his tiny sea; and after a long silence, he informed me, 'I don't approve of what you do, Mr. Locum. It's pretentious and wasteful, this business of building cruel places. You're not an artist, and I think it's healthy for both of us to know my objections to your presence here.'"
Robert Reed is the author of nearly 300 published science fiction stories. "A Place With Shade" is a favorite from his early career.
Reed won a Hugo Award in 2007, for his novella "A Billion Eves."
Genre: Science Fiction
Used availability for Robert Reed's A Place with Shade