"The Slipway" is a

science-fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, sp ...

novelette by

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

writer

Greg Egan Greg Egan (born 20 August 1961) is an Australian science fiction writer and mathematician, best known for his works of hard science fiction. Egan has won multiple awards including the John W. Campbell Memorial Award, the Hugo Award, and the Lo ...

, first published in ''

Analog Analog or analogue may refer to: Computing and electronics * Analog signal, in which information is encoded in a continuous variable ** Analog device, an apparatus that operates on analog signals *** Analog electronics, circuits which use analog ...

'' in July/August 2019. It describes the discovery of a

wormhole A wormhole is a hypothetical structure that connects disparate points in spacetime. It can be visualized as a tunnel with two ends at separate points in spacetime (i.e., different locations, different points in time, or both). Wormholes are base ...

approaching the Earth. It was included in the collection '' Instantiation''. Greg Egan described the scientific background of the short story in the

essay An essay ( ) is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a Letter (message), letter, a term paper, paper, an article (publishing), article, a pamphlet, and a s ...

''The View through a Wormhole''.

Plot

With the hint of a farmer, who has already discovered an asteroid, Fatima and Gabrielle discover new stars in the night sky, which turn out to come from a

, called the Pane. Theories of alien intergalactic transport networks or a proof of

string theory In physics, string theory is a theoretical framework in which the point-like particles of particle physics are replaced by one-dimensional objects called strings. String theory describes how these strings propagate through space and intera ...

spread across the world, but all measurements of size, position and velocity of the Pane fail. After the Pane has reached twice the size of the full moon, Fatima proposes that the Pane is actually as large as the

Solar System The Solar SystemCapitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Sola ...

and travels close to the

speed of light The speed of light in vacuum, commonly denoted , is a universal physical constant exactly equal to ). It is exact because, by international agreement, a metre is defined as the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum during a time i ...

, hence the Solar System has already passed it and the night sky is only an illusion created by the light travelling from the past with them. Her hypothesis is at first rejected, and she showered with rape and

death threats A death threat is a threat, often made Anonymity, anonymously, by one person or a group of people to kill another person or group of people. These threats are often designed to intimidate victims in order to Psychological manipulation, manipulat ...

, also fuelled by

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...

and

sexism Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but primarily affects women and girls. It has been linked to gender roles and stereotypes, and may include the belief that one sex or gender is int ...

since she is a

Senegalese Demographic features of the population of Senegal include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population. About 42% of Senegal's population i ...

woman. But as the Pane continues to grow, desperate plans to send out spaceships and space probes back are made. Gabrielle eventually realizes that the other side of the Pane is again their original position and that it showed them an 67,000 year of snapshot of the night sky within. Fatima and Gabrielle immediately go back to their observation of the phenomenon, to find it again, if it's natural, or create it themselves one day, if it's artificial.

Reception

Reviews

Rich Horton wrote in the ''

Locus Magazine ''Locus: The Magazine of The Science Fiction & Fantasy Field'', founded in 1968, is an American magazine published monthly in Oakland, California. It is the news organ and trade journal for the English-language science fiction and fantasy fields. ...

'', that the short story "qualifies as pure a hard SF story as you might want – so much so that I wish he’d included some diagrams and equations" and that "in purest SF fashion, the working out of the story is essentially the process of coming to understand what this thing – called “the Pane” – really is, and the reader is invited to indulge their sense of wonder by the end." Victoria Silverwolf wrote on ''

Tangent Online ''Tangent Online'' is an online magazine launched in its online incarnation in 1997, though it began as a print magazine in 1993. ''Tangent Online'' is edited by Dave Truesdale, with web-hoster Eric James Stone. The magazine covers reviews of sc ...

'', that "full appreciation of the premise requires familiarity with many concepts of modern

astrophysics Astrophysics is a science that employs the methods and principles of physics and chemistry in the study of astronomical objects and phenomena. As one of the founders of the discipline, James Keeler, said, astrophysics "seeks to ascertain the ...

", which has "a true sense of wonder, describing an amazing event with rigid scientific logic." She also praises that "the characters in the story are little more than a way for the author to present a fascinating idea in the form of fiction." Sam Tomaino wrote on ''SF Revu'', that "the explanation for what he Paneis makes for a very imaginative story" and that it "it has well-drawn characters, too." He adds that it is a "great end" of the July/August 2019 issue of Analog Science Fiction and Fact.

Awards

"The Slipway" was nominated for the Analog Analytical Laboratory (AnLab) Award for Best Novelette in 2019.

External links

*
The View through a Wormhole

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:TheSlipway Australian science fiction short stories 2019 short stories Short stories by Greg Egan