I wrote a short paragraph, as the opening of a story. I then selected four authors, gave each of them a copy of the opening paragraph and asked each of them to finish the story for me. The four stories came out quite different, and yet, there are certain thoughts and concepts which appear in more than one story. It was a very exciting and fun project. Here is the paragraph:

The sun was setting, turning the sky brilliant shades of orange and pink, as Janice Hunter strolled through the woods. She loved to spend time in the woods, especially later in the evening when one could hear all of the frogs and crickets singing in the dusk. But as the light gave way to deepening shadows, the air started to cool quickly. It smelled of damp earth, fallen leaves and fungus. She was just thinking of turning back toward home when, through the trees, not too far away, she saw a brilliant flash of light.

• "Seeker Of The Light"
• Magee Gilks
• Issue #175 January 5 2001
• Janice Hunter is a member of a tribe who believe that if they can capture the light, it will give to them the secret of technology. Janice's tribe is the Hunter tribe, the ones who train the Seekers who hunt the light. Janice captures the light one evening and it imparts to her all of the knowledge of ancient technology and the knowledge of how technology destroyed the human race and brought them to where her people are now. Janice decides that her people are better off without the technology and keeps the knowledge to herself.

• "Flower Show"
• D. K. Latta
• Issue #176 January 12 2001
• Janice Hunter is a terraforming expert on a deep-space voyage when her ship crashes into an asteroid. A nearby alien race discovers her, barely alive, in the wreckage. At first, while caring for her, they display a total indifference towards this alien. When they learn to communicate and learn of her specialty, they become very interested. They are at war with a neighbouring planet and a terrible weapon is being used to destroy their ecosystem. It causes entropy to occur within hours, causing all life on the planet to age and die, leaving it barren. Janice sets out to try to genetically engineer life forms which can survive the accelerated entropy. She accidentally succeeds in one small way. Unfortunately, she must prevent this new life form from following its natural path in favour of saving the existing dominant species. But when she learns that the weapon destroying this planet was developed by these people, then stolen by the other side and used against them, Janice decides that the little creatures she created have a better claim to life than the aliens.

• "Hunter's Green"
• Terry Hickman
• Issue #177 January 19 2001
• It is the not too distant future and the human population is straining the planet beyond its ability to support everyone. The majority of people face starvation on a daily basis. Janice Hunter, a research geneticist, is trying a bold experiment to save people from starvation. In a mountain retreat, she is implanting plant dna into test subjects, so that they take on the characteristics of trees. When the transformation is nearly complete, they find a spot they like and take root, drawing their sustenance from the Earth itself. They also effectively extend their lifespans by decades. However, one young military officer has strong objections to her parents volunteering as test subjects and comes barging in with court orders and troops to bust up the operation.

• "Seeing Through The Trees"
• Robert Beer
• Issue #178 January 26 2001
• Janice Hunter is a navigator on a starship. Navigators lie in pods, linked to the ships sensors and computers so that they can "sense" hyperspace and guide the ship through. When they drop out of hyperspace and collide with debris, her lover and fellow navigator dies. Now Janice hides among the trees in the ecology dome which is being transported to the colony they were headed to. Her crewmates need her to guide them onward, once the ship is repaired. But Janice fears to return to the pod. A resourceful Executive Officer finally persuades her to take her place, and gains a new friend in the process.