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This novelette originally appeared in the anthology Live Without a Net (2003), edited by Lou Anders. It can also be found in the anthology The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twenty-First Annual Collection (2004), edited by Gardner Dozois. The story is included in the collection Ten Sigmas & Other Unlikelihoods (2008).

The debut novel from a exciting new voice in SF—about what happens after ninety percent of humanity leaves Earth

There is an artificial ring around the Earth and it is empty after the Singularity. Either all the millions of inhabitants are dead, or they have been transformed into energy beings beyond human perception. Earth's population was reduced by ninety percent. Human civilization on Earth is now recovering from this trauma and even has a vigorous space program.

Apollo Papadopulos is in training to become the captain of the starship Consensus. Apollo is a unique individual in that he/she/it is not an individual at all, but five separate teenagers who form a new entity. Strom, Meda, Quant, Manuel, and Moira are a pod, as these kinds of personalities are called, genetically engineered to work as one and to be able to communicate non-verbally. As a rare quintet, much relies on the successful training of Apollo, but as more accidents occur, the pod members struggle just to survive.

This short story originally appeared in Talebones #28, Summer 2004. It can also be found in the anthologies The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Second Annual Collection (2005), edited by Gardner Dozois, The Best of Talebones (2010), edited by Patrick Swenson, and Other Worlds Than These (2012), edited by John Joseph Adams. The story is included in the collection Ten Sigmas & Other Unlikelihoods (2008).

Read the full story for free at the Baen website.

Paul Melko's first story collection pulls together the best of his science fiction, including the title story, "Ten Sigmas" and "Singletons in Love," both of which were reprinted in The Year's Best Science Fiction, edited by Gardner Dozois. Also in the collection is "Walls of the Universe," a short list finalist for the Nebula, Hugo and Sturgeon Awards in 2007. Several stories are set in the universe of his first novel, Singularity's Ring, from TOR Books in February 2008.

Table of Contents:

• Ten Sigmas - (2004) - shortstory
• The Teosinthe War - (2006) - shortstory
• Doctor Mighty and the Case of Ennui - (2004) - shortstory
• Alien Fantasies - (2000) - shortstory
• The Summer of the Seven - (2005) - novelette
• Singletons in Love - (2003) - novelette
• Strength Alone - (2004) - novelette
• Dysfunctional Family Cat - (1996) - shortfiction
• Fallow Earth - (2004) - shortstory
• Death of the Egg King - (1999) - shortstory
• Walls of the Universe - (2006) - novella
• Snail Stones - (2006) - shortstory
• Story Notes - essay by Paul Melko

Hugo, Nebula and Sturgeon Award nominated novella. It originally appeared in Asimov's Science Fiction, April-May 2006. The story is included in the collection Ten Sigmas & Other Unlikelihoods (2008) and was later expanded to the full novel The Walls of the Universe (2009).

John Rayburn thought all of his problems were the mundane ones of an Ohio farm boy in his last year in high school. Then his doppelgänger appeared, tempted him with a device that let him travel across worlds, and stole his life from him. John soon finds himself caroming through universes, unable to return home - the device is broken. John settles in a new universe to unravel its secrets and fix it.

Meanwhile, his doppelgänger tries to exploit the commercial technology he's stolen from other Earths: the Rubik's Cube! John's attempts to lie low in his new universe backfire when he inadvertently introduces pinball. It becomes a huge success. Both actions draw the notice of other, more dangerous travelers, who are exploiting worlds for ominous purposes. Fast-paced and exciting, this is SF adventure at its best from a rising star.

A thrilling adventure that spans alternate universes, filled with multiple doppelgängers, transdimensional corporate takeovers, and a struggle for survival across the multiverse.

Possessing technology that allows him to travel across alternate worlds, John Rayburn begins building a transdimensional commercial empire, led by him, his closest friends, and their doppelgängers from several different parallel universes. But not every version of every person is the same, and their agendas do not always coincide.

Despite their benign intentions, the group’s activities draw unwanted attention from other dimensional travelers who covet their technology and will kill anyone to control it, a threat that culminates in a nuclear standoff for dominance throughout the multiverse.