Relay by Lewis Shiner

“Relay” is a 1991 science fiction short story by Lewis Shiner. It is about a man who claims to have traveled to the future while on a relay station in orbit above the Earth.

Non-Spoiler Summary In A Nutshell:

Blair’s mother has had problems with him for many years, often taking him to Stevens – the psychiatrist who has been seeing Blair since he was a child. So when Blair unexpectedly comes home to Kansas from graduate school in California she is saddened but not too surprised, and off they go to the psychiatrist again. But when Blair begins telling the doctor that he has been to a space station to carry out research in time travel his mother starts to get a little bit more worried – especially after she finds out what happened to his traveling partner!

Stevens rewound the tape, pretending to concentrate on the hum of the machine. “What is it I’m supposed to be hearing?” he asked. “Voices?”

Across the desk from him, Blair was pale and sweaty. “It’s Weston, the other man I was … traveling with.”

“Into the future,” Stevens said, not bothering to make it a question, no longer believing that Blair would deny it.

“I know what you’re thinking. With the tape that way and all. I don’t know what happened to it. But if you concentrate, you can still hear it. You can hear him saying my name.”

My Two Cents:

• The good:

• The eerie, almost Sixth Sense-y tone of “Relay” was great! Something felt a little bit off the whole way through, and that kept my interest high.
• The part about thinking of home as he sets the transport coordinates for Kansas was totally funny – I actually laughed out loud at that thinly veiled reference!

• The bad:

• Hmm… not much. Oh wait – there was one misspelled word in this story!

Fact Sheet:
• Page Count: 4
• Word Count: 1,771

Where you can find “Relay”:

• This short story first appeared in The Edges of Things, a 1991 collection of stories by Lewis Shiner.
• “Relay” is included in the super-fancy, numbered, slipcased, autographed, limited edition hardcover version of Lewis Shiner’s The Edges of Things. (Whew!)
• You can read a very nice HTML or PDF version at Lewis Shiner’s website.

Some Interesting Links:

• If you are interested in learning more about Lewis Shiner, the author of “Relay”, you can check out the very detailed biography on his web page.
• If you liked “Relay” then be sure to surf on over to Fiction Liberation Front to read loads more of his stories for free!

Craving More Stories?
If you enjoyed this story then you might also like Small Moments in Time, about a time traveling man working in turn-of-the-century Kansas, and the horrible secret he discovers there, by John G. Hemry.

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