the Northern Hemisphere has been devastated by nuclear war, and nations in the Southern Hemisphere are now dominant. A scientific fleet from the Southern American Empire is investigating Antarctica and discovers an isolated tribe of humans. It is eventually determined that the tribe is descended from the only group of Afrikaners to escape from South Africa after a genocide of all white Africans after the northern hemisphere's nuclear war. This was Vinge's first story accepted for publication. "Conquest by Default" Originally published in Analog Science Fiction Science Fact, 1968. Set in the same world as "Apartness" but farther in the future where an alien civilization, the Mikin, have made contact with Earth. The Mikin culture is a newly star-faring, profit driven, anarchy. The Mikin's technology is significantly advanced beyond humanity's and their culture is unbelievably diverse due to an ingrained acceptance of differences. "The Whirligig of Time" Originally published in Stellar One, Ballantine Books, 1974. The story opens with a description of an attack on the unidentified losing side of a nuclear exchange. Ballistic missiles rain down on military installations, while smuggled bombs destroy cities. Over the next centuries the winning side of this conflict forms an oppressive solar system wide empire. The rest of the story is set in space on the occasion of the imperial heir's 18th birthday celebration, at which the emperor and most of the aristocracy is present. During the party, a descendant of the losing side (who is employed as a "pet" slave/jester by the prince) alerts the ship's captain to an interesting object orbiting Earth, knowing the prince's penchant for collecting space debris. The captain is instructed to divert towards the object, and soon realizes that the object is a nuclear weapon from the original war. He decides not to change his course or inform others of this, believing that his death in the collision will be worth the elimination of the empire's elite to free the solar system from its tyranny. "Bomb Scare" Originally published in Analog Science Fiction Science Fact, 1970. During a battle in which one colonizing species is about to use a mass-energy converter to destroy the main planet of a solar system they wish to conquer, an unknown craft appears intent upon doing the same to the system's star. This unknown craft belongs to a species which has "supervised its own evolution for more than 100,000 years" and the