title: Electric Dreams: Seven Futuristic Tales
author:  Deborah A Bailey 
description: <b>Excerpt from "On the Beach"</b><br /><br />"Lieutenant. You really should go to bed. You need your rest."<br /><br />"I'd rather stay here, if you don't mind," I replied.<br /><br />"Are you afraid? You never seemed so before." Her voice seemed much gentler. <br /><br />I sighed. "Maybe you're right." I swung my feet off of the console and stood up. She was right, my bed was much more comfortable than a badly-padded chair. "Did you finish scanning?"<br /><br />"There's a small malfunction in the communications wiring. It might require a manual override. I'll attempt to fix it."<br /><br />That explained everything. Communications had a problem, and that had to be why I was hearing voices. It was probably picking up stuff from the planet. I suddenly felt totally silly. I'd certainly been in space before for longer amounts of time than this. After 10 years in the service I certainly couldn't be cracking up now. <br /><br />"Keep me posted on that, and unlock the door." I called out. The door opened with a hiss.<br /><br />"I'm lighting up the area, Lieutenant, so you won't have to find your way in the dark," the computer said. <br /><br />"Thanks." I was a bit surprised by her concern. She usually acted as though my presence wasn't really necessary, which was true. Computers had replaced people on most of the space stations, even the research facilities. <br /><br />The next few days were uneventful. I didn't hear any voices, though I started to wish for something to break the monotony. Too bad I forgot to be careful what I wished for. A week after hearing the voices, things got worse.<b>
  						    	
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  ##### www.blackmask.com
  
  * * *
  
  
  #### The Master Key
  
  
  \--Who Knows?--
  
  1\. Rob's Workshop
  
  2\. The Demon of Electricity
  
  3\. The Three Gifts
  
  4\. Testing the Instruments
  
  5\. The Cannibal Island
  
  6\. The Buccaneers
  
  7\. The Demon Becomes Angry
  
  8\. Rob Acquires New Powers
  
  9\. The Second Journey
  
  10\. How Rob Served a Mighty King
  
  11\. The Man of Science
  
  12\. How Rob Saved a Republic
  
  13\. Rob Loses His Treasures
  
  14\. Turk and Tatar
  
  15\. A Battle With Monsters
  
  16\. Shipwrecked Mariners
  
  17\. The Coast of Oregon
  
  18\. A Narrow Escape
  
  19\. Rob Makes a Resolution
  
  20\. The Unhappy Fate of the Demon
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  >
  
  
  The Master Key
  
  
  ### L. Frank Baum
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  An Electrical Fairy Tale
  
  
  Founded Upon The Mysteries Of Electricity
  
  
  And The Optimism Of Its Devotees. It Was
  
  
  Written For Boys, But Others May Read It
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ### Who Knows?
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  These things are quite improbable, to be sure; but are they impossible?
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Our big 