F. M. Busby

writer
Short Story

A Gun for Grandfather

The para doesn’t quite dox for me, but the story is still enjoyable as Busby’s first publication.
I’m not kidding you at all,” Barney insisted. “I have produced a workable Time Machine, and I am going to use it to go back and kill my grandfather.
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  • Science Fiction
  • Definite Time Travel
Short Story

Proof

Jackson, a reporter, wants proof that a time machine really works, and he also wouldn’t mind proof about who killed SenatorBurton 20 years ago.
The Time Chamber. with its loose-hanging power cables and confused-looking control panel, didn’t look much like Mr. Wells’ crystal bicycle.
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  • Science Fiction
  • Definite Time Travel
Short Story

Road Map

  • by F. M. Busby
  • in Clairion III, edited by Robin Scott Wilson (Signet, October 1973)
When Ralph Ascione dies, he is reincarnated as a female baby—but in what year and exactly which female?
A new sound came; in the blurred distances, something moved. Vaguely seen, a huge face looked over him and made soft, deep clucking noises. Then he understood.
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  • Eloi Bronze Medal
  • Fantasy
  • Definite Time Travel
Short Story

Retroflex

Haldene tracks down a man named Cochrane, who turns out to be a killer from the future.
The one calling himself Cochrane is not of this era, but of a time far forward.
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  • Science Fiction
  • Definite Time Travel
Short Story

If This Is Winnetka, You Must Be Judy

  • by F. M. Busby
  • in Universe 5, edited by Terry Carr (Random House, November 1974)
Larry Garth skips from year to year in his life (not linearly, of course), waiting to meet his once and future wife, Elaine.
He lit a cigarette and leafed through the cards and minutiae that constituted his identity in the outside world. Well. . . knowing himself, his driver’s permit would be up-to-date and all credit cards unexpired. The year was 1970. Another look outside: autumn. So he was thirty-five, and the pans clattered at the hands of Judy.
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  • Eloi Silver Medal
  • Fantasy
  • Definite Time Travel
Short Story

Backspace

After fixing the smog problem by reversing the direction of Earth’s spin, Pete’s flaky friend Sam shows up with device that includes a calendar display and a grey backspace button. That, of course, was in the 1977 story, “Backspace.” I don’t know whether there were any earlier stories of Peter and Sam before the backspace button appeared, but there were several others afterward in Asimov’s Science Fiction. In the second story (“Balancing Act”), Sam could still “edit” time, even though he’d burned out the backspace button by stopping World War III. It’s unclear whether this second sort of editing involves time travel, but it is fun to speculate on what I might edit if given the chance.
My friend Sam is the only person I know who edits events. Which is to say, he does something in his head and the past changes; the alterations, of course also reflect into the present and the future.
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  • Fantasy
  • Definite Time Travel