Fantasy & Science Fiction June 1990. [antikvár]

' Judith Moffett's last story here was the Christmas fantasy "1, Said the Cow," (January 1990). Her new story is science fiction, and it concerns the powerful aliens known as Hefn, who have given the people of Earth a Directive and only nine years to meet it Final Tometar J-udt^lmIHEY RODE UP THE Escalator from the subway and stepped blinking into the bright Nordic sunlight. Or rather, the young man blinked; his odd-looking companion opaqued the inner lid of his eyes against the glare."We could walk from here," Anders Eklund suggested uncertainly. "It's rather a pleasant walk, along a shady street and over the Field itself. Or, if you prefer, we can take a taxi most of the way." He addressed his companion by the formal Swedish word for "you" Ni which had recently come back into vogue after all but disappearing from the language during the late twentieth century. Anyone listening would have known at once that the two were mere acquaintances, not friends."Oh, a walk sounds fine," the Hefn replied in a deep, cheerful voice. The top of his head came even with Anders's shoulder. He wore trousers and shoes and a shirt, but all the parts of his body not concealed beneath