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Without preamble, here's what awaits you in this one-of-a-kind collection of strange, offbeat, and bizarre tales: ** The Lottery of Forever ... a trio of high-school friends awaits the government-run lottery that promises to turn them into near-immortal super-soldiers. ** Can You Hear Me? ... those consumers who chose to have their remains frozen pending revival in the future may face a fate that some think worse than death. ** Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll ... the rise of the machines and the dumbing-down of humanity combine to produce a future where the impossible dream is to actually think something. ** Early Retirement ... a broke, retiring superhero discovers that he cannot qualify for social security - with tragic results for him and the city. ** Van Helsing's Last Stand ... the vampire hunter and his great enemy have one last battle - over book royalties, movie rights, and merchandising. ** A Boy and His Dad ... a genius astrophysicist's daring plan to rescue his father, a hero astronaut lost inside a wormhole decades ago. ** The Emancipation of Abraham Lincoln XL-3000 ... the Abraham Lincoln automaton at Disneyworld, newly endowed with artificial intelligence, begs his creators to set him free. ** Ladies' Night at the Blood Club ... a couple's unusual approach to improving their relationship comes back to bite them - literally. ** And more.... About the author: Bob Bly, a full-time freelance writer since 1982, is the author of 80 books including The Ultimate Unauthorized Star Trek Quiz Book (HarperCollins) and The Science in Science Fiction (BenBella). Bob holds a B.S. in chemical engineering from the University of Rochester and has published more than 100 articles in numerous periodicals including Cosmopolitan, City Paper, Parent Paper, Writer's Digest, and New Jersey Monthly. His science fiction web site is www.sciencefictionprediction.com and his business web site is www.bly.com.