The Purge

"One of the more pleasant tasks of an anthology editor is deciding in what order to present one's bag of tales.... I knew from the first moment I read it that I wanted Jennifer Stevenson's story to be the first word...." - Lois McMaster Bujold

"This story came out of a dream just like the narrator's. Which is more real, more authentic: the dream or the story the waking mind makes of it? If the dream is not about me, is it still my story? I've always been fascinated by soldiers. Not war, or the act of killing, or the politics or any of that, but the soldiers themselves, the survivors. I am indebted to Barry Longyear for showing me how to write about them without overstepping my authority." - Jennifer Stevenson