Jay Lake: Last Plane to Heaven

“Last Plane to Heaven: A Love Story” copyright © 2007 by Joseph E. Lake, Jr. Originally appeared in Jim Baen’s Universe .

“Houses of the Favored” copyright © 2010 by Joseph E. Lake, Jr. Originally appeared in Visitants: Stories of Fallen Angels and Heavenly Hosts, edited by Stephen Jones, Ulysses Press.

“The Starship Mechanic” copyright © 2010 by Joseph E. Lake, Jr., and Ken Scholes. Originally appeared at Tor.com.

“Permanent Fatal Errors” copyright © 2010 Joseph E. Lake, Jr. Originally appeared in Is Anybody Out There?, edited by Marty Halpern, DAW.

“‘Hello,’ Said the Gun” copyright © 2010 by Joseph E. Lake, Jr. Originally appeared at Daily Science Fiction.

“The Speed of Time” copyright © 2013 by Joseph E. Lake, Jr. Originally appeared at Tor.com.

“West to East” copyright © 2014 by Joseph E. Lake, Jr. Originally appeared at Subterranean Online.

“The Women Who Ate Stone Squid” copyright © 2010 Joseph E. Lake, Jr. Originally appeared in Love and Rockets, edited by Kerrie Lynn Hughes and Martin H. Greenberg, DAW.

“Looking for Truth in a Wild Blue Yonder” copyright © 2010 by Joseph E. Lake, Jr., and Ken Scholes. Originally appeared at Tor.com.

“Scent of the Green Cathedral” copyright © 2010 by Joseph E. Lake, Jr. Originally appeared in Visitants: Stories of Fallen Angels and Heavenly Hosts, edited by Stephen Jones, Ulysses Press.

“Spendthrift” copyright © 2013 by Joseph E. Lake, Jr. Originally appeared in Coins of Chaos, edited by Jennifer Brozek, EDGE.

“Jefferson’s West” copyright © 2011 by Joseph E. Lake, Jr. Originally appeared in Boondocks Fantasy, edited by Jean Rabe and Martin H. Greenberg, DAW.

“They Are Forgotten Until They Come Again” copyright © 2011 by Joseph E. Lake, Jr. Originally appeared in River, edited by Alma Alexander, Dark Quest Books.

“The Woman Who Shattered the Moon” copyright © 2012 by Joseph E. Lake, Jr. Originally appeared in The Villain Comes Home, edited by Gabrielle Harbowy and Ed Greenwood, Dragon Moon Press.

“The Blade of His Plow” copyright © 2011 by Joseph E. Lake, Jr. Originally appeared in Human for a Day, edited by Martin H. Greenberg and Jennifer Brozek, DAW.

“Grindstone” copyright © 2013 by Joseph E. Lake, Jr. Originally appeared in Airships and Automatons, edited by Charles P. Zaglanis, White Cat Publications.

“The Temptation of Eustace Prudence McAllen” copyright © 2012 by Joseph E. Lake, Jr. Originally appeared in Westward Weird, edited by Kerrie Lynn Hughes and Martin H. Greenberg, DAW.

“That Which Rises Ever Upward” copyright © 2011 by Joseph E. Lake, Jr. Originally appeared in The Fathomless Abyss, edited by Phil Athans, Athans Associates.

“A Feast of Angels” copyright © 2010 by Joseph E. Lake, Jr. Originally appeared in Visitants: Stories of Fallen Angels and Heavenly Hosts, edited by Stephen Jones, Ulysses Press.

“Promises: A Tale of the City Imperishable” copyright © 2008 by Joseph E. Lake, Jr. Originally appeared in Paper Cities, edited by Ekaterina Sedia, Senses Five Press.

“Testaments” copyright © 2010 by Joseph E. Lake, Jr. Originally appeared in The Book of Dreams, edited by Nick Gevers, Subterranean.

“The Fall of the Moon” copyright © 2010 by Joseph E. Lake, Jr. Originally appeared in Realms of Fantasy, October 2010.

“A Critical Examination of Stigmata’s Print Taking the Rats to Riga ” copyright © 2011 by Joseph E. Lake, Jr. Originally appeared in The Thackery T. Lambshead Cabinet of Curiosities: Exhibits, Oddities, Images, and Stories from Top Authors and Artists, edited by Jeff and Ann VanderMeer, HarperCollins.

“From the Countries of Her Dreams” copyright © 2010 by Joseph E. Lake, Jr., and Shannon Page. Originally appeared in Fantasy Magazine, November 2010.

“Unchambered Heart” copyright © 2011 by Joseph E. Lake, Jr. Originally appeared in The Chiaroscuro, April 2011.

“Novus Ordo Angelorum” copyright © 2010 by Joseph E. Lake, Jr. Originally appeared in Visitants: Stories of Fallen Angels and Heavenly Hosts, edited by Stephen Jones, Ulysses Press.

“The Tentacled Sky” copyright © 2010 by Joseph E. Lake, Jr. Originally appeared on DrabbleCast, number 178, 2010.

“Such Bright and Risen Madness in Our Names” copyright © 2010 by Joseph E. Lake, Jr. Originally appeared in Cthulhu’s Reign, edited by Darrell Schweitzer, DAW.

“Her Fingers Like Whips, Her Eyes Like Razors” copyright © 2011 by Joseph E. Lake, Jr. Originally appeared in Postscripts, 24/25, 2011.

“Mother Urban’s Booke of Dayes” copyright © 2010 by Joseph E. Lake, Jr. Originally appeared in Dark Faith, edited by Maurice Broaddus and Jerry Gordon, Apex Publications.

“Going Bad” copyright © 2010 by Joseph E. Lake, Jr. Originally appeared in Visitants: Stories of Fallen Angels and Heavenly Hosts, edited by Stephen Jones, Ulysses Press.

“The Cancer Catechism” copyright © 2012 by Joseph E. Lake, Jr. Originally appeared in Dark Faith: Invocations, edited by Maurice Broaddus and Jerry Gordon, Apex Publications.

Afterword copyright © 2014 by Joseph E. Lake, Jr.

The author and publisher have provided this e-book to you without Digital Rights Management software (DRM) applied so that you can enjoy reading it on your personal devices. This e-book is for your personal use only. You may not print or post this e-book, or make this e-book publicly available in any way. You may not copy, reproduce, or upload this e-book, other than to read it on one of your personal devices.

Copyright infringement is against the law. If you believe the copy of this e-book you are reading infringes on the author’s copyright, please notify the publisher at: us.macmillanusa.com/piracy.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in these stories are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

LAST PLANE TO HEAVEN

Copyright © 2014 by Joseph E. Lake, Jr.

Foreword copyright © 2014 by Gene Wolfe

All rights reserved.

Cover design by Peter Lutjen

Cover art by Shutterstock and Getty Images

A Tor Book

Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC

175 Fifth Avenue

New York, NY 10010

www.tor-forge.com

Tor® is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.

eBooks may be purchased for business or promotional use. For information on bulk purchases, please contact Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department by writing to MacmillanSpecialMarkets@macmillan.com.

The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:

Lake, Jay.

[Short stories. Selections]

Last plane to heaven: the final collection / Jay Lake.

p. cm.

ISBN 978-0-7653-7798-2 (hardcover)

ISBN 978-1-4668-5847-3 (e-book)

I. Title.

PS3612.A519L38 2014

813'.6—dc23

2014019792

e-ISBN 9871466858473

First Edition: September 2014