Charles A Cornell
Speculative fiction
The Orchid Man
The award winning short story of an alien caught in the crossfire of a battle in the Vietnam War
Gold Medal - Best Novelette
2019 Royal Palm Literary Awards
Florida Writers Association
Published in the sci-fi anthology, The Prometheus Saga 2
The Vietnam War, 1968.
Hidden deep in the jungles of the Central Highlands, a garden of orchids with medicinal properties attracts a mysterious Chinese student. When Viet Cong guerrillas raid a nearby hamlet to steal elephants, the stranger, known by the locals as the Orchid Man, and a boy from the village are taken to the VC's jungle camp. A large battalion from the North Vietnamese Army arrives. The camp in the rainforest is targeted by a US helicopter assault. The abducted pair become trapped in the crossfire of a brutal and deadly firefight. Many years after the battle, the involvement of the Orchid Man in the Vietnam War has created an enduring memorial in the heart of the Vietnamese jungle and left emotionally charged marks on the lives of everyone affected. A story of desperate survival in a time of conflict, as seen through the eyes of an alien.
In the Prometheus Saga anthology, thirteen authors unite to interpret how an alien presence would interact with the human condition over a time period that spans from the dawn of man to the present. The stories cross genres and genders, allowing for entirely different narratives and insights on historical events and the human experience.
An alien civilization landed a probe on Earth at the dawn of mankind. This probe, a form of artificial intelligence, can morph into any human form, take on any human identity, either male or female. Its life spans hundreds of thousands of years. Its mission is to report everything it can about us to its home planet. What this humanoid observes and learns over centuries of human existence will be interpreted through each short story in the saga. The alien probe is as mythic as Prometheus, the Greek Titan who was said to have brought fire to mankind.