“At the Crossroads”

2018 Bangs, Elly (b. 1986). “At the Crossroads.” Bikes Not Rockets: Intersectional Feminist Bicycle Science Fiction Stories. Ed. Elly Blue (Portland, OR: Microcosm Publishing, 2018), 100-115. PSt US 978-1-62106-543-2

The story describes three societies, one a completely oppressive, hierarchical dystopia, one an anarchist eutopia where all the peoples of the galaxy are welcome and treated equally, and Dyanna, which has tendencies in both directions. The story is told through a bicycle race with a team from each planet taking place on all three planets plus a deserted Fourth World, which are alternate versions of the same present. The protagonist is a black woman with a prosthetic leg and only one good eye. In some way, the race is intended to prevent an interdimensional war. It begins on Planet One, the technically advanced dystopia with smooth metal roads, whose riders look identical, have only a number which identifies superiority and inferiority, and apparently is planning an invasion of the other Earths. The second planet, Dynnya, is a coalition of over a thousand planets. They are primarily agrarian, have no central authority and extremely advanced biotechnology, with most of the planets having no private property, and there has been no war in many thousands of years. The author self-describes as a queer transgender woman who was raised in a “New Age cult.”