1016 to 1
by James Patrick Kelly
• Page count: 16
"1016 to 1" is an award winning 1999 science fiction novelette by James Patrick Kelly. It is about an American boy who meets a time traveler from the future during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962.
The story follows Ray Beaumont, a 12 year old boy living in New York. It is October 1962 and the Cuban Missile Crisis has just begun. As his parents argue about whether there is going to be a nuclear war or not, Ray meets a man from the future trying to get to New York City. Ray offers him a temporary place to stay in his family's back yard bomb shelter and proceeds to acquire the items necessary for the time traveler's mission. Events get even more hectic, however, as Ray neglects to tell his parents about the man from the future, and then must deal with the consequences. Before reading this story you may want to brush up on your knowledge of the Cuban Missile Crisis.
James Patrick Kelly's writing is excellent, especially when it comes to describing the details in his characters' lives, and "1016 to 1" is no exception. I enjoyed learning about the life that Ray lives, as well as watching the common man's view of the Cuban Missile Crisis. An excellent read with a great ending. Be forewarned, however, that there is some strong language in this story, though it is quite humorous as the protagonist explains the nuances of the F word!
Even though I really enjoyed reading "1016 to 1", I realize that not everyone will like it. If you like your science fiction stories to be hard, action packed and focused on the technology then you'll probably want to skip this one. It leans more toward the softer side of science fiction, and tends to focus on the feelings of a child growing up during the tense Cold War years of the early 1960's. However, if you like good stories told well - with a bit of the science fictional element thrown in - then this is not one to miss.
"1016 to 1" was the winner of the 2000 Hugo Award for Best Novelette. It was also nominated for the 2000 Locus Poll and 2000 Asimov's Reader Poll.
"You are a child." It spoke with an odd chirping kind of accent. "Child" was Ch-eye-eld.
"I'm in the sixth grade." I straightened, spread my hands in front of me to show that I wasn't a threat. "What's your name?" It didn't answer. I took a step toward it and waited. Still nothing, but at least it didn't bolt.
"I'm Ray Beaumont," I said finally. "I live over there." I pointed. "How come I can't see you?"
"What is the date?" It said da-ata-eh. For a moment, I thought it meant data. Data? I puzzled over an answer. I didn't want it thinking I was just a stupid little kid.
"I don't know, " I said cautiously. "October twentieth?"
Where you can find "1016 to 1":
• It was originally published in the June 1999 edition of Asimov's Science Fiction.
• "1016 to 1" has been included in James Patrick Kelly's collection Strange But Not a Stranger.†
• It has also been collected in Gardner Dozois's The Best of the Best: 20 Years of the Year's Best Science Fiction.†
James Patrick Kelly has a neat article on his archived website discussing how "1016 to 1" came to be written. You probably won't be surprised to learn that the boy in the story is very much like the author was in October of 1962.
If you liked this story you may enjoy The Best Christmas Ever, a Hugo nominated story also by James Patrick Kelly
† - This is an affiliate link. Learn more on my Privacy & Disclosure page.
(This is a revised version of a post which was originally published on BestScienceFictionStories.com on Mar 3rd, 2008.)
