The object of the attack - J.G.Ballard

Dr Richard Greville, Chief Psychiatic Advisor to the Home Office, is called in on the case of Matthew Young, who made an assassination attempt on President Reagan (and/or the the Queen, with whom he was staying), by flying a glider with explosives strapped to his body. Greville realises that the real target was an American ex-astronaut, also staying with the Queen. As he gradually unearthes Young's twisted motivations, what seems a bizarre world view becomes increasingly acceptable considering the alternative.

[Personal note: in his file it is noted that Matthew Young studied computer science in the 70s at the Department I currently work in.]

The gods in flight - Brian Aldiss

Young Kilat lives in peaceful Sipora, an island off Sumatra. He sells gifts to tourists but none have been seen for a while. Near the deserted airport, he tells the resident American hippy the legend of King Sidabatur, who brought Kilat's people to Sipora as refugees from war centuries ago. An pinned-up newspaper cutting tells of a major war in Europe and a large plane is seen approaching the airport. A heavily ironic tale.

Canned goods - Thomas M. Disch

After an unspecific global crash, a trader is offering works of art for food. Plenty of irony is extracted.

The luck in the head - M. John Harrison

Story tells how the decrepit city of Uroconium gets renamed as Viroconium - City of Waste. A failed poet, Ardwick Chrome, is haunted by a recurrent dream of the Luck of the Head, of winning a sheep's head to eat in a folk ritual. To escape it he meets a masked woman at the Aqualate Pond (which does not contain water) who gives him a diseased, decaying sword, which he must use to to kill Mama Dooley, who freed the city from the Analeptic Kings. Absolutely nothing ends well.

Fragments of a hologram rose - William Gibson

Parker is a drifter made good by his ex-partner. He is a producer of ASP (Apparent Sensory Perception) deck entertainment. After destroying a postcard from her, containing a hologram rose, all he has left of her now is a minute of her memories of a trip to Athens on an ASP tape. Short and bleak.

Spiral winds - Garry Kilworth

Extremely clever story about a failed poet who journeys into the desert with a friend in pursuit of inspiration from a legendary poet, Al-Qata, who leaves cryptic poetry on desert stones. After fleeing an ambush that kills his friend, he finds himself pursued... ( )