A small group of scientists use left over equipment from the Superconducting Super Collider for an experiment - that goes astray - and find themselves in a world where Texas remains an independent republic, Buddy Holly is its president - and that's only the beginning of the strangeness.
Originally published in Jim Baen's Universe, April 2008.
Honorable Mention, "The Year's Best Science Fiction, 26rd Annual Collection (2009)", St. Martin's Press - Gardner Dozois, editor.
