But she’d grow up in a world without limits. Where a short trip took you to one of the stars, and the bounty of worlds circling them. Where what job you did or what education you pursued or how many children you had was your choice, not a government mandate.
It was dizzying to think of.
Someone walked into the lounge behind her, their footsteps clicking. “Tilly, I just sent—” Anna started, but stopped when she turned around and saw Hector Cortez.
“Doctor Volovodov,” he said, his tone a mild apology.
“Doctor Cortez,” she replied. The renewed formality between them seemed silly to Anna, but Hector insisted on it. “Please, sit.” She patted the bench next to her.
“I hope I’m not disturbing you,” he said, sitting and staring out at the stars. Not looking at her. He didn’t look her in the eye anymore.
“Not at all. Just recording a message home and enjoying the view.”
They sat silently for a few moments, watching the stars.
“Esteban lost,” Cortez said, as if they’d been talking about that all along.
“I don’t— Oh, the secretary-general. He did?”
“Nancy Gao is the new SG. You can see Chrisjen Avasarala’s fingerprints all over that one.”
“Who?”
Cortez laughed. It sounded genuine, a nice loud rumble coming up from his belly. “Oh, she would love to hear you say that.”
“Who is she?”
“She’s the politician no one has ever voted for, that runs the UN like her own personal fiefdom and keeps her name out of the press. The fact that she controls your home government and you’ve never heard of her means she’s very, very good.”
“Oh,” Anna said. She was not a political creature. She felt that politics was the second most evil thing humanity had ever invented, just after lutefisk.
There was another long silence. Anna wondered where Tilly was, and if she’d show up and rescue her from the awkwardness of the moment.
“You backed the right horse,” Cortez finally said. “I picked a bad one. I hope you won’t hold that against me. I’ve grown to respect you a great deal, in spite of our differences. I wouldn’t like it if you hated me.”
“I don’t, Hector,” Anna said, taking his hand in both of hers and squeezing it. “Not at all. It was terrible, what we all went through. We all made bad decisions because we were afraid. But you’re a good man. I believe that.”
Cortez gave her a grateful smile and patted her hand. Anna nodded her head at the star field splashed across the wall.
“So many stars,” she said. “Some of them might be ours someday.”
“I wonder,” Hector replied, his voice low and sad. “I wonder if we should have them. God gave man the Earth. He never promised him the stars. I wonder if He’ll follow us out there.”
Anna squeezed his hand again, and then let it go. “The God I believe in is bigger than all of this. Nothing we ever learn can be an attack on Him as long as that’s true.”
Cortez gave a noncommittal grunt.
“I want her to have them,” she said, pointing at the spray of light around her. “My little Nami, I want her to have all of that someday.”
“Whatever she finds out there,” Cortez said, “just remember it’s the future youchose for her.”
His words were full of hope and threat.
Like the stars.
Table of Contents
Dedication
Prologue: Manéo
Chapter One: Holden
Chapter Two: Bull
Chapter Three: Melba
Chapter Four: Anna
Chapter Five: Bull
Chapter Six: Holden
Chapter Seven: Melba
Chapter Eight: Anna
Chapter Nine: Bull
Chapter Ten: Holden
Chapter Eleven: Melba
Chapter Twelve: Anna
Chapter Thirteen: Bull
Chapter Fourteen: Melba
Chapter Fifteen: Bull
Chapter Sixteen: Holden
Chapter Seventeen: Bull
Chapter Eighteen: Anna
Chapter Nineteen: Melba
Chapter Twenty: Holden
Chapter Twenty-One: Bull
Chapter Twenty-Two: Holden
Chapter Twenty-Three: Melba
Chapter Twenty-Four: Anna
Chapter Twenty-Five: Holden
Chapter Twenty-Six: Bull
Chapter Twenty-Seven: Melba
Chapter Twenty-Eight: Anna
Chapter Twenty-Nine: Bull
Chapter Thirty: Holden
Chapter Thirty-One: Melba
Chapter Thirty-Two: Anna
Chapter Thirty-Three: Bull
Chapter Thirty-Four: Clarissa
Chapter Thirty-Five: Anna
Chapter Thirty-Six: Holden
Chapter Thirty-Seven: Clarissa
Chapter Thirty-Eight: Bull
Chapter Thirty-Nine: Anna
Chapter Forty: Holden
Chapter Forty-One: Bull
Chapter Forty-Two: Clarissa
Chapter Forty-Three: Holden
Chapter Forty-Four: Anna
Chapter Forty-Five: Bull
Chapter Forty-Six: Clarissa
Chapter Forty-Seven: Holden
Chapter Forty-Eight: Bull
Chapter Forty-Nine: Anna
Chapter Fifty: Holden
Chapter Fifty-One: Clarissa
Chapter Fifty-Two: Holden
Chapter Fifty-Three: Clarissa
Epilogue: Anna
Acknowledgments
About the author By James S. A. Corey
Acknowledgments
Once again, we have more people to thank than space to thank them in. This book and this series wouldn’t exist without the hard work of our agent Danny Baror and the support and dedication of Tom Bouman, Susan Barnes, Ellen Wright, Tim Holman, Alex Lencicki, and the whole crew at Orbit. Thanks to the amazing Daniel Dociu for giving us the art that people can’t help but pick up off the shelf, and to Kirk Benshoff for creating that wonderful design that ties the whole series together. We’ll never be able to adequately express our gratitude to Carrie, Kat, and Jayné for feedback and support, and to Scarlet for allowing us to distract her with Mythbusterswhile we work. Thanks to the Mythbusterscrew for being so entertaining to scientifically curious six-year-olds. Thanks again to the whole Sake River gang. Much of the cool in the book belongs to them. As always, the errors and infelicities and egregious fudging was all us.
About the author
James S. A. Coreyis the pen name of fantasy author Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck, George R. R. Martin’s assistant. They both live in Albuquerque, New Mexico.