“No, I was seeking to save you both. My position—my revised position—is very plain. I know what you are and how you have reached this state. But my employers are much less confident that Bosa Sennen is really dead. I’m afraid that your own actions—well meant, I don’t doubt—have only added to the confusion.”
“We don’t need spelling out how much trouble we’re in.” Then I thought back to the words he had started with. “What do you mean, save us both?”
“I meant that I will do my utmost to keep you alive. So long as I am known to be present on this ship, they won’t attempt to destroy it. Stalk and capture it, if they are able, but they’ll risk nothing that might result in my death. That was the intended nature of the sail-flash: merely a signal that I remain alive.”
I allowed a warning edge into my voice. “I don’t care to be captured, Brysca. Neither will Fura. They won’t treat us fairly.”
“With my testimony, your chances would be improved. My employers would accept that Bosa Sennen is really dead; that her influence over you—the both of you, I should add—is at best tenuous, and entirely explicable given the circumstances into which you fell. I would expect a period of detention, some rather thorough questioning—but at the end of it, they would understand that you are as much victims as my own brother, or poor Trusko, or for that matter Illyria herself.”
“And then what?”
“Some process of readjustment, for both of you. The flushing out of the glowy, in Fura’s case. The elimination of residual psychological conditioning, in your own. Mild custodial sentencing, at worst, and then rehabilitation.” His tone firmed. “But not death. Not terror, not pain, not mutilation, not one of the thousand bad deaths that they could easily visit on you from afar, if you permit them to believe that I am dead.”
“So we should allow you to live.”
“It’s not so difficult. I’ll just keep on in the role to which I’ve found myself.”
I nodded slowly. “Being Lagganvor.”
“It is the simplest course, Adrana. The only logical decision.”
“So logical, that my sister won’t have any difficulty seeing your point of view?”
He smiled with the haste of a man who knew he was only one misstep from fatal condemnation. “No … I do not think it would be wise to involve Fura, not just now. You are cooler-headed. You grasp the larger panorama. Fura would be … capricious. We have all seen evidence of her temper.”
“I won’t lie to her.”
His look told me that he found that rather doubtful, given the evident betrayals and counter-betrayals we had already visited upon each other; the falsehoods and concealments. But he opted to take me at my word.
“You won’t need to. She has no cause to question my nature; I will give her none. I will play my part excellently. Go along with this quest of yours … which I admit does intrigue me, as it would have intrigued Pol. I will subsume myself in Lagganvor so thoroughly that you’ll hardly remember this conversation.”
“So simple.”
“Yes.”
“But with the slight catch that you will be using every opportunity to signal your employers. Every opportunity to draw them nearer.”
“So long as I am known to be alive, and gathering intelligence, they will be content to keep their distance.”
I looked to the sail-control gear, imagining the secondary purpose to which it would now be put. Not constantly, but frequently enough to serve his needs. And with each illicit use carrying with it the risk of exposure, which would in turn lead to the possibility of my own implication.
“You are asking me to become a traitor to my own ship, Brysca. A traitor to the crew, a traitor to Revenger, a traitor to my own sister.”
“No,” he said softly. “None of those things. I am asking you to become an accomplice in their salvation. Fundamentally, it boils down to a very straightforward question. Do you still love your sister enough to save her?”
I answered him. But not before I’d given his question all the careful consideration it merited.
Acknowledgements
Love and gratitude to my wife, for putting up with me during the long process of writing a novel, and in particular for once again reading and commenting on an early draft. My friend and colleague Paul McAuley was also kind enough to read the book at an intermediate stage, and provided much useful feedback. They are not responsible for such faults and deficiencies that remain in the published edition, but the end result is undoubtedly the better for their guidance.
The Revenger books have benefited greatly from the hard work of the publishing teams at Orion in the U.K. and Orbit in the U.S. Gillian Redfearn, who has been with the Ness sisters from the start, has at times understood the story I was trying to tell rather more clearly than I did, and the books would be poorer without her insight. I am also indebted to the sharp eye of Abigail Nathan, whose close reading of the text spared me (and not for the first time) considerable embarrassment, and to Craig Leyenaar, for making sense of my editorial responses. In America, Brit Hvide’s enthusiasm has helped the books find an audience, something no writer takes for granted. Thank you to all involved in the production, design and marketing of these novels—your efforts are greatly appreciated.
Although he played no part in the writing of my novels, I would like to record my indebtedness to Gardner Dozois, who died in 2018. Gardner was the first American editor to take notice of my work and his continued endorsement of my short fiction meant a tremendous amount to me over the ensuing decades. The Revenger books arose from a plan for a series of linked short stories that were never actually written, but I hope Gardner would have approved of them if they had ever come about.
Last, but not least, my agent Robert Kirby has kept me on the straight and narrow for the better part of twenty years, and I could not ask for a better champion of my work.
Last again—no, really this time—I’d like to salute those readers who have gone along for the voyage with Fura and Adrana, even though it may have taken them into slightly unexpected waters, and hope they will remain on board the not-so-good ship Revenger …
Alastair Reynolds
South Wales, September 2018
meet the author
Photo Credit: Barbara Bella
ALASTAIR REYNOLDS was born in Barry, South Wales, in 1966. He studied at Newcastle and St. Andrews universities and has a PhD in astronomy. He stopped working as an astrophysicist for the European Space Agency to become a full-time writer. Revelation Space and Pushing Ice were shortlisted for the Arthur C. Clarke Award; Revelation Space; Absolution Gap; Diamond Dogs, Turquoise Days; and Century Rain were shortlisted for the British Science Fiction Award, and Chasm City won the British Science Fiction Award.
By Alastair Reynolds
Novels
Century Rain
Pushing Ice
House of Suns
Terminal World
The Medusa Chronicles (with Stephen Baxter)
Revelation Space
Revelation Space
Redemption Ark
Absolution Gap
Chasm City
Poseidon’s Children
Blue Remembered Earth
On the Steel Breeze
Poseidon’s Wake
Revenger
Revenger
Shadow Captain
The Prefect Dreyfus Emergencies
Aurora Rising (previously published as The Prefect)
Elysium Fire
Short Story Collections
Diamond Dogs, Turquoise Days
Galactic North
Zima Blue
Beyond the Aquila Rift
Slow Bullets (novella)
Praise for Alastair Reynolds
“An adroit and fast-paced blend of space opera and police procedural, original and exciting, teeming with cool stfnal concepts. A real page turner. The prefect of this title is sort of a space cop, Sipowicz in a space suit, or maybe Dirty Harry with a whiphound.”
—George R. R. Martin on The Prefect
“[Reynolds is] one of the most gifted hard SF writers working today.”
—Publishers Weekly on Beyond the Aquila Rift
“[Reynolds is] a mastersinger of the space opera.”
—The Times on Blue Remembered Earth
“A swashbuckling thriller—Pirates of the Caribbean meets Firefly—that nevertheless combines the author’s trademark hard SF with effective, coming-of-age characterization.”
—Guardian on Revenger
“Revenger is classic Reynolds—that is to say, top of the line science fiction, where characters are matched beautifully with ideas and have to find their place in a complex future. More!”
—Greg Bear
“A leading light of the New Space Opera movement in science fiction.”
—Los Angeles Review of Books
“A fascinating hybrid of space opera, police procedural, and character study.”
—Publishers Weekly on The Prefect
“Reynolds has sketched in a galaxy littered with the relics of former civilizations (human and alien), with plenty left to the reader’s imagination, and room for a sequel.”
—Library Journal on Revenger
“Revenger is tremendous fun.”
—Locus
“An expert mix of the fantastical and horrific.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review) on Revenger
“Reynolds’ newest action-packed science fiction novel is a tale of sisterly devotion, heartbreaking loss, and brutal vengeance.… Fans will enjoy the well-developed characters and detailed world building.”
—Booklist on Revenger
“A blindingly clever imagining of our solar system in the far flung future.”
—Sun on Revenger
“A rollicking adventure yarn with action, abduction, fights, properly scary hazards, very grisly torture and even ghosts of a sort.”
—Daily Telegraph on Revenger
“By far the most enjoyable book Reynolds has ever written.”
—SFX on Revenger
“The world of Revenger is undeniably fascinating, and with Reynolds as your storyteller, a journey into it is definitely worthwhile.”
—SciFiNow
“Reynolds makes the human story compelling in a narrative that, spiced with bizarre characters aplenty and propelled by vengeance, smacks intriguingly of everything from Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island to Mad Max.”
—Nature on Revenger
“A delightful romp through the spaceways.”
—Interzone on Revenger
“A must-read … an unexpectedly personal and emotionally-driven tale of determination and retribution—with some great twists along the way and a gutsy heroine …”
—Starburst magazine on Revenger
“A layered star-spanning odyssey filled with drama, adventure, and, yes, revenge.”
—AudioFile on Revenger
“An excellent, gripping piece of work.”
—sfandfreviews.blogspot.com on Revenger
“Basically, it’s Treasure Island meets Moby Dick, set in space, with a nice Blade Runner-ish color palette and a cast of characters worthy of a Terry Gilliam movie. I loved it.”
—Joanne Harris on Revenger
“One of the giants of the new British space opera.”
—io9
“It’s grand, involving and full of light and wonder. Poseidon’s Wake is one of the best sci-fi novels of the year.”
—SciFiNow
“Reynolds blends AIs, mysterious aliens, intelligent elephants and philosophical ruminations on our place in the universe in a well-paced, complex story replete with intrigue, invention and an optimism uncommon in contemporary SF.”
—Guardian on Poseidon’s Wake
“Few SF writers merge rousing adventure with advanced futuristic technology as skillfully as Alastair Reynolds.”
—Toronto Star on On the Steel Breeze
“Reynolds is a master of the slow build up leading to apocalyptic action, and On the Steel Breeze is no exception.”
—National Space Society
“A book of great fascination, rich description, and memorable action.”
—Locus on Absolution Gap
“His writing mixes spartan style, provocative ideas, and flashes of dark humor.… Reynolds excels at weaving different threads together.”
—Los Angeles Review of Books on Slow Bullets
“Alastair Reynolds is a name to watch. Shades of Banks and Gibson with gigatons of originality.”
—Guardian on Blue Remembered Earth
“If you like hard SF … with fast-paced action and hard-boiled characters … you’re in for a great ride.”
—SF Site on Redemption Ark
“Reynolds has a galaxy-sized imagination allied to a real storytelling ability.”
—Bernard Cornwell on Blue Remembered Earth
“Heir to writers like Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke. Reynolds keeps up the tradition of forward thinking.… An immensely thrilling, mind-bending piece of work.”
—The A. V. Club on House of Suns
“[A] tour de force … ravishingly inventive.”
—Publishers Weekly on Revelation Space
“Reynolds takes quests for vengeance and redemption and places them on a galactic stage.”
—Locus on Redemption Ark
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Shadow Captain Page 44