Ceres Rising (Cladespace Book 3)
Page 20
“What?” she said, crossing her arms.
Kyran’s grin grew bigger, like an inflating balloon.
“Let me tell you about Tim,” he said.
The name made her heart stop.
“Raj and I have been passing messages back and forth since firstrise,” he said. “We were both thinking about the nature of the blue gel, the way it organizes information.”
Gel? It? Grace felt cold. The words sounded clinical, too detached. Was Kyran about to tell her they were planning the next generation of PodPooch? Did they want to drain Tim Trouncer and use the gel for something new? As Kyran continued to prattle, she collapsed into herself, leaning against a table, dreading what might come next, not wanting to hear him say—
“I think we might get Tim back,” Kyran said.
She blinked, disoriented, spinning back from her dark thoughts.
“Did you say—?” she and Jacob asked together.
“Yes!”
“No,” she said. She couldn’t have heard him correctly.
Kyran wrapped his arms around her.
“We might get Tim back,” he whispered in her ear.
Grace’s knees buckled. She fumbled for a nearby chair—Plate pulled it out for her. As she settled into the seat, her left arm throbbed, she felt a twinge of pain in her ribs, and her stomach continued to complain, but none of these things mattered now.
“Show me,” she said.
“There isn’t anything to show. Not yet.”
“I thought the pawns destroyed Tim’s mind?” Jacob asked.
“No,” Kyran said. “Their attack was targeted. When the pawns ruptured the gel membrane, it was similar to taking a complicated puzzle and breaking apart all the pieces. But because of the underlying structure, the pieces want to go back together. They remember their shapes.
“I tried introducing a few of Eugene’s memories this morning, and it was amazing—suddenly huge sections of the gel reoriented and organized.”
Grace smiled. She was sure she was matching Kyran’s broad grin now.
“When do we start?” she asked.
“It needs to be done methodically, and it needs to be done by you and Raj. You knew Tim best, and Raj understands the nuances of Tim’s gel better than I.”
“How soon can Raj get here?” Grace asked. Now that the aposti was dead, Bode-6 would be a safe place for Tim to recuperate. There was Lee’s trial coming up, dealing with Renken and the clash, and any questions that might arise with the death of the bode’s patron.
“Raj can’t come here,” Kyran said.
“What?”
“He’s in hiding. Anti-AI groups are growing stronger on Earth. They’re even rounding up mechflesh whose upgrades go beyond the simple biomechanical. The only place safe for AI research is where nobody would ever look.”
“Cloister,” Grace said.
Kyran nodded. “With your dad.”
“You’ll have to go back,” Jacob mused.
You would say that, she thought, then chastised herself for thinking it. Jacob wasn’t an opportunist. He’d made mistakes in his past, would certainly make mistakes in his future, but she knew that he wouldn’t push her off Ceres just to get his old job back.
“I… I can’t. I want to, but Ceres is in a fragile state. My duty—”
“Your duty is to go where you’re needed. You always have. We needed you here, yes, but now Tim needs you. Ceres may be fragile, but it’s on the mend. We can guide the bode to something better than we had before.”
“Hell yeah,” Plate said. “Folks here can pull together. We know what we need to do collectively, and we know what we need for ourselves.” He pointed a finger at her. “And you need to get home, Gracie.”
“Is that an order?” she said.
Plate nodded.
“Well, how can I refuse? Anyone have a spare ticket to Earth?” she said, smiling.
“Already taken care of,” Jacob said. “Mhau has spoken to Elysium Dome, they’ve agreed to allow the Waltz to rendezvous with Earth prior to a return trip to Mars. She’s even scrounged up a pilot.”
“Who?”
Plate grinned. “Taisia.”
Chapter 40
It all started in the rain—the part about me avoiding saying goodbye. I was thirteen at the time, and it was the end of a long, hot summer. We had to drop Raj off for a transport to Port Casper. As we drove down the highway from our ranch, it began to rain. I rolled down the window of our pickup truck, first feeling the cool drops hit my arm and then my face as I stuck my head out the window and reveled in the wind and water. When we finally parked beside the highway, I was soaked. Dad mentioned something about putting on some dry clothes, and I’d used it as an excuse to shuffle Raj out of the truck to change. He got onto the waiting transport, and I avoided having to say the words.
When I started at Red Fox, my only goodbye to Dad was a wave as I sprinted up the zigzag path that led to the academy. I know he wanted to talk. I should have listened, given him a kiss on the cheek before I left. Something. I should have talked to Dad before I left Earth, too. He only found out once I was already on Mars. Yeah. I’m bad at goodbyes, when it matters.
Taisia told me to have a way off Ceres, to arrange guaranteed transport the moment I arrived. She implied that Ceres would pull at me—rip a part of me out and force me to remain. Now I’m bound for Earth, and I see she was right. I’m leaving a part of myself behind. Maybe that’s why I couldn’t say goodbye: maybe that’s why I slipped out of the airlock five minutes before I promised I’d meet everyone.
I always thought that good people would make good decisions. It was willful blindness, that belief. I haven’t always made good decisions—I’ve made decisions justified by me. Some were good. Some were not. I made mistakes on Ceres. I didn’t stick to the plan, left the pawns when I knew there was a chance they could cut the bode’s power. I executed Panborn in as much revenge as justice. And Charlie… I was as keen as everyone else to give him that grafty, though it was, strictly, not Kyran’s to give.
That’s what I’m leaving on Ceres. Innocence, naiveté. The last shred of belief that justice will always justify and goodness will always prevail. It doesn’t mean I’m giving up on kindness, or justice, or even the law. But it does mean I will look at myself with the blinders off, continuing to do what kindness I can, and pressing myself to act on my duty.
My duty now is to say goodbye. Because people die—Martin, Charlie, and Tim. They didn’t get that chance. And it was unkind of me to leave without giving you yours.
Kyran, I’m very sorry for the conflict I’ve brought into your life, for I know how much you hate conflict. I want to thank you for having the courage to help Charlie and also to speak out at clash. Most of all, I want to thank you for providing Tim and I a sanctuary. I realize now how much you care about Tim—and Eugene. I understand why you were reluctant about Tim’s birth. The fact agents I read from Port Casper are increasingly paranoid, with some members of compstate advocating positions as obscene as Panborn’s. Like you mentioned, more technology seems to be coming under suspicion, including some of the more common mechflesh upgrades. Did you worry that Tim would have to navigate in such a world? You knew me well enough to know not to argue about the trip home for Tim’s rebirth. As much as I wish you were making the trip back to Earth, it’s clear that your place is on Ceres. You care so much about the people there, and they need you. Don’t fret about me as I promise to keep the new squeeze firmly attached for the duration back to Earth!
Plate, I’m sorry that Taisia and I didn’t have time for one more game of cards. The first time we played, you shocked this cloister woman with your tentacles. I think you did that on purpose, just to see my reaction. But it won’t work in the future. Maybe the three of us will have a card game on Earth if you ever make your way back. And we will toast Charlie. I miss Charlie so much, Plate.
Jacob, you’ve regained your cloister pride. You did your best to shield me from the questions that eru
pted from compstate after Uriah Panborn was killed. After I killed him. The smooth gift of gab that you employed with the inspector made it easier for me to return home, to enter Port Casper with no questions. As I had suspected, there was tacit approval for the aposti’s mission to destroy Tim Trouncer. The gene addicts in charge are frightened of anything that could upset the delicate balance with cloisterfolk and mechflesh.
They’re wrong to have declared war on my PodPooch. And they’ll regret it.
I’ve taken Tim out of the duffel and have him across my lap, now. We’ve never traveled that way before, Tim always had his own seat. But I realize now how much he is a part of me, and from now on he’ll always travel on my lap. It feels right. With my hand resting on Tim, I feel more confident than ever that we can bring him back.
Tim once remarked that all humans are odd. Is it odd for me to travel halfway across the solar system to put a PodPooch back together? Is it odd for me to fight for life that was once human but now seems so much more? Is it odd because Tim isn’t human yet he is infused with the same hope, the same right to live?
No. The small voice inside, the one that tells me that goodness still happens, it pushes me. Saving Tim is a kindness and it is my duty.
A protector protects.
Further Reading
Hang out in Cladespace!
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Acknowledgments
NASA has been firing my imagination for nearly five decades, first as young child with the 1969 lunar landing, and now with its Dawn mission about to enter Cererian orbit. This book is an homage to all those people who help us explore beyond our Pale Blue Dot.
Like the first two books of the Cladespace series, this book was edited by the wonderful Vanessa Phin. She’s followed these characters from Earth to Mars and now to Ceres, and she always helps me find a better way to tell the tale.
Alan Gutierrez’s beautiful cover art captures Grace Donner and Tim Trouncer on patrol at the Bode-6 colony on Ceres. Those two are always getting into trouble, and no doubt they’ll do so again. Kit Foster did a marvelous job designing the cover layout and typography.
My wife Nenita was there every step of the way, and so were the dear beta readers: Darlene and Bob, Lana, Nastasya, Phil, Scott and Shawna. See you all back on Earth.
Thank you for reading Ceres Rising. It’s dark and lonely in the asteroid belt, but you can always curl up with your favorite PodPooch.
Corey E. Ostman
February 2015
Copyright
Ceres Rising
This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental.
Copyright ©2015 by Corey E. Ostman and Justin A. Pecot III.
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form.
Published by Fifteener Press, LLC.
Fifteener Press, LLC
45 Lafayette Road #245
North Hampton, NH 03862
1-857-244-1493
http://fifteener.com
ISBN-13: 9781939475053
Edited by Vanessa Phin.
Cover Illustration by Alan Gutierrez.
Cover Design by Kit Foster.
Kindle Version, February 14, 2015.
Table of Contents
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Further Reading
Acknowledgments
Copyright
Table of Contents