by Jim C. Hines
“Could they have done anything with it if they had?”
“Probably not. I just don’t want them to have it, you know?”
She watched a squirrel try to scramble up one of the birdfeeders, only to fall when it reached the metal cylinder halfway up the post. “What were you and Johannes talking about out here before I interrupted?”
“Choices. Consequences.” Gutenberg had made mistakes over five hundred years, and people had died because of them. It had made him cautious. It had made him afraid.
How many people died as a result of my choice to help reveal magic to the world? How many would survive as a result of that same choice? How the hell was anyone supposed to solve that kind of equation?
“I changed the world,” Gutenberg whispered. There was pride in his words, and fatigue as well. He had changed the world, and spent the rest of his life—half a millennium—managing the fallout from that change.
“You’re not him,” said Nidhi.
I was simultaneously reassured and annoyed by her words. “Not yet.”
“Do you want to be?”
“I wanted to be a researcher. Look how that’s turned out.”
“Blaming yourself for all the evils of the world?” She clucked her tongue. “That kind of arrogance does sound like Gutenberg, I admit.”
“Bite me.”
She chuckled. “Your niece is adorable, by the way. Angie was helping her learn to ride a bike yesterday afternoon.”
I smiled. “I wish I’d seen that.”
“Johannes Gutenberg looked at the world as a whole. What was best for humanity? What was best for the Porters? Time and again, he chose safety and security over action and risk. The Chinese famine of 1958. The Holodomor in the Ukraine. Countless wars.”
“He intervened in World War II,” I pointed out.
“As I understand it, that was because of his fear of the atom bomb. He looked at events on a global scale, and he lost sight of individuals.”
I reached up to take Smudge from the canopy over the swing. He’d been perched upside-down, warding off the mosquitoes. I carefully set him inside his cage. The snapped bar from Kiyoko’s bullet had been soldered back into place, courtesy of Jason. “When we leave for New Millennium, will you keep an eye on things here?”
“Don’t I always?”
“Jason’s great, but he’s in over his head. Toby doesn’t understand what’s going on, and Jeneta understands too much.”
She started to hand Gutenberg’s autobiography back to me.
“I’ve read it too many times already.” Whatever happened, she would keep the book safe.
Nidhi stood and grasped my forearm. “Before you go, make sure you go outside with Lex. Watch her on the bike. I’ve found that people fight better when we’re reminded what we’re fighting for.”
RESEARCH PROPOSAL FOR MARTIAN COLONIZATION
By Jeneta Aboderin
Summary: I believe we can use libriomancy to build a human settlement on Mars.
Benefits: There are numerous benefits to building a human settlement on Mars.
1. Overpopulation. Earth has more than seven billion people. If we colonize other planets, we will reduce the population pressure on Earth.
2. Resources. According to Wikipedia, Mars has many valuable resources, including nickel, iron, and even gold. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ore_resources_on_Mars)
3. Species Survival. 66 million years ago, an asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs. Humanity has to be prepared for another such event. We have technology and magic to protect our planet, but if that fails, colonizing other planets will make sure human beings survive.
4. Safety. The first group of colonists would be libriomancers and Porters and magical inhumans, who are best equipped to survive the hostile environment of Mars. This would let these people escape persecution on Earth.
Requirements: The following technology and equipment would need to be created using libriomancy.
1. A spacecraft small enough to be made from a projected e-book. The spacecraft should have simple controls, a good fuel supply, enough room for a crew of at least 30 people, and enough speed to get to Mars quickly.
2. Right now, it takes ten minutes to send a signal to or from Mars. (https://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/MPF/imp/faq.html) An ansible device from the works of Ursula Le Guin or another SF author would allow reliable, instantaneous communication between Earth and Mars.
3. Terraforming. Books should be reviewed to find the best terraforming technology that’s safe, efficient, and effective, with no damaging side effects.
4. Investigate the possibility of nanotech fabricators or other miniature construction robots to assist with the building process.
Once the colony is established, we could use a portal from Isaac Vainio’s Gateway Project to transport food, water, books, and other supplies.
It’s very important that a full electronic library be included with the initial shipment!
Proposed Colonists:
1. At least ten libriomancers, including one who can perform magic with e-books.
2. Vampires who can survive without oxygen, and who won’t go blood-crazy and kill everyone.
3. Trained astronauts and scientists. (Magic users, if possible!)
4. At least two doctors.
5. One poet or writer (for sending stories back to Earth).
I ASKED JENETA TO equip us before we left, so Talulah and I could preserve as much of our strength and magic as possible.
She began by replacing one of Lena’s bokken with the same version of Excalibur we’d used before. Lena kept the healing scabbard, and I took the healing cordial for myself. Everyone else was also equipped with healing magic of one form or another.
Jeneta then conjured up potions from The Complete Short Stories of H. G. Wells. The story in question was “The New Accelerator,” and the potion would essentially give us the ability to stop time while we retook New Millennium.
She also supplied us with a set of ballistic vests. Kevlar with ceramic plate inserts should slow down Kiyoko’s enchanted ammo. There were a handful of other goodies, including my compact mirror gateway, which Lena had returned to me. I tucked everything into an old messenger bag I’d borrowed from Jason.
Talulah had a Bluetooth earpiece in her right ear, and a large keyboard-looking thing made of plastic, chrome, and LED lights strapped across her shoulder like an electric guitar.
“Hacker’s best friend,” she said, noticing my gaze. “Cyberpunk has the best toys. This should help me pinpoint the system hosting the IAS software and keep Kiyoko occupied.”
We gathered in the backyard to say good-bye, where we found Bi Wei standing in the shade of a weeping willow tree, watching the birds. Before anyone could react, Lena was bounding across the yard to greet her with a hug. She dragged Bi Wei over by the hand to introduce her to the rest of our group.
“I’m glad your people are safe,” I said. “And doubly glad for your help, thank you.”
Bi Wei smiled. “Given what Lena told me, this sounded like it could be as educational as our last collaboration.”
“Educational.” I snorted. “That’s one word for it.”
Physically, Bi Wei was much the same as I remembered. Young and physically slight, she wore a sleeveless purple dress with gold and blue lines curling about in fractal designs. Large designer sunglasses covered her eyes.
Magically, she was all but unrecognizable as the woman Lena had helped to draw forth from her thousand-year imprisonment. After so many years in isolation, the Students of Bi Sheng had chosen to establish a permanent telepathic connection, ensuring that they would never again be alone. If one were to die, their memories and experiences would be preserved.
Bi Wei was a spiderweb of magic. Threads of energy my mind interpreted as text were woven through her body and stretched into the distance. It reminded me of Kiyoko. I was relying on that similarity, hoping Bi Wei would be able to nullify her in a way the rest of us couldn’t.
I
turned to Jeneta. “Keep Nkiruka close. If she gets twitchy, round everyone up and get the hell out of here.”
“No problem. Deb gave me a number to call. She said they’d help us disappear.”
Nidhi stepped into Lena’s embrace and whispered something before giving her a long, deep kiss. She finally broke away, then hugged me as well. “Keep each other safe.”
“We will.” I turned to Jason next. “Thank you for this.” I gestured toward the yard and his ex-husband’s house. “Tell your ex I’m going to pay to replace that frying pan.”
Jeneta rolled her eyes. “How was I supposed to know fire-spiders would burn through the non-stick coating? I’m used to cast iron.”
Toby grabbed my hand and squeezed. His lips tightened, and his eyes shifted to the side like he was searching for words.
“I know,” I said, returning the handshake. “Toby, if things go south, talk to Mom and Dad for me. Tell them what really happened.”
“Hell, no,” he said gruffly. “Fix this mess, then explain it yourself.”
“Toby . . .”
He nodded and looked away. “Yah, I’ll tell ’em.”
I hugged Lex, shook hands with Angie, then walked over to where Deb was sitting on the porch swing, dipping crickets into a small tub of ketchup. “You ready?”
She flicked another cricket into her mouth and chewed noisily. “I’ve been ready, hon. It’s not like I’ve got anyone to say good-bye to.”
Jeneta reached into her e-reader and withdrew a glass bottle from Through the Looking Glass, which she handed to Lena. Lena raised it in a toast and took several deep swallows, then passed it to Talulah. By the time it was Deb’s turn, Lena had shrunk down to six inches tall.
I sat down to change shoes, lacing my sneakers around my neck and pulling on the seven-league boots I’d used to flee Las Vegas. I held very still as Lena climbed up onto my shoulder. It would be awkward as hell if my feet twitched and propelled me a half-mile away.
Talulah climbed into my shirt pocket, while a miniature Bi Wei floated on a gust of air to land lightly on my other shoulder. Deb climbed up next to Lena.
“Everybody hold on tight,” I said, and started walking.
With each step devouring roughly twenty miles, we covered the 1900 miles from Grand Rapids to New Millennium in minutes.
Removing the boots and backtracking the two miles I’d overshot took a half hour. It was much simpler to stride at magically relativistic speeds across the continent, letting the boots worry about things like rocks and hills and rivers, not to mention wind resistance that should have stripped the flesh from my bones after the first step.
We circled around and settled in a hundred yards from the gate. New graffiti marred the walls, and the lights illuminated blackened patches of earth. The security measures I remembered were still in place, and there were devourers in the wall, just as we’d seen at the prison. One of the guards carried some sort of handheld scanner that reminded me of a Geiger counter.
“They’ve tightened things up,” Lena said.
‹Testing,› said Talulah. ‹Can you all hear me?›
We each checked in, joining Talulah’s mental conference call in a confusing jumble of overlapping voices.
“They’re scanning for magic, right?” asked Deb.
“Among other things.” The empath working security would pick up on our emotions as well.
I set my passengers on the ground and took what remained of the second Through the Looking Glass potion from my bag. Moments later, Smudge and I had joined the others as Smurf-scale miniatures of ourselves.
We jogged past enormous white bursage and creosote bushes, making our way toward the gate. The desert shrubs were the size of houses, and the gray cactus mouse we startled probably weighed as much as I did in this form.
“Keep an eye out for snakes,” I said. “Shrikes too. Also scorpions and burrowing owls.”
Lena punched my shoulder, just hard enough to shut me up.
At this size, it took another twenty minutes just to reach the side of the road. Every time I looked at New Millennium, I imagined a countdown clock, the digital numbers ticking down one by one like a Hollywood bomb.
“Over, under, or through?” asked Lena.
“I am not going in the way I came out,” I said with a mock shudder. “The wards will stop us from flying in. I’m sure they’re wise to the tunnel approach, too.”
“Waltzing through the front door it is, then.”
“I was thinking about hitching a ride.” A line of dust in the distance heralded our way in. We crept as close to the gates as we dared and waited beneath a blue-green bush with thorns the size of claymores. “Bi Wei, will you be safe here?”
She’d brought out a velvet pouch of dominos, and was arranging them carefully in the dirt for a game I didn’t recognize. “I’ll be waiting.”
“Wait, she’s not coming with us?” asked Deb.
“That’s not why I asked her here, no.” To Bi Wei, I said, “If you don’t hear from us in two hours, do whatever it takes to tear this place to the ground. If the siren assault begins before that and we can’t stop it—”
“I’ll do what I can. And I’ll be waiting to try to help Kiyoko.”
A National Guard truck approached, painted in desert camouflage. Potts was bringing in military reinforcements. “Angels and ministers of grace, defend us,” I muttered.
“Hamlet, right?” said Talulah.
“Yah. Also McCoy from Star Trek IV.” We waited for the truck to stop at the gate, then sprinted onto the road. I boosted Lena onto the right rear tire. She gripped the cracks in the tread to climb higher, then stabbed one of her bokken into the wheel well, hooked her knees over the handle, and dropped upside down to grab my hands.
Her bokken was already sending out branches. Lena pulled me up beside her, then did the same for Talulah and Deb. We pressed flat as the wood grew into a large, curved cage. From the outside, if anyone spotted us, it should look like a bit of tumbleweed stuck in the well.
That was the easy part.
One of the guards circled the truck and opened the back. Another was talking to the driver, checking paperwork and asking about their orders, what equipment they’d brought, how long they intended to be on-site, and so on.
“Anything magical?”
“No, ma’am,” said the driver.
As boots crunched along the pavement, I retrieved a book from my borrowed messenger bag.
“Captain Underpants?” Lena whispered.
I plucked a ring from the pages. “The books straddle the line between comic books and novels. That makes them harder to use, but the popularity of the series means there’s a stronger pool of belief, which balances it out.”
“Hold on. I’m sensing something near the back.” A woman dropped to one knee and peered around. She was better equipped than I expected, with both a mundane semiautomatic and a JG-367, currently set to disintegration mode. In addition to her own inherent empathy, she wore an amulet from Tamora Pierce’s In the Hand of the Goddess, allowing her to see magic. She clicked a flashlight on and shone it beneath the truck.
As quickly as I could, I pointed the Hypno-Ring from The Adventures of Captain Underpants. “You were mistaken. There’s nothing here. You can go about your business. Move along.”
The woman straightened. “Looks like I was mistaken. There’s nothing here.”
“You know the drill,” said a bored-sounding man from the other side of the truck. “Let me take a look, too. Back up a bit?”
Lena grimaced in pain as a second set of boots approached. Smudge scampered from my body, retreating to the back of the cage. The magic of my ring started to fade.
It was a logical setup, but annoying as hell. One guard wore the magic-dampener, while the other carried the magic-sensing amulet, enchanted pistol, and other goodies. As long as they kept their distance from one another, they could cover the other’s vulnerabilities.
I’d broken one of those pearls befo
re, back in Virginia. I did it faster this time, though it was no less painful. Once I’d torn the magic-suppressing field aside, I repeated the same hypnotrick I’d used on his partner.
Someone would eventually realize the amulet had gone dead, but I intended to be finished before that happened.
After what felt like hours, the truck pulled forward into New Millennium and drove slowly around curved roads until we reached Scot Tower, the admin building. The instant we stopped, Lena pushed the branches aside, opening a door from our cage. She lowered us to the ground and jumped after us, broken branches showering around her. We waited in the shadows beneath the truck as uniformed soldiers climbed from the back.
“Welcome to New Millennium, gentlemen.” The voice belonged to Russell Potts. I fought the urge to vaporize the man right then. “You’re here to bolster our own security staff. We want to be certain nothing happens to our guests from the United Nations. We’ve been advised of a potential insider attack.”
Well, he wasn’t wrong. I gritted my teeth and gathered up pebble-sized grains of sand while we listened.
“You should have been briefed on our facility and the abilities of our various enemies,” Potts continued. “You’ll be outfitted with additional equipment before beginning your rounds. On behalf of the Department of Homeland Security, I want to personally thank you for your service.”
He led the men away, probably to receive their black pearls and enchanted handguns and whatever else Potts had decided they needed. Or more likely, he’d keep the pearls for himself and his chosen collaborators. If anger and outrage were what he was after, the murder of our National Guardsmen would be a bonus.