When Heaven Fell
Page 37
And just how the Hell do you know what my life’s been like, brother mine? What would you think, if you saw me shooting, shooting, cutting off heads, making them all die? What would you think if you saw me gathering up a downed comrade, loading him into the body bag piece by piece, wiping his gore from my armor's gleaming finish when I was done? What would you think?
Hell, maybe you wouldn’t think. Maybe you’d just run away and forget you ever knew my name.
I said, “What happens afterward is up to her.”
That made him angry. After a while we walked on.
We came out of the woods atop Laurel Hill Bluffs, looking down over steep, tumbled rocks to the river, here only about three meters wide, looking southward toward Big Rapid. I remember coming here once as a little boy, Dad leading me and Oddny by the hand so we wouldn't fall down the cliff path, Mom walking behind, carrying baby Lank in her arms. There must've been a hundred people here that day, basking in the sunshine, lying out on the rocks. To me, then, it hardly seemed worth doing, like being in some kind of outdoor recreational mall.
I remember coming here again with Alix about a year before I left. There is a warm, flat rock out in the middle of the river, white and dusty, and we made love there on a fine, sunny day, while I got burned on my back and Alix's face turned red and sore. A few days later, when our skin began to peel, it made us remember and laugh.
We stood in silence, looking out into the afternoon sunshine, and, after a while, a deer came out of the woods, a medium-sized doe, looking around, cautious but fearless, stepping down to the river to drink, lowering her head to the water. I motioned to Lank, pointed.
He whispered, “Too far.”
The doe raised her head and looked in our direction, waited a minute, then began drinking again. Not many people around to harass them now. Few real predators any more. Feral dogs, maybe? The woods must be filling up with deer.
I measured off the distance with my eyes. Five hundred meters, maybe a little more. I took down the bow and ran the dial up to eighty-K, the doe looking up briefly at the faint ticking sound. Nocked a broad-headed hunting arrow.
Lank whispered, “Wasting you're time.”
Put the bow up, guesstimating the trajectory and windage, drew, paused, held my breath and released it, let go of the bowstring.
The arrow climbed against the blue sky, spinning slowly, leveled out, aerodynamic forces pulling it nose down, accelerated earthward, went through the deer and cracked on the stone by the riverbank.
The deer bucked, noiseless, staggered around, dragging the arrow on the ground, pushing it back in, stumbled and fell into the water. Lay still.
In the silence that followed, we could hear the trees stirring.
Lank whispered, “Sweet Jesus...”
I undialed the bow, slung it over my shoulder, and started walking down the cliff trail, taking out my belt knife, an old ceramic blade I'd found in the bureau, the knife my father’d given me on my fourteenth birthday, checking to see if its edge was as badly chipped as I remembered. Behind me, Lank started talking, muttering about how now we'd have to gut the damned thing and carry it all the way back to the jeep. Which would be soiled by blood.
List of eBooks
These eBooks are available, or soon to be available, in various formats, from various on-line sources. For signed paper first edition pricing and availability, please visit williambarton.com, or email spambot@williambarton.com. Please note individual short stories and novelettes are also available in collections, a better bargain if you want them all.
The Starover Universe
Hunting On Kunderer, 1972 reprint novella.
A Plague of All Cowards, 1976 reprint novella.
This Dog/Rat World, unpublished 1978 novella.
Acts of Conscience, 1997 reprint novel. Signed, unread copies available in Warner Aspect trade first edition and mass-market paperback.
A Last War for the Oriflamme, 2011 new novella.
Loci of the Starover Universe, 2012 new nonfiction.
The Portmanteau Universe
The Venusians, with Michael Capobianco, 1964 novella.
Under Twilight, with Michael Capobianco, 1978 novel.
The Silvergirl Universe
In the Cavern of the Night, five reprints and one new story.
When We Were Real, 1999 reprint novel. Signed, unread copies available in Warner Aspect mass-market paperback first edition.
The Engine of Desire, 2002 reprint novella.
Other Novels
Iris, with Michael Capobianco, 1990 reprint novel. Signed, unread copies are available in Doubleday hardcover first edition and mass-market paperback for both Bantam and Avon editions. Limited availability of Doubleday trade paperback edition.
Fellow Traveler, with Michael Capobianco, 1991 reprint novel. Signed, unread copies are available in Bantam mass-market paperback first edition.
Dark Sky Legion, 1992 reprint novel. Signed, unread copies are available in Bantam mass-market paperback first edition.
Radio Silence, 1992 novel.
When Heaven Fell, 1995 reprint novel. Signed, unread copies are available in Warner Aspect mass-market paperback first edition.
The Transmigration of Souls, 1996 reprint novel. Signed, unread copies are available in Warner Aspect mass-market paperback first edition.
Alpha Centauri, with Michael Capobianco, 1997 reprint novel. Signed, unread copies are available in Avon Eos hardcover first edition and mass-market paperback. Limited availability of trade paperback edition.
White Light, with Michael Capobianco, 1998 reprint novel. Signed, unread Avon Eos trade paperback first edition and mass-market paperback.
Moments of Inertia, 2000 novel, parts serialized in Asimov’s Science Fiction, The Urban Hiker, and The North Carolina Literary Review, with a related article, “Gold from Your Novel” in Writer’s Digest.
Other Novellas
Almost Forever, 1993 reprint.
Yellow Matter, 1993 reprint. Numbered and signed, unread copies of TAL chapbook first edition are available.
Age of Aquarius, 1996 reprint.
The Man Who Counts, 2003 reprint.
Off on a Starship, 2003 reprint.
Down to the Earth Below, 2006 reprint.
The Sea of Dreams, 2009 reprint.
In Search of a Lost Age, 2011 new
General Collections
Ambient Light, complete short fiction from the 1980s and 1990s.
Coronal Light, complete short fiction from the 2000s.
Zodiacal Light, short fiction from the 2010s and beyond, should I live so long. We’ll see!
Shadows in the Sky, tales of the very near future and the exploration of space.
Under the Simple Stars, odds and sods of science fiction, too short to be novellas, and don’t fit anywhere else.
Tales to Dishearten, short fiction from the 1960s and 1970s, including some Starover stories.
Melting in the Sun, a collection of memoir stories, true in spirit, if not in fact.
Shambles, a nonfiction assortment, articles on writing, software design, space exploration, and more.
Roaming in the Gloaming, with Michael Capobianco. Collaborative fiction and nonfiction.
We Are the Hollow Men, a sampler of short fiction, essays, and magazine articles on space exploration and computer programming.
Short Stories and Novelettes:
The Abyss Looks Back.
Cast a Cold Eye.
Changes.
The Devil in Drag.
Down in the Dark.
The Girl in the Golden Halo.
The Gods of a Lesser Creation.
Happy, Competent Men.
Harvest Moon.
Heart of Glass.
In Saturn Time.
In the Age of the Quiet Sun.
Me & Nicky Find an Elephant.
Melting in the Sun.
On the Beach.
Right to Life.
The Rocket into Planetary Space.
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Slowly Comes a Hungry People.
Soldiers Home.
Though I Sang in My Chains Like the Sea.
Three Soldiers.
Tommy.
When a Man’s an Empty Kettle.
The Woman in the Door.
Table of Contents
Foreword
One. A Pall of Smoke
Two. The Next Day, Brilliant and Hot
Three. The Coastal Monorail Home
Four. A Black and Starry Sky
Five. Brilliant Yellow Sunshine
Six. Indigo, Tinged with Violet
Seven. Flooded with Feeling
Eight. The Next Afternoon
Nine. Warm Sunlight
Ten. The Sun Slid Down the Sky
Eleven. Sunlight Burning on Eyelids
Twelve. Scouring the Heavens Clean
Thirteen. An Infinitely Deep Sky
Fourteen. Nothing Real Anymore
Fifteen. A Dry and Fiery Wind
Sixteen. Marching in the Dust
Seventeen. A Bright Night on Karsvaao
Eighteen. Magnificent Desolation
Nineteen. Another Night on Kkhruhhuft
Twenty. Springtime in New York
Epilogue.
Deleted Scene
List of eBooks