THE DARK
BETWEEN THE
STARS
BY THE SAME AUTHOR
WITH BRIAN HERBERT
The Road to Dune
Dune: The Butlerian Jihad
Dune: The Machine Crusade
The Battle of Corrin
Hunters of Dune
Sandworms of Dune
Paul of Dune
The Winds of Dune
Sisterhood of Dune
Mentats of Dune
Hellhole
Hellhole Awakening
WITH DOUG BEASON
Ill Wind
KEVIN J. ANDERSON
NEBULA SHOWCASE 2011
Slan Hunter
First published in the US by Tor Books, 2014
This edition published in Great Britain by Simon & Schuster UK Ltd, 2014
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Copyright © 2014 by WordFire, Inc.
This book is copyright under the Berne Convention.
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Trade Paperback ISBN: 978-1-84983-677-7
eBook ISBN: 978-1-84983-679-1
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either a product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
Any resemblance to actual people living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Printed and bound by CPI (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CR0 4YY
The Seven Suns universe is my love letter to science fiction, a response to all the stories and the sheer sense of wonder I experienced over a lifetime of reading the genre.
This book is dedicated to the creators of the many incredible universes that took me out of a mundane childhood and transported me from everyday life to different planets and cultures—including, but not limited to, George Lucas, Gene Roddenberry, Frank Herbert, Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, Arthur C. Clarke, Ray Bradbury, Julian May, Andre Norton, and many, many more.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Writing a novel is a solitary job, but writing a good novel requires a lot of help. For The Dark Between the Stars I would like to acknowledge the valuable assistance of Deb Ray, Diane Jones, Louis Moesta, John Silbersack, Pat LoBrutto, and my wife, Rebecca Moesta.
People assume that historians want to witness seminal events, but I must disagree. As a historian, my task is to record, to understand, to be objective. Yet objectivity is elusive when one is in the thick of a war that devastates the entire Spiral Arm. Personally, I would rather be an observer than a participant.
Nevertheless, while living through the conflict we now call the Elemental War, I did acquire a unique perspective. Now that I look back over the two decades since the end of that war, I see a time of peace and recovery. Civilization across the Spiral Arm is catching its breath.
The fiery beings called faeros have been driven back into their suns; the hydrogues are contained within their gas-giant planets. The Klikiss insect race departed on their final swarming, disappearing through their mysterious network of transportals to uncharted planets, and their treacherous black robots have all been wiped out.
The corrupt Terran Hanseatic League has become the Confederation, ruled by King Peter and Queen Estarra and composed of former Hansa planets, independent worlds, and Roamer clans. Although Earth remains important to the human race, the Confederation’s capital is Theroc, where the worldforest thrives and telepathic green priests tap into the vast knowledge stored in the sentient trees.
The Ildiran Empire is still humanity’s closest ally, and I admit to a fondness for their race and culture, having spent most of my professional career translating their billion-line historical epic, the Saga of Seven Suns. The Mage-Imperator even keeps a human green priest as his consort.
Impatient readers might consider twenty years plenty of time to chronicle such sweeping events, but in truth we are just getting started. It will take decades of peacetime contemplation to sort out the details.
If only we had that luxury.
—Rememberer Anton Colicos, introduction to An Initial History of the Elemental War
Contents
ONE: GARRISON REEVES
TWO: ELISA REEVES
THREE: ADAR ZAN’NH
FIVE: ANTON COLICOS
SIX: GARRISON REEVES
SEVEN: LEE ISWANDER
EIGHT: DEL KELLUM
NINE: ZHETT KELLUM
TEN: SHAREE FITZKELLUM
ELEVEN: ELISA REEVES
TWELVE: LEE ISWANDER
THIRTEEN: ZOE ALAKIS
FOURTEEN: YAZRA’H
FIFTEEN: PRINCE REYN
SIXTEEN: ARITA
SEVENTEEN: TASIA TAMBLYN
EIGHTEEN: ELISA REEVES
NINETEEN: LEE ISWANDER
TWENTY: GENERAL NALANI KEAH
TWENTY-ONE: TAL GALE’NH
TWENTY-TWO: ELISA REEVES
TWENTY-THREE: LEE ISWANDER
TWENTY-FOUR: ORLI COVITZ
TWENTY-FIVE: TOM ROM
TWENTY-SIX: ZOE ALAKIS
TWENTY-SEVEN: GARRISON REEVES
TWENTY-EIGHT: LEE ISWANDER
TWENTY-NINE: JESS TAMBLYN
THIRTY: PATRICK FITZPATRICK III
THIRTY-ONE: ARITA
THIRTY-TWO: TAMO’L
THIRTY-THREE: TAL GALE’NH
THIRTY-FOUR: OSIRA’H
THIRTY-FIVE: GENERAL NALANI KEAH
THIRTY-SIX: EXXOS
THIRTY-SEVEN: ELISA REEVES
THIRTY-EIGHT: GARRISON REEVES
THIRTY-NINE: ORLI COVITZ
FOURTY: GENERAL NALANI KEAH
FOURTY-ONE: SHAREEN FITZKELLUM
FOURTY-TWO: XANDER BRINDLE
FOURTY-THREE: PRINCE REYN
FOURTY-FOUR: ZOE ALAKIS
FOURTY-FIVE: TOM ROM
FOURTY-SIX: ARITA
FOURTY-SEVEN: EXXOS
FOURTY-EIGHT: OSIRA’H
FOURTY-NINE: ZHETT KELLUM
FIFTY: ORLI COVITZ
FIFTY-ONE: SHELUD
FIFTY-TWO: GARRISON REEVES
FIFTY-THREE: LEE ISWANDER
FIFTY-FOUR: EXXOS
FIFTY-FIVE: SHAREEN FITZKELLUM
FIFTY-SIX: PRINCE REYN
FIFTY-SEVEN: ZOE ALAKIS
FIFTY-EIGHT: KING PETER
FIFTY-NINE: RLINDA KETT
SIXTY: ADAR ZAN’NH
SIXTY-ONE: DALE REEVES
SIXTY-TWO: LEE ISWANDER
SIXTY-THREE: MAGE-IMPERATOR JORA’H
SIXTY-FOUR: ARITA
SIXTY-FIVE: ELDRED CAIN
SIXTY-SIX: GARRISON REEVES
SIXTY-SEVEN: SHELUD
SIXTY-EIGHT: OSIRA’H
SIXTY-NINE: SHAREEN FITZKELLUM
SEVENTY: XANDER BRINDLE
SEVENTY-ONE: KING PETER
SEVENTY-TWO: AELIN
SEVENTY-THREE: DALE REEVES
SEVENTY-FOUR: TOM ROM
SEVENTY-FIVE: ORLI COVITZ
SEVENTY-SIX: ANTON COLICOS
SEVENTY-SEVEN: EXXOS
SEVENTY-EIGHT: OSIRA’H
SEVENTY-NINE: TOM ROM
EIGH
TY: AELIN
EIGHTY-ONE: SHELUD
EIGHTY-TWO: NIRA
EIGHTY-THREE: ARITA
EIGHTY-FOUR: PRINCE REYN
EIGHTY-FIVE: XANDER BRINDLE
EIGHTY-SIX: GARRISON REEVES
EIGHTY-SEVEN: ORLI COVITZ
EIGHTY-EIGHT: AELIN
EIGHTY-NINE: GENERAL NALANI KEAH
NINETY: EXXOS
NINETY-ONE: ZOE ALAKIS
NINETY-TWO: PRINCE REYN
NINETY-THREE: ARITA
NINETY-FOUR: ORLI COVITZ
NINETY-FIVE: ADAR ZAN’NH
NINETY-SIX: GENERAL NALANI KEAH
NINETY-SEVEN: OSIRA’H
NINETY-EIGHT: ORLI COVITZ
NINETY-NINE: AELIN
ONE HUNDRED: JESS TAMBLYN
ONE HUNDRED AND ONE: KING PETER
ONE HUNDRED AND TWO: SHAREEN FITZKELLUM
ONE HUNDRED AND THREE: ORLI COVITZ
ONE HUNDRED AND FOUR: GARRISON REEVES
ONE HUNDRED AND FIVE: LEE ISWANDER
ONE HUNDRED AND SIX: OSIRA’H
ONE HUNDRED AND SEVEN: TOM ROM
ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHT: ARITA
ONE HUNDRED AND NINE: KING PETER
ONE HUNDRED AND TEN: ORLI COVITZ
ONE HUNDRED AND ELEVEN: GARRISON REEVES
ONE HUNDRED AND TWELVE: ANTON COLICOS
ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTEEN: ORLI COVITZ
ONE HUNDRED AND FOURTEEN: TOM ROM
ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTEEN: EXXOS
ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTEEN: GARRISON REEVES
ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTEEN: AELIN
ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTEEN: OSIRA’H
ONE HUNDRED AND NINETEEN: LEE ISWANDER
ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY: EXXOS
ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-ONE: AELIN
ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-TWO: MAGE-IMPERATOR JORA’H
ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-THREE: KING PETER
ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FOUR: TOM ROM
ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIVE: ORLI COVITZ
ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SIX: GARRISON REEVES
ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SEVEN: MAGE-IMPERATOR JORA’H
ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-EIGHT: ARITA
ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-NINE: OSIRA’H
ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY: ZOE ALAKIS
ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-ONE: ORLI COVITZ
ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-TWO: GENERAL NALANI KEAH
ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-THREE: MAGE-IMPERATOR JORA’H
ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-FOUR: SHAREEN FITZKELLUM
ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-FIVE: EXXOS
ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-SIX: ZOE ALAKIS
ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-SEVEN: NIRA
ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-EIGHT: GARRISON REEVES
ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-NINE: RLINDA KETT
GLOSSARY
THE DARK
BETWEEN THE
STARS
ONE
GARRISON REEVES
He had to run, and he fled with the boy out into the dark spaces between the stars.
Garrison Reeves stole a ship from the Iswander Industries lava-processing operations on Sheol. Though he’d planned his escape for days, he gathered only a few supplies and keepsakes before departing, careful not to give his wife any hint of what he intended to do. None of his possessions mattered more than getting safely away with his son.
He knew the disaster could come soon—any day now. Lee Iswander, the Roamer industrialist, dismissed Garrison’s concerns about third-order tidal shifts in the broken planet; Garrison’s own wife, Elisa, didn’t believe him. The lava miners paid little attention to his warnings, not because they disputed his geological calculations, but because they didn’t want to believe. Their priorities were clear. Adding “unnecessary” and expensive levels of redundant shielding and “paranoid” safety measures was irresponsible, both to Iswander Industries and to the employees, who participated in profit-sharing.
Lee Iswander had commissioned follow-up reports, biased reports, that painted a far rosier picture. Garrison didn’t accept them.
So he made his choice, the only possible choice. He stole one of the company ships, and when she found out about it, Elisa would claim that he stole their son.
He flew out of the Sheol system, running far from any Roamer settlement or Confederation outpost. Elisa was not only an ambitious woman, she was abusive, tenacious, and dangerous—and she would come after them. He needed a head start if he had any hope of getting away.
The ship was a standard Iswander cargo transport, a workhorse, fully fueled with ekti, run by an efficient Ildiran stardrive. Garrison could fly the vessel without special training, as he could fly most standard spacecraft.
Ten-year-old Seth rode in the cockpit next to him. Garrison made a game of familiarizing the boy with cockpit systems and engine diagnostics, giving him simple navigation problems to solve—as any good Roamer father would, even though Garrison had chafed under how his stern father had raised him. He would not make the same mistakes with Seth.
Roamers were free spirits, sometimes deprecatingly called space gypsies, whose clans filled niches too rugged and dangerous for more pampered people—places such as the Sheol lava-processing operations. He had followed Elisa there because of her promotion in Iswander Industries.
“You should stay away from That Woman,” Olaf Reeves had warned him, not once but dozens of times. “If you defy me, if you marry her, you will regret it. You are spitting on your heritage.”
Now, Garrison hated to admit that his father had been right.
He closed his eyes, took a breath, and opened them. He studied the markers on the ship’s copilot control panels, then turned to his son. “Go ahead and set the next course, Seth.”
“But where are we going?”
“You pick, so long as we’re heading away from Sheol.” He tapped the starscreen, which showed infinite possibilities. “On this trip, we’re truly roaming. I just need some time away from everybody so I can rethink things.”
Though anxious, the boy was glad to be with his father. Seth respected his mother, even feared her, but he loved his father. Elisa never let down her walls—not with any business associate, not with Garrison, not even with her own son.
“Will I be able to go to Academ now?” Seth asked. The Roamer school inside a hollowed-out comet had always fascinated the boy. He wanted to be with the children of other clans, to have friends. Garrison knew his son would be happier at Academ, but Elisa had refused to consider sending their son there.
“Maybe we’ll arrange that before long. For now, you can learn from me.”
Unlike other Roamer children, Seth hadn’t grown up in a pleasant domed greenhouse asteroid or on the open gas-giant skies of an ekti-harvesting skymine. Rather, his daily view was a blaze of scarlet magma erupting in a smoke-filled sky. All the personnel of the lava-mining facility lived in reinforced habitat towers mounted on pilings sunk down to solid rock. More than two thousand employees, specialists of various ranks—engineers like Garrison himself, metallurgists, geologists, shipping personnel, and just plain grunt workers—filled shifts aboard the smelter barges or control towers, surrounded by fires that could have inspired Hell itself.
No other parents kept their children here. Sheol was no place for a family, no home for a boy, regardless of the career advancement opportunities for Elisa.
As the two closely orbiting halves of the binary planet adjusted their dance of celestial mechanics, Garrison had analyzed the orbital pirouette, uncovering fourth-order resonances that he suspected would make the fragments dip fractionally closer to each other, increasing stresses. He studied the melting points, annealing strengths, and ceramic-lattice structure of the habitat and factory towers.
And he realized the danger to the Iswander operations.
Alarmed, he had presented his results to Lee Iswander, only to be rebuffed when neither the industrialist nor his deputy—Garrison’s own wife—took his warnings seriously. Iswander impatiently told Garrison to go back to work and reassured him th
at the lava-processing outpost was perfectly safe. The material strength of the structural elements was rated to withstand the environment of Sheol, although with little margin for error.
When Garrison insisted, Iswander grudgingly brought in a team of contract geologists and engineers who found a way to rerun the calculations, to reaffirm that nothing could go wrong. The specialists had departed with surprising haste—worried about their own safety?
Garrison still trusted his own calculations, though. Next, he felt it was his responsibility to warn the Sheol employees, which infuriated Elisa, who was sure that his whistle-blowing would cost her a promotion.
Honestly, Garrison hoped he was wrong. He knew he wasn’t. Convinced he had no alternative, he decided to take Seth away from Sheol before disaster struck. . . .
After scanning the star catalog, the boy chose coordinates that qualified as little other than “the middle of nowhere.” The stardrive engines hummed and changed tone as they adjusted course, and the vessel streaked off again.
Seth looked up at him with a sparkle in his eyes. “If we had our own compy, Dad, he could fly the ship, and you and I could play games.”
Garrison smiled. “We’re on autopilot. We can still play games.”
Because there were no other children on Sheol, Seth had longed for a competent computerized companion, probably a Friendly model who could keep him company and amuse him. At the lava-mining facility, Lee Iswander used only a handful of Worker compies, none of which were the more sociable types, not even a Teacher compy.
“Your mother didn’t see the point in owning a compy,” Garrison said. “But maybe we can revisit that.” After we see what happens.
In his head, Garrison heard his father’s gruff voice again. “You never should have married That Woman. You’re a Roamer, and you belong with other Roamers!”
“Elisa’s not a Roamer, but Lee Iswander comes from a good clan,” he had responded, though the words sounded flat in his own ears.
“That man has more of the Hansa about him than the clans. He’s forgotten who he is.” The bearded clan patriarch had waved a finger in front of his son’s face. “And if you stay with him, you will forget who you are. Too many Roamer clans have forgotten. A knife loses its edge unless it is sharpened.”
But Garrison had refused to listen and married Elisa Enturi anyway. He’d given up so much for her . . . or had he done it just to act out against his father? He had wanted a family, a fulfilled life, and Elisa wanted something else.