The Stars Are Also Fire by Poul Anderson

Author:Poul Anderson [Anderson, Poul]
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Science fiction, Adventure, General, Science Fiction - General, Fiction, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Fiction - Science Fiction, Science Fiction - High Tech, High Tech
ISBN: 9780812530223
Publisher: Tor Books
Published: 2010-01-21T15:39:35+00:00

That wasn’t fair, she reminded herself. Once you started taking your own propaganda seriously, you were headed for fanaticism. Earth had made an enormous investment in Luna. All history shrieked how right the Federation was to dread a resurgent nationalism. The Lunarians chafed at laws written with good intent, when they did not violate them, covertly or more and more openly. Common heritage was only the most obvious sore point. Environmental concerns, weapons control, educational requirements, taxes, licenses, regulations, most of them reasonable —from the viewpoint of a civilized Earthling—but the civilization aborning here was none of Earth’s, was maybe not quite human—

Wasn’t it wise at least to make the cage larger, before the beast tried breaking altogether loose?

She couldn’t tell. She wished she could seek counsel of Guthrie. But she was sworn to silence, and these were her children.

“Well,” she sighed, “we’ll talk about it.” LJrums boomed and thuttered. A chant pulsed among them, now organ deep, now shrill as the whistles that interwove, hai-ah-ho-hee. At the landing field the noise went low, like a distant thunderstorm, but its darkness thickened the twilight closing in.

Thunderstorm, yes, Aleka thought. Air pressed downward from the cloud deck, hot, heavy with unshed rain; her skin gleamed wet under blouse and shorts, and prickled as if from gathering electricity.

For a moment she stood beside the hired volant, unsure. Likeliest she’d leave with Kenmuir in hers, which had brought him here. But that wasn’t certain. The news had been a shock when she retrieved it while approaching Overburg—negotiations suddenly broken off, Mayor Bruno calling a game against Elville, agovernment advisory not to visit the area. She might need to flit in a hurry.

“Wait here,” she directed the cab. “If I haven’t told you otherwise, return to your station at, oh, hour seven tomorrow.”

“In view of the hazard the charge for that will be double the standard rate,” the robot warned.

The debit would put quite a nick in her modest personal account. However, Lilisajre ought to reimburse eventually. Besides—her head lifted—she was playing for almighty high stakes. “Authorized.” Her voice pattern was sufficient signature. She gripped her two suitcases hard and set forth across the field.

It reached empty. When she got in among the houses, at first the sole light came from equally deserted pavement. Was everybody downtown, working up enthusiasm? Best would be to skirt that section. But she didn’t know how. She had simply projected a street map from the database and memorized the most direct route to the inn. It lay beyond the square.

If only she could have talked with Kenmuir beforehand. They’d have arranged a safer meeting place, maybe an arbitrary spot in the countryside. Bueno, he had had no way of telling where she was en route. To set the communications net searching would have been to provide any hunters with a major clue. After she got the bad word, she tried to call him from the flyer. The innkeeper told her that Sr. Hannibal was out. Not knowing when to expect her, he-must have gone to eat or something.

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