Beyond the Aquila Rift: The Best of Alastair Reynolds by Alastair Reynolds

Author:Alastair Reynolds [Reynolds, Alastair]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, azw3
Publisher: ORION
Published: 2016-07-20T16:00:00+00:00

“Old-fashioned bullheadedness, in other words,” Celestine said.

Hirz was putting on a helmet and backpack assembly for the first time. She had just been forced to get out of her original suit and put on one of the skintights; even her small frame was now too large to pass through the constricted doors. Childe had attached some additional armor to her skintight—scablike patches of woven diamond—but she must have felt more vulnerable.

I answered Celestine. “What about you, if it isn’t the same thing that keeps me coming back?”

“I want to solve the problems, that’s all. For you they’re just a means to an end, but for me they’re the only thing of interest.”

I felt slighted, but she was right. The nature of the challenges was less important to me than discovering what was at the summit; the secret the Spire so jealously guarded.

“And you’re hoping that through the problems they set us you’ll eventually understand the Spire’s makers?”

“Not just that. I mean, that’s a significant part of it, but I also want to know what my own limitations are.”

“You mean you want to explore the gift that the Jugglers have given you?” Before she had time to answer I continued, “I understand. And it’s never been possible before, has it? You’ve only ever been able to test yourself against problems set by other humans. You could never map the limits of your ability; any more than a lion could test its strength against paper.”

She looked around her. “But now I’ve met something that tests me.”

“And?”

Celestine smiled thinly. “I’m not sure I like it.”

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