Authors: Allen Steele
Tags: #Space Ships, #General, #Science Fiction, #Space Colonies, #Fiction, #Space Flight, #Hijacking of Aircraft
Coyote Rising (60 page)
He led her away from the others, shaking his head at the nearby blueshirt when he tried to follow them. “This is how you’re going to grow up,” he murmured once they were alone. “You’re getting freedom, and all the responsibility that comes with it. It’s the same choice our parents had when they decided to come here. It’s the choice I had many years ago. And now it’s your turn.”
“I . . . I don’t . . . !” The corners of her eyes glistened. “I don’t know what to do. I don’t know where to go.”
“Nobody does,” he said softly. “We just have to make it up as we go along.” He gave her a hug, kissed her gently on the cheek. “It’s your world now. Go find it . . . and come back safe.”
And then, before he could give himself a chance to reconsider, he
released her. Turning his back on his sister, Carlos walked away, not looking back until after he’d shut the door behind him.
Morning had come upon Liberty, cool and quiet, with a warm breeze drifting in from the south. Roosters crowed within pens, answered by the barking of dogs, the nagging of billy goats. He could smell breakfast being prepared within a thousand kitchens, hear the faint sounds of townspeople rising to do their chores. Another day upon Coyote had begun.
Tucking his hands in his pockets, Carlos Montero began walking back toward town. Ready to see what awaited him today, in the land of the free, the home of the brave.
SOURCESThe author wishes to express his gratitude to his editor, Ginjer Buchanan, and his literary agent, Martha Millard; to Gardner Dozois and Sheila Williams, for publishing an early version of this novel as a series of stories in
Asimov’s Science Fiction
; to Judith Klien-Dial, Ron Miller, and Horace “Ace” Marchant, for their support and advice; and to his wife, Linda Steele, for keeping him sane during another journey into the wilderness.October 2001–April 2003
Whately, Massachusetts
(Author’s note: For additional citations, consult the Sources page of Coyote.)
Berry, Adrian.
The Giant Leap: Mankind Heads for the Stars
. New York: Tor Books, 2000.
Fisher, Richard V., Grant Heiken, and Jeffrey B. Hulen.
Volcanoes: Crucibles of Change
. Princeton University Press, 1997.
Harris, John.
Wonderwoman and Superman: The Ethics of Human Biotechnology
. Oxford University Press, 1992.
Macauley, David.
Building Big
. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2000.
Rampino, Michael R. “Supereruptions as a Threat to Civilisations on Earth-Like Planets.”
Icarus
, 156: 562–569 (2002).
Slater, Lauren. “Dr. Daedalus.”
Harper’s Magazine,
July 2001.
Part 1 THE MADWOMAN OF SHUTTLEFIELD
Part 2 BENJAMIN THE UNBELIEVER
(from the memoirs of Benjamin Harlan)
Part 3 THE GARCIA NARROWS BRIDGE
Part 5 INCIDENT AT GOAT KILL CREEK
Part 6 SHADY GROVE
(from the memoirs of Wendy Gunther)
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s Imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
The Penguin Putnam Inc. World Wide Web site address is
http://www.penguinputnam.com