“Earth II” (Asimov’s, July 2009) and “Earth III,” two stories about human exploration and discovery in the far future, are separate pendants to Stephen Baxter’s novel Ark, which has just been published by Ace Books in the United States. About the time Stephen’s latest tale sees print, he’ll be “anticipating the UK launch of the next novel, Stone Spring (from Gollancz), the first of an alternate-prehistory saga.” He’ll also be “looking forward to attending major conferences on H.G. Wells and on the search for aliens!”
I
At the foot of the ladder Vala paused, one slender hand on an iron rung, her face raised up to the tower’s curving wall and the hulk of the Star above their heads. “Oh, Brod—what are we doing? This is the Eye—the holiest place in all the world!” And she murmured a prayer to the Sim Controllers.
She had been hesitant all the way, as the two of them had climbed up from the Eighth Temple—hesitant, Brod knew, but excited too, thrilled on some deep level to be joining in this illicit adventure. She wouldn’t have been here if she hadn’t wanted to come—hadn’t wanted to be with him.
He dared to take her hand, touching her for the very first time, and she shuddered as if from the shock of it. “Oh, come on,” he said gently. “We’ve come this far. Let’s just climb to the top of this wall, and we’ll be closer than anybody else in the whole world to the Star—”
“Which is why it’s so holy! Which is why we mustn’t do this!”
“But if we’re quick, we can be back in the Colloquy sessions before anybody’s even missed us. Who would ever know?”
“Nobody keeps secrets from the Sim Controllers.”
“Well, I hope that’s not true—”
She seemed genuinely shocked. “Brod!”...
Editorial Sheila Williams: Do Androids Dream of Electric Zhu Zhu Pets?
