Read The Wind From a Burning Woman: Six Stories of Science Fiction for Free Online
Authors: Greg Bear
plugged into while troubleshooting a Hexamon computer plex. There was no doubt about who was responsible, just uncertainty about the exact procedure. Her evidence for Fanner Kollerts guilt was circumstantial but not baseless.
She sealed her suit and helmet and went outside the bubble again, just to watch the stars for a few minutes. The lead-grey rock under her feet was pitted by eons of micrometeoroids. Rills several kilometers across attested to the rolling impacts of other asteroids, any one of which would have caused a major disaster on Earth. Earth had been hit before, not often by pieces as big as Psyche, but several times at least, and had survived. Earth would survive Psyches impact, and life would start anew. Those plants and animalseven humansthat survived would eventually build back to the present level, and perhaps it would be a better world, more daunted by the power of past evil. She might be a force for positive regeneration.
The string of bubbles across Psyches surface was serenely lovely in the starlight. The illumination brightened slowly as Earth rose above the Vlasseg pole, larger now than the Moon. She had a few more hours to make the optimum correction. Just above the Earth was a tiny moving point of lightPorter in his cargo vessel. He was lining up with the smaller borehole to send signals, if he had to.
Again she wanted to cry. She felt like a little child, full of hatred and frustration, but caught now in something so immense and inexorable that all passion was dwarfed. She couldnt believe she was the controlling factor, that she held so much power. Surely something was behind her, some impersonal, objective force. Alone she was nothing, and her crime would be unbelievablejust as Porter had said. But with a cosmic justification, the agreeing nod of some vast all-seeing God, she was just a tool, bereft of responsibility.
She grasped the guide wires strung between the bubbles and pulled herself back to the airlock hatch. With one gloved hand she pressed the button. Under her palm she felt the metal vibrate for a second, then stop. The hatch was still closed. She pressed again and nothing happened.
Porter listened carefully for a full minute, trying to pick up the weak signal. It had cut off abruptly a few minutes before, during his final lineup with the borehole through the Vlasseg pole. He called his director and asked if any signals had been received from Turco. Since he was out of line-of-sight now, the Moon had to act as a relay.
Nothing, Lunar Guidance said. Shes been silent for an hour.
Thats not right. Weve only got an hour and a half left. She should be playing the situation for all its worth. Listen, LG, I received a weak signal from Psyche several minutes ago. It could have been a freak, but I dont think so. Im going to move back to where I picked it up.
Negative, Porter. Youll need all your reaction mass in case Plan A doesnt go off properly.
Ive got plenty to spare, LG. I have a bad feeling about this. Somethings gone wrong on Psyche. It was clear to him the instant he said it. Jesus Christ, LG, the signal must have come from Turcos area on Psyche! I lost it just when I passed out of line-of-sight from her bubble.
Lunar Guidance was silent for a long moment. Okay, Porter, weve got clearance for you to regain that signal.
Thank you, LG. He pushed the ship out of its rough alignment and coasted slowly away from Psyche until he could see the equatorial ring of domes and bubbles. Abruptly his receiver again picked up the weak signal. He locked his tracking antenna to it, boosted it, and cut in the communications processor to interpolate through the hash.
This is Turco. William Porter, listen to me! This is Turco. Im locked out. Something has malfunctioned in the control bubble. Im locked out...
Im getting you, Turco, he said. Look at my spot above the Vlasseg pole. Im in line-of-sight again. If her suit was a standard model, her transmissions would strengthen in the direction she was
She sealed her suit and helmet and went outside the bubble again, just to watch the stars for a few minutes. The lead-grey rock under her feet was pitted by eons of micrometeoroids. Rills several kilometers across attested to the rolling impacts of other asteroids, any one of which would have caused a major disaster on Earth. Earth had been hit before, not often by pieces as big as Psyche, but several times at least, and had survived. Earth would survive Psyches impact, and life would start anew. Those plants and animalseven humansthat survived would eventually build back to the present level, and perhaps it would be a better world, more daunted by the power of past evil. She might be a force for positive regeneration.
The string of bubbles across Psyches surface was serenely lovely in the starlight. The illumination brightened slowly as Earth rose above the Vlasseg pole, larger now than the Moon. She had a few more hours to make the optimum correction. Just above the Earth was a tiny moving point of lightPorter in his cargo vessel. He was lining up with the smaller borehole to send signals, if he had to.
Again she wanted to cry. She felt like a little child, full of hatred and frustration, but caught now in something so immense and inexorable that all passion was dwarfed. She couldnt believe she was the controlling factor, that she held so much power. Surely something was behind her, some impersonal, objective force. Alone she was nothing, and her crime would be unbelievablejust as Porter had said. But with a cosmic justification, the agreeing nod of some vast all-seeing God, she was just a tool, bereft of responsibility.
She grasped the guide wires strung between the bubbles and pulled herself back to the airlock hatch. With one gloved hand she pressed the button. Under her palm she felt the metal vibrate for a second, then stop. The hatch was still closed. She pressed again and nothing happened.
Porter listened carefully for a full minute, trying to pick up the weak signal. It had cut off abruptly a few minutes before, during his final lineup with the borehole through the Vlasseg pole. He called his director and asked if any signals had been received from Turco. Since he was out of line-of-sight now, the Moon had to act as a relay.
Nothing, Lunar Guidance said. Shes been silent for an hour.
Thats not right. Weve only got an hour and a half left. She should be playing the situation for all its worth. Listen, LG, I received a weak signal from Psyche several minutes ago. It could have been a freak, but I dont think so. Im going to move back to where I picked it up.
Negative, Porter. Youll need all your reaction mass in case Plan A doesnt go off properly.
Ive got plenty to spare, LG. I have a bad feeling about this. Somethings gone wrong on Psyche. It was clear to him the instant he said it. Jesus Christ, LG, the signal must have come from Turcos area on Psyche! I lost it just when I passed out of line-of-sight from her bubble.
Lunar Guidance was silent for a long moment. Okay, Porter, weve got clearance for you to regain that signal.
Thank you, LG. He pushed the ship out of its rough alignment and coasted slowly away from Psyche until he could see the equatorial ring of domes and bubbles. Abruptly his receiver again picked up the weak signal. He locked his tracking antenna to it, boosted it, and cut in the communications processor to interpolate through the hash.
This is Turco. William Porter, listen to me! This is Turco. Im locked out. Something has malfunctioned in the control bubble. Im locked out...
Im getting you, Turco, he said. Look at my spot above the Vlasseg pole. Im in line-of-sight again. If her suit was a standard model, her transmissions would strengthen in the direction she was
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