Table of Contents
Ace Books by Joe Haldeman
WORLDS APART
DEALING IN FUTURES
FOREVER PEACE
FOREVER FREE
THE COMING
GUARDIAN
CAMOUFLAGE
OLD TWENTIETH
A SEPARATE WAR AND OTHER STORIES
THE ACCIDENTAL TIME MACHINE
MARSBOUND
STARBOUND
EARTHBOUND
Ace Books edited by Joe Haldeman
BODY ARMOR: 2000
NEBULA AWARDS STORIES SEVENTEEN
SPACE FIGHTERS
Ace Books by Joe Haldeman and Jack C. Haldeman II
THERE IS NO DARKNESS
THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP
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This is an original publication of The Berkley Publishing Group.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
Copyright 2011 by Joe Haldeman.
Illustration copyright 2011 by Joe Haldeman.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Haldeman, Joe W.
p. cm.
ISBN : 978-1-101-55219-3
I. Title.
PS3558.A353E27 2011
813.54dc23
2011035693
http://us.penguingroup.com
For Gay and Judith, only bound by gravity
Id been off Earth for so long I didnt recognize the sound of gunfire.
We were walking up a gravel road from the beach at Armstrong Space Force Base, where wed just watched, I dont know, the end of the world? People were checking phones, watchesnothing electronic was working. Even my wrist tattoo was stuck at 10:23. Thats when the rocket we were watching lift off sputtered out and fell into the Pacific.
It didnt explode or anything. It just stopped. Like everything else.
Guns did seem to work, hence the merry popcorn-popping sound. Get down, Carmen, Namir said conversationally. We dont know who theyre shooting at. Everybody was kneeling or lying on the road, below the level of the sand dunes on both sides. I joined them.
An older man in a white suit, clutching a sun hat to his head, fancy camera on a strap bumping against his chest, came running down the gravel, looking anxiously back at the gunfire.
Card? I wouldnt have recognized my brother if he hadnt called a couple of days earlier. He almost slipped on the gravel, but came to rest crouching next to me.
Sister, love... he was still looking back at the gunfireWhat the fuck is going on? Werent you supposed to be taking care of all this alien crap?
Didnt quite work out, I said. Its a long story. If were alive tomorrow, Ill give you chapter and verse.
There were a couple of especially loud bangs, I guessed from bombs or grenades. Where did Namir go?
Back there, his wife Elza said, jerking her thumb toward her other husband, Dustin, who pointed toward Snowbird, who pointed all four arms to the right.
I should note that we were a mixed group, not to say a menagerie: three humans from Earth, three from Mars, and one actual Martian. And now my brother, who was something in between.
Card waved at the Martian Snowbird and tried to croak hello. Hed stayed on Mars for the required five years, and then escaped back to Earth. Never could speak Martian well, as if anyone could.
Hello, Card. I remember you much younger.
Fucking relativity, he said. To me: You used to be my older sister.
I guess well sort it out somehow. I was born eighty-four years ago, but figured Id only lived thirty-seven of them. My bratty little brother was twice my age now, in a real sense. From acne to pattern baldness in one stroke.
Namir came clattering back with two automatic weapons under one arm and a holstered pistol in the other hand. He gave the pistol to Elza and a machine gun to Dustin.
Thats good. All the spies had guns.
Elza did something complicated with the pistol, inspecting it. Tell me you found a gun shop behind some dune.
Didnt kill anybody.
But somebodys going to be looking for them, Dustin said.
Not for a while. He looked at Card. You must be Carmens brother.
Card nodded. You must be one of the spies.
Namir. We have to find someplace less exposed.
The last place we drove by, did it look like a motor pool? Elza said.
I remember, yes. Sandbag wall around it.
So maybe theres no one there now. Since no vehicles seem to be working.
We cant just walk up with guns, I said.
Right. So you go first.
Once the shooting stops. Actually, I hadnt heard any for a minute or so. What direction was it coming from? I asked Card.
I guess the press and VIP area. They had bleachers set up. They were gonna leave me there even though I had a pass. I paid a guy to take me to the last checkpoint, a half mile from here.
Glad you found us, I said, and stood up cautiously. The motor pool was about a block away. One low building and dozens of blue NASA trucks and carts. No people obvious. Paul, lets go.
He got up, and Meryl followed him, and then my brother. I can talk to the natives, he said. Lived in California thirty-five years.
Leave the armed guard with Snowbird, Paul said. Martians might not be too popular right now.
Dont risk anybodys life for me, the Martian said. I wont live long in any case.
You dont know that, I said lamely.
I cant live on human food, and only have a few days worth of mine here. The only renewable source is in the Martian colony in Siberia. I cant walk thereor I could, if I had time, and it might be pleasantly cold. But it would take a long time. I cant live off the land.
The power could come back any time, Namir said. We still know nothing about how the Others minds work.
No need to comfort me, friend. I lived long enough to swim in the sea.
Namir stared at her for a moment, nodding, and then looked toward me. Okay, Carmen, go up to the motor pool and nose around. If the coast is clear, give us a signal. He considered that and shook his head, smiling. I mean, you stay here with the gun, and Ill
