they want. Tell them Bisesas on the john. Tell them anything!
Yuri glared at him. Then he tapped a softscreen. Hanse. Patch me through to that ship. Liberator, Wells. Liberator, Wells...
For Myra, the fifteen minutes that followed were the longest of her life.
This is Athena. I am speaking to all mankind, on Earth, Moon, Mars, and beyond. I will allow your systems to prepare for translation from English. She paused for five measured seconds.
You remember me, she said. I am, or was, the mind of the shield. We worked together during the sunstorm. Since returning to the solar system I have been in hiding. I find I have returned to an age of division, with many secrets between us, between governments and governed, between factions in our populations.
Now the time for secrecy is over. Now we must work together again, for we have a grave decision to make. A decision we must share. Prepare for download... Bob Paxton stared in dismay at the data that flooded through his displays. Christ. That electronic orphan is telling it all, to everybody. The Liberator, the Q-bomb, the whole damn circus.
And that, Bella thought with mounting relief, had to be a good thing, come what may.
We dont believe we can deflect the Q-bomb, Athena said gravely. We tried bravely, but we failed. But we think that by speaking to our solar systems deepest past, we can save our worlds future.
Nothing is certain. Perhaps we can save Earth. But there will be a sacrifice.
This is not a decision any one of us, no matter how powerful, how uniquely positioned, should make alone. No generation in history has faced making such a choice before. But no generation has been so united, thanks to its technology. And the implication is clear: this sacrifice must be all of ours.
The sacrifice is Mars.
Grendel looked around, wide-eyed. Maybe this is what it means to grow up as a species, do you think? To face decisions like this.
Yuri paced around the room, angry, constrained, frustrated. My God, I was pissed enough when I learned that the Firstborn screwed up the ice caps with their sunstorm. But now this. Mars!
Still Athena spoke. Every human in the solar system who chooses may contribute to the discussion that must follow. Speak however you like. Blog. E-mail. Just speak into the air, if you wish. Someone will hear you, and the great AI suites will collate your views, and pass them on to be pooled with others. Lightspeed will slow the discussion; that is inevitable. But no action will be taken, one way or another, until a consensus emerges...
They were all exhausted, Myra saw. All save Yuri, whose anger and resentment fueled him.
Ellie folded her arms. Oh, come on, Yuri. So what if Mars gets pasted? Isnt the decision obvious? Myra tried to grab her arm, to shut her up, but she wouldnt stop. A world of several billion people, the true home of mankind, againstthis. A dead world. A dust museum. What choice is there to make?
Yuri stared at her. By Christ, youre heartless. This has been a human planet since the hunter-gatherers saw it wandering around the sky. And now were going to destroy itfinish the job for the Firstborn? Well be considered criminals as long as mankind survives.
Bob Paxton tapped at buttons. Were trying to jam it but there are too many ways in.
Thats networks for you, Cassie Duflot said. She glanced at Bella. How do you feel?
Bella thought it over. Relieved. No more secrecy, no more lies. Whatever becomes of us now, at least its all out in the open.
Athena said, We predict that twelve hours will be sufficient, but you may take longer if need be. I will speak to you again then.
As she fell silent, Paxton glowered. At last she zips it. Bud Tooke always did say Athena was a fruitcake, even when she was running the shield. Well, we got work to do. He showed Bella fresh images of the damaged space elevators. They cut the threads of every last one of them.
Bellas eyes were gritty as she tried to concentrate on what he was saying. Casualties? Damage?
Each elevator was ruined, of course. But the upper sections have just drifted away into space; the crews can be picked up later. The lower few kilometers mostly burn up in the atmosphere. The screens showed remarkable images of falling thread, streams of silvery paper, some hundreds of kilometers long. This is going to cost billions, growled Paxton.
Okay, Bella said. But an