Maxine McArthur - Time Future

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Time Future

Maxine McArthur

ACCLAIM FOR Time Future!

"Rich in detail .. . TIME FUTURE shows that Maxine McArthur has an

astute mind, a ferocious sense of detail, and the capacity to become

one of the world's most distinguished S-F writers."

--Nova Express magazine

"A fine new entry in classic space opera .. . compares well with Vernor

Vinge's A Deepness in the Sky and with the work of Lois McMaster

Bujold."

--Kage Baker, author of The Garden of Iden

"A wonderfully complex story, set in a strange, mysterious --and

mysteriously threatened--space station." --Roger Mac Bride Allen,

author of The Depths of Time

"An impressive, densely layered story of intrigue.. .. Perhaps it's

her southern hemisphere, Pacific Rim background which helped her keep

her aliens so very alien, and Commander Halley so very human."

--Elizabeth Moon, author of Against the Odds

ATTENTION: SCHOOLS AND CORPORATIONS

WARNER books are available at quantity discounts with bulk purchase for

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please write to: SPECIAL SALES

DEPARTMENT' WARNER BOOKS, 1271 AVENUE

OF THE AMERICAS, NEW YORK, N.Y. 10020

time Future

MAXINE McARTHUR

ASPECT

A Time Warner Company

If you purchase this book without a cover you should be aware that

this book may have been stolen property and reported as "unsold and

destroyed" to the publisher. In such case neither the author nor the

publisher has received any payment for this "stripped book."

WARNER BOOKS EDITION

book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical

means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without

permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may

quote brief passages in a review.

Published in arrangement with the Author

Aspect name and logo are registered trademarks of Warner Books, Inc.

Cover design by Don Puckey Cover illustration by Jim Burns Hand

lettering by Jesse Sanchez

Warner Books, Inc.

1271 Avenue of the Americas

New York, NY 10020

Visit our Web site at www.twbookmark.com

^J A Time Warner Company Printed in the United States of America First

Aspect Printing: June 2001 10 9876543

In memory of my father

Acknowledgments

A totally inadequate thank you to my editors: Viki Wright, whose

patience and encouragement over two years kept me going through every

draft; and Louise Thurtell, whose skill and perceptivity turned the

final draft into a pubis hable manuscript.

Time past and time future What might have been and what has been Point

to one end, which is always present. "Burnt Norton," T.S. Eliot,

1944

Dream the center far for me When it burns then we may see Paths

outflung in fixity Deceive us

Cry the center close to me Let the burning rivers flee Tears we shed

together will Redeem us

Sing the center into me Fill the light and set me free Now and then

forever be Within us

"Invidi chant," from A Child's Book of Alien Verses, 2098

Before

Uhen I was a little girl my great-grandmother would tell me stories of

the days before the Invidi came to Earth.

She would sit in her room under the frangipani and I'd bring tobacco

for her to smoke in secret in return for the stories. She'd suck and

puff until the thin pipe drew properly, then lean back in the creaky

cane chair. I can't remember her face--only the long arms and heavy

voice, both of which are now my own. That and the flowery-smoky-musty

smell of her room.

Always the same beginning to the stories.

"Listen now, child. This was a town of women. When Marlena Alvarez

became mayor, she asked me to be chief of police because she knew I

could do the job.

"The old mayor and judges were dead. They'd been murdered by the very

thugs who put them in office. The old police chief and his deputies

had disappeared, either dead or in hiding. Or they'd joined one of the

gangs.

"The able-bodied men? Mostly dead, drafted by the militia or arrested

by them--it came to the same thing in the long run. Everyone who could

afford to go to the cities did so. Many of them couldn't afford

transport but they

went anyway. Better to brave the dangers of disease, famine, guns

than stay. The only ones left were the old, the sick, the very young,

and the women who looked after them.

"God, those politicians hated her. They tried to scare us out of town,

they tried to force us to do what they wanted. They tried ridicule and

starvation... death threats all the time. Tried everything to wear us

down.

"Marlena never said anything, but I watched her grow old before my

eyes."

Her tone would become softer, reminiscent. The pipe would go out.

"We did a good job though. Rebuilt the town. She never turned away

refugees. They needed shelter, we needed the labor. Marlena pestered

the state and central governments for funds. We got media contacts,

too, and told everyone what was happening. After years of bargaining

and compromise she filially placed the town off-limits to all armed

groups." Demora would roll her eyes. "Mad, we all said she was

mad."

Sometimes I would sneak away at this point, before she reached the end

of the story. It didn't matter whether anyone was listening or not.

She had to say it, had to relive it and forgive herself again.

"Marlena died on January 3rd, 2017. I should have watched the roof. We

never caught the sniper. I remember it was about dusk because I

couldn't see the color of her eyes when I held her."

The town of Las Mujeres had no public money and no resources beyond its

people, and their lives changed little during the twelve years Alvarez

was in office. But by the

time she was assassinated in 2017 the groundswell she had created was

unstoppable. I grew up hearing the name Mar-lena Alvarez as though she

were an eccentric and beloved aunt. It was years later that I realized

her actions in the town of Las Mujeres sparked the original Earth South

movement, and that she was a legend to freedom fighters everywhere.

The Earth South movement demanded social justice and economic reform

and provided the precedent that persuaded the aliens to sign the

Mars-Invidi Agreement on Species Rights in 2080, and to admit Earth as

a member of the Confederacy of Allied Worlds in 2085. Marlena Alvarez

played her part in bringing us out here and history says that her death

was not in vain. But my great-grandmother knew better.

I am not blind to the parallels between Las Mujeres and ourselves. We

are isolated, surrounded by enemies and in-differ eat friends. We have

no resources and cannot decide our own fate, which is what they used to

say about women in those times. We are divided among ourselves and

cannot conquer our own weaknesses, which is how the galaxy sees humans

now. The big difference, though, is that we have no Marlena

Alvarez--only me.

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TimeFuturebyMaxineMcArthurACCLAIMFORTimeFuture!"Richindetail...TIMEFUTUREshowsthatMaxineMcArthurhasanastutemind,aferocioussenseofdetail,andthecapacitytobecomeoneoftheworld'smostdistinguishedS-Fwriters."--NovaExpressmagazine"Afinenewentryinclassicspaceopera...compareswellwithVernorVinge'sADeepnessint...

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