The Great Ship is larger than worlds, it's body stuffed full of caverns and cubbyholes, endless tunnels and underground seas. Many of the Ship's passengers are nearly immortal. But certain human communities refuse to be that way. These are the Archaics, and for the last 5000 years, one peculiar sect of Archaics has thrived, forming a nation that's both vast and wondrously stable. This is the Empire of Fresh Faces.
A slight, bright-minded reverend in the Church of High Physics, Hantaywee had deep violet eyes and a tense little mouth, and without a fondness for tattoos and jewelry, she wore the minimum of each. Plus a single scar on her forehead that was won when she was nine and tripped over her own stupid feet.
Marl the Last had met the reverend only this morning. Now, like someone roused from a lovely dream, he stared at her, confessing, "I don't want this."
He said, "This is your business."
And then, "Ask the Great Ship what should be done."
Hantaywee straightened her back, waiting to recover her poise. But no, she was just as much a mess as the bearded fellow standing beside her.
"All right," she managed.
After one deep, nearly useless breath, she repeated, "All right."
Then, "I might as well try."
Robert Reed is the author and sole owner of hundreds of published SF stories and novels. Reed won the Hugo Award in 2007, for his novella, "A Billion Eves." But he is best known for his Great Ship saga.
Genre: Science Fiction
A slight, bright-minded reverend in the Church of High Physics, Hantaywee had deep violet eyes and a tense little mouth, and without a fondness for tattoos and jewelry, she wore the minimum of each. Plus a single scar on her forehead that was won when she was nine and tripped over her own stupid feet.
Marl the Last had met the reverend only this morning. Now, like someone roused from a lovely dream, he stared at her, confessing, "I don't want this."
He said, "This is your business."
And then, "Ask the Great Ship what should be done."
Hantaywee straightened her back, waiting to recover her poise. But no, she was just as much a mess as the bearded fellow standing beside her.
"All right," she managed.
After one deep, nearly useless breath, she repeated, "All right."
Then, "I might as well try."
Robert Reed is the author and sole owner of hundreds of published SF stories and novels. Reed won the Hugo Award in 2007, for his novella, "A Billion Eves." But he is best known for his Great Ship saga.
Genre: Science Fiction
Used availability for Robert Reed's An Empire of Fresh Faces