Building Harlequin’s Moon by Larry Niven, Brenda Cooper Page A

small group of humans free from the twin temptations of technology and complacence. They couldn’t risk more technology. They had the ability; nano could make them gods. But what would wild nano do to Selene? To
John Glenn?
That was the path of poor, doomed Earth.
    No matter how hard she tried, Liren couldn’t see a way to dampen the crew’s attachment to the Children. Council and Colonists on the surface needed the support of
John Glenn’s
resources. Warm bodies aboard
John Glenn
were bored enough to need entertainment. Circumstances trapped them.
    Liren entered her office. The room was orderly, clear surfaces, black and white colors, and almost no decorations. She sat in her high-backed chair and stared at the wall. She thumbed up what she called her “reminders.” Articles and scenes flashed on the wall as a collage she’d spent years building.
    On Phobos, AIs with more power than humans. News photos of crew members killed on their way to
John Glenn
. An asteroid turned to an Escher nightmare, all edges and angles, by wild nano, and no sign of the expedition that was supposed to be surveying it. Pictures of
John Glenn’s
two sister ships,
Leif Eriksson
and
Lewis and Clark
. Surely both ships had reached Ymir and were building a real world. Each new picture slammed into her, building her resolve to keep going. They also made her stomach cramp harder, and she tasted sour milk.
    “Astronaut,” she commanded, “how bad is the flare? Give me damage estimates.”
    A voice sounded in her ear. “Data streams indicate that everyone made it to shelter in time.”
    “Get me a report on the plant damage as soon as you can.”
    “It will take a few moments to assemble detailed information. Gabriel and Ali were lucky to get themselves and the students to the shelter. Perhaps more shelters should be built?”
    “I asked for a report, not an opinion,” Liren barked.
    “I will produce a report about the efficacy of more shelters,” the voice said, “and a better design for the door.”
    “I asked for a report on plant damage. Gabriel can tell me about the shelters. It’s high time he was here anyway.” Gabriel was way too attached to Selene.
    “What worries you, Liren?”
    “Ask Gabriel to come up for the next High Council meeting. And be quiet until I speak to you.”
    The silence was immediate. If Astronaut were human, she would think it was miffed. She
would not
worry about an AI’s feelings.
    She needed a distraction.
    She’d left so much behind on Earth! At least the arts had come with them. Gabriel sang. Ali wove. Kyu decorated herself. Sculptures dotted the garden and common areas of the ship. Liren approved of art. She pulled out her journal, and worked long into the night, writing a story about Ymir, hoping to keep her people’s attention on the real goal. Her stomach wouldn’t settle. The right words refused to find their way into her data window.
    She tried for haiku. The spare lines often centered her. Tonight, even simple poetry refused to blossom for her. She curled up onto her white couch, covering herself with a black blanket.
    She twisted and turned, falling into a familiar dream.
John Glenn
, still parked in Earth orbit, waited to leave for a base near Uranus, to join sister ships
Leif
and the
Lewis and Clark
. They’d financed it themselves, High Council,fifteen members of the Council of Humanity. Spent savings, sold conglomerates. In her dream their little ship approached the big carrier, dodging a cadre of man/machine hybrids flying agile space-planes, intent on forcing berths aboard the first interstellar ships ever built. Ma Liren as copilot pitted her human ingenuity against their pursuers. One ship was already behind, ten people who wouldn’t make it to
John Glenn
. In her dream, she watched the doors slam shut against the locks she had been angling for, shutting her out.

C HAPTER 5
T HE H AMMERED S EA
    A DAY AND a half after the flare, Gabriel stood with Ali and the students at the