Hex

  April–July 2352—Collapse of Western Hemisphere Union; mass exodus of refugees from Earth, halted by destruction of Starbridge Coyote.

  COYOTE EVENTS

  August 5, 2300—URSS Alabama arrives at 47 Ursae Majoris system.

  September 7, 2300 / Uriel 47, C.Y. 01—Colonists arrive on Coyote; later known as “First Landing Day.”

  Uriel 52, C.Y. 02—First child born on Coyote: Susan Gunther Montero.

  Gabriel 18, C.Y. 03—WHSS Glorious Destiny arrives. Original colonists flee Liberty; Western Hemisphere Union occupation of Coyote begins.

  Ambriel 32, C.Y. 03—WHSS New Frontiers arrives.

  Hamaliel 2, C.Y. 04—WHSS Long Journey arrives.

  Barchiel 6, C.Y. 05—WHSS Magnificent Voyage arrives.

  Barbiel 30, C.Y. 05—Thompson’s Ferry Massacre; beginning of the Revolution.

  Gabriel 75, C.Y. 06—WHSS Spirit arrives.

  Asmodel 5, C.Y. 06—Liberty retaken by colonial rebels, Union forces evicted from Coyote; later known as “Liberation Day.”

  Hamaliel C.Y. 13—EASS Columbus arrives; construction of starbridge begins.

  November 2340 / Hanael C.Y. 13—Columbus shuttle EAS Isabella returns to Earth via Starbridge Coyote; United Nations recognition of Coyote Federation.

  Muriel 45, C.Y. 15—Galileo shuttle EAS Maria Celeste returns to Coyote via alien starbridge.

  Asmodel 54, C.Y. 16—Hjadd Cultural Ambassador arrives on Coyote.

  Hamaliel 25, C.Y. 16—CFS Pride of Cucamonga departs for Rho Coronae Borealis via hjadd starbridge.

  Hamaliel 1, C.Y. 17—Exploratory Expedition departs Bridgeton for first circumnavigation of the Great Equatorial River.

  Uriel 2, C.Y. 17—Destruction of the CFSS Robert E. Lee and Starbridge Coyote; later known as “Black Anael.”

  Adnachiel C.Y. 17–Barbiel C.Y. 20—Reconstruction of Starbridge Coyote; opening of trade with Talus races.

  Hamaliel 48, C.Y. 22—Discovery of Hex by CFSS Carlos Montero.

  Gabriel 10, C.Y. 23—Arrival of WHS The Heroism of Che Guevara from Earth.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  I’d like to express my appreciation to my editor, Ginjer Buchanan, and my agent, Martha Millard, for their continued support. Many thanks as well go to Rob Caswell, Winchell Chung, Horace “Ace” Marchant, and Sara and Bob Schwager for their advice and expertise, with special thanks to the staff of the Science and Engineering Library at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst campus, for their research assistance. And, as always, love and thanks to Linda Steele for putting up with me for another novel.

  —WHATELY, MASSACHUSETTS

  OCTOBER 2009–JUNE 2010

  SOURCES

  Carrigan, Richard A. Jr. “IRAS-based Whole-Sky Upper Limit on Dyson Spheres.” Submitted paper, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, 2008.

  Carrigan, Richard A. Jr. “Starry Messages: Searching for Signatures of Interstellar Archaeology.” Submitted paper, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, 2009.

  Dyson, Freeman J. “Response to Letter from John Maddox.” Science, Vol. 132, July 22, 1960.

  Dyson, Freeman J. “Search for Artificial Sources of Infrared Radiation.” Science, Vol. 131, June 3, 1960.

  Dyson, Freeman J. “The World, the Flesh, and the Devil.” Communication with Extraterrestrial Intelligence (Carl Sagan, editor). MIT Press, 1973.

  Karashev, Nikolai S. “On the Inevitability and the Possible Structures of Supercivilisations.” The Search for Extraterrestrial Life: Recent Developments (M.D. Papagiannis, editor). International Astronomical Union, 1985.

  Kepner, Terry. Extrasolar Planets: A Catalog of Discoveries in Other Star Systems. McFarland & Co., 2005.

  Maddox, John. Letter, Science, Vol. 132, July 22, 1960.

  Sagan, Dorion. Biospheres: Metamorphosis of Planet Earth. Bantam, 1990.

  Savage, Marshall T. The Millennial Project: Colonizing the Galaxy in Eight Easy Steps. Empyrean Publishing Ltd., 1992.

  1

  The URSS Alabama, built by the United Republic of America in A.D. 2070

  2

  The WHSS Seeking Glorious Destiny Among the Stars for the Greater Good of Social Collectivism, built by Western Hemisphere Union in 2256

  3

  The European Alliance

  4

  The EASS Galileo, built by the European Space Agency in 2288

  5

  The mission of the CFS Pride of Cucamonga, launched in c.y. 16 (A.D. 2249)

  6

  The CFSS Robert E. Lee, destroyed c.y. 17 (A.D. 2252)

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