Undisturbed… until now.
Old and cold.
Also by GREG BEAR
Hegira
Beyond Heaven’s River
Psychlone
Strength of Stones
The Wind from a Burning Woman (collection)
Songs of Earth and Power
Blood Music
Eon
The Forge of God
Tangents (collection)
Sleepside Story
Queen of Angels
Eternity
Anvil of Stars
Bear’s Fantasies
Heads
Moving Mars
New Legends (anthology)
Dinosaur Summer
Foundation and Chaos
Slant
Darwin’s Radio
Collected Stories of Greg Bear
Vitals
Darwin’s Children
Dead Lines
Quantico
Mariposa
Hull Zero Three
The Forerunner Trilogy
War Dogs
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Contents
COVER
TITLE PAGE
WELCOME
DEDICATION
DOWN TO EARTH
BACKGROUNDER, PART 1
I HATE PHYSICS
JOURNEYS END IN LOVERS MEETING
MARS WILL BE HEAVEN, SOMEDAY
GOD SAVES DRUNKARDS AND BAKA DUDES
EVERY SKYRINE IS SOMEBODY’S BASTARD
THE WAY IT SPOZED TO BE
HEAVY HAND
NOT YET A HERO, HUH?
NOT DEAD YET
THE STRAIGHT SKINNY—OR NOT
BRIEF HOPE
BLONDE ON A BUGGY
PARADISE LAID UP
NOT YOUR FATHER’S FUTURE
HOBOS AND DRIFTERS
PATRIOTS AND PIONEERS ALL
BACKGROUNDER, PART 2
HOPE IS THE THING THAT FLOATS
IN HEAVEN AS IT IS ON EARTH
BACKGROUNDER, PART 3
WAKEFUL THOUGHTS FOR SLEEPLESS GRUNTS
COMES THE HEAT
SHIT ALSO FLOATS, SOMETIMES
DRIFTERS AND HOBOS
GO DOWN IN HISTORY, DAMN YOU ALL
ZULU TIME
LAST EXIT TO HELL
SKY BASIC
BACKING UP NOW
MOVING FORWARD AGAIN
WHAT THE BIG BOYS WANT YOU TO KNOW
TWO BALLS, ONE HEAD—YOU’RE GOOD TO GO
ANT FARM
NEWS OF JOE
DEEP PRIDE
COLD COMFORT
TEAL’S WAY
HOW LOW CAN YOU GO BEFORE IT’S UP AGAIN
LARGER ISSUES
MEETINGS, PARTINGS, SWEET SORROW
BIRDS
OFF THE RED
COMING HOME AGAIN
OOPS
CAESURA
IN STIR
ALSO BY GREG BEAR
ORBIT NEWSLETTER
COPYRIGHT
Copyright
The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
Copyright © 2014 by Greg Bear
Jacket design by Lauren Panepinto
Jacket images © Arcangel
Cover © 2014 Hachette Book Group, Inc.
All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher constitute unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at permissions@hbgusa.com. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
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First ebook edition: October 2014
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ISBN 978-0-316-33576-8
E3