"Jesus. Whoever had a kid like you?"
"No one." Leslie grinned.
"What the hell. I can't just turn you loose on the world."
Aubry closed his eyes. And the image that came to his mind was the succession of people he had been in his life, and the thread of possibility that stretched forward to his future. He could be free. He could have his life back.
Perhaps it was too late for his dream of Nullboxing, but there were other dreams, and other hopes. And in all of them that were worth living, he saw his family. He saw his child, and he saw his child's mother. They were family, and it seemed more natural and normal than any alternative he could imagine.
"I can't start over again," he said to Promise. "Nobody would put up with my bullshit like you have. ..."
"You don't have to say it, Aubry. I know."
He reached out, and pulled her down to him, and kissed her with lips that were numb and bruised.
A great sigh went out of her, and something left Aubry at that same instant, something dark and terrible, something that had been vital and utterly irreplaceable for so many long, lonely years.
Something that, somehow, would never seem so important again.
Epilogue
Dateline November 23, 2028. Ephesus, Oregon.
Item:
Aubry Knight, 34, married Promise Cotonou, 32, in a ceremony witnessed by several hundred members of the Ephesus Feminist nation, the surviving forces of the counterterrorist force Gorgon, and the California-based Scavenger Coalition.
Knight was instrumental in the foiling of the recent assassination attempt on President Roland Harris.
Cotonou, with Knight, helped to build the Scavengers into the nationwide assistance and educational organization it is today. It is the first marriage for both.
Their child Leslie, 3, at his own insistence, was both ringbearer and flower "girl."
Although this made for a somewhat unorthodox ceremony, the guests didn't seem to mind at all.
—UPI. Marina Batiste.
Acknowledgments
In some ways, Gorgon Child marks the end of one phase of my career, and the beginning of another. Its completion represents a personal odyssey almost as arduous as that of its protagonists. I could not have survived alone.
In recognition of this, thanks are humbly offered:
To Lauren Nicole Barnes and my beloved wife Toni, who together performed the hardest day's work I have ever been honored to witness.
My friends and teachers Ray Doss, Rod Kobayashi, Jim and Beth Shibata. To Richard Dobson and Natasha Frazier of the Transformative Arts Institute, Dawn Callan, and Harley Reagan, who together gave me seven truly fascinating days in the high desert. To Ed Parker the nonpareil. These, and others, have widened my knowledge of the warrior arts I love so deeply. No words of thanks could be sufficient.
Larry Niven: mentor, collaborator, friend, and Godfather to my child. You have given me more than you know, and more than I ever hoped for.
Mickey Spillane, whose One Lonely Night asked the right questions.
Tim Piering, Paul and Diana Von Welanetz, Mary Charles, Conley Falk, and Robert Stadd, members in good standing of the Samurai Sandwich Club. Meghan Lancaster, Marty Clark, Janet Gluckstern, and Karen Willson, for innumerable infusions of faith, love, and understanding.
To my sister Joyce, who taught me to read. To Mrs.
Elaine Otterness, formerly of Mt. Vernon Jr. High School, who convinced me that I wanted to write.
To my Oregon family: Becky and Joshua Bryant, Jonna Goad-Wingren, Ariel Shattan, and Lori White. Slightly farther north, love to Kathleen and Bob Greco, and their radiant child Jessica.
Dr. Richard Landers and Dr. Michael Goerss, for invaluable technical support. And in the same vein, to Mary Mason, of Merry Badger Enterprises.
To Leslie Fish, P.O. Box 429, El Cerrito, Calif., 94530 for permission to quote from "Susan B.," the battle hymn of a new republic.
And finally, to the hundreds of readers who asked me: "Whatever happened to Aubry and Promise . . . ?"
Now you know.
18, 1988
—Steven Barnes Los Angeles, May
Table of Contents
Once upon a time . . .
Prologue
Chapter One
The NewMen
Chapter Two
The Scavengers
Chapter Three
McMartin: In My Heart
Chapter Four
His Bones the Bars
Chapter Five
Free Market
Rose
Chapter Seven
The Gray Man
Chapter Eight
Rest Stop
Chapter Nine
Ephesus
Chapter Ten
Dance of Life
Chapter Eleven
Gorgon
Chapter Twelve
Dreams
Chapter Thirteen
Dance of Death
Chapter Fourteen
Courtney
Chapter Fifteen
Ariane
Chapter Sixteen Fire
Chapter Seventeen Fire Flight
Chapter Eighteen An Ending
Chapter Nineteen Moonman
Chapter Twenty Wu
Chapter Twenty-One Bordertown
Chapter Twenty-Two Spiders
Chapter Twenty-Three One Nation Under God
Chapter Twenty-Four NewMan Nations
Chapter Twenty-Five Deliverance
Chapter Twenty-Six Medusa's Children
Chapter Twenty-Seven Challenge
Chapter Twenty-Eight Tribal Council
Chapter Twenty-Nine Hell Run
Chapter Thirty Pleasure Dome
Chapter Thirty-One Independence Day
Chapter Thirty-Two Logic Puzzle
Chapter Thirty-Three Death
Chapter Thirty-Four Madness
Chapter Thirty-Five The Belly of the Beast
Chapter Thirty-Six And Death Smiled ...
Chapter Thirty-Seven A Beginning
Epilogue
Acknowledgments