“I know. I’m coming in. I was just thinking.”
“About what?”
She turned her head to look up at him, backlit by light from the house. Too thin, still, but here.
“About Jonah Stubbins. His trial starts next week. But… he did this, you know. Along with everything else, he contributed a lot to this great thing for the world’s children.”
Ryan didn’t answer.
“Did you catch the news earlier? About that girl in Indonesia who heard the tsunami coming just the way the animals did? She warned her whole village to get to high ground and saved I don’t know how many lives.”
“I heard,” Ryan said tonelessly.
“And that kid in Russia who rescued a nest of mice from a cat because he heard their ultrasonic cries? Mus is returning to Ukraine and Kazakhstan, too.”
“I heard.”
She had to stop. Ryan was still fragile; too much information connected in any way with the spore cloud brought an edge to his voice. She changed the subject.
“When does Elizabeth’s plane land tomorrow?”
“Noon. I’ll go get her.”
“No, let me go. You stay with the boys.” It would be better if Elizabeth got to rant to Marianne before they reached the house. Because there would be a rant about something; there always was.
For the first time, she realized that Elizabeth was fragile, too. Her anger was how she protected herself, just as Ryan’s deep depression had been how he punished himself. Maybe Noah, her drifter, had been the strongest one, after all.
She gazed upward at the “summer triangle” of stars emerging in the navy-blue sky. Altair, Vega, Deneb. Would she ever see Noah again? Maybe. Neither the Venture, now government property, nor the Mest’/Stremlenie had yet taken off for World. The United States and Russia were “in negotiation,” a polite word for a standoff. Meanwhile, other nations’ ships were finally nearing completion. Then what?
Nobody knew.
“Mom, the mosquitoes.”
“Okay, okay, I’m coming.”
She rose from the porch, dusted off the seat of her jeans, and went into the lighted house.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Nancy Kress is the bestselling author of twenty science fiction and fantasy novels, including Beggars in Spain, Probability Space, and Steal Across the Sky. Kress is a recipient of the Nebula, Hugo, Sturgeon, and Campbell Awards. Her fiction has been translated into multiple languages, including Klingon.
Visit her online at nancykress.com, or sign up for email updates here.
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Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
TOMORROW’S KIN
Copyright © 2017 by Nancy Kress
All rights reserved.
Cover art by Stephan Martiniere
A Tor Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates
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ISBN 978-0-7653-9029-5 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-0-7653-9031-8 (ebook)
eISBN 9780765390318
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First Edition: July 2017