The Last Campaign (The Near-Earth Mysteries)

by Martin L Shoemaker

  I nodded. “There is no reason why it cannot.”

  “There’s plenty of reason,” Grace said. “With the wrong person in charge, friction with the Initiative is inevitable. They say personnel is policy. I haven’t filled the police chief position yet, but I know what I want: someone I can trust to work with Chief Hogan and his people as Maxwell City requires.”

  At that, my eyes grew wide. “You are asking me? Madame Mayor, I am a confirmed Libertist. That has not changed. I think you are wrong about your entire platform.”

  “Good,” she answered. “The last thing I need is a bunch of sycophants who think and do only what they think I want them to. Look at you, Morais! You burned down your entire party because it was the right thing to do. Who can I trust more? Who else can I be sure will do the right thing, even when I’m in the wrong?”

  “Especially when you are in the wrong, Madame Mayor.”

  She grinned. “Oh, this is going to be fun.” She pulled a virtual file onto her desktop display. “I received your resignation letter this morning. Do I take it, or do I toss it?”

  I paused. “I . . . need to think on that, Madame Mayor.”

  Nick was waiting at Zeb’s. I sat down at the table across from him. He looked up as I sat. “So how’s it feel to be a free woman?” he asked.

  I shook my head. “Nick . . . she wants to keep me.”

  Nick’s eyebrows rose. “Grace is smarter than I thought.” Then he smiled. “So what did you tell her?”

  “It would mean no São Paulo—”

  Nick raised his hand. “We know that’s not going to happen, not for years now. With the Saganists holding the reins, there’s no way that individual settlements will be opening up anytime soon. They’re not going to forget Boomtown.” Then he took my hand, wrapping it in both of his. “I can wait. São Paulo isn’t a place, it’s my life with you. Wherever that is. Everything else is bonus.”

  I wrapped my other hand over both of his. “It means no survival school either. The city needs a whole lot more policing than I had ever realized.”

  But Nick kept smiling. “I understand Anthony’s going to be looking for work pretty soon. I might see about taking him under my wing. He’s had some good training. With a good mentor.”

  “The best spacer on Mars,” I said.

  Nick shook his head. “No, second best. The best is the police chief of Maxwell City. And they need her.”

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  This book started three years ago as I write this in late 2019. I didn’t know if my first book, Mutiny on the Aldrin Express, would ever be published. (Eventually it was, of course, as The Last Dance; but that was after my second novel, Today I Am Carey, was published. So I have two first novels—and now this third.) Nevertheless, I was convinced that I had to write a sequel. So on the trip down to MidAmeriCon II in Kansas City, I started dictating this book. Four years or more later, you hold it in your hands; but it didn’t get there without a little help from my friends.

  First, as always, I must thank my friend “Editor” Bill Emerson, along with my Brain, fellow authors Kary English and Tina Smith. (Kary and Tina are also among my favorite writers, and I highly recommend their work. We’re still waiting for Bill to decide that he’s a writer . . .) They didn’t get to see as much of this book in progress due to deadline pressures. They read that first story, “The Adventure of the Martian Tomb” (chapters 1–7 in this book); but when I picked the project up again in 2019, I was too rushed for my usual feedback loop. They read snippets and served as vital sounding boards; but much of this book will be a surprise to them. I can’t wait to hear their reactions!

  Jack McDevitt, one of my favorite authors, has been a fount of encouragement and support. Of all the many rewards this career has brought me, it’s hard to top the day I received fan mail from Jack for my first Carver and Aames story, “Murder on the Aldrin Express.” As much as any check for a story, that email made me feel like a real author, and in it, he suggested that he was looking forward to a sequel, “The Adventure of the Martian Tomb.” Here it is, Jack!

  Another reason this book exists is that my editor, Jason Kirk, believed in The Last Dance so strongly that he pushed for a sequel as soon as I mentioned it. He championed the sequel within 47North, and he and my agent, David Fugate, made the deal happen. Jason and the entire 47North team have again been a joy to work with. Thanks to David and Jason and the team.

  Tina Smith introduced me to her friend Meghan Murphy. Meghan is a fellow author and editor . . . when she’s not working as a spacesuit designer for NASA. She provided an excellent edit, including checking my future science. Laura Montgomery, an expert in space law, also advised me on legal matters as they pertain to other planets. And Dr. Robert Finegold advised me on Jewish traditions as they might be observed on Mars. All three are excellent writers, and you should check out their books. Any errors that remain are mine, not theirs.

  A number of friends have served as sounding boards for ideas in the book and have provided moral support, some without even knowing it. A full list would fill another small book, and would take a better memory than I have; but among them are: Sarah A. Hoyt; Daniel M. Hoyt; Robert A. Hoyt; Blake Smith; Marshall Hoyt; Brad R. Torgersen; B. Daniel Blatt; Patrick Richardson; Tom Knighton; Tully D. Roberts; Sarah Clithero; Paul Clithero; Jonna Hayden; Erik Wingren; Wayne Blackburn; Jim Bellmore; David Burkhead; David Pascoe; Sarah Pascoe; Jeb Kinnison; Larry Bauer; Amanda S. Green; Nicki Kenyon; Jonathan LaForce; Brian de Almeida; Elyse Frances; Julie Pascal; Ian McMurtrie; Rita Smith; Jim Curtis; Amanda Fuesting; Jason Fuesting; Danielle Hecht Slack; Scott Slack; Benjamin Olsen; D. Jason Fleming; Xe La; Vindaloo Diesel; Amanda Spriggs; Kal Spriggs; Scott Bascom; Dawn Smit Miller; Laura Runkle; Jason Dyck; Melissa M. Green; Stephen Green; Jeff Duntemann; Jesse Barrett; Dorothy Grant; Francis Turner; Nitay Arbel; Sabrina Chase; Pam Uphoff; Cindy Couch Cannon; Michael Hooten; Paula Bunny Handley; Brad Handley; Zachary Ricks; John Kincaid; Travis Lee Clark; John S. Spomer; Joel Chesky Salomon; Kate Paulk; Charlie Martin; Shira Tomboulian; James Snover; Julie Doornbos; Dave Freer; Kortnee Bryant; Richard Chandler; Barry B. Longyear; Mia Kleve; Gama Martinez; Melanie Meadors; Jim Holmes; Greg Vose; Wulf Moon; David Farland; Mike Resnick; Bryan Thomas Schmidt; James Artimus Owen; Lazarus Chernik; Lauren Lang; William Ledbetter; Arlan Andrews; Dana Jack; Emily Jack; Richard Fowler; Amy Fowler; Thomas Trzybinski; Rachel Orzechowski; Steve Poling; Trevor Quachri; Emily Alton Hockaday; Lezli Robyn; C. Stuart Hardwick; Marianne J. Dyson; Thor Dyson; Emily Godhand; Ronnie Virdi; Dave Butler; Julie Frost; DawnRay Ammon; Jenna Etough; John Goodwin; Joni Labaqui; Kevin J. Anderson; Jeffery D. Kooistra; Lawrence M. Schoen; Grieg Pedersen; Nancy Pedersen; Aurora Celeste Pedersen; Martha Pedersen; Deana Weibel-Swanson; Glen Swanson; Luke Swanson; Amy Venlos; Russ Venlos; Steve Harrison; Starla L. Stocking; Alex Miller; Kathy Miller; D. A. Marshall; Eric Janulis; Debbie Morrow; Deborah A. Wolf; Anne-Mhairi Simpson; Duane Collicott; Tom Lavey; Laurie Gailunas; Bryan Donihue; Rob O’Neil; Russ Slater; Peter Welmerink; Christian Gross; Alex Shvartsman; Elektra Hammond; Mike Brotherton, Christian Ready, and the members of the LaunchPad mailing list; and the members of the Grand Rapids Region Writers Group.

  My family members, as always, have been incredibly supportive over the past year. Some writers have families who aren’t so supportive, or who even undercut their careers. So I appreciate how great my family is, especially my siblings: Stephen Shoemaker and his wife, Laura; Joel Shoemaker and his wife, Clarine; and Anita Buckowing and her husband, Mark. We’ve needed to support each other more than ever this year, because we lost Mom in August. Mom (Dawn Shoemaker) was my best first reader, and I’m so glad she got to see my first published novel, Today I Am Carey, dedicated to her and to my late mother-in-law. I wish she could’ve seen The Last Dance and this book. I owe my love of reading to her and to Dad. We miss her every day.

  And to my wife, Sandy: Brigas nunca mais.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Photo © 2018 Joel Shoemaker Photography
r />   Martin L. Shoemaker is a writer and programmer who, as a kid, told stories to imaginary friends. Fast-forward through thirty years of programming, writing, and teaching. He wrote, but he never submitted anything until his brother-in-law read a chapter and said, “That’s not a chapter. That’s a story. Send it in.” It was a runner-up for the Jim Baen Memorial Short Story Award and earned him a lunch with Buzz Aldrin. Programming never did that!

  Shoemaker has written ever since. He is the author of The Last Dance in the Near-Earth Mysteries series, and numerous short stories and novellas, including Murder on the Aldrin Express, which was reprinted in The Year’s Best Science Fiction: Thirty-First Annual Collection and in The Year’s Top Short SF Novels 4. He received the Washington Science Fiction Association’s Small Press Award for his Clarkesworld story “Today I Am Paul,” which continues in Today I Am Carey. Learn more at www.Shoemaker.Space.