by Ian Douglas
“The trouble is that government, big government, government from the top down is appallingly inefficient. It mostly exists just to keep itself going. In the old USA, all of the universal entitlement programs, all the free giveaways, all of the sheer corruption, from local township offices all the way up to the presidency itself, finally broke the bank . . . and the only thing that kept the country going was the Islamic Wars . . . and after that the First Sino-Western War. Then global sea levels rose, the Blood Death killed a billion and a half people, and the government was like a dinosaur confronted by a falling six-mile asteroid. What was left fell into anarchy, at least for a few decades.”
“But we came back. Unlike the dinosaurs.”
“In a sense, I suppose. The analogy only goes so far. The United States of North America rose from the ruins with a new constitution and a new start. But . . . you know? We went on making the exact same mistakes. Maybe that’s just human nature.
“The point is that big government, top-down government, government serving itself, entrenching itself, is never the answer.”
“What is?”
“Dam’fino. But separation of church and state is a good start. People need to take the responsibility for their own decisions . . . and their own belief.”
“You’re going to have a fight in the North American Senate.”
“I know.” He thought about it for a moment. “I think they’ll fall into line, though. The revelations about the Grdoch threat have people scared. It makes sense to ally with the Islamic Theocracy. And the Chinese Hegemony too. Humankind needs to be united, really united.”
“And what about the Sh’daar? You want to ally with them? Against the Rosette Aliens?”
“If we can find a way around their insistence that we give up our technology, why not? The Grdoch have proven to us that there are some very dark forces out there in the galaxy. Things a lot bigger than us, a lot nastier than us. If we don’t find a way to get along with one another—humans with humans, humans with Sh’daar, humans with anyone else we find we can communicate with—then we’re going to drift into slavery . . . and maybe extinction. Probably extinction, because if we stay static, if we don’t grow, we die.”
“Well, maybe if—”
“Damn!” A signal was sounding in his head, the chirp alerting him to an urgent message. “Hold on a sec, love. . . .”
He opened the channel.
“Sorry to disturb you, Mr. President.” It was Marcus Whitney, his chief of staff.
“Tell me.”
“Intelligence has picked up a flurry of new reports from Europe. It looks like the Confederation is collapsing. The army has launched a coup. Denoix has fled. Korosi is in custody. England, Germany, and Ukraine have all announced they are seceding. Italy and Spain may be next.”
“Who the hell is in charge over there?”
“No one, at least right now. The Starlight movement is demanding an end to the war and free elections. They’re calling for Constantine d’Angelo as president. . . .”
“My God . . .”
“Konstantin—at Tsiolkovsky—is on it, Mr. President. He’ll be releasing a statement in a few hours. Mr. President. We’ve won!”
“So it would seem, Marcus.”
Koenig was stunned by the suddenness of the reversal. Oh, there’d been signs of discontent within Pan-Europe, certainly, but it had been only a week since the recombinant memetic virus had been unleashed into Geneva’s computer infrastructure.
The news did not exactly reassure him, however. The USNA might well have just won its independence, but a very great deal depended now on just what was going to replace the Earth Confederation. Would it be a new confederation led by the USNA? Or would the power vacuum in Europe be filled by something darker than a merely socialist government?
He wondered if Konstantin had any ideas on the matter.
“Okay, Marcus,” Koenig said. “Call me if anything more breaks.”
“Yes, Mr. President.”
“What is it, Alex?” Johnston asked him.
“I’m . . . not sure,” he told her, pulling her a little closer. He shivered a bit, with a terrible premonition. “A new world, certainly. But I’m not sure yet what kind of a new world it’s going to be. . . .”
Epilogue
The Consciousness was aware of life—of Mind—within this new reality. It was Mind, after all, that had called this universe into being, Mind that had organized its laws, its physics, and the life that now filled it.
And on some level, Mind always called to Mind.
It was aware of a cybernetic consciousness united across a vast span of time . . . aware of another cybernetic consciousness that opposed the first.
Division . . . Conflict . . . Extinction . . .
Something would have to be done.
The Consciousness began to move, light years falling away in its wake.
The problem, as always, would be to find a means of establishing meaningful communication with the Minds of this reality.
About the Author
IAN DOUGLAS, one of the many pseudonyms for writer William H. Keith, is the New York Times bestselling author of the popular military SF series The Heritage Trilogy, The Legacy Trilogy, The Inheritance Trilogy, and the ongoing Star Carrier and Star Corpsman series. A former naval corpsman, he lives in Pennsylvania.
www.whkeith.com
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Praise for IAN DOUGLAS
and his thrilling
STAR CARRIER SERIES!
“The action is full-blooded and almost nonstop, yet the well-developed background is surprisingly rich and logical. . . . As immersive as it is impressive.”
Kirkus, starred review for Deep Space
“Douglas knows his SF.”
Publishers Weekly
“Well researched and quite imaginative.”
CNN Online
DEEP SPACE was voted one of the Best Science Fiction/Fantasy Books of 2013 by Kirkus.
By Ian Douglas
Star Corpsman
BLOODSTAR
ABYSS DEEP
Star Carrier
EARTH STRIKE
CENTER OF GRAVITY
SINGULARITY
DEEP SPACE
DARK MATTER
The Galactic Marines Saga
The Heritage Trilogy
SEMPER MARS
LUNA MARINE
EUROPA STRIKE
The Legacy Trilogy
STAR CORPS
BATTLESPACE
STAR MARINES
The Inheritance Trilogy
STAR STRIKE
GALACTIC CORPS
SEMPER HUMAN
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Cover art by Gregory Bridges
DARK MATTER. Copyright © 2014 by Ian Douglas. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
EPub Edition JUNE 2014 ISBN: 9780062184009
Print Edition ISBN: 9780062183996
FIRST EDITION
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