by Allen Steele
“Well, it’s about…”
He looked up, and saw the hjadd. The Coronean stood only a few yards away, a tall figure clad in an environment suit, hisher features hidden behind a faceplate. Even after two years, it surprised him how silently these beings came and went. There weren’t many on Coyote, but they still managed to get around.
The hjadd stood beneath the shade of the faux birch, silent and observant, keeping hisher distance. Perhaps a member of the Coronean embassy, out for some exercise; maybe heshe recognized him, and had wandered over to see what he was doing. Even after two years, they were still just as curious about humankind as humans were about them.
Jorge looked around, spotted the hjadd. “Oh, hi,” he said, giving the hjadd a short wave. Heshe responded by raising hisher left arm; four elongated fingers danced at the end of a triple-jointed appendage. Indifferent to the alien, Jorge turned back to him. “So what’s it say?”
Carlos smiled. He had an audience. No sense in letting them down. “Come over here and take a seat, and I’ll tell you.”
He moved aside on the bench, making room for his grandson. The hjadd came a little closer as well. Carlos glanced again at Vonda’s lecture notes, then closed the book. This was a story he could tell from memory. After all, it was his own.
“It all began a long time ago,” he said, “in a place called America…”
My appreciation goes to my editor, Ginjer Buchanan, and my agent, Martha Millard, for their continued support. I’m also grateful to Linda Carlson, Gardner Dozois, David Ham, Terry Kepner, Ron Miller, Derryl Murphy, and Sheila Williams for their advice, assistance, and encouragement.
Special thanks to Patrick O’Connor, a longtime fan of this series, for the gift of the Coyote globe that makes a brief appearance in Part Seven.
And, as always, my greatest thanks to my wife, Linda, for insisting that I write this book now rather than later, and for putting up with me for one last trip to Coyote.
September 2003-November 2004
Whately, Massachusetts
(Author’s Note: For additional citations,
consult the Sources pages of Coyote and Coyote Rising.)
Burland, Cottie. North American Indian Mythology. 3rd ed. New York: Hamylyn Publishing Group, 1973.
Ham, David. “Elucidation of Scientific Misconceptions about Global Climate Change.” The Nucleus, Summer 1998.
Kepner, Terry. …And Remote from Neighbors: A Guide to 105 Known Planets in 91 Star Systems. Terry Kepner, 162 Onset Road, Bennington, NH 03442.
King, Sir David, ed. “Future Flooding Executive Summary.” U.K. Office of Science and Technology, 2003.
Ley, Willy. “Space War” (nonfiction article). Astounding, August 1939.
Matloff, Gregory. Deep-Space Probes. Chichester, U.K.: Springer-Praxis, 2000.
Neumann, James E., et al. “Sea-Level Rise and Global Climate Change: A Review of Impacts to U.S. Coasts.” Pew Center on Global Climate Change, February 2000.
Smith, Joel B. “A Synthesis of Potential Climate Change Impacts on the U.S.” Pew Center on Global Climate Change, 2004.
Sullivan, Walter. “New Theory on Ice Sheet Catastrophe Is the Direst One Yet.” New York Times, May 2, 1995.
Thorne, Kip S. Black Holes and Time Warps. New York: W. W. Norton, 1994.
Titus, James G., and Vijay K. Narayanan. “The Probability of Sea-Level Rise.” U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1995.
Wigginton, Eliot, ed. Foxfire 4. New York: Anchor Press, 1977.
ALLEN STEELE was born in Nashville, Tennessee, and received his B.A. in Communications from New England College and a Master’s Degree in Journalism from the University of Missouri. Before turning to science fiction, he worked as a staff writer for newspapers in Tennessee, Missouri, and Massachusetts, as well as Washington, D.C. He is the author of eleven previous science fiction novels, including Coyote and Coyote Rising. He is a two-time winner of the Hugo Award in the novella category. He lives with his wife, Linda, in Whately, Massachusetts.
