Freenet (23 page)

Simara stretched out an open palm to the executive producer and held it hovering as though wanting to console but afraid to touch. “I forgive you,” she said. “I’m just glad to be back.”

Gladyz smiled at the benediction and rose with professional resolve, safe from legal action and back in the saddle. She grabbed Roni by the arm and hustled him out of the wardroom, her face fierce with fortitude and her hand shielding her eyescreen as she kept tabs on the show.

Out in the hallway, Roni pressed his shoulders against a sturdy wall and struggled to regain composure as Gladyz leaned over him and stared into his eyes. “Stay with me, big boy. You’re not having a heart attack, are you? We’re at the top of our game today. The resurrection clip is breaking the chart for the
Daily Buzz
. Your wild foray into tabloid journalism has hit the mark with a bullet. You did good.”

He shook his head. “You can’t let her get away with this.”

“I love it when you get caught up in your work, Roni, but we’re done for today. We’ve already gone viral. Now is the time to ride the wave, not tip the surfboard.”

He recognized wariness in her eyes, a hint of mistrust. He had wandered off script, a cardinal sin for a news anchor, an unforgivable sacrilege. “Tomorrow?”

Gladyz darted her gaze away, and Roni knew his production editor had lost faith in the real story. “You know I’ll push hard for you upstairs,” she said without conviction. “I always do. We’ll see how the situation grinds down and keep our options open.”

“You think I’m pushing too hard?”

“You always push too hard, darling. All the girls love it.”

Roni grimaced and nodded to acknowledge her evasive flirtation, feeling the edge of anxiety slipping away, the end of promise, the loss of hope. Neurozonics might never allow him in front of the camera again after this. He would never get another chance at Simara Ying. She had achieved her conquest and was protected forever from double jeopardy by her enigmatic scheme. Roni was nothing but a puppet cast aside, deceived by his own success to think he could save his species. His best shot was nothing but a glancing blow to the omnidroids. Just as Colin8 had warned him, humans had a natural immunity to the truth, even when their own existence hung in the balance.

“Let’s take a few days off to celebrate,” Gladyz said as she corralled him with a strong arm and pointed him toward the exit. “My uncle has a condo down on the coast near Flatrock Peninsula. We could lie on the beach and carouse in the surf like tourists. I’ve been thinking about you a lot lately—about our working relationship. We’ve been playing kitten and mouse together for so long I’ve forgotten which one of us is the pussy. We need to rediscover ourselves.”

Is this how it would end? A heritage squandered in distraction, just another dead end on the newsfeed? Roni sensed his worst fear as they sauntered down the hall with the camera crew lugging gear in their wake and his editor chatting gaily in his ear, hinting of sex and planning exotic adventures, just as he had imagined, nuance by conversational nuance, complacency settling like thick fog around them. They had crossed a tipping point, a cultural divide, and were headed down a slippery slope of least resistance to the new normal.

“We’re just a flash in the pan, Gladyz. Our time is short.”

She turned to face him with mischief in her eyes, the pioneer spirit that he loved so much. “No, Roni. We’re special. Let’s wreck this world.” She elbowed him in the ribs with jocularity to seal the shared sentiment that bound them together in show business—get the news, push the limit, and screw the system.

Roni played a smile for her and tossed his hair on cue, but he hadn’t meant them personally. He was referring to
homo sapiens
, the stale DNA of the forefathers. This was the crux and crucible of evolution, and mankind had forfeited any loyalty from a pitiless future. Destiny was inevitable now.

STEVE STANTON
is the author of the sci-fi trilogy
The Bloodlight Chronicles: Reconciliation
(2010),
Retribution
(2011), and
Redemption
(2012). Working from his riverside retreat in Central Ontario near the village of Washago, Steve has published science fiction stories in 16 countries in a dozen languages, including translations into Greek, Hebrew, Spanish, French, Hungarian, Italian, Finnish, Czech, and Romanian, and he served for three years as president of Canada’s national association of science fiction authors.

2113
   
Eighteen exhilarating journeys into Rush-inspired worlds.

The music of Rush, one of the most successful bands in history, is filled with fantastic stories, evocative images, and thought-provoking futures and pasts. In this anthology, notable, bestselling, and award-winning writers each chose a Rush song as the spark for a new story, drawing inspiration from the visionary trio that is Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, and Neil Peart.

Enduring stark dystopian struggles or testing the limits of the human spirit, the characters populating
2113
find strength while searching for hope in a world that is repressive, dangerous, or just debilitatingly bland. Most of these tales are science fiction, but some are fantasies, thrillers, even edgy mainstream. Many of Rush’s big hits are represented, as well as deeper cuts . . . with wonderful results. This anthology also includes the seminal stories that inspired the Rush classics “Red Barchetta” and “Roll the Bones,” as well as Kevin J. Anderson’s novella sequel to the groundbreaking Rush album
2112
.

2113
contains stories by
New York Times
bestselling authors Kevin J. Anderson, Michael Z. Williamson, David Mack, David Farland, Dayton Ward, and Mercedes Lackey; award winners Fritz Leiber, Steven Savile, Brad R. Torgersen, Ron Collins, David Niall Wilson, and Brian Hodge, as well as many other authors with imaginations on fire.

ECW digital titles are available online wherever ebooks are sold. Visit
ecwpress.com
for more details. To receive special offers, bonus content and a look at what’s next at ECW, sign up for our newsletter!

Copyright © Steve Stanton, 2016

Published by ECW Press
665 Gerrard Street East
Toronto, Ontario M4M 1Y2
416-694-3348 / [email protected]

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any process — electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise — without the prior written permission of the copyright owners and ECW Press. The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA CATALOGUING IN PUBLICATION

Stanton, Steve, 1956–, author
Freenet / Steve Stanton.

Issued in print and electronic formats.
ISBN 978-1-77041-229-3 (pbk)
ISBN 978-1-77090-836-9 (pdf)
ISBN 978-1-77090-837-6 (epub)

I. Title.
PS8587.T3237F74 2016 C813’.54
C2015-907276-X C2015-907277-8

Cover design: Rachel Ironstone
Interior Illustrations: Jean-Pierre Normand
Cover image: “Bennu’s Journey — Early Earth” © NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Conceptual Image Lab. Use of this image does not constitute endorsement by NASA of this work.
Editor: Chris Szego
Text design: Lynn Gammie

The publication of
Freenet
has been generously supported by the Canada Council for the Arts which last year invested $153 million to bring the arts to Canadians throughout the country, and by the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund.
Nous remercions le Conseil des arts du Canada de son soutien. L’an dernier, le Conseil a investi 153 millions de dollars pour mettre de l’art dans la vie des Canadiennes et des Canadiens de tout le pays. Ce livre est financé en partie par le gouvernement du Canada.
We also acknowledge the Ontario Arts Council (OAC), an agency of the Government of Ontario, which last year funded 1,709 individual artists and 1,078 organizations in 204 communities across Ontario, for a total of $52.1 million, and the contribution of the Government of Ontario through the Ontario Book Publishing Tax Credit and the Ontario Media Development Corporation.