Джеймс Кори - Persepolis Rising

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Copyright

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

Copyright (c) 2017 Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck Cover design by Lauren Panepinto & Kirk Benshoff Cover art by Daniel Dociu

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First Edition: December 2017

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Corey, James S. A., author.

Title: Persepolis rising / James S. A. Corey.

Description: New York : Orbit, 2017. | Series: The expanse ; 7

Identifiers: LCCN 2017042094| ISBN 9780316332835 (hardcover) | ISBN 9780316332859 (softcover) | ISBN 9780316478298 (special edition) Subjects: LCSH: Life on other planets--Fiction. | Space colonies--Fiction. | BISAC: FICTION / Science Fiction Adventure. | FICTION Science Fiction / Space Opera. | GSAFD: Science fiction.

Classification: LCC PS3601.B677 P47 2017 | DDC 813/.6--dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017042094

ISBNs: 978-0-31633283-5 (hardcover), 978-0-316-33282-8 (ebook), 978-0-31647829-8 (Barnes & Noble signed edition), 978-0-316-52152-9 (Barnes & Noble special edition), 978-0-316-52377-6 (Indigo special edition) E3-20171103-JV-PC

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Prologue: Cortazar

Chapter One: Drummer

Chapter Two: Bobbie

Chapter Three: Santiago Jilie Singh

Chapter Four: Holden

Chapter Five: Drummer

Chapter Six: Holden

Chapter Seven: Bobbie

Chapter Eight: Singh

Chapter Nine: Bobbie

Chapter Ten: Drummer

Chapter Eleven: Bobbie

Chapter Twelve: Holden

Chapter Thirteen: Drummer

Chapter Fourteen: Singh

Chapter Fifteen: Bobbie

Chapter Sixteen: Singh

Chapter Seventeen: Holden

Chapter Eighteen: Bobbie

Chapter Nineteen: Drummer

Chapter Twenty: Singh

Chapter Twenty-One: Holden

Chapter Twenty-Two: Bobbie

Chapter Twenty-Three: Drummer

Chapter Twenty-Four: Singh

Chapter Twenty-Five: Holden

Chapter Twenty-Six: Bobbie

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Drummer

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Holden

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Bobbie

Chapter Thirty: Singh

Chapter Thirty-One: Drummer

Chapter Thirty-Two: Holden

Chapter Thirty-Three: Bobbie

Chapter Thirty-Four: Drummer

Chapter Thirty-Five: Singh

Chapter Thirty-Six: Bobbie

Chapter Thirty-Seven: Alex

Chapter Thirty-Eight: Singh

Chapter Thirty-Nine: Amos

Chapter Forty: Naomi

Chapter Forty-One: Singh

Chapter Forty-Two: Drummer

Chapter Forty-Three: Naomi

Chapter Forty-Four: Bobbie

Chapter Forty-Five: Drummer

Chapter Forty-Six: Singh

Chapter Forty-Seven: Bobbie

Chapter Forty-Eight: Clarissa

Chapter Forty-Nine: Bobbie

Chapter Fifty: Singh

Chapter Fifty-One: Drummer

Chapter Fifty-Two: Naomi

Epilogue: Duarte

Acknowledgments

Discover More James S. A. Corey

By James S. A. Corey

To Dr. Shank

We never make it easy

Prologue: Cortazar

Almost three decades had passed since Paolo Cortazar and the breakaway fleet had passed through Laconia gate. Time enough to build a little civilization, a city, a culture. Time enough for him to confirm that alien engineers had designed the protomolecule as a bridge builder. They had thrown it into the stars like seeds to hijack whatever organic life it encountered and create ring gates into a pocket universe, a nexus between worlds. Until they died out, the slow zone and its rings had been the hub of an empire that defied human comprehension. And now, it would be again. A little bridge-building mechanism that overcame locality changed everything for all humanity.

Not that Paolo cared about all humanity. For him, the fact of the protomolecule and the technologies it opened was all-encompassing. It not only changed the shape of the universe around him but also altered his personal and professional life. For decades, it had been his only obsession. In the fight that ended their relationship, his most recent boyfriend had accused him of actually loving the protomolecule.

Paolo hadn't been able to deny it. It had been so long since Paolo felt anything approaching love for another human that he'd lost the context for what did and didn't qualify. Certainly, studying the protomolecule and all the myriad branches of scientific insight that came from it took most of his time and attention. Understanding the ways in which it interacted with the other alien artifacts and technologies would be the work of lifetimes. He made no apology for his devotion. The tiny, beautiful speck so rich with implicit information was like a rosebud that never stopped blooming. It was beautiful in a way that nothing else could ever be. His lover had been unable to accept this, and the end of their relationship felt inevitable in retrospect. Paolo did miss him, in an abstract sort of way. Like he might miss a lost pair of comfortable shoes.

There were so many other wonderful things to occupy his time.

On the viewscreen in front of him, a latticework of carbon grew and unfolded in intricate, interwoven patterns. Given the correct environmental conditions and the right growth medium, the protomolecule defaulted to building these lattices. The material created was lighter than an equal volume of carbon fiber and had greater tensile strength than graphene. The Technology Directorate of the Laconian Military Council had asked him to explore its possible use in armor for infantry units. The lattice's tendency to permanently bond to human skin made that problematic from an engineering standpoint, but it was still beautiful.

Paolo adjusted the sensitivity of the electron stream and leaned in toward the monitor, watching as the protomolecule picked up the free-floating carbon atoms and neatly wove them into the grid like it was a child focused on its play.

"Doctor Cortazar," a voice said.

Paolo answered with a grunt and a wave of his hand that meant Go away, I'm busy in any language.

"Doctor Cortazar," the voice repeated, insistent.

Paolo pulled his gaze away from the screen and turned around. A pale-skinned person of indefinite gender stood in a lab coat, holding a large hand terminal. Paolo thought their name was Caton? Canton? Cantor? Something like that. One of the lab's army of technicians. Competent, as far as Paolo could recall. But now interrupting him, so there would have to be consequences. The nervous look on Caton/Cantor/Canton's face told him they were very aware of this fact.