Celestial Matters (46 page)

Authors: Richard Garfinkle

“And in the gaps of battle,” Ramonojon said, sitting peacefully on the ground in his saffron robes, “both sides will have to speak to each other.”

Aeson turned away from his study of the sky. “That I do not see,” he said.

“My notes told the Akademe everything I know about Taoist science,” I said, “but though the gods themselves aided me in learning it, still I do not know much about the Tao or the flow of Xi and the manner in which it guides nature. Phan’s notes are similar in what they tell the Middle Kingdom about Delian science; there are many gaps in his understanding of matter and form, of material and force. Both sides have enough information to start their researches, but progress will be frustratingly slow.”

“The Akademe has worked slowly before.”

“But they will know that the enemy has the answers to their questions. They will try to use prisoners to get information, but that will not get them far. In the periods of peace when Sparta and the generals of the Middle Kingdom have nothing to fight over, questions will be asked and answered across the no-man’s-lands, and scholars who bring back knowledge from such interchanges will rise high in the Akademe.”

My throat was suddenly dry from all this talk, and I felt a weariness in my heart, a lethargy that seemed to flow from the core of my being through the whole of my body.

Without being asked Yellow Hare brought me a bowl of water from the icy stream.

As I closed my eyes to drink the cold water of Earth, my heart filled with a vision of Olympos. From the cloud-wrapped heights of the divine mountain, ’Ermes descended on winged sandals and touched me with his serpent-entwined rod. The god of messengers caught up my soul and carried me up the side of the mountain here to the courts of the gods.

O divinities assembled, that is the whole of my tale. I have tried as best my mortal heart could comprehend them to heed the commands and warnings you gave me and have endeavored to carry out the duties you placed upon my shoulders. I lay myself at your feet and clasp your knees in supplication, hoping that I have accomplished your ends. Kleio, I pray that my deeds will lead to the restoration of your worship. Selene, ’Ermes, Aphrodite, ’Elios, may your celestial bodies never again be carved up for the sake of human war. Athena, O my patroness, I pray that I have freed your city from its self-induced blindness. And to you, O Father Zeus and you, ’Era queen of heaven, I give thanks with all my soul for the honor you have shown me, the honor of serving you in the ordering of the world.

“A fast-moving and highly provocative first novel.”

—L. E. Modesitt, Jr.

“It is an interesting and original adventure set in a genuinely ‘other’ universe; I look forward to Garfinkle’s future excursions.”

—
Interzone

“With its rigorous and thorough extrapolation of Greek, particularly Spartan, culture into a believable universe … [Garfinkle’s] debut should heartily engage fans of alternative-world SF.”

—
Publishers Weekly

“Garfinkle deftly captures the Ptolemaic universe in his first novel, an alternative history built on the assumption that ancient Greek science is accurate.… This well-written story combines some Greek philosophy with adventure.”

—
Library Journal

“In a first novel full of promise about its author’s future, Garfinkle masterfully details his alternative world’s history and draws parallels with this world’s arms race without sacrificing the suspense of an intriguing story line.”

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Booklist

This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this novel are either fictitious or are used fictitiously.

CELESTIAL MATTERS

Edited by David G. Hartwell

A Tor Book

Published by Tom Doherty Associates, Inc.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data