Gunslinger Moon Read online

  She looks up at us. “Not optimistic about our ability to save ourselves, is he?”

  Hirrin says, “He is guarded in his assessment of the continued freedom of the rest of Settled Space, but he notes the City of Furies as a curious and inexplicable bright spot in the universe. However, he says it’s one he cannot define, because no one knows where it exists, who governs it, or upon what core principles it operates.”

  “Hand me any of his writings you’ve discovered that cover this,” she says. “I’ll take them back to the owner, and he can go through them when he’s up and around.”

  Hirrin shoves the stack of journals across the table to her.

  She wrinkles her nose — the expression one of distaste. “Paper?”

  Hirrin nods.

  “It figures.” And then she smiles at him, and says the words I want to hear spoken to me. “Welcome to the crew. You’ll start as Three Green, working with your Gold doing Sleeper maintenance.”

  He’s in. I force myself to sit still as she asks Tarn, “What about his reference books?”

  Tarn trots out his information about the moon and sun dilemma, and she is solemnly interested. When she copies scans of his datafile into her device, Tarn is also made permanent, not provisional, crew at the level Three Green.

  She looks at me. “You were the one who contacted the owner, so I’m guessing that what you found is somewhat…larger than what they discovered. Please tell me what you found.”

  And I realize that I can’t. That I have no right to announce in front of anyone but the owner or his representative that the ghost of Bashtyk Nokyd lives inside a Senso game.

  “I have to show you,” I say, and lead her to the Senso.

  The two of us step into it together, and I say, “Retha, we need to go to the special play-together I was in. To the end, at the parade. You know the part I mean?”

  “I do,” she says. And then she says, “Welcome, LadyOfPain42, you have not played this game before, and have no earned credits in it. I can show you the scene Hunter Studly refers to, but you must watch it from outside the game.”

  “That’s acceptable,” she says.

  And suddenly it’s late in the day, and I’m walking beside Ted with people on the boardwalks to either side of us cheering and waving.

  I’m there…but I’m not in control. All of this happened before, and I’m just along for the ride.

  I turn to Ted as we walk down that dusty street to meet the mayor who’s waiting for the two of us at the end. And I say, “When you said we had to shoot on sight, it was because you knew the enemy had proven repeatedly to be without integrity, and our only option if we were going to save the hostages was to shoot that enemy before it could shoot us.”

  He nods. “I had a hard time figuring that out. I wanted to believe that there was always a peaceful way to resolve things — that there was no problem diplomacy and integrity could not resolve.”

  “Pause game,” Shay says, and I hear a tremor in her voice. “Retha, that’s Bashtyk Nokyd in there. I know his voice. I know him. Why didn’t you tell me he’s still alive?”

  “Because I don’t lie,” Retha says. “I never met Bashtyk Nokyd . The character is saved in my game files as Long Tall Ted. It is not the whole man — it is simply the thoughts and memories the man who played as him actually accessed while he was playing. Long Tall Ted is a shadow of the living human being you knew, and any memory he did not use while he was playing is now gone forever.”

  She watches the whole scene at the end of our mission. Discovered the philosopher’s rationale for shoot first.

  Unlike me, she does not get teary-eyed going through it.

  So I do what I can to hide my emotions, and I’m dry-eyed by the time we step out of the Senso.

  She tells me, “You did very well.” That thoughtful look again. “The owner is far too ill to play through a game in realtime, or even watch someone else play through. And I’m too busy.”

  She stands outside the Senso, studying me. She looks me in the eye and I can tell by her expression and her posture that I’m not going to hear what the other two heard.

  “Jex, you can become Three Green if you desire. But before you accept, I would like to offer an alternative.

  “I have been in need of an assistant for several years, and until now I have not found someone I thought would work well with me. I’d like to invite you to be my personal assistant. And if you accept the position, I’d like to ask you to play through all the missions with Ba— with Long Tall Ted. Play, get him to tell you why he does what he does, how he comes to his conclusions, what actions you think of that he considers unacceptable. And why. Always why, Jex.”

  I nod, speechless. I will not be crew, precisely. But I will be doing something that matters. I will be working toward the freedom of people in Settled Space.

  “Good,” she says. “All three of you need to go into the courthouse in Bailey’s, take your tests, and be sworn in as citizens.”

  She looks at me.

  “This will be your quarters until I can set up something more convenient. Play the game, Jex.” She smiles a little. “Learn everything you can.”

  When she’s gone, I stand where I stood when she left, staring at nothing, remembering We-42K and the unlicensed but born — our beautiful child already dead in her arms.

  I’m seeing the woman I loved step into the lake of fire, hearing her scream, seeing her and our dead child burn.

  I held him in my arms once, and he looked at me with eyes knowing, wise, ancient.

  I think, In this world, the three of us would have been a family. Would have been welcomed, would have lived.

  I will do what I can, my broken love, my murdered little one, to save the ones like you who still breathe.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Shay

  The gunslinger LadyOfPain42 walked down the street to the saloon where Long Tall Ted waited.

  Shay knew where he was because even through the building walls she could see the blue dot over his head, and could read his name below it.

  She had spent a little time in the game — enough to let her visit the saloon, and enough to let her earn the money to buy drinks.

  She’d made herself plain — an ordinary woman with an ordinary face who would not stick out in anyone’s memory.

  She knew he was not Bashtyk Nokyd. Not really. But she wanted to buy him a drink, to ask him questions about life, about humanity, about how she could find a way to keep everything and everyone she loved safe.

  And then she remembered that safe was the wrong word. It was in pursuit of safety that people gave up their freedom.

  She realized she needed to learn from Long Tall Ted, the philosopher’s ghost, how to build a world in which true freedom had a fighting chance.

  He looked up at her and grinned.

  Glanced at the space above her head and said, “Howdy, LadyOfPain42.”

  In that young man’s face she could still hear the memory of the old man’s voice, warm and full of life and joy and confidence. It was a living voice, one she’d thought she would never hear again.

  “Howdy, Long Tall Ted,” she replied. “Buy you an ice water?” Her voice broke on the last word.

  “I’d thankee kindly and buy the next round,” he said.

  She made a show of turning her back to him to get get them.

  She did not want her hero to see her weep.

  Acknowledgments

  Bug Hunters

  Huge thanks to each of the folks below, who went through the edited, typeset manuscript and found SO very many bugs. All of which I have corrected. The ones that remain? Those are all on me.

  Vanessa Wells, Charlotte Henley Babb, Stanley B. Brewster Jr., Akiva Abrams, Bruce Andis, Mike Kee, Tim G., Jenny Williams, Camilla Milford, Susan Qrose

  Patreon Patrons

  I want to take a moment to thank my Patreon patrons, whose encouragement, readership, faith in me, and funding have made it possible for me to get back to
writing fiction every weekday.

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  Afterword

  This story would have been done quicker if I hadn’t tried to write it and the story that will follow, Vipers’ Nest, all in one go.

  Matt (my husband and content editor) read the first version and very nicely explained to me that I had six stories going at the same time and that it was impossible to give any of them the depth they deserved in just under 40,000 words.

  This is just one story out of the six I was telling in that one episode, and when I crammed it in with the rest of them…

  Well, if you’ve ever seen sardines in a can, you have the visual that fits the first draft.

  So in the next episode, I’ll be telling the story of the pirates and the Pact World Alliance finally making good on their promise to try to wipe out everyone on the Longview and Bailey’s Irish Space Station.

  And in the one after that, for which I haven’t yet come up with a title I like, I’ll finally tell the story of the owner’s conflict with Shay, the story of Shay’s fight to find her own freedom, and the story of the secret the City of Furies is hiding.

  I hope you’ve enjoyed Gunslinger Moon. If you want to get notices when I release new SF and new Fantasy (as well as notice of reissues of some of my older work), and get two exclusive stories (one which you MIGHT have read, and one that’s brand new) from my SF and Fantasy Readers list as a thank you…

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  Thank you very much for reading Gunslinger Moon. If you loved it, please take a moment to rate or review it on Amazon.

  About the Author

  I’m a commercial novelist who went indie.

  Lots of reasons, all good but none easy. In July of 2011 I walked away from commercial publishing to pursue My Career My Way, and it’s been interesting times ever since.

  Now I’m back to writing the Cadence Drake, Moon & Sun, and Longview series, creating stand-alone fiction, building writing courses, and getting the chance to speak directly to the readers of both my fiction and nonfiction.

  If you keep hoping I’ll do a particular story, or book, or course, and I haven’t yet—let me know.

  Cheerfully,

  Holly Lisle

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  P.S. To find out what’s coming next, and let me know what you’d love to see next…

  Join Holly’s SF & Fantasy Readers for free

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  Also by Holly Lisle

  Settled Space & Cadence Drake Stories

  Tales from The Longview: Episode 1 - Born from Fire

  Tales from The Longview: Episode 2 - The Selling of Suzee Delight

  Tales from The Longview: Episode 3 - The Philosopher Gambit

  Tales from The Longview: Episode 4 - Gunslinger Moon

  Tales from the Longview: Episode 5 - The Vipers’ Nest

  Hunting the Corrigan’s Blood

  Warpaint

  The Wishbone Conspiracy (coming soon)

  My Other Novels

  The Ruby Key: Moon & Sun I

  The Silver Door: Moon & Sun II

  Talyn: A Novel of Korre

  Hawkspar: A Novel of Korre

  Midnight Rain

  Last Girl Dancing

  I See You

  Night Echoes

  Fire in the Mist: Arhel I

  Bones of the Past: Arhel II

  Mind of the Magic: Arhel III

  Sympathy for the Devil: Devil’s Point I

  The Devil and Dan Cooley (with Walter Spence): Devil’s Point II

  Hell on High (with Ted Nolan): Devil’s Point III

  Minerva Wakes

  Memory of Fire: World Gates I

  The Wreck of Heaven: World Gates II

  Gods Old and Dark: World Gates III

  Diplomacy of Wolves: Secret Texts I

  Vengeance of Dragons: Secret Texts II

  Courage of Falcons: Secret Texts III

  Vincalis the Agitator (Secret Texts Prequel)

  Glenraven (with Marion Zimmer Bradley)

  In The Rift: Glenraven II (with Marion Zimmer Bradley)

  When the Bough Breaks (with Mercedes Lackey)

  Mall, Mayhem and Magic (with Chris Guin)

  The Rose Sea (with S.M.Stirling)

  Curse of the Black Heron

  Thunder of the Captains (with Aaron Allston)

  Wrath of the Princes (with Aaron Allston)

  My Singles

  Light Through Fog

  Rewind

  Strange Arrivals: Ten Tiny, Twisty Fantasy Tales

  My Stories in Collections

  “Light Through Fog,” The Mammoth Book of Paranormal Romance

  “4EVR,” The Mammoth Book of Ghost Romance

  “Last Thorsday Night,” The Mammoth Book of Time Travel

  “Knight and the Enemy,” The Enchanter Reborn

  “Armor-ella,” Chicks in Chainmail

  “A Few Good Men,” Women at War

  My Nonfiction

  Create A World Clinic: A Step-by-Step Course for the Fiction Writer

  Create A Plot Clinic: A Step-by-Step Course for the Fiction Writer

  Create A Culture Clinic: A Step-by-Step Course for the Fiction Writer

  Create A Language Clinic: A Step-by-Step Course for the Fiction Writer

  Create A Character Clinic: A Step-by-Step Course for the Fiction Writer

  How to Write Page-Turning Scenes: A Step-by-Step Course for the Fiction Writer

  Mugging the Muse: Writing Fiction for Love AND Money

  Professional Plot Outline

  Nonfiction Site Exclusives at Hollyswritingclasses.com

  How to Write Flash Fiction that Doesn’t SUCK: A Free Three-Week Course for Everyone

  How to Think Sideways: Career Survival School for Writers (seven-month writing course)

  How to Revise Your Novel: Get the Book You Want from the Wreck You Wrote (five-month revision course)

  How to Write A Series: Master the Art of Sequential Fiction

  Title. Cover. Copy. - Fiction Marketing Workshop

 
; 7-Day Crash Revision: How to Do the Clean-Up Revision of an Entire Novel in One (Desperate) Week

  (7-Day Workshop, also works with short fiction and self-publishing)

  How to Find Your Writing Discipline (3-Day Workshop)

  21 Ways to Get Yourself Writing When Your Life Has Just Exploded (Workshop)

  How to Write Dialogue with Subtext: Give Your Characters Conversations that MATTER (Workshop)

  How to Motivate Yourself: Discover Your Hidden Triggers and Barriers and Use BOTH to Get Writing

  (Workshop)