Document Text Contents
Page 2
Praise for David J. Williams
“David J. Williams writes on the finest edge of science fiction. The
Autumn Rain novels are driving and relentless, full of rock ’em sock ’em
cyber warfare, space commandos, cutthroat politics and one stunning
reversal after another. Strap yourself in. These books start fast and never
let up.”
—JEFF CARLSON, author of
Praise for
THE MIRRORED HEAVENS
“Williams’s first novel delivers a powerful, rapid-fire SF
adventure/intrigue story with echoes of cyberpunk. This stellar hard SF
debut with hopes of sequels belongs in most SF collections.”
“Slam-bang action and realpolitik speculations.”
—
“A crackling cyberthriller. This is Tom Clancy interfacing Bruce Sterling.
David Williams has hacked into the future.”
—STEPHEN BAXTER, author of the Manifold series
is a complex view of global politics in time of
crisis. Williams understands that future wars will be fought as much on-
line as off. It’s also rousing adventure with breathless, non-stop action—
Tom Clancy on speed. And you will be able to guess the ending.”
Page 165
running out of time. That he should have thought of all this half a day back. That
it’s just too bad he wasn’t quicker.
“Well,” he says, “it’s like this.”
Where are we now?” she asks.
“Heading for the South Pole,” says Szilard.
“You don’t need to go aboveground to do that.”
“Somewhere nearby, then.”
“Prime real estate, huh?”
Jharek Szilard laughs. Unexpectedly, he sits down on the floor in front of her,
folds his lanky body up in a movement that’s almost sinuous. He gazes up at her.
“You’re quite a woman,” he says.
She looks at him without expression.
“Oh don’t worry. My tastes don’t run that way. Doesn’t mean I can’t express
admiration for the girl around whom it’s all spinning. Especially with all that
you’ve adorned yourself with—”
“Let’s cut the bullshit,” she says.
“Who said it was bullshit?”
“To you I’m just a
“Wrong. That’s the mistake that Montrose made.”
“Among others,” says Haskell.
“And I took advantage of most of them.”
“Do you have a back door to me?”
“No.”
“Then how did you beat Montrose?”
“Never ask a magician to reveal his secrets.”
“Control was your creature, wasn’t he?”
“I suppose that’s one possibility,” says Szilard.
“There are others?”
“Stephanie started something she couldn’t finish.”
“Me.”
“Exactly. She couldn’t figure you out.”
Haskell makes a face. “I’ve got the same problem.”
“That’s the way Sinclair set it up.”
“And you think you can beat him?”
“Do I need to? If he’s still alive, the Chinese have him.”
“If that’s so, that’s only because he wants it that way.”
Page 166
“You think he’s good?”
“I think you need to stop thinking of him as human.”
Szilard sighs. “Look, Claire, I get it. Okay? This war is mere veneer on the
real war that’s raging. And to seriously answer your question: I can’t be sure of
beating him unless I’ve got you. Will you help?”
“My answer makes no difference.”
“Of course it does.”
“You can’t afford to let me go—ever. Nor can you afford to venture into my
mind without the proper key.”
“Let me get back to you on that,” says Szilard.
Time to go,” says the Operative.
“Just when I was winning,” says Linehan.
They troop out of the rec room. They’re all dressed as SpaceCom marines—as
is virtually everyone else they pass in the halls. They start climbing ladders
down to the shuttle bays.
“These guys are fucking with us,” says Riley.
“You’ve said that already,” says Linehan.
“Nothing wrong with restating the facts,” says Maschler.
The three men are on their own wireless channel, with their own codes—ones
that Spencer gave Linehan back in the day. He knows that there’s a chance
Carson or Lynx might have hacked the line. He wonders if they’re using him to
keep an eye on the other two. He scarcely cares. He feels that his grip on reality
has been getting ever more tenuous these last two days. But that doesn’t mean
he’s not up to playing a role.
“The facts are that neither of you guys is a razor.”
“You ain’t either,” says Maschler.
“Which is why we’re getting buttfucked by two men who are.”
“Mechs are worth less and less every day,” says Riley.
Linehan snorts. “So why the hell Montrose detail two mechs to keep an
eye on Carson?”
“What should she have done?”
“Use a fucking razor!”
“She did,” says Maschler.
“The Manilishi was riding shotgun,” says Riley.
“That didn’t seem to work as well as your boss hoped.”
“That’s why she’s not our boss anymore.”
Page 329
The Machinery of Light is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and
incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used
fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales
is entirely coincidental.
A Spectra Trade Paperback Original
Copyright © 2010 by David J. Williams
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Spectra, an imprint of The Random House
Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
SPECTRA and the portrayal of a boxed “s” are trademarks of Random House,
Inc.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
Williams, David J.
The machinery of light / David J. Williams.
p. cm.
eISBN: 978-0-345-52189-7
1. International relations—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3623.I556495M33 2010
813′.6—dc22
2010010097
www.ballantinebooks.com
http://www.ballantinebooks.com
Praise for David J. Williams
“David J. Williams writes on the finest edge of science fiction. The
Autumn Rain novels are driving and relentless, full of rock ’em sock ’em
cyber warfare, space commandos, cutthroat politics and one stunning
reversal after another. Strap yourself in. These books start fast and never
let up.”
—JEFF CARLSON, author of
Praise for
THE MIRRORED HEAVENS
“Williams’s first novel delivers a powerful, rapid-fire SF
adventure/intrigue story with echoes of cyberpunk. This stellar hard SF
debut with hopes of sequels belongs in most SF collections.”
“Slam-bang action and realpolitik speculations.”
—
“A crackling cyberthriller. This is Tom Clancy interfacing Bruce Sterling.
David Williams has hacked into the future.”
—STEPHEN BAXTER, author of the Manifold series
is a complex view of global politics in time of
crisis. Williams understands that future wars will be fought as much on-
line as off. It’s also rousing adventure with breathless, non-stop action—
Tom Clancy on speed. And you will be able to guess the ending.”
Page 165
running out of time. That he should have thought of all this half a day back. That
it’s just too bad he wasn’t quicker.
“Well,” he says, “it’s like this.”
Where are we now?” she asks.
“Heading for the South Pole,” says Szilard.
“You don’t need to go aboveground to do that.”
“Somewhere nearby, then.”
“Prime real estate, huh?”
Jharek Szilard laughs. Unexpectedly, he sits down on the floor in front of her,
folds his lanky body up in a movement that’s almost sinuous. He gazes up at her.
“You’re quite a woman,” he says.
She looks at him without expression.
“Oh don’t worry. My tastes don’t run that way. Doesn’t mean I can’t express
admiration for the girl around whom it’s all spinning. Especially with all that
you’ve adorned yourself with—”
“Let’s cut the bullshit,” she says.
“Who said it was bullshit?”
“To you I’m just a
“Wrong. That’s the mistake that Montrose made.”
“Among others,” says Haskell.
“And I took advantage of most of them.”
“Do you have a back door to me?”
“No.”
“Then how did you beat Montrose?”
“Never ask a magician to reveal his secrets.”
“Control was your creature, wasn’t he?”
“I suppose that’s one possibility,” says Szilard.
“There are others?”
“Stephanie started something she couldn’t finish.”
“Me.”
“Exactly. She couldn’t figure you out.”
Haskell makes a face. “I’ve got the same problem.”
“That’s the way Sinclair set it up.”
“And you think you can beat him?”
“Do I need to? If he’s still alive, the Chinese have him.”
“If that’s so, that’s only because he wants it that way.”
Page 166
“You think he’s good?”
“I think you need to stop thinking of him as human.”
Szilard sighs. “Look, Claire, I get it. Okay? This war is mere veneer on the
real war that’s raging. And to seriously answer your question: I can’t be sure of
beating him unless I’ve got you. Will you help?”
“My answer makes no difference.”
“Of course it does.”
“You can’t afford to let me go—ever. Nor can you afford to venture into my
mind without the proper key.”
“Let me get back to you on that,” says Szilard.
Time to go,” says the Operative.
“Just when I was winning,” says Linehan.
They troop out of the rec room. They’re all dressed as SpaceCom marines—as
is virtually everyone else they pass in the halls. They start climbing ladders
down to the shuttle bays.
“These guys are fucking with us,” says Riley.
“You’ve said that already,” says Linehan.
“Nothing wrong with restating the facts,” says Maschler.
The three men are on their own wireless channel, with their own codes—ones
that Spencer gave Linehan back in the day. He knows that there’s a chance
Carson or Lynx might have hacked the line. He wonders if they’re using him to
keep an eye on the other two. He scarcely cares. He feels that his grip on reality
has been getting ever more tenuous these last two days. But that doesn’t mean
he’s not up to playing a role.
“The facts are that neither of you guys is a razor.”
“You ain’t either,” says Maschler.
“Which is why we’re getting buttfucked by two men who are.”
“Mechs are worth less and less every day,” says Riley.
Linehan snorts. “So why the hell Montrose detail two mechs to keep an
eye on Carson?”
“What should she have done?”
“Use a fucking razor!”
“She did,” says Maschler.
“The Manilishi was riding shotgun,” says Riley.
“That didn’t seem to work as well as your boss hoped.”
“That’s why she’s not our boss anymore.”
Page 329
The Machinery of Light is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and
incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used
fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales
is entirely coincidental.
A Spectra Trade Paperback Original
Copyright © 2010 by David J. Williams
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Spectra, an imprint of The Random House
Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
SPECTRA and the portrayal of a boxed “s” are trademarks of Random House,
Inc.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
Williams, David J.
The machinery of light / David J. Williams.
p. cm.
eISBN: 978-0-345-52189-7
1. International relations—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3623.I556495M33 2010
813′.6—dc22
2010010097
www.ballantinebooks.com
http://www.ballantinebooks.com
