Visions of the Future by Joe Haldeman, David Brin, Greg Bear, Kevin J. Anderson, Ben Bova, Hugh Howey, Robert Sawyer, Ray Kurzweil, Martin Rees Read Free Book Online

die.”
    “Bullshit, Yusec. What color is my hair?”
    “White, Pearson. It has been so for many decades.”
    “Are the canyons of my face deep?”
    “Yes, but no deeper than in my great-grandfather’s time.”
    “Then they were deep then. I am dying, Yusec. I don’t know how old I am because I long ago lost track of my time, and I never troubled to compare it to your time. It never mattered. It still doesn’t. But I am dying.
    “I’ll die happier than I once thought I would, though. I’ve done more moving since I’ve been paralyzed than I did when I was mobile. I feel good about that.”
    “You cannot die, Pearson.” Yusec repeated his insistence while sending out an emergency call for the hospital team set up many years ago solely to serve Pearson’s needs.
    “I can and will and am,” came the reply, and a frightened Yusec heard the death coming over Pearson’s thoughts like a shadow. He could not imagine a time without Pearson. “The hospital people are good. They’ve learned a lot about me on their own. But there’s nothin’ they can do. I’m gonna die.”
    “But… what shall we do without you?”
    “Everything you do is done without me, Yusec. I’ve only given you advice, but the People have done all the actual work. You won’t miss me.”
    “We will miss you, Pearson.” Yusec was resigning himself to the massive inevitability of Pearson’s passing. “I am saddened.”
    “Yeah, me too. Funny, I was almost coming to enjoy this life. Oh, well.” His thoughts were very weak now, receding like the sun around the world.
    “Just a last idea, Yusec.”
    “Yes, Pearson?”
    “I thought you’d use my body, the skin and bones and organs, after I’d gone. But you’ve gone beyond that. Those last bronzes you showed me were real good. You don’t need the Pearson factory anymore. Silly idea, but…”
    Yusec barely caught the last Pearson thought before his presence left the People forever…

    “They’re people, sir! I know they’re no bigger than an eyelash, but they’ve got roads and farms and factories and schools and I don’t know what else. Our first non-human intelligent race, sir!”
    “Easy, Hanforth,” said the Captain. “I can see that.” He was standing outside the lander. They’d set down in a large lake to avoid smashing the intricate metropolis which appeared to cover the entire planetoid. “Incredible’s the word for it. Anything on that wreck site?”
    “No sir. It’s ancient. Hundreds of years at least. Detectors found only fragments of the original ship.”
    “The native delegation, sir?”
    “Yeah?”
    “They have something they want us to see. They say some of their major roadways are wide enough for us to travel safely, and they’ve cleared all traffic.”
    “I guess we’d better be courteous, though I’d feel safer doing our studies from out here, where we can’t hurt anybody.”
    They walked for several hours. Gradually they reached an area near the site of the crater produced by the impact of an archaic ship. They’d seen the object rise over the sharp horizon, believed in it less as they drew nearer.
    Now they stood at its base. It was a metal spire that towered fifty meters into the watery blue sky, tapering to a distant, sharp point.
    “I can guess why they wanted us to see this.” The Captain was incredulous. “If they wanted to impress us, they’ve done so. A piece of engineering like this, for people of their size… it’s beyond belief.” He frowned, shrugged.
    “What is it, sir?” Hanforth’s head was back as he stared toward the crest of the impossible spire.
    “Funny… it reminds me of something I’ve seen before.”
    “What’s that, sir?”
    “A grave marker…”

LIGHT AND SHADOW
    catherine asaro
    Catherine’s fiction is a successful blend of hard science fiction, romance, and exciting space adventure. Her novel The Quantum Rose won the Nebula Award for best novel.
     
    Catherine earned her doctorate in theoretical