Apes and Angels Read online

  Littlejohn’s voice went hollow. “An interstellar war?”

  “Sounds melodramatic, doesn’t it?” said Kosoff. “Yet the evidence is there.”

  For a long moment Littlejohn was silent. Then, “The one I worry about is MacDaniels. Returning to Earth is going to be very hard on him.”

  Kosoff said, “It’s going to be very hard on all of us, returning to a world that’s four hundred years different from the one we left.”

  “Yes, but it’s going to hit Brad harder than most of us.” Motioning to himself and Kosoff, the Aussie went on, “You and I will have university sinecures waiting for us. We’ll be honored and feted. Brad’s going to be just another peon returning from the field, a worker with nothing to do. It’s going to be hard for him.”

  Kosoff snorted. “For ten minutes, maybe. Brad’s a born leader. He’ll find a place for himself. I wouldn’t be surprised if he returns to Gamma. Or maybe runs for a seat on the World Council.”

  Littlejohn almost smiled. “Do you think…?”

  With some heat, Kosoff said, “Don’t worry about Brad MacDaniels. Just try to stay out of his way. If we’re going to have an interstellar war, he might be just the man we need to lead us.”

  * * *

  “Breaking orbit,” Emcee announced. The display screens all around the auditorium showed gray-clouded Gamma slide off to one side, then begin to dwindle noticeably.

  “We’re on our way home,” Felicia said.

  Brad nodded, but his eyes were still on the screen and the shriveling globe that was planet Gamma.

  I’ll come back, he promised silently. No matter how long it takes, I’ll come back to them.

  That night Brad dreamed again. He was at Tithonium Chasma once more, but this time Felicia was standing beside him, out in the open, and the cliffs did not crumble. This time his father and mother and little brother were outside with him, alive, happy, smiling. This time Mnnx and Lnng and the other Gammans stood there too.

  And this time Brad held a pink-faced infant squirming and gurgling in his arms.

  Turning to Felicia, he said, “We’ve got a lot to do.”

  “Yes,” she said, smiling delightedly. “Together.”

  TOR BOOKS BY Ben Bova

  Able One

  The Aftermath

  Apes and Angels

  As on a Darkling Plain

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  Battle Station

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  Challenges

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  Orion in the Dying Time

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  Voyagers

  Voyagers II: The Alien Within

  Voyagers III: Star Brothers

  The Winds of Altair

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Ben Bova is a six-time winner of the Hugo Award, a former editor of Analog, former editorial director of Omni, and a past president of both the National Space Society and the Science Fiction Writers of America. Bova is the author of more than a hundred works of science fact and fiction. He lives in Florida.

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  CONTENTS

  Title Page

  Copyright Notice

  Dedication

  Epigraph

  The Death Wave

  Star Flight

  Mithra

  The Children’s Crusade

  Book One

  Starship Odysseus

  Bradford Macdaniels

  Planetology

  Biology

  Dinner

  The Evening and the Morning

  Special Assignment

  Confessions

  Book Two

  Exiled

  Brad’s Dream

  Conversations

  Return

  Reintegration

  Working Day

  Apes and Angels

  Adrian Kosoff

  Veto

  Rebellion

  Decisions

  Passive V. Active

  Emcee

  Rules of Conduct

  Kosoff and Chang

  Responsibility

  Contact

  Where do we go from here?

  Wedding Day

  Book Three

  Symbiotes

  Data Dump

  The Humanoids

  Plan of Action

  Reaction

  Dangers

  The Team

  Conflict

  Choices

  Assignment

  Preparations

  Objections

  Isolation

  Departure

  Book Four

  Arrival

  The Village

  Conference

  Temptation

  Conflict

  Contact

  Felicia Portman Macdaniels

  Learning

  Tiger, Tiger

  Coincidence

  Revelations

  Argument

  Starship Odysseus

  Monsters from Beta

  The Village

  Death Time

  Sky Masters

  Starship Odysseus

  Sacrifice

  Discovery

  Under Siege

  Cut Off

  Alone

  Survival

  Judgments

  Communications

  Return

  Renewal

  Tacit Approval

  Unmasked

  Suspicions

  Reunion

  Report

  Evidence

  Ground Team

  Return

  Integration

  Discoveries

  Excavation

  The City

  Book Five

  Two Years Later

  Quoting Scripture

  Fighting Monsters

  Attitudes

  Killing Machines

  Know Thy Enemy

  Occam’s Razor

  Searching

  The Power of Dreams

  The Facts of the Matter

  Farewell

  Tor Books by Ben Bova

  About the Author

  Copyright

  This i
s a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

  APES AND ANGELS

  Copyright © 2016 by Ben Bova

  All rights reserved.

  Cover art by John Harris

  A Tor Book

  Published by Tom Doherty Associates

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  ISBN 978-0-7653-7952-8 (hardcover)

  ISBN 978-1-4668-6875-5 (e-book)

  e-ISBN 9781466868755

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  First Edition: November 2016