Only Superhuman Read Online Free PDF

existence became feasible. More and more, the hardscrabble High Frontier was giving way to a more expansive and cosmopolitan way of life, nowhere more so than in the Ceres Sheaf. It was no wonder that the majority of immigrants from Earth chose to settle there. Particularly since its stable gravity and robust radiation shielding made it a reasonably safe place to live with few or no mods.
    Right now, though, Emry had trouble buying into that illusion of safety. Even the Sheaf and Band were dependent on a few square kilometers of heat radiators, not to mention the sun reflectors, radiation shields, agriculture rings … any of which could be sabotaged in dozens of ways by a successful terrorist group. Really, how good were anyone’s odds of survival in a Solar System where the power of individual humans to wreak destruction kept growing by the year? And what could a few dozen superpowered eccentrics hope to do about it?
    She kept those thoughts to herself as she gave her acceptance speech. Instead, she just offered a few boilerplate thank-yous and promises. Even her words about Arkady were boilerplate, since if she tried to express what she really felt—to talk about how he’d always been her anchor, solid and calm and accepting no matter how much grief she gave him, and how she couldn’t imagine going on now without him—she’d surely break down again. She owed it to her colleagues and friends to offer them something comforting, something reaffirming. So she hid behind platitudes she barely heard herself saying.
    Then she was done, and the crowd cheered, and Sensei shook her hand and kissed her cheek. Her fellow Troubleshooters—Sensei, Lodestar, Tenshi, Bellatrix, Tor, the rest who weren’t too busy saving lives to attend—formed an honor guard to escort her offstage, then fell upon her with handshakes and hugs and kisses of both celebration and commiseration. She couldn’t understand why they thought she deserved this. She got away by citing a need for the ladies’ room—only to find it wasn’t an excuse, since as soon as she got there she had to throw up.
    When she emerged, she found Villareal hovering nearby, pretending to check his silvery hair and Errol Flynn moustache in a reflective wall panel. “I told you I didn’t want the medal,” she said.
    “What we want and what we deserve are rarely the same thing, Blaze.”
    “How about what Arkady deserved? What his family deserved?”
    “They’ve always understood. Pavel and the kids, they’re exceptional people. Strong. You have to be, to have a Troubleshooter in the family. So few of us find mates, or keep them … Arkady was luckier than most.”
    “Oh, great pep talk for the new kid, Master. So I’m doomed to be alone, huh?”
    “No, Emry,” Sensei said, reaching for her shoulder. “We have each other.”
    But she pulled away. “It’s all right. Maybe that’s the way I should be—just depend on myself. Goddess knows nobody else can.”
    “Emerald.” His voice became stern. “You know there was nothing you could have done to save him. It’s a miracle he slowed the collapse enough to allow your escape.”
    “Nothing I can think of,” she said, talking over him. “Not so far. But what if one day I wake up and I realize there was something I missed, something I could’ve done differently?”
    “I’m sure you will.” She stared. “Because the more you go back there, the more you’ll rewrite the memory to suit your sense of guilt. But you have the hard data in your buffer,” he reminded her, lightly tapping her temple. “Don’t lose it. Even if you can never bear to replay it, to watch it—and I wouldn’t ask you to—just remember that it’s there. Let it anchor you with the truth that you did nothing wrong. If you can’t believe that in … other cases, at least believe it in this one.”
    He stroked her hair with bionic hands more sensitive than his real ones had been. “You know why I encourage the flamboyant side of