The Evolutionary Void Read Online Free PDF Page A

success with.
    She drank some water, careful not to spill any. The eggs she left alone. Save them for real hunger pangs .
    After half an hour she could feel the air becoming a lot cooler as the
day’s heat drained away into the sky. She zipped the fleece back up and set off
again. Her feet were sore. The boots were not designed for this kind of
walking. At least the terrain was level.
    As she trudged on, she allowed herself to wonder what she was going to do
when she did reach the Commonwealth again. She knew she’d have only one chance,
one choice. Too many people were looking for her. Giving in to Living Dream was
something she instinctively shied away from. But Laril, for all he was loyal
and trying to help, was in way over his head. Who isn’t? Though perhaps he could negotiate with some faction. But
which one? The more she thought about it, the more she was convinced she
should contact Oscar Monroe. If anyone could offer her sanctuary, it would be
ANA itself. And if it was going to use her, there really was no hope.
    Araminta kept plodding forward. Hunger and lack of true sleep were
getting to her. She felt exhausted but knew she couldn’t stop. She had to cover
as much ground as possible during the night, for she wouldn’t be going anywhere
during the day. Her limbs ached, especially her legs, as she just kept walking.
Every time she stopped to drink, it was more painful to haul the flagons onto
her back again. Her spine was really beginning to feel the weight. It was all
she could do to ignore the throbbing in her feet as her boots rubbed already
raw skin. Occasionally she’d shiver from the now-icy night air, a great spasm
running the length of her body. Whenever that happened, she’d pause for a
minute, then shake her head like a dog coming out of water and take that step
again. I cannot quit .
    There were so many things she needed to do, so many things she had to try
to accomplish to stop the whole Living Dream madness. Her mind began to drift.
She saw her parents again, not the ones she argued with constantly in her late
teens but as they were when she was growing up, indulging her, playing with
her, comforting her, buying her a pony for Christmas when she was eight. Even
after the divorce she hadn’t bothered to call them. Too stubborn, or more like
stupid. And I can just hear exactly what they’d say if I
told them I’d met Mr. Bovey and was going multiple . Then there was that
time just after Laril went offplanet, clubbing with Cressida most nights, going
on dates. Being free, having fun discovering what it was like to be young and
single in the Commonwealth. Having independence and a little degree of pride
with it.
    She wondered if any of that life would ever come back. All she wanted now
was for this dangerous madness to be over, for Living Dream to be defeated, and
for herself to become Mrs. Bovey. Was it possible to fade back into blissful
obscurity? Other people had done it; countless thousands had had their moment
of fame or infamy. Mellanie must have achieved it.
    The timer in Araminta’s exovision flashed purple, along with an insistent
bleeping that wound down auditory nerves, drawing her attention back out of the
comfortable reverie. She let out a groan of relief and shrugged out of the
harness. At least it wasn’t so cold now. As she held up the flagon to drink,
she saw lights crawling across the starfield. She’d lived in Colwyn City long
enough to recognize starships when she saw them. “What the hell?” That was when
she realized the Silfen path was now behind her. “Ozzie!” Her mind felt a host
of quiet emissions within the gaiafield, originating somewhere nearby. She
hurriedly guarded her own thoughts, making sure nothing leaked out to warn
anyone of her presence.
    So where in Ozzie’s name am I?
    Araminta looked around again, trying to make out the countryside. There
wasn’t much to see, though she thought one section of the horizon was showing a
tiny glow. Smiling, she sat