The Great Symmetry Read Online Free PDF

I’ll get a credit authorization sent to you. Will you be ready on schedule?”
    Mira had nodded, having run out of words. Never sentimental, she had almost felt gratitu de. Almost. “Right,” Evan had said. “Let’s go through the manifest.”
    That had been four years ago. She had only once asked him why, a few weeks later. Evan had just said, “Because you are the expedition pilot.”
    Mira was nearing the Buttonwood. She had not said whether the tree or the pub, because in effect they were one and the same. The plaza that homed the tree was arrayed with places for people to sit and have their food or drink, whether purchased from the Buttonwood Pub, another nearby establishment, or simply brought along.
    She walked through one of the gaps in the circle of buildings that went all the way around the tree, a respectful distance away from the trunk that defined the center of the plaza. Within the invisible boundary, there were no vehicles. Just denizens of the Untrusted Zone, eating, drinking, arguing, and otherwise enjoying the evening.
    Mira and Kestrel easily spotted each other near the trunk of the tree. He called out, “Hey Mira, are we getting a beer?”
    “Nope, not right now,” Mira said. “I need something from you.”
    “All business tonight. Okay then! What will it be?”
    “First we climb. High up.” Mira slipped off her shoes.
    “After you, milady.”
    If anyone could keep up with Mira in the tree, it was Kestrel. But tonight he would be hard pressed. From a standing start, she bounded straight up for three meters, catching hold of the first branch with her right hand, and then she was off to the races. Arms, legs, hands, and feet were not so much tools to grab the tree as they were a means to adjust her course, spiraling upward through the branches. It was not just the low gravity of Kelter. Climbing the tree was an art form that she had studied since she had been in grade school.
    In addition to being majestically tall, the buttonwood tree was the best possible tree for climbing. Stout branches at convenient intervals of two to three meters. A strong but smooth outer bark. No thorns, because there had never been land animals on Kelter until humans arrived. It was also the best tree because it was the only tree around.
    When she was a kid, Mira had called it her tree. In some sense, it was. There was no person who knew it better. Every branch, every cluster of the thick rubbery leaves. Every move between branches, whether a static step or a bold leap.
    In the intervening years, it had changed. Grown, slowly. A few branches had died, but overall it was in excellent health. The tree was well tended.
    Mira wondered why she didn’t often climb the tree, these days.
    “Hold on, that’s too high,” Kestrel called. “They’re getting thin up there. If you go any further, you could break a branch, and you’ll get fined. A really big fine.”
    If the worst happened, Mira would pay, even if it took months or years to do so. But it was not going to be a problem. Mira knew her tree.
    “Just one more,” she told him. “Come on up.”
    A wary Kestrel climbed the last few meters and sat beside her on the highest cross branch of the attenuating trunk. The Untrusted Zone spread below them, with buildings, lights, and then the dark of the undeveloped land beyond. To the south, Abilene was visible, several kilometers away, over in civilization. The Untrusted Zone and Abilene had grown toward each other over the years, so it was now difficult from this vantage point to see where one ended and the other began. On the ground, the boundary was absolutely clear.
    “Kiss me,” she demanded.
    “I thought we were here to talk business, and we both know that didn’t end well for either of us, Mira.”
    “Trust me. Just this once.”
    Mira kissed him on the lips for a brief moment, then moved close to his ear. “Hold me like you want me,” she whispered. “And I will tell you what I need.”
    “Kes, I need