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“Good that you care”

“Oh,” Miller said with that sah “I really don’t I ood But I re, if you knohat I mean”

“Okay”

“Oh, hey, look at this,” Miller said, pointing at the black sky Instantly the sky was filled with glowing blue Rings The thousand-plus gates of the slow zone, orbiting around them like Alex’s dandelion seeds, seen from the center of the flower “Shazaates shifted in color and beca thousands of other solar systems Holden could actually see the alien stars, and the worlds whirring in orbit around the a little artistic license with his si sound at his feet, and Holden looked down to see sorayish skin and no visible eyes Itslittle teeth, and Holden became very aware of his bare toes just a few dozen centi thing aith his shoe It blurred away across the field on its too-long liave him a quizzical look

“You know,” Holden continued “In reality?”

“What’s reality?” Miller said, looking back up at the swirling gates and the night sky

“The place where I live?”

“Yeah, fine The gates are all open”

“And are there invading fleets of h to kill us all?”

“Not yet,” Miller said “Which is kind of interesting in its oay”

“I was joking”

“I wasn’t,” Miller said “It was a calculated risk But it looks clear for now”

“We can go through those gates, though We can go there”

“Can,” Miller said “And knowing you, you will”

For a ot about Ashford, the Behes that had distracted hi

What it all meant

He would live to see humanity’s spread to the stars He and Naomi, their children, their children’s children Thousands of worlds, no procreation restrictions A new golden age for the species And the Nauvoo had made it happen, in a way Fred could tell the Mor hiet too happy,” Miller said “I keep warning you Doors and corners, kid That’s where they get you Hu stupid to listen Well, you’ll learn your lessons soon enough, and it’s not h the next steps”

Holden scuffed at the ground cover with his toe When it was scraped, a clear fluid that smelled like honey seeped out This world was in the station’s catalog, Miller had said I could live here so

The sky shifted, and now all the ships that had been trapped around the station were visible They drifted sloay froo?”