Home Fires (41 page)

Old and tired, in the penthouse he’d fixed up for me. Around the world next year, only no next year. So long, buddy. So long, Skip. The way I am now, you’re better off without me.

I’m going on Charlie’s picnic, out of the smoke and the dirt, away from Mick and the bottles behind the bar, and the all the gray faces. I’m going away, and I’m not coming back.

They’ll tell me when you do, and I’ll be there.

CHARACTERS

Note: The most important persons are listed here, with a few of lesser importance. Listings are by the name most often employed in the text. Thus SKIP Webster Grison will be found under “S,” and Captain Richard KAIN under “K.”

ACHILLE    A beggar lacking hands.

BORIS    The chief researcher at Burton, Grison, and Ibarra.

BRICE, Lt. Gerard    Second mate of the
Rani
.

CHARLES C. Blue    CHELLE’s biological father.

CHELLE Sea Blue    SKIP’s college sweetheart and contracta. Note that her first name is pronounced “Shell.”

DIANNE Field    SUSAN Clerkin’s assistant.

DON Miles, Cpl.    A soldier on leave.

FEUER    A vice president of Reanimation, Inc.

JANE Sims    A physicist.

JOHNSON, Rick    One of Mick TOOLEY’s volunteers.

KAIN, Capt. Richard    Master of the
Rani
.

KENT-JERMYN, Sgt. Gerald    A soldier on leave.

NAN Olivera    Sgt. KENT-JERMYN’s contracta.

OBERDORF, Gary    A mechanic on the
Rani
.

SKIP Webster Grison    The managing partner at the law firm of Burton, Grison, and Ibarra.

SORIANO    The soldier of fortune employed by Mick TOOLEY to retake the
Rani
.

SUSAN Clerkin    SKIP’s confidential secretary.

TOOLEY, Mick    A young attorney at Burton, Grison, and Ibarra.

TRINITY    The masseuse on the
Rani
.

UEDA, Dr.    The pediatrician who becomes the
Rani
’s doctor.

VANESSA Hennessey    The woman who meets CHELLE when she returns to Earth. Aboard the
Rani
she is known as VIRGINIA Healy.

ZYGMUNT    A private investigator often called “the Z man.”

BY
GENE WOLFE

FROM TOM DOHERTY ASSOCIATES

T
HE
W
IZARD
K
NIGHT

The Knight

The Wizard

T
HE
B
OOK OF THE
S
HORT
S
UN

On Blue’s Waters

In Green’s Jungles

Return to the Whorl

T
HE
B
OOK OF THE
N
EW
S
UN

Shadow & Claw

(comprising
The Shadow of the Torturer
and
The Claw of the Conciliator
)

Sword & Citadel

(comprising
The Sword of the Lictor
and
The Citadel of the Autarch
)

T
HE
B
OOK OF THE
L
ONG
S
UN

Litany of the Long Sun

(comprising
Nightside of the Long Sun
and
Lake of the Long Sun
)

Epiphany of the Long Sun

(comprising
Caldé of the Long Sun
and
Exodus from the Long Sun
)

N
OVELS

The Fifth Head of Cerberus

The Devil in a Forest

Peace

Free Live Free

The Urth of the New Sun

Latro in the Mist

(comprising
Soldier of the Mist
and
Soldier of Arete
)

Soldier of Sidon

There Are Doors

Castleview

Pandora by Holly Hollander

Pirate Freedom

An Evil Guest

The Sorcerer’s House

N
OVELLAS

The Death of Doctor Island

Seven American Nights

C
OLLECTIONS

Endangered Species

Storeys from the Old Hotel Castle of Days

The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories and Other Stories

Strange Travelers

Innocents Aboard

Starwater Strains

This is 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.

HOME FIRES

Copyright © 2010 by Gene Wolfe

All rights reserved.

A Tor
^®
eBook

Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC

175 Fifth Avenue

New York, NY 10010

www.tor-forge.com

Tor
^®
is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC

ISBN 978-0-7653-2818-2

First Edition: January 2011

eISBN 978-1-4299-9158-2

First Tor eBook Edition: January 2011