Drive

That’s what peace is, right? Postponing the conflict until the thing you were fighting over doesn’t matter.

It’s always been like this, he thinks. From when Moses saw the promised land that he could never enter, people have been on their deathbeds just wanting to see what happens next. He wonders if that’s what makes the promised land holy: that you can see it but you can’t quite reach it. The grass is always greener on the other side of personal extinction.

The grass is always greener on the other side of personal extinction.

No, sweetie. I’m not angry,” she said gently. “Angry is yelling. This is resentful, and it’s because you’re cutting me out from the fun parts. Really, I look at you, and see the happiness and the excitement, and I want to be part of that. I want to jump up and down and wave my arms and talk about how great it all is. But that money was our safety net. You’re ignoring the fact that you spent our safety net, and if we both ignore it, the first time something unexpected comes up, we’re screwed. I love our life, so now I have to be the one who cares and disapproves and doesn’t get to be excited. You’re making me the grown-up. I don’t want to be the grown-up. I want us both to be grown-ups, so that when we do something like this, we both get to be kids.

Acceleration is pressing his eyeballs out of their right shape. High tech astigmatism.

Solomon relaxes, and the expanse folds itself around him like a lover.

No sweetie. I’m not angry. Angry is yelling. This is resentful, and it’s because you’re cutting me out from the fun parts. Really, I look at you, and see the happiness and excitement, and I want to be part of that. I want to jump up and down, wave my arms and talk about how great it all is. But that money was our safety net. Youre ignoring the fact that you spent our safety net, and if we both ignore it, the first time something unexpected comes up, we’re screwed. I love our life, so now I have to be the one who disapproves and doesn’t get to be excited. You’re making me the grown-up. I don’t want to be the grown-up. I want us both to be grownups, so that when we do something like this, we both get to be kids .

If they break all our infrastructure, they can’t get the resources. They’re just trying to scare us.” Caitlin raised one hand like a schoolgirl asking to be recognized. “Working. Scared now.

You're saying we should declare political independence." "Damn, skippy, I am," Tori said. "Because distance is measured in time." "And coherence is measured in beer," Voltaire said, the cadence of her voice matching Tori's perfectly.

He almost blacks out again, but he’s not sure if it’s the stroke or the thrust gravity. He’s pretty sure driving blood pressure higher while having a stroke is considered poor form.

They could address everything else and still not solve the problem. He was always proud of her when she said that. A liberal arts background was a hard thing to overcome, but she was doing great.

Intellectually he knows that the blood is being pressed to the back of his body, pooling in the back part of his cerebellum and flooding his kidneys. He hasn’t done enough medical work to know what that means, but it can’t be good.

On Mars, the joke went, a man’s hole was his castle where values of castle approached dorm room.

It was some of Solomon’s favorite music because it was dense and intellectually complicated and he wasn’t expected to dance to it.