On a Red Station, Drifting by Aliette de Bodard

After all, her denunciation of that policy was what had tarred her with the red ink of criminals sent her on the run to this spirits-forsaken place with nothing but her wits to rely on. Of course she knew the Emperor had no desire to engage the rebel lords that he was young, and badly advised, and would prefer to retreat. She mouthed the words, the platitudes, effortlessly, as though she believed them: a good scholar, a good magistrate, able to engage in any argument, no matter how trivial or nonsensical. The old woman looked at her for a while, as if seeing her for the first time. “We are the children of the Emperor, and he will protect us.” Linh drew herself to her full height, calling on a hint of the dignity and poise she’d taken when heading her tribunal sessions. “They’ll come here,” she whispered, her eyes boring into Linh’s, uncomfortably bright and feverish. The woman looked at her: past her, in that particular way of old people whose mind wasn’t steady anymore. “It’s going to be all right, Madam,” she said. Bent and bowed, she looked so much like Linh’s long-dead mother that Linh found herself instinctively reaching out.

Linh kept her distance, not wanting to draw attention to herself on the way there but, when they disembarked from the mindship and joined the immigration queue, she found herself behind an old woman in a shawl, who glanced fearfully around her, as if she expected soldiers to come out of the shadows at any moment. Linh arrived on Prosper Station blown by the winds of war, amidst a ship full of refugees who huddled together, speaking earfully of the invading armies: the war between the rebel lords and the Empire had escalated, and their war-kites had laid waste to entire planets. Here’s a little snippet from the book to whet your appetite (more info here): So… remember the Vietnamese-space-station Xuya novella? Pre-orders are now open and you’ll save £3 from the cover price of £10 if you preorder via the Immersion Press website!ĮTA: the ebook is now available here: | .uk| | smashwords

On a Red Station, Drifting by Aliette de Bodard