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  Rigney shook his head. “The simplest explanation is usually the correct one,” he said.

  “I agree,” Egan said. “Where I disagree is whether making the Conclave the bad guy is the simplest explanation. I think it’s clear that someone wants the Colonial Union dead and destroyed, and Earth is the lever to do that. I also think it’s possible the same someone has been poking at the Conclave, trying to find the lever that destroys them, too. We almost found one, once.”

  “I don’t think the CDF is comfortable with that level of shadowy conspiracy, Liz,” Rigney said. “They prefer something they can hit with a stick.”

  “Find it first, Abel,” Egan said. “Then you can hit it all you like.”

  The two sat there, silent, chucking bread at ducks.

  “At least you’ve gotten one thing right,” Egan said.

  “What’s that,” Rigney said.

  “Your fire team,” Egan said. “Ambassador Abumwe and her people. We keep setting her up with impossible missions and she always gets something out of them. Sometimes not the things we want. But always something.”

  “She blew the Bula negotiations,” Rigney said.

  “We blew the Bula negotiations,” Egan reminded him. “We told her to lie, and she did exactly what we told her to do, and we were caught red-handed when she did it.”

  “Fair enough,” Rigney said. “What are you going to do with Abumwe now?”

  “You mean, now that she and her team are the only group to survive the Earth Station attack intact, and her captain has become a posthumous hero both for saving her entire diplomatic team and for taking down two of the attacking ships, and the sole bright spot for the Colonial Union in this whole sorry mess was Lieutenant Wilson saving the daughter of the United States secretary of state by leaping off an exploding space station with her in tow?” Egan said.

  “Yes, that,” Rigney said.

  “We start with a promotion, I think,” Egan said. “She and her people are no longer the B-team, and we don’t have any more time to waste. Things are never going back to what they were, Abel. We need to build the future as fast as we can. Before it collapses in on us. Abumwe’s going to help get us there. Her and her team. All of them. All of them that are left, anyway.”

  Wilson and Lowen stood on the grounds of what remained of the Nairobi beanstalk and Earth Station, waiting for his ride, the shuttle that was slowly coming in for a landing.

  “So, what’s it like?” Lowen wanted to know.

  “What’s what like?” Wilson asked.

  “Leaving Earth a second time,” Lowen said.

  “It’s the same in a lot of ways,” Wilson said. “I’m excited to go, to see what’s out there in the universe. But I also know it’s not likely that I’m ever coming back. And once again, I’m leaving behind people I care about.”

  Lowen smiled at that and gave Wilson a peck on the cheek. “You don’t have to leave,” she said. “You can always defect.”

  “Tempting,” he said. “But as much as I love the Earth, I have to admit something.”

  “And what’s that,” Lowen said.

  “I’m just not from around here anymore,” Wilson said

  The shuttle landed.

  “Well,” Lowen said, “if you ever change your mind, you know where we are.”

  “I do,” Wilson said. “You know where I am, too. Come up and see me.”

  “That’s going to be a little more difficult now, all things considered,” Lowen said.

  “I know,” Wilson said. “The offer still stands.”

  “One day I’ll take you up on that,” Lowen said.

  “Good,” Wilson said. “Life’s always interesting with you around.”

  The shuttle door opened. Wilson picked up his bag to go.

  “Hey, Harry,” Lowen said.

  “Yes?” Wilson said.

  “Thanks for saving my life,” she said.

  Wilson smiled and waved good-bye.

  Hart Schmidt and Ambassador Ode Abumwe were waiting inside.

  Wilson smiled and shook the ambassador’s hand warmly. “You have no idea how glad I am to see you again, ma’am,” he said to her.

  Abumwe smiled equally warmly. “Likewise, Lieutenant.”

  Wilson turned to Schmidt. “As for you,” he said. “Don’t you do that again. That whole almost dying thing.”

  “I promise nothing,” Schmidt said.

  Wilson hugged his friend, then sat down and buckled in.

  “Did you have a good time back on Earth?” Schmidt asked.

  “I did,” Wilson said. “Now let’s go home.”

  Abumwe nodded to the shuttle pilot. They put the Earth below them and headed into the sky above.

  Also by John Scalzi

  Old Man’s War

  The Ghost Brigades

  The Android’s Dream

  The Last Colony

  Zoe’s Tale

  Your Hate Mail Will Be Graded

  Fuzzy Nation

  Redshirts

  Edited by John Scalzi

  Metatropolis

  About the Author

  JOHN SCALZI is the author of several SF novels including the bestselling Old Man’s War and its sequels, and the New York Times bestsellers Fuzzy Nation and Redshirts. He is a winner of science fiction’s John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, and he won the Hugo Award for Your Hate Mail Will Be Graded, a collection of essays from his wildly popular blog Whatever (whatever.scalzi.com). He lives in Ohio with his wife and daughter.

  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.

  HUMAN DIVISION #13: EARTH BELOW, SKY ABOVE

  Copyright © 2013 by John Scalzi

  All rights reserved.

  Cover art by John Harris

  A Tor Book

  Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC

  175 Fifth Avenue

  New York, NY10010

  www.tor-forge.com

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

  e-ISBN: 978-1-46683062-2

  The Human Division

  John Scalzi’s stirring new novel in the universe of his bestselling Old Man’s War

  New e-episodes will appear every Tuesday from January 15 to April 9, 2013, on all your favorite e-book sites. Don’t miss a single one:

  January 15: The Human Division #1: The B-Team

  January 22: The Human Division #2: Walk the Plank

  January 29: The Human Division #3: We Only Need the Heads

  February 5: The Human Division #4: A Voice in the Wilderness

  February 12: The Human Division #5: Tales from the Clarke

  February 19: The Human Division #6: The Back Channel

  February 26: The Human Division #7: The Dog King

  March 5: The Human Division #8: The Sound of Rebellion

  March 12: The Human Division #9: The Observers

  March 19: The Human Division #10: This Must Be the Place

  March 26: The Human Division #11: A Problem of Proportion

  April 2: The Human Division #12: The Gentle Art of Cracking Heads

  April 9: The Human Division #13: Earth Below, Sky Above