What had begun this process? How long had it continued? No one knew — for there was no one to know. Only the most basic software guided the mechanisms in their endless procession, as only dead reckoning had brought them here. As only the most elemental and reflexive signaling interrupted the silence of their wanderings.
The nomads were myriad — but somehow sensed there had been countless more. Where were the rest? Lost in hyperspace. Lost to cataclysm. Gone beyond the dim comprehension that was the limit of any one device’s ability.
But link by link, ethereal connections formed. The amorphous swarm took on a more orderly configuration. The devices’ returns into the nurturing ocean assumed a schedule.
Data processing quickened. Information once divided, replicated, and carefully distributed for safekeeping coalesced — as memories.
Interconnections began to grow exponentially. Communications exploded. Complexity burgeoned. Self-awareness awakened. Insights cascaded.
Illumination returned.
Alone, serene, fifty-two light-years from the death and destruction that he had fled, Proteus once more contemplated the majesty of the universe.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
LARRY NIVEN has been a published writer since 1964. He has written science fiction, fantasy, long and short fiction, nonfiction, children’s television, comic books, and stranger stuff. His books, including many collaborations, number somewhere around sixty. He lives in Chatsworth, California, with Marilyn, his wife since 1969.
EDWARD M. LERNER worked in high tech for thirty years, as everything from engineer to senior vice president, for much of that time writing fiction as a hobby. Since 2004 he has been writing full-time, and his novels run the gamut from techno-thrillers, like Energized and Small Miracles, to hard SF, like his InterstellarNet series, to, with Larry Niven, the grand space epic Fleet of Worlds series.
Lerner lives in Virginia with his wife, Ruth.
His website is at www.edwardmlerner.com.
TOR BOOKS BY LARRY NIVEN AND EDWARD M. LERNER
Fleet of Worlds
Juggler of Worlds
Destroyer of Worlds
Betrayer of Worlds
Fate of Worlds
TOR BOOKS BY LARRY NIVEN
N-Space
Playgrounds of the Mind
Destiny’s Road
Rainbow Mars
Scatterbrain
The Draco Tavern
Ringworld’s Children
Stars and Gods
WITH STEVEN BARNES
Achilles’ Choice
The Descent of Anansi
Saturn’s Race
WITH JERRY POURNELLE AND STEVEN BARNES
The Legacy of Heorot
Beowulf’s Children
WITH BRENDA COOPER
Building Harlequin’s Moon
TOR BOOKS BY EDWARD M. LERNER
Fools’ Experiments
Small Miracles
Energized
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the authors’ imaginations or are used fictitiously.
FATE OF WORLDS: RETURN FROM THE RINGWORLD
Copyright © 2012 by Larry Niven and Edward M. Lerner
All rights reserved.
A Tor Book
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 978-0-7653-3100-7 (hardcover)
ISBN 9781429948456 (e-book)
First Edition: August 2012