The Mirrored Heavens Read Free

treaty will establish a Joint Arms Control Commission, based in Zurich, whose members shall be charged with proposing reductions in both strategic and tactical weaponry, subject to ultimate ratification by the governments of the two contracting powers. Such reductions will be made according to the following general principles:
    • Withdrawal of all nuclear munitions from outer space
    • Demilitarization of the Arctic Ocean
    • De-targeting of space-to-ground weaponry
    • De-targeting of ground-to-space weaponry
    • Registration of all major military bases
    • Registration of all submarine sorties from base
    • Limitations in total number of hypersonic missile engines
    • Limitations in nuclear megatonnage
    Article X:
    Effective within two months of the signing of this treaty, the two contracting powers undertake to cease the testing of all classes of directed energy weapons.
    Article XI:
    Upon amendment/ratification, the measures proposed by the Joint Arms Control Commission will be verified by agreed-upon satellite overflight and physical inspections of bases. Article XII:
    In the event of a conflict between the two contracting powers concerning any question, the two parties will adjust this difference or conflict exclusively by friendly exchange of opinion or, if necessary, by an arbitration commission based in either Zurich or Geneva.
    Article XIII:
    The present treaty will extend for a period of ten years, with the understanding that if neither of the contracting parties announces its abrogation within one year of expiration of this period, it will continue in force automatically for another period of five years.
    Article XIV:
    The present treaty shall be ratified within the shortest possible time. The exchange of ratification documents is to take place in Zurich. The treaty becomes effective immediately upon signature.

    Drawn up in three languages, English, Russian, and Chinese, January 1, 2105. Signed for the United States:
    Alec Morgan, Secretary of State
    Cosigned for the Eurasian Coalition by the Slavic Bloc:
    V. I. Brusilov, Minister of Foreign Affairs
    Cosigned for the Eurasian Coalition by the Republic of China:
    Chen Xuesen, People’s Minister of State
PART I - IMMERSION.

    I t’s time,” says a voice.
    Thirty klicks above Earth’s surface. Thirty minutes after takeoff. A small room within a large jetcraft: Jason Marlowe opens his eyes.
    He looks around. No one there.
    “Prep for drop,” says the voice.
    He sits up. Gets up. Goes to the washbasin. Lets water dash itself against metal and skin. He runs his hands along his face. He wonders if something has changed.
    “Stop it,” says the voice. “Move it.”
    He turns away. He starts to pull things onto his body: vest, pants, belt. Light boots. Redundant biomonitors around his arms. A knife strapped below his left knee. A pistol below his right. Everything else he’s going to be wearing is contained in the hardware standing in this room’s corner.
    “Suit up,” says the voice.
    The armor’s the standard heavy model. Too standard. It’s not even his. Marlowe climbs within, wondering as he does who else has worn it. He wishes they’d shipped his own suit as quickly as they did him.
    “Power up,” says the voice.
    Vibration churns through him as the suit seals. Lights come to life around his face. He turns, feels pneumatic joints dig into him. He stops to adjust them. He calibrates the suit’s cameras to ensure 360-degree vision—sets the range-finders, lets numbers chase themselves across the displays, interface with the ones within his head. He walks to the door, slides it open, walks down a corridor. He goes through into another room.
    “Load up,” says the voice.
    But Marlowe doesn’t need to listen to know what to do with the ammunition racked upon the walls. Or the fuel pipes that emerge from the ceiling to slot into his armor’s tanks. He watches his screens as those tanks fill. He wonders who he’s going to demolish this time.