Building Harlequin's Moon

by Larry Niven

good choices; to learn from mistakes made in Sol system. If we fail”—she shrugged for emphasis—”if we fail, we are isolated here anyway.” There was silence all around her. Silence from the ship. Rachel licked her lips. “Second, build Gabriel’s flare kite. You turned it down once, because it would take too long, too many resources. You have the resources. Give them to us, share them, so that we are free to live without fear of flares. “Third, generate your antimatter entirely outside of Harlequin’s moon system.” To Rachel’s surprise, Erika raised a hand, gesturing to Rachel to continue. Her face was unreadable, intense, focused tightly on Rachel. Rachel spoke directly to Erika. She was the power here. “We would not try to change your dream. I thought that was what I wanted; to keep you here, keep you prisoners in Apollo system. That is an unacceptable choice to you. There are choices unacceptable to us. We must have a voice in what you do with our world, in what you do here. We cannot allow—and yes, you can kill us all and start over—but we cannot allow antimatter to be made here. I don’t believe you would do that. We are your children, as well as the Children of Selene.