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Back Daughter of Eden
Chapters (68)
  1. Title page
  2. Dedication
  3. Part I
  4. One
  5. Two
  6. Three
  7. Four
  8. Five
  9. Six
  10. Seven
  11. Eight
  12. Nine
  13. Ten
  14. Eleven
  15. Twelve
  16. Thirteen
  17. Fourteen
  18. Fifteen
  19. Sixteen
  20. Seventeen
  21. Eighteen
  22. Nineteen
  23. Twenty
  24. Twenty-one
  25. Twenty-two
  26. Twenty-three
  27. Twenty-four
  28. Twenty-five
  29. GAIA YOUNG. SUBJECTIVE IMPRESSIONS.MISSION DAY 20. 20:25 MT.
  30. Part II
  31. Twenty-six
  32. Twenty-seven
  33. Twenty-eight
  34. Twenty-nine
  35. Thirty
  36. Thirty-one
  37. Thirty-two
  38. Thirty-three
  39. Thirty-four
  40. Thirty-five
  41. Thirty-six
  42. Thirty-seven
  43. GAIA YOUNG. SUBJECTIVE IMPRESSIONS.MISSION DAY 22. 20:05 MT.
  44. Thirty-eight
  45. Thirty-nine
  46. Forty
  47. Forty-one
  48. GAIA YOUNG. SUBJECTIVE IMPRESSIONS.MISSION DAY 25. 15:30 MT.
  49. Forty-two
  50. Forty-three
  51. Forty-four
  52. Forty-five
  53. Forty-six
  54. Forty-seven
  55. Forty-eight
  56. Forty-nine
  57. Fifty
  58. Fifty-one
  59. Fifty-two
  60. Fifty-three
  61. Fifty-four
  62. Part III
  63. Fifty-five
  64. Fifty-six
  65. Fifty-seven
  66. Fifty-eight
  67. Also by Chris Beckett
  68. Copyright page

Tom snorted scornfully. ‘Heat as light! That’s nonsense. You must have misunderstood them. You might be smart, my girl – you certainly think you are – but you need to remember you’re not half as smart as them.’

‘Well, they said I’m smart smart. They said I’m just as smart as anyone on Earth. I just don’t know as much stuff as they—’

‘Ha! Well, that makes no sense for a start. How can you be smart if you don’t know anything?’

Trueheart ignored her father’s jeers. ‘Marius told me all kinds of stuff. Like . . . well, for example, he told me that everything in the world is made up of tiny little things called atoms that are so small we can’t even see them. He says once you understand that, you can make all kinds of new things, like . . . Oh it’s too much to explain. Those Earth people are smart, all three of them, but I reckon Marius is the smartest. He’s good good at chess for one thing. I tried and tried but I only ever beat him a couple of times . . . and . . . and . . . Oh yes, I must tell you an amazing thing about playing chess with them . . .’ She had so many things to say that her words almost tripped up on one another. ‘They don’t draw a board on the ground like we do. They play in those glass squares they carry. They show a picture of a board with little pieces on it and you can push them about with your fingers as if they were real. In fact if you want you can even just tell them to move and they’ll move by themselves. It’s hard to believe unless you . . . All three of them play chess. Gaia is pretty good as well, though I usually beat her. Deep too, but he likes another game better, with pieces that run round like little people. Oh Fox, you should see that game! You’d just love it.’ She laughed. ‘It’s weird being with them. It’s weird but it’s great. They know so so much. And I’ll tell you another thing: you wouldn’t think it was a woman and two men, because they all treat each other just the same, like they were all men together, or all women.’

Tom glanced at his friend Davidson and pulled a face, but Trueheart didn’t seem to notice.