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with him. But an ice shipment this big, coming now? It would surely do. He led the way up the bucking and twisting ramp, accelerated, and soared into the Big Empty amid rising ice and stone ejecta—followed by a hundred rocketbikers and their nets and the renewed hopes of his people.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I owe a debt of gratitude to many who helped me improve this book.

THE CONSULTANTS. Several people shared their time, advice, and expertise. For help with astrophysics and computing, thanks go to Chris Crawford, Steven Gould, Jerry Weinberg, and Rusty Allen. Dr. Gwen Lattimore helped me get the medical details right, and helped me with key elements of the miniature technology. David Porterfield gave me assistance with the business and technology of mining (and let me fire his awesome spud launcher!). Nalo Hopkinson, Melinda Snodgrass, and Walter Jon Williams gave me good tips on Upsider society and life.

THE CRITIQUERS. Those who read portions of this as a work-in-progress gave me the incisive, high-rez feedback I needed to pummel the story into shape: Holly Deuel Gilster, Steven Gould, Jane Lindskold, George R. R. Martin, and Pati Nagle, along with all the wise and thoughtful members of PlotBusters and Critical Mass.

SAFE HAVEN. A two-week spring writing retreat in Tucson saw me through a sticky patch. Ellen Kushner, Delia Sherman, and Terri Windling made an exquisite, private desert setting available to me, and Emma Bull and Will Shetterly were stalwart hosts and marvelous dinner companions.

HERE A NOD, THERE A NOD. Chris Crawford’s Solvesol-interface concept was the basis of my Tonal_Z, Cory Doctorow’s whuffie strongly influenced my sammies, and Bruce Sterling let me hijack the Viridians for my own nefarious ends.

LAST BUT NOT LEAST. I owe deep thanks to my editor, Patrick Nielsen Hayden, and to my agent, Matt Bialer. Your steady belief in me helped me keep faith with myself.

These people all supported me in my aims, but in the end it was I who decided what to put in and what to leave out. Any infelicities, sins, or errors you encounter belong to me alone.

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.

UP AGAINST IT

Copyright © 2011 by Laura J. Mixon-Gould

Title page art courtesy of NASA / JPL-Caltech / University of Arizona

All rights reserved.

Edited by Patrick Nielsen Hayden

A Tor® eBook

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.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Locke, M. J.

Up against it / M. J. Locke.—1st ed.

p. cm.

“A Tom Doherty Associates book.”

ISBN 978-0-7653-1515-1

1. Life on other planets—Fiction. I. Title.

PS3612.O249U7 2011

813'.6—dc22

2010036538

First Edition: March 2011

eISBN 978-1-4299-9141-4

First Tor eBook Edition: March 2011