Chapter Thirteen
Manifesto the Great
“Coming too late is not as glamorous as many make out.”—The captain of the third spaceship
Ten years on
When Manifesto the Great was born, the crowd cheered, celebrated, even talked of a new world.
James the Strong looked down at the pink bundle and expected to feel the same, but the only thing he felt was a mild repulsion, and when Aggie bent to feed him, James the Strong left the room to throw up.
Manifesto the Great was a long string of a baby who had the promise of height until the age of ten, when, like Arthur of the North, all growth stopped.
Aggie watched him mature with her heart in her mouth. Each day he looked more like his father, Arthur of the North, and she missed him so much . . .
What she wouldn’t give to sit under the sun, hold h
