Mere

A chapbook. Wraparound cover art by Bob Eggleton.

She was born as the sole passenger onboard a battered starship. Physically and mentally stunted, the immortal woman had no name. For ten thousand years nothing about her life changed. Then the double suns appeared before her and, without warning, her ship crash-landed on an alien world. The Tila found her. They naturally assumed she was a god, but she didn't grow much or show any godly power besides immortality. Because she wasn't much of a god, they named her "Mere." And for the next several thousand years, Mere lived among the Tila, playing a role in the rise of the Tilan civilization, all while serving as the sole witness in their struggle to survive as their great Tilan world began to die.

Mere, a 13,300-word novelette, takes place in Robert Reed's Marrow universe, along with such notable new stories as River of the Queen and Night of Time. The character "Mere" plays a pivotal role in Reed's Marrow novel, The Well of Stars. The author has also included a 5,000-word Afterword in which he details the history of his Marrow universe, including all the stories that comprise this future history.