White Moon, Red Dragon

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Open wide the door of heaven! On a black cloud I ride in splendor, Bidding the whirlwind drive before me, Causing the rainstorm to lay the dust.

—Ta Ssu Ming, "The Greater Master of Fate," from the Chiu Ko, the "Nine Songs" by Ch'u Yuan, second century B.C.

Before me floats an image, man or shade,

Shade more than man, more image than a shade;

For Hades' bobbin bound in mummy-cloth

May unwind the winding path;

A mouth that has no moisture and no breath

Breathless mouths may summon;

I hail the superhuman;

I call it death-in-life and life-in-death.

—William Butler Yeats, from Byzantium, A.D. 1930

PROLOGUE WINTER 2215

Forgotten Words

Where can I find a man who has forgotten words? He is the one I would like to talk to.

CHUANO tzu, Writings, xxvi, II, sixth century b.c.

EBERT STOOD on the lip of the crater, looking across the ruined city toward the distant sun. It was early morning and a rime of frost covered the iron-red rocks, making them glisten. Below him, in the deep shadow, he could discern the twisted shapes of the struts that had once curved half a li into the air, supporting the dome of the greatest of Mars' nineteen cities.

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