Sriduangkaew gets the anthology off to a strong start, with a story focussing on two women and the relationship between them. One is a civilian, part of the ‘unwar’ two planets. It’s not a war in the traditional sense, as traditional weapons are banned, but each is disrupting the others communications channels, and more, dangerously, the neural networks of each others’ citizens, making everyone a combatant.
They are keeping the war the from the eyes of the all-power Hegemony, but a visitor who turns up at Pahayal’s house is more than she says, and whilst the two form a bond, that bond is tested by politics and actions..
More from Solaris 3 here.