Retribution (Volume 2) (The Earthfall Trilogy, Band 2) - Hardcover

Buch 2 von 3: The Earthfall Trilogy

Walden, Mark

 
9781442494183: Retribution (Volume 2) (The Earthfall Trilogy, Band 2)
Hardcover
ISBN 10: 1442494182 ISBN 13: 9781442494183
Verlag: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2015

Inhaltsangabe

The struggle for human survival continues following an alien invasion of Earth in this second book in the Earthfall trilogy, from the author of the H.I.V.E. series.

After the harrowing events of Earthfall, twelve-year-old Sam and his fellow resistance members meet an enigmatic man named Mason who is slowly building an army to fight back against the invaders, the Voidborn.

Sam and the others join Mason and his soldiers on a mission to disable Voidborn technology in Tokyo. But Sam soon discovers that Mason has an agenda beyond what he has already admitted: He isn’t content just to destroy the Voidborn’s machines; he plans to destroy the Voidborn once and for all with a plan that will cost the lives of millions of innocent people.

But something is coming, something even worse than the Voidborn. Something very old and very evil. Something that might mean the end of them all.

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Mark Walden spent a decade as a video game designer and producer before becoming a fulltime writer and father. He has a BA in English literature and an MA in 20th-century literature, film, and television, both from Newcastle University. He is the author of the H.I.V.E. series and the Earthfall Trilogy and lives with his family in the United Kingdom.

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Retribution

1

In the frozen darkness of deep space, something stirred. Pulses of energy raced through systems buried deep within a vast vessel as slowly it woke. Blood-red lights glowed on the hull of the enormous black ship as the consciousness within its heart stirred, and like a beast waking from a long hibernation the ship began to unfurl. Long, sweeping, arc-shaped pylons stretched out from the hull, lighting up in turn with a corona of crimson lightning. The entity within felt something approximating satisfaction as it received the stream of diagnostic messages. The speed and direction of the vessel was exactly as anticipated; it was less than a light-year from its target, a small blue planet orbiting an insignificant yellow star. The entity felt a moment of excitement—its long sleep was over, and soon it would be time to feed.

* * *

Sam woke with a start, his breath coming in ragged gasps as he sat bolt upright in bed. Another nightmare. He wondered if they would ever fade or if he would always be haunted by the faces of friends and family he had lost over the last two years. He put his hand to his forehead and just for an instant was startled by its cool metallic surface pressing against his skin. It had been a month since he had lost his hand to the Voidborn nanite swarm and he was still struggling to get used to its replacement. He turned on the small bedside light and looked down at the gleaming gold of his lower arm. He concentrated for a moment and the surface seemed to ripple as the millions of microscopic nanites that made up his limb swirled into a new configuration, the fingers of his hand turning into a smooth flat panel that reflected his face. The boy who stared back at him was very different from the slightly overweight, carefree person that he would have seen in the mirror before the Voidborn invasion.

If you could even call it that, he thought to himself.

Invasion didn’t properly describe the experience of seeing an entire planet enslaved in the blink of an eye without a shot being fired. He willed his hand back into its original form, the flat panel replaced once again by slowly flexing golden fingers. He could hear the Voidborn nanites as an almost inaudible hiss in the back of his skull. It was symptomatic of the strange connection that he had with the Voidborn, something that had ultimately proved to be the decisive factor in their defeat. He still did not fully understand why it was that he had the ability to sense the alien creatures in this way—all he knew was that it gave him an edge that other survivors of the invasion seemed to lack.

“Still mostly human,” Sam said to himself with a wry smile. He quickly got dressed and headed out into the snow-covered remains of St. James’s Park, rubbing his hands together to warm them up before shoving them into the pockets of his camouflage-print overcoat. This winter was proving to be particularly harsh.

Sam paused for a moment and looked up at the colossal Voidborn Mothership hovering above central London. Once it had been a terrifying sight, something that had filled him with dread, but now it was strangely reassuring. The bright yellow glow of the lights that covered the enormous vessel’s hull was the only indication that this Mothership was any different to the ones that were hovering above other cities all over the world. This ship was now their protector and had been ever since the mysterious nanites that swam in Sam’s bloodstream had become integrated with the Voidborn consciousness that controlled it. That entity was now known as the Servant. It was something neither human nor Voidborn, but for reasons still unclear to Sam, it seemed to be on their side. The Servant could control the Mothership above them, but its connection to the rest of the Voidborn consciousness had apparently been severed completely.

“I trust you have rested well, Illuminate,” the Servant said as she approached. The Servant had assumed a striking human-like appearance as a tall female with golden metallic skin and glowing yellow eyes.

“Yes, thank you,” Sam replied with a nod. None of them understood what Sam’s status as Illuminate actually meant, but it appeared that the Servant was programmed to protect and obey him.

“Doctor Stirling has requested that you join him in the research building,” the Servant said. “He wishes to inform you of a problem that has been encountered with awakening the dormant humans.”

“What kind of problem?” Sam asked with a frown.

“Doctor Stirling stated that he wishes to explain it to you personally,” the Servant replied.

“Okay, tell him I’ll be there in two minutes,” Sam said with a quick wave to his friend Rachel, who was walking toward them.

Rachel’s smile faded as she approached.

“What’s up?” she asked, tucking a dangling lock of her long brown hair behind her ear.

“Not sure,” Sam said, glancing toward the research building on the far side of the compound. “Stirling wants to see me—sounds like there’s some kind of problem with waking the Sleepers.”

“That’s not good,” Rachel said. “Didn’t Goldie give you any more information?”

“No, she said he wants to speak to me himself. I know they’ve been getting close to perfecting a localized transmitter for the waking signal, but it sounds like there might have been a setback.”

“Mind if I tag along?” Rachel asked.

“’Course not,” Sam said. “If Stirling and Will descend into their usual technobabble, I’ll need someone to keep me awake.”

The two of them walked across the open central area of the compound, passing the firing range that they’d set up next to the armory. The hulking shape of a Grendel, the Voidborn’s most feared soldiers, stood in front of the entrance to the armory, keeping silent, patient vigil. The creature stood thirty feet tall and was covered in black segmented bio-mechanical armor. Its low-slung head swung back and forth, its burning yellow eyes searching for any threat. Just a couple of months ago, being that close to a Grendel would have meant a very messy and unpleasant death, but now this creature and the hundreds more like it aboard the Mothership and patrolling the streets of London were their sworn protectors. It had taken some getting used to.

As the two of them approached the entrance to the research building, Dr. Iain Stirling walked outside to meet them.

“Thank you for coming at such short notice,” Stirling said, rubbing his eyes. He looked as if he hadn’t slept properly in a while.

“The Servant said you’d had some sort of problem with your research into waking the Sleepers,” Sam said.

“Yes,” Stirling replied with a sigh. “I’m afraid that the situation has become more complex than we had initially anticipated. You need to see this for yourself.”

The three of them headed up to the second floor and out into a long room filled with portable army surplus cots where several dozen apparently unconscious people lay. It was a sight that Sam had witnessed many times over the past two years. This was the fate of most of humanity, enslaved instantly by an alien signal that robbed them of all free will, turning them into mindless slaves. As they had begun to explore...

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Verlag
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Erscheinungsdatum
2015
Sprache
Englisch
ISBN 10 
1442494182
ISBN 13 
9781442494183
Einband
Gebundene Ausgabe
Anzahl der Seiten
272
Kontakt zum Hersteller
Nicht verfügbar
Verantwortliche Person
Nicht verfügbar

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