The Fall of Io (Io Series, Band 2) - Softcover

Chu, Wesley

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0857667874 ISBN 13: 9780857667878

Verlag: Angry Robot, 2019

Inhaltsangabe

The superb aliens-in-your-head SF sequel to the wildly popular The Rise of Io, by the author of The Lives of Tao series

When Ella Patel's mind was invaded by the Quasing alien, Io, she was dragged into the raging Prophus versus Genjix war. Despite her reservations, and Io's incompetence, the Prophus were determined to train her as an agent. It didn't go well. Expelled after just two years, Ella happily returned to con artistry, and bank robberies. But the Quasing war isn't done with them yet. The Genjix's plan to contact their homeworld has reached a critical stage, threatening all life on Earth. To complete the project they need Io's knowledge - and he's in Ella's head - so now they're both being hunted, again.

File Under: Science Fiction [ Brain Slug | Hidden Threats | Aliens vs Aliens | Wrong Place, Right Time ]

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

WESLEY CHU was born in Taiwan and immigrated to Chicago, Illinois when he was just a pup. His debut, The Lives of Tao, earned him a Young Adult Library Services Association Alex Award and a Science Fiction Goodreads Choice Award Finalist slot. Chu is currently co-writing Shadowhunters tie-in fiction with Cassandra Clare.

http://wesleychu.com/
http://www.twitter.com/wes_chu

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

Chapter One
Retirement
 
The first day of your career is often the hardest. The last, the most difficult. The worst, however, is the week after retirement when you have nothing to do and realize that the world has moved on without you.
Baji, Prophus Keeper, eight days after her retirement
 
The announcement for the emergency all-hands meeting came right as Josie Perkins sat down to eat her crème brûlée without the burnt caramelized sugar on top, which honestly made it just a rather mediocre custard. Gourmet was not an accusation anyone had ever leveled at the kitchen here at the Prophus Academy in Sydney. The nearest dessert shop, however, was a good hour’s drive away, so this place was it. Beggars, choosers, and all that. Josie stuck a spoonful in her mouth and scowled at the blinking notification on her phone. Nothing in the world was important enough to skip dessert, but here it was.
Josie hated emergency meetings; no good news ever came from someone telling you to drop whatever you were doing to listen to them talk. Her first emergency meeting had been when she was six years old. Her parents had brought her and Parker to the dining room and told them that dad was moving to Perth while mum was staying in Sydney. Both had decided that they couldn’t stand the other, and that Josie and Parker weren’t good enough reasons to try to make things work. Her life had been pretty much a mess ever since.
Since then, every emergency meeting had steered her life in a worse and worse direction. Josie had been ordered to an all-hands emergency meeting when the Alien World War broke out. She had been called into another when Parker’s spy plane went down behind enemy lines in Thailand, and he was presumed captured or dead. Josie found out a year later that he had been tortured and killed at the hands of Thanadabouth, a Genjix Laotian general wanted for war crimes.
She was summoned for an emergency meeting to cancel her operation the night before she was to lead an attack on Thanadabouth’s stronghold. The war had ended one day too early. Australia, along with every other country involved in this global disaster, signed the armistice. All the humans were sick of fighting. The only ones who wanted to keep killing each other were the Prophus and Genjix. Everyone else just called it a draw, packed up their toys, and went home. Josie was informed that General Thanadabouth, vacationing less than two klicks away in his summer villa, had immunity and was now completely off-limits. She had to be physically restrained and dragged out of that meeting.
Josie quit the Australian Defense Force the next day and joined the Prophus. One dead Laotian general and nearly a decade later, Josie had pulled herself away from the front lines of this now not-really-shadow war between the two alien factions, and was Head of Security at the Prophus Academy in Sydney. It was a cushy job, perfect for someone on the tail-end of a distinguished military career, and a relatively safe way to head off into the sunset.
The pace at the Academy was often molasses. She admittedly missed the action and chafed at being put on the shelf, but overall Josie had had more than her share of violence and war, and was content riding the last few days of her service educating fresh eager recruits and busting delinquent ones.
To this day, however, her nerves tingled every time some asshole called an emergency meeting. She was tempted to duck out and take a nap. Pretend she missed the call entirely. Still, all-hands was all-hands, and she was never one to shirk duty. This time, it was from the high-and-mighty Keeper herself. Maybe it was good news for once. Maybe they were handing out bonuses and paid holidays.
Fat bloody chance.
Josie jammed the rest of the limp custard into her mouth and watched the steady flow of instructors, administrators and security personnel stream into the faculty lounge. She greeted everyone and made room at her table. Niko and Frieda, her two sergeants, sat down either side of her. They were joined a few moments later by Lauren, the Academy’s commandant, Genny the explosive weapons instructor, Ahman the military history professor and a few other faculty members. Makita Takeshi, the new Asian Relations instructor who had only arrived last week, walked into the lounge and stared at the remaining seat at the round table before retreating to the far corner.
Josie snorted. Asshole. Makita was awfully unfriendly for a communications expert. He had transferred in from the San Francisco Academy to take over Instructor Ying’s job, but if anything, Makita looked older than the person he replaced.
“Do you know what this is all about, Colonel?” asked Niko, peering at the blank three-dimensional screen floating at the front of the room.
Josie shrugged. “Who knows? Maybe we’ve unconditionally surrendered. Whatever it is, it’s probably not good.”
Niko ran his fingers through his thinning hair. “Damn, surrendering? I just renewed the lease on my condo.”
The room was abuzz as everyone floated their own theories. Half the room thought layoffs were coming, while the other half was pretty sure the war was back on. A few of the more panicked ones were positive Australia had just declared for Genjix, which meant every single person in the room was one step away from becoming a prisoner of war. Several bets were made. Alien World War II had ten-to-one odds.
Josie really didn’t care. She was weeks from retirement and walking away from all this. Even if an all-out war broke out tonight, she’d be fishing off the coast of Rottnest Island by the end of the month. Eventually, the lights dimmed and everyone settled into an anxious anticipation.
Jill Tesser Tan, the Keeper and current leader of the Prophus, appeared three-dimensionally in the air at the front of the lounge. Josie was pleasantly surprised. She could tell right away it was good news. She had spent the last years of the war working intelligence and had developed a keen eye for a person’s physical cues. She could predict almost exactly what someone was going to say simply by seeing how they stood, what they were doing with their hands, and how their eyes moved. The Keeper did not have the posture of someone who was about to send them all to war. She was relaxed, smiling, jovial almost, as if a great weight had been lifted off her shoulders.
“Oh my lord,” murmured Josie. “I think she’s out.”
“No way,” said Frieda. “The Prophus is like a gang. No one gets out alive.”
The Keeper began to speak. “Thank you everyone for attending on such short notice. Working and fighting alongside you has been the greatest honor of my life.” She hesitated, shook her head, and crumpled the paper in her hand. She tossed it aside. “This speech sucks. I had to scribble it down on the way from my office.”
A chorus of chuckles filled the faculty lounge.
“I consider you all family, so I’m not going to beat around the bush.” A smirk grew on Jill’s face. “I am officially stepping down as Keeper, effective immediately. Twenty-some odd years ago, the original Keeper asked me to take over the reins of the Prophus on an interim basis while her new host was literally learning how to ride a bike. Well, now Angie has grown to become a fine young woman and has proven herself a capable leader in her own right. The Prophus are in good hands for many years to come. As for me…” She grinned openly. “I have a ranch up in Oregon that needs attending. You are all invited to stop by once you retire, but not a day before.”
More laughter followed. A loud screech from the back of the lounge cut through...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Angry Robot
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2019
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0857667874
• ISBN 13: 9780857667878
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 416
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Angry Robot; https://www.angryrobotbooks.com; ; 19 CECIL COURT; LONDON; WC2N 4EZ; Vereinigtes Königreich
• Verantwortliche Person: Nicht verfügbar