protruding from jacks in the creature’s skull.
“This thing must be wired straight into the game.”
Frank gave him a blank look. Merovech picked a syringe from a kidney dish on a side table. He thought of his own experiences in the clinic on the seventh floor, and the stultifying ambassadorial reception he’d attended earlier that evening. He sympathised with the creature. He knew what it was to be held in place, trapped by forces you were powerless to resist, and compelled to play a part chosen for you by somebody else.
He bent close. The animal smelled sourly of sweat, stale piss and dirty hair. The bulges beneath the skin of its skull were most likely gelware processors.
“They’ve taken a monkey and made it intelligent by adding extra brainpower.” He looked up as Julie pushed through the door, a sheaf of computer printout in her hand. “The question is, what are we going to do about it?”
Frank threw up his hands.
“‘Do about it?’ We do nothing, of course! I did not come here for a monkey!”
Merovech shot him a glare.
“I wasn’t talking to you.” Slowly, he reached out and brushed the animal’s fur. He’d been expecting the hairs to be coarse, but they were much softer than he’d imagined.
“You came here wanting to free a thinking being,” he said to Julie. “Well, I think I’ve you found one.”
BREAKING NEWS
From The New York Times , online edition:
Beijing Sends Tough Message as Hong Kong Military Exercise Provokes Hostility
23 N OVEMBER , 2059 – As talks to decide the future sovereignty of Hong Kong flounder, Beijing demands an end to Franco-British naval exercises in the South China Sea.
Hong Kong has been under the control of the United Kingdom since it was ceded to the British at the end of the First Opium War in 1841. Since then, it has become one of the world’s most important centres of trade.
Talks to return the area to Chinese control began in 1995 but were abandoned in 1997 when an agreement could not be reached.
This latest round of talks began following the Chinese invasion of Taiwan in 2045, and has been seen by most commentators as a last ditch attempt by both London and Beijing to resolve the situation without conflict.
Now that the talks have apparently failed, tensions in the area are at breaking point.
This morning, the Chinese government condemned an ongoing exercise by the combined Franco-British navy as “naked provocation.”
So far, there has been no official response from London, but it is believed that the Prime Minister has cut short his visit to Berlin, and will address the House of Commons later this evening.
As the crisis mounts, China is rumoured to be planning its own exercise in the area on Monday.
Read more | Like | Comment | Share
Related Stories
Indian and Pakistani troops clash in disputed border region
Chinese taikonauts complete successful Moon orbit
Where’s the monkey? Online gamers complain
Dutch neurologist reported missing
Mexico in “secret talks” to join United States?
Céleste Tech readies “light sail” probe for flight to Mars
New find brings total number of potentially habitable exoplanets to 7
Police play down talk of brain-stealing serial killer after another body discovered in London
CHAPTER SEVEN
STARS LIKE GLITTER
T HE HELICOPTER’S ENGINE failed on a routine ship-to-ship transfer. Strapped into a chair beside the Prince, Victoria felt her stomach lurch as the cabin seemed to surge upwards.
She was the only journalist on the flight, and she’d fought hard to be there, to get exclusive coverage of the final days of Merovech’s year-long National Service. Now, warning lights flashed and sirens wailed. The cabin tipped sideways and down, and her stomach flipped again. Beside her, the Prince pressed his face to the window.
“We’re still over the water.” He sounded more startled than
“This thing must be wired straight into the game.”
Frank gave him a blank look. Merovech picked a syringe from a kidney dish on a side table. He thought of his own experiences in the clinic on the seventh floor, and the stultifying ambassadorial reception he’d attended earlier that evening. He sympathised with the creature. He knew what it was to be held in place, trapped by forces you were powerless to resist, and compelled to play a part chosen for you by somebody else.
He bent close. The animal smelled sourly of sweat, stale piss and dirty hair. The bulges beneath the skin of its skull were most likely gelware processors.
“They’ve taken a monkey and made it intelligent by adding extra brainpower.” He looked up as Julie pushed through the door, a sheaf of computer printout in her hand. “The question is, what are we going to do about it?”
Frank threw up his hands.
“‘Do about it?’ We do nothing, of course! I did not come here for a monkey!”
Merovech shot him a glare.
“I wasn’t talking to you.” Slowly, he reached out and brushed the animal’s fur. He’d been expecting the hairs to be coarse, but they were much softer than he’d imagined.
“You came here wanting to free a thinking being,” he said to Julie. “Well, I think I’ve you found one.”
BREAKING NEWS
From The New York Times , online edition:
Beijing Sends Tough Message as Hong Kong Military Exercise Provokes Hostility
23 N OVEMBER , 2059 – As talks to decide the future sovereignty of Hong Kong flounder, Beijing demands an end to Franco-British naval exercises in the South China Sea.
Hong Kong has been under the control of the United Kingdom since it was ceded to the British at the end of the First Opium War in 1841. Since then, it has become one of the world’s most important centres of trade.
Talks to return the area to Chinese control began in 1995 but were abandoned in 1997 when an agreement could not be reached.
This latest round of talks began following the Chinese invasion of Taiwan in 2045, and has been seen by most commentators as a last ditch attempt by both London and Beijing to resolve the situation without conflict.
Now that the talks have apparently failed, tensions in the area are at breaking point.
This morning, the Chinese government condemned an ongoing exercise by the combined Franco-British navy as “naked provocation.”
So far, there has been no official response from London, but it is believed that the Prime Minister has cut short his visit to Berlin, and will address the House of Commons later this evening.
As the crisis mounts, China is rumoured to be planning its own exercise in the area on Monday.
Read more | Like | Comment | Share
Related Stories
Indian and Pakistani troops clash in disputed border region
Chinese taikonauts complete successful Moon orbit
Where’s the monkey? Online gamers complain
Dutch neurologist reported missing
Mexico in “secret talks” to join United States?
Céleste Tech readies “light sail” probe for flight to Mars
New find brings total number of potentially habitable exoplanets to 7
Police play down talk of brain-stealing serial killer after another body discovered in London
CHAPTER SEVEN
STARS LIKE GLITTER
T HE HELICOPTER’S ENGINE failed on a routine ship-to-ship transfer. Strapped into a chair beside the Prince, Victoria felt her stomach lurch as the cabin seemed to surge upwards.
She was the only journalist on the flight, and she’d fought hard to be there, to get exclusive coverage of the final days of Merovech’s year-long National Service. Now, warning lights flashed and sirens wailed. The cabin tipped sideways and down, and her stomach flipped again. Beside her, the Prince pressed his face to the window.
“We’re still over the water.” He sounded more startled than
Similar Books
The Infinite Tides
Christian Kiefer
Wonder (Insanity Book 5)
Cameron Jace
Eye to Eye: Ashton Ford, Psychic Detective
Don Pendleton
Narrow Minds
Marie Browne
Against Nature
Joris-Karl Huysmans
Private 8 - Revelation
Private 8 Revelation
Failure is Fatal
Lesley A. Diehl
Blinding Fear
Bruce Roland
The Book of Ghosts
Reed Farrel Coleman