ShadowTech

Chapter 2

Before we start…

Before we start…

The third book in a series‌—‌do you re-read the previous books, or trust that you’ll remember enough? Maybe a short recap will help.

Let’s start with Kaiahive‌—‌the company that is so large and powerful, it effectively runs everything. Its greatest achievement is the lattice‌—‌a tech layer that sits beneath the skin, enabling greater control of the body. It incorporates lenses over the eyes, which give night-vision and heads-up displays. It enables people to directly interface with various systems, so pilots can fly their craft ‘by thought’, and techs can access systems that run buildings without using any kind of keyboard or touch-screen.

KaiahiveIt also allows lattice-users to ‘suss’‌—‌a kind of telepathic communication. Any time you come across text , it’s people sussing. This can be tight (for person-to-person communication) or wide (for broadcasting, or group communication).

Sounds pretty good, right? But the company has a dark core. They’re constantly running dodgy experiments, looking to produce ‘the perfect human’‌—‌and they don’t care how many people die or get injured in the process.

At the start of Desert Bound, we’re introduced to a crew of five fugitives from Kaiahive. These are:

Desert BoundRyann. She’s the leader, purely because she’s the most senior. She struggles with her position, though‌—‌she cares deeply about the rest of her crew, but doesn’t always make the best decisions.

RyannBrice. He’s young, and bitter‌—‌especially after an accident plays havoc with his lattice. An expert has told him that his lattice is ‘becoming a part of him’, and he doesn’t seem to have active control over it. However, he can overhear susses, and even listen in to internal thoughts.

BriceDeva. Her lattice never took‌—‌it sits inside her, but doesn’t do anything. She’s learnt to cope, though, and she’s tough. She can talk her way out of most situations, and if that fails she falls back on her weapon-of-choice, her screwdriver.

DevaPiran. He’s a tech expert, and at the start of Desert Bound his lattice has been deactivated‌—‌which, for a tech, is like a painter losing the use of their hands. He gets his lattice re-started by a back-street hack, and finds it works better than before.

PiranDesert BoundKeelin. She’s a pilot, but Kaiahive used her in their NeoGen experiments, turning her into a monster. She’s far taller than average, has grey skin, a snout like a wolf, and retractable talons in her hands. She’s very strong and fast, and her mind works better than it used to. But her appearance forces her to hide away, and she’s very troubled by what she’s become.

KeelinOver Desert Bound, the crew are forced to find an old relic known as the Cyastone. This artefact is from the Ancients, a (possibly human) race that existed thousands of years ago.

Desert BoundCyastoneAncientsRumours say the Ancients are going to return. Kaiahive see this as a threat, and want to learn all they can in preparation, so they want the Cyastone for themselves.

Then there are the Heralds, a quasi-religious group who believe the Ancients will be the saviours of humanity‌—‌so they want the Cyastone to stay out of Kaiahive’s hands.

HeraldsIt doesn’t end there. Ryann falls in with a character called Annys Reid, who has a colour-changing assistant called Tallia. They’re part of the Collective, a shadowy organisation with people in high places. They disagree with both Kaiahive and the Heralds, and want a more measured approach to the Ancients’ return. Naturally, they want to keep the Cyastone away from their rivals.

Annys ReidTalliaCollectiveDesert Bound ends with a chaotic struggle to take the Cyastone‌—‌chases through the desert city’s streets, a battle in a hidden building, Keelin going full beast-mode. The crew get the Cyastone, and fly off into the distance.

Desert BoundBut they’re not free yet. Subtle Weapon starts with them being forced down on an island, in an extinct volcano’s crater. The island’s supposed to be uninhabited, but when Ryann, Piran and Brice explore they’re captured by Kaiahive, and taken to the company’s secret base. Meanwhile, Keelin and Deva climb out of the crater, fight their way through Kaiahive guards on the crater rim, and fall in with another group of people.

Subtle WeaponThis group turns out to be more Heralds, but unlike those in Desert Bound these seem okay, and Keelin and Deva reluctantly join their fight against the Kaiahive. Deva shows off her mechanical skills, and Keelin pulls off some fancy flying. They’re accepted by Chiron Blake, the leader of the Heralds’ base, and his assistant Lise. Deva also gets to know a young tech/mech guy called Wrench.

Desert BoundThe Heralds mount an attack on the Kaiahive base, but it doesn’t go well. Somehow (insider knowledge?) the company know about the attack, and counter hard, forcing the Heralds to retreat. They then attack the Heralds’ base, and Deva ends up escaping in the Heralds’ submarines.

And what of the captives?

Piran is forced to work for the company. The Kaiahive boss, Macklyn Grivas, wants him to uncover the secrets of another Ancients’ relic, a supposed weapon they call the Caduceus (Piran calls it the doofus). He assigns a woman called Casey to supervise Piran.

Macklyn GrivasCaduceusCaseyHe goes deep into the Ancients’ tech, working out that the code in the relic can be used to influence and manipulate. After hacking into the base’s system and accessing his crew-mate’s cells, Piran uses the new code on Brice, but Brice’s lattice pushes back hard. He then tries on Ryann, when she’s in trouble.

Macklyn’s put her to work on a dig, deep in the bowels of the base. But an earthquake disrupts the work‌—‌and opens up a way into the tunnels that riddle the crater. Ryann sees a chance to escape. She doesn’t want to leave without her crew, but her hand is forced, though, when she gets in a fight with a couple of guards‌—‌and it’s here that Piran uses the Ancients’ code to influence her. Ryann kills the guards before escaping into the tunnels.

Once out of the base, she’s reunited with Keelin (who was forced to bring her craft down in a controlled crash). They discover another craft and fly away from the island.

And Brice? Kaiahive want to understand what’s happening with his lattice, so they plant another ‘prisoner’ in his cell, a woman called Fen. She encourages Brice to escape (to show what he’s capable of), but he overhears her private conversations with Macklyn. His lattice also forges a bridge with the base’s system, and when he follows Fen on her fake escape plan, he uses this link to get away from her and the Kaiahive agents laying in wait. He gets back to the crew’s ransacked craft, finds the bag containing the Cyastone, and climbs out of the volcano crater.

FenSo the crew are split up. Deva’s with the Heralds. Piran’s still a prisoner of Kaiahive. Ryann and Keelin are flying away from the island. And Brice is still there, in possession of the Cyastone.

Which brings us to the third book, Hostile Alliances.

Hostile Alliances