ShadowTech

Chapter 2

Previously…

Previously…

If you’re anything like me, it can be months (or even years) between reading books in a series. Too often, I’ve forgotten important details from the previous book. I could re-read the whole series, but who has time for that? Maybe the new book has a few useful reminders, but that’s never a given.

I don’t want you confused as you read Subtle Weapon, so here’s a quick run-down of the important stuff from the first book in the series.

Subtle WeaponI wanted to start Desert Bound with an action sequence, so the book jumps straight in with the crew breaking their commander, Ryann, free from prison. It also introduces the characters one by one (because throwing five important characters into the first scene would be tricky). There’s Piran, the tech guy who veers between being a nervous wreck and annoyingly cocky. There’s Deva, petite but tough, always with her weapon of choice‌—‌her screwdriver. There’s Brice, distant and a shade arrogant, but very physical (he thinks nothing of leaping from moving vehicles). There’s Keelin, the crew’s pilot (more on her later). And there’s Ryann, their commander because she has seniority, but constantly worried that she can’t live up to the position, that she’s letting her crew down.

Desert BoundWith Ryann freed, the crew get suckered into taking a job for a local crime boss (Porfirio Fay‌—‌a nasty piece of work who can’t be trusted). This involves searching for an Ancient relic, the Cyastone.

Nobody’s quite sure if the Ancients are/were human or alien, but they disappeared thousands of years ago, leaving ruins, relics, and hints at their incredible technology. The company (Kaiahive) use technology gleaned from these artefacts, most notably in the creation of a thing called a lattice.

Most people now have a lattice (especially those who work for Kaiahive‌—‌which, considering their size, is a hell of a lot of people). It sits beneath a person’s skin, connected to body and mind. Lattices can be tweaked to emphasise individual strengths. Some tweaks give greater control of the body. Others enhance the senses, enabling people to become trackers. The lattice (and, by extension, the person) can connect to external systems‌—‌systems running buildings, library databases, hand-held terminals and so on. Using this connectivity, pilots like Keelin can fly without having to use any external controls. In effect, they become the craft, controlling it with their mind, even feeling the air rushing past on their skin via sensors on the hull.

The lattice also allows sussing, which is something like tech-driven telepathy. This can be tight (for person-to-person communication) or wide (for communicating in or with a group). If you come across any text it indicates sussing.

At the start of Desert Bound, Ryann is the only member of the crew who has a ‘normal’ lattice, and hers is tweaked for tracking. Deva’s lattice never ‘took’, meaning she can’t use it‌—‌she’s ‘dark’ (and those who are ‘dark’ are seen by many as lesser beings). Brice’s was tweaked for physicality, but an accident meant it started playing up‌—‌he can’t suss, but he can hear the sussing of others, even if they’re on tight communication. He is also more attuned to his body, capable of more than he should be. Kaiahive often refers to him as the Anomaly.

Desert BoundPiran’s lattice has been turned off (which, for a tech expert, is like having his limbs removed), but in Desert Bound he gets it restarted by a back-street lattice tech. And it seems to work better than it did before. Piran reckons Kaiahive purposely limit lattices in most people, especially those who might become a threat to them.

Kaiahive’s experiments continue. One of their darker projects created NeoGens‌—‌fast, strong and smart, but also far larger than an average person, with grey, leathery skin, a wolf-like snout, and retractable talons in their fingers. Kaiahive wanted super-warriors, but created monsters.

Keelin’s one of these NeoGens. It’s why she hides away on the craft. She can’t risk going out unless she covers herself from head to toe, and even then her height would draw attention. She’s not happy with the situation, and Ryann wants to find someone to reverse the process‌—‌if such a thing is even possible. Keelin doesn’t believe it is.

The crew all used to work for Kaiahive, but through various events (which are detailed in the prequel series to this one, Shadows) they are now on the run. If the company finds them, they’ll either be killed, or captured and tortured. Yeah, Kaiahive definitely has a dark core. In Desert Bound, they’re the bad guys.

They also believe that the Ancients are returning to destroy humanity. So Kaiahive’s developing weapons, using tech pulled from the relics the Ancients left behind. They see themselves as the protectors of humanity.

But they’re not the only ones who believe in the return of the Ancients. The Heralds, a quasi-religious group, believe that the Ancients, far from being oppressors, will be the saviours of humanity. The Heralds want to welcome them with open arms‌—‌and so they’re opposed to Kaiahive’s search for more relics. They’ll do anything they can to stop the company. If there’s a relic around, the Heralds want to take it for themselves.

You can guess where this is leading. The crew are after this Cyastone, but so are Kaiahive and the Heralds.

And, to throw a spanner in the works, there’s a third group. Ryann meets a mysterious character called Annys Reid, who believes that both Kaiahive and the Heralds are wrong. Annys and her colleagues don’t want to antagonise the Ancients, nor do they want to welcome them so openly. So they want the Cyastone for themselves too.

Yep, this is getting complicated. Brice thinks the steal-the-relic job is going to get the crew killed, and he runs off at one point. Ryann convinces him to return (telling him that she needs someone to look after Deva, as he’s got a soft-spot for her), so he’s back for the chaotic finale.

And it’s definitely chaotic. We have Piran faking an emergency in a museum, and disabling craft with his tech know-how. We have Deva getting trapped by Heralds on a moving lorry, chases through the city, and a three-way battle between Kaiahive, the Heralds and Porfirio Fay’s people. We have Keelin going full beast-mode, slaughtering company agents as she rescues Ryann and Annys (and the Cyastone). We have Brice and Deva leaping from moving vehicles that are under fire. And, at the end, the crew escape, with the Cyastone. They fly off, into the desert.

But others still want the relic. And Kaiahive still wants the crew. They’re arguably in a worse position now than they were at the beginning of the book.

Which brings us to the start of Subtle Weapon‌…

Subtle Weapon