Macaque Attack
PRAISE FOR THE ACK-ACK MACAQUE TRILOGY
“A mind-expanding cyber-thriller” –
The Guardian
“More fun than a barrel of steampunk monkeys” –
Milwaukee Journal
“As much utterly irresponsible fun as you could hope to have with a monkey without having to explain yourself to the police.” –
SF Reviews
“Fizzes with wild ideas... A ripping yarn about murder, mayhem and monkeys” – Philip Reeve, author of
Mortal Engines
“An action-adventure plot that pulls you right along... Everybody loves the monkey.” –
Steampunk Magazine
“A highly enjoyable romp with page-turning action” –
Interzone Magazine
“The much-anticipated ‘monkeypunk’ novel” –
SFX Magazine
“Hit after hit after hit, until the reader is left breathless, reeling slightly and in severe need of a banana daiquiri.”10/10 -
Fantasy Faction
“Ridiculously readable, thoroughly entertaining, and packed full of ideas.” –
SFFWorld
“A rollicking, madcap sci-fi adventure story, it’s a thoughtful novel and it’s got a monkey with a gun. What’s not to love?” –
Cult Den
“Without a doubt, one of the best reads I’ve enjoyed in a long, long time.” –
SpecFiction
“Shows just what is possible by combining new idea and creating a unique world... Gareth L. Powell will be an author to look out for.” –
Fantasy Book Review
“Powerful, intelligent, filled with ideas, clever touches and brilliant characters.” –
Morpheus Tales
“I can’t recommend this highly enough. I didn’t just like this, I loved it. –
The Eloquent Page
“An entertaining read, one that is engaging, effectively written, and just damned good fun.” –
Parallaxed Journal
“Make sure you don’t miss these amazing books.” –
The Book Plank
“The most fun I’ve had with a novel in quite a long time and you need to read it too, trust me.” – Dave Hutchinson author of
Europe in Autumn
“Great fun” – Adam Roberts author of
Jack Glass
“Ack-Ack is an inspired creation, a monkey with attitude, issues and a hole where his heart should be... riotous fun.” –
The Guardian
Also by Gareth L. Powell
Hive Monkey
Ack-Ack Macaque
The Recollection
Silversands
The Last Reef
First published 2014 by Solaris
an imprint of Rebellion Publishing Ltd,
Riverside House, Osney Mead,
Oxford, OX2 0ES, UK
www.solarisbooks.com
ISBN: 978-1-84997-881-1
Copyright © Gareth L. Powell 2014
Cover by Jake Murray
The right of the author to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of he copyright owners.
This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental.
For my sister, Rebecca, with thanks.
In September 1956, France found herself facing economic difficulties at home and an escalating crisis in Suez. In desperation, the French Prime Minister came to London with an audacious proposition for Sir Anthony Eden: a political and economic union between the United Kingdom and France, with Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II as the new head of the French state.
Although Eden greeted the idea with scepticism, a resounding Anglo-French victory against Egypt persuaded his successor to accept and, despite disapproving noises from both Washington and Moscow, Harold Macmillan and Charles de Gaulle eventually signed the Declaration of Union on 29th November 1959, thereby laying the foundations for a wider European commonwealth.
And now, one hundred years have passed...
PART ONE
PERSONAL FRANKENSTEIN
Of all the animals, man is the only one that is cruel. He is the only one that inflicts pain for the pleasure of doing it.
(Mark Twain,
The Lowest Animal
)
BREAKING NEWS
From
B&FBC NEWS ONLINE:
KING TO MARK SECOND ANNIVERSARY OF INVASION
LONDON 15/11/ 2062 – A service of remembrance will be held in Parliament Square tomorrow to mark the second anniversary of the Gestalt Invasion.
During the invasion, heavily armed airships appeared over major cities across the globe, and government buildings and seats of power were destroyed in an attempt to ‘decapitate’ international society. The Gestalt were eventually beaten, but not before thousands of civilians and military personnel lost their lives.
His Majesty, King Merovech I, ruler of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, France, Ireland and Norway, will dedicate a memorial to those who died in London, including his fiancée, Julie Girard, Princess of Normandy. Similar services will be held simultaneously in Cardiff, Oslo, Manchester, Dublin, and Paris.
Two years on from the events of 16th November 2060, the whereabouts of those responsible for halting the invasion remains a mystery. Captain Valois and the crew of her skyliner, the
Tereshkova
—including the famed monkey pilot, Ack-Ack Macaque—vanished shortly after defeating the Gestalt forces in the skies above the British capital. It is believed they may have used the hive mind’s own machinery to ‘jump’ to a parallel dimension.
Whether they went to avenge the attack, or on some other undisclosed quest, their fate remains unknown.
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CHAPTER ONE
INSTANT KARMA
“A
RE YOU SURE
we should be doing this?” The driver’s sharp green eyes met Victoria’s in the rearview mirror and she looked away, twisting her gloved hands in her lap. She was being driven through Paris in a shiny black Mercedes. The parked cars, buildings and skeletal linden trees were bright and crisp beneath the winter sun.
“I think so.”
At the wheel, K8 shrugged. She was nineteen years old, with cropped copper hair and a smart white suit.
“Only...”
Victoria frowned, and brushed a speck of dust from the knee of her black trousers.
“Only what?”
“Should it be you that does it? Maybe somebody else—”
“She won’t listen to anybody else.”
“You don’t know that for sure.”
“I really do.”
They passed across the Pont Neuf. Sunlight glittered off the waters of the Seine. The towers of Notre Dame stood resolute against the sky, their solidity a direct counterpoint to the ephemeral advertising holograms that stepped and swaggered above the city’s boulevards and streets.
“Look,” Victoria said apologetically, “I didn’t mean to be snappy. I really appreciate you coming along. I know things haven’t been easy for you recently.”