''Again?''
''Oh, I was there. Long time ago. Before you were born. If I could call anywhere home, that's it.''
''Maybe we'll run into each other there, sometime.''
''That would be nice, I think.''
''I'm down Luxor way.''
''I like Luxor.''
Bast the cat let out an impatient meow.
''All right, little one, all right,'' the old man said, picking her up and stroking her. ''Let's move on then, if you insist. No manners, cats,'' he said to David. ''They do as they please. Mind you, they let you do the same. They don't judge. They don't make demands. That's why I like them.''
He held out a hand to David.
''Nice chatting with you,'' he said, as David grasped and shook it. ''And don't forget what I said. It's not hopeless. This age we're in - the age of Ra, I suppose you could call it - it won't last. The time has to come when an age of wisdom and clarity takes over, an age of Reason. We just have to keep hoping and trying, and it will happen.''
He shuffled away, petting his cat. David watched him and watched him till he was a dot at the far end of the beach.
He didn't know what to make of the encounter, or of the man himself. Crazy tramp with delusions of having been some sort of dignitary once? Eccentric ex-dignitary with delusions of being a tramp? Who could say?
The wind continued to bluster and the waves to crash, and the glitter of sunlight on the sea deepened from platinum to gold. David kept wanting to turn and head for the house, but his feet seemed entrenched in the pebbles, stuck fast. The tide crawled in. The day ebbed.
Soon the sky was red and the sun was setting.
David thought of Ra on his barge, and Set slaying Apophis.
And then, with an effort, but not a great one, he banished the thought.
And the sun went down like...
... like...
... like the sun going down.
Acknowledgements
I'd like to thank many of the usual suspects. The author friends who've shared thoughts, ideas, jokes, whinge sessions, alcohol, and games of online Scrabble with me: Keith Brooke, Eric Brown, Pete Crowther, Roger Levy, Adam Roberts, not forgetting the mighty Vole Pogrom. The non-author friends who've done much the same, especially Ariel, Beak, Chris, Johnny, Larry, Ron, and Tim. The brilliant blokes at Solaris - George, Christian, Mark - for giving me this opportunity. And Lou, of course, for the continuing love, support, and inspiration.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
James Lovegrove published his first novel at the age of 24 and has since had more than 20 books out, including The Hope, Escardy Gap (co-written with Peter Crowther), Days, The Foreigners, How The Other Half Lives, Untied Kingdom, Imagined Slights, Worldstorm, Gig and Provender Gleed. His short fiction has appeared in magazines as diverse as Interzone and Nature and in numerous anthologies. He has written extensively for reluctant readers, with titles such as Wings, The House of Lazarus, Ant God, Cold Keep, Kill Swap and Dead Brigade. He has also produced a sequence of teen fantasy novels, the Clouded World series, under the pseudonym Jay Amory. He is a regular reviewer of fiction for the Financial Times and lives in Eastbourne on the south coast of England with his wife Lou, sons Monty and Theo, and cat Ozzy.
OTHER EBOOKS FROM ABADDON
PAX BRITANNIA
Unnatural History, El Sombra, Leviathan Rising, Human Nature
THE AFTERBLIGHT CHRONICLES
The Culled, Kill or Cure, School's Out, Dawn Over Doomsday, Arrowhead, Operation Motherland
TOMES OF THE DEAD
Death Hulk, The Words of their Roaring, The Devil's Plague, I,Zombie, Anno Mortis
TWILIGHT OF KERBEROS
Shadowmage, The Clockwork King of Orl, The Light of Heaven, Night's Haunting
DREAMS OF INAN
A Kind of Peace, Stealing Life, The Worm that wasn't
SNIPER ELITE
Spear of Destiny
2000 AD NOVELS
A.B.C Warriors
The Medusa War, Rage against the Machines
ANDERSON PSI DIVISION
Fear the Darkness, Red Shadows, Sins of the Father
CABALLISTICS, INC.
Hell on Earth, Better the Devil
DURHAM RED
The Unquiet Grave, The Omega Solution, The Encoded Heart, Manticore Reborn, Black Dawn
FIENDS OF THE EASTERN FRONT
Operation Vampyr, Blood Red Army, Twilight of the Dead, Fiends of the Rising Sun
JUDGE DREDD
Dredd VS Death, Bad Moon Rising, Black Atlantic, Eclipse, Kingdon of the Blind, The Final Cut, Swine Fever, Whiteout, Psykogeddon
NIKOLAI DANTE
The Strangelove Gambit, Imperial Black, Honour be Damned!
ROGUE TROOPER
Crucible, Blood Relative, The Quartz Massacre
SLÁINE
The Exile, The Defiler
STRONTIUM DOG
Bad Timing, Prophet Margin, Ruthless, Day of the Dogs, A Fistful of Strontium
Visit www.abaddonbooks.com to buy any of these titles or for more information.
DEATH GOT NO MERCY
Al Ewing
This ain’t a complicated story, but then Cade wasn’t a complicated man. He didn’t exactly care about people, did Cade, but if one of the people he almost cared about was in trouble, he’d help out if he could. If that meant heading down to San Francisco – even though nobody ever came back from there alive – well, fine. If that meant taking on whole armies of religious maniacs, coupon-clipping cannibals and helter-skelter hippies who dealt out free love and fast death in equal measure, armed with nothing but his two fists and a decent hunting knife… well, I’m kind of runnin’ my mouth here. This ain’t a peaceful story, is what I’m tryin’ to say. And Cade… Cade wasn’t a peaceful man.
The Afterblight Chronicles is an exciting series of high-action post-apocalypse fiction set in a world ruled by crazed gangs and strange cults. Also available in the series: The Culled, Kill or Cure, School’s Out, Dawn over Doomsday, Arrowhead, Operation Motherland.
ABADDON BOOKS
[email protected]
www.abaddonbooks.com
EVOLUTION EXPECTS
Jonathan Green
After more than 150 years as the supreme power on the planet, the British Empire has become a corpulent, stagnating monster. At its heart lies Londinium Maximum, a city under a near-permanent cloud of noxious Smog. More than ever, the realm of Magna Britannia needs a saviour – a man like new Prime Minister, Devlin Valentine. But while London prepares for the launch of the Jupiter Station there are those who want this longed-for change to come about more quickly, people who are prepared to give evolution a helping hand. When a deadly legacy returns, Ulysses Quicksilver finds himself drawn into that pit of despair known as Bedlam. With a dangerous masked vigilante stalking the streets, a monster from Jewish myth on the loose in the East End and rival gangs fighting for control of the city’s underworld there may be nothing Ulysses can do to prevent a catastrophic metamorphosis!
Pax Britannia is an exciting new Science Fiction series, set on an alternative Earth where the British Empire still reigns and steam technology rules. Also available in the series: Unnatural History, El Sombra, Leviathan Rising, Human Nature.
ABADDON BOOKS
[email protected]
www.abaddonbooks.com
SHADOWMAGE
Matthew Sprange
Lucius Kane was forced to flee Turnitia when the Vos Empire destroyed his home and his family. Now, many years later, he returns to the city that once held him safe. Here he finds a new trade and joins up with the Hands, a thieves guild run with precision and economy by a master of his craft. But Lucius is so much more than a mere thief. He is a Shadowmage!
These practitioners of magic and subterfuge are master infiltrators, spies, scouts… and assassins. Now Lucius finds his loyalty torn between the Hands and his mentor in the secret society of Shadowmages. And when a war erupts between the thieves guilds that threatens to was
h the streets of Turnitia with blood, Lucius must decide where his loyalties lie while mastering his burgeoning powers!
Twilight of Kerberos is an exciting new sword and sorcery series following the adventures of a group of characters with extraordinary talents.
ABADDON BOOKS
[email protected]
www.abaddonbooks.com
NIGHT'S HAUNTING
Matthew Sprange
Thief and Shadowmage, Lucius Kane, has found that his influence and power in the underworld of Turnitia has grown. The thieves’ guild is prosperous, and his magical skills have proved a great asset to his peers. His prospects seem boundless, until the Empire of Vos descends upon the City.
Soldiers fill the streets and a new cleric has taken command of the souls of Turnitia’s citizens. This strange priest has promised to eradicate the thieves’ guild, as well as outlaw unlicensed magic – and the pagan Shadowmages are at the top of his list.
Lucius will come to realise that, once again, a war in the streets of his city must be fought...
A BRAND NEW Lucius Kane Adventure! Also available in the series: Shadowmage, The clockwork king of Orl, The light of heaven, The Crucible of the dragon god, The call of Kerberos.
ABADDON BOOKS
[email protected]
www.abaddonbooks.com
Title
Indicia
Authors Note
1. Petra
2. Epoxy
3. West
4. Steven
5. Ra
6. Caravan
7. Zafirah
8. Luxor
9. Palace
10. Lightbringer
11. Amulets
12. Aegean
13. Cache
14. Relations
15. Sortie
16. Fraternity
17. Airstrike
18. Anubis
19. Sheepdogs
20. Mummies
21. Anubians
22. Godsend
23. Nephthys
24. Nonomura
25. Bombardment
26. Armed
27. Megiddo
28. Barque
29. Delirious
30. Terebinth
31. Influence
32. Refuge
33. Revelation
34. Beast
35. Typhons
36. Set
37. Gavrilenko
38. Detainees
39. Courtdene
Acknowledgements + Bio
Other Books from Abaddon
AD - Death Got No Mercy
AD - Evolution Expects
AD - Shadowmage
AD - Night's Haunting
The Age of Ra Page 30