Nexus by Scott Westerfeld & Margo Lanagan & Deborah Biancotti

Author:Scott Westerfeld & Margo Lanagan & Deborah Biancotti
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Published: 2017-09-12T04:00:00+00:00

‘TWO GLORIOUS LEADERS.’ THIS WAS RIGHT OUT OF ONE OF ETHAN’S NIGHTMARES. ‘Are you sure she’s like you?’

Nate nodded. ‘She’s not just like me, she’s…better. She guided a parade up to our front door to say hello.’

Glorious Leader, admitting that someone was more awesome than him? Ethan’s spine chill was getting worse by the second.

‘But how did she find this place?’

‘She’s got this town locked down.’ Nate turned to Kelsie and Chizara on the couch. ‘One of those Crashes you met can scoop the data out of phones. Not just calls – location tracking too.’

‘Whoa,’ Chizara said. ‘That’s some serious code, right there.’

Ethan stared out the window into the dark night. Were Piper’s forces gathering out there right now, ready to strike?

‘Should we be running?’ he asked.

‘She’s got bigger things to worry about than us.’ Nate flashed a thousand-watt smile. ‘She was just welcoming the Cambria Five to town. We’re famous!’

Kelsie groaned softly at this, and Ethan felt the pulse of her anguish in the wash of Nate’s excitement. She must hate the idea that Zeroes everywhere were terrified of her – of what she might become.

‘What bigger things?’ Flicker asked.

Yeah, that was the question, Ethan thought. What sort of multi-Bellwether nightmare had Nate dragged them all into?

And not just Nate – Ethan had himself to blame too. He had actually voted for coming to New Orleans. Why had he done that, again?

Two words: Sonia Sonic.

‘Piper won’t tell me her plans – yet.’ Nate smiled again.

Ethan cringed. Hadn’t Sonia said something about Piper hating normals? That didn’t sound like the jumping-off point for a very happy plan. But he couldn’t bring that up without mentioning his secret rendezvous.

‘Next time you guys hang out, ask about the big machine they’re building,’ Chizara said. ‘It’s dressed up like a float, which means they’re going to use it during Mardi Gras.’

‘Tell me everything,’ Nate said.

As Chizara described her time with the Crashes yet again, Nate sat on the edge of an ottoman, fingers steepled and elbows on bouncing knees. Ethan figured he was hyped up about meeting another version of himself, presumably one of his longtime dreams. His Bellwether power had everyone else wrapped up, but Ethan wrenched his gaze away, lingering on the darkness outside.

The thought of all those red pins in a map was just plain creepy. Zeroes were dying on a regular basis in this town, and Ethan himself had almost gotten snatched by the feds today.

His voice might have saved him by scaring off Verity, but it had scared him, too.

What had it been talking about, with all that omniscience crap? Was Ethan just a random meat puppet for some all-knowing brain somewhere? That was a fricking terrifying idea.

Nate leaned forward as Chizara wound down. ‘If Mardi Gras is when this all goes down, we only have a few days to get up to speed.’

‘Less,’ Flicker said. ‘We found out something at the FBI office.’

‘A map of death!’ Ethan cried.

‘Something worse,’ came from the corner.

Right. Thibault was here.

‘There’s some kind of FBI operation happening tomorrow,’ Tee said.

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