Macaque Attack Read Online Free PDF

incoming fire .”
    “You want us to plot a course back to Kishkindha?”
    Ack-Ack Macaque let his shoulders and cigar droop.
    “If you must.”
     
     
    M EANWHILE, AS THE Sun Wukong crossed the coast of France, Victoria stood on the verandah inside the airship’s glass nose. Paul’s image stood beside her. Together, they watched the craft’s shadow pass over the white waves and yellow beaches of the Normandy shore, and Victoria caught herself wondering how many human bones lay forever buried in those deceptively welcoming sands. Was there anywhere in Europe that hadn’t been a battlefield at least once? She squeezed the verandah’s bamboo rail. Behind her, in the potted forest, birds chirped and squawked.
    “So,” she said.
    Paul gave her a sideways glance. “So?”
    “This forgetfulness...”
    He made a face. “I know what you’re going to say.”
    “You’re supposed to be running this ship.”
    “I know, I know.” He looked down at his red baseball boots, and rubbed the side of his nose with the index finger of his right hand. “It’s just, I get these headaches.”
    Victoria blew air through pursed lips. “ Merde. ”
    “What?”
    “You’re the expert, you tell me.”
    Paul looked up at the sky. “You think I’m de-cohering?”
    “You’ve lasted a lot longer than most.”
    He sighed. “Maybe you’re right.”
    “Seriously?”
    “Don’t think it hasn’t occurred to me. Don’t think that, since I found I was a back-up, I haven’t thought about it every single minute of every single day.” He waved his arms in exasperation. “How do you think it feels to realise you have a built-in expiry date?”
    Victoria watched as his image walked to the wrought iron table and appeared to flop onto one of its attendant chairs.
    “What can we do?” she asked.
    He gave an angry shrug. “How the hell would I know?”
    “You know more than most.”
    “Still not enough.”
    They fell silent. Below, the beaches had given way to brown fields and winding lanes.
    “I don’t want to do it,” Victoria said quietly, “but, if you need me to, I can always switch you off, permanently.”
    Paul’s eyes widened. “No. No, absolutely not. Why would you say that?”
    She walked over and crouched in front of him, wishing she could take his hand in hers.
    “Then, I’ll be here for you,” she promised, “as long as you need me.”
    Paul looked down at her. His forehead wrinkled. “Do I sense a ‘but’?”
    Victoria rocked backwards on her heels. “But I think we should disengage you from some of the airship’s more vital systems.”
    She let out a breath.
    There, I’ve said it.
    The apparition on the chair blinked at her from behind his spectacles. “You think I can’t handle this?”
    “It doesn’t matter what I think.”
    “Of course it does.” He leaned forward. “Vicky, I need to know that you believe in me.”
    “Of course I believe in you.” She felt flustered. “But you’ve lasted so long, so much longer than anybody else in your position. I just—”
    “What?”
    “I think we need to take precautions.”
    His chin dropped to his chest, and his eyes closed. When he finally spoke, his voice was small and tired. “Look, I know you’re right. But, not just yet, okay?”
    “Then, when?”
    He raised his eyes to her. “I don’t know. I want to be useful. I know I’m deteriorating, but there’s something I want to do first, before...” He coughed, stumbling over his words. “Before the end.”
    “What?”
    “It’s a surprise. I just need a bit of time. Can you give me that?”
    Hands pressing on her thighs, Victoria pushed herself back up onto her feet. “I don’t know. If you start to—”
    “If I endanger the ship, you can cut me out of the loop. I’ll rig up a protocol.”
    She chewed her lower lip. The Sun Wukong was a monster: two thousand metres of gasbags, aluminium struts and thick armour plating, powered by dozens of nuclear-electric turbines. If something went