The Long Forever. Eugene Lambert
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First published in Great Britain in 2018 by Electric Monkey,
an imprint of Egmont UK Limited
The Yellow Building, 1 Nicholas Road, London W11 4AN
Text copyright © 2018 Eugene Lambert
The moral rights of the author have been asserted
First e-book edition 2018
ISBN 978 1 4052 7737 2
Ebook ISBN 978 1 7803 1697 0
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To Paddy and Maureen,
to Kyle and Sky,
to my wonderful readers,
and last but not least,
to all my fellow identical twins.
Also available in the trilogy
THE SIGN OF ONE
INTO THE NO-ZONE
CONTENTS
10: SO CLOSE, SO FAR
PART TWO: TEMPTATION
11: MAROONED
12: SURVIVAL
13: OPPORTUNITY
14: KYLE AS RINGER
15: IN THE CAGE
16: ROCK AND A HARD PLACE
17: ONE LAST FIGHT
18: AN UNEXPECTED OFFER
19: INITIATION
20: A LUCKY BREAK . . . OR NOT
21: BUST UPS, BUZZING SKULLS
22: MARAUDERS AND SCREAMERS
23: A HARD DOCKING
24: A HARDER CONVERSATION
25: THE PLEASURE ZONE
26: A WALK AND A TALK
27: SOME NASTY SURPRISES
28: TIME TO CHOOSE
PART THREE: REDEMPTION
29: SUCKING ON EMPTY
30: TELLING AND SHOWING
31: RETURN TO THE ARK
32: FROM BAD TO WORSE
33: HARD NEWS ALL AROUND
34: HANGING OR BAIT
35: SUICIDE SQUAD
36: THE BAIT IS TAKEN
37: TRAPS, TWISTS AND TURNS
38: A FINAL BETRAYAL
39: FROM DARKNESS INTO LIGHT
EPILOGUE: SIX STANDARD-MONTHS LATER
‘Is your friend no better?’ one of the other prisoners asks.
‘What’s it look like?’ I say, real short.
I shouldn’t be bad-tempered. The girl was just asking. But Sky’s getting sicker so fast she’s scaring me. That, and I’m lightheaded with hunger and choking with thirst. My skin is sore too, horribly prickly, almost as if it’s trying to crawl off. It’s like that healing itch us nubloods get when we’re recovering from an injury, only loads worse.
Which is weird, because I’m not injured.
A dozen kids are stuck in this caged-off part of the star freighter’s hold with us. All idents, nubloods like myself. They’ve got the skin-crawling thing too, but you’d hardly