The Plague Forge [ARC]

Advance Reader’s Copy—Not for Sale

THE PLAGUE FORGE

The Dire Earth Cycle: Three

Jason M. Hough

Del Rey

This is an uncorrected eBook file.

Please do not quote for publication

until you check your copy against the finished book.

Tentative On-Sale Date: September 24, 2013

Tentative Publication Month: October 2013

Tentative Print Price: $9.99

Tentative eBook Price: $9.99

Please note that books will not be available in stores

until the above on-sale date.

All reviews should be scheduled to run after that date.

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Del Rey

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Praise for
The Darwin Elevator

“The best part about alien stories is their mystery, and Jason Hough understands that like no other. Full of compelling characters and thick with tension,
The Darwin Elevator
delivers both despair and hope, along with a gigantic dose of wonder. It’s a brilliant debut, and Hough can take my money whenever he writes anything from now on.”

—Kevin Hearne,
New York Times
bestselling author of the Iron Druid Chronicles

“Claustrophobic, intense, and satisfying … I couldn’t put this book down.
The Darwin Elevator
depicts a terrifying world, suspends it from a delicate thread, and forces you to read with held breath as you anticipate the inevitable fall.”

—Hugh Howey,
New York Times
bestselling author of
Wool

“Jason Hough writes with irresistible energy and gritty realism. He puts his characters through hell, blending a convincing plot with heart-stopping action and moments of raw terror as the world goes crazy in the shadow of unfathomable alien intentions.”

—Sara Creasy, author of the Philip K. Dick Award–nominated
Song of Scarabaeus

“A thrilling story right from the first page. This book plugs straight into the fight-or-flight part of your brain.”

—Ted Kosmatka, author of
The Games

“Get this book as soon as you can.… Jason is going places and
The Darwin Elevator
is sweetened-condensed proof.”

—Dustwrites

This is an uncorrected eBook file. Please do not quote for publication until you check your copy against the finished book.

The Plague Forge
is a work of fiction. Names, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

A Del Rey Mass Market Original

Copyright © 2013 by Jason M. Hough

All rights reserved.

Published in the United States by Del Rey, an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.

DEL REY is a registered trademark and the Del Rey colophon is a trademark of Random House, Inc.

ISBN: 978-0-345-53716-4

eBook ISBN: 978-0-345-53717-1

[cover and design credits TK]

www.delreybooks.com

For my sons, Nathan and Ian. The sky is not the limit.

I drew these tides of men into my hands

and wrote my will across the sky in stars.

—Sister Haley, a verse from the Testament of the Ladder (redacted—deemed plagiarized in 2292 from T. E. Lawrence’s
The Seven Pillars of Wisdom,
1926)

After everything we’ve done to each other, all the wars and shit, maybe this aura is the Builders’ way of telling our collective asses to go to our room.

Without supper.

—Skadz, 2280

Contents

Cover

eBook Information

Praise for The Darwin Elevator

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication

Map of Darwin, Australia

Map of Camp Exodus and Surroundings

First Epigraph

Second Epigraph

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Epilogue

Acknowledgments

Chapter One

Belém, Brazil

20.MAR.2285

Seconds from collision the vehicle lurched.

Mud sprayed from knobby tires as the bulky truck whipped around and slammed back-first into the mouth of the tunnel. Dirt and rock clanged against the roof outside. The whine of electricity bleeding out from the ultracaps below Skyler’s feet dropped off to nothing, allowing the clatter of heavy rain on armored body panels to fill the cramped compartment.

“All clear,” Pablo said from his perch in the gun turret. “You’re up, señor.”

Skyler gripped the long chrome handle on the rear door with both hands. The full suit of body armor made him feel like he’d been dipped in concrete. Plates of carbon fiber were woven into thick ballistic fabric, even the gloves. He glanced back at Ana. She sat cross-legged in shorts and a T-shirt on the bench that ran the length of the compartment, an improvised explosive in her hands. The thin brick of wrapped plastique sported a hand-built receiver glued to one side. As he watched she stuffed the bundle out a murder hole, then smacked the portal closed with her hand.

The arming beacon lay on the bench beside her, safely in the off position.

“All set,” she said. Then she caught Skyler’s nod, leaned in, kissed him hard on the lips, and flipped his face mask down for him. “Good luck.”

She’d been confined to a bed for the last few weeks after suffering bruised kidneys and some internal bleeding in Ireland. The camp medics, and Skyler, had advised against her going on this mission at all, but when her eyes had flared with dogged determination he’d known the argument was pointless. At least she’d promised to stay inside the vehicle.

He grinned. “You, too.”

Ana returned his grin with a half smile of her own, then brushed a strand of hair from her face. In that instant she looked as lovely as she ever had, and Skyler glanced away. He couldn’t quite explain why, and hoped against hope that Ana hadn’t noticed his sudden distance. The truth was, ever since Tania had given him her air aboard that alien ship he had found himself in a strange sort of limbo. He turned back to the task at hand, focused. With both hands he yanked the door handle.

When the door swung open, Skyler found himself staring down the tunnel once again. A steady stream of dirty water ran down the center of the floor where, after all this time, a deep and erratic gouge had been carved. More water dripped and trickled from the curved ceiling and walls, making the inside of the tunnel appear to be engulfed in the same storm that pummeled the rainforest outside.

With all the dexterity his combat armor would allow, Skyler hopped out of the APC and raised his gun. He smacked the weapon’s light on, and then did the same to the one mounted on his helmet. Already he regretted wearing the heavy suit. Sweat trickled down his back, and his legs felt like lead weights under the bulk.

The gun he’d chosen only made matters worse. The heavy assault rifle fired large-caliber rounds, regular from one magazine and explosive-tipped from a second. He could switch with a flick of his thumb. Mounted halfway down the barrel was a slightly curved steel plate that came up a few centimeters above the body of the weapon save for a small gap through which he could aim. The bulk of the shield descended from the barrel, which provided an extra barrier to anything that might seek to hit him in the chest. The protection might come in handy, but it made the weapon unbalanced and difficult to aim. Skyler had almost left it behind in favor of something smaller when Ana pointed out that he needed it only to get to the shell ship. Once he had the relic that lay within, he could ditch the bulky thing and run.