The Lives of Tao (49 page)

To my fellow Anxious Appliances, who climbed Mount Midoriyama alongside me, you’ve shown that writing can be a team sport. A very special thanks to my best literary friend Laura Lam, who laughed, cried, and shared angst with me every step of the way.

To my beta readers: Amber Kuo, Tiffany Moy-Kang, Michael Huchel, Rob Haines, Peter Friedrichsen, and all the others whose invaluable feedback helped shape the book. You guys kept me steering straight.

To my grandparents A-gong, A-ma, Nay-nay, you’re in my youngest and fondest memories, which I’ll cherish until the end of my days. To my parents, Mike and Yukie Chu, thanks for raising me right and letting me be wrong.

To Eva the Airedale Terrier, for dragging me out of my writing cave to see the sun once in a while.

And finally, to the love of my life, Paula, whose steadfast love and support (and editing and more editing) made this dream a reality. You deserve your name on the cover of this book as much as I do.

Tao is now insisting that I thank him as well. So thank you, Tao, for yammering in my brain all those years, demanding I tell your story. There, you happy?

Wesley Chu, Chicago, February 2013
 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
 

Wesley Chu was born in Taiwan and immigrated to Chicago, Illinois when he was just a pup. It was there he became a Kung Fu master and gymnast. Wesley is an avid gamer and a contributing writer for the magazine Famous Monsters of Filmland. A former stunt man and a member of the SAG, he can also be seen in film and television playing roles such as “Banzai Chef” in Fred Claus and putting out Oscar worthy performances as a bank teller in Chicago Blackhawks commercials. Besides working as an Associate Vice President at a bank, he spends his time writing and hanging out with his wife Paula Kim and their Airedale Terrier, Eva.

chuforthought.com
 

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Passengers

Copyright © Wesley Chu 2013

Cover art by Argh! Oxford

Distributed in the United States by Random House, Inc., New York.

All rights reserved.

Angry Robot is a registered trademark, and the Angry Robot icon a trademark of Angry Robot Ltd.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Sales of this book without a front cover may be unauthorized. If this book is coverless, it may have been reported to the publisher as “unsold and destroyed” and neither the author nor the publisher may have received payment for it.

ISBN: 978 0 85766 330 6

Contents

1. The Lives of Tao
   
2. Dedication
   
3. Chapter One: ENDGAME
   
4. Chapter Two: REBIRTH
   
5. Chapter Three: THE CALL
   
6. Chapter Four: THE HUNT
   
7. Chapter Five: DAY AFTER
   
8. Chapter Six: FIRST CONTACT
   
9. Chapter Seven: GENJIX
   
10. Chapter Eight: TRAINING
    
11. Chapter Nine: SONYA
    
12. Chapter Ten: FIRST LESSON
    
13. Chapter Eleven: JOINING THE NETWORK
    
14. Chapter Twelve: THE TRUTH
    
15. Chapter Thirteen: TRAINING WHEELS
    
16. Chapter Fourteen: RECONNECT
    
17. Chpater Fifteen: LIN
    
18. Chapter Sixteen: TRAINING WHEELS OFF
    
19. Chapter Seventeen: FREEDOM
    
20. Chapter Eighteen: DISCOVERY
    
21. Chapter Nineteen: ENCOUNTER
    
22. Chpater Twenty: AFTERMATH
    
23. Chapter Twenty-One: TAILING
    
24. Chpater Twenty-Two: T'AI CHI
    
25. Chapter Twenty-Three: AWAY GAME
    
26. Chapter Twenty-Four: LOOSE ENDS
    
27. Chapter Twenty-Five: ON THE RADAR
    
28. Chapter Twenty-Six: PREPARATION
    
29. Chapter Twenty-Seven: PRELUDE
    
30. Chapter Twenty-Eight: GREGORY
    
31. Chapter Twenty-Nine: SAFE HOUSE
    
32. Chapter Thirty: BACK HOME
    
33. Chapter Thirty-One: THE PARENTS
    
34. Chapter Thirty-Two: BACK INTO THE FOLD
    
35. Chapter Thirty-Three: MONACO DECENNIAL
    
36. Chapter Thirty-Four: DAY ONE
    
37. Chapter Thirty-Five: UNINVITED
    
38. Chapter Thirty-Six:
    
39. Chapter Thirty-Seven: THE ASSAULT
    
40. Chapter Thirty-Eight:
    
41. Chapter Thirty-Nine: EPILOGUE
    
42. Acknowledgments
    
43. About the Author
    
44. Copyright