both out at once. And now I was going to show that evil space bug just how strong he’d made me. I was going to cut the head off his precious List, and I was going to live like a normal person. A normal person with a regular life, with regular concerns, and with no more pits in my stomach about not having avenged the lives of my parents and my friends.
Something touched my shoulder, and I wheeled around, dropping the computer to the floor and instantly creating an Opus 24/24.
“It’s okay, Daniel. It’s me.”
Dad.
“You’ve come a long, long way, Daniel. And I was wrong to doubt you were ready for Number 7 and Number 8.”
“Glad you’re able to let go of that one, sensei,” I said bitterly, still primed for a fight, I guess.
He winced but nodded. “I had that coming,” he admitted. “But please don’t entirely discount my advice from now on. I was wrong, but my concern wasn’t unwarranted.”
I wrinkled my mouth and nodded. “What did you want to tell me?”
“I want to tell you not to go after Number 1—not yet.”
“Why doesn’t this surprise me?”
“No question, you’ve suffered a lot, Daniel. And now to have lost Kildare…”
“Yeah!” I blurted, stung even by the mention of my dead friend’s name. “I’m getting much more experience losing than I am hunting. Maybe they should call me the Alien Loser instead, huh?”
Dad shook his head. “Let me ask just one thing of you, Daniel.”
“Sure,” I said. I knew I was being a jerk. I softened my voice and looked him in the eye for the first time. “Name it, Dad.”
“You know what it’s like to lose a best friend. Promise me you’ll at least try to understand what it would be like to lose… a son.”
Contents
Front Cover Image
Welcome
Dedication
Book One: Endangered Species
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
Book Two: See You Later, Space Invader
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Book Three: Long Day’S Journey Into Night
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Epilogue
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
About the Authors
Books by James Patterson
Copyright
JAMES PATTERSON was selected by kids across America as the Children’s Choice Book Awards Author of the Year in 2010. He is the internationally bestselling author of the highly praised Maximum Ride novels, the Witch & Wizard series, the Daniel X series, Med Head, and the detective series featuring Alex Cross. His books have sold more than 230 million copies worldwide, making him one of the bestselling authors of all time. He lives in Florida.
NED RUST lives in Croton, New York, with his family. He has also collaborated with James Patterson on Daniel X: Watch the Skies and Witch & Wizard: The Gift.
Books by James Patterson
for Readers of All Ages
The Witch & Wizard Novels
Witch & Wizard (with Gabrielle Charbonnet)
The Gift (with Ned Rust)
The Maximum Ride Novels
The Angel Experiment
School’s Out—Forever
Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports
The Final Warning
MAX
FANG
ANGEL
The Daniel X Novels
The Dangerous Days of Daniel X (with Michael Ledwidge)
Watch the Skies (with Ned Rust)
Demons & Druids (with Adam Sadler)
Daniel X: Game Over (with Ned Rust)
Illustrated Novels
Daniel X: Alien Hunter (graphic novel; with Leopoldo Gout)
Daniel X: The Manga, Vol. 1 (with SeungHui Kye)
Maximum Ride: The Manga, Vol. 1 (with NaRae Lee)
Maximum Ride: The Manga, Vol. 2 (with NaRae Lee)
Maximum Ride: The Manga, Vol. 3 (with NaRae Lee)
Maximum Ride: The Manga, Vol. 4 (with NaRae Lee)
For previews of upcoming books in these series and other information, visit www.WitchAndWizard.com, www.MaximumRide.com, and www.Daniel-X.com.
For more information about the author, visit www.JamesPatterson.com.
* This dialogue was translated from Kornish, a dialect most often used by certain clans of deep-space Outer Ones.
Copyright
Copyright © 2011 by James Patterson
All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Little, Brown and Company
Hachette Book Group
237 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10017
Visit our website at www.HachetteBookGroup.com.
Little, Brown and Company is a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc.
The Little, Brown name and logo are trademarks of Hachette Book Group, Inc.
The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher.
First eBook Edition: September 2011
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author. In the event a real name is used, it is used fictitiously.
ISBN: 978-0-316-13419-4