The Second Angel

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article does not cite any references or sources. (April 2008) Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

The Second Angel is a science fiction novel by English author Philip Kerr. The title of the book comes from a bible quote, 'And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man' (Revelation 16:3). Historical myths about blood such as this play a big part in The Second Angel, as well as many factual blood related quotes and incidents through history. The Second Angel is in part what is known as hard science fiction and frequently uses footnotes to bring attention to complex scientific explanations throughout the novel.

[edit] Plot summary

Throughout The Second Angel the author runs lengthy commentaries on the characters and complex observations on human nature and blood.

Late in the 21st century, 80% of mankind are inflicted with a virus called HPV2 (human parvovirus 2), or P2, a virus that was further spread by the discovery and use of synthetic blood. P2 disrupts the blood's ability to carry hemoglobin around the body, greatly shortening the host's life. The only known cure for P2 is a complete blood transfusion of healthy blood, coupled with a dose of the drug ProTryptol 14. With only 20 percent of the worlds population free of P2, the price of a litre of healthy blood has reached almost two million dollars.

In the novel, blood has replaced gold and diamonds as a valuable commodity (gold was extracted in great quantity from the sea and is now valued at about $200 a kilogram). Uninfected people reside in Clean Bill of Health (CBH) Zones within cities in order to keep safe, for vamping (murder for the purpose of blood theft) is a danger to such people. Standard procedure for those who are uninfected is to perform autologous donations of their own blood to enable them to completely replace it in the event of them becoming infected.

The healthy blood is kept in state of the art blood banks around the world, the largest of these banks being the First National Blood Bank situated on the moon. Due to the high incidence of theft in these banks, they are guarded by the most sophisticated security systems in existence. The greatest designer of blood banks is Dan Dallas, who works for one of the largest security firms in the world and designs the state of art blood banks including the First National Blood Bank. His ingenious security systems have never before been bypassed or robbed.

Dallas' boss, Simon King, grows concerned when he hears that his daughter Caro has been diagnosed with thalassemia, an illness that can only be cured by a lifetime of regular healthy blood transfusions, as despite his high position in the company Dallas would never be able to afford to pay for this treatment. Rather than risk Dallas robbing the blood banks that he designed, he orders Rimmer, the company's security officer to kill Dallas, his wife and his daughter. His wife and daughter are indeed killed, but by chance Dallas survived and became aware that the company had meant to kill him too.

Dallas realises that he may be accused of killing his wife and daughter, so he escapes to the relative safety outside the city's Clean Bill of Health zone, hiding with the infected population. Dallas is now set on revenge and recruits a team funded by himself and a mafia boss to rob the First National Blood Bank on the moon. The robbery goes according to plan with only a few complications.

On the way back to Earth Dallas is told, by his personal computer, that a quantum computer was actually in the bloodbank, the "author" that exposed himself throughout the book was actually this computer (created by the millions of litres of blood in one place) retelling the story exactly as it happened as the supercomputer gained every memory of the characters by "merging" with them. The supercomputer put extremely advanced nanomachines inside Dallas and his crew which acivated an ability to live longer, far more resistant to human limitations such as the need for food, water and oxygen and renders them able to be cryogenically frozen for years at a time. The supercomputer desired to combine humans and computers with the nanomachines and with the new abilities explore the galaxy. While the Dallas and his crew are asleep on their return to Earth the supercomputer (unknown to the unwitting humans) activates their new hibernation state and alters their course into deep space.