Above World

by Jenn Reese

  She snorted. “Did you think I would take us closer to that thing?”

  And then she was off again, weaving through the garbage jungle, leaving him to keep up or get left behind. He followed her as fast as he could, barely getting a chance to study their surroundings. Nothing looked like it might hold the secret to HydroTek’s location. Just trash, rubble, and debris, with a bit of spiky, dangerous trash thrown in for variety.

  If he’d had more time, he would have loved to explore more slowly. Maybe one day he and Calli could sort through the piles, looking for bits of technology. He’d be good at that. Or maybe they could approach the Dome Mek and talk to it. Convince it they were friends and ask it some questions.

  He caught sight of four more Meks as they traveled, saw the smoke from three separate fires. Birds zoomed overhead, and tiny furred squirrels and chipmunks clambered atop the ruins. A mottled gray cat and a striped brown dog sat together in a doorway, a dead rat between them, and he would have bet anything that they were discussing how to split their spoils.

  After what felt like hours, he couldn’t keep up with Aluna’s pace. The distance between them went from five meters to ten to twenty, until he couldn’t even see her anymore. She would notice he was gone sooner or later. Until then, what would it hurt to rest his legs for a few minutes? Kampii were never meant to run around like this, anyway. Tails were so much more practical for crossing large distances.

  He looked around for someplace safe to sit and settled on a fragment of smooth plastic that may once have been a chair. His legs throbbed, the cut on his arm itched, and his breath came out ragged. He flopped into the plastic and closed his eyes.

  Metal clanged behind him. His eyes shot open.

  Another clang. And a voice — a Human! He couldn’t make out the words, but the tone was angry.

  Hoku stayed perfectly still. Please go the other way. Please go the other way.

  “Aluna,” he whispered, “are you there?”

  No answer. She must be too far away to hear him.

  Glass shattered. The Human cursed.

  Hoku stared in the direction of the voice, afraid to move.

  Suddenly, a small creature bolted around the corner of a broken building and smacked straight into Hoku’s chest. Tiny claws gripped his shirt, and he fell sideways onto the ground. Hoku grabbed the animal, trying to keep its teeth away from his neck. His fingers dug into soft fur.

  But the creature wasn’t going for his jugular; it was trying to burrow under his shirt! The scared little thing was trying to hide.

  He heard the Human voice again. It was male and angry, and way too close.

  “You will die swiftly,” the voice said. “And you will die by my hands.”

  ALUNA HAD BEEN HOPING to find clues about HydroTek, not kilometer after kilometer of desolation. Garbage clung to everything, drifted up against the shattered building walls like sand dunes. Tempest’s army must have had massive weapons to cause such havoc. If Fathom’s were similar, they had a tough fight ahead of them. The Kampii had nothing so powerful underwater. Harpoons and spears and nets were like toys compared to the Above World’s methods of destruction. Sarah Jennings and the other Kampii ancients had been wise to hide the colony. They could never survive a war with the Upgraders by themselves.

  She’d been walking and climbing for maybe two hours, maintaining a brisk pace. She kept track of Hoku by listening to his huffing in her ear. When she heard him sigh and stop walking, she took a break herself. Sitting down would only stiffen her leg muscles, so she decided to stretch until he felt like catching up again.

  Just as she was finishing her first round of back twists, she heard the yelling.

  Aluna bolted back the way she had come. She vaulted over jagged metal scraps on the ground and ducked under strange overhangs of concrete. She hadn’t realized how far ahead she’d gotten. As she rounded the last corner, her talons were already unclipped and waiting in her hands.

  A Human stood over Hoku. The attacker wasn’t big, but almost everyone towered over Hoku. She didn’t wait to see what he was going to do next.

  Aluna swung her arm forward, releasing Spirit, her right-hand talon. The sharp tip sped toward the villain, trailing the thin silvery chain that kept it connected to her hand. It swung under the man’s raised arm and wrapped itself around his wrist several times.

  She yanked, hard. The attacker’s arm snapped, and he howled in pain. She whipped out Spite, her left-hand talon, and wrapped it around the man’s leg. She yanked again, and he fell hard with another yelp of pain.

  “Stop! Stop!” he yelled. “I do not wish to fight!”

  Hoku scrambled back, out of the Human’s reach. Something bulged and squirmed under his shirt. He reached in and pulled out a fuzzy gray-and-black creature, no bigger than a lobster. It had four legs ending in tiny, delicate paws, a long, poofy striped tail, and a black band of fur over both its eyes that made it look like a masked bandit. Hoku held it by the scruff of its neck and glared at it.

  “Hoku, get back,” Aluna said. He was already more focused on the creature than on his assailant. What was wrong with that boy?

  She walked toward their fallen foe, careful to keep Spirit’s chain taut. One hint of a fight, and she could yank on the man’s broken arm again.

  Only he wasn’t a man. He was a boy. His skin was brown. Not as dark as hers, but far more tan and sun worn than Hoku’s. His long black hair was gathered by a cord at the nape of his neck. She snorted. Long hair still seemed like too much trouble, even out of the ocean’s currents. She couldn’t tell how old he was, but she guessed a few years older than she was, if he was older at all.

  He watched her stalk closer with brown, unblinking eyes. She gave him credit for his lack of whining or crying. The talon was still wrapped tightly around his arm, but he didn’t struggle against it. He wasn’t just a trapped animal; he was smart. And that made him all the more dangerous.

  “What are your intentions?” the boy asked. His accent was thick and unfamiliar. His tongue seemed to linger over the words, giving them more flavor than she was used to hearing. “I do not wish to harm you, but I will defend myself if I must.”

  “Why were you trying to kill my friend?” she asked.

  He looked confused. Maybe her accent was as strange to him.

  “I am not after the boy,” her prisoner said finally. “I am after the creature. The little novsh stole my food.”

  She looked over at Hoku. He had the furry thing cradled against his chest and was scratching it behind its oversized furry ears. It looked up at him with big eyes. Then she saw the pale-red apple in its paws, nibbled on one side. She’d grown fond of the fruit during their stay with the Aviars. She imagined taking a big, crisp bite out of its side, and her mouth watered.

  “Hoku, make it give the apple back,” Aluna said.

  “And how am I supposed to do that?” Hoku said. He tried to pull the fruit from the animal’s paws, but it held on tightly, then rubbed its cheek against Hoku’s chin. He gave up and resumed petting it.

  She turned back to her prisoner and shrugged. He didn’t seem nearly so threatening now that he was flat on his back with a broken arm. And if that animal had stolen her last scrap of food, she’d probably hunt it down and cook it up for dinner. Hard to fault someone for trying to survive.

  “If I let you go, are you going to attack us?” she asked the stranger.

  He thought a moment. “I will not attack you or the boy, but I must eat,” he said finally. “I don’t care if it is the apple or the animal.”

  Aluna couldn’t help herself. She laughed.

  “I am serious,” the boy said, clearly offended. He pushed himself up into a sitting position with his good hand.

  “Oh, she would have said the same thing,” Hoku said. “That’s probably what she finds so funny.”

  “I’m Aluna. He’s Hoku,” she said, and began to unwind her talons from the stranger’s limbs. “We have some food we can share.”

  “Da
shiyn,” he said, “but I am also known as Dash.”

  She freed his leg first, then started to work on his wrist. She tried not to move it any more than she had to.

  “Dash is good,” she said, “because I’m not sure I can pronounce Dasheeyan anyway.”

  His chuckle was cut off with a hiss as she finished unwinding Spirit.

  “Sorry,” she said, surprised that she actually meant it. “I thought you were going to kill Hoku.”

  “I understand,” Dash said simply. “Sometimes we must act before all the facts can be examined. Unfortunately, I am going to need a splint.”

  She nodded. “I saw a piece of plastic that might work. If I hear any fighting while I’m gone, I’ll be back to break your other arm.” She said it with a smile, but she meant it.

  As she jogged up the path, she heard Dash ask, “Is she always like this?” Hoku’s answer rang loud in her ears. “You have no idea.”

  She wandered through the rubble until she found a smooth, flat piece of plastic as long as her forearm. She remembered jumping over it during her race to save Hoku. When she got back to the clearing, she crouched by Dash and measured the plastic against the length of his arm.

  Up close, the boy smelled strange. Wild. He smelled of places she’d never been. Her heart beat faster, and she struggled to steady her arm.

  “That will serve well,” Dash said. His accent sounded thicker, his voice deeper. “I have twine in my satchel. Can you . . . ? Do you mind . . . ?”

  Aluna looked for his pack and saw it half crushed under his back. He leaned to the side and helped her retrieve it. She was careful not to touch him more than was absolutely necessary, and he seemed to be taking the same precautions.

  Dash opened the sack with his good hand, dug around, and pulled out a length of thick twine.

  “We’ve got to set the break first,” she said.

  The boy nodded, grim. She took his forearm gently in her hands and felt around near his wrist. His arm was wiry but muscled, his hand callused. He knew work, and he probably knew how to fight. He didn’t seem like the type to slit your throat in the middle of the night or to stab you in the back when you weren’t looking, but High Senator Electra had warned her that such men existed. She’d have to be careful.

  Luckily for him, only the smaller arm bone was broken, not the larger one, and none of the tiny ones in the wrist. Without warning, she used her thumb to push the bone back into place.

  Dash uttered a short stream of curses in a strange language, but didn’t move. Not even a twitch. She grabbed the splint and twine and set to work immobilizing his arm as fast as she could.

  “So, you’re a Human?” she asked, trying to distract him from the pain.

  “No!” Dash said. He jerked back as if she’d struck him.

  “Stop moving,” she commanded. “Tides’ teeth, it was only a question.”

  The boy scowled. His eyebrows pulled into one flat line under his furrowed brow. “I am not a Human.”

  “Then what are you?” she pressed. “You don’t have wings, so you’re not an Aviar. And you’re certainly no Kampii. I’ve heard the Equians have legs like a horse, but —”

  “Never mind what I am,” Dash blurted. “Tell me about you and Hoku. I would like to know your story. You are Humans, yes?”

  Now it was her turn to be insulted. “Of course not! We’re Kampii from the City of Shifting Tides.”

  Dash looked suspicious. “If you are Kampii, then where are your tails? You are supposed to be frolicking in the water, braiding each other’s hair, and singing love songs to the sea.”

  “What?” Aluna dropped his arm none too gently and stood up. “Those are stupid old stories. None of that is true!”

  From behind her, Hoku said, “Well, your sister does spend a lot of time playing with her hair, and we do actually sing a lot of songs about the sea.”

  She scowled at him. “Stop messing with that animal and bring over some food and water. And don’t pick on Daphine.”

  At least Hoku tried to hide his smirk as he dug through their rations.

  “I apologize for the offense,” Dash said. “I have never met a Kampii before. I thought . . . well, I believed you breathed water and never left the sea.”

  “We don’t,” Aluna said, her hand going to her throat and the breathing shell that should have been lodged there. “Not usually. But our people are dying. Hoku and I left home so we could find a way to save them.”

  Dash nodded. “This is a brave plan.”

  Aluna felt heat flood into her face.

  “So where are you from?” Hoku asked. “Only thieves and cutthroats could call this place home.”

  Dash managed to pull himself upright and shifted to lean against the remains of a concrete wall. His shoulders looked stiff, and he held his chin high.

  He said, “I have been exiled from my people. I no longer have a home.”

  “EXILED?” Aluna said. Hoku winced, probably at her lack of decorum, but she ignored him. “Meaning, you can’t ever go back?” The thought of never returning to the City of Shifting Tides, of never hearing Daphine make fun of her clothes or her hair, of never seeing her brothers fight over the last scrap of fish at dinner was too horrible to imagine — and all too real. Unless she found HydroTek and another breathing shell.

  Dash kept his face devoid of emotion, but it looked like it was taking every muscle in his body to do it.

  “I will never return,” he said.

  “Where?” asked Hoku.

  “To the Equians,” Dash said, and for a moment, she could see the pain in his eyes. He smoothed it away quickly. “My herd . . . my old herd . . . they live in the desert east of here.”

  “The Equians!” Aluna said. Like the Kampii and Aviars, they had altered themselves to live in harsh climates that no one else wanted. “The Equians are horse folk,” she said. “But you’re not part horse.”

  “Yes? And where is your tail, mermaid?”

  She scowled.

  Hoku snorted. “That’s a fair point.”

  She touched the tiny pouch hanging under her shirt. She still had a tail if she wanted one. But Hoku didn’t know that. No one knew that except her.

  “Our tails are none of your concern,” she said.

  “And my lack of hooves is none of yours,” Dash retorted.

  “Fine,” she said. “Let’s leave it at that.”

  “Good.”

  “Fine.”

  “I’m fine with that, too,” Hoku said brightly.

  She and Dash looked over at him, but he seemed oblivious to anything but his new best friend. The animal had curled up in his lap and was happily munching on the apple.

  “Raccoons!” Dash said. “Insufferable creatures, every last one.”

  “There’s a little tag attached to his collar,” Hoku said. “I think his name is Zorro TM. It also says WILD BUDDIES PROGRAMMABLE PETS. I wonder what that means.”

  “I have no idea,” she said, “but Zorro TM is definitely a strange name.”

  “Not really,” Dash said. “The Equians have many groomer monkeys named Bananas TM. Possibly they are related.”

  “Groomer monkeys?” Aluna and Hoku said at the same time.

  Dash shrugged. “When you are part horse, it is difficult to reach your tail or to clean out stones from your hooves. We — they — train the monkeys to comb out tangles. The creatures are very useful.” He glared at the raccoon. “And they never stole our apples.”

  Hoku scratched Zorro behind the ears. “What tricks can you do, little thing?” Zorro licked his nose with a tiny pink tongue.

  Glass shattered in the distance, followed by a guttural laugh.

  They all stopped, looked, listened.

  Upgraders, or just thieves? She wouldn’t welcome either right now.

  “We should keep moving,” she said. “We’re like fish in a tide pool here.”

  Hoku stood up. Zorro dropped the apple core, climbed up his arm, and balanced on his shoulder.

/>   “Well, it was sort of nice to meet you, Dash, despite all the fighting and cursing,” Hoku said. “But Aluna and I have to keep moving. Swift currents, safe travels, and may the spirits guide you on your journey.”

  “Dash is coming with us,” Aluna said.

  “He is?”

  “I am?”

  “Yes.” She squinted at the sun, her heart beating fast. Why did she say that? Why was she doing this? “We don’t have many hours of daylight left. Let’s get moving. If we can find a clue that points us toward HydroTek, we can be out of this place by dawn.”

  “What if I do not wish to join you?” Dash said. His stiff shoulders and raised chin were back.

  “You have a broken arm, and I’m the one who gave it to you,” she said. “You’re my responsibility, at least until we’re out of danger.”

  “I can take care of myself,” Dash said. “I am not without defenses.”

  He’d kept his satchel close to his body ever since the fight. What kind of weapons was he hiding?

  The people in the distance were getting closer. There were at least three distinct voices now, but no dragonfliers in the air. Maybe they still had time.

  “Look, I have no doubt that you’re good in a fight,” she said, trying to be polite. “But we’re all better off if we stick together while we’re in this dome.” She could see him wavering. She decided to make it easier for him. “Besides, Hoku and I could use a hand if things get nasty. You’d be doing us a favor.”

  Dash studied her, thinking. He looked wiry strong, but thin. His once-white shirt looked soaked with sweat and dirt, and even a little blood. He’d been out here for a while, she guessed. Even with two good arms it would be hard to survive in this place.

  “Fins and flippers, we don’t have all day!” Hoku said. “I’ve already been attacked once. I don’t want to make it a habit.”

  Dash sighed and nodded.

  “Follow me,” he said. “I know a place that might hold the answers you seek.”

  He looked at Aluna, his eyes challenging her to contradict him. She smiled and motioned for him to take the lead. Hoku scrambled after Dash, and Aluna took her place at the back of the line, closest to the sounds of the approaching men.