by Jenn Reese
Aluna studied her hands, pretending to examine the calluses. Her sister stopped splashing.
“You are coming home,” Daphine said, suddenly serious.
“How can I? We captured Fathom, but who knows how many of Karl Strand’s clones are out there? He wants to take over the Above World. Our victory won’t stop him — it’ll just anger him. You said it yourself: it’s just a matter of time before they find the City of Shifting Tides. The Kampii will never be truly safe until Karl Strand is dead.”
“But you took the seed, Aluna. I saw you.”
“Then why don’t I have a tail?” Aluna asked. “It’s been almost a week. Back home, the transformation starts right away.”
“Ocean Seeds are most potent when they’re hot,” Daphine said. “The one you took had grown cold. It’s still working inside you — just slowly.” She rested her hand on Aluna’s arm and squeezed. “Come home, Aluna. Talk to him. If you don’t want to stay after that, then I’ll help you pack myself.”
Talk to her father.
She was a hero now, a warrior. But would he see her any differently? Would he look at her and see anything besides a defiant child?
“I’m sorry, but I can’t,” she said. “Not yet. Maybe not ever.”
Daphine smiled sadly. “You’ll have to say good-bye to the Above World eventually. It might take weeks or it might take months. But you’ll have to say good-bye.”
“I know,” Aluna said quietly. She could feel the seed in her body, shifting things around. Most of the time she could ignore it, but twice now the pain had made her scream. Whether or not it gave her a tail, the Ocean Seed would not let her forget the choices she’d made. “But there’s a war to fight, and even if I don’t make it to the end, I want to play my part in as many battles as I can.”
“Have you told Hoku about the seed?” Daphine asked.
Aluna shook her head. She hadn’t told any of them. She looked at her sister. “Can it be our secret? Please?”
“Oh, little one.” Daphine rose up in the water and wrapped her arms around Aluna. “For you, I would do anything. You have already done everything for me.”
Hoku strolled through Middle Green with Aluna and Calli and watched the technicians clean up after their old master. Liu scurried around with the other Meks, stopping to wink at Dash every chance she got. Hoku glanced nervously at Aluna, but she didn’t seem to notice.
Most of the Upgraders were gone now that their slave collars had been removed. He doubted they’d seen the last of them. Some Upgraders hadn’t been slaves at all, but Fathom’s willing henchmen. And he was sure that some of them had scurried off to report to Karl Strand. Not that Strand didn’t already know. When Hoku had woken up all the Meks, he’d used all the power Fathom had been sending to his father. Karl Strand would notice, all right. He’d notice and want revenge.
The Dome Meks were already working on their defense systems, but to Hoku, it wasn’t enough. As long as the Kampii generators were here, his people would be in danger. Someday, he’d have to do what the Aviars had done — take back the power and the control and make the Kampii wholly self-sufficient.
Fathom was imprisoned in a stasis pod, just like the ones the Dome Meks used for extended sleep periods. Hoku had voted for a more painful and humiliating incarceration, but in the end, logic won out. If Fathom was a genetic copy of Karl Strand, then there was a lot they could learn by studying him, both mentally and physically. Not to mention his access to Strand’s tactical information. Aluna was right. They’d be foolish to destroy him.
“Hey, look, there’s Dash!” Aluna said.
Hoku watched Aluna jog ahead, content to stroll more slowly with Calli. The three of them joined Dash under the shade of a huge tree. The horse-boy was squeezing an apple with his new mechanical hand. The goal was to squeeze it as hard as he could without completely pulping it. The medteks had tried to save his mangled hand, but it had taken too much damage during his fight with the Upgraders.
Next to Dash, Zorro sat behind a pile of smushed apples, happily gorging himself.
“Zorro is going to get fat eating all of those!” Aluna said.
“Zorro saved my life,” Dash said. “He gets as many apples as he wants.”
“Well, then Calli gets an apple, too,” Aluna said. “I’ve lost track of how many people she’s saved.”
Calli blushed and stuttered, “Then you and Hoku and Dash should get a whole orchard!”
Hoku grinned and motioned to a spot under the tree. He and Calli sat side by side, a little closer than they used to, but still not as close as he’d like. Aluna sat next to Dash and reached a finger toward his new arm.
“Does it hurt?” she asked.
Hoku could tell that she still felt guilty about breaking it back in the SkyTek dome. If it hadn’t been so useless during the fight, Dash might have been able to defend himself longer.
“I cannot feel much with it,” Dash said, shrugging. “But it is strong, not so easily broken. I will grow accustomed to it.” He smiled at Aluna. It was a very different sort of smile from the one Dash used with Hoku.
Aluna blushed and didn’t take her hand off his arm.
“So, when are we leaving for the desert?” she asked.
The Equian woman they’d saved, Shria, had relayed some terrible news. Another of Karl Strand’s clones — Sand Master Scorch — had been seen in the desert. If they stood any chance of rallying the Equians against him, they needed to move fast.
“We leave tomorrow, early, if that is acceptable,” Dash said.
“And I’m going with you,” Hoku blurted out. He’d wanted to tell Aluna sooner, when they were making plans, but he’d never found the right time. “I know I should go back to the Kampii, but I can’t. Not yet.”
She looked up at him, her eyes wide with surprise. He rushed on.
“I’ve always needed you, Aluna. You’ve looked out for me and taken me on amazing adventures,” he said. “But it’s all different now. I’m not the same. Nothing is the same. I’m figuring things out, more every day. Maybe now . . . I can help in ways that you can’t. And besides, this is my fight, too.”
“It’s our fight,” Calli corrected him.
Hoku looked into Aluna’s eyes, and suddenly her arms were around him. She hugged him tight, hugged Calli, and laughed her big belly laugh.
“I promise not to send you away again, or to leave either of you behind,” she said. “I used to think I could do everything myself, but I can’t. Not in the Above World. You’ve all saved my life, and I won’t forget it. You make me stronger than I am by myself.” She smiled grimly. “What did Sarah Jennings say? The world needs us, and we need each other.”
Hoku had said that nothing was the same, but he knew he was wrong. Aluna was still his best friend, and he was still hers. Underwater or above it, they were in this fight together.
First of all, thanks to Stephanie Burgis and Christopher East. They read each chapter of Above World as I wrote it and made me keep going. They are both incredible writers, cheerleaders, and unconditional friends. Thanks also to Sarah Prineas and Greg van Eekhout for almost daily support and inspiration on a whole heap of levels. Great friends do more than help you with your book — they help you with your life.
Thanks to my agent, Joe Monti, for believing in me and this story, and for encouraging me to include even more martial arts. Thanks also to Barry Goldblatt for creating a family, not just an agency.
Thanks to Sarah Ketchersid, my wonderful editor, for loving the book even more than I did most days. Her insights made Above World the book I wanted it to be. The whole Candlewick team has my gratitude, including Liz Zembruski, Kathryn Cunningham, Rachel Smith, Hannah Mahoney, Maggie Deslaurier, Martha Dwyer, and everyone in sales and marketing.
I have some of the best friends in the world, and they give me some of the best critiques. Thanks to Sally Felt, Michael Jasper, Samantha Ling, Eugene Myers, Tim Pratt, Erik Ratliff, and Shelley Stuart. Above World also went to the Blue Hea
ven novel workshop with Paolo Bacigalupi, Tobias Buckell, Sarah Castle, Deb Coates, Charles Coleman Finlay, Daryl Gregory, Sandra McDonald, Paul Melko, Sarah Prineas, Catherynne M. Valente, and Greg van Eekhout. These guys kept me from looking like an idiot (at least with regards to this book).
Thanks to my World of Warcraft guild. (Don’t laugh!) They’ve been with me on this journey from the beginning, particularly: Andrea, Andrew, Andy, Bill, Brenda, Danielle, Erin, Jamie, Leslie, Lisa, Mike, Mikiel, Paul, Rachel, Rob, Roe, Shelley, Steven, Tom, and Tommy.
Thanks to my martial arts family at White Lotus Kung Fu: Master Douglas Wong, Master Carrie Ogawa-Wong, Master Phil Jennings, and the rest of my brothers and sisters.
For all-around awesome advice, support, and friendship, I want to thank Christine Ashworth, Claudia Hoffman, Heather Shaw, and my buddies at SAGE and Cosmic Toast Studios.
And last, thanks to my family: Mom, Jeff, Jason, Maya, Griffin, and Cassell. I love you.
JENN REESE writes science fiction and fantasy and has published short stories and a novel for adults. She also studies martial arts, including kenpo, tai chi, kung fu, and traditional weapons. About Above World, she says, “I wanted to combine my love of martial arts, mythology, and adventure with the idea that anyone with a strong heart can change the world.” Jenn Reese lives in Los Angeles.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or, if real, are used fictitiously.
Copyright © 2012 by Jenn Reese
Cover illustration copyright © 2012 by Alexander Jansson
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in an information retrieval system in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, taping, and recording, without prior written permission from the publisher.
First electronic edition 2012
The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition as follows:
Reese, Jenn.
Above World / Jenn Reese. — 1st ed.
p. cm.
Summary: In a future of high technology and genetic modification, the Coral Kampii, like legendary mermaids, live isolated from the Above World, but when the devices that allow them to breathe underwater start to fail, thirteen-year-old Aluna and her friend Hoku go to that forbidden place to find help.
ISBN 978-0-7636-5417-7 (hardcover)
[1. Science fiction.] I. Title.
PZ7.R25515Abo 2012
[Fic] — dc23 2011013668
ISBN 978-0-7636-5958-5 (electronic)
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