I’m surely dead.
Then a power seizes my neck, like I’m being strangled. My atoms freeze. I can’t move.
What on earth . . . ?
I’m ripped from the bubble and hurled through space.
I’m bounding.
But I don’t know how.
Or where.
28
MY HIP STRIKES THE COLD, hard ground. I throw out my hands to stop my head from crashing next. I suck in a deep breath, relieved that water isn’t rushing into my lungs.
I push up onto my knees. I have no idea where I am. Everything is dimly lit, and what I can see is gray and formless.
“Addy!” I have to find my sister.
Jasper?
I spin around. A few meters behind me, Mira is pushing herself to her feet.
I stand up and run to her, pulling her into a hug. Her clothes are damp, and she smells sweet, like cotton candy.
“Have you seen Addy? Is she okay?”
She made it out with Marco.
You’re sure? I ask.
Mira sends me an image. It’s Marco and Addy running for the end of the venom tube and slamming the seal door.
Something inside my chest unclenches. “Thank goodness. Why are you wet? Is that seawater?”
She shakes her head. Venom.
“Oh my God. Are you hurt?”
Mira shakes her head.
The last thing I remember, the seal was breaking on the bubble and the venom tube was tearing apart. Those black sea creatures were everywhere. “What happened to the venom tube?”
Serena.
I remember Mira trying to tell me something about Serena when I was in the bubble, but I still don’t understand.
Serena, she thinks again. Then she sends an image of the throngs of black sea creatures.
She’s connected to them in some way?
A wave of sadness passes through Mira. Her children.
Whoa. It’s like Mira just gave me the missing piece to the puzzle. That’s why those sea creatures looked so familiar. They’re Serena’s children. When they’re no longer needed in the venom pit, they’re cast out to the contaminated sea. And apparently, some of them survive—and grow a lot bigger and scarier, probably thanks to the contamination.
Did Serena know? I ask.
Not until today.
Serena told us she’d never been in the venom tube, that she’d never even been beyond the door she unlocked for us. So today was a reunion—a horrible, heartbreaking reunion. And the venom tube broke along with it.
Mira leans her head against me. I circle her cold, wet shoulders with my arm.
Now that I know Addy is safe, I finally take in my surroundings. There’s nothing familiar about this place. No saucer. No Alkalinian Seat. No venom tube. Not even any water. Everything is dull and dark. Wherever we are, I’ve never been here before.
“Where are we, Mira? How did we get here?”
I brought us here.
How?
I’m not sure. When I bounded, I grabbed you.
But where are we? I look around again. There’s nothing. No buildings, no plants, no people. There’s not even any color.
I don’t know, Mira says.
“We need to get back!” I say. “They need our help with the evacuation!”
I’ll try. Mira closes her eyes and reaches out with her mind to build a port. Then she opens her eyes and shakes her head.
“What is it?” I ask.
Nothing. See? She closes her eyes and reaches for me with her mind. Once she makes the connection, I can see what she sees, feel what she feels.
Mira opens her mind to build a port, but where there is always connection and order and rightness, there is nothing. Her mind is as empty as the barren world around us.
I open my eyes. Mira’s eyes are still squeezed shut. Her hands are out in front of her, but her gloves don’t glow. Then her eyes find mine, filled with panic.
I shrug. “Take a break. Maybe we’re just tired.”
We try again in a few minutes. Ten tries later and still no success. Something is blocking her ability to bound.
“Let’s look around. Maybe the block is location specific. Hopefully, we just have to get out of range, and you’ll be able to tap in.”
I take Mira’s hand, and we set out. The ground is squishy, like a giant sponge that soaked up every ounce of color from this place. My shoes sink with each step. After we’ve been walking for five minutes and have seen absolutely nothing, I stop. I hold my breath as she tries to tap in. Nope. Her gloves still don’t work.
My heart’s been pounding in my chest ever since I heard Seelok speak of the Youli. How much time has passed since then? Thirty minutes? An hour? More?
Now my heart pounds for a different reason. Something about this place is all wrong, and it’s not just that Mira’s gloves don’t work.
Something catches my shoe, and I trip.
I crouch down. A pile of bones lies at my feet.
Mira kneels beside me. She grips my arm. Fear radiates from her mind.
We have to get out of here. I stand and cup my hands around my mouth. “Hello?”
Nothing. Not a sound. Not even an echo.
“Hello?” I try again.
I drop my hand to my side and Mira grabs it.
Once more I call out. “Hello? Is anyone out there?”
My heart beats so loud I feel my pulse in my ears.
Then, ever so faint, there’s the sound of a human voice.
“Hello?” I call again. “Over here!”
The sound grows louder. Someone is shouting back. Mira squeezes my hand. Then the sound of footsteps rings in our direction. A second later a man runs out of the semidarkness.
“Oh, thank the heavens above,” he says as he charges toward us. “You’ve finally come. I told them it was just a matter of time. Wait a second . . . how old are you?”
Four others approach. There’s a total of three men and two women. All of them are wearing old-fashioned Earth Force uniforms.
“Kids?” one of the women says. “We’ve been stranded all this time, and they send kids for us? What’s going on?”
I take a step back. “Who are you?”
And when they tell us their names, my blood chills. They’re names I know. They’re names I’ve read in textbooks and heard in web stories since I was a little kid.
The aeronauts from the Incident at Bounding Base 51. The aeronauts who were lost almost fourteen years ago.
Mira’s anxiety comes raging back. Her grip on my hand is making my fingers numb.
“You’ve been here all this time?” I ask.
“Yes,” one of them says. “It feels like an eternity.”
Another shakes her head. “Don’t mind him. He’s just used to the red-carpet treatment. The worst part of this was not being able to take a shower for two days.”
What? None of this makes any sense. They’ve been missing for more than a decade. Unless . . . Gedney once said something about space and time being interrelated.
“This may sound like a strange question,” I say, “but . . . how long have you been here?”
They look at one another. The one who made the shower comment shrugs. “We’ve had no way of tracking time, but I estimate it’s been just over forty-eight hours.”
The rift, Mira thinks.
She’s right. We’ve landed in the rift with no way out.
I squeeze Mira’s hand. At least we’re together.
“Is that right?” the woman asks. “It’s been about two days since the failed bound?”
I glance at Mira, then I take a deep breath. “Umm . . . no. It’s been about fourteen years.”
Two of the men start laughing, but the sound of their laughs is quickly swallowed by the dark void of the rift. The seconds stretch out, and as they do, it’s clear that the lost aeronauts are beginning to realize that somehow what I said is true.
“You’re certain?” one of the men who laughed asks.
&n
bsp; I nod.
“My parents . . . ?” the woman in the back gasps.
The man next to her sinks to his knees. “My children!”
“How do we get out of here?” the man who found us asks.
Mira’s fear bristles in my brain.
“I’m not sure,” I say. “We need to figure that out.”
We need to figure it out fast. Because as every minute ticks by in here, we lose days in our world.
Acknowledgments
In many ways, writing is a team sport. My name is on the cover, but many others deserve credit for The Forgotten Shrine making it to the bookshelf.
My incredible editor, Sarah McCabe, boarded the bounding ship and piloted us forward. The series has greatly benefited from her editorial eye, and I’m so grateful to have the chance to work with her. The Bounders have a fabulous home at Simon & Schuster/Aladdin. I’m thankful that my books are in the hands of such a stellar group of publishing professionals.
Two early champions of the Bounders series will always have my deepest gratitude: my agent, David Dunton; and my first editor, Michael Strother.
I’m fortunate to have a wonderfully supportive network of author friends. My dream is to rent a huge house on a lake where all of us can hang out in person for a whole week. Let’s make that happen, okay?
This year I’ve had the pleasure and privilege of interacting with many young book lovers and Bounders fans. They’ve shared fan art, story ideas, and lots of enthusiasm about the series. These are my favorite author moments! Thank you!
I’m lucky and grateful for the supportive community in which I live and write—from my children’s schools to my local booksellers, to my extended family and wide network of friends. I have tremendous support, and for that, I’m truly blessed.
The heart of that community is in my own home with Jamey, Nathan, and Gabriel. You are the real deal. All of you.
Jamey, thanks for letting the boys go first. This one is for you.
About the Author
PHOTO BY BARRIE SMITH PHOTOGRAPHY
MONICA TESLER lives south of Boston with her husband and their two boys. She earned her undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Michigan. She writes on the commuter boat, in coffee shops, and at her kitchen table. She tries to meditate every day but often ends up fantasizing about space, time travel, or strange lands, both real and imagined.
ALADDIN
SIMON & SCHUSTER, NEW YORK
Visit us at
Authors.SimonandSchuster.com/Monica-Tesler
simonandschuster.com/kids
Also by Monica Tesler
Bounders, Book 1: Earth Force Rising
Bounders, Book 2: The Tundra Trials
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
ALADDIN
An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division
1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020
www.SimonandSchuster.com
First Aladdin hardcover edition December 2017
Text copyright © 2017 by Monica Tesler
Jacket illustration copyright © 2017 by Owen Richardson
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.
ALADDIN and related logo are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact
Simon & Schuster Special Sales at 1-866-506-1949 or [email protected].
The Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau can bring authors to your live event.
For more information or to book an event, contact the Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau
at 1-866-248-3049 or visit our website at www.simonspeakers.com.
Jacket designed by Karin Paprocki
Interior designed by Mike Rosamilia
The text of this book was set in Adobe Garamond Pro.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Tesler, Monica, author.
Title: The forgotten shrine / by Monica Tesler.
Description: First Aladdin hardcover edition. | New York : Aladdin, 2017. |
Series: Bounders ; book 3 | Summary: “Jasper and his friends are sent as
ambassadors to the underwater planet of Earth Force’s shady new allies,
the Alkalinians”— Provided by publisher.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017018347 (print) | LCCN 2017036281 (eBook) |
ISBN 9781481446013 (eBook) | ISBN 9781481445993 (hardcover)
Subjects: | CYAC: Adventure and adventurers—Fiction. | Human-alien
encounters—Fiction. | Ambassadors—Fiction. | Virtual reality—Fiction. |
Science fiction. | BISAC: JUVENILE FICTION / Action & Adventure /
General. | JUVENILE FICTION / Science & Technology. |
JUVENILE FICTION / Science Fiction.
Classification: LCC PZ7.1.T447 (eBook) | LCC PZ7.1.T447 For 2017 (print) |
DDC [Fic]—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017018347
The Forgotten Shrine Page 26