by Matt London
“Are you sure about this plan?” Rick asked.
“You had to try to talk me out of it one last time, huh?” Evie winked at him. “I’m sure, big bro.”
Rick laughed, and they were quiet for a minute. Evie felt his eyes on her, watching and thinking.
Diana checked her watch and frowned.
“Sorry to interrupt, but it’s time,” she said.
The trio walked across the city to the Scifun Airport, where a crowd of thousands had gathered. When they saw Evie, they started screaming and cheering. She couldn’t believe it. She had expected a small family gathering. What was this?
Rick and Diana made a path for Evie through the crowd, to the huge rocket at the center. Everyone wanted to high-five Evie or shake her hand.
Along the way, she spotted Doctor Mahmoun, from Doctor Grant’s sun farm. He held Niels Bohr close. The cat’s fur had grown back, and he gave Evie a soft meow.
Doctor Mahmoun said, “We came to see the big event. But this guy told me he wants to go with you.”
Evie snorted. “Oh, he said that, did he?”
“Yes, miss,” Doctor Mahmoun said, handing the cat to her. “He doesn’t want you to get lonely.”
“Well who am I to refuse this handsome guy?” Evie asked, cradling Niels Bohr in her arms. They continued on, together.
In the middle of the crowd, at the base of the rocket, Evie’s parents stood with Sprout. Evie looked up at the tall stack of columns that made up her ship. At the top was her new home. At the bottom, Dad’s latest experimental hover engine.
“The last round of tests went beautifully,” Dad assured her, stepping forward to give her a hug. “You’re gonna have a great time.”
“I know I will, Dad. Thanks.”
Sprout looked like he was about to cry. “I’m gonna miss you much too much, I reckon.”
“I’m gonna miss you too, Sprout. But it won’t be forever.” After a long warm hug, he pulled off his cowboy hat and stuck it on her head.
“For luck,” he said.
Evie didn’t want to drag on her goodbyes. It would just make things harder. She placed Niels Bohr on her shoulder, then reached for the ladder that led up to the cockpit.
“Are you sure we can’t change your mind?” her mother asked.
Evie turned. “I have to go. This whole adventure—it’s been about the eighth continent, about exploring. We traveled the world, made a new one, brought joy to all these people. But now . . .” Evie looked out at the sea of people who had come to Scifun because of the dream and the promise of the eighth continent. Evie smiled at her mom. “Now I have to see what other worlds are out there to explore. Who knows? Maybe with this rocket’s stash of Eden Compound, I can turn distant, barren planets into places as fertile as the eighth continent.”
Evie began the long climb up the ladder. The crowd below chanted her name. Evie stopped and looked down at her family and friends.
“Hey, Rick,” she said. “Take good care of our continent.”
Rick nodded. He would.
Evie reached the top of the ladder and entered the rocket ship that would take her on a journey into the vastness of space over the next several years. She initiated the takeoff sequence. Soon the whole ship rumbled violently and launched into the air. Evie fell back against her seat. The rocket passed through the atmosphere, leaving Scifun, the eighth continent, and the earth behind.
Evie set her trajectory, kicked in the afterburners, and flew into the starry light.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I want to thank Ben Schrank and Gillian Levinson, as well as all the fantastic folks at Razorbill and Penguin Random House who helped to shape The 8th Continent. Ben gave me this chance and trusted all my crazy ideas. You would not be reading this without Gillian’s creativity and smart critiques. Thank you also to the Penguins who worked so hard to make these books, especially Casey McIntyre, Vivian Kirklin, Krista Ahlberg, Lindsey Andrews, and Carmela Iaria.
A novel is only as good as its editors, which means my books were triply good. Thank you to Marissa Grossman for believing in my vision, and Tiffany Liao for her thoughtful comments and for sharing her love of The 8th Continent with me. You make my madness look good.
Thanks are owed to Sara Crowe and Harvey Klinger for their guidance and for connecting me with this project. Thank you to my agent Joanna Volpe for her friendship and wisdom, and to Jaida Temperly and the rest of the New Leaf team for always having my back.
Capstone Studios designed the sweet 8th Continent logo. The awesome artist Max Kostenko drew the cover art. His illustrations inspired these books a great deal. Courtney Wood created the 8th Continent website. The cool people at Funbrain made the game, shout outs to Michelle Teravainen and Caryn Blatt.
I want to thank my teachers and classmates from the Clarion Workshop, especially Grady Hendrix for his generosity and thoughtful conversations. Thanks to the New York Geek Posse past and present for their friendship and support. Let that be a lesson to all you aspiring scifi writers out there. The sooner you are proud to be a geek, the faster you’ll find the coolest friends you’ll ever know.
At its heart, The 8th Continent is a story about family and what a family can accomplish when they work together. I dedicated these books to mine, to my parents and brothers, my grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins, and all my extended family. They taught me the importance of having a big brain, a bigger sense of humor, and the biggest heart. Sound like another family you know?
As always, the greatest thanks of all go to my partner in books and in life, Jordan Hamessley. You are my guardian and my voice. This one is for you.
They’re all for you.
With love,
MATT LONDON
November 16th, 2015
New York, New York
MATT LONDON (themattlondon.com) is a writer, video game designer, and avid recycler who has published short fiction and articles about movies, TV, video games, and other nerdy stuff. Matt is a graduate of the Clarion Writers’ Workshop, and studied computers, cameras, rockets, and robots at New York University. When not investigating lost civilizations, Matt explores the mysterious island where he lives—Manhattan.
Find out more at
8THCONTINENTBOOKS.COM
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