Above World

THE CREATURE that scuttled into the room was Human from the waist up. A Human girl with skin the color of dead coral and round black eyes with no irises. Her pale white head was bald, except for a patch of metal wires in the back that were gathered in a bunch.

Below the waist, the girl’s body became a crab. A giant red, evil-looking crab. A crab with eight chitinous legs for running and jumping and walking, and two huge claws for fighting and gripping. One of the claws held a large metal wrench.

“Ooh!” the crab girl said when she saw Hoku, and she dropped her wrench. It clattered against the metal floor so loudly that it made him cringe.

Hoku glanced over to where Dash had been, but the horse-boy stayed hidden. Hoku took a deep breath and tried to stop himself from screaming. A Dome Mek, he told himself. She’s just a Dome Mek.

“Don’t hurt me!” he said. “I’m a friend!”

She raised her left eyebrow. “Friend?” she said. “I don’t have any friends.”

He felt a sudden pang of sympathy for this bizarre crab creature, but not enough of one to let his guard down.

“Well, I’m not a friend yet,” he said quickly. “I meant that I’m not an enemy. I don’t mean you any harm, and I hope you don’t mean me any, either.”

She lowered her eyebrow and clicked her eight legs a little closer to him. She had arms like a regular girl, but it was one of the big crab claws that swooped down and recovered her wrench.

“I’m not here to fight,” she said very matter-of-factly. “I’m here to fix a clog in drainage pipe alpha-six-foxtrot-four-one-zebra.”

“A clog?”

“Yes,” she said. “Water hasn’t been moving at the appropriate rate for the last hour. I was activated to clear the pipe and restore proper flow.”

He had a feeling he knew what had been causing that “clog,” namely him and Dash. But he wasn’t about to tell the Mek that, at least not while she was carrying a big wrench.

“You said you were ‘activated.’ What does that mean?” he asked.

The girl frowned, and her shoulders hunched slightly. “When we are not needed, Fathom turns us off in order to conserve power,” she said. “If my internal clock is correct, I was last activated more than eight-point-three-six months ago, to install a new lens in one of the camera sharks.”

“Camera sharks?” That must be what he and Aluna had seen in the waters around the Kampii outpost, the night before they left the city. Great White had been recording them! Then he remembered what else the crab girl had said. “You’ve been asleep for eight months? How long were you awake before that?”

“It took exactly thirty-three-point-seven-zero minutes to complete the installation,” she said with a sigh. “During the last two days I have been alive, three-point-three-six years have transpired.”

“That’s terrible,” Hoku said, and he meant it. Machine or not, no one deserved to be turned off.

The girl skittered closer, her eight legs moving in quick succession. “We used to be alive all the time,” she said. “We love the dome, and we love caring for it. Our ancestors built it. We are happy to dedicate our lives to its maintenance.”

Hoku kept his position as she got closer, despite a strong desire to jump back in the pool and hide. “What happened?”

“Sea Master Fathom,” she said. “He activates us only when there is a problem, and then only for as long as it takes us to fix it.” She definitely looked sad now.

“But why?”

“Fathom is funneling our power to another location. I was one of the Meks who reconfigured the transmitter to his specifications.” The crab-girl looked behind her, then lowered her voice. “He’s not killing us, just making us sleep a lot. It could be worse. Fathom had us shut down the generators sending power to the Kampii colonies. We turned them off completely.”

“You turned them off?” This time, he did stumble. He fell back against a wall and slid to the floor, suddenly dizzy. His hand went to his neck, to the breathing shell pressed into his flesh. He’d thought the generators powering their necklaces had been accidentally damaged. It never occurred to him that Fathom would have turned them off on purpose, knowing that thousands of innocent Kampii would eventually die.

Unless Fathom could be stopped and the generators restored, all Kampii were doomed to drown.

“He’s trying to bring the Kampii to the surface,” the Mek said. “He wants to control all the splinters of the ocean — both the Deepfell and the Kampii. He claims that victory over the shark-people is fast approaching, but he hasn’t been able to locate the Kampii. He has only caught one so far, and he plans on using her for parts.”

Daphine.

“So it’s a trap,” Hoku said dully. “He wants to find us, and we jumped like fish, right into the dolphin’s mouth.”

“You’re . . . one of them?” the girl asked.

Hoku looked up. She was standing next to him, smelling of sea salt and artifact oil. An image of Calli and her bright eyes filled his mind. He wished, more than anything, that he could hold Calli’s hand right now. Or at least know that she was safe.

“Yes, I’m a Kampii,” he said. “And you’ve just told me that my best friend has walked into a trap, that her sister will be killed for parts, and that all my people are going to die.”

The girl’s eight crab legs folded until her torso was almost as low as his. He expected her to say something comforting. That’s what Aluna or Calli would have done.

Instead, she said, “I wish I could help, but I have to fix the clog in drainage pipe alpha-six-foxtrot-four-one-zebra.”

He stared at her while her words penetrated the dark thoughts in his head.

“Wait a minute.”

He stood up so abruptly that the girl scrambled backward to get out of his way.

“You’re going to let my people die? You were created to protect me and this dome and all the Kampii. And now you’re going to let us all die?”

The girl looked at him with lidless black eyes. “It’s not my fault!”

“You’d rather fix a stupid clog in a drain than try to save us.”

“If I help, I will be shut down,” she said. “My dreams are so empty. I’m scared of the darkness. I don’t want to be trapped there forever!”

He hadn’t thought of that. Now he felt bad for trying to guilt her into helping. For better or for worse, Aluna had rubbed off on him. All he cared about was his own mission. He kept forgetting that other people had lives, too.

“What’s your name?” he said.

“Technician one-zero-zero-seven-seven-one,” she said. “But at one time, I was also Liu.”

“Liu,” he said. It was a pretty name, much nicer than a string of numbers. “I’m Hoku. How can we — how can I help you?”

Liu stared up at the ceiling while she thought. Eventually, she said, “I wouldn’t mind going back to sleep if I had something pleasant to dream about. . . .” She hooked her hands together behind her back. Her cheeks blushed pale pink.

Hoku narrowed his eyes. Where was she going with this?

“I’ll take you to the control center, if you give me something in return.” She took four skittering steps closer. “My price is a kiss.”

Now it was Hoku’s turn to blush.

“But I have a . . .” Was Calli really a girlfriend? “And Aluna would . . .” Would probably laugh. “And I don’t know how . . .” But he did know how to kiss, sort of. “And you . . .” Are a crab-girl, he wanted to say, but wasn’t Calli a bird-girl? That certainly hadn’t stopped them from kissing.

“Enough!”

Dash shoved aside the swimming clothes he’d been hiding behind and strode over to where they were standing. He turned to the crab-girl.

“Beautiful lady, I am Dashiyn,” he said, touching two fingers to his heart and bowing his head. “I am honored to meet you. If you deem me a suitable substitute for our Kampii friend, I would be happy to render the requested price.”

The crab-girl clapped her hands with glee. “Why, yes!” she said. “You will do nicely —”

Before she could finish speaking, Dash slid his good arm behind her back, looked into her eyes for several long moments, and then kissed her.

Even though he wasn’t playing a part in it, Hoku could tell it was a good kiss. Both Dash and Liu had their eyes closed. Their faces pressed together firmly, but not awkwardly. He and Calli hadn’t had a chance to work on that part yet. But the biggest reason he could tell it was good was because both of them seemed to forget he was even in the room.

When it was over, Dash stared into the girl’s eyes for another long moment, then pulled one of her hands to his mouth.

“Thank you,” he whispered, then kissed her knuckles. His eyes never left hers.

Liu bobbed a curtsy, her face more flushed than ever.

“No, thank you,” she said in the same hushed tone he had used. “Now I won’t be afraid to go back to sleep.”

They smiled at each other, and Dash gently released her hand.

The girl turned to Hoku, her eyes suddenly full of life. “We’d better hurry,” she said. “The control center isn’t far, but I probably don’t have much time.” She turned and scuttled out the hatch.

He looked at Dash. For the first time, Hoku didn’t see the horse-boy’s broken arm or his claustrophobia or his fear of being underwater. He saw a boy who already knew who he was and what he was capable of. He saw a leader.

Then Dash turned to him and, with panic in his voice, said, “Please don’t tell Aluna.”

Hoku laughed.





THE DOG TOOK OFF down the street, weaving between two buildings at a fast trot. Luckily his legs were short. Aluna jogged after him and managed to keep up.

“Who lives here?” she asked. The tall silvery buildings were etched with waves and glinted in the sunlight.

“Dogs and Gizmos and Meks,” the dog said. “Cats and rats and Mess-ups.”

“That’s not very helpful,” she said. Gizmos were probably Upgraders. Whatever a Mess-up was, she didn’t want to meet one.

The dog ignored her. “Middle Green is where Fathom keeps his toys,” the dog continued. “Those that don’t become Gizmos or Meks or Mess-ups. Faster now,” he said. “Run run run.”

The mangy four-legged thing burst into a full-out gallop. She had no idea something so little could run so fast. She pumped her legs to keep up.

They wove through the HydroTek dome. She barely had time to absorb all the wonders. Even covered in garbage, the city gleamed and sparkled. It reminded her of the story of Atlantis, a floating city out of legend. Supposedly, the Atlantis Kampii tribe grew too curious about the Above World. They sailed their city closer and closer until one day Atlantis beached itself on the shore and was overrun by Humans. HydroTek was too beautiful to be the creation of savages. She saw the stamp of Kampii craftspeople everywhere.

The dog zigged and zagged through tiny streets, under arches, and around glorious statues and defunct fountains. She wanted to slow down and examine everything, but sightseeing would have to wait.

They were heading toward the heart of HydroTek. Or, if it didn’t have a heart, they were heading toward the center. “Middle Green,” the dog had called it. The animal seemed to know the way well, and she was happy to let him lead.

She wondered what Dash and Hoku were doing. Maybe she should have brought them along. She could picture Hoku leaning against one of the buildings, panting and begging her to take a break. And Dash. He would have run and said nothing. She wanted to know his story, but she respected him too much to ask. If he wanted to tell her, he would.

Calli was out there somewhere, too. If anything happened to her, so soon after the girl had embarked on her first adventure, Aluna would never forgive herself.

“Birds!” the dog said, and darted for an alcove in one of the buildings. “Find shadows! Take cover!”

She followed him into a shadowy indent and pressed her back against the cool stone.

“I don’t hear —”

“Shhh,” the dog warned.

She clamped her mouth shut and listened. A moment later, she heard the flapping of hundreds of tiny wings.

The birds flew like a school of fish, darting out of the street they’d been heading for in tight formation. When one bobbed in the air, they all did. When one cut a sharp left, the others followed so fast it seemed as if they were operating with a single brain.

“Beautiful,” she whispered.

“Deadly,” the dog said quietly. His whispery voice was a soft, low grumble. “Rip you to shreds while you scream scream scream. Saw them take down a Gizmo once. We go now,” the dog said, and slipped around the corner, away from the flock. She followed quietly, stealing one last look over her shoulder to watch the birds careen up toward the sun.

The buildings grew taller as they approached the center, where the dome was highest. Aluna craned her neck up but couldn’t see all the way to the top. There was nothing so big back at the colony. She didn’t even see how buildings could stand so tall without collapsing. Hoku would probably know.

The dog slowed to a trot. “Gizmo guard soon,” he said. “Let me talk.”

“You got it, friend,” she said. “I’d rather kill an Upgrader than talk to it.”

The dog nodded. “Talk easier than kill. At least now.”

Suddenly the street ended and the buildings gave way to great green trees and grass and bushes. This is what the dog meant by Middle Green.

They headed to an opening in the foliage — and to the Upgrader who seemed to be guarding it.

The man was tall, but his body was short. He would have been exactly Aluna’s height if his head hadn’t been detached and mounted on a metal shaft that raised it up a meter higher. When his disembodied head swiveled around and saw them, he said, “Yo, stop, yo!”

“Sure, yeah, Giraffe,” the dog said. “Let us in. Going to see him.” The dog pointed his snout toward Aluna.

Giraffe looked down his nose at her. She didn’t particularly enjoy her view up his very wide nostrils. Only when she lowered her gaze did she see the evil-looking gun that had replaced his left arm.

“Master Fathom don’t need no more Humans, Barko,” the Gizmo said. “You should know that.”

She started to say, “Oh, I’m not —” but the dog interrupted her.

“My problem, not yours,” he said with a growl. “Let me in in in.”

“Easy, easy,” Giraffe said. His gun arm lowered and pointed toward the ground. “But I warned you, Barko. You come out with a second butt instead of a head, you remember that I warned you.”

“Sure, yeah,” said the dog.

Giraffe shuffled to the side. His head bobbled a bit but stayed in place. Aluna couldn’t understand how he was even alive.

The dog nosed her in the back of the knee. She took the hint and walked quickly into the tree-lined path that Giraffe had been guarding. Barko stayed on her heels.

Middle Green seemed like a beautiful forest. The trees were lush and green and swayed as if there were a breeze. Hidden birds chirped from the branches. She even caught a glimpse of a tiny puffed tail. She wondered how bad Fathom could be if he lived in a place so wondrous.

And then she saw the cages.