Above World - By Jenn Reese Page 0,66

tension growing inside her chest burst, and she could breathe. She sucked in great gulps of air through her mouth and felt the glow of the breathing necklace pulsing at her throat.

“Good,” Hoku said. “It still has work to do in your lungs, but the worst is over.”

She hugged him tight, afraid to speak. The ocean was hers once again.

Click.

Aluna, Dash, and Hoku looked over at Zorro just as the lid of the water safe sprang open.

AS SOON AS the water safe popped open, Zorro tried to shut it again.

“No!” Hoku said, prying himself free from Aluna and rushing to the animal. “Stop!”

The raccoon tilted his head and perked his ears.

“Zorro, stop,” he repeated more clearly. “You’re all done, boy. Good job.” He gave the raccoon a big scruffle between the ears. Figures the little guy would focus on the combination part, not the actual goal of opening the box. In a way, that was Hoku’s favorite part, too.

But now that the mermaid box was open, all he could hear was the pounding of his heart inside his chest. Please, oh, please let it be something worthwhile!

“What’s in it?” Aluna asked.

Hoku memorized the numbers first, before anything happened to reset them: 704404. Then he took a deep breath and lifted the silver mermaid lid all the way open.

Three items sat inside: a handwritten letter, an old photograph, and a small carved wooden dolphin.

Where was the powerful artifact that was going to save them all? Where was the perfect weapon for defeating the Upgraders?

“Well?” Aluna said.

He looked in the box, searching for a good answer and trying to quell the disappointment that threatened to overwhelm him. “There’s a letter,” he said. The paper was faded and wrinkled. Someone had written all the words by hand, except for the top part. He read, “FROM THE DESK OF DR. KARL STRAND, DIRECTOR, BIOMEDICS.”

“Can you read the rest of it?” Aluna asked.

“Of course,” he said. Just because it took him a long time to figure out biomedics didn’t mean he couldn’t figure out the rest. Then he remembered that she couldn’t read at all and felt sorry for his reaction.

“Please,” Dash said. “I also am interested.”

Hoku cleared his throat and started at the handwritten part. Luckily “Karl” had used a steady, even hand when he wrote it, or Hoku’s job might have been much harder. “‘Dearest Sarah —’”

“Sarah Jennings! Your grandma was right!” Aluna interrupted. She turned to Dash and explained, “Sarah Jennings — known as Ali’ikai — founded the City of Shifting Tides. She was the first Kampii.”

“Shhh,” said Dash. “Do not interrupt a word-weaver.”

“He’s not making up the words,” she said. “He’s reading them. It’s not the same.”

“Perhaps not to you, but —”

“‘Dearest Sarah,’” Hoku repeated, louder this time. When Dash and Aluna settled down, he continued:

“You say you’ve made up your mind, but I can’t let you go without trying one last time to persuade you to stay. I will start with this: We do have a future. We have a future both as a race of people on a struggling planet, and as a family.

Even now, in my own lab, Ratliff and Nazarian are close to the cure. Not only can they stop the spread of Super-Z but they can make sure nothing like this ever happens to humanity again. They want to keep testing, but I know, in my heart, that it works, and that it will save us all. In fact, we’ll be stronger than ever before.

If only you were willing to give me more time. . . . Ah, but I know you. When your mind is made up, you are a bulldog. (There won’t be bulldogs in your new underwater colony, will there? No bulldogs, no fireplaces, no long, slow hikes at dusk. . . . Can you really give up all those things? Will your new race of Kampii ever love you as much as I do?)

I’ve enclosed two items with this letter. Do you remember the photo? We’d taken Tomias to his first soccer game. He ate two hot dogs and cheered for both teams. He was so healthy then, and we had so many plans.

The second item you will also recognize. It will pain you to keep it, knowing that I carved it with my own two hands. But you will not be able to throw it away, knowing how much Tomias loved it. Knowing how he put it under his pillow at night and insisted on bringing it everywhere he went. Do