Above World - By Jenn Reese Page 0,68

drawing in air was painful to her.

He pictured his mother in the Deepfell’s place, pain contorting the lines around her eyes and mouth. He pictured Calli, her huge smile replaced by a grimace as she tried to be brave for him. He pictured Aluna, always so strong, barely able to keep her grip on his hand.

He dropped his head and cried.

The Deepfell girl did nothing. She just lay there, breathing slowly, her hand in his hand. Then, ever so softly, she started to whistle. The sound was high-pitched and faint, the melody haunting.

The Deepfell was singing to him.

He cried while she sang. All the danger and running and fear — it had all been building up inside him. The letter from Karl had made him sad. Sad for Karl and for Sarah Jennings and for their son, Tomias. He was worried about Calli, out there in the Above World all alone, because of him. He was scared, not just for himself, but for everyone he loved.

None of these things were terrible by themselves, but together, all at once? Crushing, as if he’d swum too far into deep ocean.

Eventually his tears stopped and only the Deepfell’s song remained. It was beautiful and melancholy, but there was a note at the end of each verse that lifted his spirits. A single note that offered hope. How could the whole song be redeemed by such a small moment?

He thought about Aluna and Dash, Calli and Zorro. They were just like that: small notes in a great big song of despair. The Above World felt vast and cruel and hopeless, but maybe their actions could change the tenor of the world’s song. Maybe they were those little notes of hope.

When the Deepfell finished her song, Hoku squeezed her hand gently.

“Thank you,” he said, looking into one of her deep, dark eyes. He’d never meant the words more.

Grandma Nani had always said that the Deepfell gave up their humanity to live in the deep ocean. Nani was wrong.

The Deepfell let go of his hand and smiled.

Thinking about his grandma sparked a memory. When she’d given him the water safe, she’d said, Maybe it holds her memories of the Above World. Maybe it holds far more.

The space inside the box should have held much more than just a letter and a picture and a wooden dolphin. What if those items were decoys? The whole water safe seemed designed to look sentimental: the silvery mermaid on the lid, the letter, the photo. Grandma Nani said Sarah Jennings was smart. Well, he was smart, too.

He waved good-bye to the wounded Deepfell girl and sprinted back to the others.

WHEN HOKU GOT BACK to the command center, he ignored Aluna and Dash and even Zorro and headed straight for the water safe.

“Are you okay?” Aluna asked. “Did something happen?”

He punched in the combination, popped open the box, and removed the letter, photo, and dolphin. Now that it was empty, he could easily see that the container part extended only halfway through the box’s depth. He ran his fingertip slowly along the smooth plastic bottom, feeling for anything unusual.

Then he found it. A small depression at the back, no bigger than a few grains of sand. A button? He pulled out an Extra Ear, straightened one of the wires, and poked the end into the hole.

A small square flap in the bottom of the box swung open, revealing a hidden compartment. He pulled out a thin black rectangle, no bigger than the palm of his hand and thick as a finger. He looked up at Aluna and Dash and grinned.

“I examined that box thoroughly,” Dash said. “How did you do that?”

“Because he’s Hoku,” Aluna replied, as if that explained everything. “What is it?”

“A piece of really old tech,” Hoku said. “Wait, I bet there’s a way to turn it on.”

He found a series of buttons along one edge and pressed them in succession. As soon as he hit the second, the tiny video screen filled with the glowing, spinning symbol of the Kampii seahorse. A moment later, it was replaced by the face of a familiar dark-skinned woman in a small domed room full of air. He recognized her high cheekbones and strong, tired eyes immediately.

Sarah Jennings. Moving as if she were still alive.

“Amazing,” Aluna whispered, and crowded closer. Hoku felt Dash on his other side and angled the device so they could both see.

On the device, Sarah looked over her shoulder, at something they couldn’t see, then forward again. If