Above World - By Jenn Reese Page 0,81

blinking lights and knobs and strange glowing letters and pictures. Grandma Nani’s words echoed in his ear: Hoku, my boy, it’s time you had an adventure.

ALUNA HELD the Ocean Seed in front of her and steadied her wobbling legs against Daphine’s cage. This wasn’t supposed to be how it happened. The rescue, the transformation — any of it. She’d followed her gut coming here by herself, and this time, her gut had failed her. Just as she’d failed everyone else.

“I’ve never seen a Kampii grow its tail,” Fathom said, his voice crackling with glee. “As pretty as this one is, I would trade her, yes. Take the pill and I will free my pet, release her back into the ocean. She can go braid her hair and play with the dolphins all day.”

Aluna brought the seed closer to her mouth. “The transformation takes many days. Remove her collar now and free her.”

“Oh, don’t be silly,” Fathom said. “You might be holding a piece of candy, not a genetic resequencer. But I will make you a bargain: I will remove her obedience collar, then you will swallow the pill. When I am satisfied that it is working, I will release the mermaid.”

It was more of an offer than she thought she’d get.

“If you don’t free her, I’ll escape. Or kill myself. And then you’ll never get to see my tail. Do you understand?” Aluna said. He could grab her and force the seed down her throat right now, but he didn’t. He seemed delighted by their negotiation.

Sea Master Fathom nodded, pressed a few buttons on his device, then pointed it at Daphine. The thick metal collar around her neck clicked open and sank to the bottom of her tank. Both of Daphine’s hands went to her neck, and Aluna saw her sister take in a huge breath.

“My father will be so pleased when I tell him about this,” Fathom said, clapping two of his three hands together happily. “He has always hated the Kampii.”

“Who is your father?” Aluna asked.

“Before the modern age, he was known as Karl Strand,” Fathom said.

Aluna sputtered, “Karl Strand is still alive? It’s been hundreds of years — how is that possible? And if he is truly your father, why do you look just like him?”

Fathom laughed. “Oh, no,” he said. “I am merely a clone of the great and mighty Karl Strand. I was created from his genetic code, from his very flesh — when he still had some. He tasked me with bringing the ocean realms under our control. How could he trust such an important task to anyone other than his own genetic child?”

Clones! Fathom was a copy of Karl Strand!

“Was Sky Master Tempest a clone, too?” Aluna asked. She wanted answers, and unlike the Kampii Elders, Fathom seemed inclined to actually give her some. And why not? She would be his slave soon enough.

“Ah, my brother Tempest, may his memory fade to dust,” Fathom said, resting two of his hands over his heart. “Yes, he was a clone, but an inferior one. You see, the process is imperfect. We all share an illustrious genetic heritage . . . but not all of us are our father’s equal.

“Tempest was greedy,” Fathom said. “He was given the title of Sky Master and ordered to destroy the Aviars if he could not tame them, but that wasn’t good enough for him. He wanted to rule them. To turn them into his own personal army. But the Aviars are savages. Unlike more civilized people, they chose to fight to the death rather than to submit to his will. They battled like devils against him. Technically the Aviar leader struck the killing blow, but it was my brother’s hubris, his unbelievable arrogance, that destroyed him.”

Aluna stood up straighter and raised her chin. She was proud to call the Aviars and President Iolanthe her allies.

“Tempest was foolish to disobey our father. You see, Karl Strand has a plan,” Fathom said. “He will unite all the people of this land — be they birds or fish, horses or snakes. He will collect us, bring us together, make us strong. Under his rule, we will conquer life, death, and the very earth herself.”

Aluna shuddered. She wanted the Kampii to be less afraid of their own tails, to come out of the water, to be a part of the world. But not if that world was ruled by Karl Strand and his crazy clones.

“Don’t look so disgusted, mermaid. It will be a