Ava Altair grew up reading fantasy and science fiction novels. She graduated from Florida Tech with a BS in Science Education – Physics and a minor in Computational Mathematics. She taught as an AP Physics teacher for five years in Florida. She now lives in Oregon, teaching horseback riding lessons and managing the stables with her mom. She enjoys hanging out and talking about science concepts and story ideas with her dad.

What it is to be human doesn't apply anymore. The surface of the Earth has been poisoned by years of abuse and now most life lives beneath the waves of the ocean. Over the last 500 years, humans have become fragmented and specialized by genetic manipulation, but two main factions exist in the Undersea. The hybrids, a race that continues to genetically modify themselves to climb the social ladder, and the humans, the unmodified organic race that makes up the lowest tier of society. 

Alex, a Delta Six hybrid, finds an unlikely companion in a human man, Jack, while on a mission to steal the Athena file. Alex withholds the file to elicit help from Jack and they set out on an adventure across the Surface. Their relationship is tenuous until a device mysteriously links them together. Now, running from Alphas, an elite group of hybrid assassins, Alex and Jack must weather the hostile surface of the planet to reach their common goal. They soon find they can't both have the thing they want most, but also can't seem to let each other go.

FLUX

Jack sprinted down the hall and skidded to a stop. The three men behind him copied his movements. They held their rifles at the ready in every direction, protecting him from all sides. He pushed his ear to the door and listened. A few muffled coughs came from within. He summoned fire into the palms of his hands, just hot enough to warp and melt the metal handle. Once it softened, he slammed his shoulder against the door and it burst open under his weight.


Inside, a dozen humans stood gaping at their rescuer. Their faces were sunken and bodies' skinny beneath the ragged clothes. They stood crowded in the three by three-meter room.


Jack let out a whistle. "Wow, they really pack them in here. Come on, let's go. Come on, everybody gets rescued today." He ushered them out the door. "Be quick and quiet. We're going to get you out of here."


Chapter 56: Rescue, Part 1