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

Alex woke to find Jimmy's arms draped around her. Her head lay on his chest. He snored softly with his head resting on hers. A blanket had been draped across them. Lexi lay curled up next to them under another. Alex's arm still hurt. She took shallow breaths to keep from aggravating her lungs. She eased away from Jimmy slowly, careful not to wake him, then tucked the blanket back around him. She checked that Lexi was snug, too, then tiptoed through the carts heading for the restroom area.


The caravan had quieted down. Whispered conversations filled the open room. A few slept, probably happy to sleep without the motion of the carts beneath them. After Alex found the restroom, she came up the stairs to find one of the scaled men waiting for her. It was the leader, Gregor.


"You need to leave," Gregor said pointedly.


Alex pointed to herself. "Me? Just me?"


Chapter 180: Asked to Leave