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

"Who else were you expecting?" Lexi asked. "It says my name on the door." The harsh tones in her voice pricked Jack's heart.


"Lexi Truex," Jack stated as if the truth had just dawned on him from above.


Lexi's fingers visibly clenched at her name. "Lexi Davenport," she corrected sternly.


"Sisters?" Jack asked, cocking his head slightly.


"Alex, is she your sister? If you're not a Truex, then you must be sisters."


Lexi relaxed her grip a little, obviously surprised by his question. "No, Alex is my mother. I took her name instead of my father's. My father is the reason I am in this place."


Jack's fingers worked his brow. Alex sent him here to save her daughter. Lexi wasn't a lover, Lexi was her daughter. Of course, this was why the file had been so important to her. She needed to save her daughter.


Lexi stiffened. "I am not going for more tests tonight."


Chapter 52: Tradeoff, Part 2