by H. A. Swain
“I suppose so,” I say, and glance out the window on the other side, hoping to catch a glimpse of the silver-wrapped bodies tethered to the field of the dead, but they aren’t visible yet. Not until we take off and circle the dark side of the Moon. “Still,” I say, “I hope someday she’ll at least come down to meet your mom.”
“They’d like each other,” Talitha says.
“Maybe we can get your mom to come up here,” I suggest.
Talitha looks at me and guffaws. “Can you imagine Rhea on the Moon? She’d cover the walls with weird murals made from recyclable materials until Dr. Fornax’s head exploded.”
I giggle at the idea of Fornax and Rhea meeting. Then I elbow Talitha and point at the loading bay window, where Micra has pressed her palm. Beside her, Kepler snickers. We both glance back and see Castor with his palm on the Shuttle window.
“I can’t believe they’re together,” Talitha whispers.
“Yeah, I know. So weird. All this time, I thought she hated Earthlings. Turns out, it’s only me she despises.”
“She’s just jealous of you,” says Talitha.
“I highly doubt that.”
Talitha turns to look at me. “No, it’s true,” she says with complete sincerity. “She told Castor that she had always been the star child until you showed up and pulled attention away from her. She was especially angry when you befriended Kepler and he liked you better than he liked her.”
I shake my head. “Even if all of that is true, and I’m not sure it is, she still dislikes me for who I am, Earthling or not.”
“Yep,” says Talitha with a laugh. “She thinks we’re both annoying.”
“Aw, who cares what she thinks,” I say, and look away. “She makes Castor happy. That’s all that matters.”
“He won’t admit it,” Talitha whispers to me as she watches her brother, still eye-locked with Micra. “But I think she’s half the reason he’s coming back up here when this trip is over.”
“Really?” I say. “He loves his work in the lab with Burnell.”
“Yeah, but he could easily do that down on Earth,” says Talitha. “I thought my mom would be heartbroken by his decision, but she just said, ‘As long as I know you are safe and doing what you love, I am behind you one hundred percent.’”
“That’s sweet!” I say. “I love your mom.”
“Yeah,” says Talitha wistfully. “So do I. I can’t wait to see her.”
“Are you looking forward to starting the MESC Stream?” I ask. Talitha will be our communications coordinator, finding the best ways to get the word out about our facility via Stream to humans all over the world.
“Yeah,” says Talitha. “I am excited. It’ll be nice to use my Streaming abilities for something good for once.”
“We’ll never be able to take everyone who needs our help,” I say, my stomach starting to tie up in knots.
“You’re right,” says Talitha. “We won’t. But we’ll start small and grow and do the greatest possible good we can.”
I nod, assured by her confidence in our directive. Then we both sit quietly for a moment contemplating what it means to return to Earth.
“Do you ever get afraid that D’Cart will find us when we’re there?” Talitha asks me quietly.
“I think about it sometimes,” I admit. “But since nobody’s heard a peep from her…” I trail off.
D’Cart’s stream has been white fuzz since we flung her off MUSC, but the Yoobies barely seem to notice that she’s gone. As long as they continue to receive their universal basic incomes, they’ll Stream and party and create endless meaningless memes as trash piles in the streets around them.
“Then again, she disappeared once before,” I point out. “If she landed safely on Earth, she could be anywhere, biding her time, reinventing herself…”
“Or she could be star dust by now,” says Talitha. “There’s no way of knowing, and we can’t worry about her because we have important work to do.”
“That’s true,” I say, and kiss her knuckles.
“Countdown to launch will begin in one minute,” the cybervoice announces. A ripple of excitement and fear goes through my body. I squeeze Talitha’s hand tighter.
In front of us, in a pop of light, Dr. Fornax’s holo appears. “Greetings, MESC Team! This is a momentous day in our colony’s history. Are you ready to go?”
“Yes!” everyone around me says, but truthfully I’m still not sure, and so I sit quietly, thinking back to the last time I boarded the Shuttle for Earth.
I was so confused and scared and uncertain then. I was running away, in search of a different version of myself—perhaps one that never left the Earth or lost her father. I wanted to feel like I belonged somewhere but couldn’t imagine where that place would be.
The cybervoice begins the countdown. “Ten … nine…”
I never could have imagined that belonging wouldn’t come from a physical space but from a place down deep inside of me. I had to accept myself before I could fit in anywhere.
“Eight … seven…”
This time, as I’m preparing to go, I know who I am (part Earthling, part MUSCie), whom I love (I feel Talitha’s fingers woven into mine), and what I want to do with my life (help Earthlings while preparing humanity for our inevitable off-planet future).
“Uma?” Dr. Fornax’s holo says. “Are you ready?”
“Six … five…”
Once my father counted down for me.
“Four … three…”
He stood waist deep in the water at the end of a pier and beckoned, Jump, Uma, jump.
I take a deep breath and sit up tall. “Yes,” I say. “I’m ready.”
“Two … one…”
The rockets rev as the loading arm releases and the cybervoice says, “Launch!”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Writing a novel can feel like living on a planet of one, but publishing a book is a gargantuan effort involving many. And so … to some of those many I offer an HER-CrB GW (that’s Hercules-Corona Borealis Great Wall—the largest structure in the universe that shouldn’t exist but does)–sized Thank You!
My editor, Liz Szabla, and her team at Feiwel & Friends for lovingly seeing this process through from beginning to end. Special thanks to Rich Deas and the art department for another gorgeous cover and book design.
My agent, Stephanie Kip Rostan, and all the fine folks at Levine Greenberg Rostan for a decade of excellent career guidance, interesting conversation, and hand-holding when I need it.
Theodore Muth, Associate Professor of Biology at Brooklyn College, for welcoming me into his lab and answering all my questions about microbiology with such enthusiasm and good humor.
Justin Skirry, Associate Professor of Philosophy at Nebraska Wesleyan University and author of Descartes: A Guide for the Perplexed, for taking the time for an email correspondence.
My dogs, Mahati (gone now but always in my heart) and Holtzmann (very much here and in the moment).
Emily Franklin, the other half of my brain, without whom none of this would be nearly as fun.
My children, always and forever.
And Dan, the one and only intergalactic lovebot of my universe.
Thank you for reading this Feiwel and Friends book.
The friends who made SUPERMOON possible are:
JEAN FEIWEL, PUBLISHER
LIZ SZABLA, ASSOCIATE Publisher
RICH DEAS, SENIOR Creative Director
HOLLY West, EDITOR
ANNA ROBERTO, EDITOR
CHRISTINE BARCELLONA, EDITOR
KAT BRZOZOWSKI, EDITOR
ALEXEI ESIKOFF, SENIOR MANAGING EDITOR
KIM WAYMER, SENIOR PRODUCTION MANAGER
ANNA POON, ASSISTANT EDITOR
EMILY SETTLE, ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT
STARR BAER, SENIOR PRODUCTION EDITOR
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
H. A. Swain is the author of the futuristic thrillers Hungry and Gifted, as well as the picture books All Kinds of Kisses and How Many Hugs? (published as Heather Swain). She lives with her family in Brooklyn, New York. heatherswainbooks.com, or sign up for email updates here.
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CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Epigraph
Time Stamp: Moon DAY 28, MONTH 6, MUSC YEAR 94: Earth JUNE 17, 2XXX
Time Stamp: Moon LEAP DAY, MUSC YEAR 94: Earth JUNE 18, 2XXX
Time Stamp: Moon DAY 1, MONTH OF SOL, MUSC YEAR 94: Earth JUNE 19, 2XXX
Time Stamp: Moon DAY 2, MONTH OF SOL, MUSC YEAR 94: Earth JUNE 20, 2XXX
Time Stamp: Summer Solstice: Moon DAY 3, MONTH OF SOL, MUSC YEAR 94: Earth JUNE 21, 2XXX
Time Stamp: Moon DAY 1, MONTH 7, MUSC YEAR 94: Earth JULY 17, 2XXX
Time Stamp: Moon DAY 1, MONTH 11, MUSC YEAR 94: Earth NOVEMBER 6, 2XXX
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Copyright
Copyright © 2018 by H. A. Swain
A Feiwel and Friends Book
An imprint of Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC
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All rights reserved.
Feiwel and Friends logo designed by Filomena Tuosto
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.
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First hardcover edition 2018
eBook edition June 2018
eISBN 9781250116284
