This is a work of historical science fiction. A few liberties have been taken with the ship and the sailing, for example (though I daresay you’d have to be a real old salt to spot them). Most of the science in this fiction, however, is biological. It is about living things, not machines.
The creature in the book is based on a real species: Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, the infamous “zombie bug” fungus of the Amazon. It really does infect ants’ brains and direct them to march into the center of their colonies. Then it blooms from their heads, spreading its deadly spores. And it is true that parasitic funguses—and this one, in particular—sometimes jump between species.
Ophiocordyceps was discovered in 1859 by Alfred Russel Wallace, a major British naturalist who discovered all kinds of things. I simply speculated that this fascinating fungus might have been noticed a bit earlier—and then taken a very dark turn in its development.
The 1830s really were a time of tremendous scientific discovery and exploration. That was made possible by sailing ships and their brave crews, including many ship’s boys (and no doubt a few ship’s girls). The HMS Beagle is the most famous of those vessels. It set sail in 1831 carrying a young naturalist named Charles Darwin. Not all scientific discoveries are happy ones, though. Polaris is a story about what might have been.
—MN
Michael Northrop is the New York Times bestselling author of TombQuest, an epic book and game adventure series rooted in the mythology of ancient Egypt. His first novel, Gentlemen, earned him a Publishers Weekly Flying Start citation for a notable debut, and his second, Trapped, was an Indie Next List selection. Michael’s middle-grade novel Plunked was a New York Public Library 100 Titles for Reading and Sharingselection and an NPR Backseat Book Club pick. An editor at Sports Illustrated Kids for many years, Michael now writes full-time from his home in New York City. Visit him online at www.michaelnorthrop.net.
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Davey took a breath and told himself not to panic.
The breakers hadn’t moved farther in. He’d gone farther out. Much farther than he’d intended. Much, much farther. The water was up to the middle of his chest, and suddenly that seemed way too deep.
He stopped walking and felt the same tug under the surface that he’d felt before. And now the panic flooded through him: It had never stopped. He’d been walking against it this whole time. It had pulled him a little farther out with each step, leading him along like a bad friend. He looked down. The water was so clear that he could see his feet. He could practically count his toes. But he was so far from shore. The slope had been gentle up to this point, but it could drop off five, ten, twenty feet at any moment. He’d be in over his head — over his head in some sea he couldn’t even name.
He started in toward shore. At least he tried to. He took a big step, and then another. He pushed his legs through the water as hard as he could. But the water pulled back just as hard. Every time his feet left the bottom, the sea tugged him backward. After half a dozen steps, he was sure he was no closer to shore.
His forehead was still slick with water, but he felt the sweat break out along it in little pinpricks. He decided to swim for it. He lunged forward and began kicking before his face even hit the water. Once it did, he began throwing his arms forward.
His fear wanted him to flail away, to scratch and claw at the surface. He didn’t let himself. He needed to do this right. He remembered his lessons, maintained proper form. He kicked with his legs and pulled his outstretched hands through the water in full, even strokes. He looked to the side to get his air.
And he needed that air. His lungs began to burn almost immediately. It had been a long time since he’d swum to anything farther out than the raft at the lake. And even that was a while ago. He’d barely gone to the lake at all the summer before. He remembered the swim in from the year before that. How he would run the length of the raft and dive headfirst. He’d glide and kick to see how far he could go underwater. By the time he’d come up, he’d be halfway to shore.
The memory was so strong that Davey expected to be halfway to the beach by now. He was tired and needed a break anyway, so he broke his rhythm and took a quick look forward. If he’d had enough air in his lungs, he would’ve screamed. The beach was farther away now. It looked so small, like he could hold it in his hand. So small, and so empty. He wanted to call for help, but there was no one there.
It had been a mistake to swim. He knew that now. He stopped kicking and let his feet fall back underneath him. He pushed his arms sideways through the water to keep his head and shoulders steady. In a few moments, he was straight up and down in the water. But he wasn’t standing. His feet could no longer reach the bottom.
He kicked a few times, just to stay afloat. He took a few quick gulps of air. And then he began kicking and throwing his arms forward. He scratched at the surface of the water. He clawed.
Copyright © 2017 by Michael Northrop
www.michaelnorthrop.net
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Northrop, Michael, author.
Title: Polaris / Michael Northrop.
Description: First edition. | New York : Scholastic Press, 2017. | Summary: In the 1830s Owen Ward is cabin boy on the Polaris, a ship on a voyage of scientific exploration, when illness and a mutiny off the coast of Brazil cause the adult crew to abandon the ship, leaving the handful of young cabin attendants and deckhands behind. The young seafarers are determined to bring their ship to safety, but when one of them disappears they begin to suspect that there is something deadly on board with them.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016059059 | ISBN 9780545297165 (hc)
Subjects: LCSH: Seafaring life—Juvenile fiction. | Ships—Juvenile fiction. | Sea stories. | Adventure stories. | CYAC: Seafaring life—Fiction. | Ships—Fiction. | Adventure and adventurers—Fiction.
Classification: LCC PZ7.N8185 Po 2017 | DDC [Fic]—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016059059
First edition, November 2017
Map by Jim McMahon
Cover design by Phil Falco
Cover art & design © 2017 by Phil Falco
e-ISBN 978-1-338-16399-5
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