“Does that mean you still love me back?” he asks, against my lips.
“Come on, funny guy,” I say, tugging him forward toward the others. The survivors of the Prairie squadron are clustered around Shelby, who is sitting on the grass while Doc examines her. Tarn and my mother are deep in conversation. Beth and Dad are standing a few steps from them, leaning against each other. Leela appears to be introducing Nor to her parents. Chris is talking to Dr. Howard at a million words a second. Dr. Howard isn’t hearing any of it, I think. He’s just drinking Chris in.
A rustle of movement pulls my attention from them. I look back and find a half dozen Sorrow in dim gray cloaks circling the Vulcan. Studying it. I should go find Chief G and have her give them a tour.
Grandpa stands a few meters away.
I meet his eyes. I don’t want to. I can’t help it.
He looks like he’s watching his world die.
Maybe he is.
Maybe that’s fine.
This isn’t his world.
It’s ours.
Acknowledgments
To quote Joanna’s dad, “unrealistic goals make us human.” Writing a book definitely qualifies as an unrealistic goal. Turning ninety-thousand-odd words into a story is an adventure, and you can’t make it from “Chapter One” to “The End” without a lot of help.
My parents taught me to write by listening. Without their infinite patience for my childhood ramblings (and the adult ones), I would never have learned to turn the worlds I saw in my head into books. My husband and daughter keep me fed and sane when I get lost in the creative weeds. They are my lighthouse. My guiding star. And I wouldn’t be on this crazy writing journey without the guidance and friendship of Dennis Kim, who believed from the very beginning.
The Survivor and its predecessor, The Pioneer, exist in great part due to the determination of Petersen Harris. So, as always . . .
Thanks, Pete.
Thank you also to Wyck Godfrey, for brilliant inspiration, and to Marty Bowen and everyone else at Temple Hill for helping to guide this story on its journey. And, of course, many thanks to Alice Jerman at HarperTeen. A great editor is a gift. I am a better writer than I was when we started working together. I’m also deeply grateful for Simon Lipskar and Genevieve Gagne-Hawes at Writers’ House, who have offered such passionate support for me and for this series.
But they aren’t the only ones. So many brilliant and talented people have contributed their thoughts, feelings, and time to help me build this book and this world. Thank you, Menaka Chandukar, for your advice, friendship, and gentle frankness. And thank you, Tom Brady, for your sharp eyes and quick brain—writers co-op forever! Then there’s Katie Lovejoy, Kaitlyn Wittig Menguc, Tina Gess, Dr. Kagan Tumer, First Officer Kevin Millard, and Dr. Manda Clair Jost. Thank you all for lending me your expertise to make this world, and this future, as authentic and accurate as possible.
And then, of course, there’s you. The reader. Thank you for lending me your imagination to build Joanna’s world. I hope you’ve enjoyed it.
About the Author
Photo credit Alison Smith Thistledown Photography
BRIDGET TYLER grew up in Berkeley, California. She went on to attend NYU, living in New York and London before completing her degree and moving to Los Angeles to work in the film and television industry as an executive and writer. She now lives in Oregon with her husband, who is a robotics professor at Oregon State University, and her daughter. She is also the author of The Pioneer and can be found online at www.bridgettyler.com.
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Copyright
HarperTeen is an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
THE SURVIVOR: A PIONEER NOVEL. Copyright © 2020 by Temple Hill. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
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Cover photographs © 2020 by Jalese Ayana,
guteksk7 / Shutterstock (stars),
Pavel Chukhov / Shutterstock (particles),
and NASA images / Shutterstock (nebula)
Cover design by Jenna Stempel-Lobell
Digital Edition MARCH 2020 ISBN: 978-0-06-265811-1
Print ISBN: 978-0-06-265809-8
2021222324PC/LSCH10987654321
FIRST EDITION
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The Survivor Page 30
