The Ark
~By: Laura Liddell Nolen
~Publisher: HarperVoyager
~Released: March 26th, 2015
~Length: 239 Pages
~Genres: Young Adult, Sci-Fi
With her criminal record, sixteen-year-old Char is never going to get a place on an Ark, one of the five massive bioships designed to protect Earth’s survivors. The Arks are reserved for the real goody-goodies, like Char’s mom, dad, and brother, all of whom have long since turned their backs on her.
With Earth on the brink of destruction, Char must use all her tricks of the trade to swindle her way into outer space, where she hopes to reunite with her family, regardless of whether they want to see her or not.
Once she arrives on the North American Ark, Char discovers that the remnants of humanity haven’t achieved the egalitarian utopia they’d planned for. For starters, the “Officers of the Peace” are anything but peaceful, especially since stealing a spot on an Ark is a crime punishable by death…
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Laura grew up in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, where she spent an excellent childhood playing make-believe with her two younger brothers. The Ark is the direct result of those stories and a lifelong devotion to space-themed television. It received a Work in Progress Grant from the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. Laura has a degree in French and a license to practice law, but both are frozen in carbonite at present. She lives in Texas with her family.
~ Connect with Laura Online ~
On the last day of Earth, I couldn’t
find my hairbrush. That probably seems like a silly thing to worry
about, what with the imminent destruction of, well, everything,
but my mom was always after me about my usual ratty ponytail.
Normally, I’d ignore her. Or, if I were having a really bad day,
I’d tell her what she could do with her hairbrush. But like I said,
it was the last day of Earth. And I figured, since it was the last
time she’d ever see me, I wanted it to go smoothly. I wanted her to
remember me, if not fondly, then at least without anger.
A girl can
dream.
I slipped out
of my cell as soon as the door swung open. I’d done the same every
day for the past month, and my family had yet to show up. Their
OPT—Off-Planet Transport—took off in eighteen hours, so they
still had time. Barely. I couldn’t blame them if they didn’t
come. It wasn’t hard to imagine that they’d rather escape to the
stars without so much as a backward glance at me, their big
disappointment. Even my father’s influence couldn’t persuade the
government to give me a spot on an OPT.
Turns out, when
humankind is deciding which of its children to save, the last place
it looks is in prison.
But I was
pretty sure they’d come. West had said as much in his last
transmission. The thought of my younger brother actually halted me
mid-step, like one of those punches in the gut where you can’t
breathe for a few seconds.
“Looking for
something?” The lazy drawl floated out of the nearest cell.
Against my
better instincts, I turned to see Cassa lying on her bunk, her arm
draped across Kip. My Kip. Or at least, my ex-Kip. Whatever.
In twenty-two hours, I wouldn’t have to think about him anymore.
See? Silver
lining. And they called me a perpetual pessimist at my last psych
workup.
They barely fit
next to each other on the flimsy mattress, but that wasn’t the
weird part. The guys’ ward was separated by a substantial metal
wall. We were kept apart during evening hours, for obvious reasons.
Not that anyone cared anymore. The med staff had been the first to
go, followed by the cleaning crew, followed by the kitchen crew. To
show you where girls like me fell on the government’s list of
priorities, there was still a skeleton crew of guards lurking around,
despite the fact that I hadn’t had a real meal for going on a week.
The guards would be gone soon, too, and then there’d be no one in
here but us chickens.
I figured
either Kip had a key, or the guards had left already. A key could be
useful. My curiosity got the best of me. “How’d he get in here
before the first bell?”
He cocked an
eyebrow. “I got some tricks you ain’t seen, babe. Why don’t you
join us? End of the world and all.”
The guards were
gone, then. I felt a small trill of anxiety deep in my chest. If the
guards were gone, my family was even less likely to show. But it was
never smart to show fear. “The Pinball could be headed straight
for this building, and I still wouldn’t be desperate enough to
touch you. Oh, wait. Guess you don’t have to take my word for it.”
I turned to
leave, but he continued. “Now is that any way to treat your dear
ole partners? Be nice or I won’t give you back your stuff.”
“Ugh, you
were in my room?” I flexed my shoulder blades, making sure
my gun was still tightly secured between them.
“Don’t
worry, Char. I didn’t handle the merchandise. Didn’t want to wake
you up. Just lifted me a few keepsakes.” He pronounced my name the
way I like: Char, as in charred. Something that got
burned.
I wasn’t sure
what Kip and Cassa were planning, but I knew I wouldn’t like it.
They were thieves and liars. I would know. I used to be one of them.
That was before the last job, when Cassa had attacked an elderly man
in the home we were robbing. She’d kicked him until he stopped
fighting back. Kip had called her off after a few licks, but I just
stood there, staring. The old man looked at me, like right at me,
while we made our getaway, and my stomach twisted into a knot so
tight that I tasted bile. That was the moment I knew I wanted out.
But by then, no
one believed me. Or, if they did, no one cared. Except for Kip and
Cassa, of course. They’d taken the news pretty hard, to put it
lightly.
If I lunged for
the box, I could probably grab my hairbrush and get out of there. I
wouldn’t have time for more than that. Then again, I’d be doing
exactly what they expected, and I didn’t have time for delays. My
family could be in the commissary any second now.
“Ahem. Seeing
as it’s your last day of life, I might let you have one thing
back,” said Kip.
“In exchange
for what?”
“I’m hurt.
All our time together, and you still don’t believe in my inherent
generosity. But now that you mention it, I’ve got a hankering for
some peanut butter crackers.”
“Sorry, Kip.
I’m fresh out of food. Kinda like everyone else.”
“Nice try,
Charrr.” He drew my name out, as though tasting it. “I saw
them yesterday. Figured you were hiding them under your pillow when I
couldn’t find them last night.”
“You figured
wrong.”
All I could
think about was my brother’s face. And how I had this one last
chance to apologize to my parents, for everything. I shrugged and
turned to leave.
That was probably a mistake.
Individual Giveaways
One (1) ebook copy of The Ark.
Open internationally.
Prize will be sent out after May 14th.
