The 8th Continent by Matt London

Author:Matt London
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Group US
Published: 2014-09-08T16:00:00+00:00

THE ROOST FLEW FROM GENEVA HEADING NORTH BY NORTHWEST, OVER FRANCE, THE ENGLISH Channel, and the handsome city of London, then high-fived Ireland and cut over the North Atlantic toward Greenland. 2-Tor navigated, while Rick manned the controls. Evie would never admit it to her brother, but Rick was an exceptional pilot.

Seeing the world from this height left Evie feeling frustrated. Every beach wore a necklace of accumulated garbage—sewage and seaweed and scuttlebutt, all scrambled together. She did not have to look hard to see signs of trash choking the environment.

Evie needed something to take her mind off it. She turned to Rick. “What do you think Doctor Grant is going to say when we tell him that we’re Dad’s kids, and we want to make a new continent with their old formula? I bet he’s going to be super surprised and super excited to change the world.”

Rick shrugged. “I dunno, Evie. The guy has been at sea for a long time, assuming he is even still there. He went into hiding years ago. Maybe he left the ocean years ago too.”

“But then he could be anywhere!” Evie slapped her forehead. “Oh no . . .”

“Don’t worry. I’m sure that if he’s gone, there will be at least some clue to help us find our way to him. Besides, maybe he finished building the seastead, and he’ll give us a grand tour!”

Evie hoped that was true. Imagine, an entire city floating on the water. Perhaps some modern-day pioneers had already moved into the houses built alongside the artificial roads. Maybe entrepreneurial families had already established ordinary lives there. Something Evie’s father had taught her was that progress doesn’t really happen until something extraordinary becomes normal. All the great scientific breakthroughs of the previous century were terrifying when they were first presented. Cars, airplanes, the Internet. When social robots hit the market, people thought there would be an uprising and machine overlords would enslave them. But that was just ignorant fear. Maybe human beings would enslave each other if they had the means and the will to do it, but robots would never be so cruel. It was the same with her father’s inventions. When he first displayed his hovership technology, the only thing anyone talked about was the danger. But he had proven them all wrong. Now those same protesters could not imagine life without a speedy hover engine.

Rick grabbed Evie’s arm, distracting her from her thoughts. “We’re flying over Iceland now. Look!”

“Wow!” Evie said, peering out the window at the fields below, trying to orient herself. “It’s so green!”

“Haha. Yup! Iceland is green, and Greenland is ice.”

“How come?”

“Children,” 2-Tor interrupted, “your parents have instructed me to issue you a quiz at certain times in your travels, so that you remain academically efficient.”

Evie rolled her eyes. “Yeah, 2-Tor, we know. You quiz us all the time.”

2-Tor apparently wasn’t dissuaded. “It is time for a quiz,” he said. “Testing initiated.”

“Oh, here we go.” Evie rolled her eyes. “This should be fun.”

“It is fun,” Rick said, “assuming you study and know the answers.

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