The Fall
The epic conclusion to Laura Liddell Nolen’s interplanetary YA adventure The Ark TrilogyAll that Char fought for has been destroyed.Her family are lost. And as the Arks carrying the last of humanity move through deep space, she is a prisoner once again, at the mercy of Adam and Zhao.But this is not the first time that Char has lost everything.Drawing on all of her skills and strength, she struggles to escape and fight back. And with the planet of Eirena fast approaching, Char knows that she is fighting not just for her own survival, but for the fate of humanity’s new home.
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The Fall
LAURA LIDDELL NOLEN
HarperVoyager
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
First published in Great Britain by HarperVoyager 2018
Copyright © Laura Liddell Nolen 2018
Cover design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2018
Cover images © Shutterstock.com
Laura Liddell Nolen asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the authorâs imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, 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 hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.
Source ISBN: 9780008181482
Ebook Edition © December 2017 ISBN: 9780008113643
Version: 2017-12-11
for Oscar
Others, so far as I can understand, have been taken by him, as well as we; and yet have escaped out of his hand. Who knows, but the God that made the world may cause that Giant Despair may die? or that, at some time or other, he may forget to lock us in?
âThe Pilgrimâs Progress
Table of Contents
The first time I tried to kill Adam, I tasted sugar.
We werenât alone. We never were. A tightly-wound shadow flinched behind my left shoulder every time I moved my arm, threatening to make itself fully known, but I couldnât give it a name, so I ignored it, even though it made my ribs shake and my fingers cold.
Adam rolled a chair from behind the desk, remaining seated, and I could only stare. Clean brown hair, like heâd combed it twice. Dark eyes on pale skin, like his sister. I blinked. Something was different.
âChew, Char. Maybe next year, Iâll let you blow the candles out.â
I looked down. A mountain of pink icing covered the plate in my lap. A cake stood between us, tall and bright, and missing two slices. The world was obscured behind a thick pane of hazy glass, with only Adam in focus.
So I stared at him instead, trying to figure out where I was, and why.
We were in a control room, I decided, judging by all the shiny panels, and it was someoneâs birthday. My good arm, as I thought of it, held a fork. My wrist on my good arm had light bruises, like Iâd been yanking it against a handcuff.
My bad arm had no bruises. But then, it had no wrist, either, since it ended below the elbow. At least they couldnât cuff it. I frowned. That wasnât much of a silver lining.
I was pretty sure Iâd been here before. I knew, for instance, that this wasnât the first birthday Iâd celebrated with Adam, that the door was behind me, and that I didnât care about anything on the console to my immediate right.
Or maybe Iâd just figured that out a moment ago. I couldnât tell.
The twitchy shadow-person stepped around to see why I wasnât chewing despite having a mouth full of cake, and we squinted at each other as she came briefly into view. She looked to be around thirty, with amber skin and short black hair untouched by streaks of gray. There was a sour tension around her mouth. She didnât like me.
No, no. That wasnât it. I wrenched myself around to inspect her again. She stepped away from my line of sight without catching my eye.
She didnât like Adam, I decided. Me, she didnât think about at all.
âSheâs fine. A little tired, maybe,â she said.
âLetâs wake her up some more,â said Adam.
âToo dangerous, unless you want to cuff her. Remember last time?â
âNo cuff. I want her to eat the cake.â He looked disappointed, but returned his attention to me. âGive me that napkin.â
I will not. I want to throw him out an airlock. Why would Iâ
I extended the napkin toward him, and he snatched it with an appraising glance. âNot feeling too feisty today, huh? I can live with that,â he said. âLong as you behave. Have some more.â
I had an overwhelming urge to stab him. It was related to the story he was telling, but I knew I wasnât supposed to think about that.
