"The sub is dead, Osric! We have to walk!" Jax shouted over the roar of the freezing water."Walk? We're under three miles of ice!" I yelled back. I grabbed his harness as the Antarctic fortress groaned and tilted. "Kael, can you track the Admiral's signature?" I asked into my helmet."It’s deep, Osric. He’s moving toward the Trench. But the sonar is blocked by the shifting shelves. You’ll have to stay close to the seabed," Kael’s voice was shaky."How far?" I asked."Six hundred miles," she said."We don't have enough oxygen for that!" Jax barked. "I do," I said. I looked at the three titans standing behind me. They were the Leviathans, the massive, bio-engineered warriors that had survived the collapse of the boiler room. Their armor was scarred, but their eyes glowed with a steady, purple light. "You’re going to lead them?" Jax asked. "In total silence?""We have to," I said. "If we use sonar or engines, the Navy will find us. We march on the floor.""It’ll take a month!" Jax ar

I felt the heat before I heard the sound. It wasn't just warm. It was a violent, skin-stripping furnace that turned the dark water of the Trench into a swirling white void.The golden spire had vanished, replaced by a pillar of pure, superheated steam that screamed as it tore toward the surface."Osric! Get out of there! The thermal expansion is going to crush you!" Kael’s voice was barely audible over the roar of the ocean being torn apart."I can't move, Kael! The pressure differential is too high!" I shouted back. I was tumbling through the white-out, my suit groaning as the temperature swung from freezing to boiling in a heartbeat."The Sun-Boiler... it fired!" Jax’s voice crackled through. "The whole Antarctic shelf just groaned! I’m seeing steam clouds on the satellite feed that are covering half the Southern Hemisphere!""Did we stop the moon?" I yelled, trying to find my orientation in the blinding cloud."The gravity lock is gone, but the steam is the new problem!" Kael repli

"Jax, can you hear me? Are you still on the surface?" I shouted into the comms, my voice vibrating."I’m here, kid! The whole shelf is groaning! What are you doing in that ship?" Jax yelled back."I’m at the core," I said. I could feel the ship’s vibrations through my steam-form. "I’m going to reverse the drive. I’m pulling the shelf down on this base.""You'll bury yourself alive, Osric!" Kael’s voice broke in. "The ice is millions of tons! You can't survive that weight!""I’m not in a body anymore, Kael!" I reminded her. "I’m energy now. I’ll flow through the cracks.""It’s too risky!" Jax barked. "There are still people down there! Our guys are still in the tunnels!""If I don't drop this shelf, the Gardeners win!" I argued. "They'll harvest everyone. Would you rather they end up in these pods?""No," Jax grunted. "But damn it, Osric. Give us a minute to clear the zone!""You don't have a minute!" I yelled. "The mimic is at the bridge! It’s locking the launch sequence now!""Thorne

"Wake up, Osric. We have work to do."Elowen's voice was inside my brain. I opened my eyes. The light was sharp and blue. It felt like needles in my head."Where are we?" I asked. My throat felt like it was full of sand."In the hold," Jax said from my left. He sounded weak. "They have us in a cage, kid. I can’t move.""Don't try to move, Captain," Elowen said. Her silver pod floated in front of me. The head in the jar stared at me. Her red eyes were glowing. "The gravity here keeps your muscles from working. If you fight it, you’ll break your bones.""You’re a real piece of work, Elowen," Jax spat. I heard a thud. The gravity pulled his spit back onto his own face. "Working for the things that killed your home. You're a slave.""I am saving what I can," Elowen said. She sounded cold. "The Gardeners are just the harvesters. They only want the Pearl.""Then take it!" I yelled. I tried to lift my arms. They felt like lead. "Take the eye and let Jax go! Put him back on the ice!""It isn

"Kneel, Osric. This is how it has to be."Jax held a heavy circlet of black iron in his hands. We were standing on the tilted roof of a skyscraper. Below us, the Atlantic Ocean had swallowed the streets of New York. Half-sunken taxis and debris bobbed in the dark water. The wind was cold and smelled like salt and wet concrete."I don't want to kneel, Jax," I said. "This is a joke. Look at the city, it's a graveyard.""It's not a joke," Jax said. He grabbed my shoulder and forced me down. "The leaders signed the treaty. The world is watching through the drones. They need to see a leader. They need to see an Emperor.""Emperor of what?" I asked. I looked at the gray sky where the giant hulls still hung like clouds. "I'm the king of the ruins.""You're the man with the Pearl," Kael's voice crackled from a small speaker on Jax's belt. "You're the only one who can talk to the grid. If you don't take the title, the Blue Treaty is just a piece of paper. The armies won't follow a kid. The