He looked at me, and I could see the uncertainty in his eyes. “Maybe,” he said. “I don’t know how this is going to work, or if it’s going to work out at all. But so far, the good parts of being with you … have been pretty good. And I’m ready to keep trying if you are.”
I gazed at Milo, studying every detail of his face, reminding myself of all the things I liked about him. Everything he’d done to prove that I could trust him and that he liked me as I really was. Then, gathering courage, I leaned forward and kissed him.
It wasn’t a long kiss. It wasn’t full of passion, like Sebastian’s and Alison’s had been. But it wasn’t sloppy and disgusting like the way Brendan used to kiss me, either. It was tentative and hopeful and surprisingly sweet, and I didn’t mind it at all.
When I drew back Milo’s eyes looked slightly glazed, as though I’d dazzled him. He blinked, adjusted his glasses, and said, “So … was that real? Or was that pretending?”
I put my good hand in his. “Let’s call it an experiment in progress,” I said.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This book would never have come into being without the help of many friends and acquaintances who gave up their time to read and critique the manuscript, to share their technical expertise, and to support me in countless other ways.
My first draft beta-reading team of Peter Anderson, Erin Bow, and Deva Fagan read each chapter in process and cheered me on, for which I am deeply grateful. Erin also told me about hackerspaces, which became a major plot element in the book. Jen J. Danna helped me with some crucial brainstorming in the early stages. Claudia Gray and Maggie Stiefvater offered moral support and sensible advice to help me over the hurdles. Kate Johnston, Liz Barr, and Brittany Harrison said heartening things about the first draft, while Tessa Gratton gave me excellent suggestions about how to improve it (bless you, Tessa!).
I am also indebted to the experts who generously shared their knowledge with me and helped me make the technical parts of the story more accurate. Dr. Calvin W. Johnston of San Diego State University advised me on quantum cryptography and helped me brainstorm some crucial aspects of the plot. Dallas Kasaboski shared his engineering knowledge and experience of visiting the Algonquin Radio Observatory. I also received great help and inspiration from the members of the Electro Tech online forum, including JimB, RadioRon, duffy, BobW, and especially CowboyBob aka Paul Hadley, who went the extra mile to give me technical advice at the last minute. Jason Black also provided expert consultation in the final stages. Any scientific or technical errors that remain in the final draft are entirely my own fault.
The people Niki meets at her local makerspace and at the Magnus Lake Radio Telescope are all fictional, but both settings are based on real locations. I enjoyed my visits to Kwartzlab Makerspace (www.kwartzlab.ca) in Waterloo, Ontario, as well as the opportunity to tour the Algonquin Radio Observatory (www.arocanada.com) under the guidance of Dr. Brendan Quine, Dr. Caroline Roberts, and Catherine Tsouvaltsidis.
Emma Fissenden answered my questions about grocery store procedures, and Nick Bohner cheerfully corrected me in matters of trucks and teen vernacular. The Korean (askakorean.blogspot.com) put my concerns about Milo’s name to rest, while S. Jae-Jones read over the manuscript for authenticity and suggested a couple of useful changes.
Finally, I am grateful to my faithful and long-suffering editors, Rebecca Frazer and Andrew Karre; to my wonderful agent, Josh Adams, and UK co-agent, Caroline Walsh; and to all the other members of the publishing team at Orchard Books UK and Carolrhoda Lab/Lerner Publishing Group. Thank you for believing in this book, and in me.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
R. J. Anderson (known to her friends as Rebecca) was born in Uganda, raised in Ontario, went to school in New Jersey, and has spent much of her life dreaming of other worlds entirely.
She is the author of several books for young readers, including Ultraviolet, the Andre Norton Award-nominated companion novel to Quicksilver.
Visit Rebecca online at www.rj-anderson.com.
Table of Contents
PART ONE: Demand Load
PART TWO: Amplification
PART THREE: Hunting
PART FOUR: Manual Override
PART FIVE: Regenerative Feedback
Table of Contents
PART ONE: Demand Load
PART TWO: Amplification
PART THREE: Hunting
PART FOUR: Manual Override
PART FIVE: Regenerative Feedback
R. J. Anderson, Quicksilver
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