Fragments (61 page)

“Kira,” said Samm, and she felt a tear in the corner of her eye.

“Samm,” she said, “I . . . I’m sorry, I don’t know . . .” She turned to face him,
trying to find the right words to tell him what she felt, but she didn’t even know
it herself, and suddenly he was embracing her, holding her in his arms, kissing her
more passionately she had ever been kissed before. She kissed him back, feeling their
bodies melt into each other, lips and arms and chests and legs, a single person in
a moment of perfect unity. She held him as long as she could, and when he pulled away
to breathe, she pressed her face against his chest.

“I’m sorry for bringing us here, for everything I’ve done,” she said. “I’m so sorry.”

“I chose to follow you,” he said, and his voice was deep and rich. “And I’ll find
you again.”

They kissed one more time, and then the Partial soldiers were pulling her to the plane.
She turned and looked at him from the steps, and he stared back, motionless.

And then the doors were closed and the giant rotors spun up with a hum she could feel
in her bones.

I
solde’s baby was born two days later, in her bedroom in Nandita’s house. The Partial
raiders had long ago pillaged the hospital for gear and meds, and so they had nothing
to help her other than themselves. Madison held Isolde’s hand, coaching and encouraging
her; Senator Kessler caught the baby, and Nandita watched both mother and child for
signs of trauma. It was a boy, and Isolde named him Mohammad Khan. Within hours he
was sick. His skin broke out in a scaly rash, hardening in patches as tough as cowhide,
and then swelling into blisters. Isolde watched in tears, cradling her baby with no
hope of saving him.

But this was not RM.

Senator Kessler studied the blisters from behind a paper breath mask. “This has never
happened before.” She shook her head, trying to force away the fear. “Tens of thousands
of RM cases, and nothing ever like this.”

“The first human/Partial hybrid,” said Nandita. “This is the first Partial to ever
contract RM. We don’t know how it will affect him—or how he will affect it.” Nandita
stared at the squalling child, lost in thought. “‘What rough beast, its hour come
round at last . . .’” She turned and walked away.

Ariel watched the child, and trembled.

I love writing these acknowledgments because I have so many people who help me, and
they deserve all the credit I can give them. At the same time, I hate writing these
because I’m terrified I’m going to leave somebody out. I’ll keep it brief this time.
Thank you to my editor, Jordan Brown, my agent, Sara Crowe, my publicist, Caroline
Sun, and everyone else at HarperCollins and Balzer + Bray. You’re amazing.

Thank you to all of the authors who let me join them for awesome book tours and events,
and thank you to the many amazing booksellers who organize those events and have become,
over time, good friends. Most of all, thank you to the readers who come to all of
these events. You’re what makes them great.

On a personal level, this book would not exist without my wife, Dawn, who is the most
wonderful person I know. This book would exist, but would not be very good, without
the input of my brother, Rob, and my friend Ben Olsen, who both contributed valuable
bits of storytelling gold. I’d tell you which bits, but it’s kind of a spoiler.

Last of all, I want to thank the human race for being stupid and painful and wonderful
and inspiring. People are the most amazing things the universe has ever created. Embrace
your complexity, stretch your creativity, and live up to your potential. You are what
makes the world great.

DAN WELLS
is the author of
PARTIALS
and
THE HOLLOW CITY
as well as the John Cleaver series:
I AM NOT A SERIAL KILLER, MR. MONSTER
, and
I DON’T WANT TO KILL YOU
. He has been nominated for both the Hugo and the Campbell Award and has won two Parsec
Awards for his podcast
Writing Excuses
. He plays a lot of games, reads a lot of books, and eats a lot of food, which is
pretty much the ideal life he imagined for himself as a child. You can find out more
online at www.thedanwells.com.

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www.AuthorTracker.com
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Cover art © 2013 by Craig Shields
Photo of couple © 2013 by Howard Huang
Cover design by Alison Klapthor

Balzer + Bray is an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

Fragments

Copyright © 2013 by HarperCollins Publishers

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Wells, Dan.

Fragments / Dan Wells. — 1st ed.

p. cm.

Summary: “With the Help of Samm and Heron, Kira sets out on a desperate search for
clues as to who she is, while Marcus and the remaining human population gear up for
war with the Partials”— Provided by publisher.

ISBN 978-0-06-207107-1 (hardcover bdg.)

ISBN 978-0-06-226091-8 (international ed.)

EPUB Edition © January 2013 ISBN 9780062071095

[1. Identity—Fiction.   2. Medical care—Fiction.   3. Survival—Fiction.   4. Robots—Fiction.   5.
Science fiction.]

I. Title.

13 14 15 16 17   CG/RRDH   10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

FIRST EDITION