Kayla came and sat beside Grace. "How are you feeling?"

"Banged up. Okay," Grace responded.

"Dr. Harriman has been on his device. He's spoken with your family. They're okay even though there's huge flooding on the East Coast, too. Global-1's s.p.a.ce station and satellites all fell in the Gulf of Mexico. The Chinese s.p.a.ce station went into the Pacific in Asia. Other s.p.a.ce stations and satellites also went down. The entire world is pretty much underwater."

"The whole world?" Grace questioned, aghast at the immensity of the disaster.

"Not entirely. A lot of people got to the mountains. People in higher elevations probably did better than those closer to sea level. We don't have all the information yet. The good news is that Global-1 headquarters worldwide have been destroyed and all its satellites and s.p.a.ce stations are down."

Blinking to consciousness, Eric awoke and surveyed the changed scenery around him. "I don't believe it," he murmured as a wave rolled in just yards away.

Mfumbe joined them and looked out over the water. "Your premonition has come true, Kayla," he said. "The desert has turned back into an ocean."

Mfumbe folded his arms and leaned against the boulder. "You know, when I was a kid I was taught in Bible cla.s.s that the world would never again be destroyed by flood like it was back in Noah's ark times."

Kayla rose and took his hand. "It's not destroyed."

"It's just been given a second chance," said Eutonah, joining them.

They stood silently for several more minutes, taking it all in before walking off. While Eric spoke with his mother and uncle, Grace wandered around the mesa, seeing what was happening. People were already engaged in the business of survival: making fires, tending to the injured, setting up shelters. A crowd gathered around Dr. Harriman, trying to get news of what had happened. Jack and Allyson guided a team in repairing the battered swing-lo fleet.

In a while, Grace would help, but she just needed a little time to think about everything that had happened. No doubt, a lot of people had died and she took a moment to mourn them.

Eric came up alongside her and took her hand. "My mother has had one of her visions," he told Grace. "She doesn't think Global-1 is coming back. They've suffered too much damage."

Grace let a warm breeze waft over her. "So n.o.body is receiving signals from the nan.o.bots in my blood anymore?" she questioned.

"There are no satellites to pick up your signals. If they're not active, Dr. Harriman told me they'll dissolve in six months," Eric said.

Shutting her eyes, Grace absorbed this information. She allowed the low flame of relief and happiness to catch fire within her. The net that had been thrown over all of them had been torn loose.

"Do you think this is really a second chance for the world?" Grace asked Eric.

"It could be," he allowed. "I hope it is."

In her heart, Grace was certain it was a second chance. "And this time maybe, we can do it right," she said. "We can sure try."

SUZANNE WEYN is the acclaimed author of Empty, Distant Waves, Reincarnation, The Bar Code Tattoo, and The Bar Code Rebellion, as well as The Crimson Thread, Water Song, and The Night Dance. She lives in New York.

Also by SUZANNE WEYN.

The Bar Code Tattoo.

The Bar Code Rebellion.

Reincarnation.

Distant Waves: A Novel of the t.i.tanic.

Empty.