Climate disasters amplified by greed have rendered Earth’s surface uninhabitable and space travel impossible; now just three deep-ocean merstations stand between humankind and extinction.
Desperate to ensure her last child’s safety, Sunniva’s mother surrendered her to Adm. Blaise and his wife, who name her Marisol. They’re Aqueous’ power couple, living in the merstation off the California coast (the other two are located in the Marianas and Kuril-Kamchatka trenches). A decade later, though grateful for the opportunities her loving adoptive parents provide, Marisol privately grieves her lost family. A top student and fierce competitor, she longs to become Aqueous’ first woman cuvier, navigating the ocean beyond the merstation.