Nicole Kornher-Stace - Jillian vs Parasite Planet

Jillian vs Parasite Planet is a thrilling middle-grade sci-fi novel, with a plucky and ingenious hero who never gives up, and an A.I. partner we all wish we could have.

Samantha M. Clark, author of The Boy, the Boat, and the Beast

Huzzah! Great space fun (with a lot of ick thrown in as well).

Jane Yolen, author of Owl Moon and The Midnight Circus

The Martian for kidsa fun yet surprisingly gritty story of resourcefulness and survival in the wilds of outer space.

Sophia McDougall, author of Mars Evacuees

Action, science, and creepy crawly creatures. This is everything I ever wanted in an all-ages space adventure.

Landry Walker, author of Star Wars Adventures

With fantastic worldbuilding, a hero you cant help but root for, and the best sidekick this side of the galaxy, this engaging, inventive tale of survival will leave readers turning pages.

Katie Slivensky, author of The Countdown Conspiracy

Not many books have worms. This one does. Its a romp. Its a space romp. Its a romping story in which food is mentioned, and there are worms, and a neat kid whos realer than some kids you meet in books.

Daniel Pinkwater, author of Adventures of a Dwergish Girl

A fast-paced story of survivalin the face of alien worms and your own anxietieswith a hero kids will relate to and a robot sidekick theyll wish they could take to school!

Gareth Wronski, author of Holly Farb and the Princess of the Galaxy

Also by the Author

Archivist Wasp series

Archivist Wasp (2015)

Latchkey (2018)

Novels

Desideria (2008)

Firebreak (2021)

Tachyon

San Francisco

Jillian vs. Parasite Planet

Copyright 2021 by Nicole Kornher-Stace

This is a work of fiction. All events portrayed in this book are fictitious and any resemblance to real people or events is purely coincidental. All rights reserved including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form without the express permission of the author and the publisher.

Cover art and interior illustrations copyright 2021 by Scott Brown

Interior design by Elizabeth Story

Author illustration by Elizabeth Story

Tachyon Publications LLC

1459 18th Street #139

San Francisco, CA 94107

415.285.5615

www.tachyonpublications.com

tachyon@tachyonpublications.com

Series Editor: Jacob Weisman

Editor: Jaymee Goh

Print ISBN: 978-1-61696-354-5

Digital ISBN: 978-1-61696-355-2

Printed in the United States by Versa Press, Inc.

First Edition: 2021

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For Julian, my biggest and most unexpected adventure

Chapter 1

J illian had no idea what she expected a space-exploration facility to look like, but whatever it was, it wasnt this. For one thing, the StellaTech building looked like any other office building in the city, all metal and glass, nothing interesting about it. For another thing, it smelled like a hospital. It looked like a hospital, too, on the inside: all squeaky clean and white like the teeth in a toothpaste commercial. But the smell was what hit her first.

On a normal day, this would have brought back memories of when she had her tonsils out three years ago, or when she fell out of that tree last summer pretending she was exploring the underwater skyscrapers of old San Francisco. It would have made her palms sweat, her heart race. And it would absolutely, positively have made her want to run straight to the car and tell it to drive her back home.

But today was not a normal day. Today was the furthest possible thing from a normal day. Today was the closest she was ever going to get, in her whole entire eleven years of life, to an actual adventure.

Most of her friends from school thought Take Your Kid to Work Day was going to be boring. And for them, maybe that was true. Taras mom was a dentist, Scotts dad owned a smart-clothing store, and both of Kyles moms worked in advertising together. Angelique had the worst luckher dad was the assistant principal. Jillian felt kind of bad for her, having to sit in the main office and do paperwork or something in an empty school.

But Jillians parents werent dentists or clothing store owners or advertising people or assistant principals. They were materials acquisitions surveyors for StellaTech, and today they were going to space.

Without her.

At least Im here , she reminded herself for the millionth time that morning. At least Im finally here.

And she reminded herself, also, of the plan.

Step one: finally go with her parents to StellaTech and see where all that sweet, sweet space magic happened. ( Obviously not actual magic , she corrected herself, but close enough . )

Step two: be on her absolute, positive, one-hundred-percent best behavior. Do whatever her parents and the other StellaTech people asked of her with zero complaints. Even volunteer for extra work. For a solid month shed been practicing saying things like, Would you like me to bring you some coffee? and Let me help you with that and No, please, after you; Ill hold the door. Basically, make herself useful in any and every way possible.

Step three: by accomplishing step two, make her parents and the other StellaTech people realize how responsible and helpful and un-leave-behindable she really was. Spe cifically: how useful shed be on an actual mission. In actual space.

Step four: not today, and probably not next year either, but someday, some distant Take Your Kid to Work Day sometime in her future, when she was old enough to be allowed to go to space, the StellaTech people would look at Jillian and say to themselves: Here is a person who is ready .

Here, now, after weeks of planning, Step One was finally a reality. Step Two started the second she set foot in the StellaTech building.

The pressure was doing wonders for her nerves. Her palms were sweating. She wiped them on her jeans.

Dont you screw this up , she told herself. Dont you dare.

Dont worry, kid, her mom said over one shoulder as they walked across the lobby. Even without looking, she al ways knew when Jillians anxiety was spiking up. Though she sometimes misunderstood the cause. Youll do great.

Her doctor had explained anxiety to Jillian like this: that her brain saw threats that didnt exist. That it went straight to fight-or-flight when there was nothing there to fight or flee from. It felt like an itch in her brain, impossible to reach.

But to say why her anxiety was spiking up now would be to give away the plan. The last thing Jillian wanted was for her parents to give her that look . The one that meant she was asking for something theyd love to give her, but was simply impossible. She d gotten the look when she d begged for a puppy last Christmas (not allowed in the apartment), and when shed asked to be homeschooled (logistically impossible), and when shed planned out a whole camping trip last fall, outside of the city and in the actual real-live wilderness upstate... and then her parents had been called into work last minute because the scheduled survey team had caught the flu.

She did n t need to hear about how she was too young to go to space. She knew that. But since when did that stop her planning something out way, way, way in advance? It was how she kept her mind calm, her thoughts in order. Not only that, but it was fun.

Up until the point where that fight-or-flight thing had swept in to ruin everything for her.

Shut up, Jillian whispered at her brain, out loud this time, but not so loud that anyone else would hear. Shed never been in the StellaTech facility before. Shed seen it in the documentary from last year, of course, just like everybody else, but watching it on a screen wasn t remotely the same as being there herself. It looked bigger, shinier, more intimidating. People walked into this place and walked out onto other planets orbiting other stars in other solar systems. Her parents did that. It was their job. Plan or no, it didnt really hit her until she was looking up at those same high ceilings, her sneakers squeaking on that same floor.