Nancy Farmer: Kua korpiona

SADRAJ The story takes place in the country of Opium, a strip of land between Mexico (now called Aztln), and the United States. Opium, which is essentially an opium-producing estate, is ruled by Matteo Alacrn, also known as El Patrn. El Patrn's work-force consists of illegal immigrants whom the Farm Patrol (ex-criminals who are tempted with the offer of protection from the police) enslave when they catch them crossing the border in either direction. These illegal immigrants become "eejits", humans with computer chips implanted in their brains, making them more or less zombies who can perform only simple tasks. The main character, Matt, is a clone of El Patrn, an incredibly powerful, 140-some-years-old drug lord who intends to take Matt's organs when his own organs fail. Matt was grown from a set of cells that were taken from El Patrn decades ago, then frozen. He was cultured in a test tube, then transferred into a surrogate mother (a cow) when it became clear that he was going to survive. For the first six years of his life, he lived with Celia, a cook who worked in El Patrn's mansion. Though he was told from very young that Celia was not his biological mother, she is his mother figure. One day, he is discovered by two children (Emilia and Steven). The next day they return, and bring Emilia's sister, Mara, who immediately captivates Matt. They observe him through the window for a while, but soon get bored and turn to leave. Matt is so desperately lonely that he smashes the window and jumps out to follow them. Never having experienced pain before, he was unaware of the danger in jumping barefoot onto smashed glass. The children carry him to El Patrn's mansion, also known as the Big House, to be treated. Though the people there act kindly towards Matt at first, a man passing by (Mr. Alacrn) recognizes him as a clone.

For the next few months, he is treated as an animal by most of the Alacrns, and is locked into a room filled with sawdust for his "litter". The inhabitants of the Big House, meanwhile, are so disgusted by him that they have all moved to different wings of the mansion, as if they were afraid of contamination. However, Mara discovers where he is being kept, and informs Celia, who then passes the description of Matt's filthy conditions and abusive treatment on to El Patrn. El Patrn immediately punishes the maid who was in charge of Matt, gives Matt clothes and his own room, and commands everyone to treat Matt with respect. Matt is also given a bodyguard, Tam Lin, who becomes a father figure to him. Still, everyone but Celia, Mara, and Tam Lin look upon Matt with ill-disguised repulsion, only now they hide it when El Patrn is around. Matt lives in the Big House for the next seven years. He and Mara quickly become friends, then more than friends. However, Matt is deliberately kept in the dark by everyone about his identity and purpose until a cruel joke reveals to him that he is a clone. Matt also discovers that all clones are supposed to be injected when "harvested" with a compound that cripples their brains and turns them into little more than thrashing, drooling animals. From then on, he studies and practices the piano with a vengeance, in a state of denial. In his heart, Matt already knows the reason for his existence, yet he convinces himself that El Patrn would not hire him tutors and go to all the trouble of keeping Matt entertained if he was intending to kill Matt in the end, and that El Patrn must want Matt to run the country once he was dead. Alas, Matt's worst fears are realized: El Patrn has a near-fatal heart attack. Matt and Mara, who have by this time realized they love each other, attempt to flee in the ensuing chaos, but are betrayed by Steven and Emilia. Mara is taken away, and Matt is walked over to the Big House's hospital, where El Patrn at last confirms that Matt lived only to keep himself, El Patrn, alive in the end. At that moment, Celia reveals that she has been giving Matt carefully measured doses of arsenic, which, though not large enough to kill Matt, would certainly be fatal to one as frail as El Patrn; El Patrn becomes so mad with rage that he has another

heart attack and dies. Mr. Alacrn orders Tam Lin to dispose of Matt; Tam Lin pretends to comply, and ties him to a horse and rides away to dispose of him. But instead, he gives Matt supplies and sets him on a path to Aztln. Arriving in Aztln, Matt comes across a kind of penal colony for orphans. These orphans are called the "Lost Boys", and Matt is sent to live with them by a group of men known as the "Keepers," who are fervent followers of Marxism. The Keepers operate the plankton farms, forcing the orphans to do manual labor and subsist on plankton. The Keepers enjoy luxurious quarters and delectable food, claiming that this is fair because they "earned" the right to do so by working hard during their childhood. Matt is at first an outcast because the other boys think he is a spoiled aristocrat. However, Matt becomes a hero when he defies the Keepers and leads the boys in a rebellion against them. Matt then flees with his friends among the Lost Boys. They struggle to the nearest city, San Luis, then go to the convent to find Mara and her mother, the politically powerful Esperanza. Esperanza thanks the boys for giving her an excuse to charge the Keepers with drug trafficking: for years, everybody had known about it, but no one had sufficient evidence for a search warrant. Matt also learns that Opium is in lockdown. No one can enter or leave the country, and there has been no communication. All planes are shot down by automated defense systems, but, Esperanza reveals, El Patrn's DNA signature is overriding, since he is essentially the dictator of Opium. Matt, who has exactly the same DNA as El Patrn, manages to re-enter Opium, but only to learn that almost no one he knew is still alive. El Patrn has died and he has caused his subjects and possessions to be buried with him. Matt, who is El Patron's genetic heir, becomes the new ruler of Opium.

LIKOVI

Matt is the eighth clone of El Patrn (the ruler of Opium), and was cultured inside the womb of a cow. He lives with his caretaker, Celia, until he is discovered by some Alacrn and Mendoza children. He, like the other clones before him, is created so that El Patrn can harvest his organs. Matt escapes to Aztln only to fall into the hands of new jailers the Keepers. He manages to escape again, along with some other boys and sets off in search of Maria and her mother, Esperanza.

Celia is the Big House cook and Matts caretaker. Celia is the mother figure in Matt's life, and protects him from the horrible truths about his purpose until the very end. They are separated when Matt flees to Aztln, but meet again when Matt returns to claim Opium.

El Patrn is a drug lord, born Matteo Alcrn, the ruler of Opium, and supposedly, the most powerful man in the world. He lived for 143 years by harvesting organs from his clones, the last of which (and the only one who lived) was Matt. The Aztlnos call him the old vampire of Dreamland (a metonym for Opium). El Patrn is the only one protecting Matt from the people who do not like Matt, but Matt soon finds out that El patron only wants him for his organs. El Patrn has a heart attack when Matt is 14, and demands Matt to give him life in return for the life that he granted Matt. However, he is foiled by Celia, who reveals that she has been giving Matt carefully calculated doses of arsenic. These doses aren't potent to kill Matt, but arsenic tends to settle in the heart. El Patrn is so enraged by her treachery that he immediately has another heart attack and dies.

Mara and Emilia are the only children of Mr. Mendoza, who is an influential US Senator. El Patrn, who likes making powerful friends, frequently invites him to stays in Opium; consequently, Mara spends a lot of time in the Big House. She's around Matt's age and is his only friend, aside from Celia and Tam Lin. She treats him well even when no one else will, and unlike everyone else, doesn't see him as a filthy

abomination. As they get older, they eventually come to the realization that they love each other.

The Lost Boys are a group of boys whose parents were captured by the "Farm Patrol" and most likely turned into eejits. These boys are kept in Keepers' compounds in Aztln and forced to work incessantly and adhere to Marxist principles, while the Keepers get to kick back all day. Ton-Ton, Chacho and Fidelito are the Lost Boys who join forces with Matt and escape the Keepers with him.

Alacrns is El Patrn's descendants. They include his grandson, Gustavo Alacrn, known to most as "El Viejo", his great-grandson Mr. Alacrn, and his great-great grandsons, Benito, Tom, and Steven.

Mendozas is a US Senator, and his two daughters, Mara and Emilia. Mr. Mendoza is one of El Patrn's friends, and visits with his daughters frequently.

Esperanza is Mr. Mendoza's former wife, and Mara and Emilia's mother. She walked out on them when Mara was five, and is the author of "A History of Opium", a book about the atrocities of Opium. A copy of this makes its way into Matt's hands through Tam Lin. From a page in the back of the book about the author, Matt deduces that Esperanza is politically powerful. When he's escaping Opium, Tam Lin orders him to seek out Mara in order to find her mother, Esperanza, who could probably help Matt.

Eejits are illegal immigrants who have been caught by the Farm Patrol. They have computer chips inserted into their brains, which turns them into mindless, emotionless slaves. They are used to do simple tasks within the mansion and to harvest opium. Though most are captured illegal immigrants, some are people who angered El Patrn, such as Rosa, the maid that locked Matt in a room with sawdust and chicken wire and treated him brutally.

Tam Lin is Matt's bodyguard and father figure. El Patron gives Matt a choice between Tam Lin and Daft Donald, his other bodyguard; Matt sees a "spark of kindness" in Tam Lin's eyes and unhesitatingly chooses him. Matt quickly bonds with Tam Lin, who teaches Matt to climb treacherous rock-faces and live for days in the wild. Tam Lin is later called back to El Patrn's side and leaves Matt with a cache of supplies in the hopes that when El Patrn decides to take Matt's heart, for his own, Matt will escape over the Ajo Mountains into Aztln to seek out the convent of Santa Clara where Mara lives and attends school. All of El Patrn's bodyguards are wanted criminals, and Tam Lin is no exception: he was a Scottish nationalist who laid a bomb for the British Prime Minister that somehow killed a bus full of children instead. As atonement, he drinks wine he knows El Patrn poisoned, along with all of the other Alacrns.

Daft Donald is a mute bodyguard who works for El Patron. He was Tam Lin's accomplice in Tam Lin's little stint as a terrorist. During El Patrn's wake, when the poisoned wine is brought out, Tam Lin tells Daft Donald not to drink. Obviously, everyone dies but him, and he seals the burial chamber off with a dynamite explosion. Daft Donald is the one who informs Matt what happened to everybody when Matt returns to the Big House.