“I think we guessed that,” Alysha said.
Simon and Miss Fanstrom’s hair nodded in agreement.
CHAPTER 14
X MARKS THE SPOT
The kids had to wait until after school to ask their parents. Simon wasn’t surprised by how Steven and Sylvia Bloom reacted to the idea. They were working in their home offices when he called them together and brought it up.
“. . . so it’s for school, and my principal says it’s really important,” he finished.
“Sure thing, pal,” said his dad.
“No problem,” said his mom.
Simon nodded. “Okay. You have to sign this—” They signed the form before he could finish his sentence. “Okay, thanks.” He frowned as he took the paper back.
“Everything okay?” Steven Bloom asked.
“You’re not coming down with something, are you?” Sylvia Bloom asked, placing her palm on Simon’s forehead.
“No, just thinking about the field trip,” Simon said.
“Great,” his parents said at the same time. “Do you need a ride?”
Simon shook his head. His parents each gave him a quick hug and went back to their home offices, leaving Simon to go to his room and pack some things.
At the same time, Owen’s mother was surprised to hear about the immediacy of the trip and her son’s willingness to go on it. “Really? You want to leave town?”
“Yeah, Mom,” Owen said, mustering a smile. “It’ll be an adventure.”
Owen’s mother stared hard at him for a long moment and then signed the permission slip so quickly that she tore a hole in the paper. “Go. Have fun. Have”—her voice caught for a second—“an adventure.”
Alysha’s parents were the toughest to convince. “Missing school?” Max Davis asked. “Only three students going?” Jana Davis asked. “And on such short notice? What is this trip about?” they demanded to know.
Alysha did some fast and smooth talking, trying to stick as close to the truth as possible. “Guys, the principal hand-picked me for this. She says I could contribute so much to the trip.” She paused a moment and unleashed her last-resort weapon: “And I’ll bet it’ll be great for my grades!”
Soon enough, Alysha was allowed to go, too. The permission slips said the trip was to upstate New York—Miss Fanstrom didn’t want the parents taking their kids to the airport. Instead, their parents dropped them and their bags at the school Tuesday evening (except for Simon, who used his friction control to skate over). The Davises and Ms. Walters met the principal and stared at her hair in shock. But after a few minutes of conversation, they were convinced their children were in safe hands.
As soon as the parents’ cars pulled away, Miss Fanstrom’s plastered-on smile faded away. “I am sorry we had to deceive your parents. I’m even sorrier that you have to face this alone. But I believe you will succeed. Be strong, be bold, and above all, be smart. Remember: you have formulas, but you also have your wits and your courage.”
“Can we call the Order of Biology to tell them we’re coming?” Simon asked.
“Not with a telephone. When you see the Order’s domain, you’ll understand.”
The Book spoke into Simon’s head. Keepers can communicate via their Books.
That’s useful, Simon thought back. “Give me a second,” Simon said aloud. He placed his hands on his Book and closed his eyes. After a few minutes, he opened them again. “We just need to take a Gateway to a certain place, and the Order of Biology’s domain will do the rest.”
“What, like the woods and the Breeze?” Alysha asked.
Miss Fanstrom chuckled. “Pardon me. But be ready for something . . . different,” she said. “Now, let’s see about Gateways.” She whipped out her notebook computer from her briefcase and opened it in a smooth and swift motion.
Simon felt a slight buzz from his Book, and it flashed a quick burst of blue at the computer. Miss Fanstrom’s notebook computer gave off a quick gray flash, as if in response. But that meant—“Miss Fanstrom? Are you a Keeper, too?”
Miss Fanstrom smiled. “All that need concern you three right now is that I’m your principal. And I’m not shy about giving detentions, so be still.” She tapped her computer screen a few times and nodded. “Regrettably, the Craftmen’s Guild hasn’t had a chance to install a teleporter device or Gateway access at this school, yet. The closest Gateway, in fact, is outside Dunkerhook Woods.” Miss Fanstrom looked at the cloudy evening sky. “Might I recommend an aerial approach?”
The three friends left most of their bags in Miss Fanstrom’s office. They didn’t know how long they’d be gone, but they didn’t want to be weighed down with too much luggage. Owen and Simon stuffed their backpacks with necessary items, and Alysha used a small duffel bag, taking more clothing than the boys.
Together the three put on their raincoats and flew to Van Silas Way. They landed on the street, where the trademark Union rainstorm was already in progress to keep their arrival hidden from Outsider eyes.
Simon gazed up at the majestic woods rising up in front of them. “Ready?”
“I felt pretty bad, lying to my mom like that,” Owen said.
“It’s not like we could tell them the truth,” Simon said.
“It’s better that they don’t know,” Alysha said. “When we come home, they’ll be glad to see us and have no idea that we’ve saved the universe. For the second time.”
“You mean if we come home,” Owen said. “We might never see them again.”
Alysha opened her mouth; I could tell she was ready to comment on Owen being a worrywart. But she stopped and closed it, suddenly struck by the very real danger.
The three friends stood there, the heavy rain blanketing the street everywhere but on them. Their raincoats once again kept them safe from the wet, but not from the gloomy feeling of the rain. Or, worse, the gloomy sense of what they were risking.
Finally, Alysha shook her head. “No way; no thinking like that.” She put a hand each on Simon’s and Owen’s shoulders. “We’ll be fine. We’ll do what we have to do, and we’ll come back, no problem.” Then she gave both friends a gentle push. “Now snap out of it or I’m going to take charge of the mission.”
That broke the tension for Simon and Owen. They smiled and relaxed a bit. The glowing Gateway sprang up, turning the water around them a beautiful blue.
“Here we go,” Simon said. He started to walk toward the Gateway, then turned back. Alysha pushed Owen lightly ahead of her to get him moving, and seconds later, the three stepped through.
As they disappeared, a car screeched to a halt on the street. A hooded raincoat-clad woman dashed out and hurried into the rain. She paused as the Gateway disappeared into the ground, then she stepped into Dunkerhook Woods. She threw back her hood, revealing long red hair. Loisana Belane.
Loisana whipped out a cell phone and dialed. “It’s me,” she said. “I missed them. I’m not sure, but I think the Gateway was set for the Order of Biology. They should be taken care of there.” She listened to a voice on the other end. “If I have to, I’ll track them down sooner or later.” She hung up and stared out to the street, her jaw set, her expression unreadable.
Simon, Owen, and Alysha emerged somewhere where it wasn’t raining. They tossed back their raincoat hoods and looked around at a dark place lit only by the moon above them. It was a wide stretch of beach at the base of sheer cliffs that extended hundreds of feet above them. About thirty feet from the cliffs, ocean waves lapped gently at the sand. The Gateway sank into the ground, leaving more cliff face behind it.
Alysha laughed. “The way Miss Fanstrom was talking, I expected Biology to be in a volcano. But a beach? Does it come with umbrellas and fruity drinks?”
Owen looked around. “This can’t be it, can it? I mean, where would they sit?”
“It’s warm out,” Simon said. “If this was the Jersey shore in October, wouldn’t it be colder? Maybe we’re not even on the East Coast anymore. Or the United States.”
“And what do
we do next?” Alysha asked. “Make sand castles while we wait?”
Owen stared at a spot about fifty feet away. “Look!” He pointed at a large X scraped into the sand.
The trio stood around the X. “Gilio said he’d leave a guide,” Simon said. “I figured he meant a person. but this could count, right?”
“I bet it does.” Alysha gestured toward the ocean. “Look, it’s far enough from the ocean so no waves can wash it away.”
“So what does it mean?” Owen asked.
“Let’s find out.” Alysha grabbed Simon’s and Owen’s arms and pulled them along as she stepped onto it.
Suddenly, a huge wave leaped out of the ocean and surged toward them. They had no time to move; Owen could barely scream the words “I knew it!” before the wave crashed onto them. When it receded into the water, the kids were gone from the beach.
CHAPTER 15
THE PROBLEM WITH PEBBLES
The wave threw the kids into the ocean, but they didn’t get wet; in fact, the wave wrapped around them and formed an air-filled bubble that left them dry and comfortable. All they suffered was a quiver in their stomachs as the bubble rocketed down . . . to somewhere. The bubble was completely opaque—all they saw was darkness.
Less than a minute later, the bubble disintegrated. Simon and his friends found themselves far from the beach. Far under it, that is. They seemed to be entirely underwater. The first big clue was the fact that the sand beneath their feet was now bordered by a nearby coral reef.
“Can you stop with all that drag-me-into-the-unknown stuff?” Owen shouted.
Simon and Alysha didn’t answer. Owen followed their gazes, and he, too, stared in wonder at the domain of the Order of Biology.
The off-white coral reef rose high above the sand, curving around behind the kids and standing like a wall to their left, stretching out as far as they could see. The reef was a huge living organism: a mini-ecosystem that was home to a variety of sea creatures. Colorful fish darted through and around the anemones and other reef animals, enjoying doing fishy things—nipping at one anothers’ fins, snacking on vegetation, getting eaten by bigger fish. (Those getting eaten seemed to be having less fun than the others, though.)
But there was something strange about it. “I’m no expert,” Alysha said, “but when you’re underwater, shouldn’t you be . . . wet?”
She was right: Simon and his friends were surrounded by—and thus breathing—air. Yet everywhere they looked was ocean. Around them, above them. Definitely not the best place to avoid drowning. Or at least extreme sogginess.
Simon walked to the nearest part of the coral border and reached out. His hand hit some sort of barrier several feet from the edge of the coral. “So we’re underwater, but not in the water. But the coral is, with some sort of force field between us and the reef.”
Alysha walked next to Simon and flicked the air with a finger; visible ripples spread outward, like when a pebble strikes the surface of a pond.
“Hey,” Alysha said. “My hand’s not getting wet!”
The ripples got smaller the farther they went; some arced high above them, revealing that the force field was in the shape of an enormous dome. By squinting, Simon could see the difference between the air-filled interior of the dome and the vast ocean on the other side. He took the Book out of his backpack and sent it a mental message. Can you help me understand what I’m seeing? Even if it’s not physics?
Of course, Keeper, the Book thought back to him. All the laws of the universe are connected, deep down. The divisions are for your sake, not ours.
“Ours?” Simon asked aloud. “What do you mean?” The Book ignored that question, instead distracting him with information about the dome. “Ohhh, I get it. The barrier is made of water changed by physics, biology, and chemistry formulas set up and left in place, like those that hide Dunkerhook Woods. They mostly deal with surface tension to strengthen bonds between the water molecules and pressurization to balance the air inside and the water outside.”
“I have no idea what you just said,” Owen said.
Alysha gave a hard tap to the barrier and pointed to the tiny swells that flowed outward. “He means the formulas make the water act partly like a solid. Simon, you sound like a teacher. If you keep the Book, you’ll ace every science class.”
“Yeah. If,” Simon said with a frown.
“Let’s get going,” Alysha said. “Hunting down Sirabetta should cheer you up. Think about how impressed the Board will be if we do well on this mission!”
“We should wait here,” Owen said.
“Come on, Owen,” Alysha said. “I know you’re being careful, but we’re on an urgent mission in maybe the most incredible place in the world. Why just wait here?”
Owen pointed a few feet to his right, in the opposite direction of the reef and dome wall. There, scrawled in the sand, was a message: WAIT HERE.
Simon saw a movement out of the corner of his eye; one of the reef fish came toward them. It was a foot long with red and white stripes all over. Simon stared at the fingerlike bristles at the tips of its fins and the numerous red and white spines along its back: it looked like a candy cane-colored sea porcupine. It swam right up to the edge of the barrier, stared at them with big black eyes, and then swam back to the reef.
Simon tore his eyes away from the reef and looked out at the interior of the enclosed world. “I’m with Alysha on this one. We don’t know how long we’d have to wait before someone comes to meet us. What’s the harm in scouting out the place?”
Alysha nodded. “Yeah—call it prep work. We’ll get the lay of the land.”
Owen shook his head. “What does that even mean? That’s the kind of thing they say on TV shows before one of them gets killed. And I’ll bet it’ll be me!” He sighed. “Fine. But if we get eaten or killed, I’m not talking to either one of you ever again.”
“Please, let us get eaten or killed,” Alysha muttered.
They moved deeper into the domed space. The air was clear and fresh with no trace of humidity, so they breathed and walked comfortably. The reef fell into the distance, and all around them was just empty space over a sandy floor. Soon the sand gave way to finely ground gravel, then dirt, and finally a large plain with short grass as far as the kids could see. The dome arched higher and higher until it was impossible to distinguish between the air or the ocean beyond. At its highest point, it must have been many hundreds of feet off the ground.
“Kinda dull, isn’t it?” Alysha asked.
“Dull?” Simon said. “This is the headquarters of Biology, the study of all life!”
Alysha twirled a finger in the air, the official “whoop-de doo” motion. “Yeah, so you’d think there’d actually be some living things here. Besides all this lovely grass.”
Simon frowned. “Wait . . . something’s strange.” His voice trailed off as he stared around him. It was something he’d felt before—a twisting sensation inside.
Alysha and Owen shared a look. “You okay?” Alysha asked. “You’re not going to zone out and accidentally break the dome or anything like that, are you?”
“I’m fine. I feel like there’s a sort of disturbance . . . but it’s probably nothing.”
Alysha nodded. “Good. So let’s keep going.”
In one direction, the short grass became waist high and even taller farther along. In the other direction, the grass got shorter.
Owen frowned. “No way are we going through that high grass. There could be wolves or holes or sharks or anything.”
Simon stared at the way the tall grass swayed gently despite the lack of any wind. “He’s right—the last thing we want is trouble.”
“Fine, let’s stick to the golf course,” Alysha said.
They kept going over the low grass but saw nothing special. There were several isolated patches of flowers and toadstools, but that was it. Occasionally they’d pass a pebbled path that led off into the distance. They followed the first path and found that it led to a small poo
l of water. They wandered along the other pebbled paths and saw each had a corresponding pool; the largest of them was the size of a modest swimming pool, while the smallest was like a big puddle—just big enough for someone to stand in.
Simon pointed to the nearest pool, which was about double the width and length of an average bathtub. “It’s these things—they’re what’re bothering me.”
Simon and Alysha approached and leaned over it, careful to keep their feet away from the edge. They saw only their faces reflected back.
Owen hung back and looked around. His gaze landed on another patch of toadstools near the pool. “You know, sane people usually avoid things that don’t feel right. Let’s go back and see if someone’s come to show us around.”
“Hold on,” Simon said, unable to ignore the way that pool was messing with him inside. He picked up a pebble from the path and tossed it into the pool. It fell through the surface without a splash—only a sucking noise. Simon felt a twinge in his head. “Ohhh-kay. That’s not right.”
Owen grabbed at Simon’s and Alysha’s sleeves. “Fine, you’ve done your sightseeing, let’s get out of here.”
Without saying a word, Simon and Alysha turned away from the eerie pool and hurried to follow Owen down the path. Their footsteps made light crunching noises as they rushed across the pebbles. They had just stepped back onto the short grass when they heard a sucking noise much like the pebble made when it hit the water. Next they heard three loud crunches that sounded exactly like something—no, three somethings—hitting the pebble path.
The kids stopped short. “I didn’t imagine that noise, did I?” Owen asked. A pebble clunked onto the grass in front of the three friends. “Or that?” he added.
“No,” a gruff voice not belonging to Simon or Alysha answered.
The kids turned around and saw two men and a woman glaring at them. One man was tall and lean, with dark brown hair and a neatly trimmed beard. He also had a bloody cut, roughly the size of a pebble, above one eye.
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