Gilio arched an eyebrow, shifting his gaze from the Teacher’s Edition of Biology to Simon and back. The two Books turned away from each other and hovered above their respective Keepers’ heads.
Gilio sighed. “My Book either doesn’t know or won’t tell.”
“Maybe someone who controls animals made them do it,” Owen said.
“No Biology members can command antelope,” Gilio said.
“Maybe there are new Biology members that you don’t know about,” Owen said.
Gilio arched an eyebrow. “That is impossible, my boy. A Keeper is the only one who can give people formulas.”
“Except, like with Sirabetta, if they’re somehow tattooed,” Alysha said.
Gilio opened his mouth to reply but quickly closed it.
“One guy we fought said something,” Simon said. “The one with the armor.”
Gilio nodded absently. “Kender Mikarzan. He can form an exoskeleton, like arthropods have.” He noted the blank stares from the kids. “Insects, arachnids, crustaceans; they have exoskeletons—their skeleteons on the outside. As opposed to mammals, birds, etc., which have endoskeletons—bones on the inside.”
“Okay, well this Kender,” Simon said, “he recognized Flangelo from some group—Animal Diversity, I think—but the other two didn’t. How could they not know Flangelo if they’re members of the Order?”
“Biology has hundreds of members,” Gilio said. “They’re divided into groups relating to their area of focus. There are plenty of opportunities for them to get to know one another, but recent additions to the Order may not have met everyone else.”
“Why so many members?” Alysha asked. “Physics has maybe forty.”
“I told Ralfagon he needed to include this in his entrance exams,” Gilio said with a frown. “You see, the Union changes as the Outsiders make strides in their learning. In the earliest days, there was only one science Order. Members splintered off into new groups as the Outsiders developed new areas of science. So Astronomy is mostly made up of members from Physics with some from Chemistry. Geology took many Physics members, too. Ecology took some Biology members, but also plenty from Chemistry and Physics.”
“It sounds pretty confusing,” Simon said.
Gilio waved a hand dismissively. “A little disorder is natural. But the Board hates it. They want everything done just so, with paperwork and planning and scheduling. They especially hate the overlap between the laws of Physics, Biology, and Chemistry. ‘Too much redundancy,’ they say. And the more the Union changes, the snippier the Board gets.” He shook his head angrily. “It’s that kind of narrow-minded attitude that lets all sorts of trouble slip in. The more rigid the system, the more problems will ensue. Mark my words,” he said, “they’re doing more harm than good to the universe.”
Flangelo cleared his throat. “Gilio? I think you’re scaring the kids.”
Gilio coughed and smoothed out his sweater vest. “My apologies.”
“If there are all these new Orders coming from older ones, where do their Books come from?” Owen asked.
“I don’t know,” Gilio said. He looked to his green Book hovering above him. It tilted away, as if trying to look innocent. “And no answer seems to be forthcoming.”
How about you? Simon thought to his Book. You must know where their Books come from. After a long silence, Simon tried again. Is it always going to be this way, even if the Board approves me? Will you always refuse to give me answers?
The Book gave the mental equivalent of a sigh. There are things you need to know and things you don’t, it responded at last. At least not yet. Isn’t it better to leave some information for when you’re better able to handle it? To use it?
“Hello, gravity-boy?” Flangelo said, snapping his fingers around Simon’s head. “Anyone home, or has your brain gone off to space?”
“Give him a minute,” Gilio said. “I think he’s communicating with his Book.”
Simon was considering what his Book said when another voice, similar but of a different timbre, sounded in his head. We can’t shelter him forever. Not with what’s coming. Perhaps it is time now?
Simon gasped and looked at Gilio’s green Book. Is that you? Book, is the Teacher ’s Edition of Biology talking to me?
Simon’s Book trembled for a moment; Simon got the impression it was upset. It sent a message into Simon’s mind. It shouldn’t be. Not yet. Please, Simon. Trust me. Give it time. Give us time.
Simon nodded. Okay. But I’m still going to try to figure it out.
Though the Teacher’s Editions didn’t have faces or any other means of showing expressions, Simon got the distinct feeling they were both smiling at him.
I’d expect nothing less from you, the Book of Physics thought to him. The floating blue Book sounded pleased.
Gilio looked from his green Book to Simon’s blue, and then to Simon. “Were you somehow . . . ?” He shook his head. “No. I don’t need to know. The affairs of the Books are the affairs of the Books.”
Alysha groaned. “Yes, and they’re all wondrous and powerful and made from cosmic trees or something. Can we chat about all this someplace nicer? We’ve only been in this fish-bowl for a few hours and already we’ve had two battles.”
Gilio frowned. “Indeed. There’s no need to dally here when we’re so close to my home.” He gestured to the large tree. “If you’ll all gather around Clive.”
The tree trunk split down the middle. Inside its hollow center was a large pool of water like those they’d seen by the pebbled paths.
Simon winced; he felt an increase in that twisting sensation, just as he had by those other pools.
Gilio walked up to the water and gestured. “Come on in.”
Owen stared. “Oh great, another puddle!”
Gilio cleaned his eyeglasses against his vest. “I’m surprised you haven’t guessed what they are. These pools connect to one another. They use a principle similar to the Gateways, but these only work within the domain of Biology.”
Simon’s face brightened. “That’s the weirdness I feel! They bend space, right?”
“You can sense that?” Gilio asked.
“Simon’s on his way to knowing everything,” Alysha said, crossing her arms.
“In my head and stomach,” Simon said, ignoring her. “A tangle in normality.”
“You’re on the right track,” Gilio said. “See, the dome has to be enormous to provide room for all these ecosystems. Such a setup requires ways of getting around quickly. Ralfagon and I designed these pools—they connect organically, somewhat like the intertwining root systems of a forest. Clive’s pool is separate from the rest so I don’t get unwanted visitors.” He looked at Flangelo. “Care to show them how the system works?”
Flangelo nodded and hopped feetfirst into the pool. There was no splash, just a sucking noise, and he was gone.
“There’s nothing to worry about,” Gilio said. “Go on, you’ll see.”
Simon walked to the edge of the large puddle. “We’ve seen and done crazy things; what’s one more?”
Owen frowned. “I think I’ve made my policy clear; all this teleporting can’t be good for a person.”
“Come on, Speedy, it’ll be fun,” Alysha said. “Last one in is fish food!” She ran at the pool and jumped, grabbing her legs in cannonball position.
“Wait!” Gilio shouted, but it was too late. She hit the surface and disappeared with a sucking sound.
Simon and Owen rushed to the edge and tried to see beneath the unrippled surface; all they saw was themselves reflected back. “What’s wrong?” Simon asked.
“I’m sure she’s fine,” Gilio said. “But let’s hurry after her, shall we?” The look on his face told Simon that Alysha might not be so fine after all.
CHAPTER 21
GARDENING, BEATLES STYLE
Gilio nodded toward the puddle. “Please, just step in. Nice and gently.”
Owen and Simon cautiously stepped into the pool and were sucked through
. It was over in an instant; as with the Gateways, it seemed perfectly natural. Then they saw Alysha sitting on a cave floor holding her butt while scowling at Flangelo, who was whistle-laughing openly. Going into the pool hadn’t gotten them wet; it had transported them to another part of the dome that, unfortunately for Alysha and her cannonball approach, had a hard rock floor.
“Are you all right, young lady?” Gilio asked, appearing next to Owen and Simon.
“You could have mentioned that it wasn’t really water,” she snarled. She stood up, rubbing her rear. “But yeah, I’m fine.”
“Good thing you didn’t dive,” Flangelo said.
Simon looked around the small, barren cave. “What now?”
“Come this way.” Gilio led them out onto a wide, flat mountaintop.
Simon stepped forward and gasped. “You have a whole mountain here?”
Gilio nodded proudly. “We have every ecosystem, all sorts of terrain. This is the highest point in the dome, located in the center. I have privacy from the rest of the Order when needed, yet I can keep an eye on everyone.”
Simon and his friends walked to the edge of the mountain, thirteen hundred feet above the floor of the dome. The view was spectacular. The mountain rose up from a desert landscape; numerous landscapes stretched beyond that, one blending into the next. There were high grasslands, low grasslands, hills, lakes, and various wooded areas including snow-covered evergreens, temperate woodlands, tropical jungles, bamboo forests, and snowscapes. Someone had even made a few snowmen.
“The Order of Biology used to be based on land,” Gilio continued. “Though near the ocean—after all, life started in the oceans. When I took over as Keeper, I decided we needed somewhere properly secluded from the Outsiders and the rest of the Union. Someplace with even more protection than Dunkerhook. So I got together with the other Council members and we shaped this.”
Gilio pointed to smaller mountains in the distance. “I recreated an alpine ecosystem, complete with snow and wind, even though these mountain peaks are only a few hundred feet above the ocean floor. Each system mimics its surface version perfectly.”
“Wow, look!” Owen said, pointing upward.
About fifty feet above the mountaintop, the kids could see the topmost curvature of the dome. I could tell how nervous the kids—even Alysha—were at the sight of thousands of tons of ocean above them, kept out by only a few formulas.
“Now,” Gilio said, “to address your mission. Problem one: you have to find your nasty Sirabetta, who is someplace in the vastness of this dome. Problem two: there may be some non-Biology members who’ve been smuggled into this place. Problem three: there may be traitors within my Order. And if there are such enemies, they’d almost certainly wish you all ill.”
“Yes, we’ve already met some of those,” Alysha said.
“That might have been a misunderstanding,” Gilio said. “Kender has a temper, Targa is a bit excitable, and Cassaro can be strange, but up until now they’ve shown no signs of disloyalty. I suppose I need to reexamine all my members more thoroughly, as well as check the borders and review guard reports. I can think of some who wouldn’t stray no matter what. Flangelo, for example, is surely loyal.”
“I’m glad to do whatever I can,” Flangelo chirped.
“Excellent,” Gilio said. “You’ll be guiding these three around.”
“Me?” Flangelo asked.
“Him?” Alysha blurted out. “Um, what if we get into another fight or something? I don’t think being a smart-aleck really counts as a useful fighting style.”
“Oh? It seems to be working for you,” Flangelo warbled.
“I appreciate that, Gilio,” Simon said, stepping between Flangelo and Alysha. “But Alysha’s right, it might get dangerous.”
Flangelo waved a hand. “I’m a changed bird now. Gilio gave me a second formula. One suitable for a fight.”
“He’ll be fine,” Gilio said. “He’ll also be able to fly around with you to seek out signs of Sirabetta as quickly and as quietly as possible. I’ll flush out all the traitors in due time, but for now, speed and stealth are of the essence.”
“Won’t three kids flying around seem kind of suspicious?” Simon asked.
“Indeed,” Gilio said. “That’s why I want to give you a bit of Biology access.”
Alysha grinned. “You mean we get new formulas?”
“Not formulas, exactly. As the study of all life, Biology has laws, yes, but so much more. Forms, aspects, communications, generators, processes.” Seeing the kids’ confused stares, he held up a hand. “Those vesicles are a variation on a cell’s active transport process. Flangelo is able to take on the form of a bird and can communicate with other birds. Kender’s exoskeleton is an aspect of arthropods. Cassaro can generate different fungi and accelerate their growth. Targa can affect adrenaline, also called epinephrine. It’s a chemical that gives you energy; part of a process that’s activated when you face danger, so you can run away or fight.”
“Fight or flight!” Owen shouted. Gilio raised an eyebrow. “Nature shows can teach a lot,” Owen said with a shrug.
“In any event,” Gilio said, “I’ll use my Teacher’s Edition to give you the aspects of an animal that naturally uses camouflage. You’ll be able to use that ability as easily as it can. And unlike your formulas, it won’t tire you out. Not for a long while, at least.”
“So, you’re going to turn us into chameleons?” Alysha asked.
“No, you won’t turn into anything, and no, not chameleons. Follow me.” He led the kids and Flangelo along the mountaintop to his modest-size house. They walked around the house and stopped by a huge dirt plot containing countless beautiful, exotic plants of all different colors, shapes, and sizes. Some towered dozens of feet in the air while others were just a few inches high.
“This is my garden,” Gilio said. “You’ll never find a more diverse mix of species. There are plants from all over the world here, including several that are believed to be extinct. There are even some that haven’t been discovered. Yet.”
He guided them around the garden; a sunflower turned to follow them as they walked. They came to a blob of water about twenty feet wide and fifty feet high. It flowed and rippled but didn’t spill; it was kept in place, presumably, by the same formulas as on the dome. In fact, the topmost part of it connected with the dome above them.
“This is my second-favorite garden,” Gilio said, “and my little nod to the Beatles.” As he gestured to it, a form became visible at the bottom of the water blob, near one of many piles of rocks set on the mountaintop.
Simon leaned forward and saw it was an octopus. This was an aquarium!
“Amazing creature, the octopus,” Gilio said. “Wondrous natural abilities. They’re very intelligent, too.”
Simon touched the watery cage; as with the dome, it felt dry to his hand. A ripple spread out across the aquarium, and in response, the octopus approached. It placed the tip of one suction cup-covered limb on the same spot as Simon’s hand. Simon could feel slight pressure as it pushed against the water; he pushed back and smiled.
“I can feel its tentacle,” he said.
“Arm,” Gilio said. “Squid and cuttlefish have two tentacles with their eight arms, but octopi just have arms.”
“I’m still calling them tentacles,” Alysha muttered.
Simon turned back to Gilio. “What else can they do besides camouflage?”
“They have many wondrous abilities. Why do you ask?”
Simon smiled. “I was just thinking . . .”
CHAPTER 22
THE WAY OF THE OCTOPUS
The first thing most people think of about octopi is that they have eight limbs. That’s really no big deal: spiders have eight legs, and you don’t hear them bragging about it.
The octopus also has gills for breathing underwater, but so do most sea creatures. Octopi can do so much more, though. There’s that whole camouflage thing (you’ve got to admit, changing color and texture me
rits a round of applause). Plus they can detach limbs if a predator grabs one; they’ve got arms to spare, after all, and they grow back. Few octopi are known to limp.
They can also squirt a cloud of ink to help them escape: the ink, floating in the water, can look like a big, scary fish to confuse dumber attackers, or it can simply blind the attacker so the octopus can scoot away.
Certain octopi are also excellent mimics, using their flexible bodies and color-changing abilities to look like tougher or poisonous sea creatures. Gilio warned that combining two different aspects like that might be too difficult for the kids to handle.
Octopi can move quickly through the water by jet propulsion. Not that they actually hop into a small plane, but rather they shoot water out of a special organ so they can streak away from danger.
Alysha jumped at that one. “Do you know how hard it is to fight with electricity when the bad guys are standing far away?” she complained. “Throwing things I’ve electrified gets tiring. I have enough exercise in gym class, thank you!”
Of course, it wouldn’t be practical for her to squirt water out (unless she was swimming at the time), so she’d have to use air. More problematically, she didn’t have the organ to do so. It’s called a mantle, with a muscular attachment called a siphon, and humans have neither.
“I’m going to have to assign another body part to act as your siphon,” Gilio said. “Nose works best, I think.”
Alysha grabbed her nose. “That’s gross!”
Gilio frowned. “Can you think of a better body part?” Alysha shook her head. “Nose it is, then. Now at least one of you will need to take on camouflaging,” Gilio said.
“Me,” Owen said.
“Are you sure?” Gilio asked. “You’ll have to focus on velocity while—”
“Me.”
Gilio frowned. “It’ll take intense concentration—”
“Trust me,” Alysha interrupted. “If it’ll keep us out of danger, he’ll be a champ.”
Gilio nodded. “And you, Bloom?”
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