by Matt London
“Mom, you can’t transfer Mister Snow. We’ve done incredible things with this outpost. We’re doing good work, and there is a lot at stake now. You have to see that.”
“What I see is that you have allied with a known rule breaker and terrorist, George Lane, and his family,” Mrs. Maple said sternly. “This outpost is an aberration and it must be returned to our standard protocols. You are operating in violation of three hundred Winterpole regulations.”
Diana interrupted. “You don’t understand. Let me show you how much we have accomplished here. I think you’ll be impressed with—”
“No, you don’t understand.” Diana’s mother straightened her uniform. “My opinion on the matter is completely irrelevant. Winterpole’s rules must be followed. Unfortunately for everyone involved, your actions here have labeled you both as traitors.”
Mister Snow sputtered, “But that can’t be right. I’ve always been so careful to work within the boundaries of Winterpole’s rules.”
“I’m sorry, Diana, but I didn’t make the rules.” Mrs. Maple snapped her fingers and a squad of guards surrounded Diana and Mister Snow. Mrs. Maple said, “Your new duty is to serve as guides and ambassadors to my agents. Show us all the modernizations you have committed, so we can undo them. You will get my people up to speed, so that we may run this outpost at a level of efficiency appropriate for Winterpole. Show them where the bathrooms are. That’s your job now. Your only job. And I don’t want to hear a single complaint, young lady.”
The guards marched Diana and Mister Snow to the nearest elevator tube. One of them leaned over to Diana. “So, uh, hey. Which way do you go to get to the mess hall from here? I’m starving!”
AN UNFORESEEN MUTATION OF PROFESSOR DORAN’S HOLLOW TREES, WHICH HAD GROWN TO tremendous size and become the buildings that comprised a majority of Scifun’s skyline, was that they blossomed. Bright-pink flowers and thick green leaves bloomed across the upper canopy of the hollow trees. It was in this fragrant, colorful tent of flora that the Science Circle held their meetings. Rick had issued an emergency alert to all members that he, along with Evie, Sprout, 2-Tor, and of course Niels Bohr, had made an important discovery. The eighth continent’s ruling body had to rendezvous in the Circle’s meeting room as soon as possible.
Nearly an hour had passed since the meeting was scheduled to begin, but there was still no sign of Mister Snow or Diana Maple and they hadn’t answered any of his messages. Something was wrong. Rick could feel it. Winterpole agents were always punctual, and Diana never ignored his messages. But there was nothing he could do about it now.
“Time is short,” Rick said. “We must start the meeting. Apologies to absent friends.” The missing agents gave him a stomachache, but what he said was true. Time was short.
He looked around the circle. Wooden benches encircled the roof of Spire Two. Rick sat in the center of the circle on a chair carved from the top of the great hollow tree. The chair spun to face any member of the Science Circle. The members of the circle watched Rick with anticipation, waiting for him to speak.
“What’s all this about, son?” Rick’s father asked.
“Earlier today, Evie, Sprout, 2-Tor, and I investigated the clue we found in the family vault. In the end we uncovered a secret code tattooed on Doctor Grant’s old cat, Niels Bohr.”
From Evie’s lap, Niels Bohr meowed an objection.
“Doctor Grant’s old tiger cat. Sorry, Niels Bohr.” Rick adjusted his glasses. “We found an encrypted website Doctor Grant had set up before his death, which provided us with information about the location of his lab notes. We believe these notes have the data we need to re-create the Eden Compound.”
“So where are they?” Dad asked eagerly.
“On the Mastercorp research vessel the Cichlid.”
“The submarine where we created the Eden Compound the first time,” Evie added. “Where Doctor Grant was kept prisoner. Where he . . .”
Rick frowned as she trailed off, feeling his sister’s sorrow. “Doctor Grant hid something on that submarine. His encrypted website clearly says so. We need to send someone to the wreckage of the sub and collect whatever he hid there.”
There was a cold silence. A light breeze rustled the plants above their heads.
“We should send a soldier,” suggested the Representative of Security.
No,” replied the Secretary of Energy, an old college pal of Rick’s parents. “It should be a scientist! Someone who understands the good doctor’s sophisticated scientific notes.”
“You’re both wrong.” The skinny teenager to Rick’s left raised his rose-tinted sunglasses and winked at Rick. Tristan Ruby said, “It should be someone who carries the voice of the people. Like me!”
“I volunteer,” Evie said in a soft voice. “I want to go. I owe it to everyone . . . to Doctor Grant.”
The group went quiet. Rick could tell that they knew Evie was right. It had to be her. She knew the layout of the sub. She knew where it had sunk. Most of all, she knew that this was her chance at redemption, her way of making up for everything that happened when she and Vesuvia had attacked the eighth continent.
“I’ll go too,” Sprout said suddenly, rising from his seat. His cowboy hat fell off his lap and onto the floor. “I’m going crazy as a veggie stir-fry with nothing to do around here. I’ll help you on your mission, Evie, if you’ll have me.”
“Of course I’ll have you, Sprout!” Evie gave him a big smile. “Let’s dust off the Roost and get moving. There isn’t a moment to lose.”
Rick stood on Scifun Airport’s runway, watching one of Sprout’s robots, a carrying carrot, load the Roost with supplies. His old beloved hovership had seen better days. They’d flown all over the world and had many adventures, but ever since tugging the eighth continent across the Pacific last year, the Roost’s controls had been clunky and the hover engine sputtered, like a grumpy old relative who always complains and never leaves the house.
Evie clapped her brother on the back. “Good luck, Rick. Don’t get into too much trouble without me.”
Rick grimaced. While they were gone, he would be scrambling to ready Scifun’s defenses and continue his work trying to re-create the Eden Compound, not to mention find out what happened to Diana and Mister Snow. Still, it wasn’t as scary or dangerous as the task that lay before Sprout and Evie. “I’m the one who should be wishing you luck. Be careful out there.”
“We’ll be back so fast you won’t even miss us. Don’t worry. You’ll have the Eden Compound before you know it.”
“I wish I was going with you.”
“The continent needs you,” she said. “Mastercorp could try to pull some funny business any second.”
Rick nodded. She was right, of course. His sister gave him one last smile and hurried aboard the Roost. Then Sprout approached Rick. He was wringing his hat in his hands and had an awkward look on his face.
“Well, I guess this is so long for a while,” Sprout said. “But I’m gonna look after Evie. I promise.”
Rick had a funny feeling in his stomach, like maybe this was goodbye. Not for a while. Forever.
“Please be careful, Sprout,” Rick pleaded.
“Aw, heck, Rick. I’ll be as careful as I cook cauliflower.”
“Listen,” Rick said, knowing that this was the time to say what he felt. “You’ve always been such a good friend to me, Sprout. I want you to know how much I appreciate that. You make me feel like I’m cool, and that means a lot to me.”
“Well, shoot. That’s a mighty fine thing of you to say. The truth is, I never did none of that stuff. You are cool, Rick. Super cool. If you feel that way because of me, it’s only because I think it’s true.”
Sprout Sanchez hugged Rick, then turned and disappeared into the Roost. The hover engine flared. The great tree rocketed high into the air and took off north over the continent. With a sinking feel
ing in his stomach, Rick stood on the runway, watching the tiny splinter in the sky, until it disappeared over the horizon.
BZZZT! THE EXPOSED CIRCUIT BOARD VESUVIA WAS WORKING ON SPARKED, ZAPPING HER WITH an unpleasant number of volts.
“Owie ow ow! Didi!” Vesuvia whined. “Didi, why don’t you stop being the laziest robot on the planet and do this work for me?”
The bright-pink robo-bird clacked her plastic beak haughtily. “Vesuvia Piffle, if you were not the creator of my robot body, I swear, I would squish you like a little blond bug.”
Vesuvia huffed. She flopped onto her back and looked up at the ceiling. Her mother had dumped her in the dreadnought’s machine shop for hard labor. Everything was terrible, as usual. Her days were filled with rewiring, debugging, and boredom. She had been tasked with perfecting a dispersal mechanism for the Anti-Eden Compound bombs. She couldn’t remember the last time she had a spa day. The actual work was fun. Vesuvia enjoyed tinkering with her little robots, but being locked in the workshop was as bad as being back in Time Out. Worse, her pink dress was covered in dark grease and burn marks from the sparks of her soldering iron.
“What’s wrong, Vesuvia?” Didi pecked around the workshop, picking up discarded pink lemonade juice boxes and strawberry-shortcake-flavored ice cream cartons, which had comprised the majority of Vesuvia’s diet lately.
“Oh not much, just everything, Didi.” Vesuvia sighed. “Mom’s going to take over the world, and here I am doing the work of a peasant!”
“But you’re doing a good job, Vesuvia.” Didi flapped her wings. “It’s actually nice to see you accomplish something for a change, even if you do whine about it the whole time.”
A harsh mechanical sound hit Vesuvia’s ears as she heard someone unlock and open the door to the machine shop. Mister Dark stepped into the room. “Piffle. Your mother demands your presence.”
“Ugh, now what?” Vesuvia sat up in annoyance.
Mister Dark’s biceps bulged against the sleeves of his suit coat. “Clearly you have confused yourself with someone who gets to ask questions.”
With one of her patented huffy sighs, Vesuvia followed the Mastercorp agent through the dreadnought, up to the top level. In a deserted corridor they came upon a ladder that led up to a circular hatch.
“Your mother is on the observation deck,” Mister Dark told Vesuvia, pointing at the hatch. “I’ll be here when you finish, assuming she doesn’t throw you off the top of the dreadnought.”
“Ha ha, very funny,” Vesuvia sneered.
Mister Dark narrowed his eyes. “Did I make a joke?”
Shaken, Vesuvia climbed the ladder and with great strain opened the hatch. She pulled herself up onto the observation deck, a small platform overlooking the black metal expanse of the Mastercorp hovership. The roaring wind whipped Vesuvia’s blond curls.
Her mother stood at the far end of the observation deck. She was talking to a hologram of a giant head floating in the air. It was the head of a middle-aged man with thinning, slicked-back gray-white hair and an impressive fake tan that made his skin look almost orange.
“Everyone on the board is very proud of the work you’re doing, Viola,” said the giant head.
“Thank you, sir.” Vesuvia’s mother clasped her hands behind her back and bowed to the head. “That means a great deal coming from the CEO of Mastercorp.”
“How goes the development of the Anti-Eden Compound bombs?”
“Exceptionally well, sir. We are on target to make our deadline.”
“Good! And what of this memo I received about the Lanes trying to re-create the original Eden Compound formula? Their success would be a massive setback for us.”
“I have a meeting to discuss appropriate counter-measures as soon as our conversation is over, sir.”
“Excellent. We are past the point of subtlety, Viola. If any of the Lanes get in the way, kill them.”
Vesuvia swallowed nervously.
Viola hesitated. “Kill them, sir?”
“I do not repeat orders.” When the head spoke, its mouth opened so wide Vesuvia thought the hologram might swallow her mother whole. “Send another report as soon as the bombs are ready.”
“Yes, sir.” Viola bowed to the head as it shrank into a beam of light and vanished inside the holographic projector.
A wicked scowl crossed Viola’s face as she turned and spotted her daughter. “Speak not a word of that to anyone. It’s classified information. Understand?”
Vesuvia twirled a lock of her hair around her finger. “Yeah, sure. Whatever.”
“Not whatever!” Viola raised her hands. The red light on her bracelet flashed, and suddenly a flock of black mechanical ravens swooped out of the sky. They landed on the metal railing that surrounded the observation deck and clutched the metal in their sharp talons. The caws and shrieks of the birds made Vesuvia cover her ears in pain. “You think this is a game, Vesuvia? You will obey me!”
Viola pointed a finger at Vesuvia. The light on her bracelet flashed again. The red eyes of the mechanical ravens flashed the same way. The birds took flight and swarmed Vesuvia, grasping at her dress with their talons and pecking her.
“Ow! Yuck! Get these flying rats off me!”
The birds beat their wings against the air, plucking Vesuvia off the ground. They pulled her over the railing and away from the observation deck. Vesuvia screamed. Far below she could see the ocean and the eighth continent in the distance. They were thousands of feet in the air.
“Let me go! Let me go!” Vesuvia pleaded.
“They’ll let you go right into the ocean if you don’t shut up,” Viola said viciously. “Now, will you continue mouthing off to your dear sweet mother?”
“Yes! I mean, no, I won’t continue. Please put me down!”
The bracelet flashed, and the birds returned Vesuvia to the deck. As she landed, she felt all the blood in her body rush to her legs. Her hands shook. She looked up at her mother with confusion and disgust. Viola had never exactly been a loving mother, but this was a side of her that Vesuvia had never seen before.
Viola continued the conversation as if nothing had happened. “Vesuvia, child, why don’t you see that I’m trying to help you by discouraging your bratty behavior? I’m doing what’s best for us.”
“What’s best for us?” Vesuvia shuddered.
“Yes. Once we control the eighth continent, we won’t need Mastercorp anymore. I will rule this world as queen. And you, my sweet girl, will be my princess. Once you learn to listen to your mother and do everything I say.”
Vesuvia felt her brain being pulled in two. Seconds ago her mother had nearly killed her, and now she was offering her a throne.
“Didi will continue your work on the bomb dispenser. I have a new job for you.”
“A . . . j-job?” Vesuvia asked.
“Yes,” Viola said. “You and Mister Dark are going to murder Evie Lane.”
THE BOTTOM OF THE OCEAN WAS LIKE AN ALIEN WORLD. CRAGGY MUCK STRETCHED INTO A HAZE of blue clouds as far as Evie’s headlamp could reach. She’d heard that creepy fish hunted in this part of the ocean, fish and assorted gelatinous wildlife, but she wouldn’t let herself be scared.
“Meow!” The purr came over the short-range communicator in Evie’s dive helmet. She glanced over. Niels Bohr swam beside her, wearing a four-legged pressurized wetsuit and a dive helmet with little domes for his kitty ears.
“Hey, Evie, do you reckon we’re close?” On her other side, Sprout swam in a similar outfit, minus the ear domes.
“Yeah, Sprout, I think we’re almost there.”
They had used the Roost’s tracking systems to find the wreckage of the Mastercorp research vessel the Cichlid. The pressure suits and weighted dive boots had hurried them to the ocean floor. Now that they were here, they had to find the submarine.
Niels Bohr kicked ahead, swi
mming as gracefully as a bald cat in a rubber suit. He had been a last-minute addition to their team. Evie didn’t know why Niels Bohr would want to go back into frigid ocean waters, but after all they’d been through, she didn’t want to leave the tiger cat behind, either.
She unclipped the sonar detector from her belt. She had borrowed it from the Roost’s sensor array. “This says the sub should be right over here.” They swam another hundred feet, strafing the ground with their headlamps.
Little bits of wreckage dotted the murky landscape. A door here, a wall panel there. They followed the trail until they found the Cichlid. The submarine had half-collapsed when it struck the ocean floor. Rubble spilled out in a circle around the sub.
Large patches of the hull had broken, forming holes. The sub looked like the carcass of a big whale that had died and been picked at by scavengers.
“This is it,” Evie said, steeling herself against what lay ahead. Niels Bohr nuzzled against her arm, fearfully.
Sprout swam forward. His confidence made Evie feel safer. “Well, let’s go, y’all! What are we waiting for?”
She followed Sprout toward the largest hole in the top of the submarine. They swam inside. The light from her headlamp did little to illuminate the cramped chambers. The narrow hallways were completely flooded with water. The floor slanted at a crooked angle, like they’d been transported into some kind of zero-gravity fun house. Evie took the lead, swimming the length of the submarine’s main corridor, past the flooded laboratories.
Evie’s respirator gargled noisily. She realized she had been holding her breath. She tried to remember to breathe normally and clicked on the comm. “Sprout, please talk to me.”
“What’s up, partner?”
“Nothing, I’m just . . .”
“There’s nothing to be scared of, partner.” His voice was reassuring. “Ain’t nothing down in these parts but us and the fishies.”
