“WE ARE NOT THE SAME PERSON!” Alex shouted.
Artiméans on the lawn stopped mid-conversation to look at Alex.
“And frankly,” Alex said, quieter now, “it’s extremely offensive to me that you’d think so.”
Lani stared at him, lips parted. “Sorry,” she muttered. Hastily she closed her mouth and sat back, stone-faced. The silence was palpable.
“Excuse me,” Simber said quietly.
Heated and breathless, Alex, Samheed, and Lani turned to look at Simber, who hadn’t said a word in so long they’d almost forgotten he was there.
“What is it, Simber?” Alex asked after he’d gathered his wits again.
Simber’s voice remained low, but the words he said were unmistakably clear: “Maybe the best solution is to find the rrreal Aarrron and brrring him back herrre.”
The Craziest Plan of All
The silence was eternal. And then Alex exploded. “Simber, have you lost your mind?”
Lani, Samheed, Ms. Octavia, and Alex all began talking at once.
“We just got rid of him, and now you want to bring him back?” Lani asked, incredulous.
“Great, then we’ll have two dictators to deal with,” muttered Samheed.
“I have to agree with Alex, Simber,” Ms. Octavia chimed in. “I think you’ve lost your mind.”
Simber waited patiently for the chatter to die down before he tried to explain.
“I rrreckon Samheed’s idea is a good one,” said the cat. “But, as you’rrre discoverrring, the simplest plan is often the best. The disguise idea is too rrrisky. Lani has no idea how Aarrron interrracted with his people in orrrder to make them trrrust him.”
Lani scowled, but she didn’t argue. Simber was probably right.
“And asking Alex to become Aarrron is prrroblematic. It will only weaken Arrrtimé and exhaust him to be going back and forrrth, trrrying to be stealthy. Plus it puts him at grrreaterrr perrrsonal rrrisk of an attack from Gondoleerrry.”
“And I refuse to do it,” Alex added.
“And therrre’s that,” Simber agreed.
“What’s simple about bringing Aaron back here?” Lani asked, dubious. “Sounds pretty complex to me.”
“It’s not complex at all,” Simber said. “We know he went east. And because the upwarrrd waterrrfall exists on that end of the worrrld, he can’t go far. Therrre arrre only thrrree places Aarrron can be, corrrect?”
“Unless he’s still floating around in a boat, yes,” Alex said. He listed them: “The cylindrical island next to us, the gorilla island beyond that, and Ishibashi’s shipwreck island.”
“Rrright.”
“If he’s even alive,” Samheed interjected. “How do we know that?”
“I just know,” Alex said quietly.
“But why bring him back?” Ms. Octavia asked. “He’ll team up with Gondoleery and cause us twice the trouble.”
They thought about that for a moment.
“No,” Samheed said slowly. “Gondoleery won’t team up with him. She doesn’t need him.”
“Sam’s right. She wants him out of the way,” Alex said. “She’ll want to kill him.” He frowned.
Simber looked on as they figured it out.
“So why,” Lani began, and then she stopped, scratched her head, and began anew. “What makes you think Aaron will do what we need him to do? Won’t he just help us get rid of Gondoleery to try to put himself in the palace again? Then we’ll be right back to the way it was before.”
“Which would be an improvement from the current situation, I must point out,” Ms. Octavia said. “Aaron was dangerous, certainly. But he, at least, was somewhat manageable. Predictable, anyway. Gondoleery . . . is not.”
Simber looked sternly at Lani. “If we make this move, Aarrron will do what we tell him to do, because if he doesn’t, I’ll kill him.” He looked sidelong at Alex and added, “With orrr without yourrr perrrmission.”
Alex studied his hands, clasped in front of him. After a pause, he nodded very slightly to acknowledge that he’d heard Simber and didn’t disagree.
Satisfied, Simber continued. “Aarrron will be a lot easierrr to dispose of than Gondoleerrry, so if he trrries anything once she’s gone, he’ll be out too. He cerrrtainly won’t rrrule Quill again. But it might be best forrr me to simply fly him back to wherrrever he was beforrre, once he’s done the job we need him to do.”
Alex was quiet. He’d worked so hard to forget about Aaron since he’d taken that irresponsible trip in the boat. And thanks to the Gondoleery situation taking all of his time, he’d succeeded. But here they were talking about bringing Aaron back. It was almost too much.
He racked his brain to come up with a reason to shoot down the plan. But as crazy as the idea sounded, it actually made sense. Aaron could rally the people of Quill better than anybody else. That wasn’t saying much, but it was something. And it was the simplest, most solid plan they’d come up with after weeks of talking.
“It’ll take too long to find him,” Alex argued weakly. “The ship is so slow.”
“Clairrre’s boat is fast,” Simber said. “And so am I, if it comes to that.”
Ms. Octavia shook her alligator head firmly. “No. Simber, you must stay here. We need your protection. I don’t like Alex going, either, but he’s probably the only one who can convince Aaron to come with him and do what we want him to do.”
“I’ll go along,” Lani offered.
“Me too,” said Samheed.
Ms. Octavia shook her head again. “We need both of you here, alongside Simber, in case something happens.” She looked at the cat. “Okay, Simber? We can spare Alex easier than we can spare you. No offense, Alex.”
“It’s okay. I get it,” Alex mumbled. He couldn’t believe they were actually considering this. He hadn’t had such mixed feelings since he tried to get Aaron to come to Artimé the first time.
“I’m not happy about that, Octavia, but I agrrree,” Simber said.
Silence fell over the group as they tried to come up with other objections to the plan. When it appeared they had worked them all out, Simber looked at Alex. “You’rrre awfully quiet, Alex. What do you think? Can you convince yourrr brrrother to help us? Orrr will we need to take him forrrcefully?”
Alex took a long time to answer. He stared at his hands, but they were blurry in front of him as he imagined Aaron half-starved, injured, fleeing or hiding from the saber-toothed gorilla. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to remove the image, but it wouldn’t leave.
“Wherever he is,” Alex said finally in measured tone, “he’s in really rough shape. Or at least he was a few months ago when he was kidnapped.” He opened his eyes, and his hands came back into focus. He looked up at the others. “I think he’s got to be pretty scared. And yes, I believe he would come with me. Willingly. Gladly, even.” Alex straightened, remembering it was his job to make official decisions. “Are we settled, then? Lani?”
Lani nodded. “Yep.”
“Sam?”
“Yes. I’m in,” said Samheed.
“And you trust me?” asked Alex.
Samheed hesitated a fraction of a second. “I trust you.”
Alex looked next at Ms. Octavia. “And you, Ms. Octavia. Do you approve of this plan?”
“I do,” Ms. Octavia said, “once I spend a little time preparing your boat.”
Alex nodded. He turned to Simber. “I think we’re all in agreement, then, Simber. I’ll run it by Florence and Claire after Magical Warrior Training to make sure they agree.”
Simber nodded. “Spike can follow along with you. She’s verrry smarrrt. And we can send Charrrlie with you, too, now that Matilda has rrreturrrned to Arrrtimé. We’ll be able stay in touch the whole way.”
“Yes. That’ll be good,” Alex said, but he was feeling a bit numb and having trouble understanding his emotions about any of this.
“Good. We’ll figurrre out the rrrest of the logistics this afterrrnoon. Go think about it forrr a while.”
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Alex and Simber exchanged a meaningful glance, and then Alex stood up. An angry dust squall pounded the barrier.
“There’s no time to waste,” Alex said. “Ms. Octavia, if you could prepare the boat in time, I’ll leave tonight. If all goes well, I’ll reach the nearest island by morning.”
Finding the Inner Applecorn
Except for the hour of calm, Aaron spent days hunched over the telescope parts, working from early in the morning to late at night, barely pausing to eat, and forgetting completely the next time it was his turn to be the chef. No one scolded him, though. Sato silently took care of it for Aaron. He’d grown fond of the boy, and as he was also fond of the telescope, he hoped for Aaron’s success in fixing it.
Every day when the hour of calm was over and Aaron had returned to the shelter with whatever treasures he could carry from the ship, he made sure to sweep the rainwater back out of the entrance, and then he went to the corner of the greenhouse to work on the telescope.
Finally one afternoon Aaron connected the last piece. He called the scientists to help him place the telescope into its cradle stand. Once they lifted it and settled it in, Aaron stepped back and pointed to it modestly.
“I’m not sure if I have fixed it,” he said. “Will one of you have a look?”
Ishibashi urged Ito to step in. Ito angled the telescope toward the glass ceiling as the rain slapped down hard on it, and he peered into the eyepiece in the smaller end. Aaron stared at the floor, silently begging the telescope to work.
Ito reached to adjust a knob at arm’s length, never moving from the eyepiece. Then he turned a collar around the neck of the instrument. After a minute Ito said something in his language, which Aaron didn’t understand. Ishibashi and Sato exchanged a hopeful glance. Aaron didn’t dare ask for a translation. He lifted his gaze and watched Ito’s every move.
Ito looked again and made a pleasant noise, and then he straightened up and spoke rapidly. Ishibashi and Sato began to converse excitedly, and they each took a turn looking through the eyepiece. Aaron stayed glued to the wall, hoping their excitement meant that he’d done it. And then, before he could see it coming, Sato, Ito, and Ishibashi turned and surrounded him. They shouted praises, and then Ito, whose eyes were shining, opened up his arms for an embrace while Ishibashi patted Aaron’s back and said, “Good work, Aaron-san! You have done it!”
As Aaron hugged Ito, his eyes welled up at the words. Ishibashi had called him Aaron-san. He squeezed his lids shut, trying to stop the tears from leaking out, and found himself burying his face in the eldest man’s bony shoulder. A lump of emotion blocked him from being able to speak.
Next Ishibashi was hugging him, and then Sato was hugging him, and that was more hugs than Aaron Stowe could remember having since he’d left home after the Purge. He couldn’t control his feelings, couldn’t stop the tears of relief and joy, so he hurriedly tried to wipe them away. Ishibashi noticed.
Aaron’s mentor herded the other two men back to the telescope, giving Aaron a chance to pull himself together. “You’d better take a break now, Aaron-san,” Ishibashi said with a toothless smile, “because Ito and Sato are already deciding which instrument they will make you fix next.”
Aaron nodded and laughed. “Okay.” He wiped his eyes on his sleeve and stepped out of the greenhouse, going to stand at the entrance of the shelter to get a breath of fresh air. He’d done it. And it felt amazing.
He stood near the entrance in a spot that would allow a bit of spray, but not the full force of rain, to refresh him, and marveled again at the perfect design of the rock slabs.
He thought about the strange, joyous feeling in his heart from accomplishing something these scientists couldn’t do. He thought about the way the time sped by when he was working on a machine or putting together an instrument, or creating a spider creature. He thought about how Ishibashi had said that nothing else mattered but what was inside him. And he also thought about how, if Justine had discovered his ability to create things like this, she would have sent him to his death.
For the first time in his life, that thought didn’t cut through him with burning, mind-numbing fear, and that rule didn’t apply. In fact, stuck here on the Island of Shipwrecks, everything about Quill seemed entirely insignificant. With the spray soaking him through, Aaron smiled, and with growing satisfaction he looked out and said to the world, “I really think I could live here. Forever.”
A Journey Begins
Alex found Florence and Claire in the mansion. They listened to the plan and had much the same reaction to it initially as Alex did. Once they heard the reasons for going out to find Aaron, though, they came around just as the others had.
Claire gave Alex a refresher course regarding her boat, which was actually his first real lesson, as he’d only borrowed the boat unannounced in the past and figured out some of its workings on his own. “Remember it’s magically intuitive,” Claire said. “It’ll automatically avoid rocks or areas that are too shallow. You can take it as close to an island as you need to. It’ll stop if it can’t go any farther.”
“Oh, that’s right,” Alex said. He remembered that from his first trip in the gleaming white boat with Mr. Today, when they’d skimmed around the island to enter the palace from the magically hidden back entrance. It was an excellent feature.
“Just set the location instructions and leave it,” Claire continued. “And use the anchor spell if you need to go on shore anywhere.”
“Right,” Alex said. “Don’t I have to steer it at all?” He’d always steered the boat before.
“Of course not,” Claire said. “It’s magic. If you want it to go automatically, you have to tell it where you want it to go—just like you do with origami fire-breathing dragons. But if you don’t have a specific destination or direction in mind, you’ll need to steer it manually.”
“I didn’t know it could do that,” Alex said. “Sounds like I’ll be able to get some reading done.”
Florence spoke up. “We’ll use the preserve spell on it in case the magic fails or something comes crashing into you. Then you won’t end up in the same predicament as we were in before on the Island of Shipwrecks.”
“I think Ms. Octavia is already working on preserving it,” Alex said.
“Excellent,” said Florence.
“The boat should be able to maneuver you through anything,” Claire said. “Even the hurricane, if you end up that far. It’s a very powerful machine.”
“I’m glad to hear that,” Alex said. “Wish we’d had that feature on the pirate ship.”
“Me too,” said Florence. “Spike is going to follow along, so she can assist you and get you back here in case anything goes wrong with the boat.”
Alex nodded. “I’m sure we’ll be fine.”
“Who else is going with you?” asked Florence.
“Charlie. I’ll bring my sign language book, don’t worry. I’ve been learning a little every night before bed.”
“Good. We’ll keep Matilda here, then. There’s no good way to get her back into the palace, though we need ears there more now than ever. Ah well.” Florence trailed off, hand on her forehead, thinking. “Okay, so Spike, Charlie, and who else?”
Alex shrugged. “That’s it. You need everybody else here in case something happens. I’ll be careful.”
The ebony warrior, towering over Alex, leaned forward. “Oh no,” she said. “You are not going alone.”
Alex took a step back. “Lani and Samheed offered to come, but I don’t want to take any spell casters away from Artimé. You need them if Gondoleery makes a move while I’m gone.”
Florence began to pace, making the mansion shiver the tiniest bit with each step. “You need another human to help watch for danger in the unfamiliar places. Charlie won’t be able to do much to help you, and Spike certainly can’t if you go ashore anywhere.” She frowned and tapped her forefinger against her temple. “You can take Crow.”
“But what about the babies?” Claire inte
rjected. “We need him to take care of Thisbe and Fifer if we have to go into battle, so the rest of us are able to fight.”
Florence frowned harder. “All right, then,” she said reluctantly. “I’ll ask Sky if she’s willing to go with you. I’ll miss her quickness, but with her lack of magical ability, she’ll be better at helping you search.”
Alex turned to hide the smile that kept trying to force its way onto his lips. If he were to choose anybody to spend a few days with on a boat, it would definitely be Sky. He just hoped she’d agree to it. “That’s fine,” he said, his lips still twitching.
Florence wasn’t oblivious. She knew he was pleased. “This isn’t a pleasure trip,” she warned. “Stay on your guard the whole time. You approach an island, you circle it, you call out for Aaron. If he’s got any brains at all—and I’m not sure about that—then he’ll be near the shore. If you must go ashore, find the best and safest way to land, and only land if there is a safe way. Find Aaron and get back to the boat. You saw what’s waiting for you on that gorilla island. I didn’t see it, but I know it was bad—Simber told me. I can’t imagine Aaron could have survived if he made to that island.”
“He’s alive.”
“So you say. Just be sure to always have a way out, and never forget why you’re out there. And if you can’t find him, move on.”
“Okay, Florence, I get it,” Alex said, beginning to get a little annoyed. “Are you seriously lecturing me on this right now?”
Florence stopped pacing. “Sorry. You used to be a little kid.”
Alex grinned. “All right. Just stop worrying. I’ll be fine, and I’ll be back in a few days if I’m lucky.”
“I hope you’re lucky,” Florence muttered, and went back to her pacing.
“Remember,” Alex said, “I’ll be in touch the whole time through Charlie.”
“That’s the only reason I’m letting you go.” Florence stopped at the front entrance and opened the door. “I’m going to see how Octavia’s doing with the boat. And to check with Sky.” She left, closing the door behind her.