The Octopus Effect by Michael Reisman

Author:Michael Reisman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group
Published: 2010-02-26T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 26

INTO THE BIG, BAD HAYSTACK

Gilio led the kids and Flangelo outside; it was time to go.

Owen looked around. “Is it still nighttime? It’s pretty well lit, especially for being under an ocean.”

“I’ve arranged many bioluminescent life-forms inside and outside the dome,” Gilio said. “Mostly mosses and kelp that give off a natural glow. Deeper into the biomes where the animals live, there’s just enough bioluminescence to simulate moon and starlight; I didn’t want to disturb the natural day-night cycle of the life-forms. By day, special devices provide artificial sunlight so it’s much brighter where appropriate. It’s a complex world down here.”

“At least we’ll always be able to see where we’re going,” Simon said.

“Now, you’ll have to cover a lot of ground quickly without being seen,” Gilio said. “You’re searching for a needle in a haystack, but a very sharp needle in a very dangerous haystack.”

Simon explained his sense of space-time twisting, and Gilio nodded. “That’ll be a big help. Can you tell where she is exactly?”

Simon turned around in a circle, feeling out the different twists in space-time across the expanse of the dome. The strongest tug came from the teleporting pool they’d used to get up to Gilio’s mountain home, but he could feel much fainter pulling from the many other pools throughout the domain. He closed his eyes and concentrated, filtering out every other sense besides space-time.

There was so much to focus on, but he didn’t let up until . . . “There!” Simon pointed. He felt a space-time distortion that was wildly different from all the others but familiar to him. “I think she’s somewhere in that direction.”

Gilio stared along the line of Simon’s wavering finger. “Hmm. Lots of ground to cover that way,” Gilio said. “First, desert. Then, depending on which way you veer, either there’s dry, wintry savannah, or wetlands. After that, you’ve got more possibilities.” He pointed to one direction. “If you angle that way, you get taiga, tundra, and mountain regions. Evergreens and snow leading to extreme cold and barren land with little life.”

Simon pointed in a slightly different direction. “It’s more like that way.”

“Ah,” Gilio said. “Wetlands, then a wide expanse of rain forest. Jungle.”

“Wonderful,” Flangelo said with a shake of his head.

“It’s better than going back to Savannah,” Owen said.

“A savannah,” Flangelo said. “Not Georgia, remember?”

“Whatever, as long as we don’t see any more Komodo dragons,” Alysha said.

Gilio nodded. “You should be fine. While you’re doing that, I’ll send word to certain Order members and animals in the dome that I trust. I’ll check in every direction in case your extra sense is wrong, Bloom. I have eyes and ears everywhere.”

“That’s gross!” Owen said.

“I mean spies,” Gilio said. “If they’ve seen or heard anything unusual, I’ll send a messenger-bird to you. Flangelo can understand and speak to them.”

“Meanwhile, we follow Flangelo?” Alysha asked.

“I’m afraid so,” Flangelo trilled.

Gilio looked Simon, Owen, and Alysha in the eyes. It wasn’t hard—he wasn’t very tall. “The camouflage works better when you’re not in bright lights.

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