Simon was too weary to sit up, much less stand, so he spoke as loudly as he could from where he lay. “It’s not what you think.”
“Not what we think?” Wanderby demanded. “What do you call that, lad?” He pointed at the Book. “That’s what I call incriminating evidence. And you’re not just going to run laps as punishment, I promise you.”
Owen pulled himself a bit farther over the crater’s edge. “That’s not fair! We only found it. Veenie and Sirabetta tried to steal it!”
Alysha lacked the strength to yell, but she managed to speak clearly. “Yeah, and we saved it from them. You should be thanking us!”
Wanderby stared at the unconscious girl in the black wet suit. When he saw the tattoos on her arms and legs, his face went pale. Then, recovering, he scowled. “Sira-who? Enough lies, lass. You may have held off four of us before, but now you’ve got all of us to face. You’re out of the game.”
Simon shook his head. “No way. It’s not yours. Book, get out of here! Save yourself. Bring help if you can!”
The Teacher’s Edition rose several inches from the ground. It had received a command from its Keeper and, free from Sirabetta’s control, could act. Once again, the air tore open, and with a POOF, the Book disappeared.
A collective gasp rose from the gathered Physics members. “What have you done?” Wanderby roared. “Where’s the Book?”
Simon hadn’t done anything; he was too tired to use his space-time formula. But he believed the Book was safe.
Alysha reached over and squeezed Simon’s hand. “We almost made it.”
Simon mustered a smile. “It was a good adventure, huh?”
“Yeah, but it would be nicer if we got to live,” Owen said; he’d finally climbed onto the path but was too tired to move any farther.
The air between the kids and the Order of Physics rippled and tore, making a very familiar noise, as the air had to put up with yet another hole opening within it. The Teacher’s Edition reappeared, floating in midair and still glowing blue. But this time, it wasn’t alone.
There were numerous Books floating near it, each with different-colored covers. A person appeared beneath each Book.
(I gasped with recognition as I looked from one startled person to the next—these were no ordinary people. This was the entire Council of Sciences!)
The Keepers were as stunned by their sudden transportation as everyone else.
Dr. Solomonder Smithodrome, a bearded man wearing a brown corduroy suit, was lying down…two feet off the ground, as if he’d been on a couch before being transported. He fell to the dirt with a thud.
Short, neatly dressed, bespectacled Gilio Skidowsa was bent over with a bag of seeds in his gloved hands, as if he’d been in the midst of gardening.
All the Council members (even the legendary, silver-haired Math League Keeper Skyrena McSteiner) were there, ripped from whatever activity they’d been in the midst of before Simon’s Teacher’s Edition summoned them. Skyrena was poised with a piece of chalk in hand, as if interrupted while writing on a chalkboard. She looked around, tugged at her odd conical hat. “Observation: displacement via transverse axis, d = ? et. Reference: Teacher’s Edition of Physics.” Her floating red Book tilted forward, as if agreeing with her.
For a moment, everyone stared at black-mustached Allobero Foreedaman, the Keeper of the Order of Astronomy; he wore only shiny silver underpants. Seeing everyone’s stares, he shrugged. “What? I was orbiting Mercury, getting a solar tan.” He snapped his fingers and mumbled a command; in response, a tiny portal appeared in the air, spitting out silvery pants and a black, heavy-metal band T-shirt. They moved on their own, dressing Allobero as he stood with arms outstretched.
Wanderby placed his hands on his hips. “Just who in Galileo’s name are you people and what are you doing in our woods?”
Gilio looked around the forest. “Dunkerhook Woods. It’s been a while.” He turned to Wanderby. “We are the Council of Sciences,” he said quietly but firmly. “Stop blustering and let us speak to Ralfagon.”
The members of the Order of Physics tensed. Most had never met the Council; they were very suspicious after the last Physics meeting.
Simon saw the assembled Physics members on one side and the various other Keepers on the other and shuddered at the thought of a fight between the most powerful beings in the universe, with Alysha, Owen, and him in the middle.
“Wait!” he shouted with his last strength. “I think I can explain.”
Gilio looked down at the kids, as if noticing them for the first time. He adjusted his eyeglasses. “Indeed?”
“We don’t listen to the enemy!” Wanderby shouted.
The Teacher’s Edition of Physics swooped away from the other Books and hovered protectively over Simon, Owen, and Alysha. It flashed a bright blue light, and in response the other Books flashed their own identifying colors.
Immediately, the Keepers put hands to their heads, as if concentrating. Their Books were communicating with them.
Gilio leaned toward Simon. “That’s quite a story the Books have told, but we’ll need proof. Take me to Ralfagon so I can heal him.”
Loisana held up a hand. “Wait…what’s going on here? As far as we know, these children stole our Book and hospitalized Ralfagon.”
Simon pointed at the unconscious Mermon and youthful Sirabetta. “It wasn’t us! It was them—Mermon Veenie and Sirabetta!”
“Veenie, I could believe,” Loisana said, “but I’ve never heard of this Sirabetta.”
Solomonder stepped forward. “Vas?” he said with an Austrian accent. “Pardon me, but did you say ‘Sirabetta’? This girl is mein Sara Beth?” He walked over to her unmoving form and looked at her face. Then he rose and nodded. “Ja, it is true; I can barely tell like this, but it is she.”
Wanderby grew paler and jittery. “No, this isn’t right. You’re all menaces. Yes, that’s it! You’re all against us!”
Gilio cleaned his glasses on his sweater. “And they say I’m a conspiracy nut.”
“Book,” Simon called out, “can you bring Ralfagon here?”
The Teacher’s Edition of Physics tipped forward, as if to nod, then disappeared in a flash and a POOF. It reappeared seconds later with a loud tearing of air. A hospital bed with Ralfagon, unmoving atop it, materialized a few feet away.
Eldonna was sitting on a padded chair that materialized next to the bed. She leapt to her feet. “What? Who? Where?” she sputtered.
Allobero chuckled. “Someone stop her before she gets to ‘how’ or ‘why.’”
Gilio stepped forward and looked her in the eyes; he was the exact height as short, stout Eldonna. “Pardon me, my dear. My name is Gilio Skidowsa.” He smoothed his sweater and smiled. “I’m the Keeper of the Order of Biology.” He cleared his throat. “I believe I can be of some service to Ralfagon.”
Eldonna quickly collected herself. “Gilio of Biology? Yes, Ralfagon spoke of you often. You won’t hurt him?”
“I’d never hurt him; he owes me money from our last Council poker game.”
Gilio walked over to the pristine white hospital bed and placed a hand on Ralfagon’s forehead. “Dislocated shoulder, fractured hip, cracked ribs, moderate concussion…and an ingrown toenail. No problem.” He whispered a formula, and Ralfagon glowed bright green for a moment. “Done.”
Ralfagon sat up, put one hand to his stomach and the other to his head, and gazed into Gilio’s eyes. He smiled broadly, clapped a hand on Gilio’s shoulder, and said, “And just who are you?”