The next morning, Milo sat at a table with Andinne.
“So,” Andinne said. “Did you sleep well last night?”
“No,” Milo groaned, rubbing his eyes. “I spied on Theo and I got caught.”
“What?!” Andinne said. Several people turned toward her. She lowered her voice and said, “Did he punish you?”
“No,” Milo said. “He just said that he was going to make a big announcement today.”
Theo was standing on a table in front of the room. He said, “Everyone, I have an important announcement to make. I bought a huge ship where we will all be moving into.”
Instantly a murmur went through the crowd.
“What is the ship called?” Andinne asked Theo.
“The Community,” Theo said, crossing his arms.
“That’s a dumb name,” Milo said.
“It’s my ship,” Theo said. He shot a look at Milo.
“Why can’t we stay here?” someone asked.
“Because you’re employees of my company and I’m your boss,” Theo groaned.
“It will take a long time for me to move all of my equipment onto the ship,” Andinne said, her eyes frantic.
“Then I suggest you get started,” Theo said. “I expect all of you to be in The Community by sundown. If you are still on land, you will be left behind.” He ignored the gasps from the crowd.
Half of the crowd immediately scrambled out of the room, most of them glaring at Theo while they left.
“Sorry Milo,” Andinne said, getting out of her chair, “but I have to get my stuff ready to go.” She hurried out of the room.
“Can I see the ship?” Milo asked, walking over to Theo.
“Okay,” Theo said, slowly getting off the table. “Follow me.”
Milo followed Theo out of the building. They passed a bakery, a general store, and a candy store. At the candy store, Milo stopped to stare at the candy.
“No, don’t think about it,” Theo said. “You’re not a kid anymore, Milo.” Milo smiled and rolled his eyes.
A car zipped by them and Milo jumped. “These new car things are dangerous,” he said, shaking.
“Let’s go,” Theo said, running ahead. They arrived at the docks.
“Woah,” Milo said, coming to a stop behind Theo. “Is that ship The Community?”
The ship was a huge red and white ship that towered over the buildings. It had several floors and rows and rows of windows. Giant smokestacks were attached to the deck.
“No, that ship is The Community,” Theo said. He pointed at a blue and white row boat tied to the dock.
“You’re joking, right?” Milo said, raising an eyebrow.
“Of course I’m joking,” Theo said, smirking. “That big boat is The Community.”
“The red and white one?” Milo asked.
“Yes,” Theo said. “It has six floors, and five of them are for each of the different groups of scientists. The bottom deck is for the dining room and the bedrooms.” He beamed in pride looking at his ship.
A large group of people were gathered at the entrance to the boat. They spotted Theo and ran over to him.
“Mr. Theo! Is this your boat?” one of them asked.
“It’s the press,” Theo whispered to Milo. “I’ll handle this.
“Yes,” Theo said to them. “This is The Community, it is Nemono Labs’s official ship.”
“When will it set sail?” another one of them asked. The others were all furiously writing the conversation down on paper.
“It will set sail at sundown,” Theo said. “It is one of the largest ships in the entire world.”
Milo walked away as the journalists asked Theo more questions. He decided to enter The Community. He climbed the ramp and went onto the deck. It didn’t have a lot of things on it, only food supplies that Sammy had dragged aboard. Milo saw Sammy sitting on the deck, taking a break.
“What’re you looking at?” Sammy asked Milo harshly. “Go away.” He stood, towering over Milo. Milo’s eyes were wide with fear.
“Oh, shut up Sammy,” Andinne said, coming up from behind them. She was carrying some of her medical equipment.
Sammy glared at her. He turned away and carried the food supplies down the stairs to the lower decks. Andinne followed him, struggling to carry her equipment.
“Hey, Andinne,” Milo said, reaching his arm toward her. “Do you need any help?”
“No,” Andinne said, shifting the equipment away from Milo’s hand. “I can carry it myself.”
Milo went to the bottom deck. He looked around and picked a room near the stairs to set up his belongings in. He remembered that he still needed to get his stuff from the building. He left to get his machines.
At sundown, the boat set sail. A celebratory dinner was held in the dining hall of the boat.
Milo and Andinne arrived at the dining hall, picking a table near the small stage area that Theo was standing on. He motioned for everyone to quiet down.
Once the room was silent, Theo spoke. “The Community has set sail for the Boot Straits. After we travel through it, we will sail through the South Panthalassan Sea.”
“Why are we going to the Boot Straits?” someone asked. “Aren’t we at war with them?”
“They won’t dare fire on us,” Theo said. “We have a Boot with us here on this ship.”
The crowd gasped. A Boot, on the ship?
“Impossible!” Andinne shouted. “They would have been killed when we were at Nemono Labs.”
“Nemono Labs is an international organization,” Theo said, not looking at the crowd and picking his nails. “If we excluded Boots, then that wouldn’t be fair to them.”
“But Boots are evil!” Andinne said, glaring at Theo. “They eat bugs and mud! They torture the Pangaean soldiers that they capture! They want to obliterate Pangaea and kill us all!”
“Don’t listen to the propaganda, Andinne. Boots aren’t like that,” Theo huffed.
“How do you know?” another person in the crowd said. “Are you a Boot?”
“Of course not,” Theo laughed.
“Then who here is?” the same person asked.
“Why would I tell you?” Theo said. He furrowed his eyebrows and started to get off of the stage.
“Because Boots are dangerous and they will kill us if we don’t kill them first!” blurted Andinne.
“If they were like that, we would all be dead already,” Theo said. He got back on the stage and gave a harsh look to the crowd.
The crowd went silent. A few of them looked around, trying to figure out who was the Boot.
“I know who the Boot is!” Andinne yelled, pointing at Theo. “It’s him!”
“That’s ridiculous,” Theo said. “If I was a Boot, this ship would be at the bottom of the sea right now.”
“I know!” someone else yelled. “It’s Sammy! He hates us because we’re Pangaeans.”
“Yeah,” another person agreed. “Sammy’s the Boot. Get him!” He charged toward the kitchen.
“Everybody STOP,” Theo yelled, waving his arms. “Sammy is not the Boot.”
“Then who is?” Andinne asked, standing and knocking her chair over.
Sammy ran out of the kitchen, plates stacked on top of his hands. He dodged the person trying to grab him. Dinner was served.
BOOM! A blast of heat forced the dining room doors open and hot air spilled in.
“What was that?” Milo asked, getting up. Theo was already charging into the hallway, and Milo followed close behind.
“No,” Theo said breathlessly, staring. “We hit a naval mine.”
The wall had a giant, burnt hole in it, spilling gallons of water in by the second.
People screamed and fled. Theo tried to patch the hole with his body, but it was too big, too wide. He ran to the dining room and grabbed a table. He shoved it into the hole. The water stopped.
“Thank goodness it stopped,” Theo said to Milo. “I’ll have Lane fix it later.” He realized that Milo had fled.
“That idiot!” Theo said, ears reddening. “I’m going to kill him when I get my hands on him.”
Theo ran to the stairs and up to the deck. People were gathered near the edge of the ship, waiting for the crew to get the lifeboats ready.
“Everyone!” Theo said. “I stopped the water. You can go back now.”
Everybody sighed in relief. They started making their way back down the stairs.
“Milo,” Theo said, spotting him in the crowd. “I want to see you for a second.”
“Uh, okay?” Milo said. Theo pulled him away from everyone else.
“MOVE OUT OF THE WAY!” Theo screamed as he dragged Milo into the stairwell.
“Hey!” Milo yelled as Theo dragged him down the stairs. He tripped and fell. Theo kept on pulling him. “Ow, ow!” Milo said as the stairs hit his head. He saw stars. Milo could hear people staring at him.
Finally, they reached Theo’s room. Theo opened the door and dragged Milo in. Theo’s room was about as messy as Milo’s, with machine bits and pieces scattered everywhere. He let go of Milo.
“Ow,” Milo groaned, rubbing his head. “Why did you do that?”
“I cannot believe that my own brother would leave me in such a dangerous situation,” Theo said, face red. “You are such a coward.”
“Uh,” Milo said, backing into Theo’s door.
“What a stupid idiot,” Theo said. “Get out of my room.” With that, he opened the door and shoved Milo out.