CHAPTER 21
GARDENING, BEATLES STYLE
Gilio nodded toward the puddle. “Please, just step in. Nice and gently.”
Owen and Simon cautiously stepped into the pool and were sucked through. It was over in an instant; as with the Gateways, it seemed perfectly natural. Then they saw Alysha sitting on a cave floor holding her butt while scowling at Flangelo, who was whistle-laughing openly. Going into the pool hadn’t gotten them wet; it had transported them to another part of the dome that, unfortunately for Alysha and her cannonball approach, had a hard rock floor.
“Are you all right, young lady?” Gilio asked, appearing next to Owen and Simon.
“You could have mentioned that it wasn’t really water,” she snarled. She stood up, rubbing her rear. “But yeah, I’m fine.”
“Good thing you didn’t dive,” Flangelo said.
Simon looked around the small, barren cave. “What now?”
“Come this way.” Gilio led them out onto a wide, flat mountaintop.
Simon stepped forward and gasped. “You have a whole mountain here?”
Gilio nodded proudly. “We have every ecosystem, all sorts of terrain. This is the highest point in the dome, located in the center. I have privacy from the rest of the Order when needed, yet I can keep an eye on everyone.”
Simon and his friends walked to the edge of the mountain, thirteen hundred feet above the floor of the dome. The view was spectacular. The mountain rose up from a desert landscape; numerous landscapes stretched beyond that, one blending into the next. There were high grasslands, low grasslands, hills, lakes, and various wooded areas including snow-covered evergreens, temperate woodlands, tropical jungles, bamboo forests, and snowscapes. Someone had even made a few snowmen.
“The Order of Biology used to be based on land,” Gilio continued. “Though near the ocean—after all, life started in the oceans. When I took over as Keeper, I decided we needed somewhere properly secluded from the Outsiders and the rest of the Union. Someplace with even more protection than Dunkerhook. So I got together with the other Council members and we shaped this.”
Gilio pointed to smaller mountains in the distance. “I recreated an alpine ecosystem, complete with snow and wind, even though these mountain peaks are only a few hundred feet above the ocean floor. Each system mimics its surface version perfectly.”
“Wow, look!” Owen said, pointing upward.
About fifty feet above the mountaintop, the kids could see the topmost curvature of the dome. I could tell how nervous the kids—even Alysha—were at the sight of thousands of tons of ocean above them, kept out by only a few formulas.
“Now,” Gilio said, “to address your mission. Problem one: you have to find your nasty Sirabetta, who is someplace in the vastness of this dome. Problem two: there may be some non-Biology members who’ve been smuggled into this place. Problem three: there may be traitors within my Order. And if there are such enemies, they’d almost certainly wish you all ill.”
“Yes, we’ve already met some of those,” Alysha said.
“That might have been a misunderstanding,” Gilio said. “Kender has a temper, Targa is a bit excitable, and Cassaro can be strange, but up until now they’ve shown no signs of disloyalty. I suppose I need to reexamine all my members more thoroughly, as well as check the borders and review guard reports. I can think of some who wouldn’t stray no matter what. Flangelo, for example, is surely loyal.”
“I’m glad to do whatever I can,” Flangelo chirped.
“Excellent,” Gilio said. “You’ll be guiding these three around.”
“Me?” Flangelo asked.
“Him?” Alysha blurted out. “Um, what if we get into another fight or something? I don’t think being a smart-aleck really counts as a useful fighting style.”
“Oh? It seems to be working for you,” Flangelo warbled.
“I appreciate that, Gilio,” Simon said, stepping between Flangelo and Alysha. “But Alysha’s right, it might get dangerous.”
Flangelo waved a hand. “I’m a changed bird now. Gilio gave me a second formula. One suitable for a fight.”
“He’ll be fine,” Gilio said. “He’ll also be able to fly around with you to seek out signs of Sirabetta as quickly and as quietly as possible. I’ll flush out all the traitors in due time, but for now, speed and stealth are of the essence.”
“Won’t three kids flying around seem kind of suspicious?” Simon asked.
“Indeed,” Gilio said. “That’s why I want to give you a bit of Biology access.”
Alysha grinned. “You mean we get new formulas?”
“Not formulas, exactly. As the study of all life, Biology has laws, yes, but so much more. Forms, aspects, communications, generators, processes.” Seeing the kids’ confused stares, he held up a hand. “Those vesicles are a variation on a cell’s active transport process. Flangelo is able to take on the form of a bird and can communicate with other birds. Kender’s exoskeleton is an aspect of arthropods. Cassaro can generate different fungi and accelerate their growth. Targa can affect adrenaline, also called epinephrine. It’s a chemical that gives you energy; part of a process that’s activated when you face danger, so you can run away or fight.”
“Fight or flight!” Owen shouted. Gilio raised an eyebrow. “Nature shows can teach a lot,” Owen said with a shrug.
“In any event,” Gilio said, “I’ll use my Teacher’s Edition to give you the aspects of an animal that naturally uses camouflage. You’ll be able to use that ability as easily as it can. And unlike your formulas, it won’t tire you out. Not for a long while, at least.”
“So, you’re going to turn us into chameleons?” Alysha asked.
“No, you won’t turn into anything, and no, not chameleons. Follow me.” He led the kids and Flangelo along the mountaintop to his modest-size house. They walked around the house and stopped by a huge dirt plot containing countless beautiful, exotic plants of all different colors, shapes, and sizes. Some towered dozens of feet in the air while others were just a few inches high.
“This is my garden,” Gilio said. “You’ll never find a more diverse mix of species. There are plants from all over the world here, including several that are believed to be extinct. There are even some that haven’t been discovered. Yet.”
He guided them around the garden; a sunflower turned to follow them as they walked. They came to a blob of water about twenty feet wide and fifty feet high. It flowed and rippled but didn’t spill; it was kept in place, presumably, by the same formulas as on the dome. In fact, the topmost part of it connected with the dome above them.
“This is my second-favorite garden,” Gilio said, “and my little nod to the Beatles.” As he gestured to it, a form became visible at the bottom of the water blob, near one of many piles of rocks set on the mountaintop.
Simon leaned forward and saw it was an octopus. This was an aquarium!
“Amazing creature, the octopus,” Gilio said. “Wondrous natural abilities. They’re very intelligent, too.”
Simon touched the watery cage; as with the dome, it felt dry to his hand. A ripple spread out across the aquarium, and in response, the octopus approached. It placed the tip of one suction cup-covered limb on the same spot as Simon’s hand. Simon could feel slight pressure as it pushed against the water; he pushed back and smiled.
“I can feel its tentacle,” he said.
“Arm,” Gilio said. “Squid and cuttlefish have two tentacles with their eight arms, but octopi just have arms.”
“I’m still calling them tentacles,” Alysha muttered.
Simon turned back to Gilio. “What else can they do besides camouflage?”
“They have many wondrous abilities. Why do you ask?”
Simon smiled. “I was just thinking . . .”
