LAST FAREWELL

Three days later, just as the sun was setting, the voice of King Neptune once again floated over the Islands. It was quieter than on the first day. Warm and compassionate.

“My loyal subjects,” it called. “Please come to Pirate’s Cove. Wait for me on the shores of the harbor.”

From a tower window in the Coral Palace, Josh watched as all but a few of the survivors once again obeyed the comforting voice of the King and made their way toward the Barbary Coast on Timescape Island. As he followed their progress, Josh noted with deep satisfaction how clean the grounds of the park were, the close-cropped grass and meticulously tended gardens empty of the victims of the plague, the makeshift graves smoothed over.

Surprisingly, hardly anyone had commented on the changes as section after section was attended to. Maybe, Josh thought, they’d all gotten so good at blocking out the horrors that they barely noticed when they vanished.

But he also knew that he and the rest of the Night Crew had done a good job, managing to do most of the work while the rest of the Islands slept. Paravi had led them to camouflaged storage sheds that housed the battery-powered passenger trams used in the park. Cheerful and efficient, she explained the controls, proving that the trams were no more difficult to drive than electric golf carts. So a handful of drivers, accompanied by the rest of the Night Crew, had been able to travel silently through the parks, gently gathering, loading, transporting.

Josh turned away from the window and called to Milo through a narrow doorway that led to the nearby control room.

“It’s working,” he said. “Almost everyone’s going.”

There was no answer.

Concerned, Josh peered into the room. Milo was staring sightlessly at the soundboard, his fingers wandering over the slides and dials.

“Milo?”

The other boy started, then looked over at Josh.

“You okay?” Josh asked.

Milo took a moment to focus, but then he smiled briefly.

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m okay. I was just thinking … I remember when my dad brought me here for the first time. Let me help him work the controls.”

Josh had had similar thoughts the last few days, every time he looked at the digital camera his dad had ceremoniously bequeathed to him just before they left home. They’d spent a happy hour together, his dad explaining buttons and settings Josh knew he’d never use, the two of them taking pictures of everything from the inside of the refrigerator to his dad’s left nostril.

“You guys were close, huh?”

Milo didn’t answer. Then he seemed to flick off his emotions and went back to the business at hand.

“So you said they look ready at the Cove?”

Josh blinked at the shift in mood, but then he nodded.

“And we’ve seen flares from the other four locations, right?”

“Right. They’re all ready. Just waiting for the signal.”

“Okay,” said Milo. “We’ll just wait until it gets a little darker, so the lights have more of an effect.” He smiled. “Moira’s idea.”

Josh wasn’t surprised. She’d orchestrated most of what was about to happen.

“Anything else we need to do?” he asked.

“Not here. Why don’t you head over to the Cove and see if Moira or any of the others need help. Then go be with Maddie.”

“Thanks.” Josh headed back through the door and toward the stairwell. Just before he reached it, Milo swung around the control room entrance.

“Hey, Josh?”

“Yeah?”

“You’ve been a big help. I just want to say thank you.”

Josh beamed, feeling the same pride as when his parents used to praise his report cards. Then he hurried down the spiral staircase of the Palace tower, across the grounds of Atlantis, and over the arced bridge that led to the Barbary Coast. Once there, he ran toward the shores of Pirate’s Cove. The beach and piers were completely filled with children, all peering curiously toward the center of the lake. There, two tall ships with billowing sails moved slowly away from the town, their course determined by tracks hidden under the water.

Normally, the ships confronted each other in fearsome mock battles, their two pirate crews fighting for the right to pillage the nearby town. They fired fake cannons, swung from ropes to their enemies’ decks, and called out bloodthirsty threats, their ferocity underscored by thrilling background music.

Toward the end of the battle, plumes of fire shot from the hulls as each took a fatal hit. Then, to the comical moans of tubas and bassoons, both ships slowly sank into the cove, pirates leaping frantically from the decks. (The best part actually occurred a few minutes after the end of the show, when the boats rose again from the water and the pirates clambered back on board, waving happily at the remaining audience.)

What few of tonight’s watchers knew, though, was what new purpose the ships would now fulfill. Nor did they know that the decks had been splashed with gasoline, and that fuel-soaked rags and ropes had been tied near the jets from which the flames erupted. And only the Night Crew knew that from a building near the pier, unseen by anyone, Evan worked the controls with painstaking care.

Josh spotted Zoe, who was waiting near the water with Maddie and Sam. Not too far from her were Moira and Paravi. He hurried over to the two girls first. Paravi greeted him with a quick hug, but Moira was shifting nervously from foot to foot, unable to stand still.

“They ready at the sheds?” she asked.

Josh nodded. “We saw the flares.”

“And Milo’s set, too?”

“Yeah. He was just waiting for it to get a little darker, like you said. Everything okay here?”

“Seems to be. But he’d better start soon, before—”

She was interrupted by a loud hum from the speakers, followed by a fanfare of trumpets. It grew in power, the notes climbing higher and higher, then holding the crowd spellbound with one long, thrilling chord. The chord ended, its sound echoing off the distant walls of the Coral Palace. A soft melody began, introduced by flutes and oboes and picked up by a chorus of strings. It was both haunting and beautiful, sad and uplifting.

Josh smiled slightly. The music was from the soundtrack of Neptune’s Promise, the Atlantis fireworks show that closed the park every night. Milo had made the perfect choice. Josh whispered goodbye to Moira and Paravi, then left to join Zoe, Maddie, and Sam. Zoe relaxed visibly as he approached.

“I was afraid you wouldn’t make it,” she whispered, then released Maddie’s hand so that Josh could draw his sister to him.

The music became quieter, and the deep, now-familiar voice of King Neptune flowed over the melody. Josh looked back toward the Coral Palace, where he knew one of the Night Crew was handling the soundboard as Milo once again brought Neptune to life, voicing words that Moira had written.

“Hello, my friends. I thank you for coming.” There was a pause, as though the King himself barely knew what to say. “The last few days have been terrible ones. Nightmares from which no one can wake up. As I’ve watched, I’ve grieved along with you.” Impressed, Josh shot a glance toward Moira and saw her mouthing the speech along with Neptune. “We all know, too, that more difficult days are still ahead. But it’s time to move forward. To do what needs to be done.

“The world that you lived in is gone. No one knows what happened, or who caused it. And no one knows what’s happening outside the Islands. But here, at least, you’re all safe. Here, no one can hurt you.”

Josh looked around to gauge the listeners’ reaction. Some of the older ones looked confused, others even seemed angry at the theatrics. But the little ones, including Sam and Maddie, were wide-eyed and quiet, and appeared to be taking comfort in what the “King” was saying.

Night had fallen. Colored lights danced on the surface of the lake, glowed softly from the harbor town behind them, sparkled on the spires of the Coral Palace. Neptune’s voice continued.

“I’m inviting you all to stay in my kingdom. I have everything that you need. And we will all become a new family and build a new world. Maybe even a better world. Here. With each other.”

Now even the older children were falling under the spell.

“But first, we have a solemn duty to perform. We have to say good-bye to the ones we lost. They’re out there now, waiting to take their final journey.”

All faces turned toward the water, understanding slowly dawning, and all eyes locked on the ships.

“I am the King of the Sea,” said Neptune, his voice growing stronger and his words more eloquent. “And I have seen many great warriors, and many kings and queens, leave this world by sailing into the next one. Fire, the gift of the gods, lifted the tall ships and the ones they carried up into the heavens.”

As Neptune spoke those words, tongues of flame leaped from vents in the sides of the ships, igniting the long cloth wicks. The music grew louder, more glorious. And only a few knew that at that same moment, members of the Night Crew—Hamim and Greg among them, and the silent boy Seth—were lighting other pyres in back lots at the most distant point on each island, hidden behind tall groves of trees, far from the eyes of the grieving families.

“Picture those you’ve lost. Tell them that you love them. And then … say good-bye.”

The watchers grew utterly still, silent except for the soft sound of weeping. Josh saw Zoe sink down behind Sam, pulling him close. In front of them, the sails of the ships caught the flames, and orange light began to flicker on the masts and race up and down the decks.

“Good-bye!” someone cried, the voice trembling with pain and love. “Bye, Mom! I love you.”

The sound shattered the emotional dams that all the survivors had built, and hundreds more voices joined the first, desperately calling out final farewells. Josh knelt next to his sister.

“Say good-bye, Maddie,” he whispered, and the little girl waved at the ships, saying the names of their mom, their dad, their sister. They held each other tightly. Josh could feel Maddie’s body shaking and tears streaming down his own face.

They watched as the flames grew higher and higher, sending plumes of smoke toward the heavens, just as Neptune had promised. And then, just as the masts began to fall and the hulls became little more than glowing shells, the machinery hummed a final time and the ships slipped beneath the dark waters, silent and beautiful.