FIRST COUNCIL

The manic energy that had poisoned the Islanders disappeared, leaving behind exhaustion, shock, and shame. Most were horrified by the fallout from the riots. The beautiful gardens had been trampled into muddy pits, the mosaic walkways torn up. A few of the smaller buildings had been destroyed, and even some of the larger attractions were scarred or damaged.

There’d been a human toll as well. Some kids had concussions, bloody gashes, or broken bones, and there was no doctor to take care of them. Chelsea and her Girl Guides, along with a few kids who had camping experience, set up a makeshift hospital in the Exploratorium and did what they could to sew up wounds and create splints and slings. But there was a real danger that infection would set in, or that some of the injured would be permanently crippled.

Worst of all—two toddlers had died, trampled by the mobs.

Zoe took it upon herself to care for Hamim. He’d remained unconscious for several hours, and she and Josh had stayed with him by the overturned tram, watching until he began to stir and they could be sure that nothing was broken. Then the two of them carried the injured boy to the “hospital,” where she and Sam visited him at least twice a day.

At first, Hamim didn’t respond, keeping his face turned away from her on the blankets where he lay. So she filled the silence by chatting about her family and where she grew up, or by reading from books she found in the souvenir stores. Or sometimes she said nothing at all, just sat quietly nearby.

“Why are you doing this?” Josh asked one day, accompanying her and Sam on one of their visits.

Zoe shrugged. “Beats me.” She thought a moment. “Maybe because he helped us with the kids. Or maybe ’cause I’m bored.”

“Or maybe,” said Josh, “because you’re a good person.”

“Doubt it.” But she gave a quick smile, which swiftly disappeared. “He just seemed so alone.”

The days continued in fits and starts. For a long while, it seemed as though nothing would feel normal again. No one trusted anyone else, and evidence of the riots was everywhere. So nobody complained when Milo asked Moira and Evan to set up a strict schedule for the distribution of food and clothes. And everyone seemed relieved when he added more Protectors, to make sure no one acted out again.

Then Milo came up with what everyone later agreed was his most genius idea: a weekly Island Council. Anyone could attend, he explained, and everyone would have a voice. For a call-to-meeting, he picked the familiar notes of “Neptune’s Fanfare.” And for a gathering place, he chose the huge IMAX theatre on Inspiration Island, where 3-D movies about space flight or undersea cities had once been shown every thirty minutes during the day.

The setup of the theatre made it ideal for the Council: the audience seats rose steeply from the bottom in long, slightly curved tiers, assuring everyone an excellent view of the stage. And the domed ceiling and curved sides formed a perfect sound chamber.

At the first meeting, seats were filled almost to the top of the auditorium. Josh sat near the front with Zoe, Paravi, and Toad. Farther down the row were Greg, Eli, and Chelsea. Looking around, Josh could see other familiar faces. Micki. Aiko. Even the skeletal Seth was there, sitting in one of the upper rows. He was surrounded by a group of equally oddball kids, most dressed in black, some with more piercings than Zoe.

Ari arrived just before the meeting started. He made his way slowly down the steps, looking like he could barely keep his eyes open. He stumbled a little as he walked.

“How’re the Little Wizards?” asked Josh, sliding over to make room for him. Little Wizards was the name of the child care center Ari and Lana had set up on Enchanted Island during the first few days. They’d gathered the supplies they needed to take care of the babies and toddlers, then found about a dozen older kids to help them.

Ari collapsed onto the seat. “The Little Wizards are great,” he said. “Just great. All hundred and seventeen of ’em.” He shut his eyes, swaying slightly.

“You sure you’re okay?” asked Paravi, leaning over to look at him.

“Yeah,” he said. “I just hope Lana and the others are still alive when I get back.”

“Hey!” Toad said suddenly. “Here he comes! Here comes Milo!”

Josh looked up and saw Milo, Evan, and Moira standing on the right side of the stage. Milo was looking at a piece of paper that Moira had just handed him.

“What do you think he’s going to say?” asked Paravi.

“Prob’ly just gonna yell at everyone,” said Toad apprehensively. “Looks like he has some kinda speech ready.”

“No,” said Josh. “I know what it is. And it’s good stuff.”

The others looked at him questioningly, but he shook his head. He’d been proud when Milo and Moira had approached him earlier that day, wanting to get his opinion on their plans for that night’s Council. Josh had never been part of any kind of important group before, and he’d never been friends with someone like Milo. He’d always been too busy being the good kid for his parents: studying hard, helping out around the house, making sure they didn’t have to worry about him when they were already so worried about Maddie.

He watched as Milo walked out to the center of the stage, Moira and Evan just behind him. Everyone leaned forward.

“Okay,” said Milo, his voice echoing through the chamber. “Thanks for coming to our first Island Council. I’m glad that everyone wants to work together to make things safe on the Islands. Because I know that none of us wants anything like the Riots to happen again.”

An embarrassed murmur swept through the theatre.

“Anyhow, here’s what I think Council should be about. It’s going to be a place to talk, to get things out in the open. Anyone can come here with an idea or problem or …” He looked at Moira.

“Grievance,” she said.

“Right. Grievance. And this will also be where we decide how the Islands should be run, and who should do what.”

“Who’s ‘we’?” whispered Zoe, bristling a little. “Who decides?”

“I think he means all of us,” said Josh.

Zoe looked skeptical.

“Just to get things started,” Milo continued, “a few of us got together and came up with some rules.”

Zoe turned again to Josh, eyebrows raised.

“Just wait,” he said.

“Moira’s going to read them to everyone,” said Milo. “And then, I guess, we’ll have a vote.”

Moira stepped forward, retrieving the paper from Milo and holding it above her head with both hands. She turned from side to side, displaying the page like it was some kind of sacred parchment.

“Here are the proposed rules. If accepted, they will become known as the Three Laws.” She lowered the paper, cleared her throat, and read:

• Respect the Islands and each other.

• Protect those who are smaller or weaker.

• Take only the supplies that you need.

Heads were nodding around the theatre, and kids smiled in relief.

“Well?” said Josh, looking at Zoe. “Those okay with you?”

“Maybe.” She stood and waved for Milo’s attention.

He saw her, then nodded in her direction. “Zoe. You have a question?”

“Yeah, I do. Who gets to say how much we need?”

“What?”

“Your last rule,” she said. “Who decides how much everyone needs? And what if we start running out of stuff? It’s going to take a while for us to get the gardens going, and who knows if we can even keep the fish alive?”

Milo smiled. “Don’t worry. We’ll have plenty of time to learn how to do all that. We’re not going to run out of food.”

“How do you know?”

Moira took a step toward the edge of the stage, irritation flickering across her face. “Don’t you think Milo’s earned a little trust, Zoe?”

Zoe folded her arms. “Sure,” she said. “But I’m not going to let you guys order me around unless I know you know what you’re doing.”

Moira’s eyes narrowed, but Milo stopped her before she could say anything else.

“It’s okay,” he said. “Zoe, I do know we’re going to be okay. I know because Evan and I found out the Islands have a secret.” Josh looked up at him, confused. No one had mentioned any secret to him.

Milo scanned the sea of faces, building suspense. “After the Riots, I started thinking. We’ve all been living off the stuff we already knew about—food from the concession stands and the restaurants. But where did all of that come from? How did it get there?”

The crowd was silent, suddenly wondering about things they’d never thought of before.

“So Evan and I started exploring the Islands, to find out. And guess what? We’ve got enough supplies to last for months.”

“Where?” asked Zoe.

“Right beneath our feet.”

Everyone looked at Milo like he was crazy. But then Josh had a flash. The UnderGround! Milo was talking about the UnderGround! Josh remembered reading about it in one of his dad’s books, Inside the Wonder. It was an unauthorized look behind the scenes at the Isles of Wonder, something Josh’s dad had been unable to resist buying.

The UnderGround was a large tunnel system, actually considered by the Visioneers to be the first floor of the park as well as its life support system. It resembled a huge, spoked wheel. The hub was centered under Atlantis, and four wide corridors stretched out from it, burrowing under the lagoon and opening up again under each of the other Islands. There, strategically placed stairwells and elevators led up to the surface, enabling supplies to be brought up invisibly to the concession stands, the restaurants, and the souvenir shops. A final huge pathway connected all four tunnels on the outside.

It was the hub, though, that was the real heart of the UnderGround. It was subdivided into several areas: the computer center, which housed the controls for the main power systems; the wardrobe and laundry, where hundreds of thousands of costumes and uniform pieces were sewn, stored, and maintained; and, most important, the central kitchen, with industrial-size ovens, mixing bowls the size of kiddie pools, walk-in freezers, and storehouses with literally tons of food stacked on steel pallets.

“We found it by accident,” Milo said. “Evan saw this unmarked door near the drawbridge controls of the Coral Palace. We got it open, went down a couple flights of stairs, and, well, there it was. And it’s huge. Just the kitchen is about the size of a city block!”

“How come none of you knew about it before?” asked Chelsea. “I mean, your parents worked here, right?”

“I know the answer,” said Josh, getting up from his seat and turning to face the crowd. “In this book my dad had, it talked about the tunnels. The builders called them the UnderGround. No one under sixteen was allowed down there, and everyone was supposed to keep it a secret, even from family. Part of keeping the place magic.”

Chelsea nodded. “So was the guy who wrote the book executed for treason?”

Everyone laughed.

“Any how,” said Evan, looking a little annoyed that the spotlight had moved off him and Milo, “you should see what’s in the storehouses and refrigerators. Bags of flour and sugar, thousands of eggs, boxes of frozen burgers, cans of fruit …”

“We figure there was probably enough to keep the whole park going for a week or so,” said Milo. “And that’s for, like, sixty thousand people a day. We only have a couple thousand left now, so if we ration it out, we could get by for months while we get the gardens going and learn how to take care of the animals.”

“There are even cots and blankets down there,” said Evan, “because the tunnels were supposed to work as a hurricane shelter, too.” Evan looked out at the crowd, his eyes stopping on Zoe. “So now is everyone okay with the third rule? No one’s going to have to go without anything. Ever.”

Everyone started cheering and clapping. Any fears they’d had, any uncertainty about their decision to stay on the Islands, seemed to have disappeared with Milo’s news.

Zoe sat down, looking a little embarrassed, and Josh squeezed her arm. Then something else surfaced in his memory. As the crowd continued celebrating, he moved closer to the stage, motioning to Milo. The other boy walked forward and bent down.

“I was just thinking,” said Josh. “Isn’t there a special road, too? That they used when they brought supplies from the outside to the hub? We could use it like a secret entrance.”

“Yeah,” said Milo, looking impressed. “You’re right. There’s a road, and we found it. Except—” He glanced at Evan.

“Except it’s useless,” Evan said. “There’s this big steel warehouse door just where the road reaches Atlantis. And someone shut it down, somehow. Maybe trashed the controls from the outside. It’s like they were trying to keep anyone from leaving the Islands.”

“They must have thought the plague started here. And that if they kept everyone trapped, they’d keep the plague in, too.” Milo’s voice was bitter.

The idea made Josh feel sick. How could people do that to each other? Trap them in a place they knew would kill them?

The cheers were dying down. Milo called for everyone’s attention, then said they would end the meeting with a vote on the three rules. He asked for a show of hands, and not an arm stayed down. The three rules officially became the Three Laws.

“Now we just have to make sure everyone knows about them,” said Milo.

“I can make posters,” Moira offered. “We’ll put them up all over the Islands.”

“Great,” said Milo. “Thanks, Moira. And thanks for everything else you’ve been doing.”

Moira dipped her head modestly. “Happy to help, Milo.” She looked up at him through her long veil of hair, then tossed it back over her shoulder, like a model in some shampoo commercial.

“Oh, barf,” muttered Zoe. “Not too obvious.” But Josh barely heard her; he was staring at Moira, wishing he needed some kind of assistance, too.

Milo flushed, and Moira smiled at him. Then she turned toward the audience, raising one hand. “Listen, everyone. There’s someone else we should be thanking. And that’s Milo. He’s making everything happen here.”

The crowd began applauding again. Josh saw Moira gesture to Evan, who nodded and ran offstage. “In fact,” said Moira, as soon as she could be heard, “I think that we should make him Island Council president. Right now. Who agrees with me?”

Milo looked stunned. But the crowd began clapping and stomping, their cheers echoing off the high domed ceiling. Josh joined in, shouting louder than anyone. Zoe, though, made only the feeblest pretense of applauding.

Moira turned back to Milo. “Looks like it’s unanimous,” she said. Just then, Evan ran back onstage, carrying an oversized trident from one of the souvenir shops. He stopped when he reached Milo, then bowed low before him, holding the staff in front of him.

“Your scepter, my King.”

Milo laughed, almost doubling over, but then straightened and took the trident from Evan’s outstretched hands. Moira whispered in his ear, and he nodded, grinning. He turned back to the audience, raising the scepter over his head.

“I thank you, my subjects, for this great honor. And I promise you this: I will use my power for the good of us all, and never for evil.”

The crowd cheered again, and Moira stepped back from Milo, giving him the stage. But Josh noticed that she looked as pleased as if she’d been elected herself.