“Good morning, sailors!” Stephanie was standing behind the lectern of the lower-level lecture hall. The rest of the faculty were sitting on the stage, to her left. They were mostly college-age kids like her, and as usual they were a wearing a lot of polar fleece and Gore-Tex. Patch walked down the middle aisle behind Arno, and Arno thought he saw Stephanie wink at Patch. They surveyed the room for a minute and then saw Mickey in the fifth row. He was sitting next to Suki and Greta. Arno cocked his chin in their direction, and Patch followed him over. As they took their seats, Stephanie continued to talk.
“Now, we’re going to have a beautiful day trip to Mallorca in just a few hours. But before that, I want to tell you about the survival test. It’s the biggest challenge you’ll face here at Ocean Term, and it’s going to begin tomorrow morning. The survival test will take place over twenty-four hours. You will divide yourself up into ‘survival teams,’ and each team will earn points based on their creative abilities in the wilderness and on their cohesiveness as a group.”
Mickey leaned over and hissed at Arno, “Think that pretty face is going to help you when you’re out in the real world?”
Without turning his head, Arno whispered, “I’d hardly consider an Ocean Term survival night the real world.”
Patch tried to shush them. Usually he wouldn’t have cared—if he’d even noticed, he would have assumed they could handle themselves—but right now he was sort of hoping not to catch any more of Stephanie’s attention. He enjoyed her company, but he didn’t want the entire student body of Ocean Term thinking that Barker and Stephanie were enamored with him.
“… when I was a student at Ocean Term,” Stephanie was saying, “not so long ago, the survival test was one of the most rewarding things I did, so I encourage each and every one of you to do it. But, for those of you who don’t feel up to it, we have an alternative written exam. But I really, really encourage you to do it. I’m passing around this clipboard. Please sign up in teams of three to five on the first page, or, for those of you who really can’t handle it, put your name on the second page to take the exam.”
Mickey wasn’t listening anymore. He hissed, “What, you scared, pretty boy?”
“Survival challenge? I can take you. Easy,” Arno shot back.
They both looked back at the stage. Stephanie had moved to a chalkboard and was drawing a big oval with little cresting waves all around it. “We’re very lucky at Ocean Term because several years ago Dr. Barker inherited a small island between Mallorca, where we will be moored today, and Barcelona in mainland Spain. That’s where the survival test will take place. So we’re going to have a nice relaxing day on Mallorca today, and then tomorrow morning we’ll approach Barker Island. You will break into your groups, and travel to the island by dinghy. Once there you will …”
Suki leaned over Mickey’s armrest. “Are we a group?”
“Hell, yeah,” Arno and Mickey replied at once. She smiled and leaned over to whisper something to Greta.
“It’s on,” Mickey said.
“It most definitely is,” Arno replied.
“… during the survival test, myself and a few other staffers will monitor your progress in several areas. The test will conclude with a group swimming race from the island to the ship. We don’t want to tell you any more, but how you work as a group, and how you make use of the tools you’re given, is a major part of the scoring. Any ques—”
Just then the door banged open and Jonathan came dashing down the middle aisle. He looked severely freaked. His faux-hawk had gotten much hawkier.
“Jonathan, what happened?” Stephanie asked, her face making an affected concerned-frowning expression.
“The Internet is broken,” Jonathan said, a little winded. “So, I’m sorry I’m late. But I’ve been talking with the tech people all morning trying to get it up and running. Everyone should stay calm, but it looks really bad.”
Stephanie’s face broke out in a relieved smile. “Oh, Jonathan, you’re cute. But it really doesn’t matter because today we’re going to Palma, Mallorca’s capital, and tomorrow we go on our survival test. So there won’t be any Internet.”
“Survival test …?” Jonathan said, his eyes widening to milky saucers. Patch grabbed him by the elbow and pulled him down into a seat.
“You can take a written test, instead, don’t worry, man,” Patch said.
“What does that mean? I’m not afraid to do survival!” Jonathan said, grabbing the clipboard as it came around and writing himself into a group with Patch and two Brit girls from his orientation group.
Everyone continued to buzz with excited little whispers. When Stephanie wrapped up the morning’s announcements, she told everyone to go back to their rooms and get ready for a free day in Palma de Mallorca.
“Just don’t forget your passports,” she said. “And remember to be back on the boat by seven thirty. We set sail for Barker Island at eight o’clock.”