Island of Graves (20 page)

Alex looked at Lani and sighed. “You know, the problem with you is that you jump on things too quickly and you don't think them through all the way. Which is also why you were caught flat-footed without any spell components to freeze Gondoleery in the car when you were in disguise, like you wanted to do.”

“Yeah, like you would have let us kill her if she was frozen!” Lani said. “Apparently she has to be a split second away from killing you before you'll take her out. Isn't that about right, Al?”

Samheed ripped the tips of the grass from the lawn and threw them down. “I thought we weren't going back to this conversation,” he said.

“I'm just giving an example,” Alex replied evenly, “just like you gave me when you thought I did something wrong.”

“Well, stick to the topic,” Samheed said. “I think it's a good idea.”

“I'll gladly stick to the topic,” Alex said. “The answer is no. I'm not going to impersonate my brother. I think it'll backfire horribly in the end. And I don't want to spend one second of my time acting like him—not that I even know how! Besides,
how am I supposed to run Artimé if I'm busy being Aaron in Quill? How are the two leaders supposed to show trust for each other if they're never seen together? I can't be both people at once.” He leaned toward Samheed. “This plan is fraught with problems. It's a disaster waiting to happen. Admit it.”

Samheed frowned, thinking it over in silence.

Lani sat up. “I've got it—
I'll
be Aaron! I'll disguise myself and do all that stuff so you don't have to.”

Samheed groaned. “This is sounding eerily familiar,” he muttered. “And I think I can predict Alex's response.”

Lani went on planning out loud as if she hadn't heard Samheed. “I'm sure I can figure out Aaron's mannerisms and stuff—he's got to be a lot like you, right?”

“He's
nothing
like me,” said Alex.

“I mean on the outside,” Lani said.

“He's nothing like me,” Alex repeated, louder this time, “and Sam, you'd be right in your prediction, because the answer is, once again, no.”

“Come on. Why not?” Lani asked.

Alex clenched his jaw, trying not to raise his voice. “Because you don't have a clue about how he'd act, or what he'd say, or how he'd say it. You've never spent time with him. You've
barely even seen him. You don't know him
at all
!”

“Yes, but I know
you
really well—”

“WE ARE NOT THE SAME PERSON!” Alex shouted.

Artiméans on the lawn stopped mid-conversation to look at Alex.

“And frankly,” Alex said, quieter now, “it's extremely offensive to me that you'd think so.”

Lani stared at him, lips parted. “Sorry,” she muttered. Hastily she closed her mouth and sat back, stone-faced. The silence was palpable.

“Excuse me,” Simber said quietly.

Heated and breathless, Alex, Samheed, and Lani turned to look at Simber, who hadn't said a word in so long they'd almost forgotten he was there.

“What is it, Simber?” Alex asked after he'd gathered his wits again.

Simber's voice remained low, but the words he said were unmistakably clear: “Maybe the best solution is to find the rrreal Aarrron and brrring him back herrre.”

T
he silence was eternal. And then Alex exploded. “Simber, have you lost your mind?”

Lani, Samheed, Ms. Octavia, and Alex all began talking at once.

“We just got rid of him, and now you want to bring him back?” Lani asked, incredulous.

“Great, then we'll have
two
dictators to deal with,” muttered Samheed.

“I have to agree with Alex, Simber,” Ms. Octavia chimed in. “I think you've lost your mind.”

Simber waited patiently for the chatter to die down before he tried to explain.

“I rrreckon Samheed's idea is a good one,” said the cat. “But, as you'rrre discoverrring, the simplest plan is often the best. The disguise idea is too rrrisky. Lani has no idea how Aarrron interrracted with his people in orrrder to make them trrrust him.”

Lani scowled, but she didn't argue. Simber was probably right.

“And asking Alex to become Aarrron is prrroblematic. It will only weaken Arrrtimé and exhaust him to be going back and forrrth, trrrying to be stealthy. Plus it puts him at grrreaterrr perrrsonal rrrisk of an attack from Gondoleerrry.”

“
And
I refuse to do it,” Alex added.

“And therrre's that,” Simber agreed.

“What's simple about bringing Aaron back here?” Lani asked, dubious. “Sounds pretty complex to me.”

“It's not complex at all,” Simber said. “We know he went east. And because the upwarrrd waterrrfall exists on that end of the worrrld, he can't go far. Therrre arrre only thrrree places Aarrron can be, corrrect?”

“Unless he's still floating around in a boat, yes,” Alex said. He listed them: “The
cylindrical island next to us, the gorilla island beyond that, and Ishibashi's shipwreck island.”

“Rrright.”

“
If
he's even alive,” Samheed interjected. “How do we know that?”

“I just know,” Alex said quietly.

“But why bring him back?” Ms. Octavia asked. “He'll team up with Gondoleery and cause us twice the trouble.”

They thought about that for a moment.

“No,” Samheed said slowly. “Gondoleery won't team up with him. She doesn't need him.”

“Sam's right. She wants him out of the way,” Alex said. “She'll want to kill him.” He frowned.

Simber looked on as they figured it out.

“So why,” Lani began, and then she stopped, scratched her head, and began anew. “What makes you think Aaron will do what we need him to do? Won't he just help us get rid of Gondoleery to try to put himself in the palace again? Then we'll be right back to the way it was before.”

“Which would be an improvement from the current
situation, I must point out,” Ms. Octavia said. “Aaron was dangerous, certainly. But he, at least, was somewhat manageable. Predictable, anyway. Gondoleery . . . is not.”

Simber looked sternly at Lani. “If we make this move, Aarrron will do what we tell him to do, because if he doesn't, I'll kill him.” He looked sidelong at Alex and added, “With orrr without yourrr perrrmission.”

Alex studied his hands, clasped in front of him. After a pause, he nodded very slightly to acknowledge that he'd heard Simber and didn't disagree.

Satisfied, Simber continued. “Aarrron will be a lot easierrr to dispose of than Gondoleerrry, so if he trrries anything once she's gone, he'll be out too. He cerrrtainly won't rrrule Quill again. But it might be best forrr me to simply fly him back to wherrrever he was beforrre, once he's done the job we need him to do.”

Alex was quiet. He'd worked so hard to forget about Aaron since he'd taken that irresponsible trip in the boat. And thanks to the Gondoleery situation taking all of his time, he'd succeeded. But here they were talking about bringing Aaron back. It was almost too much.

He racked his brain to come up with a reason to shoot down the plan. But as crazy as the idea sounded, it actually made sense. Aaron could rally the people of Quill better than anybody else. That wasn't saying much, but it was something. And it was the simplest, most solid plan they'd come up with after weeks of talking.

“It'll take too long to find him,” Alex argued weakly. “The ship is so slow.”

“Clairrre's boat is fast,” Simber said. “And so am I, if it comes to that.”

Ms. Octavia shook her alligator head firmly. “No. Simber, you must stay here. We need your protection. I don't like Alex going, either, but he's probably the only one who can convince Aaron to come with him and do what we want him to do.”

“I'll go along,” Lani offered.

“Me too,” said Samheed.

Ms. Octavia shook her head again. “We need both of you here, alongside Simber, in case something happens.” She looked at the cat. “Okay, Simber? We can spare Alex easier than we can spare you. No offense, Alex.”

“It's okay. I get it,” Alex mumbled. He couldn't believe they
were actually considering this. He hadn't had such mixed feelings since he tried to get Aaron to come to Artimé the first time.

“I'm not happy about that, Octavia, but I agrrree,” Simber said.

Silence fell over the group as they tried to come up with other objections to the plan. When it appeared they had worked them all out, Simber looked at Alex. “You'rrre awfully quiet, Alex. What do you think? Can you convince yourrr brrrother to help us? Orrr will we need to take him forrrcefully?”

Alex took a long time to answer. He stared at his hands, but they were blurry in front of him as he imagined Aaron half-starved, injured, fleeing or hiding from the saber-toothed gorilla. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to remove the image, but it wouldn't leave.

“Wherever he is,” Alex said finally in measured tone, “he's in really rough shape. Or at least he was a few months ago when he was kidnapped.” He opened his eyes, and his hands came back into focus. He looked up at the others. “I think he's got to be pretty scared. And yes, I believe he would come with me. Willingly. Gladly, even.” Alex straightened, remembering
it was his job to make official decisions. “Are we settled, then? Lani?”

Lani nodded. “Yep.”

“Sam?”

“Yes. I'm in,” said Samheed.

“And you trust me?” asked Alex.

Samheed hesitated a fraction of a second. “I trust you.”

Alex looked next at Ms. Octavia. “And you, Ms. Octavia. Do you approve of this plan?”

“I do,” Ms. Octavia said, “once I spend a little time preparing your boat.”

Alex nodded. He turned to Simber. “I think we're all in agreement, then, Simber. I'll run it by Florence and Claire after Magical Warrior Training to make sure they agree.”

Simber nodded. “Spike can follow along with you. She's verrry smarrrt. And we can send Charrrlie with you, too, now that Matilda has rrreturrrned to Arrrtimé. We'll be able stay in touch the whole way.”

“Yes. That'll be good,” Alex said, but he was feeling a bit numb and having trouble understanding his emotions about any of this.

“Good. We'll figurrre out the rrrest of the logistics this
afterrrnoon. Go think about it forrr a while.”

Alex and Simber exchanged a meaningful glance, and then Alex stood up. An angry dust squall pounded the barrier.

“There's no time to waste,” Alex said. “Ms. Octavia, if you could prepare the boat in time, I'll leave tonight. If all goes well, I'll reach the nearest island by morning.”

E
xcept for the hour of calm, Aaron spent days hunched over the telescope parts, working from early in the morning to late at night, barely pausing to eat, and forgetting completely the next time it was his turn to be the chef. No one scolded him, though. Sato silently took care of it for Aaron. He'd grown fond of the boy, and as he was also fond of the telescope, he hoped for Aaron's success in fixing it.

Every day when the hour of calm was over and Aaron had returned to the shelter with whatever treasures he could carry from the ship, he made sure to sweep the rainwater back out of
the entrance, and then he went to the corner of the greenhouse to work on the telescope.

Finally one afternoon Aaron connected the last piece. He called the scientists to help him place the telescope into its cradle stand. Once they lifted it and settled it in, Aaron stepped back and pointed to it modestly.

“I'm not sure if I have fixed it,” he said. “Will one of you have a look?”

Ishibashi urged Ito to step in. Ito angled the telescope toward the glass ceiling as the rain slapped down hard on it, and he peered into the eyepiece in the smaller end. Aaron stared at the floor, silently begging the telescope to work.