“Maybe we should think about picking them up early,” Mrs. Vader suggested.
Miss Z closed her eyes. It helped her think.
If she brought the Flashback Four home early, it would certainly remove them from a possibly dangerous situation. But that would only work if the kids were at the meeting spot at that moment. She didn’t know where they were. There was no way to find out. And it was unlikely that they were at the meeting spot, because they would have been out exploring the town.
Furthermore, what if somebody else happened to be standing at the meeting spot? If she fired up the Board to bring the kids back, she would bring back whoever happened to be standing at that spot at that moment. She had already made that mistake once with that Thomas Maloney guy from the Titanic.
To make things more complicated, if she activated the Board and accidentally brought back somebody else instead of the Flashback Four, she wouldn’t be able to try again. The technology of the Board was very advanced, but it only allowed her to do an upload once to a specific place and time. If she messed up for any reason, there would be no second chance. No do-overs. The kids would then be stuck in Pompeii for the rest of their lives.
And the rest of their lives would last less than an hour, when they would be incinerated by the volcano.
Finally, needless to say, if she messed up, Miss Z could forget about getting that photo of Mount Vesuvius blowing its top.
She rubbed her forehead and shook her head. Why does this always happen? she wondered. She had worked so hard and spent so much money to perfect this technology. She had been so careful to get the right clothes for the kids, and to prepare them for every possibility they might encounter on their mission. It was supposed to be so easy. In and out. Take the picture and come home. Why did something always go wrong?
“Bringing them back early is too risky,” she finally said to Mrs. Vader. “Let’s stick with the original plan. Unless we hear from them, we’ll bring them back as scheduled, at twelve fifteen.”
CHAPTER 15NEXT VICTIM
IN POMPEII, LUKE STAGGERED BACK TO THE PALEStra Grande after his unexpected victory over Vulcan. He was sweating, exhausted, and slightly wounded, with a trickle of blood dripping down his arm. But he was still on his feet, and the truth is, he was feeling somewhat exhilarated. How could he not be? The cheering from the bloodthirsty crowd was still ringing in his ears.
“Oceanus! Oceanus! Oceanus!”
Luke could hardly believe he had defeated a man so much bigger and stronger.
“You’re alive!” David yelled, running over to hug his friend. “I can’t believe you survived!”
“It wasn’t easy,” Luke told him as he gingerly sat down on the dirt against the stone wall.
“You’re a mess, dude,” David said.
“You should see the other guy,” Luke replied, wiping some blood off his arm.
“Is he dead?”
“No,” Luke said, a little defensively. “Are you crazy? Do you think I could kill a man? They were booing me because I didn’t kill him. I did whack the guy pretty good, though. Knocked him out. And you know what I did after that?”
“What?”
“I did a bat flip with the sword,” Luke said, trying not to laugh.
“You are kidding me.”
For readers who don’t understand the point of a bat flip, a short explanation—after baseball players hit a home run, sometimes they will flip their bat in the air as a gesture of triumph. The opposing team, and especially the pitcher, view it as a provocative gesture. And it is. The batter is sort of sticking it in the face of the pitcher.
“Those nuts in the crowd were freaking out,” Luke said. “They never saw anything like that before.”
David looked at the timer. There were 34 minutes left.
“Listen, we need to get out of here,” he said. “We’re running out of time.”
“Can I just sit here for a minute?” Luke asked. “I’m wiped out.”
While Luke rested, David looked around for a way out of the Palestra Grande. There was no roof over it. Just a low wall on all four sides. A couple of guards were hanging around near the gates, but they didn’t look like they were paying close attention.
“I think we might be able to climb that wall,” David said, gesturing toward a corner where a statue was positioned a few feet away from the edge.
“You think so?” Luke asked, not all that excited about the thought of another physical challenge.
“We’ve got to try,” David said. “Otherwise we’re just stuck here when Vesuvius erupts. Come on, I’ll help you up, and then you pull me up.”
“Okay,” Luke said wearily as he struggled to his feet.
They casually strolled over to the corner, doing their best to avoid attracting any attention to themselves. David quickly clasped his hands together to create a step so Luke could hoist himself up on the bottom of the statue. Luke planted his foot on it. Then he pulled himself up so he was standing on the statue’s pedestal.
“Good,” David said. “Now, quick, pull me up.”
That’s when Fred the Red came running over, with two guards holding long spears.
“Oceanus! Hilarius!” he shouted. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“We’re, uh . . . just exercising,” Luke explained lamely as he jumped down from the pedestal. “We need to work on our quads.”
Fred the Red wasn’t buying it.
“Hilarius!” he shouted. “Come with me! Now!”
“Why? What did I do?”
“Nothing yet,” said Fred the Red. “You are next.”
“Next?” David asked, backing away. “Next for what?”
“What do you think, stupid slave?” Fred the Red said, slapping him. “Next to fight! Get your helmet! The citizens are waiting for their entertainment.”
“W-what?!” David stammered. “B-but I never . . . I don’t know how to fight.”
“Guards!” Fred the Red shouted. “Help Hilarius get ready for battle.”
As the guards seized David by the arms, Luke pleaded on behalf of his friend.
“Can’t you
