With a mouth full of some kind of fruit, Dylan glanced over at Max and asked, “Did you find out anything about Samantha?”
“Yeah, I did. She’s being held in quarantine as if she were sick. Her parents were notified, but of course, they’re workaholics, so they didn’t stay with her long and just went back to work. They wouldn’t allow me to see her, but I snuck in close enough to see if she was all right. She didn’t look too great, but she’s alive.”
Dylan squeezed his hand tight, crumpling the fruit and causing the juice to fly everywhere. “Mayor Aldridge needs to pay for what’s she’s done.”
Dr. Wilcox beat me in replying, “She will, Dylan. Once you’ve enacted your plan, she will.”
“What plan is that?” lazily wondered Max.
I twisted around so I could face Max and informed him, “Dylan plans on telling both our worlds about the other.”
“What?” shouted Max, snapping up into a sitting position. “You think that telling Oceania about the Land Dweller’s world is a good idea?” Max shook his head, his curly hair bouncing around. “Dylan, we’ve been lied to for decades about this. No one alive knows the truth about Oceania. To all of us Oceanians, the outside world was destroyed long ago. There is no outside world.”
“I know we’ve been taught that since birth, but it’s time to change that. There was no second Great Plague and now fourteen billion human beings live on land. Oceanians have a right to know that we aren’t alone on this planet.”
Max got to his knees and crawled over to Dylan, resting a hand on his shoulder. “Man, I don’t think this is a good idea. Mayor Aldridge will be after you. You think she’s being mean and ruthless now, but at least you guys are still alive. If you do this, she’ll kill you on sight. There will be no more talking, no negotiating—nothing. It’ll be all over for you.” Max glanced toward me and back at Dylan. “For both of you.”
“We’ve got to try. Oceanians have the right to know. We all do. The Land Dwellers too. We have to expose the truth. It’s the only way to keep both Allie and me safe.”
“I don’t know, man, it sounds risky.” Max shook his head and began to crawl away, and then another thought must have hit him. “Oh, that’s right; I know how to get Allie out of here.”
All of our heads snapped up at that. “How?” I asked.
Max beamed, seemingly proud of his genius. “There’s a tour for a class of third graders going out in the morning. It’s the Sea-to-Surface class trip. Several high schoolers are going to be the instructors on the trip and will be boarding the vessel. Of course, a few adults are going to drive the submersible, but they will be traveling near the continental shelf. It’s the best bet you and Dylan have of getting out of here. You, too, Dr. Wilcox, if you wish it.”
Dr. Wilcox’s eyes widened, just as I’m sure mine did. It was our way out—our way to safety.
“I can help sneak you guys on board and then you’re home free,” added Max.
“But what about getting out of the sub?” wondered Dylan, not yet convinced this plan wasn’t foolhardy.
“That’s the thing. There is a hatch with access to the open sea at the bottom of the sub. It’s in a cordoned off area in the rear of the ship, so there’s no way you’ll be seen when you try to escape.”
Dylan continued to shake his head. “I still don’t see how you’ll be able to sneak us onto this submarine. I’m certain Mayor Aldridge has all the security cameras uploaded with our facial recognition profiles ready to red-flag us as soon as we appear.”
“Ah, and that’s the beauty of it all.” Max reached into the sack and pulled out a few items.
“Oh, no, Max. I am NOT doing that.” Dylan held his arms up and started moving backward.
“If you want to leave here safely you will.” Max dangled and swung a blonde wig with a pink hair ribbon on it in front of Dylan.
“No, no, no,” repeated Dylan adamantly.
Max got serious. “Look, Dylan. The cameras are on the ceiling. If you keep your head down, they’ll just think that you’re someone else. They’re looking for two teens, one girl, and one guy. If they see two different girls, they’ll dismiss it right away.”
“Oh, yeah, and what about Dr. Wilcox?”
Max shrugged. “All we have to do is put hair on the top of his head and he’ll be unrecognizable.”
Dr. Wilcox peered at Max through slit eyes but didn’t retort.
“Come on, now. You’ve gotta do it.”
“Max, even with that wig, I won’t look like a girl.”
“I know…that’s why I brought this.” Max raised a skirt out of the sack along with a blouse that had a stuffed bra attached to the inside.
I couldn’t help it, I burst out laughing. “Max, where did you get all of this stuff?”
Turning toward me with a smile and a mischievous wink, Max informed, “The theater department at our school. They have some of the best costumes around. I just borrowed them for a little while.”
I moved over toward the sack and peered in. “You got anything for me?”
“Of course!” Max reached in and pulled out a short red-haired wig. “This is for you.”
I took the wig from him and put it on my head. “How do I look?”
“Fantastic!” Max held a thumbs up.
Dylan snatched the dress and wig from him. “Max, this better work and you had better not take any pictures of me while I’m wearing this.”
Max pursed his lips and shook his head back and forth. “Not me…come on, Dylan. I’d never do such a thing.” The
