"Oh, no," said Dr. Johnson. "I'm afraid I mean spherical. The samples we've taken from the perimeter of the circle have provided strong evidence that the part of the world we live on, whether it survived, or moved or something else, was taken in a giant ball incorporating land, sea and air. We think that a good deal of the noise reported during the Event and the unusual light features in the atmosphere were a result of this molecular disconnect and disruption of water and air."

  "So wait," said the man in the back, "if our land, water and air were all that remained after the Event, where does the sky and ocean all around us come from?"

  "That is a good question," said Dr. Johnson, "and I will be happy to entertain your questions at the end of the evening if I haven't addressed them in my presentation. I will say that we thought similarly. At all land edges of the sphere, what I will call 'our' land was fused. Superheated. We found nothing abnormal in those samples beyond that.

  "We have one more discovery to discuss with you. I'm afraid just like what I have told you, this discovery will raise more questions than it answers. Several weeks ago we sent a helicopter out on a very far reaching mission." He signaled for the image on the screen to be changed. The new image showed a faded outline of the eastern part of the United States with only the small sliver of Atlantic Island in bold color. "We sent the helicopter to right about here." Dr. Johnson pointed a dot on the map. Theo felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up as he realized immediately where that dot was located.

  "This location, geographically speaking, would be where one would expect to find the city of Philadelphia," said Dr. Johnson. "It is a location many tens of miles beyond the presumed edge of the sphere, and as we expected it was covered with water. We sent the exploration vehicle into the ocean at that point. I am afraid…" he shifted from side to side and braced himself to say what he needed to say. "I am afraid to tell you that we found Philadelphia."

  The men and women in the room all started yelling at once. The Deputy Mayor rose from his seat and turned his icy glare on them. They quickly quieted down. Dr. Johnson was sweating and the rest of his team exhibited similar signs of distress. This must be the part Ryan was so afraid of, thought Theo.

  "As I said," continued Dr. Johnson, "We are confident that we found the remains of the city of Philadelphia approximately one hundred feet below water. The tallest buildings of the city were terribly damaged at some point so none of them rises above the water. Most smaller buildings are reasonably intact but with one glaring exception: the level of corrosion on metal surfaces matches what we would expect to see after an object has been exposed to salt water for between thirty and forty years."

  He signaled and the slide changed to an underwater image showing a close-up of a piece of metal. It was too close for Theo to make out what it was, though he assumed it was some kind of beam used in a building. What was clear in the image was the degree of wear the metal had experienced. Barnacles clung to the decomposed surface.

  "I'm sure you want to know what we were able to determine about the cause of the advanced corrosion. We thought that perhaps something was wrong with the salt content of the water, but there wasn't. A theory was raised that maybe something in the Philadelphia air had pre-weakened metal in the area, making it more susceptible to the water. We didn't find anything abnormal in the air above the ocean surface. We continued our explorations and it became clear that there were marked differences in some of the structures from what we expected to see from photographs. And then… we found this."

  The slide changed to a photo of Philadelphia's city hall. The building was battered but maintained it's recognizable shape. Draped over the roof of the building were the remains of two giant flags, partially bolted to the structure but twisted slightly from wriggling in the water as the photo was captured. Chatter among the government employees grew louder and more convoluted, and someone screamed. Visible on each of the flags, though the fabric was as worn and distorted as everything else in the dull underwater landscape, was a giant Nazi swastika.

  Chapter 13

  Even Deputy Mayor Tiberius could not easily calm the crowd after the science team's big reveal. It took a few minutes of everyone talking over each other for curiosity to take hold and the question and answer session to begin.

  Dr. Johnson did not have many answers. No, they hadn't yet been able to send explorations to other major cities, though a trip to Manhattan was planned for November. The issue was the travel limits of the helicopters. Construction was underway for an exploratory boat, but they didn't have a timeframe for completion at the moment.

  Of course, everyone wanted to know the significance of the oddities found in Philadelphia. Dr. Johnson was very hesitant to venture too much of a guess, but said that more samples were taken and several studies were underway.

  Theo could tell that nobody was satisfied with these answers, but not a single person had the confidence to be the one to call out what appeared to be obvious: the Philadelphia the science team had discovered was not the one they knew.

  Mayor Lucas, trying to maintain his own composure, thanked the science committee and everyone in attendance. He reminded the audience of the importance of keeping the information confidential. It seemed that these top tier employees were scared enough to keep their mouths shut. Besides, Theo reasoned, they wouldn't want to be laughed at or thought crazy for telling what they knew.

  As Theo went to leave, hoping he could catch up with Ryan for the walk home, Mayor Lucas took him aside. Theo saw Paul Tiberius over the mayor's shoulder, glowering at him.

  "Three nights from now I want to meet with my committee," said Lucas. "It is going to be our job to decide what to tell the citizens on Halloween and what, if anything, we do beyond furthering the science team's research. Please give it some serious thought, Theo. We are all in uncharted territory here and your opinion is just as valid as that of anybody else sitting at my table."

  Theo told the mayor he would give it all the thought he could. They said goodnight and Theo raced out into the streets of Atlantic Island, looking for Ryan. He found Ryan walking by himself, his head down. "Wait up, man," called Theo.

  Ryan looked over his shoulder and raised his hand to acknowledge Theo's presence. He didn't smile. Theo jogged up to him. "Do you get it now?" asked Ryan. "Do you get what I've been so damned crazy about these past few weeks?"

  "Yeah," said Theo, "I get it. I'm sorry you had to keep this to yourself for so long."

  "So what do you want to do about the others?"

  "I think we should tell them, Ry."

  Ryan chuckled sarcastically. "Yeah, cause they'll all believe that we magically appeared in another universe. You realize that's what Dr. Johnson thinks happened, right?" He kicked at a chunk of asphalt by the edge of the road. "That's what the big fancy science team came up with. Goddamned magic spell. Next we'll report there's a big problem with people pulling rabbits out of hats."

  "I'm not gonna say it doesn't sound crazy," said Theo, "but Jesus, we've been on this island for months now. I can see with my own eyes that there's just water where there should be land. None of it makes any damn sense. At least this 'other universe' theory takes a stab at giving some answers."

  Ryan frowned. "What about the confidentiality thing?"

  "I don't know," said Theo, "We have to trust our friends. I'm not interested in a rift developing with you and me on the inside and the rest on the outside. We have to give them the benefit of the doubt all the way around.

  Ryan nodded. "So you think we can tell Michelle and the rest? That they won't think we've lost our minds?"

  Theo laughed. "Dude, I have to go sit with the mayor and his top advisors and decide how not to make the whole population think that we are all out of our minds. Seriously, our friends trust us. They trust you, Ry, just like I do. We can confide in them, believe me."

  "You're screwing with me, right?" Bill laughed. The other teens around the living room had equally incredulous looks. Ryan looked at Theo for support.

  "I wish we were," said Theo. He was holding Kylee's hand and had felt her nervously squeeze his as Ryan gave a summarized version of Dr. Johnson's report. "This is the same stuff the science committee presented to the head people in the government."

  "And how did they take it?" asked Jamie.

  "Just about as well as you guys," said Theo.

  Bill had stood from his seat and was pacing around the room. "Jeez, man, Nazis? Nazis?"

  Ryan smiled. "If it helps, we're pretty sure the Nazis are dead."

  "Okay, so I'm gonna try to be reasonable," said Kylee, "and believe me, reason is a hard thing to hold on to at the moment. The science committee thinks the Event was us getting…yanked or something into another universe, right?"

  "Yeah," said Ryan, "that's about right."

  "Okay… how?"

  "What do you mean?"

  Kylee ran her hand through her hair. Her loose chunk of bangs was long enough now that it stayed behind her ear. Theo assumed she had replaced one involuntary move with another. "I mean how did all this land and water and air and buildings and people get moved to another universe? How the hell does something like that happen?"

  Ryan shrugged. "We don't really know." He glanced at Michelle who was sitting quiet but clearly uncomfortable. "What I mean is, we simply don't have the kind of equipment we would need to be able to test that kind of stuff. Like the science team can analyze dirt, water, air, you name it… but to test their theory about the Event, I mean that's beyond taking samples on Earth or any other planet… this is universe stuff we're talking about. Quantum physics and wormholes. It's not that the big brains don't have any ideas. I know we don't have access to the very smartest people in the world but our team is damned smart. Still, we just don't have the capability to test something like that. I wouldn't even know where to begin."

  "Can we get back to the Nazis?" asked Bill.

  "Actually I'd really love to talk about that a little," said Theo. "I have to discuss all this stuff at a pretty high level in a few days, and I'm still way too confused about all of it. So this world we're in now—" he held up a hand as his friends all started to jump in. "Give me a sec here. This world we're in now…we know two things about it, right? There were Nazis in Philadelphia and everything at least from here to and including Philly is underwater, and for a long time, according to the science team. Does that make any sense to anyone?"

  "How long is a long time underwater?" asked Kylee.

  "Probably between thirty and forty years," said Ryan. "Most I've talked to are leaning toward forty."

  "Okay," said Theo, doing the math in his head, "So assuming this world is on the same year as ours, Philly has been underwater since somewhere between the early seventies to early eighties, and Ry's guys think it's more likely the seventies."

  "So much for disco fever," said Bill.

  "How do we know it's like the real Nazis?" asked Michelle. "Couldn't the flag belong to some kind of Nazi sympathizing group or something?"

  "Seems possible," said Theo, "but the flags were on City Hall. I can't see a circumstance in any universe where a bunch of angry skinheads could overthrow an American city. I could be wrong."

  "So if we're talking about the real Nazis," said Jamie, "like German, Hitler Nazis, I guess they won World War II."

  "Makes sense to me," said Theo. The others nodded.

  "Nazis…damn," said Bill.

  "Can they do some more exploring down there? Find more artifacts or whatever?" asked Kylee.

  "I think it's a good idea," said Theo. "The science committee is already trying to prep the helicopters to go to New York, and they are building a boat of some kind."

  "A scientific exploratory vessel," said Ryan.

  "Nerd boat. Awesome," said Bill. Jamie smacked his arm. "Sorry," he said.

  "Anyhow," said Theo, "I think it's not enough for the science team to do its research. Not that that stuff isn't crazy important. I just think I should tell the mayor that we should be finding out more about what happened to this world."

  "What difference does it make?" asked Michelle. "Shouldn't our concern be the people here on the island and how we can get home?"

  Ryan looked pained at this. Theo wondered how many private conversations the two of them had had where Michelle inquired about getting home and Ryan had to keep his serious concerns about their predicament under wraps.

  "I get what you're saying, Michelle," said Theo, "but people need something beyond 'we're working on it.' They need answers and information, and we might be able to get them more to think about if we explore this world a little bit. Besides, it does have an effect on us. It's almost the end of October and it's still summer weather, plus those insane rainstorms… that's nothing to do with the Event or our island. It's whatever's wrong with this world and it's something we have to live with.

  Michelle was surprisingly agitated. "Whatever, I just think that people don't need to know anything unless it's specifically necessary to help them. There's a difference between government and citizens."

  Theo promised her he would think carefully before giving any advice to Mayor Lucas. He actually had no idea what he would say. He was scared to death of the upcoming committee meeting. Lucas had placed so much trust in him, and he couldn't even unify his friends' views. How was he ever going to have any influence among the most powerful people in the country?

  Chapter 14

  In the late hours of the night before Theo was scheduled to meet the mayor and the other advisors, Jamie arrived at Theo and Kylee's place looking frightened. Kylee put her arm around Jamie's shoulders and brought her in to the apartment. "What's wrong?" she asked.

  "It's Bill. He hasn't come home."

  "Jamie, he rarely comes home at a normal hour."

  "Still," she said, "it's late even for him."

  Theo was sitting on the couch mulling over his upcoming meeting with the mayor and his advisors. He noticed Jamie and moved over to make room for Kylee and her to sit down.

  "Bill hasn't come home," said Kylee.

  "Well," said Theo, "that doesn't necessarily mean anything. I know Bill's track record and all but what makes you so sure he's in trouble?"

  "What makes you sure he's not?" asked Jamie. "I just cant… not after Mark… I want to check out the hospital but I'm so scared."

  "We'll go with you, don't worry," said Kylee. "Let's go as fast as we can. I'm sure Bill will be wondering where you are when he gets home."

  They left the apartment and walked as fast as they could to the hospital. Theo was convinced that nothing was wrong with his friend. There couldn't possibly be anything wrong with Bill, could there? They raced along the dark streets and honed in on the bright lights of the hospital door.

  The same large woman who had been working the night they found Mark was sitting behind the desk when they entered. She fussed over the keyboard for a minute and then leaned back triumphantly. "Here he is. Bill Mansfield. He's in the ER. Down the hall to the left."

  They ran toward the entrance to the emergency room. A nurse working at the desk in the ER directed them toward the curtained bay where Bill was waiting. Nobody said a word. Theo knew they were all thinking the same thing. Even though Bill wasn't in the ICU (not yet, his mind reminded him) they were all expecting a repeat of Mark's long, painfully drawn out death. Another sacrifice to the island.

  Theo stepped in front of his friends and pulled back the curtain. Bill was on the examination bed, wide awake and reading an old magazine. One of his eyes was swollen and red, his face was bruised everywhere and there were bandages on his nose. He smiled at his friends and winced at the pain.

  "So good of you guys to come to my party!" Bill said, his voice slow and a little unsteady. Theo thought that might have something to do with the morphine being delivered to Bill's arm.

  Jamie raced forward and threw her arms around him. "I thought you were dead!"

  Theo couldn't help but smile. The distance between Bill and Jamie since Mark's death seemed to have melted away.

  "Nah, I'm not dead. Feel like crap though," said Bill.

  "What the hell happened to you?" asked Theo.

  "Eh, you know, wrong place, wrong time."

  "Bill," said Jamie, "tell us what happened! You've had us all so scared."

  Bill sighed. "Fine, fine. It's not the greatest story. I'd rather tell you something that didn't end with me looking like this…but okay." He took a deep breath and winced again. He spoke slowly and carefully, struggling for lucidity against the drugs in his system.

  "So you guys know how I've been putting in time doing repair work with the construction crew after school."

  "You mean what you do when you're supposed to be doing homework," said Jamie.

  "Jeez babe, I've told you already: this construction gig is what matters. I'm outta school pretty soon and it's not like I was Harvard-bound before the Event. Give a battered guy a break! Okay, so I was working on an apartment along the boardwalk, patching up some cracks in the concrete with the stuff we've been making from the sand, and I hear something going on outside, like someone begging. So I look outside—"

  "Seriously?" asked Theo. "That was your first mistake, man, nothing good has ever come from you looking into any kind of commotion. "

  Kylee jabbed him with her elbow. "Let him talk!"

  Theo laughed. He was just so relieved that Bill was alive and more or less in one piece.

  "To continue," said Bill, "I look out and there on the boardwalk is that Bertier ass clown with the bald head, and that chick he hangs out with, with all the piercings. They're giving a hard time to this old lady. Like, what a friggin stereotype, a couple bullies picking on an old woman. So, yeah, that happened."

  Jamie frowned. "And I'm guessing you didn't leave well enough alone."

  Bill laughed, "Wow, you know me so well. Nah, the lady was really upset. So I went down there and as I got closer I heard her begging them to not take her food. Seems like they've been taking some of other people's dinner rations. I guess Bertier's gigantic head needs a lot of calories. Anyhow, I walked up to them and said 'Is there a problem here?'"