into infinity.
“There must be hundreds of doors,” Jesse whispered in awe.
“Depending on the day,” Yar said.
“He can be most capricious,” said Fluke. “One day there’s a thousand doors. The next, a mere dozen.”
“He?”
said Jesse.
“Why, this vessel, of course,” said Fluke.
“The Golden Dragon.”
“Aren’t all ships shes?” Jesse asked.
“Not this ship,” Yar said. “Captain Belleweather made him a he and also made sure he was thoroughly magicked, from stem to stern. With the captain gone, the
Dragon’
s all we have left. Isn’t that so, Acting Cap’n?”
“Too true, Chief,” said Fluke.
The doors that had seemed identical at first glance turned out to be each quite different. The nearest one had bright pieces of coral inlaid to form a mosaic showing a school of yellow fish swimmingthrough an arch of cobalt blue coral.
“Beautiful door,” said Daisy.
“We call them portals, actually,” Yar said. “A door is just a door, isn’t it? A simple case of open and shut. But a portal, well, it’s something else altogether, don’t you know?”
One of Fluke’s short arms reached out and grasped the white coral knob with a tiny claw. The portal swung open.
Everyone blinked.
“Ah, yes, of course,” said Yar. “It’s daytime Down Under.”
Rays of golden sunlight shimmered through turquoise water that teemed with exotic fish, which Jesse pointed out and named from memory: unicorn fish, hawk fish, scorpion fish, parrot fish, and crab fish scuttling like spiders along the bright canyons of coral that throbbed with color—royal purple, hot pink, school-bus yellow, lime green.
“Is it real?” Daisy asked.
Yar nodded. “Oh, I should say so.”
“This would be the Great Barrier Reef,” said Fluke.
“That ought to do it for now, Cap’n, wouldn’t you say?” said Yar wearily, rubbing his eyes with a fin. “A little of the reef goes a long way, I find.”
Fluke closed the door and waited, giving herguests a chance to adjust their vision to the much dimmer passageway.
“That was
excellent
!” said Jesse.
“Can we go back sometime?” Daisy asked.
“Certainly,” said Fluke.
Daisy pulled Emmy and Jesse aside. “It would be easy to hide a Thunder Egg in one of those coral canyons, don’t you think?” she whispered.
“Right,” Jesse whispered back. “But would they ever be able to find it again? The Great Barrier Reef is made up of over eight hundred individual coral islands and covers about one hundred fifty thousand square miles. It would take more than Belleweather’s magic to track that egg down if they hid it in there.”
Fluke and Yar were waiting for them at the next portal. If they were curious about their guests’ frequent need for private conferences, they didn’t betray it. This portal looked as if it had been carved out of blue ice. When Fluke opened it, they all braced themselves as a current of frigidly cold water enveloped them. It was like stepping from a hot summer’s day into an overly air-conditioned grocery store. In the bright, powdery blue water, a narwhal—unicorn of the deep—poked its corkscrew tusk into the underside of a pale blue shelf of arctic ice.
“Oo old or egg,” Emmy said.
“Too cold for the egg?” Daisy interpreted through shivering lips. “Then let’s hope it’s not in there.”
“This is a portal to the North Pole,” said Yar. “Close the door before we catch our deaths, Cap’n. I prefer the more tropical seas myself. Among many, we have portals to the other seven seas. No lakes, though, sorry to say. I do so like a good lake, don’t you, Fluke?”
“I don’t know, Chief. I’ve never swum in one,” Fluke said.
“But in
theory
, it’s delightful, don’t you agree? Altogether less starchy and dense than the salt water,” said Yar.
“Quite so, although I delight in the density, don’t you?” said Fluke.
“That I do, Cap’n, especially because you’re here,” said Yar with a twinkle in
“There must be hundreds of doors,” Jesse whispered in awe.
“Depending on the day,” Yar said.
“He can be most capricious,” said Fluke. “One day there’s a thousand doors. The next, a mere dozen.”
“He?”
said Jesse.
“Why, this vessel, of course,” said Fluke.
“The Golden Dragon.”
“Aren’t all ships shes?” Jesse asked.
“Not this ship,” Yar said. “Captain Belleweather made him a he and also made sure he was thoroughly magicked, from stem to stern. With the captain gone, the
Dragon’
s all we have left. Isn’t that so, Acting Cap’n?”
“Too true, Chief,” said Fluke.
The doors that had seemed identical at first glance turned out to be each quite different. The nearest one had bright pieces of coral inlaid to form a mosaic showing a school of yellow fish swimmingthrough an arch of cobalt blue coral.
“Beautiful door,” said Daisy.
“We call them portals, actually,” Yar said. “A door is just a door, isn’t it? A simple case of open and shut. But a portal, well, it’s something else altogether, don’t you know?”
One of Fluke’s short arms reached out and grasped the white coral knob with a tiny claw. The portal swung open.
Everyone blinked.
“Ah, yes, of course,” said Yar. “It’s daytime Down Under.”
Rays of golden sunlight shimmered through turquoise water that teemed with exotic fish, which Jesse pointed out and named from memory: unicorn fish, hawk fish, scorpion fish, parrot fish, and crab fish scuttling like spiders along the bright canyons of coral that throbbed with color—royal purple, hot pink, school-bus yellow, lime green.
“Is it real?” Daisy asked.
Yar nodded. “Oh, I should say so.”
“This would be the Great Barrier Reef,” said Fluke.
“That ought to do it for now, Cap’n, wouldn’t you say?” said Yar wearily, rubbing his eyes with a fin. “A little of the reef goes a long way, I find.”
Fluke closed the door and waited, giving herguests a chance to adjust their vision to the much dimmer passageway.
“That was
excellent
!” said Jesse.
“Can we go back sometime?” Daisy asked.
“Certainly,” said Fluke.
Daisy pulled Emmy and Jesse aside. “It would be easy to hide a Thunder Egg in one of those coral canyons, don’t you think?” she whispered.
“Right,” Jesse whispered back. “But would they ever be able to find it again? The Great Barrier Reef is made up of over eight hundred individual coral islands and covers about one hundred fifty thousand square miles. It would take more than Belleweather’s magic to track that egg down if they hid it in there.”
Fluke and Yar were waiting for them at the next portal. If they were curious about their guests’ frequent need for private conferences, they didn’t betray it. This portal looked as if it had been carved out of blue ice. When Fluke opened it, they all braced themselves as a current of frigidly cold water enveloped them. It was like stepping from a hot summer’s day into an overly air-conditioned grocery store. In the bright, powdery blue water, a narwhal—unicorn of the deep—poked its corkscrew tusk into the underside of a pale blue shelf of arctic ice.
“Oo old or egg,” Emmy said.
“Too cold for the egg?” Daisy interpreted through shivering lips. “Then let’s hope it’s not in there.”
“This is a portal to the North Pole,” said Yar. “Close the door before we catch our deaths, Cap’n. I prefer the more tropical seas myself. Among many, we have portals to the other seven seas. No lakes, though, sorry to say. I do so like a good lake, don’t you, Fluke?”
“I don’t know, Chief. I’ve never swum in one,” Fluke said.
“But in
theory
, it’s delightful, don’t you agree? Altogether less starchy and dense than the salt water,” said Yar.
“Quite so, although I delight in the density, don’t you?” said Fluke.
“That I do, Cap’n, especially because you’re here,” said Yar with a twinkle in
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