Ms. Markham made her way to the front of the class. Isabel noticed that she had a piece of what looked like tuna salad on the front of her shirt. The woman should wear a bib.
"Time to get started," Ms. Markham said. "We left off at Portia's speech, so begin, Portia."
Nobody began to read. Isabel glanced around the room. She didn't see anybody looking for their book or trying to find the right page or anything.
"Same roles as yesterday," Ms. Markham said. "Who is our Portia?"
"It was Maria," Arlene Bluth called.
"All right, Maria," Ms. Markham called. "No more time to get in character. We have a lot of pages to cover."
Maria didn't begin to read. Isabel twisted around in her seat and stared down the row.
Something was wrong. Maria held the play in her hands. But she was gazing at it as if she'd forgotten what it was.
"Maria?" Ms. Markham prodded.
"Uh, Maria wasn't feeling that well at lunch," Isabel said quickly, standing up. "I'll take her to the nurse."
Isabel didn't wait for Ms. Markham to answer. She grabbed Maria's arm and led her out of the classroom and down the hall to the bathroom.
"What's going on?" Isabel demanded. "Are you okay?"
Maria didn't answer. She stared straight ahead, her eyes blank.
Isabel's heart began to slam against her ribs. What was going on? Maria was fine a couple of minutes ago when they were walking to class. She was mad, but she was fine.
"Maria," Isabel shouted. Her voice echoed off the bathroom's tile walls. But the sound got no response from Maria.
Isabel wanted to run and get Alex, or Max or Michael or Liz. But she didn't want to leave Maria alone. You can deal with this, she told herself. Maria needs you.
She pulled in a deep, shuddering breath, then reached out and rested her fingers on the side of Maria's neck. Yes, she could feel a pulse. It was faint and son of erratic, but it was there.
Isabel bit her lip. Should I connect with her? she wondered. Maybe then I could find out what's wrong. Isabel reached for Maria again but hesitated. I can't use my powers, her mind screamed. Valenti will find me and kill me!
Isabel took Maria by the shoulders and gave her a little shake. "Maria, come on! Snap out of it!"
Maria didn't even blink.
"Maria, you are scaring the hell out of me," Isabel cried. She didn't want to use her healing powers. She just couldn't.
She shook Maria harder, shook her until her head was jerking back and forth.
"What are you doing?" Maria demanded.
"You talked!" Isabel stared at her. Maria's blue eyes had lost that creepy blank look.
"Of course I talked. You were practically shaking my head off," Maria answered.
"Are you okay?" Isabel demanded. "Should I go get someone?"
"I'm okay," she answered. "But what are we doing in here?"
Isabel felt her spine turn to ice. "Don't you remember?" she asked. "You totally spaced in English."
"Uh-uh." Maria shook her head. "I, um, I knew I shouldn't have eaten that candy bar Alex gave me. Sugar totally messes me up." She grabbed Isabel by the arm. "Come on, we better get back to class."
"Maria, what's going on?" Isabel pressed.
"Nothing. Nothing, I'm fine," Maria insisted. "Let's go."
Frowning, Isabel followed her out into the hall. Maria sounded completely fine. But there was no way a little sugar could have gotten that reaction.
No possible way.
Max sat on the floor of the cave and leaned against the cool limestone wall behind him. He felt like he'd pulled a muscle in his brain, a muscle he hadn't even realized was there. Ray had been trying to teach them how to do that time-freezing thing he'd done at the mall. But neither Max nor Michael had gotten close to getting it right.
"Using your brain is more tiring-and more difficult-than using your body," Ray said. He lowered himself onto a big rock across from Max. Michael didn't waste any time sitting. He stretched out flat on his back on the floor.
"Wait. Did you just read my mind again?" Max demanded. The stuff Ray could do was amazing. Thinking about it made Max's head hurt even more.
"Just a little," Ray answered.
He must have caught the look of panic and embarrassment on Max's face-or else read Max's mind again-because he laughed. "Don't worry, when I do it, I don't go too deep. I don't want to bump up against anything too personal. You never know what you're going to find in a teen's head."
Ray pulled a Lime Warp out of his backpack. He popped the top of the drink. "Want one?" he asked.
"That stuff tastes like goat piss," Michael complained. But he took a Lime Warp, anyway, then flopped back down next to Max.
"You know this for a fact?" Max asked. He grabbed a can from Ray. "You've actually tasted goat piss and can make an accurate comparison?"
"There are times you sound way too much like that science guy on TV," Michael said. "You know-the walking, talking dork?" He took a slug of his drink, then studied the can. "I still can't believe this is what we really look like. No offense, Ray."
Max glanced at the little dancing alien on the can. It did have the same small body, big head, and huge, almond-shaped, pupil-less eyes as everyone Ray had shown them on the spaceship.
"No, you've got it wrong. Well, sort of," Ray told Michael. "This form"-he pointed to the drawing on the Lime Warp can-"isn't any more our true appearance than this one." He gestured to his human body.
Max pressed his soda can against his pounding head. Ray had kept the drinks icy cold by slowing down the movement of the molecules. Max could have done that, too-if he'd thought of it-but it would have taken total concentration. Ray did it as easily as popping the top of the cans.
"I'm confused," Max admitted. "Maybe it's because I still have brain strain, but I don't get it."
"It's not all that complicated," Ray answered. "Here's the short version. Our bodies are highly adaptable. They adjust to whatever environment we're in. That means we can travel to any planet without the elaborate space suits humans use because our bodies automatically configure themselves for optimal functioning. Even on our own planet our bodies change, depending on factors like the climate."
"Can I just say, huh?" Michael asked.
"I sort of get it," Max said. "Earth is an environment with an oxygen-rich atmosphere. So our bodies configured themselves to breathe oxygen. Is that what you mean?"
"Ding, ding, ding. Give the boy a prize," Ray called out. "That's it exactly. What you just described is one of the thousands of ways our bodies adapt."
"Okay, I know I haven't read every science book in the world, like Max has, but I do know human bodies aren't the best choice for adapting to life in the desert," Michael said. "How come we don't look more like scorpions or cacti or something?"
"The answer is that our bodies don't just adapt to the physical environment," Ray said. "They adapt to the social environment, too. Humans are the species that dominates the planet, so our adaptation system gave us bodies to match theirs."
"So how do these guys fit in?" Max held up the Lime Warp can.
"Another adaptation, this time to life in space. The density of the small bodies protects their internal systems from the effects of rapid space travel. And the small bodies take up less space on board, freeing up room for more important items," Ray said.