* * *
After the party, we go to the house in Chuluota where the engine remains under guard. Thankfully, the nuke is already gone. Dad sent it into the gravitational pull of a black hole.
Anyway, Julie and I are here to say good-bye to the grren.
“Haven’t we done this before?” I ask.
Julie can’t answer. She’s choked up.
And now we’re both losing it.
We hug them and Julie connects and whispers something in Brave’s ear.
My father gestures to the grren, and, one after the other, they jump through the wreath and shimmer away, returning to the Highlands on Flora.
On the way to the car, I ask Julie what she told Brave.
“Just that I’ll see him again.”
“You will?”
“Yeah. I’m not staying here.”
“What?”
“I’m going back.”
I stop and get in her face. “Are you crazy?”
“Get out of my way.”
“What? You think your father went back there?”
“What I think is we can do something instead of letting all those people die.”
“We will do something. We’ll use the engine. We’ll help them from here.”
“We can do more. We can take back the Palladium. We can help them rebuild.”
“And what about the rumms?”
“They’ll be fine, right?”
“But don’t you wanna help them? Bringing them here was your idea…”
“I know. But we can help even more of them back on Flora. Don’t you understand, Doc? This is what I’m supposed to do.”
“Who told you that?”
She won’t answer.
I snort. “Well, good luck convincing my father.”
As we step onto the front porch, she stops and looks at me. “I don’t care what your father thinks.”
“I don’t need him. I don’t need the engine. I don’t need any of you anymore.”
I frown. “Sounds like you’re trying to convince yourself.”
“No, she’s not.”
I jolt and whirl back—
To find Solomon standing in the doorway.
He’s young. Powerful. Glittering in the night air.
He reaches for Julie’s hand.
She takes it.
And they’re gone in a burst of light.
I grab at the air where Julie was just standing.
Just then an image explodes in my mind:
It’s Julie and Solomon standing on a cliff overlooking the Palladium.
A dark cloud swells behind them and slowly forms into a human face—a strange mask whose eyes snap open and stare at me until I shiver… and the image is gone.
THE ADVENTURE CONTINUES IN…
Table of Contents
Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Acknowledgments
 Chapter One
 Chapter Two
 Chapter Three
 Chapter Four
 Chapter Five
 Chapter Six
 Chapter Seven
 Chapter Eight
 Chapter Ten
 Chapter Eleven
 Chapter Twelve
 Chapter Thirteen
 Chapter Fourteen
 Chapter Fifteen
 Chapter Sixteen
 Chapter Seventeen
 Chapter Eighteen
 Chapter Nineteen
 Chapter Twenty
 Chapter Twenty-One
 Chapter Twenty-Two
 Chapter Twenty-Three
 Chapter Twenty-Four
 Chapter Twenty-Five
 Chapter Twenty-Six
 Chapter Twenty-Seven
 Chapter Twenty-Eight
 Chapter Twenty-Nine
 Chapter Thirty
 Chapter Thirty-One
 Chapter Thirty-Two
 Chapter Thirty-Three
 Chapter Thirty-Four
 Chapter Thirty-Five
 Chapter Thirty-Six
 Chapter Thirty-Eight
 Chapter Thirty-Nine
 Chapter Forty
 Chapter Forty-One
 Chapter Forty-Two
 Chapter Forty-Three
 Chapter Forty-Four
 Chapter Forty-Five
 Chapter Forty-Six
 Chapter Forty-Seven
 Chapter Forty-Eight
 Chapter Forty-Nine
 Chapter Fifty
 Chapter Fifty-One
 Chapter Fifty-Two
 Chapter Fifty-Three
 Chapter Fifty-Four
 Chapter Fifty-Five
 Chapter Fifty-Six
 Chapter Fifty-Seven
 Chapter Fifty-Eight
 Chapter Fifty-Nine
 Chapter Sixty