The Falcon’s Feather

***The Falcon’s Feather*** is the second book in the *Explorer Academy* series.

## Quote

“The impossible missions are the only ones that succeed.” —Jacques Cousteau (1910-1997)

## The Story

***This text contains spoilers.***

Sailor comes into Emmett and Cruz’s cabin, number 202, to find Cruz unpacking his holo-video of him with his mom at the beach. Cruz is worried that it is broken. After Lani taking it apart to find the first piece of his mom’s cipher and the overnight mail flight, it probably is broken. If it was, Lani would say it was a bad omen. Cruz wasn’t superstitious, but he decides to find out later.

Sailor is happy that Emmett and Cruz got a corner room again, and shares that she and Bryndis are at the other end of the passage. She then remarks that the cabin “makes you feel like your seeing double.”

Sailor is right. Pretty much everything in cabin 202 is in pairs. There are two twin beds, each with navy-blue-and-white pinstriped comforters, two maple nightstands, two dressers, two stuffed navy chairs, with a penguin pillow for each. Cruz and Emmett each also got a desk. They each are made of polished lapis blue granite, with golden flecks and soft white splatters that made it look like the Milky Way. On each desk was a note from Dr. Hightower, the school president.

The notes are almost identical, except Cruz’s note had an extra line. It contained Dr. Hightower’s private phone number, and the words before and after it, respectively, *In case you need anything,* and *Please be careful.*

It goes on to explain that Dr. Hightower is the one of the few people who know about Cruz’s personal mission. Cruz is looking for pieces of a cipher his mom left behind. Petra Coronado, his mom, had accidentally created a cell regeneration formula. Because “The last thing a pharmaceutical company making billions of dollars selling drugs is for humanity to never need those drugs,” Nebula had her destroy the serum, but not before Petra could engrave a piece of marble with the formula, and hide pieces of it all around the world for Cruz to find.

Back in the present, Sailor, by means of a universally understood charade, asks if Emmett if seasick. Cruz replies that Emmett is fine, and went up to the tech lab. He also remarks that Emmett needs help with his Lumagine mind control fabric.

When Cruz notices that Sailor looks as if she’s worried that a giant wave would capsize the boat, he assures her that Emmett would let her borrow one of his seasick bands. He also says that she’ll get her sea legs soon enough.

Sailor mentions that their advisor, Taryn Secliff, had said there were snacks in the galley and they could get some before their meeting. Cruz finishes unpacking, when Sailor sees a postcard on his desk and picks it up. The postcard says: *Begin with the birth year of Peary’s first man. 1-12-9-29-43-19-12, 2-14-43-2-17-13.* She asks what it is, and Cruz says that it’s from his aunt. Sailor wonders how he could know it’s from his aunt, because she didn’t sign it.

Cruz explains that it’s a game he and Aunt Marisol play. He also offers to let Sailor help decode it. Cruz says that rule one is to start with the picture. Sailor knows the animal, but can’t quite place the name. Cruz says that it’s a nautilus. Cruz asks what famous book or song has a nautilus in it, and Sailor quickly replies, “*Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. Nautilus* is the name of Captain Nemo’s submarine.” Cruz laughs, and says that he told his aunt she needs to make them harder.

As they leave, Cruz tells Sailor to bring the postcard with them. They pass a security guard named K. Dover. Past the elevator, the hall goes into the atrium. A pair of staircases went up each side of the atrium to the lounge, which red and blue chairs in groups of four for hanging out, and tables with other chairs for doing homework. The back wall was covered with a big TV screen, and the other walls were glass.

Cruz reached for one of the lemons hanging from one of the potted citrus trees to see if it was real, when a young man in a navy shirt and pants that he’d better not let the cook catch him or “you’ll be washing dishes for weeks.” The man introduced himself as Tripp Scarlatos, the aquatics director, marine biologist and the pilot of the mini sub, *Ridley*.

*To be continued. . .*