Atlantic Island (14 page)

"X squared plus Y is verrrrrry interesting," said Bill in a perfect impression of the teacher's slow drawl.
 

"Yeah, well it's not like they had much to choose from," Theo said. "They couldn't exactly put out a hiring bulletin online."
 

Theo tried his best to pay attention in his next three classes. He found Physics fascinating and Geology was a subject he hadn't been exposed to since middle school. His final subject of the day was Government. Theo realized that none of his friends had that on their schedules. He walked all the way down the long hall of classrooms until he found the right room. He was immediately struck by how small the room was. He could only see two armchairs but no desks.
 
Theo looked down at his schedule. He was certain he had confused the room numbers.
 

"If you're in the wrong place then so am I," laughed a voice behind him.

Theo spun in place and saw Mayor Lucas smiling from the doorway.

"Mayor… what are you doing here?"

"I'm your teacher, Theo," said the mayor, "though I daresay we will be teaching each other."

Theo tried to smile. "Sir, I don't understand."

"We have a few ladies and gentlemen on my advisory council who aren't as…open, shall we say, as I am to a young man like you being onboard. I decided we could spend this period discussing some things that are crucial to the operation of the island. This way, I help prepare you to hold your own when you join the council, and I give you ample opportunity to express your views and concerns just in case the other members try to steamroll over you."

Theo opened his mouth to remind the mayor that he hadn't technically committed to joining the council, but thought better of it. Instead he asked, "But…aren't I going to miss out on the rest of my education?"

"Our school system is a work in progress just like everything else," said Lucas, "but I imagine you've already noticed that the schooling for the youngest students is a little more…structured."
 

"Yes, sir, I was actually going to ask about that. It looks like the kids who are working age are given a really light schedule."

"You're right about that," said the mayor. He gestured for Theo to sit and then sat himself in the remaining chair. "We don't have a huge teenage population but our focus is going to be more and more about identifying the proper departments for those students after their schooling ends. The volunteer system has been great so far but we'd like to see a little more organization. We want to put the best people for a job in that job, you see?"

Theo nodded. "I do, but I'll tell you there is a lot of talk about college. It's kind of something we used to think about a lot."

"I understand that. Believe me, I am a huge proponent of education and I want our kids to go to college but assuming we are to remain bounded by this island, the infrastructure just isn't there. The island has basic needs that must be met to keep the population thriving."

The mayor eyed Theo curiously. "So how have you enjoyed your first day of school?"

"I don't know. It's a little different than I expected but I think it's okay."

"Good," said Lucas, "I'm glad you approve. One thing I'd like to ask as part of our arrangement here is that you keep an eye on the students and their reactions. Any feedback you can give that can help us refine our educational system and help us nudge people into the right career paths would be enormously helpful."

Mayor Lucas paused and his smile faded. "Before we go any further I'd like to offer you my condolences on the passing of your friend. I hope we were able to provide you with as much time as possible to say goodbye."

"Yes, sir, we all really appreciated it. Thank you. I was wondering though... well, how exactly did you know about Mark?"

"I try to know as much as I can about my citizens," said Lucas, "in particular I wanted to know about those who had suffered from the Event. When I saw your name on Mark's visitor registry, I put things together quickly."

The mayor turned to look out the one large window in the room. It showed a view of the buildings behind the Palace. "Is there anything you've been wondering, Theo?"

"Well, I didn't really have a chance to think about questions to ask you," Theo said. "But, I guess I want to know if anything new has been discovered about what happened to us."

"A very good question," said the mayor. "I believe your friend Ryan has some knowledge about what we're learning. I'm sure he's keeping it under wraps until the science team presents its findings. Small scale at first so we can pick through the information, but we will be having a big town hall gathering on Halloween and I think you'll find all of this enlightening. I've been briefed on a few things, and of the three questions: what happened, how did it happen and what can we do about it, I think some serious progress has been made on the first."

Theo considered what the mayor had said. Something was odd and he couldn't quite place it. As the mayor talked about preparations for the town hall, and told Theo that he was invited to sit up front for the gathering, Theo's brain went round and round trying to discover what he was missing. Something about the meeting being on Halloween, which was coming up much sooner than he would have thought.

A light bulb went off in Theo's head as a connection was made. "Sir," he said, "what's wrong with the weather?"

The mayor gave a coy smile. "What do you mean, Theo? It's been lovely."

"Well, we're only a few weeks away from Halloween and it still feels like summer."

The mayor clapped his hands together. "Precisely. See, we normal people are just as bright as those bigwigs in the science lab! I noticed this myself the past few days and told the head of the science committee. It's not unheard of for warm weather to follow us into September or October, but the weather patterns are identical week in and week out. I think that's a bit odd, don't you?"

Theo agreed. This made him think of something else. "Mayor Lucas, Bill and I have noticed that the land where the street was broken off is..." he struggled to remember the word that Ryan had given him. "...fused. Like a laser cut it or something."

The mayor nodded. "Yes, the science committee told me as much. They've run a series of tests on samples and they are not quite ready to draw a conclusion but I have high hopes that what you've mentioned will enter into their presentation before the town hall."

"The science committee is going to share everything they know with everybody?" Theo asked.

"Well they will share everything with me and important members of the government, and I will filter that for the general population. I imagine what I say will be an overview of the important key points. Truth is important, Theo, but so is maintaining calm. It would not do us any good to tell people things that will cause them to panic. As I said, the full report will be presented to a select group prior to the public meeting. Would you like to join?"

"Of course! Thank you!"

"It will be great to have you there, Theo. I want to be able to rely on your perspective and I think it only fair that you should have all the information we can give you."

The next few weeks seemed to take forever. Theo and Mayor Lucas agreed to meet at the end of the school day three times per week. Theo did his best to focus on his classes and actually succeeded in paying attention through most of them. All the teachers droned on in lectures (Bill called them the "dregs of Atlantic Island education.") but Theo found that if he kept his mind on the enormous responsibility, the monumental trust being placed on him by Mayor Lucas, he could at least stay awake and focused long enough to learn the fundamentals of what he was being taught.

It didn't take long before Theo's concerns about the rough looking teens became justified. The bald leader of the pack was in Theo's eleventh and twelfth grade physics class, and was neither qualified to take such a course, nor very interested in education in any form. Theo wondered what flaw in the scheduling system had allowed that to take place. After the teacher, a tall, rail thin man named Mr. Ramar had admonished the teen four different times, the boy, whose name was apparently "Mr. Bertier," decided he had listened to enough.

"What the hell do you want from me, man?"

The teacher's eyes opened wide. "Mr. Bertier, please do not use that sort of language in my classroom."

"I asked you what you want from me. You been riding my ass since the first day."

"Well, perhaps if you chose to pay attention rather than harass your fellow students, you might avoid my consternation and learn something in the process."

"Yeah you keep running your mouth and spouting off all them big words. I ain't impressed, man. This class sucks ass and the people here suck ass and I don't have the patience for this crap."

"Mr. Bertier, leave my class immediately."

Bertier walked up to the teacher's desk. The class was silent with all eyes on the teen's bald head as he sat down on the corner of the desk. "C'mon man, one second you tell me all this crap about how I have to be here, how it's mandatory island law to sit and listen to you talk about all this boring ass stuff, now you want me to leave? Which is it?"

Mr. Ramar was shaking. Theo wondered if it was rage or fear he was seeing. The teacher pointed a finger at the door. "Out. Now."

Bertier slid off the desk and walked up to Mr. Ramar. He grabbed the teacher's shirt and pulled him in close. The teacher was at least six inches taller, but Bertier's neck was twice as thick and muscular. They made for a strange pair when viewed that close together.
 

After what seemed an endless expanse of time, Bertier relaxed his grip on Mr. Ramar's shirt. "Fine," he said, muscles rippling under his black t-shirt.
 
"I'll give you a break this time. Too nice a day to be sitting in class anyway." He turned and walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

That incident aside, Theo was doing just fine in his classes. He wondered occasionally what life would have been like if he had been in his senior year at Mifflin High instead of sitting in a makeshift classroom in a former resort and casino. Would he have been as motivated to get into college as he was to make a good impression on Mayor Lucas and the other advisors?

Theo came to love his meetings with Mayor Lucas and he would wait all day for the chance to sit down with the man. Lucas had years of experience running the city and dealing with the bureaucracy that came with the job. For reasons Theo still couldn't quite understand, the mayor was happy to share all that experience and advice with him.

They discussed in broad terms the strategy for Atlantic Island for the immediate future. Theo told Mayor Lucas his concerns and was always shocked to see the mayor nodding, if not in agreement at least with understanding.

Theo found himself constantly referring to and praising his friends. He was still uncomfortable with the idea of being Mayor Lucas's "chosen one," and he found every available opportunity to remind the mayor of the virtues and positive attributes of Kylee, Bill, Jamie, Ryan and Michelle, all of whom were spending the weeks working away at school and jobs.
 

One day Theo walked into the room where he had his sessions with Mayor Lucas. The mayor was standing by the window and staring out into the distance. He seemed to not realize that Theo was in the room. For a moment Theo remained silent, not wanting to rudely interrupt the man's thought process. Finally he decided he ought to announce himself before too much time was wasted.
 

"Mayor Lucas?" Theo said quietly. The mayor tensed as he was startled out of his thoughts, but he did not turn around.
 

"Hello, Theo," said Lucas. His voice was strained and Theo realized the man had been choked up by whatever it was he was thinking about. "I didn't hear you come in."

"I didn't want to disturb you sir. Um... is everything okay?"

Lucas turned around. He smiled wanly. "I suppose, Theo. I suppose. You'll forgive an old man for getting a little emotional, won't you?"

Theo laughed. "Sure, but what were you emotional about? I mean, if you want to talk and all." He flushed, embarrassed at his clumsy display of sympathy.

"I don't want to burden you too much with my concerns but... well, we are here to share things, are we not?"

The mayor walked to his chair and sat down. Theo did the same.
 

"I grew up outside of Philadelphia, just like you. Did you know that?" he asked.

"No, I didn't realize that!"

"Well it's true," the mayor laughed. "Of course, the suburbs were a little different back then. A good deal more farmland. My father worked in a grocery store, sweeping the floors. It was my mother who truly raised us... my brother and two sisters and me. She taught us much of what we had to know about life, and read to us from the books my father borrowed from work. My mother had taught herself to read. She didn't even understand half of what she was reading us but she did it anyway. To 'open our minds' was how she put it. And open them she did! Through her I learned about the vastness of space, the brutality of World War II that ended just before I was born, and the plays of Shakespeare.