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again tonight, and I have to leave soon to get there in time.
    â€œYou can’t go,” he said slowly.
    â€œWhat? Why?”
    â€œBecause they know—
they know who you are.
”
    She stared at him with surprise.
    â€œWhat do you mean, they know?”
    He threw up his hands in frustration as he lowered himself onto a red love seat.
    â€œI was combing through Nina’s house and came across a letter. It had your name under a list of suspects,” Kull said.
    â€œBut why would they suspect me?” she said loudly. “To them, I’m just an old woman.”
    â€œI don’t know, but they have you down as a suspect,” he answered. “I already told Rusty and he’s coming back.”
    â€œThere’s more I have to tell you,” Duvall said. “The kids on earth have developed special abilities, and the people I’ve been watching know about it.”
    â€œBut the kids just got back—any abilities that were discovered must have just been documented,” Kull said. “That means that someone there on Earth is communicating with someone on Briny Deep.”
    â€œYes,” Duvall responded. “They are getting immediate updates from someone.”
    â€œWe have to tell Rusty,” he said. “Now, let’s go.”
    A loud banging on the front door interrupted his sentence.
    â€œGo, now!” Duvall said motioning down-stairs.
    â€œCome with me!” he said as he rushed to the basement door.
    â€œI can’t. They will search the house and find the entrance to the tunnel. Listen to me—the files I’ve been keeping are in the safe downstairs —you know where it is. It has all the children’s records of being born on Earth and tapes of all the conversations I’ve recorded of that group.”
    The banging on the door became louder.
    â€œYou must leave now!”
    He nodded and disappeared into the cellar.
    Quickly she rushed to her wheelchair and adjusted her wig—but it was too late.
    The door was broken down within seconds, and the men came rushing in.
    â€œThere’s no need for the disguise,” a large burly officer said. “We know who you are.”

Chapter 7
Going Back
    Bright sunlight poured in through the window of Tim’s room. The rain had finally stopped. It looked like it was going to be a beautiful day here on Earth.
    Tim jumped out of bed and showered. Today, Rusty was meeting him and the rest of the kids from Briny Deep for another meeting. And he said it was a very important meeting, so no one should be late.
    Every meeting they had seemed to be an important meeting.
    As he walked out his door and down the hall, he noticed how neat and clean everything was. He didn’t mind it here. He actually really liked it a lot. The huge building was like a little town or a city. He had his friends here with him. There were places to eat and a lot of nice rooms to meet with the others to hang out and relax.
    Tim had no idea when they would all go live at their own homes.
    Now that they knew about their special abilities, they were all being studied by the scientists here. Over the last week, they each had to take silly tests and answer a lot of questions every day. But he didn’t really mind. Everyone was very nice about it, and they were even trying to help him control his ability.
    Being able to hear someone else’s thoughts was not something he considered a gift. Most of the time, it filled his head with jumbled words when he walked by a group of people, and he couldn’t really make out who was thinking what.
    But the scientists were starting to show him how to control it. Soon, they said, he would be able to turn it on and off. Tim definitely wanted to turn it off.
    They also said that he would be able to make the things he heard clearer so that they made more sense. Tim trusted them. But he kind of wished he had Max’s power—strength. Now that was cool! He also wondered