“Of course not,” Hewett says. “The only reason Harding and Pencroft spoke to Jules Verne was to change the public narrative. For our purposes, if anyone did begin to suspect that Captain Nemo was real, it was much better if they never saw him as a threat. By the end of his life, Nemo had given up his quest for vengeance. And yes, he did die aboard the Nautilus, which was supposedly demolished in the destruction of his island.”

“Our purposes,” Gem says. “What are those?”

Hewett gestures at the map. “Just before Nemo died, he pulled Cyrus Harding aside and had some final words with him. It says that much in Verne’s book. What it does not say is that Nemo gave Harding a treasure chest of pearls and also entrusted him with a mission: to make sure his technology was never used by the world powers or stolen by Land Institute. We were to safeguard Nemo’s legacy, to reveal his advances only a little at a time, when we decided the world was ready for them. Most importantly”—he looks at me—“we were to safeguard his descendants until the time was right.”

I don’t want to ask, but I do anyway. “Right for what?”

Again, Dr. Hewett simply watches me, waiting for the hints to fall into place.

“This map leads to one of Nemo’s bases,” I say, getting goose bumps worse than Nelinha’s. “Not just any base. The island where Nemo died. It wasn’t completely destroyed in the eruption, was it?”

Hewett gives me his rarest classroom gesture. He simply points at me to say Correct. “Ana, two years ago, your parents gave their lives to find this island. Your brother was being prepared to take charge of operations there once he graduated college. Since we discovered it, the island has become a field lab and underwater archaeology site staffed by HP faculty. It holds our most advanced technology. And…artifacts.”

Gem rubs his forehead. “That’s what Land Institute wants. Access to this island. And you…you used to work for LI.” He sounds personally hurt, as if Hewett has broken a promise.

Hewett stares at the nautical map. “That’s true, Mr. Twain. When I was younger, I graduated from HP—House Shark, like you and Dev Dakkar. Nevertheless, I always had a grudging admiration for Land Institute. They favor action over caution, offense over defense. That was alluring to me. In some ways, they are a school made entirely of Sharks. That’s why I accepted a job there, and why I spent years designing specs for a submarine that could rival the Nautilus. It took me a long time to see the ugly, brutal side of LI, to realize what they would do with such power….”

He gives me a mournful glance. “I don’t expect you to trust me. But my past with LI is one reason I wanted to be Dev’s advisor. I tried to guide his progress, to teach him why HP’s approach is the only responsible way forward. Dev reminded me so much of myself at his age….”