“Right,” Elliot said, and glanced at me. “Good morning.”

“I know this situation isn’t what either of you wanted, but I hope you both make the best of it,” Mom said. “The Academy needs every good Glitcher we can get, especially if those Glitchers come as a package deal.”

Elliot winced at the words package deal, and I knew it was because I was part of that particular package.

“A secret package,” I said, turning to my mom as something occurred to me. “Why are we still a secret if the program has been approved?”

Mom smiled a grim smile. “Security reasons,” she said. “The board thought that it was best to diversify our program.”

“Diversify?” Elliot asked, eyebrow raised.

“Maybe diversify is the wrong word,” she said. “What I mean is more along the lines of keeping all your eggs in one basket. For security reasons, the board decided we should keep at least a few eggs in a basket no one knows about.”

“That doesn’t make any sense,” I said. “What basket. What eggs?”

“We’re the eggs,” Elliot said. “And I’m guessing that’s the basket,” he said, pointing to the large border wall where security officers stood by an open door, the blue of the ocean showing just behind them. I came to such an abrupt stop that Mom almost ran into me, catching herself just in time.

“The Lewis and Clark partner program is off campus?” I said, not believing what I was seeing. I’d spent my entire life within the safety of the Academy walls, and I’d expected to spend the rest of it here as well. I turned to my mom in disbelief.

“The L and C program is on an outlier island about a ten-minute boat ride away,” she said. “Don’t worry—the security there is a tad unorthodox, but you will be just as safe there as you are here.”

“But—” I said, turning to see the same shock on Elliot’s face. He hadn’t had a clue either.

“But nothing,” Mom said. “You were chosen for this program, and you will do your very best to excel at it, regardless of its location. Now let’s get moving; the extra security detail for this transfer is needed elsewhere by nine o’clock.”

Still in utter shock, I trailed behind my mom as she walked up to the security transfer.

“Have you ever been off the island?” Elliot asked as he came to stand next to me.

“Never,” I whispered. “You?”

“I came over when I was a baby, just like everyone else,” Elliot said. “So yeah, I guess I was off the island once upon a time, but I don’t remember it.” His shoulder pressed against mine and I leaned into it a little in some kind of unspoken solidarity.

“The ocean looks bluer than it did from the wall observation platforms,” I said. “Can that be right?”