“Found what?” Gareth asked.

“I’m not sure. It’s locked behind security. It’s asking for a passcode. Only five characters.”

“A passcode?” Leo shook his head. The watch used some old-fashioned fingerprint identification technology, but nothing nearly as antiquated as a passcode. “I have no idea.”

“It can be numerals or letters. It’s not zero-zero-zero-zero-zero. It’s not zero-zero-zero-zero-one. Not zero-zero-zero-zero-two, -three, -four, -five, -six. Should I keep going? I can cycle through all the possibilities, but the connection is weak, and I’m afraid we might lose it. Assuming English characters and Arabic numerals, there are only sixty million combinations. Of course incorporating other alphanumeric systems, the possibilities are nearly infinite. It would take eons.”

“Try two-six-E-four-U,” Gareth said. Leo shot him a look. “What? It’s possible.”

“Nope. That wasn’t it,” Skits said. “And I’m afraid there is a lockout measure in place. Looks like we only have three more tries.”

Three more tries to get to what? The watch had been freaking out since he’d downloaded those files. The message to Crayt sent by Leo’s father.

His father. What if his dad was trying to send another one? What if he’d found a way to use Leo’s watch to contact him? Leo started snapping his fingers in his brother’s direction. “Quick. Magic word. Something only Dad or us would have thought of.”

Not Fender. Not family. Not Beagle. All too many letters. They couldn’t guess blindly; there were as many guesses as there were planets in the universe, and they only had three tries left.

Planets in the universe.

“Try Earth,” Leo said. “E-A-R-T-H.”

“I know how to spell ‘Earth,’ Leo,” Skits scoffed. “And no. That wasn’t it either. Two tries remaining.”

“And then what?” Gareth asked.

“Beats me, older, taller, cuter Leo. I’m guessing we will be locked out permanently. The message, if there is one, will be irretrievably lost. Or maybe the watch will self-destruct and blow up the entire console, taking us with it. Impossible to tell.”

“I’ve got it. What’s like, the most important thing in the universe?” Gareth prompted. “The thing Dad pretty much devoted his entire life to?”

“EL-four eighty six,” Leo said. Of course. That had to be it.

“Strike two,” Skits said. “One more strike and you are disqualified.” Clearly Baz had never explained baseball that well to her either.

Leo shut his eyes and tried to think, but it was impossible. His brain didn’t work the same way his father’s did. Never had, probably never would. The passcode could be anything, and yet it would have to be something they shared. Something that mattered just as much to Leo as it did to him. Something that was the most important in their universe.

Leo felt his head pulse, his heart pound.

He had it.

“Grace,” he said. “Try Grace. G-R-A-C-E.”

“Are you sure, Leo? This is your last chance.”

“Just try it.”

Leo stared at Skits, waiting for a response. Finally she said, “Passcode accepted.” Then, a moment later, “Message retrieved.”

Suddenly Leo’s watch vibrated as its holographic projector kicked on, displaying a familiar face.