“You’re a genius, Tick,” Paul said, his shoes wedged under his armpit.

“Ten seconds,” Sofia said.

“Maybe we should jump just in case,” Paul blurted out.

“Do it,” Tick agreed.

Sofia nodded as she counted the last five seconds. “Five, four, three, two, one—now!”

Tick had already bent his legs, and jumped into the air on her call.

When he came back down, the world around them had vanished, and his feet landed on something very cold.

~

“This is weird,” Rutger said as he stared at the command center screen, his eyes glued to the tracking marks of Tick’s Earwig Transponder. Master George, Sally, and Mothball stood behind him. They’d all come running when the chime had rung through the building, indicating Tick had winked to another location.

“Weird, indeed,” Master George whispered.

“Whatcha two hanks goin’ on ’bout?” Sally bellowed. “I ain’t got nary a clue what that thing a’yorn’s tellin’ me.” He pointed at the screen.

Rutger answered. “They just winked to a large plain in Reality Prime—but in the middle of nowhere. The far northern reaches of Canada, it looks like. Nothing for dozens of miles around them.”

“Goodness gracious me,” Master George whispered. “Chu’s tests are getting way out of hand. The poor chaps and Sofia will freeze up there!”

“Mayhaps we need be rescuin’ them,” Mothball said.

Master George shook his head adamantly. “Absolutely not. The antidote is as complete as it’ll ever get, and we have to get it where it needs to be. Let’s just all pray it works. Sally.”

The large man jumped, as if he’d been caught daydreaming. “Yessir?”

“This may be our best chance—our last chance. I want you to wink there right away and give them the antidote.”

Sally’s eyes grew wide. “But . . . I’m a-feared of the cold somethin’ awful.”

“No matter,” Master George said over his shoulder as he walked briskly away, heading for the testing lab. “Come on, chop-chop!”

Rutger couldn’t help but feel sorry for the big lug of a man. He reached up and tapped Sally on the elbow. “You’ll be fine. Just wink in, wink out. No problem.”

Sally laughed, his booming chortle echoing off the walls of the room. “You ain’t got no thermal undies I could borry, do ya?”

“Hilarious,” Rutger said, hopping down from his chair to follow Master George.

~

“Ah, dude, it’s freezing here!” Paul said. He sat down on the hard ground and started struggling back into his shoes using only one arm. Sofia knelt down and helped him.