Finn interrupted. “But you told me the cruise was no big deal!”
“Things change, Finn.”
Finn shuddered. Wayne had said it so condescendingly. Like he wanted to humiliate Finn in front of the others.
“Security on the Dream, as with all our cruise ships, is the best in the business,” Wayne continued. “Better than any other line. But I put nothing past the Overtakers. Disappearance is the most convenient form of murder.”
Amanda whispered to Jess, and they both looked over at Wayne.
“I don’t love the sound of that,” Maybeck said.
“A man overboard is a body never found,” Wayne said. “It has never happened on a Disney cruise ship, but it has on others.”
“That guy who threw his wife over the rail,” Jess said.
“Among several others,” Wayne said. “Yes. Should the Overtakers find a way to get aboard, or send their agents…”
“OTKs,” Philby said.
“It would make for an easy way for them to do away with at least a few of you.”
“Lousy Luowski is not a murderer,” Finn said. “A tool, yes. But not a murderer.”
“But if under a spell?” Wayne asked. “Can we be so certain these kids are acting of their own accord when they are attempting such heinous acts as poisoning and Tasering?”
“They’re under spells?” Finn said.
“Do you have a more suitable explanation?” Wayne asked. “Finn, you watched that silly recruitment video. You think that explains how Maleficent has been able to enlist so many students so quickly? By some counts they have dozens.”
A unison gasp filled the room. This was new information to all, including the Keepers.
“Then what?” Finn said.
“I have no proof,” Wayne said.
“But you suspect something.”
“I suspect it’s not a video, but a spell. I suspect she ‘owns’ them.”
For a moment only the joyful sounds of the park could be heard.
“I have no proof,” Wayne repeated quickly.
“The green eyes are proof,” Finn said. “They aren’t contact lenses. I got close enough to one of them to see.”
Another group gasp.
“Wait a second! Are you saying any kid aboard the Dream could be a potential murderer?” Willa asked.
“The desire to reduce your numbers, your effectiveness, cannot be ignored,” Wayne said. “We are considering all options.”
“DHIs,” Philby said. “Version 2.0. If they throw our DHIs overboard, all we have to do is return. No harm. No foul.”
Looking squarely at Finn, as if warning him, Wayne spoke. “There’s always one in every crowd.” For years that “one” had been Finn; he’d nearly always been the first to understand a given situation. Was Wayne cautioning him that his standing as the leader of the Keepers was not to be taken for granted? Philby always had the jump on technical stuff. His jumping to such a conclusion was to be expected! Wasn’t it?
“With 2.0,” Philby continued, “there’s no way to tell the difference. No more blue line. We can allow ourselves to touch, or be touched. What if we just go aboard as DHIs?”
“A nice solution if your DHIs weren’t already part of the plan, part of the canal inaugural.”
“What inaugural? What’s going on?” a volunteer asked.
“A fair question,” Wayne said. “A new, larger set of locks on the Panama Canal is to be opened to commercial traffic. Many companies bid for the right to be the first ship through the locks—a terrific publicity opportunity, and one for the history books. Disney was awarded the prize, most likely because of our representing family and family values. And,”—he winked—“because we bid more than the others.” Everyone laughed. “The Dream, the first of a new class of Disney Cruise Line ships, is to make the inaugural voyage, Cape Canaveral to Los Angeles. At the same time, the DHI next-generation entertainment is to be rolled out on all the cruise ships. The company has combined the two events: the debut of Disney Hosts Interactive on the cruise line with the first ship to pass through the new locks. More bang for the buck.”
“Let’s hope not,” Willa said.
A nervous chuckle rippled through the room.
“Wanda is working on Taser-proof undergarments.” Another rush of snickering. Wanda Alcott, Wayne’s daughter, had come to their aid before. “Kind of like a space-age chain mail. A grounding device that dissipates the electrical charge. Necessary for you because your DHIs will be on board the ship at the same time you are.”
“But if at night we could find safe places to sleep…when our DHIs were thought to be down,” Philby said, unwilling to take no for an answer. “We could be out there and relatively safe from attack.”