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in Maddy’s direction.
“Well, I don’t mean to be rude, but this is government property.
You either need to be an employee, or signed in as a visitor. If
you sign in with our front desk then I will be glad to help you
look for your lost… hedgehog… myself.”
    “ Oh, no, no, it’s no
problem. He’s probably run home!” Maxwell said. He could feel
himself getting agitated and anxious. All of this lying was hard
work. “Hedgehogs are sneaky little creatures. I will just be going
then, won’t I? Since I don’t see him here. Maddy, come
along.”
    “ Well, okay then,” Rock
said. “Next time he runs away, just come sign in at the desk and
you can look for him all you want.”
    “ Thank you, sir,” Maxwell
said, and, grabbing Maddy’s hand, walked rapidly out of the
gardens.

 
     
     
     
     
     
    Kaia followed John around the corridors of
the Globe, watching him stomp and mutter as he passed different
rooms. Occasionally a scientist would stop him to ask a question or
make a suggestion, and John would give a cursory nod or a
long-winded reply, depending on his interest in the subject.
    One man stopped and looked at Kaia for a
moment.
    “ She’s fine,” John said,
before the man launched into some explanation about rocket
fuel.
    After he left, she asked, “Am I allowed to
know everything that goes on around here?” She was surprised that
no one felt the need to whisper about their projects or was
concerned that a stranger was listening in.
    “ No, but you have pretty
high clearance,” John replied. “You’re working in the Door Room,
and it’s nearly impossible to control everything that comes through
the Doors. As a result, anyone that works in there has to be able
to keep a secret.”
    “ What’s the biggest secret
I’m allowed to know about?” Kaia asked, curious.
    John pursed his lips for a second. “Probably
the Whelk.”
    “ The one that landed on
Septimar?”
    “ Yes.”
    “ Oh.” Kaia frowned. “I know
all about that already.”
    “ No, you know what they
tell you,” John answered, still striding forward at a rapid pace.
“You don’t actually know what you think you know.”
    “ So what’s the secret?” she
asked.
    “ We will discuss that in
time,” he replied, “but for right now, I have work to
do!”
    They rounded a corner in the hall, and John
abruptly stopped in front of a doorway. He turned to Kaia.
    “ I have to teach, because I
am a teacher.”
    Kaia nodded. “What would you like me to
do?”
    “ Sit in on the class, of
course!” He straightened his tie and buttoned his jacket. “You
don’t need to always sit in on classes, as you mostly know
everything I will be teaching, but I may ask you to some days. This
is one of those days. It will happen more often in the beginning,
while you’re still meeting people and getting the lay of the land.
I think you’ll enjoy it, though. I’m an excellent
teacher.”
    Kaia grinned. She had seen some of his
public lectures at different universities and also on television.
He was an excellent speaker and both entertaining and
informative.
    She followed John into a classroom where six
students sat, chatting quietly. The room was large, round, and
painted like a cold, rocky beach. Strange-looking iridescent bulbs
swung from the ceiling, creating an unusual atmosphere.
    “ Who can tell me what a
Door is?” John asked, striding to the center of the room as the
students fell quiet.
    Kaia slipped into a seat in the back of the
room, as one of the other students muttered to himself, “Seriously,
does he think we’re dumb?” She turned and frowned at him.
    “ Stewart.” John pointed at
another student who held his hand in the air.
    “ A Door is an
inter-dimensional object which allows matter to traverse great
lengths of space with only a very small amount of energy,” he
stated clearly.
    “ Thank you,” said John,
“for providing us with the textbook definition. But the textbook
definition doesn’t apply here. We are