Free The Message by K.A. Applegate Page A

round as a plate. A very large plate. From one side to the other, the diameter must have been half a mile.
    It was covered by a transparent dome. Clear glass, or whatever it is the Andalites use for glass.
    And within the dome, protected from the crushing force of the water, was what looked very much like a park.
    A park, in a plastic dome, at the bottom of the ocean.
    There was grass, more blue than green, but it still looked like grass. There were trees like huge stems of broccoli. And other trees like orange and blue asparagus spears. At the center was a small lake, crystal-clearblue water. From the water grew fantastic, transparent green crystals in shapes like eccentric snowflakes. Marco said. Jake commented. Rachel asked me.
    
     Marco said.
     Jake said.
    We arced down toward a part of the glass dome that seemed different from the rest. As we got closer, we could really begin to feel the size of the dome. It was like approaching one of those huge stadiums where they play football. But even bigger, if you can imagine that.
     Rachel reported. She was a little ahead of the rest of us.
     Marco said urgently. Jake said. He pressed his beak against the panel.
    Instantly the outer door opened.
     Marco said.
     I said. My lungs were burning. I needed air.
    The four of us swam in through the outer door. There was a second red panel. I punched it with my beak and the door closed, sealing us into a small, glass room. We could see out and up into the ocean all around. But the side leading into the dome was opaque.
     Marco said.
    The water began to drain from the room, slowly, a little at a time. This opened an area of air at the top of the enclosure. I raised my blowhole and sucked in blessed oxygen.
     Jake said.
    I had already started. By the time the enclosure was half drained, I could stand on my own human feet.
    “We made it,” Marco said after his human mouth re-formed. “I don’t know where we made it to, but we made it.”
    The enclosure was empty now. The four of us stood there barefoot, dressed only in our soggy morphing outfits. There was one last red panel beside the door leading into the dome.
    “Ready?” Jake asked. “As ready as I’ll ever be,” Marco said. Jake pressed it with his hand. The door slid open. I felt a wave of warm, incredibly fragrant air rush in. I caught a glimpse of … Then a brilliant flash of light … And suddenly I was unconscious.

CHAPTER 18
     
    I opened my eyes. I was staring straight up. I was on my back. Above me I could see the ocean all around. High overhead, fish swam by, sparkling. Higher still I could see the bright barrier between sea and sky. But it was very far away.
    I rolled my head to the side. Jake was beside me, still unconscious. There was blue grass under my head. I looked the other way.
    “Yaaaahh!”
    
    He stood on four delicate hooves, looking, at first glance, like a pale blue and tan deer or antelope.
    But he had a strong upper body, like a mythical centaur, with two small arms and many-fingered hands. His face was almost triangular, built around two huge, almond-shaped eyes. There was a small vertical slit where his nose should have been, and nothing