Chapter 10

chapter ten The sprawling structure in front of me leaves me speechless. At least, I hope it's the sprawling structure that has me speechless and I didn't swallow my tongue during our not-nearly-as-fun-as-it-sounds reverse waterfall ride. "Welcome to Port Teekay," Globlet says. Quint sits up, eyes bright. "Now, this," he says, "looks like the place to find someone who knows where

the Hidden City is." "Even better," Globlet says. "We can grab a taxi that will take us there!" She elbows me. "See, Jack? And you were being a big ol' worrywart." I nod, breathing a massive sigh of relief. Quint was right—he said it would all work out, and it seems like maybe it will. If we find someone who will take us to the Hidden City, then we could get answers from Shuggoth and be heading back to our dimension in time for dessert. Corpsey carries us beneath arcing bridges that look like long tongues, bending and twisting at impossible angles. A bird-monster as big as a jumbo jet swoops over us, carrying a creature-packed gondola, settling in for a soft landing. Smaller airships rise from behind the port's walls, jetting off, headed to who knows where. I count a dozen more watervaults, all of them spitting ships out into the wide harbor. Port Teekay is like an airport as imagined by someone with a 109-degree fever, and Quint is loving it. "Jack," he says, tapping my arm excitedly, his eyes as wide as Frisbees. "We are in... another dimension!"

We are other dimensional explorers on a brave quest, a best-buddy duo. Well, best-buddy Doo. Sorry jack, I'm struggling to wrap my head around Quint's new supercharged, super-enthusiastic explorer attitude. He continues to show zero fear or concern about any of this. And—despite my infinity fear and concern about all of this—his excitement is starting to rub off on me... "You're totally right," I say, grinning. "Dude, no human has ever done anything like this before."

"We're like Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin," Quint says. "And the other guy," I add. "Was it Tom Hanks? I think it was Tom Hanks." "The other guy wishes he was Tom Hanks," Globlet says. "And don't get me started on Neil Armstrong. He's the guy that was, like, super proud just 'cause he took one small step, right? We've taken a ton of small steps, and you don't see me yakkin' about it." Quint ignores us. He's too busy looking around, taking it all in. "What a startling variety of vessels!" he says. The churning liquid carries a jaw-dropping array of boats and rafts and ship-creatures. We're the only ones riding atop a dead monster. But hey, maybe that's a good thing? I mean, we gotta look pretty intimidating right now. All those times I showed up for the first day at some new school? If I had arrived on a dead monster, I probably would have gotten pushed around a lot less...

But as the boats all begin to converge, nearing the dock, I see a lot of creatures eyeing us, and none of them look particularly intimated by our craft. Guess I had that one wrong. "We're drawing a lot of attention here, guys," I say. "And with Wracksaw chasing us, we need attention like we need a hole in the head."

Our attempt at docking only draws more attention. The other vessels slow, gently dropping anchor. But not us! Our leaky corpse-raft plows straight into the dock with all the subtlety and grace of a rhinoceros diving into a pool. We're flung forward, toppling hard onto the ground. I throw a quick glance at Corpsey, half on the dock, half-submerged. We need to get going, fast, and not draw any more attention. Unfortunately, Quint slips on corpse goo, falls, stands, then falls again. "WHO LEFT THAT THERE!"