THE DRAGON’S BLOOD
“I’M SURE it hasn’t escaped your notice that we’ve put to sea. You must be curious about our destination. The rest of the faculty has informed me that at this point in the year the standard curriculum for first-year recruits would have us sailing to China—”
The rest of his sentence was lost in an explosion of applause.
“Giant pandas!” hooted Matteo.
“The Great Wall!” cried Zane.
“Clouded leopards,” sighed Lani.
Emmett leaned back, placing his hands behind his head in triumph. He’d won Team Cousteau’s bet, as its members knew he would.
Professor Luben’s mouth was drawn into a straight line, and the explorers quickly settled.
“As I was saying,” their teacher continued, “our travels would have taken us to China, but recent events have caused us to alter course.”
Recent events? Alter course?
