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"We're going to figure this out," Mara repeated, and she slid from the bed and went to the mirror above the vanity and looked at her face, puffed her cheeks, and sighed. She put on eyeshadow. She didn't need it, but Dan knew better than to stop her, because Mara liked to feel like she was in control, and she could totally control a smoky eye.

There was a pounding on the door, and they both jumped, but Dan played off his jump like he happened to be hopping from the bed at that exact moment, what a coincidence. He cautiously peered through the peephole first. Could have been NASA rounding up brave young men to shoot into space to poke around. But it was only Julio, the kid with the flat nose and white teeth who was working the Sola Pool yesterday. Julio loved Dan. Dan was so generous with him, tipping singles because he was quick with the drinks and because weren't dollars in the Bahamas worth a lot more than back home? And after a few coconut rum and pineapple juices Dan started tipping Julio two singles per drink, because what the hell, and he kind of felt like Oprah.

"My man!" Dan said as he swung open the door, but Julio's expression was vacant. Dan pushed his thumb into his chest, then over his shoulder back at Mara, and said, "Coconut rum and pineapple juice! Sola Pool?"

"Alright now, hey," Julio said, but his eyes were cloudy, and Dan thought, What a waste of some perfectly good singles.

Mara joined him. "Do they know what happened?"

"Mr. Sheridan wants all guests to meet at the Adobe Amphitheater on the Great Lawn in ten minutes." Dan noticed Julio was sweating now and short of breath, like he'd sprinted the length of the resort. He was gone as quickly as he appeared, banging on the next door and the next, and soon people congregated outside their rooms, murmuring and worrying and saying "This is ridiculous, isn't it?" like somehow the resort was responsible for a supernova. Dan and Mara were swept up in it, washed from their room and pushed downriver like rocks with waves on them.

Neither knew who Mr. Sheridan was. They knew it sounded official though, so Dan shrugged at Mara, and his face said, Well, if Mr. Sheridan wishes to see us, my goodness, we better get a move on, hadn't we.

CHAPTER THREE

The Great Lawn was west of Building B and west of the gardens, a big patch of manicured grass that Dan mistakenly assumed was a golf course. It rolled down south to some jagged cliffs that loomed over the beach like sentries, and the Adobe Amphitheatre cut into it up north, away from the crashing of the waves, a giant crater with concrete stadium seating carved with Aztec symbols and a stage at the bottom center. Dan and Mara took seats near the aisle—Dan preferred the aisle, wasn't so claustrophobic—and they watched as more panicked faces poured into the hole.

It would have been a pretty night if it wasn't four in the afternoon. Dan could see stars in the sky now, just not the one that mattered. There were no clouds, which he was thankful for. Imagine if the sun exploded but you missed it because a cumulus was parked in front. Mara held his hand in her lap and idly tapped the top of it, which she only did when she was nervous, and she was singing "Linger" by the Cranberries under her breath, which she only did when she was really nervous.

It was getting full. Some folks resigned themselves to standing on the Great Lawn because they couldn't find nice seats for a party of two. Staff members, dressed like Julio in white linen shirts and pants, ushered them as best as they could, requesting guests scoot toward the center, please, thank you, and Dan was pissed he had to give up his aisle seat to someone late to the apocalypse explanation show. The staff eventually signaled they were at capacity, and the crowd adopted a collective hum of anticipation.

"Got that Bahamas beard coming in, huh, man?"

Oh, no. There was a stranger talking to Dan, a guy one row down had turned to make friends, and that was the last thing Dan wanted to do right now and most of the time, really. The guy had a heavy but immaculately shaped beard, and the girl with him didn't bother turning around, which made Dan think he must do this a lot.

Dan heard him fine, but still leaned forward and said, "What's that?"

The guy laughed. "Oh, no, I'm just saying you've got the stubble of a man who's been in the Bahamas a few days." He pointed to Dan's face, and Dan rubbed it. Yeah. He hadn't shaved in a couple days. He needed a haircut too, come to think of it, the dark brown thicket on his head was starting to do that wavy thing on the sides.

"We got here yesterday," Dan said. Everyone got here yesterday, of course, because that was the resort's grand opening. Dan averted his eyes in a way that indicated, Okay, man, nice talking to you, but I've got some other stuff going on right now, if you don't mi—

"Man, that's exactly how mine started."

Dan closed his eyes and hung his head. The rhythm of Mara's tapping on his hand changed. It was Morse code for Be nice.