"Bailey!" Cody ran down the steps to the main deck, gripping something long and cylindrical that had been wrapped hastily in his sky blue baby blanket. Cody came to a halt in front of the juice counter, heaving, where Bailey was sipping a Banana Fofana and talking to Zack.

Zack eyed his brother with amusement.

"I didn't know you brought blanky with you to school," Zack said. "I thought you said you were too old for that thing."

Cody narrowed his eyes. "Yeah, well, it's a good thing I did. Look what I found!" He peered around quickly before raising the bundle and lifting a flap of the blanket away, to reveal a scroll of paper.

"What is it, Cody?" Bailey asked between sips, looking up in curiosity.

"It's an old map of the waters around New Zealand, signed by Captain Pepperbeard himself!" He whispered excitedly.

Bailey gasped. "Not the famous ocean explorer who first sailed around New Zealand's outreaching islands documenting rare and exotic bird species! That's amazing! Where'd you find it?"

Zack raised an eyebrow. "And what kind of parent names their kid Pepperbeard?"

Cody gave his brother a look. "Never mind that." He glanced around himself quickly, and whispered "I found it in the Captain's writing desk. In his office."

Zack gaped at his brother with surprise and a fair amount of pride. "Dude. You broke into the captain's office?" Zack wiped away fake tears. "I'm so proud."

"Shhh!" Cody wheeled around; he eyed the couple sitting at the table nearest to them with suspicion. Then he scowled at his brother. "Be quiet. I don't want anyone else finding out about this, okay? So just… keep your trap shut."

Zack's eyes widened. He and Bailey traded odd looks.

Zack was the first to speak, pressing a warm palm against Cody's forehead. "Are you sure you're feeling all right, Codes? You look unwell."

Cody swiped at the hand, irritated. "Yes, yes, I'm fine. Bailey, I've got to tell you something. In private." Zack pouted, and Cody amended reluctantly. "Okay, Zack… you can come too, if you promise to be quiet."

Zack nodded, to show he understood. He mimed zipping his lips and throwing away the key, straight face slipping a little at Bailey's eye roll.

Cody gestured toward the elevator. "Follow me!"

When they reached the dormitory hallway, Cody surprised his comrades by coming to a halt in front of Zack's door, instead of his own.

"Why are we going in my room?" Zack complained. Cody crossed his arms.

"Because, Zack, I don't want people overhearing us. And you get to have this room to yourself all the time, so quit whining."

"Oh, all right." Zack got out his key card and swiped. The light on the handle turned green, and he opened the door, allowing Bailey and Cody to walk in front of him. He got in after them and locked the door.

"Well, here we are, Codes. Now spill. What's with all the snooping?"

Bailey put her hands on her hips. "Yes! What on earth were you doing breaking into a crewmember's office? And stealing from the Captain's desk?" She shook her head. "It's just so unlike you."

Zack grinned. "Yeah, it is- where'd you get the balls- uh, nerves- to do it?"

Bailey and Cody crossed their arms. Zack wisely shut up.

Cody sat gingerly on Zack's bed and unfurled the scroll against the covers. Bailey gasped, and made her way over to the bed herself so that she could view it more clearly. Intricate designs were scratched elegantly around the map's edges.

"Such beautiful craftsmanship!" Bailey said in an awed whisper.

"Yeah, I know," Cody agreed. They sighed appreciatively.

Zack raised an eyebrow at the doodles. "It's just a stupid map. Of New Zealand." He scoffed. "Who the hell cares about New Zealand?"

Cody and Bailey eyed him with disgust.

"I can't believe I'm related to you," Cody sniffed, and pointed at the waters surrounding the main islands. "This is no ordinary map. See all this writing around the edges? They're Captain Pepperbeard's notes, detailing his extensive explorations of the many islands of Polynesia!"

"Wait, Polynesia? I thought we were talking about New Zealand."

"We are. Polynesia is a term that describes a large collective of islands in the Pacific Island chain, including New Zealand, Rotuma, the Midway Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu—"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Sheesh, I'm sorry I asked."

Bailey examined the scribbles with curiosity.

"This is fascinating, Cody. But... why go to all this trouble?" She looked away from the map, frowning at him. "You still haven't explained how you even got into the Captain's office in the first place. It's always locked."

Cody rummaged in his pocket, and held up a fork, guiltily. Zack gaped.

"Wow! You don't mean… you deactivated the ship's top-secret security system by reflecting its anti-theft lasers off that fork's metal onto your key card, thereby altering the card's magnetism so that it could unlock any door, including the Captain's?"

Cody and Bailey stared at him.

"Um… No," Cody said slowly. "I just… pried the door open."

"Oh." Zack laughed nervously, eyes growing shifty. "Right. That, uh... makes much more sense."

Cody eyed him with suspicion. "How did you know to… Oh, never mind." He turned to Bailey.

"The reason I brought you two down here is because I think I found something important in my research of New Zealand's outlying island territories." He bent and rummaged around under Zack's bed, pulling out a box filled with papers, magazines, and several thick tombs. "I also took these."

Zack jumped, pointing at the books in alarm. "Whoa, how'd those get under there?"

Cody shrugged. "I hid them here for safekeeping."

Zack crossed his arms. "Okay, that's it. Sneaking around? Stealing from the authorities?" He paused dramatically, pointing at his bed. "Hiding contraband? Who are you, and what have you done with my brother?"

Cody rolled his eyes. "They're just references, Zack. Besides, I didn't steal these, I got them on loan from the library."

A blank stare met Cody's words. He backtracked. "You know, that place with all the textual resources that you can rent out for school work if you have a special card?"

Another blank stare. Cody sighed. "That big room next to the ice cream parlor that doesn't allow food or soda anywhere inside."

Zack started. "Oh, right, that one. I hate those guys!"

Cody pinched the bridge of his nose. "Anyway. I've been looking through these for information about the seabirds that nest in the waters surrounding the New Zealand mainland. And I found this amazing bird called the Henderson Crake. It used to live everywhere in Polynesia, until a huge hurricane a few decades ago reduced the species to two remaining populations on the Pitcairn Islands. Unfortunately, over the last couple of years, the population has declined, mostly due to habitat loss, and was declared extinct in 2004 by the last search party to go looking for them."

Cody looked up at Bailey and Zack, who were beginning to drift to sleep. Noticing Cody's pout, Zack sighed.

"It's all very heartbreaking and everything," Zack said, sitting by his brother solemnly and slapping Cody's back. "But remind me why I should care."

Cody scowled at him. "I never expected you to care, Zack. You don't care about anything." He turned to Bailey with hope in his eyes. Bailey winced sympathetically.

"Sorry, Cody, but… I don't see why we should care, either. If the birds really are gone for good, I don't see how we can do anything about it. I mean, at least not without the help of technology beyond all modern abilities."

Cody stood up and began to pace. "That's just what the authorities want us to think," he muttered, deeply immersed in his thoughts. He stopped, turning to face his companions smugly. "You see, after extensive research, I have come to suspect that those birds... aren't extinct at all." He smiled satisfactorily. "Allow me to explain."

"What if we don't want to hear it?" came a whine from the pillows.

"Don't care. Now. Pitcairn isn't very densely populated, so there isn't much documentation on the local fauna available to the public eye. But, according to local legends—wait, wait, let me find it," Cody said, pulling a tomb from the box and flipping through its yellowed pages hurriedly.

His finger came to rest on a particularly meaty paragraph, accompanied by a diagram of a green, foul-beaked bird holding up a fish. "Here it is. According to local legends, the Henderson Crake has also been spotted previously on another island—Henderson Island!"

"Oo, plot twist."

Cody glared reproachfully. "Zack, kindly shut up or I'll tell Moesby that you were the one who planted the bikini in his birthday cake."

"...Roger that."

"Right. The most recent reports that I can find that contain any information about the Crake's disappearance... don't mention anything about the other island." He scoffed derisively. "It's appalling, isn't it? Usually the Bureau of Environmental Protection are much more rigorous..." He trailed off, mumbling.

"Cody…" Bailey said softly. "Zack and I really aren't seeing the point here." She crossed her legs, holding her hands in her lap.

"Right, don't worry, honey. I was just getting to the exciting bit."

"I sincerely doubt that," Zack snarked, slouching against the bed pillows. He wriggled around to get comfortable, and crossed his arms behind his head. "But do go on, tell us anyway. I might as well get some sleep while you're at it."

Cody shook the articles in Zack's face, irritated. "Bikini. Cake!" His brother only snickered in response.

Bailey squeezed Cody's shoulder gently. "Just tell us what you found, Cody. I'm listening." Cody smiled at her gratefully.

"Thanks, Bailey. Well, some of the legends surrounding this bird are decidedly more interesting. For example, there's one source here that says, and I quote, 'the guano of the lukka-lukka bird'—that's the Crake—'has been prized by Polynesian peoples for centuries for its amazing medicinal and crop-fertilizing properties. It is said that in its powdered tea form, the guano can cure the drinker of leprosy, depression, and old age.' What is more, the sources then go on to say that there have been wars throughout the ages over collection rights, and that explorers from all over the world have come to harvest the guano for its use in herbal remedies."

Cody looked up from the tomb. "Don't you get it? These birds aren't extinct. The authorities are just covering up their existence so they can keep harvesting the guano for themselves. And it wouldn't be that hard for them to do, would it? Henderson Island is practically uninhabitable, and all attempts to colonize it have failed. It's isolated from civilization, safe from prying eyes…"

The others looked at him, unimpressed.

Zack. "Why do we care. Do we care?" He looked at Bailey for support. She just shrugged, smiling in a 'let's humor him for a while longer' sort of way. Cody felt like growling. Nobody was listening to him.

"Fine. You all can go on with your tiny little lives. Wither away in your ignorance, for all I care!" He looked from Bailey, who was fighting a grin, to Zack, who wasn't fighting anything at all. He glared harder, poking at his chest. "I'm going to find out the truth. And later, when I'm right; I'll be the one laughing."