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Julius was horrified. Al's green bathrobe was his prized possession! He would never let it go unless ...

"Any news of Al?" Delilah asked, interrupting his thoughts.

Scarlett shook her head sadly. "No, sorry. The Coast Guard is still searching, but if they don't find him tomorrow ..."

She didn't need to finish. It had been five days since Al went overboard. No one could survive in open water for that long. It was a million-to-one chance Al was even half-alive. Julius hung his head. There was no way -

"HELP!!"

The sorrowful moment was broken as Ursula crashed into Delilah. She scrambled to her feet and took off down the hall, just as Dr Carter rounded the corner.

"Wait for me, love dumpling!" he paused briefly to salute Scarlett. "Playing hard-to-get, you know. Can't resist me."

Delilah and Julius burst into laughter. Even Scarlett couldn't hold back a giggle. Julius sighed.

"Do you have to have him as an assistant?" he complained.

"Unfortunately, yes," Scarlett answered. "He's the most qualified out of all the candidates."

"And the most annoying," Delilah murmured.

Scarlett nodded. "He may be annoying, but Dr Carter is brilliant. He's working on a project that has to do with air travel."

Julius immediately became alert, a plan forming in his mind. Scarlett continued. "He calls them heliplanes. They're big enough for about four people. They're small planes that can travel great distances on little fuel and hover. Well, I'm going down to the Coast Guard to pick up Al's robe."

When Scarlett was out of sight, Julius turned to Delilah. "Did you hear that?"

She nodded. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

He smiled smugly. "If Dr Carter's such a genius, I'm sure the whatchamacallits are safe enough."

"And besides, what better way to test them?"

"Now, how do we get Carter away from his lab long enough to ... borrow a plane-thing?"

It was Delilah's turn to grin. "I think I know a way ..."

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"No way!" Ursula yelled. "I am not going on a date with that nerd!"

Julius sighed. "Come on, Ursula, it's for a good cause."

Ursula crossed her arms. "There's no way -"

"Ursula," Delilah interrupted, "just think. If we find Al, he'll go back to running the Academy. And when Al does that, Scarlett won't need an assistant anymore ..."

"I'll do it!" Ursula agreed abruptly. "But for your sakes, you had better find Al."