Benjamin Franklinstein Meets the Fright Brothers

by Matthew McElligott

  From their new position, they could see two smaller planes. These were completely assembled and painted black. Their wings were curved with a scalloped edge along the back. Each plane looked big enough to carry just one person.

  “I get it now,” Victor whispered. “When people reported seeing giant bats around the city, they were actually seeing these things.”

  “So why are they building an even bigger one?”

  Victor thought for a moment. “Maybe the small ones are prototypes.”

  “Proto-whats?” Scott asked.

  “Prototypes,” Victor explained. “Early models of an invention that can be tested and improved upon. They must have built the smaller ones so they could figure out how to build that giant one. But why?”

  Scott pointed past Victor’s shoulder. “Oh, man—look at that!”

  A semicircle of five people were seated in a corner of the room, their backs against a strange machine. Victor gasped.

  “It’s okay,” Scott said. “I don’t think they can see us.”

  Victor looked closer. The people’s eyes were open, but they stared blankly into space, as still as statues. Victor recognized all five of them from the news: Mayor Milstead, Police Chief Hawkins, WURP reporter Katie Kaitlyn, Mr. Girard from the FAA, and Dr. Kane, the zoologist.

  Victor and Scott cautiously approached the five people. A relay of clear tubing pumped blue fluid into their necks.

  “Yuck!” said Scott.

  “More harmonic fluid,” said Victor. “Strange.”

  The machine behind them hummed and pulsated eerily. It looked like a stack of steel and glass inner tubes, and was topped with an antenna that projected up through a hole in the ceiling. Every few seconds, the hum grew louder and the people sat up straight. When the hum softened, they relaxed again.

  “Is the machine making them do that?” Scott asked.

  “Sure looks like it. Jaime said that the Emperor was controlling the Wright brothers. I’ll bet he’s using this machine to command these people too.”

  “How?”

  “Those tubes leading to their necks must be injecting them with the harmonic fluid. Maybe the Emperor uses it to hypnotize them or something.”

  “Creepy,” Scott said. “Like a remote control—for humans!”

  “Exactly. And that would explain why the mayor and these officials said there weren’t any giant bats. They were under the Emperor’s power.”

  “It’s like this movie I saw where people were taken over by plants from outer space, and they all became pod people!” Scott said. “So how do we get them out of here?”

  Victor considered the question. “We can’t. Not yet. We’re just here to collect information.”

  “But won’t they—hang on a second . . .”

  “What?”

  “Dust. I’m gonna sneeze . . .”

  “No!” Victor looked around. He snatched up a sheet of paper from the top of the crate and shoved it in front of Scott’s face.

  “Aaaaaaa-CHOOO! Phew! Thanks.” Scott wiped his nose with the paper and stuffed it into his pocket.

  Victor peered over the crate at the Wright brothers. They hadn’t heard.

  He rifled through the papers on the crate. “Hey, check out these plans!”

  “Uh, Victor?”

  “They’re blueprints of their giant plane. This could be the key to everything.”

  “Victor! They’re waking up!”

  Chief Hawkins was the first to rise, followed by Katie Kaitlyn. One by one, they all stood, tottering from side to side like zombies, their eyes fixated on Victor and Scott. Mayor Milstead raised her arm, pointed at the boys, and shrieked.

  A siren blared from above. Lights flashed. Victor looked up and saw a security camera swiveling directly over their heads. Far at the other end of the long room, the Wright brothers turned in alarm.

  “Run!” Scott shouted, already halfway to the door.

  Victor grabbed an armful of blueprints and dashed for the exit as Scott disappeared through the doorway just ahead.

  Fwooooooosh!

  Suddenly, Orville Wright stood before him, blocking the door.

  “How did you—?” Victor gasped for breath. “You . . . you were way back there!”

  Orville grasped a strange device, the size of an electric razor. Two long, sharp needles extended from it. Orville drew closer and aimed it at Victor’s throat.

  “No!” Victor scrambled back.

  Fwooooooosh!

  Wilbur stood behind him. Like Orville, he also clutched a double-needle device.

  “You should not have come here.” Wilbur’s voice was low and menacing.

  “Prepare to join us,” Orville said, pressing a button on the device. The needles began to hum.

  “Hey, vampires—say cheese!”

  There was a bright flash. Orville and Wilbur dropped their weapons and staggered back, shielding their eyes.

  Flash! Flash! Flash!

  Scott shot three more pictures. “Come on, Victor!”

  Victor and Scott sprinted for the door and slammed it shut behind them.

  Thunk!

  Two sharp needles pierced the wooden door inches from Victor’s ear.

  Scott shot down the stairs. Victor scrambled behind. Ten steps down, his foot slipped and he tumbled the rest of the way. He landed flat on his back, and the blueprints scattered all over the floor.

  Victor groaned and looked up. The brothers were standing at the top of the stairs, brandishing their weapons.

  Fighting the pain, Victor clambered out the window. As he hung from the sill, he suddenly remembered the blueprints on the floor. They were too important to leave behind.

  Fwoooooooshhhhh!

  The Wright brothers stood at the window, inches from Victor’s face. He let go of the windowsill and dropped to the pavement below.

  THUNK! THUNK!

  Above, the needles punctured the windowsill. Blue harmonic fluid splashed into the air.

  “Run!” Victor yelled to Scott. “Really, really fast!”

  As they tore down the alley, Victor glanced back to see the Wright brothers watching from the window, shielding their eyes from the midday sun.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Reading Between the Lines

  “And that machine you saw,” Franklin said, from across the kitchen table. “Why do you suppose it controlled only those people? Why not everyone in the city?”

  “I think I know,” said Victor. “When I was climbing out the window, one of the brothers came at me with a strange weapon. It had two needles for injecting harmonic fluid. My theory is that’s how the Emperor has taken control of them.”

  “By shooting it into their necks,” Scott added. “Vampire style!”

  “I’m still not sure I understand,” said Franklin. “How exactly does the harmonic fluid give him control?”

  “Remember when we tried to use your body as an antenna for the electrophone?” Victor said. “This is the same idea.”

  “I see,” said Franklin. “When the brothers inject harmonic fluid into people’s bodies, that makes them into antennas too.”

  Victor snapped his fingers. “And I just remembered something else. At the warehouse, the noise that giant machine was making sounded a lot like the noise that came out of my phone.”

  “But my grandfather’s radio didn’t make that noise,” said Scott.

  “No, it didn’t. But it did fall into the harmonic fluid. It could be sending a different signal, like static, that drives Ben and the Wright brothers crazy.”

  “Then the machine at the warehouse—and the cell phone call at Ernie’s—were broadcasting something more specific,” Franklin said grimly. “Instructions from the Emperor that cannot be disobeyed.”

  “So if those needles had hit us,” Scott asked, “then we would have been under his control too?”

  Victor gulped.

  “It’s brilliant in its own depraved way,” Franklin admitted. “First the Emperor took control of the
Wright brothers, then used them to take over others. One shudders to imagine his next move.”

  “After we got far enough away from the warehouse,” Victor said, “I called the number on Jaime’s cell phone and left a message reporting what we’d seen.”

  “Then I smashed the phone with a brick,” Scott said. “It was awesome!”

  “That might explain the communication I received,” Franklin said. “In all the excitement, it slipped my mind. Just before you arrived, the electrophone began broadcasting again.”

  Victor sat up straight. “What did it say?”

  Franklin looked around the kitchen cautiously.

  “No words,” Franklin said. “Only letters and numbers. I would estimate the broadcast lasted only ten minutes before ceasing entirely. I was fortunate to be in the lab at the time.”

  He reached into a pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. “I’m no stranger to puzzles, but I’ve gone over this a dozen times and admit that I am baffled.”

  He handed the slip of paper to Victor, who unfolded it and read.

  “C-6-H-8-O-7.”

  “Maybe it’s another code,” Scott suggested.

  “This is no code, it’s a chemical formula,” Victor said. He switched on his phone and connected to the Internet. “Yup, citric acid. The stuff in oranges. Why would Jaime send this?”

  The front door opened. “Hi, boys,” Mrs. Godwin said. She dropped her gardening trowel into the sink and reached into her back pocket. “Victor, a girl handed me this flyer a few minutes ago. She told me you’d asked for information about summer volunteer work. Good for you.”

  “Really?” Victor said. He glanced at the paper. The heading read “Maintain Our Parks.”

  “Mr. Benjamin, I need to run down to the store for some of those new lightbulbs. Do you mind keeping an eye on the boys?”

  “Not at all,” Franklin replied.

  After she left, Victor put the flyer on the table for the others to see. “Here’s another piece of our puzzle.”

  “What do you mean?” Scott asked.

  “Don’t you see?” Victor said. “Maintain Our Parks—M-O-P. This must be a message from the Order. And that girl must have been Jaime.”

  Victor read it aloud.

  “Moms, dads, brothers and sisters!

  “Please help us with our plan to control litter in Fairmount Park! Everyone in Philadelphia is invited to help us clean it up this Wednesday, from morning until night, using whatever tools you have at hand. Rain clouds or sunny skies, we’ll be there.

  “Be sure to stop by the registration tent at Lemon Hill Mansion to sign in. And don’t forget your glove and bat. Afterward, we’ll celebrate with a softball game and a recycled paper airplane contest.

  “Thanks for your help. Philadelphia needs you!

  “What a strange message,” Victor said. “Why did she hand-deliver it?”

  “Yeah, she could have just called,” Scott said. “You know, on the electrophone.”

  “She did call on the electrophone,” Franklin reminded him. “The question is, how are the two messages related?”

  Victor placed the chemical formula on the table next to the flyer. “Now, that’s interesting.”

  “What do you see, my boy?” Franklin asked.

  “The letter mentions the mansion at Fairmount Park—Lemon Hill. Oranges aren’t the only fruits that contain citric acid. Lemons do too. I think that’s a hint. Come here!”

  Franklin and Scott followed Victor to a lamp. Victor removed the lamp shade and flicked the switch. He held the letter over the hot lightbulb.

  “If you dip a toothpick in lemon juice and write on paper,” Victor explained, “it dries clear. But the citric acid in the juice weakens the paper slightly. Then, when it’s held over heat, the invisible writing turns brown.”

  “Invisible ink,” Franklin said. “Of course!”

  They stared at the paper as dark lines began to appear beneath certain words.

  TOOTHPICK

  MAINTAIN OUR PARKS

  MOMS, DADS, BROTHERS AND SISTERS!

  Please help us with our plan to control litter in Fairmount Park! Everyone in Philadelphia is invited to help us clean it up this Wednesday, from morning until night, using whatever tools you have at hand. Rain clouds or sunny skies, we’ll be there.

  Be sure to stop by the registration tent at Lemon Hill Mansion to sign in. And don’t forget your glove and bat. Afterward, we’ll celebrate with a softball game and a recycled paper airplane contest.

  Thanks for your help.

  Philadelphia needs you!

  Victor removed the letter from the hot bulb and handed it to Franklin.

  “This is terrible,” Franklin said, frowning. He read the secret message aloud.

  “Brothers plan to control everyone in Philadelphia this Wednesday night, using rain clouds. Stop the bat airplane. Philadelphia needs you!”

  INVISIBLE INK INSTRUCTIONS

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  A Daring Plan

  “Rain clouds?” Scott said. “How are they going to use rain clouds to control everyone?”

  “How indeed?” Franklin mused. “The brothers have already demonstrated that they can control people, but only on an individual basis. This must be the next step in their plan.”

  “We need to know more about that bat airplane,” Victor said. “If we can find its weakness, we might be able to—”

  “Aaaa-choo!” Scott sneezed into the crook of his arm. “Excuse me.” He sniffled. “Dust.”

  “One of these days, I shall have to give this laboratory a thorough cleaning.” Franklin searched his jacket. “I’m afraid I haven’t a handkerchief for you.”

  “That’s okay,” Scott said. He reached into his pocket, found a piece of paper, and brought it up to his nose.

  “Hold it!” Victor shouted. “That piece of paper—”

  “It’s okay,” Scott said. “I only used it once. The other side’s clean.”

  “No, that’s not it. Please, just lay it out on the table.”

  Scott sniffled and unfolded the paper. The page was covered in words, numbers, and diagrams.

  “Blueprints from the warehouse!” Victor said.

  “Sure. You gave it to me when I had to sneeze. Hey, it’s a drawing of that bat airplane thing.”

  “A stroke of luck,” Franklin said, adjusting his bifocals.

  A diagram of the large bat airplane filled most of the page. Written above it was the word Megabat. At the bottom, the diagram depicted a large tank suspended beneath the Megabat with a dozen spray nozzles sticking out of it. The words Harmonic Fluid were written to the side of the tank.

  “Jaime said that the Wright brothers would use clouds to control everyone,” Franklin said. “They must mean to use harmonic fluid to poison the rain! It pains me to think that Promethean inventors could be capable of such evil.”

  “But remember, the Wright brothers aren’t really responsible,” Victor said. “It’s the Emperor. They’re just under his control.”

  “Who is this Emperor anyway?” Scott asked.

  “We don’t know,” Franklin said. “But now that he knows who we are, that makes him even more dangerous.”

  MEGABAT BLUEPRINT

  “So how do we stop him?” Victor said. “The Wright brothers are going to strike in just a few days. It’s too risky to return to the bicycle factory.”

  “It is risky to go most anywhere,” Franklin said. “The Emperor is sure to be watching. We must plan our next steps carefully.”

  He stood and paced the laboratory floor.

  “If we can’t reach the airplane while it’s inside the warehouse,” reasoned Franklin, “then we will have to wait until it is out in the open, on the evening of their plan.”

  “Won’t that be cutting it kind of close?” Scott asked.

  “I think Ben’s right,” said Victor. “It’s our only option. But even once it’s out in the open, how will we stop it?”

  “We could use
a net,” Scott suggested. “That’s how my dad catches bats in our attic. If we had a giant butterfly net, we could grab them when they fly by.”

  “Scott, please,” said Victor. “We’re trying to think.”

  “Now, now, Victor. Scott might be on to something.” Franklin leaned in. “What if we could build a net? Could we make it strong enough to bring down the Megabat?”

  “It’s ridiculous,” said Victor. “We can’t make a net that big. And even if we could, there’s no way we could make it strong enough. The Megabat would fly right through it.”

  “But you’re forgetting,” Franklin said, “their airplane will be carrying a massive tank of harmonic fluid. That means it may be susceptible to an overdose of electricity, just like me. What if we were to invent an electric net?”

  “Yeah, that’s what I meant!” Scott said. “An electric net!”

  Victor shook his head. “For one thing, to bring down the Megabat we’d need a phenomenal amount of electricity. Where would that come from? And besides, how would we get the net in the air? It’s crazy.”

  “If I didn’t know better,” said Franklin, with a wink, “I’d say you were telling us to go fly a kite.”

  BENJAMIN FRANKLIN’S KITE EXPERIMENT

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  The Man in the Silver Suit

  An hour later, Ben, Victor, and Scott were studying a crude diagram on the chalkboard. It was a combination of Franklin’s inventiveness and Victor’s knowledge of modern-day technology. For his part, Scott had contributed several cartoon drawings of vampire bats floating in the sky above.

  “Okay,” said Victor, “suppose we do manage to build this electrified net of kites. The weather forecast calls for rain showers but not thunderstorms. Without lightning, we can’t electrify the net.”

  “Then we shall have to create it ourselves,” Franklin said.

  “Create lightning?” Victor said. “How?”

  “My dad is a meteorologist,” said Scott. “He knows tons about lightning.”