by Raymond Bean
Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
PART ONE Chapter 1: I’d Love to Chat, But…
Chapter 2: Saddle Up
Chapter 3: Captain?
Chapter 4: The Situation
Chapter 5: The Bottom
Chapter 6: Security Glitch
Chapter 7: Zillionaire55
Chapter 8: The Drill
Chapter 9: The Plan
Chapter 10: Homeward
PART TWO Chapter 11: Three Billion Is Bonkers
Chapter 12: Merci
Chapter 13: I Get Your Point, But I Don’t Like It
Chapter 14: Name Your Price
Chapter 15: Special Delivery
Chapter 16: Invisible Data
Chapter 17: Welcome To My Lair
Chapter 18: It’s All About You
Chapter 19: Invisible Money
Chapter 20: The Hero Never Sticks Around
About the Author
Copyright
Back Cover
Chapter 1
I’d Love to Chat, But…
When I invented the world-famous Excuse Yourself app, I made it for kids. I didn’t expect so many adults to want to use it too. But my data shows that more adults use Excuse Yourself than kids! It’s not very helpful to them, of course, because it’s designed to solve everyday kids’ problems, like forgetting homework or “accidentally” feeding the dog your lunch. Stuff like that.
I thought about creating an adult version of Excuse Yourself but figured it would probably be totally boring creating an app that helps adults get out of work, paying bills, and whatever else adults do. Also, I don’t have the time. Since creating Excuse Yourself, I’ve been super busy. It seems like every time there’s a catastrophe about to happen that adults can’t figure out, they want my help.
But I’m not complaining. I’ve built a business helping the world’s most successful people get out of some of the world’s most dangerous situations.
I don’t mean to brag, but I’m what you might call superhero-ish. I don’t have a cape or a costume or anything like that, but I know how to save the day.
When I got the call for my latest mission, I was at lunch. It was pretty bad timing because Cindy Meyers—the biggest pain in the rump at my school—was sitting directly across from me. We’re allowed to have phones at school, but we’re not supposed to take calls, so I put in my earbuds to make it look like I was only listening to music.
It was a video call, and I recognized the number. I clicked the answer icon, and Sir Robert appeared on my screen.
“Good afternoon, Master Franklin!”
I nodded without saying anything.
“You seem a bit stiff, lad. Are you all right?” asked Sir Robert.
I nodded again. Cindy was staring right at me, arms crossed.
“I see you talking on your phone, Benji Franklin,” she said, taking out her own phone. “I’m emailing this to the principal. So I suggest you hang up.” Cindy is in charge of the school Decency Committee. She’s always on the lookout for kids breaking the rules. For some reason, she seems to be everywhere I go.
“I can’t talk right now,” I whispered to Sir Robert. “I’m going to get in trouble.”
“Nonsense!” he insisted. “Something’s come up that requires your immediate attention.”
“I’m at lunch right now,” I told him, “and I’m really going to get into trouble if I keep talking.”
“Don’t be absurd. I’ll contact your principal and let her know you’re needed straight away.”
I smiled, clicked speaker, removed the earbuds, and glancing at Cindy, said, “Can you repeat that last part, Sir Robert? I didn’t hear you clearly.”
“I said, you’re not going to get in any trouble. I’ll contact your principal and let her know you’re needed urgently,” repeated Sir Robert.
Cindy stuck out her tongue.
“Now kindly stop showing off and take me off speaker,” he said. I did and he went on. “I received a call from an associate of mine who finds himself in an explosive situation. I suggested he contact you.”
“What’s the problem?” I asked.
“I wish it were that simple, Benji,” Sir Robert explained. “It’s more like PROBLEMS. He’ll give you a call and provide the location. You’ll need to get there as soon as possible. Use your spaceship, and don’t forget to bring that new submarine of yours.”
I’d purchased my new submarine a few weeks earlier. I had it painted solid gold with tangerine orange lightning bolts on the sides. It’s designed to go to the deepest parts of the ocean, and it’s stuffed with the best technology available.
“It sounds like fun,” I said, “but you’d better call my mom and dad and make sure it’s okay that I go.”
“Already done. Your bags are being packed as we speak. Have a safe journey. Over and out.”
“You think you’re such a big shot!” Cindy shouted as I hung up.
“People get in trouble, and they call on me to save the day. I’m like Batman,” I growled.
My phone rang. “Excuse me, as much as I’d love to stay and chat,” I told Cindy, “I have to take this.”
I walked out of the cafeteria, into the hall, and stopped at a door that read “storage.” I glanced over my shoulder to make sure no one was watching. The closet was locked, but when I held my hand over the word storage, a scanner recognized my fingerprints and unlocked it. I closed the door behind me and answered the call.
“Benji Franklin here. How can I help?” I whispered. I’d converted the storage closet into my private office a few weeks earlier. Every superhero needs a hideout or secret place to escape for a while.
A nervous voice on the other end of the phone said, “Sir Robert told me to call. I need your help.”
I walked farther into my nest, sat at my desk, and turned on the computer. Several screens blinked to life. “What’s the problem?” I asked.
“I can’t explain now. I’ll email you my location. Please, get here as fast as possible,” said the man.
“Who is this?” I asked.
The call started breaking up, and I heard a loud rumbling in the background. “It’s happening again! Please get here as soon as you can, before this place blows up and —”
The call dropped, and he was gone. I tried to call him back a few times, but I couldn’t get through.
I leaned back in my chair thinking about what the man had said. I wondered what the rumbling noise was in the background and what he meant when he said the place might blow up. It sounded pretty dangerous and intense. I couldn’t wait to get to work.
The only person who knew about my secret hideaway was Mrs. Petty, the school principal. She agreed to let me use it as long as I didn’t tell the other kids. Mrs. Petty has been really cool about letting me miss school when I have a mission. I just have to make sure to get my class work done too, which has been a bit of a challenge.
Sir Robert doesn’t think I should even go to school anymore. He thinks I should focus on my business, but my mom and dad want me to be like other kids my age and go to school.
“Location received,” the computer said.
“Thanks, Saunders. Where are we headed?” I asked excitedly.
Saunders is my digital assistant. He’s a super-intelligent computer program loaded into all my electronics. He’s always there when I need him.
A map of the world appeared on the screen. A location blinked in
the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.
“I’ll send for the car,” Saunders said. “Don’t forget to check in with Mrs. Petty before leaving early.”
Chapter 2
Saddle Up
About ten minutes later, Mrs. Petty and I stood at the back of the school waiting for my car to pick me up early. It’s one of the perks of being a zillionaire. I don’t have to wait for my parents to drive me from place to place. I have a chauffeur.
“I’ll have someone contact you with the assignments you’ll need to make up while you’re away,” Mrs. Petty said. “How long will you be gone?”
“I don’t know,” I said.
“Have your parents give me a call once you know the details,” she requested.
“Will do,” I said as the limo pulled up.
“You’d think you were a secret agent or the president the way you’re whisked around the world,” Mrs. Petty said.
“I like to think of myself as more of a superhero type,” I reminded her.
“Just make sure you get your work done, Mr. Superhero.” She smiled.
My driver, Mr. Kensington, opened the limo’s door. Kensington used to work for Sir Robert, but he was the driver on my first mission and has been with me ever since.
As we headed to our first destination, I tried calling Sir Robert again, but he still didn’t answer.
“Do you know where Sir Robert is?” I asked Kensington.
“He’s on vacation, Mr. Franklin,” he said.
“Yes, that’s what his voicemail says, but I need to get in touch with him,” I insisted.
“I’ll let him know that if I hear from him, sir,” said Kensington.
A few moments later, Kensington dropped me off at Mom’s farm. She runs a bunch of food pantries, and all the vegetables, milk, and meat for the pantries comes from her farm. She used to struggle to have enough food to donate to people, so I bought the farm for her. She says I’m the most thoughtful son in the world. Who am I to argue?
The farm used to be a small airport. It’s not only the perfect place to raise animals and grow crops, but it’s also the perfect place to keep my spaceship. As far as I know, I’m the only kid in the world who owns one. Sir Robert gave it to me after I helped him out of a sticky situation. I keep it in a hangar toward the back of the farm. Mom was outside waiting for us when we pulled up.
“Your father is already down at the dock getting the submarine ready,” Mom said when I got out of the limo. “I spoke with the principal, and she said it’s okay if you miss a few days, but she sounded concerned about how much you’ve missed lately.”
“I’m not worried about it,” I said.
“That makes one of us,” Mom replied.
“Happy travels, sir. I’ll be here when you get back,” Kensington said.
I slapped his hand. “Thanks for the ride. I’ll see you in a few days.”
“I’ll look forward to it, sir,” he said. “Have a wonderful adventure.” His window hummed closed, and he drove off.
“Don’t worry, Mom. I’ve got it covered. Did Dad hear anything more from Sir Robert?” I asked.
“I don’t know, but it seems like you boys will be gone for a while. After this mission, I want you to take a break from all the traveling. The world will just have to learn to get on without you.”
“I don’t think that’s possible,” I said, winking.
“I have a feeling you might be right,” she said.
Once in the hangar, I held my hand up to the gold BF initials on the side of the spaceship.
The hand recognition device identified me, and the glass top lifted open. Steps unfolded out of the ship. I felt like a secret agent every time I climbed in.
As I sat in the pilot’s seat, the dashboard computer said, “Hello, Benji.”
“Hello, Saunders,” I said.
Mom climbed in too and sat in the copilot’s seat. There were empty snack wrappers all over the place and a few misplaced sweatshirts lying around. “You’re not going anywhere until this ship is cleaned up,” she said. “How many times have I told you that you have to take good care of this spaceship?”
“Eighty times, Mrs. Franklin,” Saunders said.
“Please let me handle this, Saunders,” I said.
“Sorry, Mom.” I pouted. “I was in here a few days ago and meant to clean up, but I forgot.”
“Nice try,” Saunders said.
“Thank you, Saunders, but please mind your own business,” I repeated.
After a quick lecture, Mom gave me a kiss, climbed out, and I fired up the engine.
“Opening roof,” Saunders said. “Prepare for takeoff.”
The roof on the hangar slowly opened up. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky. “Next stop, the docks,” Saunders said.
The ship launched perfectly, lifting off the ground like a super-charged helicopter. It rose up out of the hangar and then blasted forward.
In minutes, we were hovering above the sub at the docks. Dad’s face popped up on the dashboard screen. “Hi, son! Go ahead and attach the sub.”
“Activating magnets to attach the submarine,” Saunders confirmed.
I felt the magnetic field on the bottom of the ship activate. The sub started to rise from the water. It floated up slowly and in no time was firmly attached to the bottom of the ship.
“The sub is safely secured,” Saunders said.
A hatch in the ship’s floor lifted up, and Dad’s head appeared. “Well done!” he said. “The magnets worked perfectly.”
Dad had lined the bottom of the spaceship and the top of the submarine with superstrong magnets. By attaching the sub to the bottom of the ship, we could take it anywhere in the world.
Dad climbed the rest of the way up, and the hatch closed behind him. He plopped into the seat next to me and gave me a high-five.
A bunch of people stood on the other side of the docks looking like they’d just seen an alien. I gave a thumbs-up and threw the thrusters forward.We soared high above the water. Flying Saunders was pretty easy. I was in control, but he monitored everything I did. If I lost control, Saunders took over. I could also put him on autopilot, and he would take over completely.
“Where are we headed?” I asked.
“A string of islands in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean,” Saunders answered. “I have the location programmed.” A GPS map appeared on the screen in front of me.
“Thank you, Saunders,” I said.
It would have taken a really long time to fly all the way to the Atlantic Islands in a plane. In my spaceship, we can get there tons faster, because we can fly out of Earth’s atmosphere. Once out of the atmosphere, we aren’t so much flying as we were orbiting. I hit the boosters, and the speed was outrageous.
Below, the Earth looked like a giant blue marble. We raced toward the line where day met night. In no time at all, we had traveled across the United States and soared high over the Atlantic Ocean.
I was having so much fun Earth-gazing that I lost track of time. Before I knew it, we were starting our descent. We were in a totally different time zone when we reentered the atmosphere. I thought about how the kids at school were probably at lunch, and I was on the other side of the planet.
“Did Sir Robert tell you anything about what we’re doing here?” I asked Dad.
“He only said that it was complicated,” Dad said.
We followed the GPS to what looked like a large oil platform floating several miles off the shore of a small island. We hovered above it. I could make out several smaller ships docked to the larger platform. All kinds of machinery dotted the deck, but it was hard to make out through the darkness.
“Looks like they’re drilling for oil,” Dad said.
“Yeah, I don’t see any signs of trouble.”
I called the number that had sent us t
he coordinates.
“Hi, it’s Benji Franklin,” I said to the man who answered. “We’ve arrived, but I need a place to land my ship.”
“Are you in some kind of UFO or something?” asked the man.
“You could say that,” I replied. “I also need a place to drop my sub.”
“There’s a small airport on the island where you can land,” the man explained. “I’ve already notified them that you’ve arrived, but I’m pretty sure they weren’t expecting you so fast, and I know they weren’t expecting a flying saucer. You can drop your sub in the small harbor near the airport.”
He was still talking when the dashboard blinked. Saunders informed me that he had located the harbor and the airport.
“I’ve got the locations,” I said. “We’ll land my ship and then head out to meet you in the sub.”
“Please hurry,” the man said.
The island was very small and one of about a hundred that dotted the area. I could make out the lights of the small runway not far from the harbor. We lowered the ship, deactivated the magnets, and dropped the submarine into the harbor. I turned the ship and headed in the direction of the airport.
“You’re looking good,” Dad said. “I’d take her in slow. The runway is pretty small, and you don’t want to overshoot it.”
I slowed down the ship, which was a good thing because suddenly the lights of the runway vanished. And not just the runway lights, but the lights of the entire island! One minute the island was sparkling with streetlights and lights from houses, and the next it had vanished into the darkness of night as if someone had thrown a switch.
“Where’d it go?” I asked.
Dad turned on the emergency lights and flooded the ground below us with bright, white light.
“Looks like they lost power,” Dad said.
Saunders switched into autopilot mode.
Thankfully we made contact with the runway and landed safely. The runway was extremely small. I saw only two other planes. Both were rusted out and looked like they hadn’t been used in years.