by Kim Long
“No, they always throw worksheets in every once in a while. No biggie. It won’t take long.”
Lexi exited the room and steered toward an empty bench at the end of the hall. She plopped down, grabbed a pen, and set the worksheet to her side. Mal and Ron lingered in front of her, swaying into her light. As she started to ask them to move, an idea flashed to her. She checked her watch. 9:25 p.m.
“Hey, you know what? Since I’m doing this, why don’t you guys go outside and do your thing?” Mal and Ron stared at her, mouths slightly agape. She continued, “Seriously. Ron, you can go sell stuff.” Lexi turned to Mal. “And there must be a few interesting buildings nearby, right? Why don’t you take some photos? Leave me the tablet in case I need it, and we can meet at the front of the museum in about twenty minutes? Say nine forty-five p.m.? Then we’ll walk back together.”
Lexi didn’t have to ask twice. Without a word, Mal gave Lexi the tablet, and she and Ron tore down the hall. Lexi settled back on the bench. Now she could focus 100 percent.
She read the entire problem, underlining the specific calculations as she went along. Then, she read everything again, just in case the tournament directors included something sneaky. Not seeing anything out of the ordinary, she relaxed a bit and performed the requested computations until she arrived at her answer: 505.
10. Reverse the numbers.
Lexi paused. 505 was the same backward and forward. She rechecked her math and the formula she used to determine the number of neutrons in each element. Mass number minus Atomic number equals number of neutrons. Everything seemed right. 505. Maybe that was supposed to be the sneaky part.
She walked to Da Vinci’s painting. Four stacks of tickets bordered the portrait:
A: 100–349 B: 350–549 C: 550–750 D: 800 and over
Her answer of 505 meant Group B. After a pat of the Brewers logo on her lucky T-shirt, Lexi snatched the B ticket and crossed the room to the booth.
“Hi,” she said, tapping her paper.
“Cześć! What’s it going to be?” the official greeted. He produced a tablet, which displayed four boxes on the screen, each one marked with an A, B, C, or D.
“B,” Lexi answered, handing in the ticket and her worksheet.
The official initialed the bottom of her worksheet. “All right. You’re set.” He handed Lexi a set of earbuds. “I’ll plug these in, you hit B, and you’re ready to go.”
Lexi accepted the earbuds, but stalled. A video clue? Maybe she should find Mal and Ron so they could listen with her. She pushed from the counter, then caught the time—9:35 p.m. If she left to retrieve her teammates, she’d lose her place in line.
Pulling out her notebook, Lexi returned to the counter. It wasn’t like Mal and Ron were great notetakers. Heck, Mal hadn’t even taken notes at the start of the race, and Ron had written the most obvious and silly things. Besides, if the clue had anything to do with science, neither teammate would be of any help. Convinced she was doing the right thing, Lexi inserted the earbuds and selected the box marked B.
Dr. Bressler flashed onto the screen. Clean-shaven with curly blond hair, he was the lone American on the teleport team. He designed the first telepod after Dr. Vogt developed the teleportation medallion.
“Hello, there!” Dr. Bressler said. “And congratulations! As Dr. Vogt told you earlier, the seed of any scientific invention is the spark of an idea and then holding true to your idea when others may doubt you. I’m here to welcome you to the next step in your journey—figuring out how to take your idea and make it a reality.” Dr. Bressler pressed his fingertips together so that they formed a steeple. “It’s not glamorous to be in the trenches, testing and tinkering day after day. But it’s these long hours of trial and tribulation that prove crucial to ultimate success. As you continue, remember that many great discoveries were made only after hundreds of failed attempts. Don’t get discouraged, and good luck!”
Lexi gaped at her notebook. Dr. Bressler talked fast. She had scribbled only a few phrases, and nothing pertinent to a destination. Perhaps the video was what he said it was—a good-luck message, much like Dr. Vogt’s at the start of the tournament. She removed the earbuds, and the official handed her an unsealed blue envelope with “DESTINATION NO. 4” printed on the outside and a sticker of a stoat.
“Here you go,” he said.
“Thanks,” Lexi replied, backing away. She placed the sticker on the team’s Trek Tracker. Three down, six to go. She took a breath. Based on previous tournaments, there would likely be three stickers a day. Team RAM should be on pace, though they were cutting it close and she still had no idea if they had made the top thirty.
Lexi exhaled again and reminded herself to think positive. It was perfectly possible Haley and the other teams were back with Stanislaw and waiting in the rest area. In a few minutes, Team RAM would be with them, and she and Haley would have the rest of the night to catch up.
Three teams stormed into the room.
With a new sense of urgency, Lexi jammed the Trek Tracker in her pack and scurried out. She had to collect Ron and Mal and get to the teleport station as soon as possible—just in case there was only one spot left.
The night breeze ripped through her hair, and Lexi pulled on her sweatshirt. Not seeing either teammate, she confirmed the time. 9:40 p.m. She clenched her fists and ordered her pounding heart to slow. The other teams still had to complete the calculations and watch the video. Even if they knew the elemental properties by heart like she did, it’d still take time.
Exhaling, she eased her grip on the envelope and peeked inside. As long as she had to wait, she might as well read the next clue.
Did you choose the correct answer? MAYBE YES, MAYBE NO. If not, you’ll be told at your next destination and given another chance to get it right along with another puzzle to solve. If your answer was correct, you’ll proceed directly to the next stop.
To continue:
Travel to the country where Madame Curie became a citizen. If you need help determining exactly where to go, turn to the next page. Plot the fifty landmarks on the enclosed map via their longitude and latitude coordinates. Then, connect the dots as instructed on page three. Five of these lines will intersect at the location that serves as your next destination!
Lexi flipped to the next page and glimpsed the list.
LIST OF LANDMARKS
A. Taj Mahal
B. Roman Colosseum
C. Stonehenge
D. Grand Canyon
WHAT?!!
Eyes wide, Lexi stopped reading after the first few names. She knew Madame Curie became a French citizen, so their next destination was going to be somewhere in France—but figuring out exactly where in France they were supposed to go was going to take forever. Hands trembling, she unfolded the enclosed map. It was almost as large as her Teleport Tableau! Her breathing quickened, and she wiped her now sweaty forehead. According to the clue, she had to find the coordinates, plot the coordinates, and then connect them? She turned to the third page to skim that part of the puzzle.
1. Connect Point J to F to X
2. Connect Point K to G to ZZ
3. Connect Point L to AA to M
The page blurred before her, and Lexi closed her eyes. There had to be over fifty instructions on how to connect the fifty coordinates. This would take hours.
Hours. The thought of time nudged her to check her watch. 9:47 p.m. She surveyed her surroundings. Still no Mal or Ron. Scrambling, Lexi folded the map and stuffed it and the clue inside the envelope. Pack swinging in her hand, she stormed down the street to find her teammates.
Soon, Ron’s voice bellowed from ahead. “Green Bay Packers! Shirts, caps, and jerseys. Right here. Right now! All the way from America! Get it while you can.”
Panting, Lexi stomped to him. “Hey, you guys were supposed to meet me at the museum five minutes ago.”
Ron didn’t budge. “Sales, Magill.”
Lexi shifted her weight and set a hand on her hip. “Well, no one’s he
re now. Teams are right behind us. There’s eliminations tonight, remember? And you should see the next clue we have to solve. We need to get back.”
Ron sighed. “All right, all right. Chill.” He stooped to repack his merchandise.
“Mal!” Lexi called, looking around. She didn’t see her teammate. “Where is she?”
Ron heaved the pack onto his back. “What do you mean?”
“She wasn’t at the museum. Isn’t she with you?”
“Nope.”
Great. “Fine. Let’s go back. She’s probably waiting for us.”
Ron and Lexi hurried down the block toward the museum. Lexi furrowed her brow as they got closer, not seeing Mal anywhere in the vicinity.
“This is ridiculous,” she said, glaring at Ron. “Do you have any idea where she went?”
“Nope. She didn’t come out with me. She said she had to run to the bathroom first.”
“Oh.” Lexi eyed the entrance. She couldn’t believe Mal was still inside, but she also couldn’t imagine where else her teammate might have gone. She scratched her head. Forget tracking devices in the Tel-Meds. She needed them in her teammates! Groaning, she reached for the door handle.
The museum door banged open, and a purple team rushed out. A girl halted a few paces from Lexi. “Oh, hey—your teammate’s not doing too good.”
“What?”
“She’s in the bathroom.”
Lexi’s heart thumped at the thought of having to quit if Mal couldn’t race anymore. “She’s sick?” Lexi asked.
The girl shook her head. “She can’t find her Tel-Med.”
“What?”
The girl ran toward her teammates, who hadn’t slowed. She yelled over her shoulder, “She thinks she flushed it down the toilet!”
CHAPTER EIGHT
Lexi spun from the museum to Ron and then back to the museum, her hands shaking. “What? How?” she huffed, rubbing her forehead.
“Come on,” Ron said, nudging Lexi to the door. “Let’s check.”
Lexi followed Ron to the restrooms, all the while convincing herself the purple-shirted girl was playing a cruel joke. Surely, Mal was snapping photos somewhere, and she and her Tel-Med were safe. Team RAM couldn’t end like this. They reached the restroom door, and Ron stopped.
“What are you doing?” Lexi asked, stepping past him.
Ron’s face contorted into a perplexed expression. “Duh, it’s a women’s bathroom. I can’t go in there.”
Lexi pushed open the door. “Are you kidding me? There’s no one here except us, and the museum’s gonna close in—” Lexi checked the time. “Four minutes! Come on!”
Ron didn’t budge, and Lexi entered, leaving him in the hall.
Down on her hands and knees, Mal was crawling under the sinks. She had torn sheets of toilet paper and bunched them under each knee and hand so as not to touch the floor. Slowly, she inched along, peering to her left and right.
“Mal?” Lexi called as she dropped her backpack on a bench next to Mal’s. “What on Earth are you doing?”
Mal reached the corner of the bathroom and stood. With scraps of toilet paper stuck to her knees, a rumpled shirt, and frazzled hair, fashion-show Mal had disappeared. A stressed-out girl with splotchy red cheeks and watery eyes stood in her place. She bundled up a wad of toilet paper that had been stuck to her knee and tossed it in the trash. “This is useless. I was hoping I was wrong, but it’s got to be in the toilet. It’s the only place left.”
Lexi approached her teammate. “What happened?”
“My Tel-Med,” Mal said, using the back of her hand to brush away a tear. “It was in my skirt pocket with my gum. As I was straightening my skirt, I saw the stick of gum sticking out of the pocket, so I pulled it out to put it in my purse. The Tel-Med came out with it. I heard it clink against the sink, or the floor, or something, but I can’t find it.” Mal spread out her arms. “I’ve gone over every inch of the floor, the sinks, the bench, everywhere. It’s not here. It had to have flown into a toilet.”
“You kept your Tel-Med in that tiny pocket?!” Lexi screeched before she could stop herself. “It’s one thing not to wear cargoes, but—”
After another look at Mal’s pitiful face, Lexi slammed her mouth shut. Yelling wasn’t going to get them anywhere. She flexed her fingers. Work the problem. That’s what a scientist does. Keep your head and work the problem.
She forced a small smile in Mal’s direction. “Well, let’s uh… let’s see if we can find it, huh?”
Lexi walked to the bathroom stalls. She flung open each door and inspected the floor and behind the toilet. “I don’t see it,” she said, returning. “Did anyone use the toilets afterward?”
Mal wiped her nose with her wrist. “No. Another team was here, but they flushed before it happened.”
“If no one went to the bathroom, I don’t see how it could have been flushed away.”
“I know, but where else could it be? Maybe it sunk into the toilet bowl and clanked down the pipe. We’re not going to know unless we look.” Mal wrung her hands. “I don’t think I can do it. Can you?”
Lexi squirmed. Had she really been reduced to inspecting toilet bowls for Tel-Meds?
“Excuse me,” a female voice said as Lexi stared into a stall and contemplated the most efficient way to perform the Tel-Med diving expedition.
Lexi turned. “Yeah?”
Martyna held open the restroom door. Ron slinked in beside her. Martyna gave a startled look at Ron before returning her eyes to Lexi. “I’m sorry, but it’s ten o’clock. We’re closing. You’ll have to come back tomorrow.” Martyna patted Ron’s elbow. “And, sir, um, the men’s room is across the way.”
“I know,” Ron said, crossing his arms. He tipped his head to Mal. “My friend lost her Tel-Med somewhere in here. I thought maybe I could help look.”
“Oh my. I’m sorry, but—”
“It’s got to be here,” Lexi said. “Can you please give us five more minutes? Please?”
Martyna pursed her lips and started to shake her head, but stopped. “All right, five minutes. I’ll be back.”
Lexi adjusted her glasses and readied herself for her first dive. They had to get the Tel-Med now. Assuming they made the top thirty elimination tonight, returning tomorrow would put them too far behind. The top teams could already be at the next location. She stepped toward the toilet and crouched.
No.
Lexi shot up. Before she plunged her hand into toilet water, she had to make sure she exhausted all the other possibilities. Seriously—could Mal’s Tel-Med really have flown over the top of a stall and fallen perfectly into a toilet?
The door banged open. “I’m sorry,” Martyna called. “But security says you have to leave.”
Heart in her throat, Lexi backed out of the stall. The guard approached. “Let’s go.”
Lexi yanked her arm away. “What? No!”
The guard shifted and, setting a hand on Lexi’s back, nudged her toward the door. “This way, please.”
Lexi gripped the edge of a stall, refusing to budge. “But we can’t go yet. I have to find my friend’s Tel-Med. It’s somewhere in here.”
The guard unclasped Lexi’s fingers. He placed a hand on Lexi’s shoulder and his other hand on Mal’s elbow. “I’m sorry, but you’ll have to come back tomorrow. Don’t worry. We’ll make a note for the lost and found. If our cleaning crew finds it, we’ll leave it for you at the counter.”
“But—” Mal started.
“Can’t we—” Lexi said.
“Sir, please back up,” the guard said to Ron as he led the girls to the door.
Ron darted his eyes around the restroom before settling on Lexi. Slumping, he backed out, clearing their path. As the guard prodded her forward, Lexi grabbed her backpack and whirled for one last look.
Nothing.
Stumbling into Ron and Mal, she exited, and soon Team RAM was on the wrong side of the locked museum door, their search for the Tel-Med coming to an abrupt end.
>
Laughter sounded in the distance, and Lexi glared in its direction. An orange T-shirt streaked ahead before disappearing into the night. It was the final straw. Hands clenched, Lexi faced Mal and erupted.
“How could you keep your Tel-Med in that tiny pocket? What were you thinking?” Lexi threw her hands in the air. “Do you realize what this means? Even if we somehow aren’t eliminated tonight, we have to come back here tomorrow morning while everyone else gets to travel to the next stop.” She set her hands on her hips. “And there’s no guarantee we’re even going to find the Tel-Med. I mean, you looked for it. I looked for it. With the cleaning crew in there tonight, it could get shoved down a drain or something. Or even farther down the toilet.”
“Lexi, hang on,” Ron started. “It’s not like she did it on purpose.”
“It doesn’t matter!” Lexi shouted, panic consuming every ounce of her body. She whipped her cap off her head as visions of another year of public school, her lonely lunch table, and quiet nights inside her bedroom without Haley’s e-mails, texts, and calls rushed over her. She stomped her foot. “Don’t you realize what this means? We’re out. It’s over.”
“Sorry, Lexi,” Mal croaked. “But it really was an accident.”
Tears burned Lexi’s eyes. She could hardly catch her breath. She opened her mouth to continue, but caught Mal’s look of distress. Lexi’s stomach panged, and the knot of anger morphed into a ball of guilt. Of course it was an accident, and Mal obviously felt terrible about it.
“Hey, maybe we can borrow a Tel-Med from someone,” Ron offered.
Lexi waved him off. “No,” she scowled. “It won’t have the tracking and disabling chip. Dr. Harrison was clear about that at the starting line, remember? He said that was the only time they could install them. If we can’t find hers, it means no more racing.”