by Kim Long
Shaking off Ron, Lexi closed her eyes. C’mon, Magill! Bottom of the ninth. Two outs. Down by one. You’re up to bat. Focus!
Someone was tapping her arm. Lexi snapped open her eyes. Ashley Sanborne and Comet Emma were staring at her. “You’re up,” Ashley said.
Stupid telepods. If she had a couple minutes alone with no distractions, Lexi knew she’d get it.
Lexi stepped onto the platform and took her position. Seconds later, she was standing outside of Miller Park, still without a clue of what they were supposed to do.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Lexi heard David and Daniel Sanborne first. Their shouts rose louder than the others. She flicked her eyes over the landscape. Those who had teleported before her cheered from the stadium’s outfield entrance gate. As Lexi spotted Mal and Ron waving wildly, Ashley Sanborne sped past Lexi. Moments later, Emma did, too.
Lexi took off, irritated that victory was going to come down to an old-fashioned footrace. Not teleport science. Not physics. A race. She tightened her jaw. This was supposed to be a teleportation tournament—not the Olympics.
She glanced ahead. Ashley and Emma greeted their teammates, and the Sanbornes and Comets slowed to a celebratory trot as they entered the stadium. Lexi pumped her legs harder on the off chance she could catch up.
Then it came to her. Physics principles! Gravity, force, acceleration—if she maintained her pace while others decelerated she would catch up. Plus, given the amount of energy it took to start up again, there was a chance she could close the gap even more if she ran faster.
Lexi pumped harder, and seconds later she neared Mal and Ron. She opened her mouth to yell for them to join her, but before she could speak, an incoming Tomoka sprinted past. Arms flailing in an effort to keep up, Lexi lost her balance. Her feet jolted, right foot then left, and tripped into each other. A second later, she was on the ground, skidding across the asphalt. After a bump and a thump, she came to a stop.
As Mal and Ron rushed to her, Lexi inspected the damage. Skinned hands and mild bruises—nothing serious. She had suffered worse from falling off her bike. Her legs, however, were a different story. Blood-scraped knees peeked through new holes in her cargo pants, and she winced as the fabric grazed the fresh wounds.
“Magill! You okay?” Ron asked as he approached.
“Yeah, that looked pretty nasty,” Mal added, stooping beside Lexi.
Lexi let Mal help her to her feet. “I think so. Tomoka caught me off guard.” She squinted toward the stadium’s entrance gate, where the other Phenoms had caught up to Tomoka. They disappeared inside, leaving Team RAM in fourth place. “Sorry. I thought maybe we had a chance of catching up if I ran really fast.”
Team RAM stood still, watching the stadium entrance. All was quiet.
“Should we go in?” Mal wondered aloud.
“Yeah,” Lexi said. “All the teams will be there. Families too.”
Mal scowled. “I have no desire to see a trophy presentation to Haley.”
“Me neither,” Ron said. “But we should be good sports.”
Lexi glanced at her dejected teammates. They’d come so close. She hated seeing them so defeated.
“Hey!” she yelled, punching a fist into her palm. “Top five is nothing to sneeze at. We beat forty-five other teams to get here, and none of us has ever raced before. I say that’s pretty good.”
Mal and Ron smiled.
“Come on,” Lexi said, leading her teammates the last fifty feet to the stadium entrance.
A security guard approached. “Hi, I’m Max. I’m here to guide you to your next destination. Where’s it gonna be?”
“To the field, I guess,” Ron said.
Max paused for an instant before replying, “This way then.” Ron and Mal followed a few steps.
“Wait!” Lexi said.
“What?” Ron said.
“Shh,” Lexi said. “Listen.”
No one spoke. The concourse was quiet.
“I don’t hear anything,” Mal said.
Lexi gave a firm nod. “Exactly. If someone won, wouldn’t we be hearing cheers? Or noise? Or something?”
Lexi slung off her backpack, retrieved her notebook, and opened it to the page of notes from the final clue. “They probably crossed home plate without that ninth sticker.” Lexi tapped the page. “Come on, you guys. If we figure out where it is and get there first, we can win!”
Mal and Ron huddled around Lexi as the guard stepped away and let them work. Lexi scanned the partially filled page. “My notes aren’t very good,” she grumbled, recalling how she missed part of Dr. Vogt’s speech. “They’re incomplete.”
“Oh! In that case, try mine,” Mal said, opening the cover of a shiny new notebook.
Handwriting covered the crisp page. Lexi’s jaw dropped. “Whaa—”
Mal twirled her hair and grinned. “Well, I figured it was time I joined the team and took notes, too.”
Lexi shook her head, not believing it. Mal had totally saved them.
“Anyway,” Mal said. “From what I have here, I’m thinking it’s got to be something with the countries.”
DR. VOGT—time for you to run home 1, 2, 3
DR. KENT—1, 3, 2
DR. VOGT—Germany, Italy, Poland / Germany, Poland, Italy
DR. KENT—Germany, Poland, Italy to the finish line
“One, two, three. One, three, two,” Lexi said, thinking it through. “Wait! The stickers for the Trek Tracker. Remember how they weren’t in order? We went to Germany first, and that sticker was placed over the number one, but then even though we went to Italy second, we had to place that sticker over the number three.”
“Right,” Mal said. “And even though we went to Poland third, the instructions had us put the Polish sticker over the number two.”
Lexi gasped. “Oh my gosh!” She hopped excitedly. “I know what we have to do.”
Lexi removed her cap and pointed out the Brewers logo to her teammates. The final clue came down to her knowledge of baseball, and, more specifically, her beloved Brewers. All those games she’d attended with her family had paid off. In a weird way, she probably should have figured it out earlier. Brewers colors had been at every location throughout the race. From the navy blue–and–golden ribbon necklaces, to the streamers decorating the tournament booths, to the plaques at the fable maze, the—
“Hey, Magill! We’re waiting!” Ron said.
Lexi looked at her teammates, who gawked at her expectantly. She opened her mouth to tell them what they had to do, then closed it. They still had to beat the other teams there.
She whirled to the guard. “Max! Can we go to where they keep the costumes?”
Max rushed over and tapped the bill of Lexi’s Brewers cap. “Ah-ha!” he said. “Right this way.”
Less than a minute later, Team RAM stood in front of a tournament booth outside a green steel door. “Checking in?” the official asked.
Lexi straightened. “Yep.” She stared at the door, wishing she had X-ray vision so she could see if any other teams were on the other side. Perhaps Dr. Vogt, Dr. Bressler, and Dr. Kent could invent that next.
Team RAM handed over their badges, and the official slid a manila envelope forward. Ron grabbed it and tore it open. He dumped a sticker of home plate into his palm.
Nine.
Lexi scarfed it up and stuck it on the Trek Tracker.
Ron tipped the envelope over. “That’s it? Just the sticker?”
The official signaled the security guard, who knocked on the green door. It opened a moment later. The official motioned for them to go inside. “Not exactly. Go on in.”
Team RAM hurried into the room, a small office and changing area by the looks of it. Two college-aged kids stood before them—one male and one female, both wearing blue shorts and yellow shirts with the Brewers logo.
“I’m Jenny, and this is Wade,” the girl said. “We’re here to help with the last part of your challenge.”
Wade and Jenny led Tea
m RAM into a back room. Lexi’s heart skipped as she noticed three costumes lining the wall. She quickly inspected the room to confirm they were the only team there. As her eyes reset on her teammates, adrenaline coursed through her body.
She faced her teammates. “Hurry up! Pick a costume!” Lexi reached for the closest one. Memories of attending Brewers games with her family flooded over her. She hoped her parents had made it to the stadium to watch the finish. She couldn’t imagine their faces when they saw her running across the field wearing—
“What is it?” Mal asked, eyeing one of the costumes with a tad of disdain.
Ron wrinkled his nose. “I’m so confused. We got the last sticker. What are we doing?”
Lexi stroked the costume closest to her and laughed.
“I can’t believe you guys haven’t heard of the Brewers’ Famous Racing Sausages. They’ve been around for, like, over twenty-five years. Every sixth inning of every Brewers home game, they race down the left field foul line, around home plate, and past first base. Haven’t you seen it on TV?”
Ron stared at her, eyes narrowed. “No, I know who they are, but what do they have to do with us—or the race?”
“Yeah,” Mal added, setting her hands on her hips.
Lexi giggled. “Well, for one, they’re the racing sausages, and we’re in a race!” She gestured to the sausage costume beside her. Shaped like a bratwurst, the top of the sausage depicted a mustached face, while the sausage’s middle consisted of green lederhosen. A large number 1 crossed its chest. “Look, this one’s number one, the Bratwurst, from Germany, the first country we visited, and the first sticker we placed.”
She motioned to the next costume, a sausage dressed in a blue-and-red-striped rugby shirt with a 2 across its chest. “This is the Polish sausage, which wears the number two. Poland was the third country we visited, but remember that the sticker was placed over circle number two?”
Finally, Lexi went to the third costume. All white with a chef’s hat and apron, the sausage costume had a 3 across its chest. “And this one is the Italian sausage, for Italy, the sticker we placed over number three. It’s what Dr. Kent said—Germany, Poland, and Italy to the finish line. We’re supposed to wear these costumes as we cross home plate!”
“And then we win?” Mal asked.
“Then we win!” Lexi said, barely believing the words as they crossed her lips.
A banging echoed from outside the room, and Team RAM jumped. They stared at the door.
“Hurry up!” Ron said, and he grabbed the Polish’s sausage head.
Team RAM scurried to put on their costumes. As Lexi stuck her arms through the sausage head’s sides, she shifted to find a comfortable position. “Wow, this is big. And heavy.”
Jenny laughed. “This is actually a slightly smaller version made especially for you guys, but the effect is the same. It is hard to see in there. Wait until you start running.”
Lexi eyed Ron and Mal as they fixed the sausage heads over their bodies. It all made sense now. This was why Dr. Harrison had said there couldn’t be any ties—there were only three sausage costumes.
Right?
She looked around the room again. Jenny had said they had made special versions for the tournament. Did that also mean they made several costumes? She bit her lip as an uneasy feeling in her stomach took root. Until they crossed home plate, nothing was official. For all she knew, this was only part of the final puzzle and there could be a bunch of sausages sitting around home plate using physics to figure out launch angles of last year’s home runs. They had to keep moving.
“Can we go now?” Lexi asked.
Mal reached for her backpack.
“We got your packs,” Jenny said. “You just concentrate on navigating in those costumes. We’ll be right behind you.”
Team RAM hobbled as fast as they could through the stadium tunnels, getting used to their sausage bodies, and headed toward the left field gate. With every turn, Lexi cringed, panicked she’d see evidence they weren’t first.
Finally, Wade opened the door leading to the outfield and motioned Team RAM onto the warning track.
Lexi stepped onto the dirt and froze. The stadium’s lower deck from first base to third base was filled with family, friends, and other teams. The Mighty Sanbornes, Haley’s Comets, and Physics Phenoms stood near the pitching mound. From what Lexi could tell, everyone was staring in their direction.
Most importantly, none of the other teams were dressed as Famous Racing Sausages.
A fuzzy feeling overcame her. Lexi stretched her arms out to both sides, searching for Ron and Mal. She needed to grab on to something to keep upright. The way her knees were trembling, she could crumble to the ground any second.
Her fingers grasped Mal’s elbow, and she squeezed. Science was about facts, and all the facts in front of her led to the same conclusion: they’d done it. They were in first place.
“Oh my gosh!” Mal said. “They’re waiting for us!”
“That means—” Ron said.
“We won,” Lexi whispered as her heart pounded. “We won.”
Ron slapped Lexi’s hand, and Mal squealed.
“Let’s go!” Lexi said.
Side by side, Team RAM trotted down the left field foul line, past third base, past the visiting team’s dugout, and to home plate.
Bratwurst, Polish, and Italian… to the finish line.
As Lexi, then Ron, and then Mal jumped onto the plate, a voice over the PA system thundered, “Your winners of this year’s Teleportation Tournament: Alexis Magill, Ronald Quinto, and Malena Moreno!”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Alexis Magill.
Lexi’s eyes welled with tears as her name sounded through the stadium and the crowd burst into cheers. Halting a few steps beyond home plate, she raised a hand to wipe her eyes, but her large sausage head blocked her effort. Laughing at her unusual predicament, Lexi blinked rapidly to clear her vision as best she could. Who cared that she couldn’t see? She’d won the tournament! No science academy, no practice Tel-Med tournaments, no science teammates, no matter. She’d done it. They’d won!
“Magill!”
Lexi jolted and turned toward the voice. Ron’s Polish Sausage was waving at her from the top of the stairs that led down into the Brewers’ dugout. A second later, Mal’s Italian Sausage nudged Lexi’s side.
“We did it!” Mal said. “Come on!”
Lexi stepped to follow but stopped. After all the work she’d done preparing for the race, from the tableau and time-zone sheet to studying past tournaments—she wanted to, needed to, relish the moment. She scanned the stands. Faces belonging to former classmates, professors, and friends stared back at her. Her chest tingled. Winning proved she was still one of Wisconsin’s top junior scientists.
“Lexi, come on,” Mal called from the dugout. “It totally stinks inside this sausage head, and I’m hot.”
Lexi laughed. Her costume reeked, too, probably a combination of sweat and heat. She descended the stairs and followed her teammates into the clubhouse behind the dugout. A few minutes later, Team RAM faced one another, their costumes now beside them.
“WAHOO!” Ron yelped first.
Waving his arms in the air, he strutted across the locker room doing a touchdown dance. With shouts of joy, Lexi and Mal joined with silly dances of their own. The tension from the race had evaporated.
“Can you believe it? We won!” Lexi cried as they traded high fives and fist pounds.
“Did you hear all those people as we ran in?” Ron asked. “I couldn’t believe it. It was so loud. Definitely louder than any football game I’ve ever been in.” He dropped into a chair. “I mean, for so many people to be so excited… about science?”
Lexi laughed hard. “Oh, come on,” she said. “It was great!”
“I know!” Ron said. “That’s what I’m saying. I never imagined it was possible.” He shook his head. “This whole race was amazing. I never thought I’d feel like this. I mean, I was hop
ing we’d win and everything, but to do it like this, in front of everyone, it’s…”
“Awesome,” Mal finished. She clapped excitedly and hopped in place. “It really is. I can’t wait for everyone to find out I won a science tournament!” She glanced at Lexi. “We actually did it!”
Lexi grinned. “Only because of your awesome notes! I had no idea what to do when we got here.”
Mal rolled her eyes. “Neither did I, and I had my notes.”
“Mal’s right,” Ron said. “I was clueless, too. You’re the one who apparently spends her summers with sausages.”
A loud laugh burst from Lexi. Unable to stop, she hunched over and wrapped her arms around her aching stomach. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d laughed so hard.
“I think this means we make an awesome team,” Mal said. She held her arms over her head. “Team RAM!”
“Hey, yeah,” Ron said, standing. “Great idea.” He looked toward Lexi. “Are there other tournaments we can enter? If we won this one, I bet we can win more.”
“Yeah!” Mal said. “Are there?”
A stunned Lexi straightened and looked at her excited teammates. “Sure, there’s STEM competitions all the time, but…”
“… but once you return to the academy, we’ll be in different schools and won’t be able to race together,” Ron interrupted.
Mal slumped. “Oh yeah. That’s right.”
Guilt overwhelmed Lexi as she took in her teammates’ dejected faces. But passing up a chance to attend the science academy would be silly.
“Hey down there!” Dr. Harrison’s voice called from the field. “Everyone’s waiting to meet the winners!” Footsteps pounded down the steps, and Dr. Harrison appeared. “We have a trophy presentation and interviews to get to!”
Ron stood up tall and smoothed his shirt. “Interviews, eh?” He patted down his hair. “I’m kinda gross from that sausage head.”
Mal gasped. “Interviews?” She quickly undid her ponytail and reset it. “With photos? I’m not ready for that at all.”
Dr. Harrison chuckled. “You all look great. Don’t worry! But I’m talking about the interviews for the internship. The scientists are waiting.”