her.
“Never fear, little brother, I would never forget that important detail.”
Atticus looked confused. “But why would Isabel have gone to DC to figure out where the hostages and the Doomsday device are? Wouldn’t she already know?”
“Not if Vesper One is keeping things from her,” said Amy with a smile. “And that might just work out to our advantage.” She looked at Dan. “Call the airline and
get us tickets on the next flight out to
Washington State.”
Dan got on the phone with his creditcard ready. But the lines were jammed. He couldn’t get through. He tried ten timeswith five different airlines. He slammed
the phone down in frustration.
Meanwhile, Jake had turned on the TV in the room. After a minute of watching a late-breaking news story he said, “Amy, I think I know why we can’t get through to the airlines. Look.”
Amy turned to stare at the screen. After a few seconds seeing what was unfolding all over the country, her spirits sank. They weren’t going to be able to get to the West Coast after all.
At least not via plane.
Staring at the TV screen, Amy learned thatall air traffic in the world had beengrounded because of a number of near-crashes. The mishaps had been because offailure of the planes’ avionics systems. Since it was inconceivable that all of theplanes’ avionics would fail on the sameday, the authorities had checked for othercauses. They had quickly determined thatchanges in the magnetic fields of the Earth
had taken place. And those changes were causing potentially catastrophic interference with pilots’ ability to control their aircraft, which depended on stable magnetic fields.
Dan looked at Amy. Amy looked at Dan. Atticus and Jake stared at them both.
Dan said, “Are you thinking what I’mthinking?”
Amy slowly nodded. “A change inthe Earth’s magnetic fields. That meansthere must have been some significantdisruption in the magnetic poles. Thatcould only mean . . .” Her voice trailedoff.
Dan swallowed with difficulty. “Either aliens are about to eat us, or the Vespers have already begun to activatetheir Doomsday device.”
Atticus said calmly, “Since the Earthis still here I think the key phrase is ‘begun to activate.’ If they had triggered itfully, we would see far more catastrophicresults.”
“Oh, goody,” snapped Dan. “I can’t wait for the far more catastrophic results.”
“Att means we still have a shot at stopping things,” said Jake. “Remember Vesper One got the gear and other stuff in New York. He had to get out to the West Coast and put it together in the device. That takes time.”
“Time we’re obviously running out of,” said Amy. “Like Atticus said, the activation process has begun. Planes were flying just fine earlier. I saw them in the sky.”
“But we still might have a shot,” said
Jake.
“Oh, really?” said Amy. “How? How do we get out to the West Coast and stop them if we can’t fly? You want us to ride a bike? Take a cab? Board a
FREAKING bus? It’ll take forever. Vesper One already sent us that link withthe hostages. He’s planning to kill them. He probably already has killed them. What’s to stop him?”
Atticus pushed his glasses farther uphis nose from where they had slid downand said, “I think he wants us to be therewhen it happens.”
“What?” said Amy.
“I THINK HE WANTS US TO BE
THERE WHEN IT HAPPENS,” shouted
Atticus.
“ I heard you,” said Amy. “I just
don’t understand you.”
“Vesper One is highly intelligent, determined, and forceful,” stated Atticus.
“He’s also ruthless, murderous, and he probably has really bad BO,” shot back Dan.
“Granted,” said Atticus. “But he’s
also highly competitive, even megalomaniacal, like most of the Vespers. He’s been giving us clues and hints and tidbits of his plans throughout this whole ordeal. He’s
“Never fear, little brother, I would never forget that important detail.”
Atticus looked confused. “But why would Isabel have gone to DC to figure out where the hostages and the Doomsday device are? Wouldn’t she already know?”
“Not if Vesper One is keeping things from her,” said Amy with a smile. “And that might just work out to our advantage.” She looked at Dan. “Call the airline and
get us tickets on the next flight out to
Washington State.”
Dan got on the phone with his creditcard ready. But the lines were jammed. He couldn’t get through. He tried ten timeswith five different airlines. He slammed
the phone down in frustration.
Meanwhile, Jake had turned on the TV in the room. After a minute of watching a late-breaking news story he said, “Amy, I think I know why we can’t get through to the airlines. Look.”
Amy turned to stare at the screen. After a few seconds seeing what was unfolding all over the country, her spirits sank. They weren’t going to be able to get to the West Coast after all.
At least not via plane.
Staring at the TV screen, Amy learned thatall air traffic in the world had beengrounded because of a number of near-crashes. The mishaps had been because offailure of the planes’ avionics systems. Since it was inconceivable that all of theplanes’ avionics would fail on the sameday, the authorities had checked for othercauses. They had quickly determined thatchanges in the magnetic fields of the Earth
had taken place. And those changes were causing potentially catastrophic interference with pilots’ ability to control their aircraft, which depended on stable magnetic fields.
Dan looked at Amy. Amy looked at Dan. Atticus and Jake stared at them both.
Dan said, “Are you thinking what I’mthinking?”
Amy slowly nodded. “A change inthe Earth’s magnetic fields. That meansthere must have been some significantdisruption in the magnetic poles. Thatcould only mean . . .” Her voice trailedoff.
Dan swallowed with difficulty. “Either aliens are about to eat us, or the Vespers have already begun to activatetheir Doomsday device.”
Atticus said calmly, “Since the Earthis still here I think the key phrase is ‘begun to activate.’ If they had triggered itfully, we would see far more catastrophicresults.”
“Oh, goody,” snapped Dan. “I can’t wait for the far more catastrophic results.”
“Att means we still have a shot at stopping things,” said Jake. “Remember Vesper One got the gear and other stuff in New York. He had to get out to the West Coast and put it together in the device. That takes time.”
“Time we’re obviously running out of,” said Amy. “Like Atticus said, the activation process has begun. Planes were flying just fine earlier. I saw them in the sky.”
“But we still might have a shot,” said
Jake.
“Oh, really?” said Amy. “How? How do we get out to the West Coast and stop them if we can’t fly? You want us to ride a bike? Take a cab? Board a
FREAKING bus? It’ll take forever. Vesper One already sent us that link withthe hostages. He’s planning to kill them. He probably already has killed them. What’s to stop him?”
Atticus pushed his glasses farther uphis nose from where they had slid downand said, “I think he wants us to be therewhen it happens.”
“What?” said Amy.
“I THINK HE WANTS US TO BE
THERE WHEN IT HAPPENS,” shouted
Atticus.
“ I heard you,” said Amy. “I just
don’t understand you.”
“Vesper One is highly intelligent, determined, and forceful,” stated Atticus.
“He’s also ruthless, murderous, and he probably has really bad BO,” shot back Dan.
“Granted,” said Atticus. “But he’s
also highly competitive, even megalomaniacal, like most of the Vespers. He’s been giving us clues and hints and tidbits of his plans throughout this whole ordeal. He’s
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