12 The Clock Starts to Tick

CHAPTER TWELVE The Clock Starts to Tick Rosalind Franklin (legendary scientist). A British chemist who played a crucial role in understanding DNA. She's a science superhero who used X-rays to take images of DNA. She had so much fun that she used the X-rays to study all kinds of things, even dangerous viruses! "JUST CALL ME BLANCHE VIPER," said the silver-haired woman in a gravelly voice. Honestly, I knew it was Ms. Daly wearing a disguise. But with the sunglasses and brown suit, she looked like a real spy. Maybe because the lights were dimmed, and moody jazz music was playing from the speakers on the desk. It felt like we had stepped right into an old movie. Birdie sort of clutched the desk, and even Jeremy didn't attempt to crack a joke. Blanche motioned for us to follow her into the hallway. "We must enter a time portal." She directed us past a couple of classrooms to the end of the corridor, then stopped in front of the PTA office. "We have gone back in time. It's now 1953."

"Wow, that's before Pop-Tarts," said Memito. "Or Guitar Hero," said Elijah. "Or YouTube," continued Jeremy. "Yes, well, it was more than a half century ago," said Blanche. "Now come closer to me." We all edged around the spy. "I work for—well, I can't tell you the name of my organization." Blanche lowered her voice. "It's top secret. But I need your help. It's urgent. You see, Dr. Rosalind Franklin—yes, one of the world's greatest scientists—was in the middle of making a breakthrough in chemistry." "Oh, Rosalind Franklin is my favorite scientist in all of history," I said. "Well, she should be," cried Elijah. "She's who our school is named after." "Shhh," said Phoenix. "We need to listen." The spy known as Blanche Viper looked left and right as if someone might sneak up the hallway at any second. "I must be quick. You see, while working for a secret branch of the government, Central Headquarters for the Knights of Science, Dr. Franklin was using X-rays to take images of a secret, rare, and deadly virus. But our sources learned that the evil mastermind Dr. Hans Dragas plans to steal the last remaining image in her lab." "Of the virus?" asked Memito, his eyes wide.

"Yes, it's one of the deadliest viruses that ever existed. Dr. Dragas and his associates want to use it so they can copy the virus and unleash it on the world." Memito made a low whistle. "That's rough. Almost as bad as a zombie apocalypse." "Isn't there some kind of antidote?" I asked. "I'm afraid not," said the spy previously known as Ms. Daly. "Dr. Franklin disappeared two weeks ago. You must find her breakthrough image and give it to me before the evil Dr. Hans Dragas gets to her lab." She looked down at her silver wristwatch. "Which intel suggests will be in forty minutes. "Not much time," yelped Memito. "You are about to enter Dr. Franklin's lab," she said, pointing to the PTA office. Or rather the former PTA office. I noticed a little piece of paper taped to the door that said DR. FRANKLIN'S LAB. "Once the door closes behind you, the clock starts," continued Blanche. "Are you prepared to take on this grave responsibility? You must find Dr. Franklin's image of the virus and get out of the lab before Dr. Dragas and his henchman arrive. Which is in forty minutes. Otherwise, the virus will be unleashed upon the entire world." "Yes, let's do it!" I cried.

"Great," said Blanche, and she handed Memito an egg timer. "So you can keep track of your time. Give yourself forty minutes as soon as you enter the lab. The main door to the lab will have a combination lock," she said. "That's the one you need to figure out how to open in order to escape. We're entering the lab by a side door. After you enter, I'm closing that side door, and you won't be able to open it back up, unless you want to forfeit." We all shook our heads. Nobody wanted to do that. A moment later, we shuffled into Dr. Franklin's lab. It was so dark you could barely see the person in front of you. Creepy music played in the background. "Is this a lab or a haunted house?" asked Elijah. "Because if it's a haunted house, I know how to take care of ghosts. I watched that movie Ghost Busters." I laughed out of relief. "Can we please turn on the lights?" "Yes," said Blanche. "But it will only brighten the room a little bit." Then she closed the door behind her with a bang. When we turned on the

lights, we couldn't believe what stood right in front of us.