Bill Nye - Jack and the geniuses: in the deep blue sea

PUBLISHERS NOTE: THIS IS A WORK OF FICTION. NAMES, CHARACTERS, PLACES, AND INCIDENTS ARE EITHER THE PRODUCT OF THE AUTHORS IMAGINATION OR USED FICTITIOUSLY, AND ANY RESEMBLANCE TO ACTUAL PERSONS, LIVING OR DEAD, BUSINESS ESTABLISHMENTS, EVENTS, OR LOCALES IS ENTIRELY COINCIDENTAL.

CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA HAS BEEN APPLIED FOR
AND MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.
ISBN 978-1-4197-2552-4
eISBN: 978-1-68335-131-3

TEXT COPYRIGHT 2017 BILL NYE
JACKET AND INTERIOR ILLUSTRATIONS COPYRIGHT 2017 NICK ILUZADA
BOOK DESIGN BY CHAD W. BECKERMAN

PUBLISHED IN 2017 BY AMULET BOOKS, AN IMPRINT OF ABRAMS. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. NO PORTION OF THIS BOOK MAY BE REPRODUCED, STORED IN A RETRIEVAL SYSTEM, OR TRANSMITTED IN ANY FORM OR BY ANY MEANS, MECHANICAL, ELECTRONIC, PHOTOCOPYING, RECORDING, OR OTHERWISE, WITHOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION FROM THE PUBLISHER. AMULET BOOKS AND AMULET PAPERBACKS ARE REGISTERED TRADEMARKS OF HARRY N. ABRAMS, INC.

AMULET BOOKS ARE AVAILABLE AT SPECIAL DISCOUNTS WHEN PURCHASED IN QUANTITY FOR PREMIUMS AND PROMOTIONS AS WELL AS FUNDRAISING OR EDUCATIONAL USE. SPECIAL EDITIONS CAN ALSO BE CREATED TO SPECIFICATION. FOR DETAILS, CONTACT SPECIALSALES@ABRAMSBOOKS.COM OR THE ADDRESS BELOW.

ABRAMS The Art of Books
115 West 18th Street, New York, NY 10011
abramsbooks.com

FOR OCEAN EXPLORERS EVERYWHERE, LEARN THE SECRETS OF THE SEA AND SEEK ADVENTURE!
B.N.

TO ELEANOR
G.M.

The cliffs of Nihoa Island stood tall as we soared above the calm blue water. Nihoa means toothed in Hawaiian, but the jagged mass of gray-green rock jutting up out of the Pacific Ocean looked like the rotten molar of a sea monster. We were flying low in a small six-seater airplane, and I really, really didnt want to crash into that tooth. For about the fifteenth time, I checked my seat belt.

Our pilot, the bazillionaire computer scientist Ashley Hawking, was rambling about the annoying birds that nested on the island. But I didnt care about finches or swallows. An eagle could have chest-bumped my window and it would not have shifted my focus. If we continued on our current course, we were going to smash into the jagged wall like an egg launched from a slingshot.

The planes engine roared.

My stomach spun.

Next to me, my brother was staring straight ahead, eyes bulging, with his thin black notebook computer open on his lap. I grabbed his shoulder. His muscles were as solid as rocks and his face was a greenish shade of white. Matt? I asked. Is she pulling up?

His mouth barely opened. I hope so, he mumbled.

Our sister, Ava, was sitting in the row behind us, watching the flashing red and green numbers on the electronic control panel. A vein on the side of her head pulsed. She didnt notice me staring back at her. Meanwhile, Ashley Hawking was grinning so wide I could see the edges of her smile from my seat directly behind her. Our mentor, the geek-famous inventor Henry Witherspoon, or Hank, glanced back at me from the co-pilots seat, his awkward smile flashing too many teeth. Was he trying to make us feel better? If so, he was failing.

Hank leaned over to Ashley. He held his hand out flat and swooped it up toward the roof of the cockpit. Should we, you know, ascend?

What? Hawking asked. No! Of course not. Ascend? I thought you knew!

Knew what?

Hawking let go of the controls and waved her hands in a sweeping motion. She sighed with disappointment. This is one of yours!

One of my what? Hank asked.

One of your designs!

Hank spun in his seat, scanning the interior. His mouth was all bunched to one side. He was squinting. And he was completely stumped. Only Hank Witherspoon would struggle to recognize one of his own inventions. His mind was so productive that he dropped out new ideas with about as much thought as a chicken laying eggs.

Matt reached forward with one of his long arms and pointed. Ummm... cliff?

What was that? Hawking yelled back.

We couldnt have been more than a few football fields away from the rock wall. I think hes wondering if were planning to avoid that cliff, I said.

Below us, out the left side of the plane and far from the island, a large dock with two boats tied to the sides floated in the middle of the ocean. The water was neon blue and smooth as glass. We probably couldve landed on it, but I hadnt noticed any pontoons when we climbed into the aircraft that morning. The thing clearly wasnt a seaplane. So the only safe choices were up, right, or left. And if Ashley Hawking didnt pick one of those soon, wed keep heading straight. Into the cliffs. Wed be smashed to bits, and all the headlines would read, Four Geniuses Die as Plane Crashes into Tooth.

No, I wouldnt be the fourth. That honor would belong to Ashley Hawking. The world would mourn the loss of the two accomplished adults and my brilliant brother and ingenious sister. Me? I might be mentioned in the story somewhere, but Im no brainiac. Im average. Maybe a little above, but not by much, and only through effort. I have to work hard, and read all the time, to keep up with the geniuses.

But anyway. Back to that nasty nine-hundred-foot-tall cliff sticking straight up out of the water in front of us. Maybe the Millennium Falcon could have made the turn, swooping up at the last second, but I wasnt liking our chances. Ms. Hawking?

Ashley! I told you already. Ashley. And not because I think of you as an equal. Not at all. She laughed to herself. I simply prefer the sound of my first name. Now, honestly, Hank, someone of your intelligence... I assumed youd see.

Hank was panicking now, his head turning from side to side in jerks, like a broken sprinkler. I dont... when...

Suddenly my sister leaned forward and pointed at a large orange button in the ceiling, covered by a clear plastic case. Are you serious? she said with excitement. Is this the underplane?

Yes! Ashley fake head-butted the dashboard a few times, then looked up to the ceiling. The child gets the answer. Finally!

Although Ava was relieved, I found this news to be more than a little frightening. You made a plane out of underwear? I asked.

The moment the words escaped I realized Id probably misunderstood. But no one noticed. Or at least no one bothered to make fun of me. Not yet, anyway. Ava and Matt were pretty skilled at remembering my mistakes, though.

This is the underplane? Hank asked. His eyebrows rose so high they nearly touched the top of his head. You actually built it?

I did. But enough talk. Youre right, Jack, she said, swiveling around to look me in the eye. We are getting awfully close, arent we? I nodded. The acknowledgment was nice, but I really wanted her to turn back around. Are we buckled? Good. Would you like to do the honors, Hank?

Youve tested it?

Of course! Once. But it worked beautifully. Go ahead. Press it. Do it. Now.

Youve only tested it once?

On the dashboard between them, a number in the center of the screen was blinking red and decreasing rapidly. Yes, once, and a thousand times in simulation. Be confident in your ideas, Hank! Press the button already. She pointed to the flashing red number, which just kept dropping. Really. Now. Three hundred meters is pushing things. I havent felt this much adrenaline since I climbed Everest.