Here Comes Mr. Trouble

his face growing more and more serious each time.

When Fiona was through, Mr. Trouble patted her on the back and moved so she could pass inside. Once she was out of sight, he clapped his hands together and said, “All right, then. Mom, I think we need you up here for an XK-eleven.”

“I thought as much,” Mother Trouble said, heading toward the plane.

“Eric? Maggie? Keira will take you to the workshop.”

“Follow me,” Keira said.

She led them around to the very back of the aircraft, then opened a small metal panel. Inside was a touch screen that came to life when she brushed a fingertip across it.

“Stand clear,” she said.

As she touched the screen again, an electric motor began whirling somewhere just inside the craft. Almost immediately, a large section of the back of the plane lowered all the way to the ground like a drawbridge. Mounted on the other side of the section were stairs that led up the ramp into the Lady Candice.

“Hello!” Uncle Colin called down from the top of the ramp. As before, he was wearing his bright white lab coat. “Come in, come in.”

Eric shared a look with Maggie, then shrugged and headed up the ramp. Maggie followed behind, with Keira bringing up the rear.

As soon as Eric neared the top, Uncle Colin said, “I’m so happy you’re still with us.” With that, he turned and opened the door behind him. “Now, everyone inside.”

The room they were led into was larger than Eric expected. It took up what he guessed to be about a third of the plane. It was windowless and grew wider and taller going forward as it followed the shape of the fuselage. It was also filled with some of the oddest items Eric had ever seen on an airplane, either in person or in the movies.

Along each wall was a waist-high workbench complete with vices and clamps to hold things in place. Little sets of drawers containing who-knew-what ran along the back of the opposing benches, while tools hung on the wall above, held in place by plastic snaps. Under the benches were cabinets with clear plastic doors.

On the floor in front of each workbench were odd-looking metal tracks. They were made even odder by the wooden stools — one per side — attached to them. Eric figured they were designed so a person could sit on the stool and move from end to end as they worked without falling over.

On the walls that didn’t have hanging tools above the workbenches were dozens of electrical panels and devices. There were also several television monitors suspended from the ceiling on poles that seemed to allow the screens to be moved up out of the way or down into view as needed.

The wall at the other end of the room, opposite the door, was a floor-to-ceiling dry-erase board covered with notes, calculations, and a few anime character drawings. Keira’s contribution, no doubt.

Uncle Carl was sitting on one of the stools, fiddling with the dial of a device mounted to the wall in front of him. On the device’s four-by-four-inch screen were several yellow lines, their positions changing each time Uncle Carl turned the dial.

“Sit, sit,” Uncle Colin said.

Eric looked around. There was only the one empty stool. He motioned for Maggie to take it but she shook her head.

“It’s okay. You can have it,” he said.

“No. I don’t want it.”

“Just sit.”

“I said no.”

“What’s the problem?” Uncle Colin asked. Then his eyebrows shot up in realization. “Right. Of course. Only one. You’d think my math skills would be better than that. So, Eric, you should be the one to sit. You are the one we’re here for, after all.”

“It’s okay. I can stand.”

Uncle Colin seemed momentarily flustered. “Sure. You could stand. If that’s really what you’d like. But, um…” he hesitated. “It would be easier for me to put the scanner on your head if you were sitting down.”

“Scanner?” Maggie asked.

Eric looked alarmed. “What scanner?”

“Just your typical scanner. Well, with a few customized adjustments, of course.”

“What are you scanning me for?”

“Naturally, we need to test to see how much effect they’ve had on you.”

Eric had a million more questions but Keira said, “They used a talisman on him this afternoon.”

Uncle Colin jerked back as if he’d been shocked by a live wire. “Carl, did you hear that?”

Uncle Carl was still focused on his dial. “Hear what?”

“They…they used a talisman on him.”

Uncle Carl whirled around on the stool, a look of shock on his face. “What color?”

“Gold,” Keira said.

The two uncles stared at her for a moment, then put their heads together and whispered back and forth. When they pulled apart, Uncle Carl said, “Are you sure it was gold?”

“Show him,” Keira told Eric.

Carefully, he removed the sandwich bag from his backpack and held it out to the two uncles.

They immediately moved in for a closer look, their eyes only a few inches from the ball.

“Definitely gold,” Uncle Carl said.

“Definitely,” Uncle Colin agreed. “Spherical.”

“Yes,” Uncle Carl said, as if he were hoping it hadn’t been.

Without looking away, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a ruler that had two sliding arms sticking from it. He placed one arm against the gold ball and slid the other arm until it was snug to the opposite side.

“Point-seven-five centimeters,” he read from the ruler.

“Are you sure?” Uncle Colin asked, surprised. “Did you take the thickness of the plastic bag into consideration?”

“Yes, yes. I took it into consideration.”

“That’s too big,” Uncle Colin said.

“Apparently not,” Uncle Carl said.

“You think that’s surprising,” Keira said. “Eric was able to move while he was still holding it.”

Both brothers instantly froze in place, staring at her.

Finally, Uncle Colin opened his mouth. “Wha…wha…what did you say?”

“You tell them,” she said to Eric.

“Uh, well, I couldn’t do anything at first except what they wanted me to do. Then, while everyone was fighting, my finger moved. I thought that if I could move a finger, I should be able to move everything.” He shrugged. “I guess whatever this thing is…a talisman, did you call it? I guess it must have run out of power.”

“My dear boy,” Uncle Carl said. “Talismans don’t ‘run out of power.’”

Uncle Colin leaned toward him. “You were…moving and holding the talisman?”

“Well, it was in my hand. The only thing I couldn’t do was open my fingers to let go of it.”

Uncle Collin looked at him for a moment, then looked at Uncle Carl, then back at Eric.

“My,” he said. “My, my, my, my, my, my. I believe, Carl, this is a first.”

“I believe you’re right,” his brother said.

Eric didn’t really care what it was. He shook the bag with the talisman in it. “Do I have to hold this thing all day or are you going to take it?”

“What?” Uncle Colin asked. “Oh, yes. Of course, of course.”

He pulled a rubber glove out of his pocket, put it on, then very gingerly took the bag from Eric. As he carried it over to the workbench, Uncle Carl pulled a container out of the storage cabinet and they put the ball inside. Once they’d sealed the container, they whispered to each other again.